The 83rd District of the Cambria Kingdom is the most beautiful of all the districts, at least that is what the Baron of the district would say. From his literal ivory tower , Baron Arthur Vallis has the entirety of Vallis, the sparkling jewel of Cambria that just so happens to share his last name,as his own personal garden. The wide roads are lined with a thin, lustrous violet strip of cascading energy that serves a dual purpose; guiding the hovering cars in the air and collecting any waste that attempts to find a home on the ground. Buildings of various sizes, ranging from two-story marble buildings to skyscrapers of glass and steel , display massive screens playing advertisements for a variety of businesses: Plan for your future by starting today! Visit Davos Banking, the number one bank in all of Vallis. The screen changes to an image of Baron Vallis smiling. The neon gold background creates an almost divine aura around his visage; a tanned man with coiffed golden hair, a meticulously maintained goatee, and a surprisingly sturdy physique that not even his well-tailored ivory suit could diminish. A young black man stands across the street of the self promoting bank. His hair is a kinky black mess in desperate need of a cut and he has on a blue delivery jacket that reads Kiyan Delivery along the back. A long white t-shirt, navy blue jeans and green workman boots round out the outfit.
Kiyan waits impatiently at the crosswalk, one foot on the ground and the other tapping rhythmically on his personal airskiff, a transportation device of his own creation. It has the body of a small boat that is big enough to fit himself and his cargo but not so large that it would be unwieldy. Its extremely lightweight metallic frame is coated with a deep blue that has the touch of a passionate, yet amateur painter. A purple glow exudes from the midsection of the airskiff, identical to the one covering the roads. He decides to take a seat on his airskiff as it hovers above the sidewalk and goes through the black duffel bag he placed earlier on the tail end. As he looks through his belongings, he glances at a floating red hand being projected by a tall, white pole.
“Why does this one always take forever!” Kiyan exclaims. He stands on his airskiff and moves towards the pole on his side, repeatedly pressing on the button to give him the right of way. After his marathon ordeal of waiting for thirty seconds, his persistence yields results as the floating hand switches to a green man stuck in a walking animation cycle.
As he enters through the automatic doors of the bank, he zips up his jacket. It’s always much colder in Davos Banking than it is outside, whether it's 100 degrees or 30 although it is a welcome relief from unnaturally balmy Spring weather. For having such an audacious claim of being the number one bank in the district, the interior is surprisingly homely with bank tellers sitting behind wooden tables, hanging lights spattered across the honey yellow ceiling, and brown couches in the waiting area. Kiyan gets in line behind a man in an all black suit, black shoes and a black leather case in his right hand. He knows this man, not intimately but as a client. Kiyan refers to him as Mr #7 due to him always requesting a number seven from Hartley’s Power Station; the go to health spot for the corporate types that want to get fit but can’t be bothered to walk the twenty feet to the restaurant.
“I can take the next person in line.” A voice says
Mr. #7 steps forward and heads the teller on the right
“I can take the next person in line”
Kiyan approaches the teller in the middle with the familiarity of a friend. “ Bellinda, how’s the family?”
“Oh my favorite entrepreneur, the family is as it’s always been. Are we making a deposit or a withdrawal today?” Bellinda asks, adjusting her half-moon glasses. She slightly lifts herself from the leathery orange teller couch and peers over the wooden table. “I see you brought the...airskipper?”
“Airskiff” he replies, refusing to admit that the airskipper sounds much cooler. “But yes, I’ll be doing a deposit.”
“Ok, and for how much?”
“4000 Callium.”
“4000?” Bellinda replies, unable to hide her surprise. “ This is quite the jump from the usual 1,000 you usually make. Did you win the lotto?”
“Nah, business has just been really good. Besides you gotta be 18 years old to play and I’m about 4 years too early.”
“How is it that you’re younger than my son yet so responsible?” Bellinda asks, “ Do you think you could talk to him? All he does is sit in room and go on the Cycle for hours...I wish he’d look for a job on that thing instead of just arguing about the new Planeswalker films”
“Oh..well you know people go through phases, I’m sure he’ll grow out of that before you know it” Kiyan answers.
“He’ll be 31 next month and you’ve deposited more in one transaction than he has in 5 years”
Kiyan and Bellinda both look at each other for what seems like an eternity, neither able to escape the vortex of uncomfortability they suddenly find themselves in. He tries to look for some sort of out but ends up locking eyes . Her face doesn’t show the ravages of time, in fact she looks rather youthful for being a woman in her 60s safe for her frosty white hair.
“So…..bout that deposit ,” Kiyan says
“ Yes, the deposit.” Bellinda adjusts her burgundy blazer and reaches under her table. She pulls out a small, circular silver machine and places it on the table in front of Kiyan. The machine hums with a cool white glow until Kiyan places his right thumb onto it. The white hue shifts to yellow and then blue. After successfully changing to blue 3 times, the device projects a digital deposit sheet.
“So, I’ve noticed that every time you come to my station, you never make a withdrawal...are you saving up for something special?” Bellinda asks as Kiyan finishes signing. He smiles at her, gives her his card and picks up his airskiff.
“You see here at the bottom?” he asks, pointing to the middle of the board as he flips it over, “this is a single scriptor system.” He continues to explain with the excitement of a boy who was just asked who his favorite superhero is. “ If you look closely, I modeled it after the Vohltz Scriptor since that’s basically what all vehicles in Cambria use. It would take me forever to save up enough for a real Vohltz Scriptor, so I had to make due with the parts I salvaged, but after this I’ll only be 2,000 Callium away from getting one!”
Bellinda stares in awe as she is hit with a whirlwind of tech jargon. A passerby with familiarity with scriptors could ascertain that by scriptor, he of course means the Synthetic scriptor; a revolutionary piece of technology that was created after the Cataclysm 4000 years ago. Said passerby would also know that scriptors read the information on crystals, scripts, and produce whatever effect that is stored inside. This well-researched passerby could also know that scriptors come in many different shapes and sizes depending on its utility; most of them are no bigger than the average head, but some can be as large as a cruise ship and others bigger still. The only qualifications to be a scriptor are being made with the element mollis and having a slot to insert scripts. Unfortunately for Bellinda, this mysterious passerby never enters the bank and she is left listening to the ramblings of a madman.
“Then again, I could go with a dual scriptor setup but then I’d need a recompensator to offset the-”
“Ah well I am sure that you’ll buy that Void Scriptor at this rate” Belinda interrupts with just enough softness in her voice to not be considered rude.
“Oh, yeah thank you” Kiyan replies, keeping it short after realizing he had gone on another of his scriptor induced tangents.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Nope, we are all set here.”
