Cor Fortium

“

The Heart of the Strong

“

Fifty years ago, when our city was still bright and our kingdom was still strong, a new King was born into the world; though his destiny is not the story being told, it is important to it, and must be included.

Many profits predicted the kingdoms fall, many of them predicted a saviour to come when the times seemed horrible, but no one predicted the kingdom to fall in such way that it did.

The young King, born in the last calm years of the city, had grown to be a strong adult, he found love and started a family, but with that he had also ruled greatly in his passed father’s throne. Slowly and unexpectedly the kingdom was falling.

It wasn’t noticed at first, because it was so subtle that not even the King himself could tell; everyone believed the profits to be crazy, our kingdom was so strong back then, so when people began to realize what was happening they were more than just shocked:

They were filled with regret.

Regret of wishing that they had only believed the profits at first, regret that they were stuck in such a downfall because they closed their ears and turned their heads at the very mention of their beautiful city taking a fall.

The cause of the downfall was an enemy that worked their way into the Kings most trusted men and women; they worked their way to the court of the government, to the soldiers and the citizens.

This sounds a lot like a plague, and in many forms it is, the plague of one of the most notorious enemies our country has ever known; a group that started off small, with the dream that one day they would claim their own city again, it later developed in such a way that their city, that now lay in rubble and ash, was no longer their goal.

Their goal was to claim the country and claim the world, to wipe out the king and his family.

The Kings Children were born, an older son and a younger daughter, the two were born when the kingdom was still calm and still warm and they had no idea what sort of pain they and their city would go through.

The Queen knew of the dangers, of course, and kept her children near her, it was much easier with her daughter who was shy and scared easily then with her son who was adventurous and stood up to almost every threat.

Every day their son would sneak from the estate doors and head to the city, the city was very colourful those years, the streetlamps were bright colours and there were Asian styled paper lamps hanging on a string from building to building, from lamp to lamp there were colourful cloths and scarves for decoration.

On the streets there were many people, all at booths, shopping and selling, the doors to the shops were open and music played throughout the city, though the streets were thin and the buildings were tall, the Light Flyer’s were still able to squeeze through.

Now you see, a Light Flyer is a hover craft that’s built out of kinetic energy and Hover Fans; it was an odd invention a few years before, which got the name Light Flyer from stand-byers who thought the hover craft was flying on light, not air.

Anyway.

The trains in the city run on large, thick and tight wires that gave off a kinetic energy, they were attached to large metal arches that were the docking stations; the kinetic energy, like in the Light Flyers, is the reason for the train to magnetically hover through air instead of running on a tail. This made for a lighter and smoother ride.

The city was grand and still growing, new inventions were coming everyday and new people as well; this is what always dragged the boy to the city, he was an inventor himself and he enjoyed getting new ideas from his cities surroundings.

Many people knew him, as he walked through the streets every day, as Little Inventor, or Paulo Regem, Latin for Little King.

You probably see the dangers already, for a young prince to be in the grand city and everyone knowing who he is when there is an enemy out there on the hunt to kill him and his family, and the dangers of those people increase through the fact that they were no longer just an enemy but an ally.

Soldiers, guards, citizens, all watching the young king as he walks through the city.

As the enemy built his way up to the top, the threats became large, the city was starting to fall into darkness and the King’s family struggled to hold their ground.

Seven years after their first child was born on a warm August night the city completely fell.

The King’s General had announced the family’s death.

The family estate had burned down in a blazing fire; it had burned on for three days before it was completely put out, the fire had burned for so long that the family’s bodies no longer remained.

The General stated that there were no survivors, and that there was no foul play.

People believed him because they had to, because the people they trusted the most to give them the truth, and to rule their city, were gone.

But what they didn’t know was the family’s murder, how the corrupted soldiers had broken in and grabbed the two children, murdering them in front of the parents, taking the queens life and then the kings.

Though with that being said, the city also never found out about the only survivor, I said already that they murdered the children, but what I didn’t tell you was of the third child born barely two years before; the one they had found was him and the daughter...

But never the eldest.

They guessed that the child had been somewhere else in the house and that he’d die from the fire, but what they didn’t take into account was the fact that this child was an ability user; he had an odd ability called the Moderatoris, Latin for Controller.

This ability grants the person to use a grand scale of abilities, mainly along the lines of Telekinesis’s, Mind and body control, invisibility and shielding; now the young king was gifted with a rare strand of this already rare ability, and his mother always taught him to hide it from people for his own safety as well as for the families.

The child could not save his family, he was forced to do as his mother said, ‘never become discovered’ and was forced to watch as something so brutal happened.

The events after that, and where the boy had gone, were unknown to almost everyone.

But what everyone did know was that the city was now at its weakest and there was no king to make it strong again, the new government and the new, false king gained control, putting chains on the citizen’s throats, forcing them to follow the horrors they claim are laws.

After years many people have adapted and even forgotten or never learned of the evils behind the government, but there are people in the city who still know and who are willing to fight, who create a bond and swear their lives to save their homeland, to save the country and the people they love that were forcefully taken from them.

The rebellion started and silently grew, though the government knows of us, they can never find us; they think we’re small and that’s our advantage, when we strike, we will strike hard and unexpectedly and we will gain control.

Even if every one of us dies, someone will see the lies and pick up our flag again.

We are The Cor Fortium.

2: Minister et Viator

Minister et Viator

The Bartender and the Traveler

The afternoon light was bright and warm; it brought the odd man or woman to the Fortes Bar on the corner of Luna and Beckon Street in the flooded district of Meliora City, the bar was a nice sized place and in a four story building, the two lower levels were under the water while the two upper levels were barely above it.

The actual Bar was at water level, yet the bar owner did a good job at keeping the water out. Inside was an old fashioned layout, one of the first bars to be built in this city actually; it’s floors were a hard oak with a burgundy brown stain, the tables and stools were cherry wood with a little lighter stain than the floor, the bar island was build from the same oak as the floor and had the same stain as it too, all of the stools had carved designs on them and black leather seating with a silk red trim.

It was a high class bar but was used for all classes.

The alcohol ranged from the most expensive wines and brandy to the cheapest bears and rum, the people who came here ranged from the highest classes of soldiers and business owners to the lower classes of workers and street runners.

The lighting in the bar was a warm yellow, on the walls hung original designs for the Light Flyer, designs for Robo-Tenders and other contraptions as well as older weapons such as gunpowder loaded guns like the Cannon Rifle, Sawed Double Barrel and a Golden Ray’s original make model Revolver.

When a traveler enters the City, and asks where he or she could freshen up they are always pointed in this bars direction.

Now that’s how our Mysterious Bar tender meets our curious Traveler.

In the city the breeze is humid, and considering the fact that it’s a warm summer day, at the point of the hours that it is the warmest, the humidity seems worse than usual.

A young woman travelling from the North had just made it into the city, she came across the sea on a vessel used for importing and exporting trade, for her entire journey she had kept herself well hidden in hope that she’d make it back to her home land safely.

Now standing on the docks with nothing but a back pack of goods she came to realize something was off.

Stepping through the crowds of sailors and soldiers she made her way to the gloom of the damp, thin streets; people walked fast and rough, pushing past one another hard, but they kept a clear opening in the center of the street.

“Well...” she said frowning slightly at the oddness of the sight, “this is different from what I remember.” And that it was, when she lived in this city she had lived in the time of happiness and colour and she had left three years before it completely changed.

Though she doesn’t remember much of how the city looked before, she knows for a fact that it didn’t look like this.

Walking down the thin street of Earvin, she stuck to the middle while she looked around for any sign of her old home; no one seemed to notice her, either that or they didn’t care to notice her but she did notice them.

The people wore work clothes, some looked like business men, others looked like errand boys and others looked like bakers and blacksmiths, some tailors and mechanics.

