The news was all over Mitros. There was a new company. Everyone, Uptowner and Cliffsider alike, wanted in on the business it would bring. This company was known as C&X Holding Co.

Its origins were dubious, with connections to the infamous Cliffside gangs, but its seemingly limitless resources and connections spoke louder than baseless rumors. Barely a day after its inception, C&X experienced a meteoric rise to power.

Any naysayers, of which there were always a few in these types of situations, were mostly ignored when people continued to see that C&X wasn’t going to slow down. Nobody wanted to miss out. By the end of the weak, next to no one with any credit would speak out against C&X.

There was a single claim that for a brief moment caused some ripples. An old clerk at the Palace of Commerce made allegations: corruption, bribery, blackmail, and even extortion. The clerk claimed to have proof. This led to a small lapse in all the excitement surrounding C&X, causing an investigation to be launched.

C&X was transparent with it all. Nothing was ever found.

The supposed evidence the clerk claimed to have conveniently went missing when the time came to present it.

It was agreed that the clerk was simply trying to siphon off the buzz surrounding C&X to boost his own career. His accusations were quickly disproven and he was driven into an dishonorable and early retirement.

There were some who sided with the clerk, but when they saw things turn in their disfavor, they quickly washed their hands of the situation. Commissioner Ackleman was the foremost among them. He was pressured to terminate the investigation before it had begun.

He instead turned his attention to the long needed project of clearing out the gangs of Cliffside. This proved a wild success. An insurgent group known as Mistech which had led several acts of terrorism was ousted and tons of military grade tech was recovered, some of which designs even excited the scientists within the Academy.

Ackleman’s reputation was recovered from whatever missteps he may have made in the investigation into C&X and all was forgotten. His position was stronger than ever. But those close to him noted his continued disgruntled behavior and demand to continue waging his war against the gangs of Cliffside even though the returns were quickly diminishing.

There was a particular gang he wanted to uncover known as Nikiphero. It was widely agreed that Nikiphero was once one of the most powerful organizations Cliffside, but its power had waned over the years. All that Ackleman found was that the last of Nikiphero had been destroyed by a recent attack by Mistech. The gang known as Nikiphero no longer existed.

Order returned to Cliffside. There was a strong increase in police presence throughout the districts. On the surface it appeared as if the impossible had been achieved and Cliffside had been civilized. If there was a slightly larger presence of the drug soraine, also known simply as sor, then that could be attributed to the increase in arrests made surrounding the drug.

This level of police power could only be maintained for so long and despite no matter how much Ackleman insisted against it, he just didn’t have the funds to continue supporting his campaign against Cliffside. The people were growing increasingly more aggressive toward the intense oversight. Even with his newfound popularity with the arrests surrounding Mistech his influence was beginning to be stretched thin.

In an effort to maintain some hold on the order established Cliffside, he was allowed the creation of a new division within the police under his direct supervision known as The Administration for the Dissolution of Organized Crime, or adoc. Their aim was to ensure that no new gangs arose from the power vacuum left behind by Mistech and Nikiphero.

Of the murder that took place in the Tower District the weaks preceding all these monumental developments within Mitros, well, it was all glossed over. It certainly shocked many that something could happen so close to their homes, but once it was revealed that the victim was a Cliffsider--even a seemingly famous fighter--most simply wrote it off altogether.

Even Cliffside where he was so popular, people didn’t have much time to spare it any thought; not when the police were swarming the place and breathing down everyone’s necks. They simply shrugged it off, legends come and go, it happens.

And so Kayden found herself forgotten in a prison cell as the city made these moves around her.

She felt nothing but shock and sadness the first few days. She tried to convince herself that none of it had happened and this was all some nightmarish delusion, but she couldn’t get the image of her father out of her head.

Then another image would come to mind, his killer. Her sadness gave way to an unceasing rage at him and at her own powerlessness. Her rage was further aggravated by the fact that no matter how much she screamed and begged to know what was going on, no one came to let her out.