“Thank you for your patronage and for being a part of the Davos Family.” Bellinda hands Kiyan back his card and the moment it reaches his hand, it shifts from a translucent silver to a solid grey. He looks at the card and places it in between his right index and thumb before giving it a gentle squeeze. The front of the card ripples and displays his most recent transaction.
Kiyan walks out of the front door and pulls out his phone. The pocket sized, obsidian rectangle begins to form around his hand as if it were a metal melting. A milk white screen appears with programs dotted across the face. Kiyan makes a scrolling gesture with his right thumb, causing the screen to swipe right until he stops on The Cycle. He opens the app and it’s completely blank.
“Show me my deliveries for today.” Immediately a wall of text appears on screen reading Kiyan’s Delivery Service. As it scrolls down, he sees all of the deliveries with either a delivered or pending next to them. The site finishes scrolling and he looks a bit surprised, apparently he has completed all of deliveries with zero pending, a rare accomplishment for him.
“Put notifications on for new requests and leave the request form open until 11pm.” A new line of text appears, confirming his request.
An impossibly sleek vehicle pulls up in front of Kiyan, hovering with a majestic violet glow radiating from the undercarriage . Its pristine ivory body runs in stark contrast to its impossibly dark windows and golden trim. The doors open vertically to reveal three men, each looking to be in their mid 30s, wearing tailored gray suits with the insignia of Baron Vallis on their lapels; a gilded lion. The men walk by Kiyan in succession, paying him no mind as they carry large silver briefcases with a white glow emitting from them. Kiyan sees the glow and instinctively knows that they have built in Storage Scripts, which would make sense seeing as they must be carrying hundreds of thousands of Callium on them. He looks back at the vehicle, interior now fully exposed, and sees the familiar white glow along with a pure marble table, gold chandelier and quite frankly furnishings he has never witnessed before.
“Why put all of this in a car?” Kiyan wonders aloud confused but admittedly a tiny bit impressed. He catches his reflection in one of the many mirrors inside the vehicle and gives himself a once over.
“Damn, maybe I should hit up Eren and get a cut,” he says in a slightly dejected tone. Kiyan makes a series of gestures with his right hand until his phone pulls up an audiobook titled Old World, New Facts vol 1. He places his left index and middle finger on the screen, double taps and then touches his ears one at a time. A film like substance covers his ears before being absorbed into the skin. A voice can be heard saying Chapter 1: Before the Cataclysm.
Kiyan hops onto his airskiff and heads for home, making sure to avoid the people flittering about the sidewalk, though they don’t appear to be as appreciative of his efforts. A few individuals hurl expletives at him but thankfully his noise-cancelling cochlebuds only allow for him to hear about how in the old world, cars had wheels and used inefficient power sources for fuel. The audio slowly fades out as a ringtone begins to play, prompting Kiyan to articulate his hand.
“Yeah?”
“Who taught you how to answer a phone? Anyways, I just got back from a salvage and I got a couple of boxes full of Scripts...might have one for your board too, you coming?”
“I was already planning on heading there Eren, I’m in need of a man with your particular skills.”
“You mean a haircut?” Eren replies. “Why are you also so weird? But yeah I got you, just come through before 7pm.”
“Why? You don’t close until 9”
“Right, but today is So-”
“Sofia’s birthday” Kiyan interrupts in a failed effort to pretend to be aware of that fact. “Yes, Sofia’s birthday is totally today because it’s May 11th and that is the day she was born.”
“Just make sure you’re here on time, no deliveries until after the dinner” Eren states not even the least bit surprised Kiyan forgot the date. “I’ll see you then.”
“Wait, before you hang up, did you know that before the Cataclysm this place used to be called America? It was founded after a war and-” his audiobook resumes, picking up from the Industrial Revolution.
Kiyan looks at his phone and sees that it is 3:45pm. He thinks to himself that he has plenty of time, he’s not that far away from home. It wouldn’t be much of an issue to take a bit of his earnings from the day and get Sofia a gift, she’s not an extremely meticulous girl who can spot a last minute gift from a mile away. He takes stock of his surroundings, noting the street he is currently traveling.
“Ok so this is Wexley and...Bulle? That means I’m close to Maribel Ave so I should take that and then I’ll be at the bakery” he says as he rockets down Bulle. Anytime he’s in this part of Vallis he can’t help but think of the Baron, partly due to the district having his namesake but also because each street reminds him just how much control he has. It is well known that each street is named after a pet of Baron Vallis, a fact that greatly upsets Kiyan for some reason; it could be that he doesn’t like the fact that pets are being immortalized while he’s not sure if he’ll be remembered, or it could be the fact that he knows dozens of peoples that deserve recognition but are seen as lower than animals. As his thoughts begin to drift closer to existentialism, he is snapped back to reality as he finds himself in an alleyway.
“Wow I really gotta stop spacing out when I’m riding.” He looks at his surroundings and sees fairly mundane things, a couple of blue dumpsters emitting a white glow, an orange cat with a rat- like tail and ears, and a backdoor to an establishment. Kiyan checks the time again on his phone, this time it reads 4:15pm. He still knows he has some time but he needs to be headed to the store already. A quick map check on his phone and he knows he’s exactly 11.5 miles away from Char’s Bakery. The moment Kiyan starts his airskiff , the door violently bursts open and two men stumble out, half out of breath and haggard.
“Da-damn...I ain’t think a Ward would be there…”
“This isn’t the Runoffs, I’ve been telling you they everywhere here.”
“Whatever, at least we got- the hell you looking at?”
Kiyan was suddenly acknowledged by the large, heavily tattooed man wearing an orange vest with the initials RR engraved on the sides in red letters. “Uh I’m just trying to go to the bakery so I’ll just be on my way.” He immediately knows who he is dealing with, a member of the Red Raider gang. The gang usually operates in the Runoffs so it is a bit of a surprise to see them here though Kiyan tries to pretend not know anything about them at the moment.
“Yo Brick, check out the board...that’s nice right there” says his accomplice, also wearing the vest though not tatted or all that imposing. “He got something in the bag too.”
“Ay kid, what you got in that bag?” Brick asks, having fully regained his stamina
“Oh this is just things I’ve found along the way, mostly old world artifacts. You wouldn’t be interested.
“How about you let us see what’s in it and we’ll decide if it’s interesting or not?” Brick says as he approaches Kiyan. He then turns to his partner and nods. Kiyan looks behind Brick and sees his partner pull out a Combat Scriptor, illegally modified of course. The man places a coin sized metal onto the back of his hand and it quickly envelops it from fingers to wrist. A red crystal is inserted into it, transforming the metal into a blood red gauntlet.
