A loud rumble vibrates the metallic box once the two doors slide closed, prompting a moment of panic within Kita. With a sudden jolt, Kita feels her stomach drop as the elevator begins grinding its way upward.

"Fuck, I don't like this," Kita says with a shaken voice. Placing an arm against the wall to stabilize herself.

"Relax," Alex says, "Reiku wouldn't let anyone use this if it wasn't safe,"

Kita takes a deep breath to compose herself. This is one of the most unnatural things she's ever felt. Whoever invented these machines must have had a fetish for tempting fate. That's what most old technology seems like. Playing god and breaking the natural order.

They must have had a unique connection with the earth to turn the dirt into machinery. The thought of removing a source material and converting it to a tool feels similar to Kita's use of souls.

But if history is any indication, playing god clearly leads to ruin. The attempt, in and of itself, is a trap that leads to demise.

"Fuck this machine," Kita sighs as the elevator begins slowing down with a loud screech.

"Almost there," Alex says. "Do you know how much security is inside Ms Eeve's store?"

"One guard," Raya responds, "The back left door by the till leads to the room with the pills. I assume the one at the back right has a way up to the third level,"

"Kita, how many souls have you got?" Alex asks.

"Twent-ugh," Kita sighs in her lightheadedness.

"I didn't know you were claustrophobic," Caity chuckles.

"Calastra- what?" Kita stutters.

"Afraid of tight spaces," She chuckles.

"I'm like a creature of the old world," Kita sighs, "I find walls unnatural,"

The elevator lets off a loud ding, shocking Kita upright as her panic is restarted. With a large thud, the elevator comes to a halt- almost throwing Kita off her feet.

"Fucks sake," Kita stumbles.

The steel doors slowly slide open, revealing the inside of a rundown shop on the other side of them. They all step out of the elevator and into the store layered in dust, wooden planks and nails.

Alex walks towards the front door of the store, opening it to glance both left and right before stepping out into the daylight. As Kita follows suit, she is met with the wall of the city's edge, covering a view that would be overlooking the river. She looks to her right to see a stream of red light at the opposite end of the path.

"Vlad's store is there," Raya tells the twins, pointing down the corridor. "Shop two six three,"

"Ms Eeve's store number is six two five," Kita adds.

"Seriously?" Alex asks with shock, "Vlad's store is up here?"

"A weird sex dungeon," Kita chuckles, "Not much of a store,"

"Chevo's been searching the whole city for that store," Caity says, glancing at Alex.

"I'd rather we didn't tell him," He responds, "Chevo would only act out sooner,"

“Poor Chevo,” Kita chuckles, as the four of them make their way to the busy part of level two, where citizens and tourists swarm the streets and stores of the marketplace. “The two of you are traitors,”

“The three of us,” Caity corrects her.

“No-no, this is all you,” Kita deflects.

“You sure about that?” Alex asks.

“What?” Kita stutters.

“Yeah, you’re just as bad as us,” Caity grins.

“I see what you two are trying to do,” Kita says, squinting her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll only sell you out after you’ve given me everything I need,”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Not if we sell you out first,” Caity shrugs.

“If he got his hands on you, Kita. He wouldn’t care about us,” Alex adds, nodding.

“Seriously?” Kita asks, a little perplexed.

“What’d she do?” Raya chuckles.

“It’d be easier to talk about what she didn’t do,” Alex chuckles.

“It’s that bad, huh?” Raya asks.

“Kita killed his son,” Caity blurts out.

Raya and Kita’s eyes widen as they process what Caity’s just told them. Honestly, it doesn’t surprise Kita that she killed someone- Her past was bound to catch up with her at some point. What really has her curious is why she would do such a thing. Especially if she cared about Chevo at some point.