Like said before they all stuck to the side and were in such a hurry, a few times they would yell at each other and push a little more, but mainly they just followed in sync.

The cities guards and soldiers stood at every corner, some of them were walking in the crowed while others were cleaning their weapons to look intimidating.

The young woman hadn’t noticed that she had stopped moving, nor did she notice the dangers of standing in the middle of the street; now you see these streets are thin and narrow, they’re always packed full with people so it makes it difficult for Light Flyers to travel.

There are newer versions of Light Flyers that can hover higher and hover longer, they are flat on the bottom and have a cupped cover, they can hover about ten meters above the city streets and are as light as a feather, they’re called Hover Leafs. Not so original right?

But the problem with Hover Leafs is the fact that they are not only too expensive for most people to buy but they also happen to have some problems, there are some chances that the Hover Leaf will randomly give out and kill not only the driver but whoever is underneath, their other problem is the fact that the Kinetic energy in it has to be stronger than the Light Flyer and as a end result the user can get Kinetic poisoning.

It’s an odd thing to hear, because Kinetic energy is by definition: Energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion. Motion isn’t something to give you poison, now is it?

“This really isn’t what I remember it to be...” she mumbled out disappointedly, “so maybe the rumours are true?” her tiny feet went to step forward, still not paying attention to her surrounding but what did ketch her attention was a yell.

“HEY! MISS! WATCH OUT!”

Her eyes quickly directed to where she thought the voice came from, it was the first time she had heard someone yell that loud in the crowd; sure enough she had noticed what the male was screaming about, a Light Flyer directly in the middle of the street coming her way.

She had ducked, just barely, and went to stand up when another one—coming from the other side—had brushed past her and honked its horn.

The forceful wind created by the Hover Fan caused her to stumble slightly; she got into a position where she wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to get out of the way again.

Shock filled her body as she was suddenly closer to the ground, but not touching it, barely hovering over the cool hard pavement; another Light Flyer ran over above her, the driver screaming and honking his horn.

Her eyes met with dark brown locks of short hair and she realized that the thing preventing her from touching ground was two strong hand’s placed properly on her back, this guy who was holding her, she guessed, was the man who yelled at her to watch out before.

He moved swiftly and stood up quickly, carrying her in his arms like a bride until they came to the side where he set her down.

Her light blonde hair that was usually tied back neatly in a bun was messily undone, her brown leather boots with metal plating screwed on the toe and heel got a couple of new scratches on them, her white and brown clothes were a little dirty and her skin had a couple of scrapes, but besides that she was fine.

She looked up to the man who had saved her and her deep blue eyes filled with gratitude.

He was a young man, early twenties, Dark brown hair with a silky smooth appearance, it was slicked back the way you would see the higher classes do, he wore a white button up dress shirt with the sleeved rolled up to his elbows, over his dress shirt was a black vest with a gold pocket watched tucked away in his breast pocket and the chain leading off to under the vest. The dress shirt was tucked into his black dress pants that were slightly tight but a proper looseness.

His skin was slightly tanned, a little pale but in a healthy way, and he had light Grey eyes that seemed to hold a lot of mysteries to her.

“Thank you,” she voiced and bowed, on her travels it was rare to find a stranger who would put their life on the line just to save her, or anyone to be exact.

“No need to bow to me, Miss,” he commented with a small smirk on his cool face, “How could I lose a possible customer?” now he really didn’t save her for that sole reason, his intentions where to protect a damsel in distress, though he noted that she looks like she could save herself any other time... but this time was different.

Blue eyes darkening at the male in front of her, she didn’t want to believe that this man was as selfish as to save her for his own benefit but the stupid smile he wore just made her snap...

He chuckled a bit and shook his head “Don’t be so uptight, lady, I’m just kidding.”

Of course she has been through a long journey only to find her home city is a mess, so Jokes aren’t exactly pleasing at this moment, especially these types of jokes.

“How can you joke when the city looks like this?” She mumbled out, frowning and looking around the street, the brunette looked as well and sighed, “Do you want to come back to my bar?” he asked casually, her head snapped towards him and she glared.

“I thought you said you were kidding,” she growled out, he nodded and smiled “I am, you just look like you could freshen up, and besides I left it unattended and I need to get back there.”

She thought about it for a moment and studied him over again, she was sure she could take him if it came to that, even if he has muscles; “why should I come with you?” she asked, this time without a threatening growl.

He shrugged and started walking “You look tired and hungry, I have a spare bed, food and drinks,” he stated, she took a step forward but stopped and called to him “I can get all of that at an Inn!” after her words he stopped, smiled and turned to her “But can you get the answers you’re looking for there? Hm?”

“What do you mean?” She asked curiously as she took another step, “You’ll find out if you come with me, now wont you?” he cooed calmly.

The walk was silent as they made their way through the even thinner alleys and came to larger streets, calmly walking past guards and coming to the flooded district.

She hadn’t seen her home city flooded, or heard any rumours about it, so this came as a slight shock; he looked at her for a mere second before pulling her along their way and down the wood and concrete pathway until they came to the area outside the bar.

“Well, here we are, my bar.” He stated, she looked up and read the sign with a frown “Fortes?” she asked as he opened the door for her “It’s Latin for Strong Ones” he said with a smile; inside the bar was beautiful she noted, it was warm and welcoming, even the small amount of people there seemed like a happy bunch, a lot more different from the streets.

“Welcome to my Bar and my Home!” he cheered with a smile “I can get you anything you want.” She continued looking around as he slipped behind his bar and leaned on the island, “You could start with a name.” She said as she sat down on an empty stool.

He grabbed a piece of paper and pen and began writing his name down, when he finished he handed it over to her, “And you?” he asked.

She frowned at the writing, besides it being incredibly neat she had never seen a name like that “Kaide? Kai-de?” she asked, still frowning, the brunette shook his head and said “Kaide, like Kide, but spelt with an ‘A’ I know fancy right?” his voice turned into a tease towards the end.

She looked at him and sighed before stating her own name “Yara Fable.”

His face seemed to light up and he smiled brightly, “Yara, Arabic for Strong, spring, and water lady, and Fable meaning Story.” Kaide stated warmly, “A Strong Story.”

Yara’s Cheeks tinted slightly with pink, not many people make her name sound so great.

“Anything else I can get you, Yara?” Kaide smiled sweetly as he continued leaning over the bar counter, she bit her lip and looked down slightly “I would like to know what happened... To my home.” Yara stated, she isn’t one for acting innocent, or for being quiet, but the very thought of her City in such a state...

He set a glass of water down in front of her, she looked to it and then to him; again her eyes fell on the water and the glass, when she picked it up she noticed something was off.

“This is made completely of Clear Quartz Root!” Yara exclaimed excitedly, it’s rare to see such a crystal in this area, even rarer to see it in such a form of a glass. Kaide smiled at her excitement and stood up straight, “you know your crystals,” he said, she looked up to him with a questionable look, “how on earth did you get these?” she asked.

Kaide gave her a wink and a shrug before stating “Now, if it’s a secret then aren’t you not supposed to find out?” his voice was filled with tease, she frowned slightly and said “I thought you were going to answer my questions?”

He chuckled and leaned forward once more “I am, but I’m going to start with the most important one.” He stated with a soothing voice.

That was true, what she wanted to know was what had happened to the city, and how she could change it back to the old place she used to know, though she highly doubted a Bartender knew all of that.

“The Kingdom Fell.” He explained sadly and stood back up, only this time he started cleaning the glass in his hands, “our enemies moved into the kingdom slowly and gained control, after the death of the Kings family the City fell into complete darkness; ever since then we’ve been under the new kings rule, and the city is in depression, it’s divided in rich and poor, no middle class.”

Yara frowned and shook her head “No way, the city was happy when I left, it was bright as ever!” she stated, trying to convince herself that everything he was telling her was a lie, but she knew full well that it wasn’t.