“Look, I tried to be nice but I’m on a time limit so if y’all not gonna keep it moving then we gotta settle things quick.” Kiyan gets off the airskiff and crouches down, placing his hands under two compartments. As he removes his hands, they are adorned with blue,gothic gauntlets that extend to his mid forearms. Under normal circumstances, he would be showing this to Eren and regaling him about how long it took him to salvage and repair two Edison class scripts, but these gentlemen don’t appear to be in much of a talking mood.
Brick lunges at Kiyan but is intercepted by a straight punch to the stomach. He falls to his knees, becoming eye level with Kiyan, with a mixture of pain and confusion on his face.
“Oh these aren’t regular Combat Scriptors, I modified them” he says picking up on Brick’s bewilderment. “ I-” he cuts himself off, remembering once again that he is on a deadline. Kiyan raises his right gauntlet as it crackles with arcs of electricity and delivers a knockout blow to Brick’s face. A ball of crimson fire grazes Kiyans right shoulder as he just barely dodges,making his jacket the victim of his momentary lapse of focus. He immediately takes cover behind the dumpster, avoiding another attack.
“ You just messed up bad, kid! DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE?!”
As the man continues to shout, Kiyan notices the cat rodent crouching underneath the dumpster. Next to it is a metal pipe, probably from the dumpster itself though he had no time to contemplate its origins, he is still very much in a fight with gang members that wield fire. He grabs the pipe, rolls out into the open and immediately throws it directly at the man. A large plume of fire erupts from his hands, stopping the pipe from damaging him but not from distracting. Kiyan rockets forward, assisted by his airskiff, and charges another electrical strike. The man attempts another fireball but before he can even raise his hand his feet leave the ground. As the Red Raider member spirals down the alleyway, Kiyan can’t help but be impressed with his gauntlets.
“Wow...that’s gotta be 6...7 feet. Looks like my power output regulators are working.” He looks back at Brick, who is still enjoying a nap, and then towards the Flame Script user. “ You guys better not of made me late or I’m gonna wake you up to kick your asses again!.”
Kiyan sets forth for Char’s Bakery with a sense of urgency, stopping for nothing as time starts to run out, unfortunately in his haste he didn’t take notice of how quickly he was going. The airskiff begins to slow down, much to Kiyan’s surprise.
“What the-what happened? Did I disconnect something on accident during the fight?” He looks at his phone and sees the device completely turned off. Kiyan immediately knows what’s going on, he was hit by a targeted NulScript and that means a Warden is nearby. As he turns to look back, his suspicions are confirmed as he sees a white woman with short brown hair approaching. She has on a blue chestplate with WARDEN displayed in white lettering, black greaves, a utility belt and a silver scriptor in her left hand.
“I should toss you in jail for going that fast, but I don’t wanna make Eren have to bail you out”
“Mira, sorry Warden Jessen, did you really need to shoot me?” Kiyan says, frantically trying to start his airskiff.
“I mean no...but then how many opportunities do I get to use this?” Mira points to her scriptor, a silver NulScript designed to stop any Class 2 or lower script. “But seriously where are you going in such a rush?”
“I gotta get to Char’s before it closes”
“Get to-oh you forgot her birthday again didn’t you?” Mira asks knowing full well the answer.
“I didn’t forget, I just didn’t think of it immediately is all. Besides birthdays are whatever.”
“And yet here you are speeding to get Sofia a cake” Mira replies, smirking.
“Well it's important to her and-I don’t have time for this, gimme a ride to the shop” Kiyan demands.
“Why would I do that, I have a job to do ya know.”
“I just took out 2 members of Red Raider in an alleyway not far away from here, take me to the shop and I’ll give you the address.”
“You beat-and now you’re what, leveraging me with an easy pick up? You’ve gotten better” Mira says, her smirk now a full blown smile. “ You finally using the lessons I’ve taught you.
“Stop being so proud and gimme a ride already.” Kiyan and Mira walk to her cruiser; a robust armored black vehicle with blue reinforced doors, mounted sirens, blacked out windows and the initials V.D.W written across it’s hood in white. The open as the pair approach and as Kiyan attempts to get in the passenger side, he is rebuffed by Mira.
“Uh no, you get in the back.”
“What, am I under arrest?”
“Yes, for walking outside with your hair looking like that.” Mira says unable to keep a straight face. “ I hope you are going to Eren’s.”
“Wow, you get one undercut and suddenly you got jokes' ' Kiyan replies, sitting in the surprisingly comfortable backseat. The black leather seats conform to his shape, for a second it feels like he’s sitting in liquid.
“Damn, y’all put criminals back here? This is actually nice.”
“Yup. It’s so nice that it restrains anyone who sits there. It’s a Pirithous Chair “ Mira says as she starts up the car. Kiyan tries to move but despite his effort, he is unable to do anything other than look around, so he does. He peers at the dashboard of the car, taking in the digital displays for speed, power output, navigation, all the standard bells and whistles one would expect in a Warden’s vehicle. His eyes glance to Mira’s thigh, her NulScript peeking out from next to the armrest.
“So, why is it shaped like a gun?” Kiyan asks
“Hm? Oh the NulScript? Apparently before the Cataclysm law enforcement used to carry guns as means of protection. I’m surprised that didn’t come up during your script studies”
“ I know how it works, just not why it's that shape at all. By the way, you coming to dinner? It’s at 7.”
“Dunno, I would like to but my shift isn’t over until 7pm and I know how much punctuality means to old lady Robledo.” Mira responds. “ Remember when we’d be late to dinner because we were out by the docks?”
“Yeah, I didn’t think we’d ever get out of that kitchen. How does she get that place so dirty, it’s just her?!” The two laugh as the reminisce about their younger days, a 10 year old Kiyan, 11 year old Sofia and a 15 year old Mira getting into all sorts of mischief; stealing fruit from Mr. Ocasio’s stand only for Sofia to return them later, Kiyan salvaging scrap old scriptors and making stuff for the group, Mira taking the two to school with her like a big sister.
“Oh man, did you ever have Ms. Stelznick? I swear she was hard on me just because we are both Alemannii” Mira says as she shudders at the memory.
“No, after you left the Red Raider gang showed up. One of their members got into it with a teacher and the school ended up burning down” Kiyan replies somberly.
“Geez, so then how do you guys learn?”
“We gotta log mins on the Cycle. Basically as long as one of the sites we visit constitute as educational, we get credit.”
“That’s awful, so basically you guys don’t really learn anything” Mira responds, suddenly realizing the severity of the situation.