She was completely trapped in the dark with nothing to do but think of all the ways she would get back at the people that had hurt her. The only time her solace was broken was from the meager meals delivered twice a day. And the server never said a word to her.

In this time, with nothing else to do, Kayden worked on developing her aura sense abilities. It was the only way that she was able to find an escape from the prison she found herself in. Her awareness was able to extend outside the boundaries of her walls.

It started off small, her abilities had never been well developed. At first she could only sense a few cells down. It didn’t help that aura sense was usually strongly tied to sight. But it wasn’t actually necessary.

It took her a long time to learn to read auras without seeing them, and even then most of the information she received was like a foreign language. Until she could learn to make sense of this new way of sensing information, she turned her focus to maintaining aura sense for long periods of time.

She also began an intense investigation of her own aura. This was linked to her desire to continue to learn about gate magic and how to access it. She still doubted whether it would bring about anything, but she had plenty of time to waste at the moment, and anything that helped give her purpose or occupy her mind from thinking about other things was a blessing.

Lastly, when nothing else proved effective to distract her from circling the maddening drain of her thoughts, she would punch the wall while channeling her aura into her fists.

It hurt, unsurprising since it was a stone wall, but she found that the pain that really cleared her mind. And so she kept punching the wall even when her knuckles began to crack and bleed.

She would often find herself falling into a mindless fury after a while, until her hands were numb and she was drenched in sweat. She would often begin to scream when this happened, to the point her throat was raw. Other people in cells near her would yell at her to shut up but she ignored them.

A guard finally came over and commanded her to stop and threatened her with a beating. When she didn’t, two guards came over and fulfilled that promise.

They opened up her cell with their stun cudgels out and ready. She tried to fight but as soon as one of those cudgels touched her all her muscles seized up and she was helpless against the blows they rained down on her.

She was pretty sure that several ribs broke.

After they were done, she could only crawl up into her bed and pass out from the pain. She was smiling when she did.

The next few days, she could hardly move. She didn’t have enough strength to get out of bed to go collect her food. A terrible fever overcame her. She was no longer sure what was real and what was a dream. At one minute she was running down a long hall chasing a figure that kept alluding her, the next she was standing on a skyship with her father whose head turned into a snake and lashed out at her, biting her repeatedly.

Amongst this haze in which a day or month could have passed she heard her cell door open followed by a gasp.

“Oh my goodness,” a woman’s voice said. “Get me a stretcher immediately.”

“To me it looks like she doesn’t have long left to live,” a man’s voice answered. “Why waste anything else on this filth? Do you have any idea what she’s done?”

“I don’t care. I said get me a stretcher. Do you have any idea who this is? Have you heard of C&X. She is one of their top shareholders. Unless you want me to contact your superior, you will do as I say.”

The man grumbled but his footsteps announced that he went off to do as the woman said.

The next thing Kayden knew she felt a hand press against her forehead and a strangely intrusive pressure rush through her body. She groaned and tried to swat away her unknown assailant.

“Shh, shh, everything will be alright.”

There was a prick on the side of her neck. She opened her eyes briefly and saw the face of an angel staring back at her. A beautiful, ageless looking woman with silver hair and long, pointy ears. Then the world began to swirl and everything faded to black.

*****

Kayden woke up in a hospital bed. It was daytime with bright sunshine flowing in through an open window that allowed in a gentle breeze. The window may have been open but it had bars. When she tried to move, a sharp pain flared through her abdomen and she looked down to find her torso wrapped in bandages. Her fists were also wrapped up.

The room where she was being held was long and lined with beds; some kind of medical wing. There was one other bed that was occupied a couple beds down, although the person’s face was covered in bandages. There was also a guard dozing off in a chair by the door.

She slowly recalled everything that had happened and leaned back in the bed to stare at the ceiling.

The door to the room she was staying in swung open after a few minutes but she didn’t react. She heard footsteps approach her bed and then a figure came into her field of view.

“Oh, you’re awake.” It was a young man who must have been in his mid-twenties. He wore round glasses on the edge of his nose that looked like they were about to fall off as he studied her.