He looked at her and smiled, “When did you leave?” Kaide asked Yara paused and thought about it for a moment, “2046, I was four,” She commented, the brunette nodded for a bit, “17 years ago, so you’re twenty now?” he asked casually, Yara nodded “Just turned last month in June.”

Kaide smiled again and chimed, “Twenty-three,” the blonde frowned for a second before he continued “you tell me about you, I tell you about me.” Yara smirked and nodded, taking another sip of water.

“I would’ve been around seven when you left,” he said as he closed his eyes, “you left just in time, the city was beautiful for most of that year, but after the King’s family’s death it all started to change, I barely survived those years.” Yara bit her lip and asked “What happened?”

He looked at her with his cool grey eyes and smiled, “I see you’re a user,” he stated, pointing down to her leg; users were people with Abilities, they almost always have a marking that identifies them, their markings glow as they use their ability.

She looked down and smiled nervously “ah yeah, the marking actually goes completely up to my stomach.” She stated, not many people identify her blue patterned markings to be markings of Abilities, mainly because she doesn’t use her ability around people, and also because a lot of non-users get tattoos like it.

“After the Kings family’s death the General promoted himself to Kings Position, though he has many ability users on his side, and even he himself is an ability user, he vowed to hunt them down and kill them.” Kaide explained, “Rumours say he’s looking for someone.” Yara bit her lip, Kaide smirked and leaned forward “No worries, he’s no longer cracking down on users, that stopped years ago; but the rules throughout the city are as bad as ever.”

“The rules force us into a daily routine, making sure that anyone who falls out of line end up at the chopper.” He added “The chopper?” she asked curiously, she wasn’t scared of the new king, or his laws; she was scared for her country and city.

Kaide nodded, “The execution stage.” He specified with a sigh, “it doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, innocent or dirty, if you do one single thing wrong you’re out of time.” The blonde frowned and stood “that isn’t fair! They don’t deserve to take our rights!” she growled fiercely.

The brunette nodded and leaned back, “exactly, there is a rebellion out there, fighting against the new king and his rules; the rebellion’s strong but outnumbered...” he stated casually.

Yara had decided, with all that she learned, that she was willing to do anything it takes to gain back her city, she had been through hard times in other countries and she had seen some bad things so she was convinced she could last through this.

“But the rebellion also has the Obtentui on its side,” a man sitting off at the end of the bar counter added in with a slightly twisted smile, “they say he’s the devil in disguise, that he could turn sides at any moment.”

“He’s not on anyone’s side!” someone else called out from across the bar, Yara turned to him and to the other man, she wanted to know who they were talking about; “whether he’s on our side or not, it doesn’t matter, he’s helped us before and he might help us again.” Kaide said as he continued cleaning the rest of the glasses.

Yara looked to Kaide and then the others in the bar before asking “who is Obtentui?” they all gave her a look, now the reason for that is because Obtentui is known even outside of Meliora, and even outside of the country; Kaide never looked up from his cleaning he just smirked “Obtentui is one of the most feared men out there, not even the government is able to touch him.” he started carefully, “many people think he’s the devil, or a demon, others think he’s a guardian, I know a few who think he’s just in the way.” Yara leaned in a little, Obtentui...

“With all that being said, all that is known about him is the fact that he’s an Assassin.”

3: Voluerunt unum et Alterum locali

Voluerunt unum et Alterum locali

The wanted one and the Local one

Not too far from Fortes Bar, still in the flooded district, a Local Mechanic was doing a daily routine check up on her Swamp Runner; Like the Light Flyer and the Hover Leaf the Swamp Runner is a transporting device used by many of the people in the flooded district, unlike the Light Flyer and the Hover Leaf this vehicle is built to hover over water and if it gives out it can float in it like a normal boat without getting damaged.

The Swamp Runner’s are very important for shop owners in the flooded district, most of their materials are either in the deeper area’s or back at the dry lands of the city. The Swamp Runner is meant to hover over water but if they’re upgraded properly they can hover over land just as easily as a Light Flyer.

Before using the Swamp Runners, the owners generally do a routine check up to make sure it won’t crash when they’re on land, though what our mechanic was doing right now was not that.

She was tinkering around with the vehicle, mainly out of curiosity and also because she, and a few others her age, were going to go swamp racing.

It’s a sport activity that the younger generation does on their spare time, the goal is to make your way through natural and manmade obstacles in the old flooded subway, usually they do it for fun but this time it’s for money; money is very scarce in the flooded district, this is after all where most of the lower class people live.

She tapped the aluminium cover lightly with her wrench, double checking that her windshield was good and stable; the biggest problems with Swamp Runners is that they need to be light so their made out of the weaker metals, their other problem is that they, also like some of the original Light Flyers, have no roof, just a windshield.

“Are you ready Baby? We’re going to knock their socks off today,” she mumbled to herself as she ran her fingers over the newly done red paintjob, “I got you fixed up perfectly! You’re to the highest the best upgrade!” she continued giggling to herself while she tied her brown hair back in a pony tail and fixed the baggy mechanics jump suit hanging loosely on her waist.

The young mechanic was pretty convinced that nothing could ruin her day, except a loss maybe, so she wasn’t prepared for the issue that was due to rise later.

She hopped into her Swamp Runner swiftly, feeling the wheel with a smirk on her face “No, nothing can ruin this day~” she sang cheerfully.

“Oi! Missy! What do you think you’re doing! You’re not going to that race today! Get out of the vehicle!” an older man in the same mechanics jumpsuit yelled from back at the shop, he is known for being the best mechanic in this area and she was his assistant but that wasn’t all:

“Eh, don’t be so uptight Papa! I’m just going for a ride!” she called back with a wide smile.

 He was also her father, a very concerned father at that, you see the people who go racing in this area, especially when money’s involved, are the people you don’t want to mess with; they can range from everyday normal kids to the ones you’d see mobbing a woman on the street, the city is a very dangerous place now, a lot different from what it used to be.

It’s hard for a man to stay safe and it’s even harder for a woman, so you can see why her father was so worried about her going.

Though she knew of the dangers she never paid much attention to them, she felt as if she should push herself to get the best for her family even if that meant she was in a bad position; it wasn’t the first time she had raced for money, she had done it a total of four times and had lost twice over all.

The last time she lost her family suffered a little bit because she bided a larger amount of money than usual after being over confident of her two wins, but this time she wasn’t going to let her over confidence get the best of her.

She started the engine and closed her eyes, there was something about her Swamp Runner that made her feel safe “Wish me luck Papa!” she yelled excitedly as she took off in the direction of the race, “Damn kids... always getting in trouble...” the old man mumbled and tossed the dirty rag he was holding over his shoulder then stopped and looked at his daughter disappear “Good luck.”

The air was fresh and cool as she came closer to the subway, the sun was warm and calming, the day was perfect to go racing.

As she came closer the more tree’s, that had started mass growing a year after the flood, were showing up and the calmer the water was; the buildings here were spaced farther apart with vines and other odd plants growing on them, the water was oddly and beautifully clean, old Tally Cart lines were still standing with the wires still intact.

Tally Carts were like small open concept trolley buses only it had the same type of kinetic energy that the trains did; they hovered above the wire track and below it, the wire track was like the trains wire track, it was tight and thick, and it was held by metal arches.

Back when the city was bright, Tally cars were an excellent way of getting around, they were as smooth as the trains but faster and you could easily get off in a local area; they got the name Tally from Gregory Butch Tally the inventor of, obviously, the Tally Car as well as the inventor of the Tally Panda-Bot, a little colourful panda robot that—

As I was saying; she was making her way through the larger streets and thinking through the obstacles of the subway, she had been there not too long ago to test out her new upgrades as well as to memorize the layout for a better performance.