“Pretty much yeah, but it gives me time to focus on my interests like Old World stuff and scripts. Oh, did you know that in the Old World the life expectancy was only 72? Imagine only living 72 years and then poof, gone.”
“Yeah that’s sad, so if the school is burned down, why hasn’t it been rebuilt?”
“What do I look like, a Baron? Anyways that’s the shop up ahead so you can let me out now.”
Mira parks the cruiser in front of Char’s Bakery, a small cupcake shaped boutique.The lower portion of the building is covered in a brown cupcake liner, projecting an image of a smiling woman in a pink apron dancing with various sweets.
“Alright, get out...and don’t let me catch you speeding like that again or I’ll confiscate your board” Mira states as she presses a switch on her dashboard, releasing Kiyan from the seat.
“Oh yeah, those guys are over at an alley by-”
“Off Purden and Baxby, yeah we just got a call about two men sleeping in the alleyway.” Mira interrupts. “ Sounds like you took down some big dudes...you’ve got a gift Kiy.”
“I will the minute I get into the shop.” Kiyan exits the car and walks up to the driver side window. He looks at his airskiff, still deactivated, and stares at his gauntlets that are still pulsing with electricity. “ You might wanna get your NulScript checked out, it only got my board and phone, speaking off how long until it wears off?
“Oh really? Yeah I’ll get it checked by our guys. It's been 10 minutes so it should be back any second now.”
“Cool, cool. Thanks for the ride, it’d be nice if you stopped by tonight.”
“I”ll see what I can do, take care Kiy.” As Mira speeds back off to serve and protect, Kiyan grabs the ice cream cone door handle and makes his way into the shop. Pastel pinks decorate the interior walls, soft white clouds paper the floor,muffling the sound of footsteps. The light fixtures are shaped like cherries with two large bulbs encased in a light red case, giving the store a soft cherry red glow. A small crowd of people mill about the area, sampling the variety of sweets on display.
“Hello! Welcome to Char’s Bakery! We have a flavor for each day, would you like to try our Triple Thursday Treat?” A smiling woman in a milk white uniform asks.
“Uh no thanks, I’m just here for some Banana Bonanza Pie” Kiyan responds.
“Oh, you’re in luck. We have one more batch in stock, they were very popular today. You can go to the register and we’ll have it prepared for you lickity split!” She touches her earpiece and relays the information to the workers in the back of the store. “Will there be any toppings or any other requests made?”
“Just a ‘Happy Birthday Sofia’ and 15 candles. Separately.”
“You want 15 separate candles?”
“Oh no, I want the pie and then 15 candles..which I guess would be separate unless you have the numbered ones.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“ Understood, one pie and 15 numbered candles.”
“Yes-wait no, one pie and 15 separate candles or a number one candle with a number 5” Kiyan remarks, making sure that he is being as clear as possible. “ Just give me the pie and a candle with the number one and a candle with the number 5.”
“Yes, sir. Your order is in and will be ready at the register in 5 minutes, you can pay before or after you receive your order.” She says with a smile and walks towards the back of the store, engaging another customer. Kiyan makes his way over to the cake shaped counter of the register.
“Good day sir, you have the Banana Bonanza Pie and...one set of fifteen candles?” The cashier asks
Kiyan lets out a sigh. “Yeah, that’s me”
“That’ll be 23 Callium please.”
“Here ya go.” Kiyan hands her his card and it glows for a second before the transaction is concluded. The cashier gives him his card and order; a brilliant yellow pie topped off with banana creme and golden flakes. He inspects the pie before the cashier places it in a storage script, along with a set of fifteen individual candles.
“Thank you for shopping at Char’s Bakery and adding more flavor to your day!”
“Thanks, you too” Kiyan says reflexively. He steps out onto the sidewalk and checks his now working phone. It reads 4:55pm and a sense of relief washes over his body, he knows that as long as he hits the tunnels by 5pm, he’ll have a 10 minute window to ride the rails. Kiyan puts the pie in his bag and starts his airskiff, traveling a shortways from the store and arriving at a desolate park. Abandoned areas are rare in the part of Vallis since the Baron has a very….particular aesthetic he likes to uphold but, during the construction of his memorial park to another pet, Baron Vallis had a change of heart and decided to build the park elsewhere.
Kiyan moves carefully through the half completed park, walking gingerly with a board in his arms, remembering the first time he had discovered this area ;he sped through it and cracked his board on a protruding arm of an incomplete statue. He makes his way past a half finished mural of Baron Vallis holding the paw of a creature, the arm that destroyed his board previously, a row of ivory tables, an unreal amount of body length mirrors, leftover equipment and broken sign that reads ‘Wel to Mar Pa’, most likely a welcome sign to Marchin Park.
“Ok, past the sign so it should be...there it is!” His eyes light up as he finds his ticket home, the main power script hut. As he walks to the small, off white shack he takes another glance at his phone, now reading 4:59 pm. He opens the door and enters the tiny room, barely able to fit his board and himself inside. Kiyan bends at his knees and feels around the control console, a large rectangular box, until he grabs a handle. As he pulls it, a metal square hatch opens on the ground in front of him. It is very fortunate for Kiyan that construction regulations state that in the event of script failure, there must be a manual switch to activate the emergency service hatch.
Kiyan makes his way down a cold ladder, eschewing safety and electing to slide the rest of the way down as he clears the guard. Upon reaching the bottom, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a salvaged black filter mask. He quickly puts the mask on and it double taps it on the back of his head, activating it. The mask constricts as it forms into a helmet around his head, relaxing after he exhales, mimicking his breathing. Kiyan walks alongside a safety railing, his footsteps echoing as he walks down the large technological cavern; purple circuitry travels alongside the floors and walls of the Mollis infused black cave. After reaching a gap between the rail, he jumps over it, stands in the middle of the floor and gets onto his airskiff. As he takes a deep breath, the circuits start to become more active, changing from the normal violet purple into a deep mojave hue. A massive flux of energy fills the cavern, moving through like a violent crashing wave. Kiyan turns around and is swept up by the maelstrom, board and all. He manages to maintain his grip and quickly plants his feet on the board and turns it off, sinking rapidly in the sea of anti-gravity before turning it back on. The continuous vacillation of the board allows Kiyan to travel faster than normally possible thanks to the set of circumstances present; the half completely park had originally tapped into the main power line for the district, but since it was never completed they never properly sealed the connection. Everyday at 8am and 5pm, an excess of energy leaks from the deactive line, causing a tsunami of unregulated anti-gravity.