“What happened?” Her voice came out in a croak.

She recalled her father’s murder with utmost clarity, and she remembered her imprisonment, but a lot of it was hazy. There was one peculiar detail she recalled that didn’t make much sense to her, a strange, angelic-like woman who had come to save her.

“You had multiple broken ribs, extensive bruising across your body, your knuckles were inflamed and swollen, and you had a severe fever. The worst of your injuries was the internal bleeding. If you hadn’t been brought here when you were, you would have died.” He spoke matter of factly as if he couldn’t have cared one way or the other. “Even then I only managed to save you because of the medicine that elf gave me.”

“Elf?” Elves were mythical figures. It was only because of her education at Ernestine Academy that she knew they were real. For the most part elves only existed in children's stories.

“Yes,” he said absentmindedly as he checked some of her bandages and nodded to himself. “Someone sent her to check on you. It is she that had you brought to me.”

She remembered the pointed ears of her angelic savior. So it wasn’t a dream after all, and it hadn’t been an angel but an elf. It was still almost unbelievable. Why would an elf be coming to see her? The only person she could think of was Cassius. Didn’t he say something about an elf on the day of the attack at the arena? She couldn’t recall exactly what he said, just that there had been a mention of one.

“Well, all appears to be in order. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll have some food sent up to you. As long as you behave yourself, you won’t be restrained. Don’t get out of bed or move around overly much. Your body still needs to recover.”

With that the medic left the room. As he did, he kicked the sleeping guard who jolted awake and looked around angrily at being disturbed. When he saw Kayden was awake, he glared at her until she went back to staring up at the ceiling.

The monotony of the medic bay was only broken when the food arrived. It was basically the same thing she got when she was in her cell with the exception of some additional meat.

When Kayden saw the food arrive, she instantly began to salivate and she realized how hungry she was. She couldn’t even remember how long it had been since she ate. Despite her hunger she could only eat a few bites before she began to feel sick, so she set the rest aside to finish off later.

As evening began to set in, she received a visitor, the Commissioner himself. He strode in and his eyes scanned the rows of beds until they landed upon her at which point he came over to stand at the side of her bed. He looked incredibly haggard and worn.

“I am glad to see you are alright,” he said. There was a look of regret in his eyes as he took in the extent of her state.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She only scowled at him silently. Hatred burning deep within her.

“As soon as I heard how you had been mistreated, I had the guards in charge punished severely. Your release is being processed even as we speak. It should have happened days ago, but so much has been happening that the paperwork got overlooked somewhere along the way.”

To his credit, he seemed to mean what he said, but Kayden didn’t believe it for a moment. Still, he didn’t have to come here. Maybe he really did feel bad about what happened to her. Even if that were true, it didn’t change how she felt about him.

“We have had our differences because of your father’s line of work, but that does not excuse how you have been treated. I will do my utmost to make sure you are taken care of. I know you were recently expelled from the Academy. I have spoken with the board and they are considering reinstating your status as a student. I am assured that it will go through.”

This was…unexpected. Even with how angry Kayden was, she was slightly caught off guard, but not for long. This was just an attempt by Ackleman to alleviate his own guilt. He was just like the rest of them. He didn’t care about her.

There was only one thing that Kayden desired from this man.

“My father’s killer?” she croaked out.

Ackleman shook his head sadly. “We are doing everything in our power to locate him.”

“Lies.”

“The truth is that there is not much that we can do. There is little to no evidence available beside the account you gave after your arrest, and that wasn’t much information to go on. Our manpower is already stretched completely thin, but I still have a dedicated officer looking into it.”

“Who?”

“Officer Griff.”

Kayden laughed despite how much it hurt her to do so. She just found the whole thing extremely funny.

“Kayden I--”

“Get out!” Kayden yelled, the force of it tore her already injured throat and she tasted blood. “Get out!”

There was a flash of pain across Ackleman’s face but it hardened and he nodded.

