Chapter 2. A Stack of Needles
Within The Republic of Guilds, there exists a sect of land called Elysium. It is one of the few remaining cities that held throughout the collapse. The streets are busy and its population numerous. The buildings are closely packed allowing no more room for expansion. This later became so much of a problem that people began to further expand underground. They soon became much like worms, packed within the earth, only coming up for resources. Many could say they find the underground of Elysium to be lovely or with great people, but no matter what they say, those above think differently. While Elysium is home to many people and is diverse, it still holds hostilities and discrimination. People above often think in the lower districts as less. Elysium is where people go to find safety, yet can often find that Elysium is no more perfect from any other kingdom.
Elysium maintains its status by being made up of several guilds. Each guild has a status as either low or high. Low status guilds have some say in decisions but usually have to make a collective vote along with low status neighbor guilds. High status guilds are guilds that hold power and have been recognized and respected by the community for its standing. There are 7 high status guilds, none being less important than the other. These powerful guilds are referred as the Sacred Seven. The requirements in order to hold the title are so grand that after several decades, only 2 guilds have risen to high status to join the original five. The seven masters of each guild join together each month to go over new laws, decisions, and observe the well-being of the Republic.
In Elysium, 97% of all guilds hold a no-kill policy, meaning they refuse any sort of assassination job or kill bounties. The guilds under the 3% face many troubles without the no-kill policy. While it’s true that the guilds that do take assassination jobs have a higher income, they often face harsh taxes and inspections. They cannot be seen as malicious or evil, or else all members of the guild will be stripped of titles and banned from Elysium. This is to prevent the rising of dark guilds, something feared in Elysium after the city faced several deaths from one such guild a century ago.
Many low status guilds exist within the nooks and cracks of the city, some holding respect and others holding fear. But within all of these cracks lies a guild spoken of as an urban legend among locals.
“Hydra’s Heart”
Low status guilds in general are said to hold members of various powers, enough to contend with high status guild members. Many members are referred to as strange and insane perhaps. While low guilds with high power and odd members isn’t too uncommon in Elysium, the real reason people speak of them is that they are a dark guild. The guild is classified as unofficial and all of the high status guilds regard the existence of such a guild as imaginary or “just local paranoia”, some argue they hide amongst them.
They take on all sorts of jobs, from cheap clean ups or pest control, all the way to high profile assassinations and infiltration. They are legends in the underworld and have unknowing presence in other factions. Some locals say they have even witnessed the group’s actions. Some remark them as good hearted, others say they live to cause chaos and evil..
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“God, why can’t the weather always be like this.” said someone loudly in a busy street
A young woman sat at a table with her partner. They both wore long black sleeves and slacks that hugged their bodies. The sleeve was embezzled with a yellow outline on its edges, and there was a tree pattern stitched around the back of the shirt. The collar of the shirt was tall and often choked its wearer, sometimes rising above the mouth (similar in style to that of a formal ninja). Both wore black dress shoes, tipped and clearly expensive.
Taking a closer look, one notices that the partner is an older male. Both have dark glasses covering their eyes, making it almost impossible to see through them, and the woman is a brunette with a very sarcastic demeanor. Her hair is cut just at the shoulders and seems to stand against the wind. Her face shows youth and a playful attitude.
The man has gray hair, cut short, and his face reveals a five o’clock shadow. He has a few scars that show experience and wisdom. He seems to be more serious than the woman, judging by her lack of voice control. He wondered why he was stuck with her as a partner. Sure, she was funny and quite attractive, but with being much older he’s heard all the wisecracks and dating is past his time.
The table they sat at wasn’t alone and rested under the roof of a local ramen shop. The small shop was packed in with many other businesses along the street. Most people passing along wouldn’t pay attention to such a small shop, but the locals knew it well enough, as it was the best selling ramen shop in the district.
After stepping inside, the touch of steam instantly fills the air and hits the face of customers. Plates clank as they’re used and washed to be served once again, a man in the back calls out orders to the cooks, and the crinkling and shifting of money is heard as customers leave and go.
“Sop whus tha blatdy wore gung tah aks?” The woman said with a mouth full of food.
“Please finish swallow before speaking next time. Need I remind you we’re supposed to act professional.” The man said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
The woman took a big swallow and stated “Ehhh? Who’s gonna notice? The street is full and people are busy. No one is gonna give enough time to pay attention nevertheless listen to two Steel Branch members.” and then continued to eat.
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The man looked even more annoyed and said “Alright Penelope, I’m done arguing with you. Just finish your goddamn meal and ask me the question.”
The woman now identified as Penelope happily obliged and continued to eat for the next few minutes while her partner stared at her in disdain. As each second passed, the man slowly began regretting each second of his life that led him to this moment.
*SLAM* The bowl of ramen banged the table in a celebratory manner. Penelope looked oblivious to her partner’s staring and began to clean herself before continuing her previous statement.
“Sorry about that, I thought it’d make me look cooler. Anyways, as I was saying, who is the woman we’re supposed to question?” She said as she began searching her wallet.
“Really? We just talked about this on the walk here. Did you not hear a goddamn word I said?” The man exclaimed quietly, getting rather annoyed with her, but still keeping his voice lowered.