Kiyan can’t help but to do tricks as he surfs along the wave, being careful not to get too high since he is fond of having his head on his body. His bout of showboating comes to an end as he sees his exit, the only section of the cavern with no circuitry. He peels off the wave, which continues gushing forth, and makes his way up the service ladder. As he reaches the top of the ladder, he activates his gauntlets and presses against the exit, shifting slabs of rubble out of the way. On the surface he removes his helmet and looks around at the remains of his old school.
“Nothing like being home” he says dejectedly. Kiyan looks at his phone, noting that it reads 5:10 pm. “Good thing I found that shortcut, shaves off 50 mins from the commute. Oh wait, lemme make sure everything is still there.” He opens his bag and runs a quick inventory, the storage script containing his pickup from Char, his salvage from early in the day and backup scripts are all present. Kiyan notices his hands have a purple tinge to them, as does the rest of his body, the same color as the massive wave he was riding a moment ago. He effortlessly picks up his deactivated board and throws it ten feet in the air before catching it with his index finger. Kiyan lets out a triumphant laugh, smiling gleefully at the turn of events. He places the airskiff under his left arm and his bag under the right and leaps several feet into the air. His elation at his temporary disobedience of gravity is only matched by the somber condition of the area known as the Runoffs. Baron Vallis provides only the barest of the bare essentials to the denizens of this area of Vallis, an area he holds in great contempt. After a few minutes, Kiyan lands onto the broken, battered streets of the Runoffs; the loose gravel shifting under his weight as he trudges towards what is generously called a sidewalk. The sun’s ray, as if knowing which part of Vallis it's in, pulls away, allowing the night to slowly bleed in.
Kiyan sits down on the gray, jagged cement and checks his airskiff. He takes a few minutes tinkering with the bottom until he has two sets of medium sized off-road wheels attached via a network of wires and two steel trucks. Kiyan rides his board through the streets, sharing the road with wheeled, vehicular monstrosities that spew unrefined emissions, a side effect of cobbled together old tech being powered by scripts. Crudely erected concrete beams with exposed rebar and wiring provide illumination for the citizens, though the sights are less than spectacular. The Runoffs is home to a large amount of discarded Old World technology, most of it being used as materials for shelter. Makeshift homes litter each block, ranging from hastily constructed shanties to apartments stacked ontop of each other being supported by various steel beams.
As Kiyan rounds broken boulevard after broken boulevard, he rides past two old men sitting in heavily stained chairs, playing chess on a piece of soldered metal affixed to a wide, bronze base. “ Playing that Old World game I see.”
“Yes, it’s a very interesting game this Cleckers” Mr. Ocasio says as he adjusts his horn-rimmed glasses.
“Checkers” Mr. Phan corrects as he strokes his scruffy rough beard, contemplating his next move.
“Whatever, I am winning so I can call it Cleckers. When you start winning, then you can call it whatever you like.”
“You win because you are cheating, gian lan!”
“Maybe you’re just bad at games, perdedor!”
“Ok you two have fun. Mr. Ocasio don’t stay up late again, last time you guys played you didn’t open the shop up until like 2pm! Also don’t forget about our thing tonight” Kiyan interjects.
“That’s because Senor Perdedor wants to keep playing.”
“That’s because you keep cheating and won’t admit it”
“Then why do you keep playing against me?”
“Because I won’t back down to cheaters!”
Kiyan speeds off, still able to hear the men arguing. A few moments later he arrives in front of a propped up, red spray painted store sign that reads ‘Wholesale Bargains’ on a sheet of rusted metal. He opens the armored rusted door.
“Yo, Eren! I made it! I’m going to the chair!”
A booming voice makes its way from underneath a counter buried in fresh salvage. “Yeah go head, I’m just finishing something up real quick” Eren says.
Kiyan’s treacherous journey for a haircut was nearly complete, he just needed to clear one final obstacle; navigating through the disaster Eren calls a storefront. Boxes upon boxes glow with kaleidoscopic radiance, forming a psychedelic forest of scripts. Each step Kiyan takes is methodical, plotting out his course like an Old World captain navigating the unruly seas. He nears a loose stack of brown boxes, the tear on his jacket catching on the corner. Jagged metals pour out in a shower of silver as Kiyan sidesteps the calamity.
“Ay, don’t be breaking my stuff!” Eren yells
“Man, your stuff is gonna break me!”Kiyan barks, his concentration momentarily broken. “Ok, past Death Forest...now just need to get past Trap Alley and I’m home free” he mumbles to himself. To call Eren organized is frankly wrong and absolutely no one would use that, but there is even an order amongst chaos. Kiyan takes three steps forward and as the wooden floorboard squeaks, leaps to the left before the piece of wood sinks deeper into the ground. He has no time to rest as he nears a critical juncture, the shifting floor. The foundation of Eren’s shop is at best, terrible and at its worst a miracle that no one has been swallowed into the abyss bubbling underneath the loose piece of flooring.
“Are you ever gonna fix this floor? It’s literally floating on your homemade adhesive!” Kiyan yells as he attempts to keep his balance on the moving ground.
“I’ll get around to it, I got other things to do first. Ay don’t forget to get the sanex tape out for me, you know where it's at.”
“Yeah I know!” With a final well timed jump, Kiyan lands on solid checkerboard ground. This area of the shop runs in sharp contrast to the rest; it’s pristine condition makes it look alien in the Runoffs. The floors glisten with an illustrious glow, the black leather barber’s chair exudes comfort, begging to be sat upon. Kiyan casually strolls to the sink behind the chair, opening the polished mirror to reveal an immaculately ordered arrangement of supplies. He pulls out the sanex tape and an unsullied pair of chrome red clippers and trimmers. Kiyan places the items on the porcelain sink and sits in the chair. He places his arms on the cool onyx armrests and sinks into the seat, drifting away.
“So, you get the stuff?” Eren asks as he turns on the clippers.
“How did you? When did? What?” a discombobulated Kiyan asks. “ How did you get her so fast? I didn’t even hear you?” He stares wide-eyed at Eren, wondering how a man of this large black man could move so silently. Looking at his forest green tank top and black jeans, he also wonders how he’s ever able to find clothes that fit his extremely, well muscled body.
“Did you get the stuff from the bakery” Eren asks again
“Oh, yeah I got the pie, it’s in the bag” Kiyan replies, pointing to his bag at the front of the store. “ So are you ever gonna tell me where you get all this stuff from? No way this can all be from salvaging. “
“It is, you just gotta know where to look” he replies as he places a red cape around Kiyan. “Besides if I tell you, you’ll take all the stuff and make more scriptors outta it.”