“Come on Old Baby, we’re almost there!” she cheered excitedly as the entrance to the subway was closing in; she studied the area around the opening, it seemed like everyone else was already there.

Her face formed into a smirk as she pulled up next to them “Hey Boys! Ready to get your butt kicked by a little girl?!” the brunette called with over joy, earlier when she first started hanging out with these people they’d always call her ‘little girl’ because they didn’t believe she had it in her to be a racer, or a mechanic.

But the little brunette mechanic was determined to prove them wrong.

“Ho, Ho, Ho, she actually shows her face?” the oldest man out of the six of them teased, he was in a black bulky Swamp Runner at the end of the line, she made disgusted face and yelled “I think you should be hiding yours, Jett, it looks even uglier than it did the other day!”

With that comment he growled out a “whatever” and looked away, the Swamp Runner next to him, that had a bright green paintjob, was the most notorious Swamp Racer, he will take the rules to extreme just to win and that includes breaking them.

When you break the rules in this race, it’s not really noted, because the rules are nothing but guide lines put there so the sport could be legalized; so over all it’s a very deadly game.

“Eh, Gareth, you’re lookin’ a little pale! ‘fraid you’re gonna lose?” She chimed, Gareth was, as I said, the one in the bright green Runner and he put on a smirk before calling back to her “I’m afraid I might lose the ability to go to your shop, don’t know how much your parents are going to like the guy who hurt their Girl.”

Of course this didn’t faze her, instead she chuckled and leaned forward “Let’s get this over with!” she yelled; there were seven racers including her, the one to make it to the end of the tunnel first is the one to win the gold.

A young boy stood on the post in-between the seven racers and held up two flags, when he waved them down the seven Runners were gone.

She started off at a casual speed, dodging around fallen brick walls, tree’s that grew in odd places and manmade obstacles such as a wooden wall or a post; after she got out to the more open area, where the roof had collapsed in on itself, most of the racers were far behind her and she was at a good tied first place.

The person next to her was not who you’d expect, it was one of the newer racers Rial, a young boy who mainly did it for fun and didn’t really talk much, she always thought he was a good kid so that’s why she’s never screwed him over in races and she wasn’t planning to do it now either.

“You’re doing good Kid!” she called, he never looked away from the area in front of him and she noted that he was a smart guy to wear goggles, she keeps forgetting hers, “But I can’t let you win today! I need this!” pressing a few buttons on her dash board she hit the kinetic boost and sped up easily, the area in front of her had small obstacles easy to dodge.

There was a scream from behind her that caused her to look back through her mirrors, Gareth had caught up and was using dirty tricks again; Rial had went spinning out and hit the wall, she continued watching for a bit to make sure he’d get up, when he did she sped up.

“I need to win this!” she hissed roughly, calmly controlling her Runner to make sure she’d stay on track, Gareth had caught up and got dangerously close, she attempted to inch away, both of the runners bodies locked together and she couldn’t help but think of how she’d need to re-due the paintjob again.

“I just painted this Gareth!” she yelled angrily, he responded with “Don’t be such a drama queen, little girl.”

Now she can take people pushing her buttons and she can put up with people calling her names, but there is a line for her and that line happens to be Drama queen.

Frowning and growling she turned the wheel roughly causing Gareth’s Runner to hit the concrete wall of the subway, Gareth hissed in response and attempted to regain control but she increased her speed just in time, within seconds Gareth had spun out and she had gained first place.

Barely a minute later she was greeted by the warm light of the sun telling her that she had won, she had beat Gareth, she had won the money.

“YEAHAA!” her screams of joy echoed throughout the area as she closed into the concrete steps, the brother of the kid who waved the flags was there, he had a huge smile on his face as he said “Congrats Lady!” after settling it completely with the boy and his older brother she was able to take the money and go back to her warm and loving family to give the good news to.

That would be a beautiful ending wouldn’t it? Yes, she still had the money and it was a fair amount too, and yes she was on her way home to her loving family to tell them the good news, but no, she didn’t quite get there right away.

Now she had been driving through the flooded streets again and she had decided to take the long way so she could have a break, over all she wasn’t really expecting anything to happen so when a cool piece of metal was pressed to the back of her neck and the boat shifted slightly, she didn’t quite know what to do.

“Shhh,” a male whispered, her first thought was that it was someone here to take her money so she did the first thing she thought was necessary “Now, I just need you to—” the man had just started talking when she began to scream and speed up her boat, twisting and turning quick and sharp causing him to groan and tumble.

She didn’t stop until he fell off, though when she slowed down he crawled up from the side soaking wet and started to speak again “Lady—” again she screamed and sped up, brown hair coming undone from all the rapid movements, with all that being said he held a fairly tight grip on the side of her Runner.

“Lady!” he screamed, anger starting to really settle in, again she screamed in response but this time she grabbed a rod from beside her and tried to hit his hands, when she finally hit him and sent him flying she continued driving for a bit but her conscience  forced her to go back.

She pulled up to the limp body and pocked it a few times.

“Are you alive?” she asked calmly, though she was hiding behind her seat, “I don’t want a dead body on my conscience mister, so please wake up and leave me alone...” she continued poking him but got no response, “Maybe I should take you to shore...”

It was a struggle, getting him to shore, he was heavy and wet which made him even heavier; in the end she tied a rope around his torso and dragged him to shore with her Runner. She got out and struggled to place him on the docks, at first she thought about leaving him but decided against it, she had her rod if he tried anything.

Sitting next to him she let her thoughts wander, closing her eyes and letting the slowly setting sun calm her, they had been like that for about an hour before he started to stir.

Her eyes snapped open and she got her rod ready when she heard him groan, after he opened his eyes she studied him a little closer, he seemed familiar; “Eh...” he propped himself up on his elbows and studied her with a face of confusion and fear.

“You almost killed me,” she stated with a serious tone, again he gave he an odd look “You almost killed me! Not the other way around!” he hissed and sat up, “what kind of game are you playing!?” she sat up straight at his comment and shook her head “No game!”

He looked past her and to the rod in her hands “What the hell is the rod for?! To hit me some more?!” he demanded with a frown, he wasn’t exactly used to being hit by girls, especially in such a way she did.

“It’s for my safety!” she said as she attempted to match his height, “Safety!? From what?!” he growled out attempting to remove his still damp golden blonde bangs from his face and shift his legs in his still soaked pants, “From attackers like you!” she then said with a frown and a pout, “My Papa’s not going to be too happy with you mister!”

He frowned and asked “How old are you?” it was more sarcastic and insulting but she didn’t care, instead she answered with a snappy voice “Twenty! Got a problem with me saying Papa?!” he growled and attempted to stand up, all while he was muttering to himself she came to realize why he looked so familiar: he was a wanted man.

“Eh!?” she jumped up and held her rod at him “You’re Nathi! The wanted captain of the Cava Pirates!” he cleared his throat but stayed hunched over holding his knees “I wouldn’t say Pirates, but yeah... and I was the captain... I’m not anymore...” he mumbled to himself, she frowned and held her rod a little closer “Was? What did they disown you?”

He glared up at her and said “What about you, what’s your name?” she shrugged “why should I tell you?” Nathi stood up and shrugged as well, “Fine don’t tell me, but I think you owe me that much, you did just drag me behind your Swamp Runner and hit me with a pole.” He said casually, “but you’re a criminal...” she mumbled.

He grumbled and leaned against a wall “I’m a criminal because I stood up for the freedom of this city.” Nathi stated calmly, she bit her lip and looked down then let the rod drop a bit “My name is Livian Siona... I’m a local mechanic.”

He studied her over for a bit and crossed his arms, “do you want to hear what I have to say, Liv?” Nathi asked, already giving her a nick name, she frowned up but nodded, “I was going to ask you if you could take me to a location, if I walk I could be caught...” he started calmly and shifted his position “and I think after what you did you should grant my wish, shouldn’t you?”