“Nope, I was too busy thinking about what I’m gonna cook later. Oh and by the way, what’s our assignment?” She said with a smile.
“Ugh, just my luck to get you as a partner.” He said with disgust in his mouth, as if he ate something rotten.
“Oh shut up Simon, I’m just kidding. I couldn’t hear you with all the damn people on the street. It was rush hour you know?” She said, finally pulling out some money and placing it inside the little booklet with the shop’s insignia on it. She laid it on the counter and continued, “Now tell me again, I promise I won’t ask again, okay?”
Simon’s expression calmed and he gave her a look before stating, “We’re assigned to look into the massacre of the Mad Guard Guild. Several days ago, the entire guild was killed in their hall. Several members were killed in gruesome ways and left unidentifiable. Any stragglers that weren’t at the guild at the time of the massacre were found dead in alleyways. The woman who witnessed this claims to have seen a figure leaving the hall a bit after eight o’clock, which is close to the time the massacre was thought to have taken place.”
Penelope looked a bit shocked at first but then quickly regained her bearings. “Jeez, why do they have to give us this damn case. I’d rather go pluck cats from damn trees then go around the whole fucking city to look for some psychos. Headquarters should at this point should damn well know that the fuckers probably left the city already.” She said with a long sigh.
Simon took a double take and then realized he had forgotten, while Penelope seems quite foolhardy, she is talented and was top of her class at the academy. But, she still is a pain in the ass so he’d never actually tell her how he thought somewhat highly of her.
The two began to get up and leave the shop and Penelope interrupted, “Wait, isn’t the Mad Guard suspected to be behind drug trade? Why are we looking into this? Isn’t it a waste of resources to look into the death of a bunch of criminals? They were probably offed by some person they sold shit grade pixie dust to.” She said with a cocky smirk. “I say good riddance.”
Simon looked down at her and thought for a second before saying “While they may have been criminals, they are still people and their deaths shouldn’t be left unanswered. Plus, the Steel Branch wants to know the person responsible for such an act, in case they go off again in the future. We can’t have people like that doing these sorts of things, especially the sick shit that was done to the Mad Guard.”
Penelope chuckled for a few seconds before saying “They want us to look into the death of a small guild like Mad Guard? It’s not like they were anything great. Any C+ grade mage could take them out. Not much effort too, taking out what? 10, 20 members?” she laughed again out of her own pride in her power.
“I could do that in a minute flat. No big deal” she said gleefully, exhaling excitedly.
Simon again took a second before saying “One, don’t joke like that. Two, you’d be lucky to last a minute before you were distracted by some food. Three, Mad Guard has 128 members."
Penelope laughed “ HAH, I knew you could joke Simo-...”
Penelope suddenly stopped talking and looked at her partner’s solemn face. Her face drained of color and she seemed shaken.
“D-did you say 128?” She struggled to spit out.
Simon grimaced and said “Yes, that’s the official amount of members Mad Guard has officially registered with the The Republic.
“But 128? That many people died without the slightest notice!? That’s impossible! I can understand thirty at most if it’s a skilled mage, but to kill over one hundred without making a single peep is impossible. Even high status mages would make an explosion of some sort. You sure it’s not a rival guild? Penelope began to gain back her posture.
“That’s what the big guys upstairs thought, but apparently all guilds known to have bad blood with the Mad Guard have alibis that place them elsewhere. They also lack the power to commit such an act.” Simon said as he calmly waited for Penelope to catch back up with him.
“Really? Well fuck man, how the hell are we supposed to catch people who can exterminate a 100+ guild and make no noise doing so?”
A smile appeared on Simon’s face. “Are you scared Penelope? You can always resign as being an apprentice and go work in a cubicle. I’m sure the staff are just dying for someone with a sense humor such as yours.” He looked at her face and could clearly see she was fuming and about to retort.
“Pipe down. Look, we’re not supposed to catch anyone got it? We’re just supposed to find the suspect and report back to the guild.”
Penelope calmed down. “Oh good. And I’m not scared got it? I just prefer not to get my uniform dirty, okay?”
He deadpanned and looked at her “Sure.”
She puffed up in pride “Hmph.”
“Stop being a child, we have to find this woman and question her. So put on your best impression of an adult before we get there.” Simon said as he looked forward.
Penelope felt a small pang of anger “When the hell did you become such a joker? That’s my job! You’re the hardass and I’m the wise cracking rookie.”
Simon kept walking and stated “Not everything stays the same, and not every book shows who the character really is.”
Penelope sighed “There we go, back to the philosophical hardass. Make up your mind goddamnit.”
He looked at her quickly and shushed her. “Quiet, we’re approaching the house of the witness. Don’t do anything stupid and be professional.”
She looked at him in annoyance. “I’m not a child you know? I got it, respect your elders and whatever.”
Before turning the corner, Simon looked at the sky. “Please just let me finish this investigation without having to whip this child.” he sighed.
As they both turned the corner, they faded into the crowd of busy people.
Birds chirped, smoke covered the sky, and the whole city exhaled. Just a regular day in Elysium.