“That’s….probably true” Kiyan responds, his voice trailing off at the end, “ but if I found more barber stuff I’d totally let you have it.”
“Speaking of letting people have it, is that wear you got that from?” Eren points to the torn fabric of the jacket.
“This? Nah I was on my way back here when a flame script malfunctioned.”
“A malfunction...in Vallis?” Eren says while side-eyeing him.
“Well yeah, he thought he could hit me and he missed, sounds like a malfunction to me.”
Eren sighs. “ You got into with them...again? What is it with you and the Red Raider gang?
“Well for starters, why is it Red Raider gang and not the Red Raider Gang? Or The Red Raiders?
“That’s a good question, probably the same question that made them burn that school down.” Eren and Kiyan share a laugh. “ You would of been better off if they hit you in the head, burned some of this wreck off.”
“But then how would you practice? You already bald as hell so you can’t do it.” Kiyan says as the humming clippers make their first pass through his hair.
“ Rather be bald then have all this, dry as hell...see look at that, sparks flying off. You the reason I gotta get fire insurance.” Eren says with a wide, toothy smile. “ Spending all that time delivering, need to deliver some moisturizer to your scalp.”
“How bout on my next delivery, I bring you some clothes that fit. Your shirt out here screaming for dear life.” Kiyan remarks. He closes his eyes and once again drifts away.
“ Did you find anything good on your salvage this morning?” Eren asks, finishing the top of the head and making his way to the sides.
“Yeah, a couple of Edison grade scripts...so I got a decent power supply for my gauntlets and board.” he replies sleepily. “ Oh, I also ran into Mira, asked her to stop by, she said she might but I don’t know about that.”
“Mira? Man I haven’t seen that kid in what 2 years?
“Something like that, she’s doing fine though.”
“It’d be strange seeing a Ward here though, it's been a min, way before you came for sure.”
“ You almost done? I gotta go change before dinner” Kiyan asked, still half asleep.
“Yeah gimme a sec, just lining it up.” Eren’s clippers run carefully along Kiyan’s hairline, creating a straight line with laser-like precision. As he finishes, he places his hand over Kiyan’s eyes and sprays a mysterious liquid onto his hair. Eren removes his hand and gives Kiyan a handheld mirror. Kiyan examines his new look, his curls are medium length and moisturized. His levelled hairline extends sharply from corner to corner, before slowly fading away as they get closer to the sideburns.
“I do always look so good with a drop fade” Kiyan remarks, giving himself a once over in the mirror. “ You need to get the barbershop going E, leave the salvaging to me.”
“I’m working on it, I need to get enough to open up in the upper district area.”
“Oh, well there’s a spot next to Char’s that looks like it’s on its last legs, maybe you can swing that?” Kiyan says as Eren removes the cape and sanex tape. “ Next time I’m that way, I’ll look into it.”
“You don’t have to do that Kiy, I can handle that on my own. What you need to do is get on home and change. I”m gonna clean up a bit and I”ll meet you there.”
“I’m still gonna look into it.” Kiyan jumps out the chair and, after maneuvering through the shop once again, makes his way to the exit. “ Thanks for the line up Eren, see you soon!”
Kiyan rides the airskiff for two miles on the pothole ridden streets before arriving at his home; a reconstructed free standing two-story brown brick building with a small restaurant on the first floor. It sits between a collapsed apartment building and a field that has been converted into a community garden. Kiyan picks up his airskiff and walks past the chalk sign that says ‘La Cocina Familia’ and opens the dark green wooden door. The restaurant has light green painted walls, a calendar with an Aztec Warrior on the upper portion, red rugs covering stone floors, and three circular wooden tables draped with white table cloths and prayer candles.
“Kiyan, has regresado!” an old , maroon skin woman with a purple rebozo shawl says, looking him up and down.
“Hi Danae...wait did you get a haircut too?”
“I did, do you like it?” Danae says as she struts arounds him, making sure he can see her asymmetrical pixie undercut.
“ It’s very youthful, people are gonna mistake you and Sofia for sisters.” Kiyan remarks
Danae smiles, “ oh you’re just saying that so I don’t yell at you for ruining the jacket I made for you.” She points to his shoulder and gestures for him to give it to her. “ I’ll have this fixed by the morning, you go put the stuff away and change. We start in 15 mins.”
Kiyan places his hands on the sides of her gray temples and kisses her on the forehead. “ You’re the best!” He walks towards the opposite side of the counter and heads towards a large, olive green refrigerator. Upon opening the door he sees a dark soda inside of a cylindrical glass container, yogurt bottles containing beans and small brown pots decorated with hand painted flowers. Kiyan reaches into his bag and removes the storage script containing Sofia’s pie.
He clears a rack off, places the script on top and closes the fridge door before activating the scriptor on the side of the refrigerator. A delicious looking pie now sits on the rack, as fresh and pristine as it was when he first bought it. Kiyan closes the door and makes his way up the cement steps and into a hallway. Three brown wooden doors and a dresser are all that decorate the rather drab, gray walls of the hallway. He lightly knocks on the door to his right and it opens slightly. A young, brown woman with a canary yellow shirt and blue jeans sits at a table covered in old books. Her long, curly brown hair hangs over the top of white head wrap. Kiyan slowly creeps into her room, placing his board next to the bed before turning around to deliver a scare.
“If you want to be able to eat unassisted you should stop right there, conchudo” Sofia states without looking back.
“Oh you’re no fun” he replies, slumping his shoulders. Kiyan peers over her shoulder from a safe distance. “ What are you even studying? I thought you finished school for the month.”
“This isn’t for school, it's for something else.”
“Oh now I really want to know” he says as he makes his way over to her. “ Anatomy? You’re studying human anatomy? That’s boring.”
“Says the guy who listens to Old World History?”
Kiyan stands still for a moment, acknowledging the validity in the claim before choosing to ignore it. “ Yeah but we already know about the human body, we barely know anything about the past.”
“Show me where your photophores are, since you know so much about the human body” Sofia says, closing her book and turning to face Kiyan.
“Oh that’s…..here?” He points to his eyes
“Humans don’t have photophores” she replies, slightly annoyed. Sofia stands up and looks closely at Kiyan. “ At least you’ll look presentable at my dinner”
“Bet you’ll never gue-”
“Banana Bonanza pie from Char’s Bakery” she interrupts with a smile
“How’d you know?”
Sofia points at his bag, “ Usually, you go to your room first and then bother me but you still have your bag in your hand, which means you must have put something away first. It’s my birthday today and it's no secret what kind of sweets I like, therefore you just put the Banana Bonanza pie away and are now headed to your room.”
