The silver-grey haired man slammed the door shut behind Kain, catching his breath as he slumped against the door. A terrible thought flashed through Kain’s mind, compelling him to pull out his bolt pistol and level it at the man. The man looked up to see the barrel of a gun pointed at his head and sighed, “Look, I know you guys are spooked after that, but please just trust me here. If you guys were out when the cleaners found that goon, you would have been hunted. As much as I hate the phrasing, it’s true. Your ears, little miss, would have been severed and sold as souvenirs,” he stated with a grim expression, ignoring the gun leveled to his head. Kain stared into the man’s eyes and lowered the gun, putting it into his amulet. “Thank you for trusting me. Also, neat trick. By the way, my name is Gus, antique seller, general supplier, tinkerer, enchanter, and businessman. Mind sharing your names?” he asked politely.

Kain looked into his eyes once more and sighed, “My apologies about that. It has been rather stressful ever since we arrived, so I had to hedge my bets. My name is Kain, explorer, crafter, and weapons designer. Luna?”

Luna snapped to attention and answered cheerfully, “Ah! I’m Luna! Uh… we do the job thing now? Okay! I’m a cutter, ripper, crusher, and fleshbender!” she cheerfully exclaimed. The man’s, Gus’, jaw went a bit slack while Kain rubbed his temple next to her. “What? I told him what I do.”

“It is just hard to believe that a young girl is a melee fighter, Luna. He may have heard you… dealing with that guy, but he didn’t see it,” Kain explained, causing Luna to pout.

As she pouted, the crystal in her hand exuded blue smoke, which coalesced into a small ethereal serpent above her shoulder. “I suppose it is my turn, then. I am known as Ythane, soul shaper, magus, warrior, hostess, and green duvalad,” Ythane spoke, causing Gus' jaw to go even further slack.

He coughed and recollected himself, focusing his attention on the three people he brought into his home. “I… see. I suppose a group being able to do that to that lunatic Joshua would have to be unique. I’m sorry about my… rudeness. I know you were lying to Joshua, but, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you three doing here?” he asked, then held up a hand, “No, nevermind. I learned early on that prying is a good way to either get stuck in someone else’s business and be unable to get out or die. How about this, are you three in need of room and board?” he asked, peering at the three’s reactions.

Luna looked at the other two, seemingly indifferent. Ythane shared a glance with Kain and nodded. Kain sighed, turning to Gus, “We do need a place to rest, if you do not mind. What I want to know is the price,” he demanded with a stoic expression.

Gus nodded understandingly, “Two things. First: do not speak about what you see here with anyone else. Second: Kain, can you help me here in the store while you’re here? Usually, I don’t ask that of anyone I offer shelter to, but you are not a demi, so the Purists won’t burn the place down at first glimpse,” he offered.

Luna spoke before Kain could, “Why just Big Bro? Why not me?” she asked, a bit annoyed.

Gus sighed and pointed to her ears, “If anyone sees you with those, then there’ll be void to pay,” he explained simply.

She scoffed, “If that’s it, then I can still work here!” she yelled. As she did, her rabbit ears sunk into her hair and human ears sprouted from the sides of her head, blooming into normal ears. “Ah-. I don’t like that… No wonder I stuck with rabbit ears.”

Gus, much more used to their strangeness at that point, simply sighed. “Alright then. Seems like both of you can. It’s… a little off putting that you can just do that, so please don’t. Thanks.”

Luna nodded and Kain spoke, “Now that we have that business sorted, I think a rest is due. We can learn about this Olsvania city later. Can you show us to our room?” he asked politely. Gus nodded without another word, leading them behind the counter of the dark store and up a set of dimly lit stairs. Once at the top, he led them to a similarly lit reading room with an armchair, painting, window with the curtains drawn, bookshelf filled with books, and simple rug. Gus lifted part of the rug and revealed a hidden trap door.

Pulling it up, they saw a ladder leading downward. “I have to ask you to be quiet here. This ladder was put through a storage closet that was on the first floor. I have already walled it off, so there is no threat of any Purist goons finding it down there. That may not be the case if you’re loud. So, please don’t be,” he requested, climbing into the dark. Kain, Luna, and Ythane followed. He soon reached the basement, which was a concrete-floored common room with a dining table, television, and chairs to match. Gus didn’t linger, leading them into an adjoining hallway. At the end of the hallway, he opened a door to a sparsely furnished room. There was a bed, nightstand, desk, and dresser. “Alright, everyone else is asleep, so please go to bed or be quiet. Thanks,” he said, turning to close the door.

“Wait,” Kain said, “Why did you take us in? We killed a man and you barely even bat an eye. What’s all this to you?” he asked pointedly. Gus visibly tensed, but soon fell into thought.

“Because I can’t sit by while innocent folk are killed,” he responded, a fire in his eyes, “If you’re wondering why I let you three in, then it’s because you saved more lives than you took. Bastards like him are better off… nevermind. I won’t bore you with my religious inclinations,” he finished, turning and closing the door behind him as he left.

Ythane sighed, floating over to the nightstand and laying her crystal down, “Is this the brutality of humans you were speaking of, Kain?” she asked.

He nodded grimly, “It is indeed. The humans of my world enslaved entire races based on their skin color. They exterminated races for little more reason than that. It doesn’t surprise me that, in a world where rabbit ears are a sort of common sight, people would kill each other for those reasons. But I want to get your two’s opinion about Gus. I have an odd feeling about him, personally. He feels… off kilter, like he’s just not normal I guess. You two?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Regretful,” Luna said, any cheerfulness gone, “He feels regret. I can tell. I don’t know how though.”

Ythane nodded, “Indeed, regretful is exactly how I would describe it. Luna, I believe the reason you are able to feel it is that you have gotten closer to soul magic. That is a possible effect depending on the individual,” she explained.