Livian bit her bottom lip; she did feel bad for hitting him, and dragging him behind her Runner, even though he did point a gun at her...

“Fine...” Livian mumbled out and puffed out her slightly tinted cheeks, “I’ll give you a ride there but if someone ketches us you point your gun at me and act like I’m a hostage!’ she raised her voice as she came to the last part.

Nathi smirked and nodded “we have a deal,” and he would have stuck up to that deal if they had ran into any authority figures, but luckily for both of them they didn’t.

The ride through the flooded district was slightly awkward, Livian’s Runner, like most Runners and Flyers, had only one seat and the vehicle was over all fairly crowded with upgrades and other important things such as switch panels and her rod.

Nathi was forced to sit on the back of Livian’s seat, his feet landing on her arm rests while she was scrunched up in her spot; over all it looked awkward and it felt awkward, “So, where am I taking you?” she mumbled slightly, he chuckled a bit and cracked his neck “Fortes Bar, if you don’t mind, little lady.”

Livian made sure to give him an extra dirty look at his comment but continued driving in the direction she was headed, she wondered slightly, why he chose Fortes Bar? Her first thought was that he was meeting up with someone, then her mind trailed off to more elaborate ideas of there being an underground operation, but she dropped those thoughts as soon as she remembered the bar owner; she had met Kaide a few times when her Papa had gone and picked up some beer, also when the odd time of Kaide dropping by and getting some materials.

Though she didn’t personally know Kaide she had heard many things of him and she had seen him talking to her father; he was a happy man, always with a wide smile on his face, an odd comeback to any comment and an overall nice vibe.

Though she had to admit he did give off a mysterious feeling, like he wasn’t all that he seemed to be.

The Runner came to a stop in front of the Fortes bar, Livian didn’t move from her spot but Nathi was eager to jump right out; once his feet hit the wooden planks he let off a sigh, “you sound like you’re afraid of water.” She teased, the blonde man gave her a look and stated “No, I’m afraid of your driving, you’re even worse than Kai and he’s obsessed with speed...” his voice was a grumble and he rolled his shoulders.

Livian bit her lip again and paused, something about this entire situation made her curious and she didn’t want to just go back to her normal life, “So, what’s your plans?” she asked casually, Nathi looked at her and smirked, he held out his hand and explained “Fight for my city.”

4: Duo Pubescentem

Duo Pubescentem

The two Teens

The sun was still setting and night was about an hour or two away, the teens of the flooded district were doing their usual summer routines; some were fishing, others were tanning, playing sports such as basket ball, volley-ball and foot ball, but most were in the Sub-Hole.

The Sub-Hole is an old open subway under a bridge, the trains and Hover-Carts used to pass through here to go to the tunnel subway our little mechanic was racing in earlier, the teens usually hide out around here due to the fact that it flooded in such a way that it resembled a giant pool; the stairs that led up to the top of the bridge are great places to dive from, the area where the water is, is large and roomy, the water stays warm and is always calm.

Over all, it’s a great pool.

The walls are tiled but have graffiti on them, the graffiti is generally considered more of an art because the pictures can range from life like to animation like; the tracks of the trains are far under the water so it makes it almost imposable to touch them, while the stairs climb to the exact underside of the bridge, even onto the bridge above.

The bridge itself is no longer being used; somewhere more towards the north, the deeper areas of the flooded district, it’s broken, the road completely crumbled down on the streets below. On top of the bridge some of the shops are set up there, the locals call it the sky high market because of how tall the bridge is.

Yup, today was a normal summer day, the weather was warm, perfect for swimming, and the sun was low, perfect for a party.

Or so they all thought.

What everyone here didn’t know was that in less than an hour their lives will have a small hiccup for most, and a huge turn around for some.

“Jump! Jump! Jump!” almost everyone in the surrounding area cheered on the group of teens jumping from the highest landing, most of them placed bets on whether or not their peers would chicken out; of course most bet that they would, not many people willingly jump from that height and are usually pushed or escape.

Today though there was one of the older teenagers in the flooded district and definitely one of—if not the­—cockiest.

He was known for always showing off at things, whether it was his hobby or not he seemed to be good at it, that’s why many of the people there—though they may follow him—hate him.

“Eh, I’m getting really sick of seeing his face...” a younger teen by two years complained to his friends, he had casual length light brown hair and striking sea green eyes.

 “If you’re sick of seeing him then stop staring, Garen.” The female next to him made a snarky comeback as she twisted the water out of her long, strawberry locks, her teasing attitude sparkling in her light blue eyes.

“What do you expect, Rina, I have to watch my rivals every move.” He snapped back, Leif Gareni—or Garen as his friends call him—and Erina Nevian—Rina as her friends call her—are two very close people, they had both grown up in the same neighborhood, even next to each other, though they insult each other and have fights they are known for being the most devious partners.

She chuckled and tossed her long strands of hair behind her shoulders, “alrighty, Garen, what do you plan on doing?” she asked with a small smirk, he looked at her for a brief moment before looking back to his rival.

Smirk forming on his own face as he began to talk “well, I have a plan, but right now let’s just sit back and watch the show~” he sang slightly, causing the blonde female to roll her eyes.

It played out smoothly, well smoothly on Leif’s part; his rival was being cheered on, he showed no fear of the jump and started getting ready, he put his hands on the railings and bent slightly, making himself ready to launch himself and show off a trick or two...

Only it didn’t quite work out that way.

He was ready to jump; Leif climbed out the side of the pool, “where you going?” Rina called with a frown, the light haired brunette turned, stuck out his tongue and pushed his thumb to his nose “going to prove myself better.”

She frowned and shook her head then directed her eyes back to the jump.

Lights, like fireworks lit up near him as he was just a second from jumping, a yelp was heard from him but the lights did not stop as he continued to fall sloppily.

Rina’s eyes found their way onto her friend again, the markings on his upper back and right arm were glowing a light blue.

“Damn moron, always gotta have a show...” Rina mumbled with a small laugh.

A splash and he came up in a gasp, Leif waited by the side of the pool where his rival would be coming out “Great jump Zaid, I don’t think anyone could do better~” the brunette teased, Zaid on the other hand growled, moving his flaming red hair out of his face as he got himself out.

“You’re dead, Leif. Dead.” Zaid barked, Leif only smiled and tilted his head a little bit before making his way to the stairs.

Rina watched as it was happening and held in her laugh for as long as she could, when it slipped Zaid looked her way “You two little girl.” He growled, Rina’s expression changed with in an instant; if there was one line with Rina it was little girl.

Another yelp was heard and Leif stopped walking to look back, Rina was out of the water and pinning Zaid down in a complicated pose.

“Don’t ever call me little girl! Got that!?” She yelled, eyes watching her nervously, Leif laughed at the commotion she was causing and continued up the stairs; ‘this day wasn’t starting out too good for Zaid, not only does he get beat up by a ‘little’ girl, but I’m also going to show him up~’ Leif thought with joy.

No this boy was not exactly, per say, better than Zaid, he was just as cocky and just as self centered; though what Leif did have that was better than Zaid was knowing that in reality he’s no better than anyone else, and that he is desperate for freedom.

Leif made it to the top with a small smirk on his face, he looked down to Rina who was smiling and waving, he could even hear her yelling insults at him which he chose to ignore.

Again the chanting had started “JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!”

Rina knew that Leif’s next actions were going to be a show so she didn’t even bother to roll her eyes when the light show started and he jumped without hesitation, flipping once, twice, three times before diving through a circle of lights.

Just as he hit the water the lights ‘shattered’ and dripped down like rain, there were cheers and laughing, Leif could hear them from even under the water; before he had the chance to swim up he saw a flash of something through the window that lead to the old ticket station, there was no water in there but he knew that there was also no body aloud down their either.