“Well you’re wrong, they were out so I bought you 200 tiny little banana pies, one laced with poison and the other with the antidote. You’ll have to eat all 200 in order to guarantee your survival.”
Sofia’s eyes fixate on the bag as if something suddenly catches her attention. “ Hey Kiy, lemme see the bag real quick.”
“Uh...ok. I did some salvaging this morning but if you want something you’ll have to wait unt- how that get in there?!”
Sofia pulls out the cat with rat features from earlier. “ A Felis Rodentia?”
“I don’t know how that got there. I thought my bag was a little heavier from the salvage..how did I not see that?” A bewildered Kiyan states.
“Look you need to get ready, I’ll go talk to abuela and see what we should do about this pet.” Sofia walks down the stairs, creature in hand , leaving a confused Kiyan in her room. He leaves her room and goes next door to his wondrous laboratory of innovation, at least that is his view of it. In reality it is a small room containing a gray cot, a large metal table covered in circuit boards and scripts, and a modestly sized shower. A loud clank of metal hits the table as Kiyan places his bag down and makes his way to the corner of his room to place his board down in the corner.
“Oh crap I forgot to get my clothes” he says before walking back to the hallway and opening the dresser. Kiyan opens the top drawer and pulls out a red flannel checkerboard shirt, a solid black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He lays his outfit on the cot and undresses before stepping into the tall, clear cylindrical tank. A cool blue light emits from the bottom of his feet, followed by a liquid green substance filling the tank from ports alongside the wall. As soon as he is fully submerged, the liquid solidifies and begins to remove all traces of filth and grime from all over his body. The miraculous liquid, known as NuYu, provides a total removal of toxins, cleans teeth, and heals minor injuries, all while keeping an inhabitant breathing.
Kiyan walks downstairs, thoroughly cleaned and newly dressed, and sees red and green balloons floating by the ceiling with white confetti covering the tables and floors. At the center is a table covered in a multi stitched fabric composed of different hues of brown, forming Sofia’s face. As he gets closer to the table he notices a smiling Danae petting the creature.
“It’s so cute, what a wonderful gift for Sofia” Danae says as the feliro crawls around her body.
Kiyan looks at Sofia who mouths to him to just go with it. “Yeah well, I know how much Sofia loves them so I figured why not?” he plops down onto the counter.
“You’re always so thoughtful”
“Yes, so thoughtful” Sofia says sarcastically. She takes a seat at the festive table in the center of the room as Eren enters through the front door, ducking under the doorway.
“Ay birthday girl, happy 15th!” He says, carrying a hastily wrapped gift under his left arm.
“Thanks Eren, did you also get me a pet?” Sofia points to the feliro rolling around gleefully on the confetti.
“Uh I didn’t know we are supposed to bring animals to this, but I think you’ll find my gift to be a bit more..practical” he replies as he sets the gift down on the counter. “So I guess this is everyone then?”
“Nope, not everyone” Kiyan says as he gets up from the counter.
“Who else are you expecting?” Sofia asks with slight trepidation in her voice.
“Well I had some time on the way back and I might have made a stop or two.” Kiyan walks to the entrance and turns around, “after all, this is a quinceanera right?” He swings the door open and bows dramatically, gesturing for Sofia to take the lead. As she walks out she’s treated to almost the entire flooding the streets, holding up various signs that read ‘Feliz Quinceanera Sofia!’ Makeshift tables are arranged buffet style on the right side of the street with tables and chairs set up concentrically on the left. Sofia looks back at Kiyan, completely astonished at the events unfolding.
“You...did this?”
“Well I didn’t do anything really, I just told Mr. Ocasio if he can get everyone to contribute, I’d give them a discount on deliveries for the month.”
“How big of a discount did you promise?” She says as people continue to fill the streets, carrying food and gifts.
“100%. I didn’t think he’d get so many though, I’m gonna have a rough month” he says with laughter in his voice.
“Well, I guess this is better than just a pie and a pet, conchudo” Sofia replies, trying to hide the joy in her voice.
“I told you, it's 200 small pies with some poison. Also, you should probably get dressed.” He points to Danae who is holding a black and red ombre ball gown.
“It’s something I’ve kept in storage, I figured it was due for a night out” Danae says.
“Abuela, isn’t this your dress?”
“Do you think I can wear it? I can try it if you really want me to” she replies, placing the dress in front of herself. “ I think it’d look better on you, nieta.” Danae pushes Kiyan out the door and shuts it, giving the two a bit of privacy. Loud music begins playing from an undiscerned location as he heads towards the buffet. He piles on dish after dish until his plate is an unholy mountain of tacos, enchiladas, carne asada, burritos and a piece of fruit. Kiyan carefully navigates through the crowd of people, recalling his training in Death Forest, while maintaining a firm grip on his plate.
“Yes I know!” “ Your free deliveries start next week.” “Yes next week you won’t have to pay.” “ I got it, I will not charge you next week.” “Thank you all for coming!” Kiyan finally makes his way through the sea of party goers and finds respite in a chair next to Eren.
“You know you messed up offering free deliveries right?” Eren says as he begins working on plate five.
“ I’m starting to see that. Ms. Stanis wants me to get flowers from the park in upper Vallis but won’t tell me which park. There’s like 50 parks!” Kiyan replies. “ Also, where is that music coming from? It sounds like it’s everywhere.”
“I have no idea.” Eren says as he bites into a burrito he wrapped in another burrito. “ By the way, Mira not coming?”
“ I guess not. I didn’t really expect her to show up though, she hasn’t been around and I guess it’s hard to get time off when you’re a Ward.” Kiyan replies, stuffing the carne into his already packed burrito.
“Nah, you can get time off pretty easily if you give decent notice. I used to do it all the time.” Eren finishes his burrito and downs a mug of beer before continuing. “ Then again, this was way before Baron Vallis and the new Captain of the Wardens came through.
“Captain Brild? Yeah I don’t like that guy” Kiyan says as he inhales three tacos. “ If there are any leftovers though, I’ll bring them to Mira tomorrow when I’m up there.” The loud crowd and music are suddenly reduced to a hushed murmur. Eren and Kiyan, still mid bite, look at what’s causing the silence. A fully glamoured Sofia emerges from the store. Red lipstick, a silver tiara, black heels and red eyeshadow complete her gothic inspired look.
“Is that Sofia?” Kiyan, still eating his food, asks Eren. “I didn’t even know she could do makeup.”
“She had a little help” Danae says, eating the fruit off Kiyan’s plate.
“When did you get here? Wait where you always here ,but just super quiet?” A startled Kiyan asks. Danae smiles at him before looking at Sofia, who is being complimented by the neighbors as she tries to make her way to the table.