“Remember, I will ensure you are able to return to the Academy,” he said before he left.

As he retreated from the room Kayden desired nothing more at that moment than for that hypocritical man to kill over and die.

It wasn’t fair that men like him were alive when her father was dead. The thought brought tears to her eyes and she desperately fought to keep them from falling. She wouldn't cry. Tears were for cowards and weaklings and she would be neither anymore. She would do whatever it took so that no one ever hurt her again. The tears fell nevertheless.

*****

“Allow me, ma’am,” the chauffeur opened the door for Kayden and held out his hand to help her up. She somewhat hesitantly took it and stepped into the horse drawn carriage.

When she had been released from the prison this was the last thing she expected to be greeted with, an ornate carriage.

She hadn’t thought anyone would be there for her. In fact, she was sure that she would be left with nothing, not even a home to go to. But she had come out to discover a personal chauffeur.

When she asked where he was taking her he said the headquarters of C&X Holding Company. When she said she didn’t know what that was, he got a strange look on his face and said, “But ma’am you own it.”

That was when she got a sneaking suspicion of what was going on and who she was going to see. “Cassius?” she asked and the chauffeur nodded.

“Mr. Sagent, wished for you to be brought directly to him upon your release. He is an extremely popular individual at the moment. I am pleased for the opportunity to be able to work for him and you ma’am.”

Kayden was uncomfortable being called ma’am by a man three times her age but she said nothing and climbed into the carriage when the chauffeur offered his hand. There was a lot going on in her mind and she needed time to think. For the time being she refrained from bombarding the man with too many questions. And if she was going to see Cassius then she would have her questions answered soon anyway.

Instead of going to the lift stations that would take her down to Cliffside like she expected, they headed deeper into Uptown. Her confusion only grew once she realized that they were heading to the Civil District.

“Excuse me,” she called out the window when they came to a temporary stop to allow an automobile to pass. “I thought you were taking me to Cassius.”

“I am ma’am. He is waiting at his offices in the Palace of Commerce.”

What? The Palace of Commerce? What would Cassius be doing there? But they were moving again so Kayden sat back in her chair.

They pulled up to the front of the Palace like they were some sort of important delegation. Almost the second they came to a stop, an attendant for the Palace was opening Kayden’s door for her.

Before Kayden could try to explain to the attendant that they had made some sort of mistake by coming here, he was already speaking. “Miss Boone, if you would follow me, I will take you to Mr. Sagent.”

Out of surprise, Kayden took the hand he offered to help her out of the carriage. She was being treated like some important merchant and she had no idea why. What was Cassius up to?

“Miss Boone, I will await you out here,” her chauffeur said as she followed the attendant toward the entrance to the Palace.

“Thanks,” she said hurriedly. She wasn’t sure if she should tip the man but she had no money and he did not seem to expect it.

They went up the steps that circled the front of the Palace to the double doors that were as tall as ten men. These doors always remained open during the day and they led into the main foyer which was bustling with activity. It was always busy but it seemed especially so now.

Kayden saw a man tap the shoulder of their neighbor, point at her, and whisper something. The two of them turned and stared at her. Pretty soon more people began to take note of her presence. It wasn’t that unusual, ever since the truth of her father came out, she had always drawn attention. But there was something different about it this time. They weren’t looking at her with suspicion or disgust, they were looking at her with…awe?

She tried to hide her face from all of the attention, but people kept pointing her out. The attendant seemed to be oblivious to it all and cut a path through the crowd for her to follow through. They made it to the elevator and Kayden was able to relax without the weight of all those eyes.

They pulled up to a floor of offices. It was somewhat a let down compared to the grandiose nature of the building, but in reality most parts of the Palace were geared more toward utility. It was significantly less crowded here and people appeared to be too interested in their own business to pay her any attention.

The attendant took her to a door that opened up into a section of the floor marked C&X Holding Co. A receptionist greeted them and the attendant retreated back to where he came.