He tried to stay down a little longer, but his lungs were giving out and he couldn’t see anything else so he began to make his way up.

‘Maybe it was just my imagination, or even a rat.’ He thought.

Rina was worried, she hadn’t seen Leif ever since he hit the water, people were still cheering and the water was too crowded to see where he was.

“Do you see him, Anya?” she asked her blonde friend who only shook her head and continued looking with the others.

Relief passed through Rina when Leif’s head popped up, he gasped for breath and more people cheered; the male made his way to his friends.

“Damn it Leif! I was worried! Why the hell were you down there for so long?” Rina demanded, Leif made a disgusted face and hopped out, shook his head and attempted to get the water out of his ear “I thought I saw something.” He stated calmly but then smirked “Enjoyed the show?” his voice dripping with his self centered tone.

Rina just pushed him back into the water.

Their group of friends sat back and laughed as they watched their usual fight play out.

It was almost a half hour later and the music in the Sub-Hole was blaring, usually this did not bother anyone due to the fact that there were no people living in this area of the flooded district, the lights were bright and flashy and Leif’s markings were glowing.

“You know.” Rina called over the music, Leif looked to his long haired friend “You don’t have to keep showing off!” of course a smirk spread across his face as he began chuckling “I’m just helping the party be a little Brighter, Rina, this is the first party of July! This is the complete beginning of our summer!” he cheered.

Rina rolled her eyes but kept her smile on, keeping her eye on her friend to make sure he doesn’t over work himself.

Leif, as you can probably predict already, is a user.

His ability is an odd kind known as the ‘Deceptio’ which is Latin for Deception; it’s the abilities to create deceptions and illusions such as multiples of their self, lights, mirages, and much more; over all a useful ability in many categories.

He had always been one to show off his abilities too, even through the time when government was hunting users and giving them the death sentence; each and every time an officer had saw him he’d get away using his abilities to deceive them, which is why even now the law labels him as a trouble maker and Rina too.

The two of them sat at the edge of the pool with their small group of friends, watching as the darkness of the summer night was filling the sky; deep blue’s to the east and warm reds to the west.

Leif still couldn’t get the sight from when he was underwater out of his head, it looked more like a light had flashed in the window than a rat had ran by, and he didn’t think it was his imagination it felt too real...

Over all Leif was both curious and frustrated and Rina could see.

“What’s wrong?” the strawberry blonde asked curiously, Leif continued frowning at the water for a moment before shaking his head and saying “Nothing, just over thinking things.” Rina nodded but still was curious; she decided that because it was a party she could let it slide for now.

She also decided to have some fun.

Rina slipped into the water and gripped onto her friends wrist, pulling him in after her; Leif gasped and held his breath when his body hit the water, he hadn’t expected to be greeted by the cool liquid in such a way.

While under water Rina put on a smirk and started swimming from Leif, the brunette teen bit on his lip and held back a laugh trying to escape his lips before chasing after her; they didn’t get too far before they needed air once again.

Two heads popping up in the already crowded pool gasped for air then ended up back under water again.

They were surrounded by too many people and after moments of being under the water Leif lost sight of Rina, the next thing he knew there was a bright orange glow and the teens in the water were scrambling to get out, some were yelling and screaming while others stayed silent.

Leif instantly emerged from the water and desperately looked around, a building nearby had caught on fire; Leif would have blamed it on some drunken idiots screwing around if he hadn’t seen the group of people dressed in Law Blues.

The soldiers were here to crash the party.

The teen scrambled through the water, desperately searching for Rina his eyes didn’t spot anything and his stomach started flipping with worry.

“LEIF!” a scream and he looked away from the water to his safe and worried friend standing at the edge of the pool, “HURRY!” she yelled again and Leif obliged.

The teen was greeted by the warm breath of the already aflame building, he paused slightly and looked it over before standing up and grabbing Rina’s wrist. They pushed through the crows of people, teens who didn’t want to be caught in an area restricted, and others who didn’t want to be caught for underage drinking and usage.

Leif and Rina had broke through the crowd and ran into the alley way, knowing that they couldn’t keep running but they couldn’t stay here; the two teens looked for the best place to hide and ended up going through a door on their right that read ‘Restricted for ALL personnel.’

They leaned against the door and locked it—surprised it wasn’t locked already—and peeked through the window to the events outside; some of the soldiers had caught the teens and had made their arrests, probably for trespassing and underage drinking.

The two tried waiting there a little longer before they went to exit; it all seemed clear and fine to them until someone was slammed against the door.

“Where is the fugitive!?” the soldier practically screamed, the man in his grasp winced and cried out “I-I don’t know man! I don’t know!” Leif tightened his grip around Rina and they both held their breath “You have one chance Mr. Coil,” the Soldier stated in a darker tone, “Where. Is. Nathi?”

Mr. Coil cried out again and shook his head “I-I said I don’t know! He Never showed!” the soldier sighed and rolled his soldiers, “I gave you one job, Mr. Coil, and you failed.” He stepped back away from the man and turned around, Mr. Coil was ready to move when the soldier had turned around again only this time with his gun.

The gun had fired and both teens flinched, Leif placed his hand over Rina’s mouth when he felt her scream coming.

They stayed silent and waited for what seemed like forever, the Soldier studied the door and reached forward, placing his hand on the door knob and twisting, both teens were relieved when they had remembered they locked it.

Before the soldier moved away Leif caught a small glance of his face, scar from the left side of his chin to the bridge of his nose, a scruffy beard and cold, harsh eyes; the teen had a feeling he wasn’t going to be forgetting him anytime soon.

After sitting in silence for a few more moments Leif let go of the strawberry blonde and let out the breath he was holding, “What now?” Rina whispered, her voice so low that Leif had trouble making it out; he swallowed and stood up carefully “now we find a new way out.” He stated she looked at him for a minute before nodding.

They moved silently and carefully down the stairs, looking out the small round windows every now and then to see what was going on at the pool; the soldiers had flooded the area just like the water, they had their dogs and their Runners, they were searching for someone.

“This is odd.” Leif stated softly, Rina never looked from the windows as they kept moving down, “why would they bother with a teen party, we’re not even disturbing the peace...” he grumbled to himself, the female next to him finally looked away from the windows and to him, “they said a name, Nathi, isn’t he that wanted man?” she asked.

Leif’s eyes widened slightly and remembered the past events, his mind was so crowded at that moment he didn’t even notice, the soldier did say Nathi so that means they are hunting someone... but that means that Nathi is in the city.

They had made it to the bottom of the stairs and had stopped, looking around the place and staying cautious. Leif realized where they were, they were in the ticket station and he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the thought that something else could be down here too; with his thoughts he gripped onto Rina and stopped her from walking forward.

Rina studied him curiously and asked “What’s wrong?” Leif looked around and loosened his grip but never letting go of her hand “I have a bad feeling...” he mumbled out, Rina nodded slightly and went with it, they moved slowly through the dark hallways, surprisingly there were lights on which really only made them both a little more nervous.

The station had an eerie silence in it that caused their footsteps to echo through it, Rina gripped Leif’s hand a little tighter and glared around the place, neither of them dared to speak as they came through the hall way and to an open space. The area they stood in now had gold trim ticket booths that looked abandoned and sad, the red carpets leading to them had been discoloured from the dirt and water that flooded about two inches on the ground.

The floors tiles were cracked and some were missing, two of the chandeliers had fallen from the ceiling and crashed to the floor leaving an explosion of glass and metal, the escalators no longer worked and the glass elevators had been broken opened; over all the stations appearance was very abandoned and even creepy.

Rina stepped away from Leif and looked around, her eyes landing on a piece of paper on the wet ground of the station still partially dry, Leif looked at her as she picked it up carefully and read: “To anyone who is willing to fight for their freedom, the Rebellions here and stronger than ever.”

