Clink Clack

In some underground chamber, dim candles lined the walls.

Eerie silence gave the dark room an ominous sensation.

Throughout the rooms were large metal cages lined in rows…and within those cages were…the various missing children.

A few unenthusiastic guards would walk across the cages drinking, throwing occasional sneers accompanied by greedy laughter.

Once in awhile, some spit or crackled the whips and frightened the children allowing them to be obedient.

These whips were only demonstrations though as they weren’t yet allowed to “damage” their products.

In one of the empty corners of the underground chamber, two men squatted together for solace.

One fat one skinny.

The fat man had a premature balding hairline and was very well nourished

He held a book in his hand appearing to be very well educated.

The skinny man was lanky with a gloomy appearance and crooked teeth.

With a frown he glanced over at the fat man,

“Hey fool, your book is upside down. If you're going to pretend to be educated, at least hold it right.”

“Huh?....oh right.”

The fat man gave a silly chuckle and turned his book over.

‘...’

The fat man leaned back and sighed.

‘It’s really exhausting squatting so long,’ he thought.

’When would his shift be over?

The fat man rubbed his belly in frustration. He had heard the river that ran through the gorge near this place was full of good fish.

Glancing up at the row of cages lined across the wall he sighed again.

He really rather go fishing instead of watching these pitiful children.

Tsk tsk, they were looking quite thin and messy.

Some were hugging their knees silently sobbing while others passed out from exhaustion.

Many were trying to contain their tears as they knew the consequences of their outbursts .

As the fat man looked across, he exclaimed inwardly in amusement.

‘Hey! That one is quite different..’

He found a certain child particularly interesting. Although he had no idea where she was taken from, unlike the other children…she was peacefully in a daze. The fat man observed with interest as she occasionally took a few naps with snot bubbles forming at her nose.

After a while the fat man got bored and broke the silence between the skinny man.

“Say boss…is it really right..”

The skinny man immediately turned around and smacked the fat man in the face. He nervously glanced around to confirm of any eavesdroppers nearby while covering the fat man's mouth.

“Hush idiot, you wanna get us killed?”

The skinny man let go of the hand covering his mouth and signed.

He looked at the fat man deeply and softly sneered.

“You got what you signed up for. This is the price for the good life. It's either you or your humanity.”

Then he patted his friend’s chubby belly.

“Either be the villain and fill your stomach. Or starve on the streets.”

The fat man sighed and helplessly muttered under his breath while returning to his book.

Looking down at the majestic strange symbols in the book, he felt his head hurt. Was this something humans could read?

Due to his lack of comprehension, the fat man set down his book in frustration.

He turned to the skinny man,

“Say, will the gods judge us when we pass?”

The skinny guy shrugged and gave a crooked grin.

“Even if they did, it would be those high casters making the rules that get the worst of punishments. We're just rats following orders. Is it wrong for us to live?”

The skinny man glanced at the fat dude.

“What's wrong with you today? A certain auntie from the brothel rejected you today?”

That fat man looked at him and back at the children.

“But boss, they’re just children like us once.”

“Ptew, Heh. What a pathetic excuse, stop denying it fatty. We’re all the same evil. We can never go back. Besides that aint what you said when you ruthlessly murdered that sonuva bitch then.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” the fat man grumbled.

The skinny guy dug his ear.

“Just shut it already fat bastard or one day you're gonna get us all killed.”

“Life ain’t fair fatty, that's just the way it is. Some are born to feast while others are born begging for scraps. We can never go back, because there wasn’t ever a past. Just accept it.”

The fat man glanced at the skinny guy in pity.

“You've changed boss. After going to that training camp or whatever.

The skinny guy stared in silence. Fatty was right. The training camp did change him. He truly saw, knew, and understood just how dark humans could get.

But hey, back then he and the fat man were just two orphans who wandered the streets. They did what they had to do. He used to have family and siblings too. But life never gave him a chance to be a good person.

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One day he overheard his parents planning to sell his younger sister so he killed them with his own two hands. Ironically though, his sister died trying to protect them. Without a home or family he wandered the street alone eventually meeting fatty.

‘Ahh, this fat bastard was skin and bones back then. But still stupidly naive’ he thought.

Later on under his leadership, he and the fatty would eventually fawn their way up criminal organizations for a bite to eat.

Suddenly the fat man interrupted his musings,

“Say boss, how long are we gonna be here?”

The skinny man glanced at the fatty in annoyance. “When will you ever shut up?” he cursed.

The skinny man sighed, “I don’t know. I really don’t know anything…”

They had been stuck underground for over a year building some stupid boat. Everyday a mysterious cloaked man would walk in with a bunch of supplies and just some time ago the original boat building supplies became children…

“Ughhhh, I only came here because the organization promised food, beer, and money,” the fat man complained.

The skinny man looked at fatty.

Well…he was sick and tired of this life too. But they couldn’t leave because the mysterious man that hired them from the organization was a magic caster.

‘Now we can’t fucking leave until the boat is done. Damn shit casters.’

Unbeknownst to the duo, while they were talking, someone was secretly observing them.

Across the room, a sleeping child lazily opened one of her eyes, a tiny slit and furtively scanned across the room. Then she locked eyes on the skinny fat duo and silently observed them nonchalantly. After a while, she lazily stretched and rolled over in her sleep not forgetting to yawn.

A few cages across from her, a boy of similar age carefully watched her movements.

After sneaking a peak around to confirm the coast was clear,

He also laid his back and slowly wiggled his back.