“Miss Boone, Mr. Sagent has already been informed of your arrival. If you would please take a seat, he will be with you in a moment.” The receptionist directed her to some coaches. “Can I get you anything?”

Kayden shook her head and the receptionist retreated back to her desk, busy with some paperwork.

Despite having a whole section of this floor to themselves, the place was desolate. There were several doors that led to offices, but most of them were unmarked and some of them had their doors cracked open and she could see that there was nothing inside. This had the appearance of being a temporary workspace.

She had been waiting for some minutes with the secretary quietly working at her desk when a door further down the hall opened up and an older man walked out with the beautiful woman that Kayden remembered after the attack at the arena, Kristy, Kayden believed her name was. She had the same professional attire and general persona of someone who didn’t have time for any sort of nonsense.

The man looked to be in his sixties and had thick white hair that was shoulder length and parted down the middle to frame a very masculine and confident face. His suit was a dark stylish blue with a gold chain. This man may have been sixty but he obviously took great care in how he looked. It didn’t come off as gaudy or like he was trying to be younger than his age.

Cassius stood behind them in the doorway. They met eyes across the distance and Kayden got to her feet, intending to walk directly over to him but paused when Kristy came up to her.

“Kayden, it is good to see you,” she said, although she didn’t sound it in the slightest. “I heard what happened. I am terribly sorry for your misfortune. Your father put in so much work to bring about this day. You have my condolences.”

Kayden clenched her fist at her side.

“Flower, are you going to introduce us,” the man said with a friendly smile, his teeth perfectly white. It was strange to hear anyone call the cold woman flower.

“This is my father, Lord Zarif Ulamen. And I don’t believe we have been properly introduced either. I am Kristy Ulamen.”

“Lord?” Kayden asked as she took first Zarif then Kristy’s hands and shook them. There were no royal titles in Mitros.

“Yes,” he said. “We are ambassadors from Ghany.”

That explained it. Ghany was one of the neighboring kingdoms that surrounded the Gelgine Wilderness, one of the oldest and most powerful. Like most nations they were a monarchial government.

The only reason Mitros was not controlled by one of these governments was because of its unique placement. The only way for it to be claimed would be by air, and to do so would result in a total cessation of all trade from the other nations. Thus, it had only been attempted once and had resulted in catastrophic failure. Despite that Mitros had invested in heavy anti-air weaponry to dissuade anyone from attempting it again.

“We should have dinner some time, no?” he said with a raised eyebrow in question.

Kayden didn’t know what to say to that. Why would such a person want to have dinner with her?

“Umm…” She looked past him to Cassius who was coming up to them.

“There is this lovely little cafe called the Kindest Offer I like to frequent. It is not like those stuffy, pretentious places that surround the Palace of Commerce. Sally, the owner, is a dear friend of mine, and is the only capable cook I have been able to find in this place.”

Lord Zarif was proving to not be at all what Kayden expected from meeting her first royal. She had always imagined them to be uptight and full of themselves, looking down on common people like her, but that didn’t seem to be the truth in the least. He also seemed like his daughter's complete opposite. There was a flamboyant aspect to him without it being overbearingly so. What a strange man.

Luckily Cassius came and put his hand on Lord Zarif’s shoulder, saving her from having to come up with a response.

“Zarif, Kayden has gone through some very traumatic experiences recently. I do not think she is feeling up to such things at the moment.”

“Right, my apologies. But the offer stands for whenever you like. It has been a pleasure.” He took Kayden’s hand, bowed his head over it, and gave it a gentle kiss.

It was completely unexpected and once again Kayden didn’t know how to react in the slightest, she just stood there mutely. But it didn’t seem they expected any response from her. Without any other words, Zarif and Kristy left.

Cassius turned to his receptionist. “When is my next meeting?”

“In an hour, sir. I have this time blocked off for your meeting with Miss Boone here.”

“If you would follow me, Kayden.”

With that he led Kayden into his office. It was nowhere near as nice as his office at the resort. This office was simply one of many other identical ones like it throughout the Palace. It served its function of providing a space to conduct business and nothing more. There was a simple desk with chairs and that was all.