5: Rebellione

Rebellione

The Rebellion

It took the traveller a moment to process everything: her city had fallen into hell, there was a rebellion to gain the peoples freedom again and an assassin that was on no side, Yara was pretty damn sure this isn’t how she left her home so many years back.

The rumours seemed to be true and it pained her to know, but that helped her decide that she would stop at nothing to help the people and build the kingdom back to its former glory, even if she had to die in the process.

Kaide studied the woman in front of him with calm eyes, finishing with the last glass and setting it down, he said “You want to join.” It was not a question, but a statement and a statement of the truth; she did want to join and she wanted to bring the government down but she didn’t know the first place to start looking for it.

Still saying nothing she frowned, almost everyone in the bar were gone now and the only people who remained were herself, Kaide and a man leaning back in a booth towards the back entrance of the building; if you asked her she’d say he was sleeping.

“I,” she paused and thought, if she told him what would he do? Laugh and say it was pointless? Reveal that he is part of the government cracking down on new joiners? He did seem mysterious to her and she had no idea why but she continued anyway “I do.”

The brunette behind the island smiled slightly and leaned forward “Well, Ma’am you came to the right place.” He stated quietly, her head shot up and she frowned slightly again, confusion settling in; Kaide chuckled at her reaction and stood straight once more “What’s with that look Yara, are you doubting me already?” he asked in a small teasing voice.

She was beyond confused and he wasn’t really helping her with it either, “I don’t get it?” she started “you’re part of the rebellion?!” he cleared his throat and stood at his tallest “actually this is the meeting and information house.” He then winked his silver eyes and smiled.

Yara’s frown deepened and she shook her head, though before she could actually say anything the door slammed open and a man yelled “Everyone remain calm.” The woman’s eyes directed to the front door and locked with a blonde haired man holding a brunette girl at gun point, she recognised the man as Nathi a criminal wanted for a lot more than just hostage situations.

The blondes first thought was to pop out of her seat and get into attack mode, which was proven useless when Kaide began speaking “Damn it Nathi, I swear if you keep slamming things I will murder you, sooner or later you’re going to damage my bar! And what are you doing with the girl!?” the wanted male quickly dropped the gun from Livian’s face and rubbed the back of his head.

“Ah, she said she doesn’t want to be seen with a criminal unless it looks like I’m holding her hostage...” Nathi stated with a small nervous chuckle, Kaide’s glare still held.

Livian fixed her hair and clothes before looking around the place fondly, she had been here twice but both times were when she was a little younger; though she knows Mr. Kaide is not much older than her Livian also knows he’s far more responsible than she is.

Kaide’s glare was harsh and Livian didn’t think it was possible for such a happy man like him to glare in such a way, Yara on the other hand just felt uneasy about the entire situation.

Nathi’s eyes locked onto Kaide’s glare and crossed arms; he cleared his throat and straightened up at the sight of the brunette “Ahem, I—uh—am sorry...” Nathi started uncomfortably “Please don’t be mad! Be happy I’m home and alive!” Kaide’s frown somehow stayed as he raised and eye brow and shook his head, smile slowly forming.

“You’re an idiot, you know that.” The bar owner stated and Nathi nodded “but I’m your idiot if that makes you feel better!” he teased slightly, Nathi and Kaide are good friends, that was easily seen by the two girls both slightly confused and awkward.

Now the bar owner was clearing his throat once again and rolling his shoulders “is there any reason you brought the girl here?” Kaide asked as he studied Livian over, then paused “is there any reason you brought the cities best mechanic’s daughter here?” his voice sounding a little more annoyed than before.

Nathi looked Livian over and noticed that she did fit the part of a mechanics daughter, she had grease and oil stains on her skin and body suit, her hands were partially rough, but slightly smooth and she had a fairly toned body from what he could tell.

“She hit me with a rod and tried to drown me.” Nathi then defended, Livian glared and stood up straight “You pointed a gun at me, what else was I going to do?!” she snapped back defensively.

Kaide’s shoulders slouched and he let off a sigh, Yara licked her lips and continued frowning; she was trying to understand how a seemingly normal Bar tender/owner turned out to be a part of a rebellion and appears to be best friends with a notorious wanted man; her other thoughts were why was the girl apparently calm around him too.

“Am I the only sane one around here!? Maybe the city has fallen to hell in more ways than one...” she thought with a dreadful groan that caused Kaide to look at her oddly once again.

“You’re a very grumpy girl, aren’t you?” He asked with a small snicker, “If you keep frowning you’re going to get wrinkles on your beautiful face~” Yara’s glare directed towards the man as she stated “If you’re not careful I’ll hit you with a rod…” with her statement she received a chuckle.

Nathi took this chance to say “You asked me why I have a girl, but why do you have her?” Kaide rolled his eyes and leaned back “For your information, I had saved her from an oncoming light flyer earlier today and was just treating her to free hospitality—and rebellion information.” The bar tender stated in a mater-of-fact tone.

The blonde male rolled his eyes and made his way to the bar, plopping down next to Yara and responding “Yeah, Well, same for me—except the saving part.”

There was a silence and the two men looked each other in the eyes, both of them seemed to be competing against the other in a silent battle; the girls glanced at each other for a moment before directing their eyes back to Kaide and Nathi, Yara was the first to speak “Just kiss and get it over with already.” She stated in a dull tone.

Both Nathi and Kaide made a disgusted face and shook their heads while Livian just giggled behind them; “Way to ruin a moment, Blondie, who are you anyway?” Nathi then added as he leaned against the bar, Kaide hit the blonde male over the head and stated “Be nice.”

A growl escaped Nathi’s lips and he corrected his sentence “would you please tell me who you are?” his voice filled with sarcasm which only caused Kaide to hit him once again; Yara studied the man next to her, blonde, tall, muscular, known fugitive… she then looked to Kaide who was behind the bar cleaning the counter, Brunette, Tall—shorter by maybe an inch or two than the criminal—mysterious presence, and a bar owner/tender.

They both seemed to know each other and they both seemed to be involved in the rebellion; she looked to the woman gazing around in amazement, Yara remembered Kaide said she’s the daughter of the city’s best mechanic, she seemed around twenty by looks but was acting like a child, Kaide seemed shocked to see her so Yara concluded she either doesn’t know about the rebellion or is going to be joining it…

“She probably knows,” the blonde traveler thought as she looked back to Nathi “she’s with a criminal after all…” and that criminal was sitting next to her waiting for her response, Yara sighed slightly and decided it’d be safe enough “My name is Yara Fable, I’m a traveler.” She said calmly, Nathi had smirked and looked to Kaide “where’d you pick this one up?” he then asked.

Kaide rolled his eyes and responded “what did I say about being nice?” he paused what he was doing and looked his friend in the eyes “Like I said I helped her out of a small problem near the docks on the west side, How’d you find—and convince—Livian?” Nathi’s smile widened as he began speaking “well I needed a ride to the bar or I would have been spotted by someone, so I was going to go to the main area of the flooded district in hope to jump a Runner.”

“Now my plans didn’t work out perfectly but—” Livian took this chance to cut him off, “he jumped on my swamp runner and pointed a gun at me, I didn’t notice him get on, of course, or I would have flipped out before I saw the gun but I didn’t… so I hit him… a few times… long story short I felt I had to make up to him for nearly drowning him, so the least I could do was drive him here…” the mechanic stated in a slight awkward tone.

Kaide chuckled at the image of his friend being beat up by a ‘little girl’ though he knew Livian would have to have muscles in her line of work, it was still a humorous image.

“I then used the line you always seem to use when someone asks you ‘now what are you going to do?’ or something along the lines of that,” Nathi paused as he leaned in and grabbed a bottle of scotch, he opened it smoothly and took a large gulp of the burning liquid “Fight for my city.”