“I’m going to assume it was because that kid was a piece of work,” Kita sighs, “I’m not always the problem-child,”

“Well I can’t argue with that,” Alex admits, “He was a total piece of shit,”

“I knew it,” Kita grins, “I probably saved a ton of people,”

“Not quite,” Caity shakes her head, “You didn’t kill him to help others. You just hated him,”

“But it helped others, didn’t it?” Kita winks.

“Barely,” Caity folds her arms.

“Aaah so it helped many people, right?” Kita asks, softly punching Alex on the shoulder. “Caity’s just jealous because I did it before her,”

“It did help a lot of people,” Alex chuckles, “you didn’t do it to help anyone, but it had a somewhat positive impact,”

Kita quickly pumps her fist through the air. Although she doesn’t care very much for the opinions of others, she knows she feels quite shitty when these three idiots have a reason to think negatively of her. Deep down, she knows there aren’t many occasions in her past where she’s made the ‘heroic’ or ‘helpful’ decision. So this is a major victory in her eyes, even though that may not have been her intention in the past. It had more of a positive impact than a negative one.

“Why’d she kill him?” Raya asks.

“Because he was a prick,” Caity answered, “He looked at all of us like he was going to inherit an army of slaves. He’d kill women and children that were not our mark- Often abusing them and cutting them because he enjoyed it when he was in control,”

“Good job, Kita,” Raya says as she squirms at the descriptions.

“She did what all of us were thinking about doing,” Alex adds. “But none of us wanted to hurt Chevo… Or see how he’d react,”

“So, this is why you say he’s changed?” Kita asks.

“No,” Alex responds, to Kita’s surprise.

“Then why is he a problem?” She asks.

“He knew his son was a horrific person. Chevo didn’t seem very surprised to discover someone had killed his son… What surprised him is that you did it,” Alex answers. “In Chevo’s eyes, it was as if his envious daughter had just killed his heir. Losing the both of you sent him on a spiral that would slowly diminish his morality,”

“Putting faith in me doesn’t seem to be a wise choice,” Kita sighs, partially annoyed by the self-doubt she feels at the thought of her old self. The one that seems so much more like the real Kita than she currently is.

“It isn’t,” Caity scoffs.

“Yet here you are,” Kita grins, “The one that couldn’t get away,”

As the group approaches Ms Eeve’s store, they notice the increased security in the area- a result of Kita and Raya’s antics. Kita raises the scarf cover her head to also cover her nose and chin, as Raya does the same. The two of them should have considered the consequences of what they got up to yesterday. Thank god for that elevator.

“How many souls do you have?” Raya asks.

“Twenty three,” Kita whispers.

“That’s it?” Alex asks with a mildly concerned tone.

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’?” Kita grunts.

“You just… You usually have way more than that,” He answers.

“Well, It’s a bit tough when I can’t just take anyone's soul,” Kita sighs.

“You used to do exactly that,” Caity says.

“I know… But, a Fox asked me not to,” Kita sighs.

“A what?” Alex asks.

“It’s a long story,” Kita answers, “Just know that I’m trying to be a better person,”

“A better person… Why?” Alex asks, raising an eyebrow and clearly trying to hold back a grin.

“I just told you!” Kita blurts out, “Wipe that smug look off your face,”

“I’m just asking a question,” He responds.

“A valid question,” Caity adds.

“So you two are advocating for me to kill innocent people?”

The twins briefly glance at each other as if they’re exchanging words with their eyes before they both look at Kita in tandem and respond a monotonous, “Yes,”

“You two are a terrible influence,” Raya scoffs, “Kita’s trying to become a better person,”

“By becoming useless?” Alex asks with a chuckle.

“Useless?” Kita grits her teeth, “I have twenty-three souls I can use,”

“Exactly,” Catiy agrees, “Useless,”

“But at least you’ll think you’re a better person,” Alex jests.

“I should’ve known you two wouldn’t understand,” Kita rolls her eyes, “Your job is to kill people,”

“I’m just saying,” Alex shrugs, “You used to consume way more souls,”

“The old Kita was just wasteful,” Kita says, “You’ll see,”