Before the door was even fully closed, Kayden was asking the question that had been weighing on her since the day of her father’s murder. “Do you know anything about my father’s killer?”

Cassius didn’t respond immediately. He walked around his desk but didn’t sit. He stood with his knuckles pressed into the wood and studied her.

“How are your injuries healing?”

“Fine. That doesn’t matter. Mistech has to pay for what they did.”

“Mistech? Mistech is gone. Why do you think they had anything to do with it?”

This was news to Kayden. Her ability to hear news had been severely limited with her incarceration. But that didn’t change the fact that she was sure that they were responsible for it.

“Who else could it have been? They used some type of device I have never seen before. Are you sure you got all of them?”

“There will always be a few rats that manage to flee into the dark, but they are in shambles. All of their leaders are dead.”

“There you go! It was them! One of them wanted to get back at Nikiphero for what they did.” Kayden felt her anger begin to rise in response to this news.

“What are you doing Kayden?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing? I want to find my father’s killer? Isn’t that what you want?”

“Of course it is what I want. He was my brother in all but blood. I have people out this very second uncovering what they can. But none of that concerns you.”

“Of course it concerns me, he is my father!”

Kayden had forgotten who she was talking to. At this moment Cassius was the man standing in the way of her finding information on her father’s killer. She was beginning to quiver as she became more animated.

Cassius walked back around the side of the desk to stand in front of her. “We will find your father’s killer, but you can do nothing to help with that. I made a promise to Xolan that I wouldn’t involve you in any of Nikiphero’s dealings. And I intend to honor that wish. As I understand it, you will soon be able to return to the Academy. That is what your father desired and so that is where you will go.”

“No! I won’t go back there!”

“What will you do then!” Cassius’s temper roared out of him like a sudden storm, his composure gone in an instant, Kayden shrunk away from him in fear. “Will you scour Cliffside!? Are you prepared to kill and die to achieve your goal!?”

A red liquid shot out of his hand and formed into a dagger which he pressed into Kayden’s petrified fingers. He forced her hand up to his chest so the point of the blade was pressed directly over his heart.

His voice turned deadly calm. “You have a killer right here standing before you. I have more blood on my hands than anyone. Prove to me here and now that you are capable of that. Prove it!”

His hands gripped Kayden’s with such force that it brought tears to her eyes. “Stop it,” she whispered helplessly.

The blade dug through his suit and into his chest. His white shirt began to become stained with blood.

“You wanted revenge, then take it! Avenge all those I have harmed! Do it!”

“Stop it!”

She ripped her hand from his grip and flinged the blade away from her. The knife dissolved back into the red substance it had come from--blood she realized--and splattered against the white walls.

Tears poured down Kayden’s eyes and she tripped over her feet getting away from the monstrous figure that Cassius had become. How could she have ever thought his presence was comforting? Right now she could imagine this man snuffing her life out as if she were nothing more than an ant under his heel.

He kneeled over her. She tried to get away from him, bringing up her hands to fight him off, not even thinking to power herself with her aura in her fright. He grabbed her arms forcefully and pinned them on the ground at her sides, breathing down heavily on her. His dark hair fell around his angry, contorted face. His full weight pressed down upon her. She sobbed and screamed for him to let her go, for someone to help her, but nobody came.

“You see, Kayden,” he growled at her. “You do not not belong in this world. You are not a killer. Just an Uptowner that played a few days at being a Cliffsider. Go back to your home. Go back to your Academy. That is where you belong. Forget about all of this. Become the girl your father wished for you to become. I will avenge my brother’s killer. One more death at my hands will mean nothing. Leave your father’s vengeance to those who are capable of fulfilling it.”

Finally Kayden gained enough sense to channel her aura into her arms and heave Cassius off her. She bounded to her feet and ran out the door.

“You are not one of us Kayden! You will never be one of us! You are one of them, just like your father wanted!” Cassius’s voice pursued her.