-

“To anyone who is willing to fight for their freedom, the Rebellions here and stronger than ever.” Rina repeated the words she had just spoke in her mind, “a rebellion?!” the Strawberry Blonde felt her gut twist in panic as she pieced together past events with the assassin Obtentui and the unknown ‘terrorists.’

Leif grabbed the paper from her hands and continued reading “If the rebellion is of interest to you unlock the riddle and join the many…” he paused and frowned before pouting at Rina “I suck at Riddles!” Leif complained and slouched; the other teen hit his shoulder before taking the paper back again and started reading it once more:

“Every one has it, most misuse it, some need more of it while others need less; it is both physical and mental, it can be both hard and easy to find and sometimes it’s the worst things that give you it. What is it?” the two frustrated teens leaned over the poster with scowls and frowns on their face; they were confused by the riddle to say the least.

Leif’s frown deepened as he pressed his hands to his cheeks, the thought of a rebellion was great in his mind but the only way to find it was to get through this riddle and he could barely make out what the words meant let alone what it was supposed to be.

“I feel so stupid...” the light haired brunette dropped to his knees in defeat while the blonde continued pondering the riddle, “it could be…” Rina paused slightly and let off a distressed sound. Both teens had forgotten about the frightening area around them and were dissolved in the new found puzzle; she bit her lip and tilted her head, paused her breathing for a moment and said “It could be… love?” Leif’s head popped up as he commented “Why the hell would a rebellion give a riddle of their location on Love?!”

Rina growled at her friend and gave him a threatening glare before continuing her thinking, “if you’re going to shoot down my opinions then start thinking of your own.” She stated harshly, Leif groaned from his spot and began poking at another poster on the damp ground.

Echo’s from drops of water didn’t faze the two as they continued thinking, Rina felt odd being so hooked to find out the riddle—she feared but craved for the idea of a rebellion, she hated the government but feared possible death; silence fell over the two as the blonde scanned the paper some more, re-reading the riddle and looking for anything to help solve it.

“One.” Leif stated, Rina frowned she couldn’t see how ‘one’ was the answer to the riddle “One? How’d you guess the answer? How could that be the answer?!” she questioned with a frustrated pout, Leif shook his head franticly and smiled widely, “No, One is written at the bottom of the page!” he stated proudly.

Rina let off an annoyed sigh and dropped her head “that’s probably the page number Leif…” She grumbled, ready to drop down and give up until the males voice spoke up again, “But the ‘one’s on your page too… and that one…” he pointed to the bottom right corner of the three pages near them, Rina looked back at the riddle and the one carefully.

“Courage? Strength… one… strong one… STRONG ONES!” She yelped loudly causing the brunette to jump and gasp “what?!” he frowned slightly.

“The Strong Ones means Fortes in Latin! Fortes bar in the Flooded district!” she stated joyfully “the rebellion is at Fortes bar!” at that point they realized that cracking the code was the first part and the easiest part, the next thing they had to do was safely get there.

“Wait… we’re going?” Rina thought as she paused in her excitement “wait. No. WAIT!”

-

“How did it end up like this!?” Rina couldn’t help but think as she leaned up against the ally wall, they were about ten feet from the bar and she regretted this whole thing while Leif could barely control his excitement. She sighed and watched her friend bob up and down on his heels, peaking around to corner and ‘spying’ “Oh ho ho! What if the assassins there?! Wouldn’t that be amazing!? Maybe we could see his face!” the brunette cheered loudly.

“Shh!” Rina hissed harshly and slouched slightly “if the assassin’s there we’re dead! Why would they take a couple of teens anyway?! And why are they meeting at Fortes bar, this makes no sense! Mr. Kaide is a nice guy! He even lets teens have every third Friday of each month at the bar,” she groaned slightly and peeked around the corner, her head placed just under Leif’s “even if he doesn’t exactly let us drink anything… he’s still nice…”

Leif glanced around some more, searching for possible soldiers or officers; it isn’t illegal to go to the bar, both him and Rina know Kaide enough to visit on odd days every now and then, though usually Leif goes there to avoid work while Rina goes to make sure Leif doesn’t do anything stupid, or to get away from the annoyance of their neighborhood—but even though it isn’t illegal it is suspicious to be going there at this time of night.

The sun had set at least an hour ago, the temperature had dropped slightly and Rina was missing her clothes, her house and her bed; though with that being said she still couldn’t find any real reason to leave.

“Well lets go.” The brunette stated with a confident smile, he then grabbed Rina’s hand and started walking “Leif…” she mumbled and came to a stop; they stood maybe four feet from the door, neither saying a word but both waiting for something.

Though silence held there for a while they didn’t really mind, they gathered their thoughts, looked things over; after all where they’re going they may never come out, what if it’s too much? What if it doesn’t work? Well they both knew that was a risk they were going to have to take. Leif finally spoke “I can’t sit back for my entire life and wait, I can’t just watch our city—the people we love and hold—die… I…” the teens head dropped to look at his hands.

Rina smiled and looked passed her fears “Well then,” she said confidently, “what are we waiting for?” The brunette chuckled and took the blondes hand; both teens walked towards the door with full determination, forgetting all fears and worries.

“WE’RE HERE TO JOIN THE REBELLION!” The screams from Leif and Rina had caused everyone in the bar to jerk in surprise; Livian had nearly fallen off her seat, Yara was ready to jump into attack mode while Kaide had dropped a bottle of wine and Nathi had spit and sneezed scotch on the bartender across from him. All four faces directed to the ones in blame.

Both Leif and Rina bowed low and nervously yelled “WE APOLOGISE!” their heads then popping up and studying the people around them, that’s when they noticed Nathi. Their reactions were nearly polar opposite, Leif jumped up and excitedly yelled “A CRIMINAL!” while Rina yelped and hid behind her friend while screaming “A CRIMINAL!?”

Nathi merely smiled and said “They know me!” while looking at Kaide, the bar tender rolled his eyes and hit him once again, “Everyone knows you, you moron, and not in a good way.” Silver eyes then directed to the two familiar teens “and you two.” He started sternly; both teens sunk back nervously, “Get in. sits down. Be quiet.”

The two nodded and swallowed as they made their way into the building and quietly took the last two bar stools, both avoiding Kaide’s cold glare as the bartender cleaned the mess caused by their random screaming.

It had been a nerve racking three minutes of silence until Kaide had finally finished the clean up and had leaned over the bar to the youngest members in the building, “You know.” He started “when you want to join something illegal you don’t slam open a door and scream at the top of your lungs that you want to join, and if you see a criminal at that said place you don’t scream that at the top of your lungs either. It’s common sense.”

Leif and Rina nodded and looked at the hardwood counter top; Kaide sighed and smiled slightly “Look here.” He said warmly, they both looked up with apologetic eyes, again a chuckle escaped his lips as he stood up “I know when you two are just acting, now quit the puppy dog stare and listen up.”

Rina sighed and nodded “Worth a try…” she mumbled and Leif rolled his eyes “don’t ‘Listen up’ me Kaide, you have a criminal here! That must mean that this is the right place!” he stated eagerly; the others studied the teens over and looked back to Kaide, Nathi raised an eye brow and smirked “So, you two are dressed like that why?” Rina glared at the wanted man while Leif continued smiling “well we were at a party but then the government’s pets came and busted it, we hid in the abandoned subway and found this poster.” He stated coolly.

This time it was Kaide’s turn to give them a questionable look “Why would they bust a party? They know that it happens every year, so why now?” he paused and looked to his blonde friend still drinking from the bottle of scotch, “unless they’re searching for someone…” Leif nodded for a moment then his eyes widened, directing to Nathi sitting just one seat away “Yeah, they’re searching for him.” he stated, trying to hold his voice calm; how could he let his excitement get the better of his senses?

Kaide looked the group over and sighed “This has been an eventful day…” he paused and looked to his wanted friend “Ready?” he then asked, the blonde smirked and nodded “Always.”