Luna pumped her fist, “Nice! That’s good! If anything else, I’m happy he ignored the necklace echo effect, though. We might need to think something up about that.” she contemplated.

“Either way, I believe it is a good time to go to bed,” Kain said, inciting a nod from Luna. Kain climbed under the covers and threw his cloak over the top. Luna followed him, doing the same with her cloak. Before long, they both fell asleep, leaving Ythane to rest.

*=====*

A lone, dark figure sailed across the highrises of the western business district. She jumped from building to building, across streets, alleys, and city blocks without stopping. Few noticed her and fewer cared, those only being the grouchy elderly annoyed at the disturbance of the static skyline.

Mary Grant leaped from the top of an 8-story office building and dived down to the roof of a 4-story apartment complex, her leather coat flapping in the wind as she fell. As her feet landed, they made no sound and barely touched the roof before she was flying to the other side of the building. She leaped across the narrow street and grabbed onto the fire escape of the 10-story shopping mall. She shot up the side like a hawk, landing on the roof with nothing more than a soft thud. Instead of dashing across the roof like she did previously, she slowly sauntered over to the edge of the roof. She looked over the edge and stared at the large hall that stood across the street.

Despite the moon reaching its zenith, the streets were a flurry of life. Mary gazed at the black-stone hall with accents of gold. The rock was, as the story told, imported from a rich island nation to Olsvania’s north in exchange for the secrets of mana muskets. It was that story that inspired the general distaste for the Spice and Gold Company, due to the fact that the island nation used the secrets of mana muskets to gain naval dominance for a good century.

Mary shook her head, clearing it of off-topic thoughts. “This is it,” she said to the air.

[Indeed it is,] Abe replied, [It is quite the place, to be honest. I’m not sure if you can see this, but I can see the place practically oozing mana.]

She shook her head. To most, mana sight from a far distance was impossible, but for as unique a being as Abe it was nearly second nature. She scanned the tall columns of the front entrance, looking for a way in. “Well, I don’t see any way in from here. Now that I think about it, what are we going to do once we get in there? I’m no spy, so I don’t know what to look for,” she complained, eliciting a laugh from Abe.

[There are a few ways this can go,] he began, [If they aren’t against the Purity Union, then we won’t find anything useful. If they are, however, I have a suspicion that just showing yourself will earn you some directions to the rebels or whatever. If that isn’t a good idea, we could just sleuth around to find some leads. If all else fails, then we can just kidnap and interrogate a big wig, as bad as it sounds.]

She shook her head. “I won’t just reveal myself. That’s a bad idea. I don’t think kidnapping some executives will work. I think the best idea would be to-” her words were cut off by a feeling of danger coming from behind. She flashed her stolen sword enchanted with a few new runes and deflected the blow coming at her neck. She whipped around and jumped back. Behind her, she saw a man in armor coming to a stop. His armor was closer to the medieval knights armor she had seen at a few museums. It was made of a dark green metal and light enough to not restrict movement. Atop the light armor, a blue raincoat hung, swaying in the wind.

“That’s impressive,” the man said in a gravelly voice reeking of decades of smoking, “Not many can feel that coming. Now, I don’t have time to waste on a purity goon, so just come clean and tell me why you’re here.”

The man’s eyes landed on her after he was finished speaking and she could feel it. As she was trying to figure out what to say, Abe whispered to her, [I think you should be honest. He seems to have a bit of a hatred of the Purity Union.]

She cleared her throat and stared him in the eyes. “My business is trying to figure out who wants to go after the Purity Union. Name’s Mary Grant,” she said with faux confidence.

The man seemed to recoil slightly at her words, but soon looked up at seemingly nothing. Soon enough, his attention snapped back to her, “Hmm… Mary Grant, 19 years old, adoptive daughter of one of the few demi-human upper class men, alive and armed, Ah, here we go, Crimes: living with an unclean being, killing tens of elite Purity enforcers, unauthorized slaughter of over 200 infidels without proper cleansing, theft of Purity Union property, and evasion of arrest. Among other things,” he listed. He suddenly laughed, nearly keeling over. “And here I thought I found a kitten without claws. I just found a blooded lion! Alright, apologies for the… rough treatment. Even if you were pinning to fight the Union, a weakling would have just dragged us down, but this shows otherwise!” he cheered.

Mary cleared her throat, “You have access to the enforcer’s system? How do I know you aren’t just a Purity goon,” she challenged.

He chuckled and slowly removed his helmet. Beneath the mask was not a human, but a demi-human, more specifically, a demi-human with horns and pointed ears. A demon. The most hated people of the Purity Union. His face was scarred, with deep grooves tracing up and down his cheek, and skin red. His eyes were a blazing green. On the side of his head was a metal disk implanted into his skull. Cybernetics. The most gruesome of mana-engineering. Even worse, brain cybernetics. Liable to cause personality distortions at current levels of technology. She shuddered, causing him to laugh even harder. “I know,” he said, “You must be scared of the brain cybernetics. Everyone is. Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time.” He pulled his knight helmet back on. “We’ve kept my backers waiting long enough. You want in, you follow me.” He turned to jump off the building.

“That was easy,” Mary muttered under her breath.

The demon turned around and laughed, “Maybe,” he laughed, “But everything happens for a reason. Be that reason God, man, or other.” He jumped off the building and flew toward the Company hall.

[Go after him!] Abe urged, [We won’t get such an easy chance again, so best take it now.] She didn’t need further encouragement. She spun and jumped off of the building, flying after him.

*=====*

Okay, so the random schedule stuff will keep going for a while. Only rules of thumb being that I most likely won’t post on Friday or Saturday. Anyway, hope ye all enjoyed.