“I can’t believe it’s been fifteen years already” Danae says
“Yeah, I swear I was changing her diapers just the other day” Eren remarks, finishing plate number eight.
“Please don’t talk about her in diapers, I’m trying to enjoy my dinner” chimes in Kiyan.
“I agree, no diaper talk at the table.” Sofia says as she sits down next to Danae. “Who would’ve thought it would be so tiring getting compliments” she says exasperatedly and she sinks slightly in her chair.
“Yeah, must be grueling to hear people tell you how nice you look” Kiyan remarks
“It’s an experience some people will probably never have in their sad, boring lives” she replies, staring blatantly at Kiyan.
“It’s your birthday so I’m gonna let you have that one, just know at midnight there will be returned fire.”
The night is filled with laughter, drinking and dancing. Mr. Ocasio and Mr. Phan continue their seemingly never ending game of chess, Eren has a conversation with Danae, Sofia dances with Danae and then Kiyan, although it quickly devolves into a competition with Sofia emerging the victor. The entire party sings Happy Birthday while Kiyan brings out the pie with fifteen candles.
“Make a wish” Kiyan says as Danae lights the candles.
“ I wish for this to be over already, it’s been four hours and I want to open my gifts already” Sofia says half jokingly.
“ Well now that’s definitely not gonna happen” remarks Eren. Sofia draws a deep breath and exhales, blowing the flames off the candle, but not out. Fifteen small flames float away from the pie and land in the red palm of Brick.
“Look like there’s a party going on and we weren’t invited, that hurts our feelings” Brick says as ten other Red Raider members emerge from behind him, creating a wall. “ Tell you what though, we’ll just help ourselves to all of this and call it even.” A few of the Red Raider members begin shooting fire in the area, causing the party goers to disperse from the streets. Kiyan jumps over the table and stands in between the gang and the escaping citizens.
“ I don’t know how you’re not in jail but honestly I should thank you, I just ate a ton and definitely need to work this off.” Kiyan puts his hands in his pockets and pulls out his gauntlets, assuming a boxing stance.
“The kid from earlier? Oh this is great! I get payback and free food? Damn I’m lucky!” Brick shouts with malicious glee as he shoots a geyser of flame into the air.
“It’s pretty rude to ignore someone at their own birthday party you know” Sofia chimes in, standing next to Kiyan.
“Uh Sof, what are you doing? These guys are using modified Combat Scripts and you don’t even have a basic scriptor.”
“ So then it should be a fair fight. It looks like you and the big one have some history so I’ll let you deal with that, but if you’re not done when I’m back...I’m gonna take over.” Sofia digs her heel into the asphalt and beelines towards the members behind Brick, causing Kiyan to shield his face to block the wind she kicked up.
Mr. Phan, who took cover behind Eren, peeks out momentarily. “ Shouldn’t you two be stopping her?
“Yeah, why are you guys letting the kids fight?” Mr. Ocasio chimes in, also cowering behind Eren
“You two just have a seat, this will be dealt with shortly” Danae replies smiling. They look on as Sofia sidesteps a stream of fire and delivers a thunderous blow to the thug, sending him hurtling towards a parked car, almost knocking it over.
“Sofia! You need to be aware of your surroundings!” Eren shouts, comfortably spectating with Danae.
“Also, try not to ruin that dress, I don’t have the materials to repair it” adds Danae as she eats off Eren’s plate.
“Understood!” says Sofia as she delivers a straight to the guard of another member, crushing his scriptor and arm in the process. She’s grabbed from behind and performs a textbook over the shoulder throw before kicking him in the stomach.
A jetstream of fire causes Kiyan to roll out of the way. He leaps forward, gauntlet crackling with electricity, and strikes at Brick, only to have his punch caught.
“You caught me by surprise last time with these, but I know what to expect now!” He begins to overload the gauntlets with heat before ripping them off completely. Brick looks at Kiyan as he tosses them aside, “ What you gonna do now? Your lil zappy fists are done.”
Kiyan looks at his bare hands and begins to breathe rapidly. An alien sensation burns throughout his body, seemingly concentrated in his right hand. “ I only used those things so you wouldn’t feel bad losing to an unharmed kid!” he says, trying to maintain his bravado.
“Nice try kid, I can tell you’re scared. I bet you felt safe using those gloves, but only you got now is yourself...and that ain't much.”
“ If you’re so confident in that, then why haven’t you moved?”
Brick eagerly takes a step forward and suddenly freezes, breaking out into a cold sweat. Kiyan stares at him, trying to make sense of why he’s suddenly stopped. He looks into Brick's eyes and sees his dilated pupils fixated on him.
Kiyan takes a small step forward and sees the fear grow in Brick’s eyes.
“Ay Kiy, you know your gauntlets still on fire right?” Eren yells
“Oh crap you’re right!” Kiyan runs to a table to grab some water to put out the fire. Brick suddenly snaps back to his senses as if he were lost in a trance. He looks at Kiyan, who is desperately pouring cups of water on his scriptors. He shifts towards Kiyan but stops as Eren rises from his seat, cracking his neck.
“It looks like your buddies wanna go home, maybe you should join them” Eren says pointing behind Brick. As Brick turns he sees his the bodies of his accomplices writhing on the floor in pain with a completely unharmed Sofia adjusting her tiara.
“ I’d listen to him, my granddaughter is showing restraint because she doesn’t want to ruin her beautiful dress, but then again dresses are replaceable” Danae states, being rather obvious with her implication.
“ I lost my appetite anyways. Time to go!” Brick commands, mustering all the remaining bravery he has. “ Don’t think this is over though, y’all just moved to the top of our list.” As he and his comrades scurry away, Sofia makes her way back to Danae and everyone else.
“ Well, all that food made me tired and dessert didn’t help. I’m gonna head to bed. Open gifts tomorrow?” asks Sofia.
“Sounds good, besides everyone left so I’m gonna be busy putting all this stuff away” remarks Eren.
“ You could always have Kiyan help you” Danae replies.
“ Yeah… I don’t think he’s in the headspace to do much of anything right now” Sofia says, pointing to Kiyan as he continues to pour water and blow on his scriptors. “ He’ll be too preoccupied with that.”
“Kiy, go inside if you’re gonna fix that thing, I got things to do!” yells Eren
“Huh? Oh..yeah.” Kiyan grabs his things and runs inside.
“Let’s go, nieta” says Danae as she walks back inside.
Sofia hugs Eren goodnight and follows in after Danae, leaving him to deal with the messy aftermath.
Eren sighs, “ This is gonna be complicated.”