Sol gasped for air to keep pace with Lucy as they walked further from home. Closer to the village, the two reached a wide stone road that ran through the center of the village. They walked down the stone road.
Adults towered above them. Although most of their clothes were worn rags, they didn't look dispirited as they busily walked or transported goods down the street. Some healthy looking men wore modest clothing with a red and white armband and swords at their hip, wearing vigilant expressions.
‘Some police force?’
The adults cast the duo either looks of pity or quick, apathetic glances before carrying on their business as usual. No questions were asked as they made their way down the road. The outer rim of the village was filled primarily with residential buildings and inns but also had sparsely placed restaurants, blacksmiths, and other trade buildings. They made their way downtown while Sol watched all the adults that ignored them.
'They may not be the most generous, but they seem like good people. On the other hand...' Sol shifted his gaze to the alleys branching from the main road. Dispirited people sat loitering in the alleyways. People with bitter or wicked expressions were secretly talking amongst themselves. They eyed the children more nefariously but backed off at the sight of guards.
While Sol only spotted a few shady people at first, they became more common as they moved further downtown. And with the increase of shifty people in alleys, so increased the number of productive people on the main road, reaching maximum density at the center of the village.
Downtown was a large circular plaza filled with people. Shops with weapons, clothes, books, animals, and what seemed to be alchemical ingredients in the windows formed the perimeter of downtown. The next ring, the bulk of the plaza, consisted of various stands selling foods, knickknacks, monster hides, herbs, and other counterparts to what could be found in the stores. Despite the exile from the city, the residents still exchanged coins.
Sol could barely take in any of this sight as he primarily focused on not getting trampled and keeping up with Lucy. He switched to short bursts of flying each time an unaware foot came striking down at him. They moved through the stands before arriving at the center of the plaza. The center was marked with a dark iron fence surrounding a pit that’s sides were made up of the same dark iron that converged on a center point. Sol moved his head between the rails and stared down in awe.
'An inverse obelisk?'
His sightseeing was cut off as he felt a tug at his pajama sleeve. Lucy nodded at an open stand displaying fruits, cooked meats, and breads. Behind the stand stood an imposing, muscular man with a scar running down his crossed arm. Sol diligently followed behind her, and upon reaching the stand front, Lucy looked at Sol expectantly and nodded up towards the stand. Sol cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, sir," said Sol elegantly. But despite his words, the vendor remained staring ahead. Sol was deafened out by the surrounding haggling. Lucy slammed Sol's back, causing him to stumble forward, and he tried again.
"Excuse me!" A high-pitched voice rang from the front of the food stand. The vendor looked around briefly but returned to his original position.
"Excuse me! Down here!" Sol yelled out as loud as he could. The vendor this time looked down. His arms uncrossed as his mouth turned slightly agape. But he quickly steeled back to his former position.
"No handouts," he said flatly.
'Can't he see how cute of a baby I am? Fine.'
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"We have money!" Sol made sure to yell so his voice could carry over. He reached into his PJs pocket and pulled out a few silver coins. The man's eyes opened wide at the sight of the wealthy baby.
"What would you like to get?" Faced with the question, Sol turned to his sister.
"Meat," she said with her broken English and an impassioned look.
"Meat and bread, please. However much this gets." Sol reached his hand carrying the three silver coins as high as he could, but his arms still didn't reach the top of the stand. His arms shook in vain, trying to reach a bit further. The man started his usual haggling routine out of habit but stopped himself before he finished a single word.
'What am I doing? I can't haggle babies out of extra money.' His face scrunched as he stopped and assessed himself. Although he couldn't see it, a cunning smile spread on Sol's face as he watched.
"This will get you too much food to carry. And which meats and breads do you want?" The vendor's mouth twitched as he struggled to keep a straight face assessing himself and the situation. He was used to weird sites from his former adventurer years, but this still rattled him.
"It's fine. We can handle it. And whatever food works. Oh, and can you add in a durable sac to carry it all? You can just throw it all in together." Sol raised his speaking voice as loud as he could go, but the merchant still had to strain himself to hear him. Doubt and confusion made their way into his repressed expression.
The merchant reached under the counter and pulled out a brown sac that could easily fit both Lucy and Sol inside of it if given the opportunity. He began filling the bag with an assortment of meats and breads, the weight of the bag soon exceeding that of Sol himself.
"There you go." The vendor plopped the bag onto the counter and waited to see what the weird babies would do.
"Thank you." Sol bowed slightly, and the three silver coins in his hand floated to the counter. Lucy jumped beyond her own height and retrieved the bag, grabbing the counter’s corner with her hand to counter-balance her pulling something heavier than herself. The bag flew over her shoulder with ease and accelerated her back to her original position, where she landed as if she only did a tiny hop.
The vendor's poker face broke as he watched the two walk off. Lucy choked the bag down to right before the food, so she could fit it over her shoulder, and her brother struggled to keep up, occasionally his feet levitating slightly off the ground to do so.
"I should've haggled more. Those aren't babies." He shook his head at himself.
The twins returned the way they came. The familiar busy street guided them home. But this time the civilians on the street cast glances of surprise and double-take over pity or apathy. The shady hoodlums in the alley's gaze lasted longer and more intensely on the twins than before, and even the listless bums gained a hunger in their eyes, but the sight of the guards passing by interrupted them, causing them to return to their business.
Sol and Lucy continued their uneventful walk home, but as they reached the sparsely populated edge of the city, they heard a shout from a nearby alley.
"We'll finally get a chance to get back at that bitch Nicky!" Sol and Lucy's ears perked up upon hearing the shout. The two made eye contact, nodded, then silently made their way in the direction of the noise.
"Be quiet. We don't want to draw any attention," hissed a man with a sword sheathed at his hip. The group consisted of three men in dirty rags with looks of excitement facing a man in worn but finely embroidered tunic and pants and a sword at his waist. In the hand of the man who yelled out was a metallic red cube with runes engraved on it. The finer-dressed man scanned his surroundings, then pulled out a black cube with engravings from his sleeve.
“This cube will allow you to go undetected when you enter past her barrier. It will only last a few minutes so be fast,” he said while handing over the black cube.
Hidden behind a crate, too small to block the vision of any regular-sized adult, were two tiny babies listening in. They peeked around the crate to analyze the enemies.
“Ok, we won’t fail you.” The thug not holding a cube rubbed his hands together and continued, “Let’s go.”
The three poorly dressed men began making their way out of the alley, moving directly towards Lucy and Sol’s position. Sol fidgeted while Lucy crouched into a fighting stance.
‘Maybe they won’t take advantage of random babies?’ Sol wished for himself. But just as he prepared to act the innocent child, an arm wrapped around him and pulled him into darkness.