No one noticed the numerous tiny holes in his clothes.

Of course, all the holes were for a purpose. His name was Arima and he was among the three that disappeared from the Qiubai family’s orphanage.

(Reminder: Two taken from the snow, and one mysteriously disappeared.)

Originally, Natalie’s brother, Orion, took him to “play” in the snow. Orion wanted to leave the orphanage to go “explore” in order to find the inheritance of some magic casters. Orion wanted company but he really didn’t want to go though. At that time what they didn’t know was that Natalie also secretly tagged along in order to make sure they were safe. In the end he somehow ended up going along with Orion’s whims but before they could get far, some figures tied them away. Orion was pushed down a snowy slope though so in the end only they were caught.

At first when he and Natalie were kidnapped, he felt that all hope was lost. The gods above had played a joke on him right when life was getting better for him.

It was when they were being transported to this underground chamber that he regained some hope.

….

“Hey move it girl.”

In the carriage that held Arima and Natalie captive, another unfortunate soul was caught.

The caught girl moved forwards numbly, her gaze wandering aimlessly into the unknown.

The thieves immediately commented.

“Hey, where did you get her from? Is she from the target places?”

“I dunno? Just saw her near so I picked her up.”

“Heh, she looks pretty stupid. Just hope they actually want her or else you’ll have to go through the hassle of finding another buyer.”

When the girl was pushed into the carriage along with the other kids, Arima immediately recognized her.

She was the “weirdo” among the kids in Qiubai’s Hope Orphanage.

Her name was Sunie and she was often in a daze. The reason the other kids called her weird was because she was always in a daze and had a cold atmosphere around her. No one except the orphanage director Gareth dared to approach her. What was even scarier was once in a while, Sunie could be found pouring boiling water into an ants nest while sinisterly ginning.

He didn’t exactly hate her. She felt that Sunie was weird like him. But what really made him admire her was when she started scratching her back against the wooden posts of the carriages.

Arima noticed strands of her clothes and hair would drift down occasionally.

Though because they were in a carriage much of the hair of cloth fibers didn’t make it far but he was still shocked.

Had she been leaving traces of herself everywhere to help track? Arima immdedialty joined her very carefully. Their arms were bound loosely by chains so he couldn't make too much noise or he’ll alert the thieves.

Along the way, although he didn't know why she slept, drooled, or sneezed so much, he tried his best to mimic her.

Orion’s sister Natalie, on the other hand, also understood their intentions. They were part of the few who had stayed at the orphanage during Balin’s reign and had long developed a slight tacit understanding.

But instead of mimicking their movements, Natalie chose to cover for them by making commotions which resulted in a few red marks from whips on her.

….

Back in the underground chamber, Natalie sighed with relief after watching Arima and Sunie still wiggling around lively.

Before her parents died, she promised to take care of her brother. That was when she knew she would no longer be the girl she once was. It was only after making it to the orphanage that she could relax a little.

Over time, she saw the children at the orphanages also as her siblings so she felt at ease with the fact that they were still fine. To be honest she felt a little guilt. When her brother Orion and Arima were being kidnapped, she moved instinctively and chose to push Orion out the way resulting in her and Arima being taken away. She was a little afraid to face Arima. Would he blame her for choosing Orion over him?

Natalie shook the thoughts from her head. Arima didn’t appear to blame her. He even gave her a thumbs up earlier. It was also quite surprising to her though that the most quiet kid in the orphanage could be so brave.

She sighed.

‘I tried my best. Mom. Dad. I hope you can protect us. You said you would watch over us from god’s kingdom, didn't you?’

Natalie tried praying to whatever god that she could think of although she didn’t know if it would be effective. She had heard her parents secretly saying that the gods were dead.

In the cage next to her a soft cry sounded.

Natalie awoke from being lost in thoughts and glanced to the side..

“Hey psst psst!”

She gave a big smile and mouthed, “It’s going to be ok! The Qiubai family will rescue us!”

_____________________

In a secret room, two dim figures silently watched an altarpiece carved with colorful murals of goats.

“Speak Mr. Hayate.”

Hayate Ryo gave a slight bow.

“Yes. Sir Balin has transferred away some manpower in order to solve the missing cases and calm the unease within the city.”

“Fine by me. Have you prepared the documents yet?”

“Yes Lord”

“Alright, what do you think of that unfilial child now?”

Butler Hayate paused for a moment before carefully speaking to Qiubia Weiqi.

“Sir Balin is still as humorous as ever. The child has grown. More.. Hm how do you say? Carries an air of vicissitudes.”

“Alright, let him do what he wants. As long as he’s not fooling around and getting me into trouble with his mother.”

“Master Balin, do you want me to deploy the secret forces and assist him with the investigation?”

Sigh.

“Sir Balin, once again, there isn’t a need to be so formal in private with me. You know what, forget it.”

Qiubai Weiqi shook his head helplessly. He knew some words would go in one ear and out the other for his stubborn butler Hayate.

He ran his hands across the altarpiece in admiration of its beauty.

“As for the investigation…no need. The special forces will protect my wife Felicia instead. I don’t want them to tune the tiger away from the mountain. Besides, whatever “they” are aiming for, it’s probably in the castle. We’ll just wait for them. Let Balin handle everything else. It’ll help him learn.”

‘I’m definitely not being lazy. Yep, definitely not. It’s for my son after all…’ Weiqi added mentally.

Hayate Ryo bowed, “Understood.”