“Name?”
“…Mia.”
“Purpose of coming to Lexon?”
“…To train in the dungeon.”
“Ship you were supposed to arrive on?”
“…Screaming Siren.”
“Mhm.” The man in uniform sitting across the table from Mia lowered his glasses, looking over the girl “Riiight, position on the ship?”
“…Fridge manager.” The moment Mia had leaped from her iceberg she was surrounded by a bunch of armed guards, cuffed with magic draining restraints, and arrested, ending up where she was now.
“You have the magic for that, as seen by your little stunt.” The man checked his notes “And you were seen leaping from the ship in question…” he touched something on the side of the desk, a small beep heard in response “Have we gotten in contact with the ship captain yet on the ice fox case?”
He let go of the button, it beeped again moments later “No, they are docking now.”
He shook his head “So,” he leaned in close to Mia “What in the gods name made you decide leaping off a ship moments before entering port was a good idea?”
“…Didn’t know it was bad.” Mia said, sniffing “Guy on board was being mean…didn’t want to deal with him.”
“well, your little stunt turned lawful entry into-“ the speaker beeped again, interrupting him.
“Hey so, just checked with the captain, Jackie, yeah she’s registered in the crew logs. She had an disagreement with a fellow crewmate during travel and was…. escalating? throughout the travel. Also, she’s eight…”
“…a fine…” he slammed the desk with his fist, snapping at her “Don’t do this again, wait for proper procedure, and don’t create a bunch of fucking icebergs in a port! Got it!?”
“Y-yes.” Mia shrunk in her seat, watching as he grumbled, pulled out a piece of paper and started writing on it.
He slammed it on the desk, sliding it to her “Hand that to your captain, mother, or who ever is going to pay that. If you do not pay within a week and decide to run away you can and will be imprisoned for up to five years.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Mia slowly nodded, looking over to it but unable to pick it up because she was tied up “…fine, 3 gold?”
“You created icebergs, in a port, what if they floated and collided with a ship, huh? Ever think of that?” he walked up next to her “Hands.”
Mia raised her hands “Would have melted them…”
“Yeah, I bet you would…” he rolled his eyes, undoing her locks “That long trail of ice we had to melt, shutting down two ports cause of the risk of collision.”
“…sorry.” She raised her now free hands, stretching her fingers and moving her wrists, they were tied pretty tightly.
“If you are sorry then be sure to pay up.” He got up to leave, going to the door and looking back, surprised when he saw Mia had placed 3 gold coins on top of the table.
“Sorry.” She repeated.
He groaned, walking up and swiping the gold and the ticket from atop the table “Well, good. At least you have some form of responsibility.” He then snapped at her once more “Keep it up, and don’t cause trouble, got it?!”
Mia nodded “Got it.”
She got led out of the guard post, looking around at the sights now that she was able to. Like she saw from afar, all the buildings were submerged in the water, wide bridges made of stone or wood connecting everything together, creating a maze of pathways stretching up and down and all around, it seemed pretty hard to navigate…
“If you need to know where to go, just follow the signs. We also have maps but might be too complex for a kid.”
Mia swivvled around, it was the same guard who was interrogating her earlier “The signs?”
“Yeah, the signs.” He pointed to one of the corners, a tall pillar filled to the brim with signs decorated on it “want to go somewhere? Follow the sign for what you want. They do a good job at pointing to the right direction if you stick with them.”
“Ah.. thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, we have a few maps for sale but, with all the different floors it gets confusing, even for people that live here. Just follow the signs and stay out of trouble!”
“Thanks.” She took a few steps back, then ran off to one of the sign pillars. ‘Really should go check in on the captain after that…but Crim.’ She didn’t want to meet him again. She looked up to the sky to see how much time she had, but couldn’t see past the tall buildings or the bridges above.
“…should be fine.” She wanted to get started right away, restless from the trip. Now all she had to do was figure out the signs.
“Dave’s meats, Cutlass goods, Bringer’s Bargan, Chil’n’Sauce, Dry and High, Step Below, Quote for Quote… there are a lot.” She read through all the list, not seeing anything that sounded like the adventurers guild, she looked on another side and read the options on that side, eventually seeing something that could be it.
“Adventurer’s guild, south branch…that’s it?” she looked down the bridge, street? “So it’s down this way?” she looked around, she was thoroughly being ignored by everyone as they moved about their day.
“Guess so…” she then took off down the street, passing by several stores, inns, and stairs leading up to more levels. She didn’t see any signs saying guild, so she kept going to another intersection, finding the same sign telling her to go right “Yeah, follow the signs… simple.” She mumbled, following the signs until she finally came to an out of place building.
It looked more like a castle that scaled vertically into the sky by a few floors, then extended back, stretching down the street, half as long as It was tall, a giant guild sign adorning the front of the building “Finally…The guild.”