"Ugghhh," I groaned, before hitting my head against the wall.
"Ow, the fuck?"
I rolled over, kicking off the blanket before sitting up.
When did I fall asleep?
I rubbed my eyes, scratching my head as I yawned. Looking around, I stretched my arms before standing up from the bed.
Suddenly, a glowing ball came at me, hitting my face.
"Ow! What the fuck?!"
It didn't actually hurt. But like, what the hell? Who threw that?
"I know you're up, get down here before the loft caves in!"
I pulled the ball off my face, running over to the railing of the loft before throwing it back.
"Fuck you!" I shouted, rushing down the stairs on to the first floor.
I slid into the kitchen, spotting Minh's stupid face cooking something on the stove. Running in, I stopped before crashing into him. Yes, I'm pissed, but not that much. It's not like I'm gonna set the house on fire.
He turned to me, stirring a pot of boiling vegetables with a ladle.
"Oh... morning."
"Morning my ass," I groaned, rolling my eyes.
"Yes yes, you feel like crap. Now sit down before you start complaining about being hungry again," He shrugged, turning back to stir the pot still boiling on the stove.
I frowned.
"I do not complain," I grumbled, looking around the room.
Like last, night? Night right? I lowkey don't know. Like, when we came to this city, it was dark as fuck. Like, I couldn't see shit. Anyway, the room seemed to look the same as last time. A row of counters, a sink, a stove, and a fridge along the back wall. Well, it doesn't look like a fridge, kinda like a stone rectangle, but when I opened it, it was cold inside, soooo, yeah, a fridge. Other than the kitchen, there was a table with a set of four chairs. On the table, there were two bags and an open box of frosted cookies.
Oh shit, food! Lessgo!
I walked over, digging into one of the bags. Inside, I found garlic, green onions, spinach, and... carrots...
The heck?
Bro, this is just vegetables.
I looked in the second bag. It was stuffed with bread, flour, and seasoning.
....
Bruh.
I turned to Minh, who was still making soup.
"Minh."
"Yes?"
"Why's there only veggies and bread here?"
"Because we're poor, and meat is too expensive," he answered, opening a bottom cabinet and taking out two bowls.
So it's a no-money day?
I sighed, slumping into one of the dining chairs, "Great. So we're still broke."
"Quit sulking and eat this," Minh scoffed, placing a bowl of veggie soup and a spoon on the dining table.
He placed another bowl of soup and a spoon, sitting in the chair across from me. After, he took out a loaf of bread from one of the bags, ripping it in half and taking a bite out of one of the halves before handing me the leftover loaf.
I stared at the soup, which was literally just a shit ton of spinach and carrots in clear soup.
Is this even soup bro?
Actually, is this even seasoned???
I took half of the loaf, taking a bite out of it. It was kinda hard and dry, like whole wheat bread, which tastes like shit and you can't tell me otherwise.
I turned to Minh, who was eating his bread soup with no problem.
Bitch, this meal is worse than what we had on the airship. Since when were you not picky about your food? Oh fuck, is he possessed or something?
Minh looked up from his bowl, frowning before reaching for my bowl.
"If you're not going to eat, then don't waste food."
I pulled my bowl away, face scrunching up, "Who said I wasn't eating?"
After, I took a few gulps of the soup, and... it was actually good?
Holy shit- how is this good?! Like, I'm fine with veggies and stuff, but I expected this to taste like spinach and carrots in salted water. Like, this actually has flavor, kinda like canh, like how mẹ makes it too!
I put down the wheat bread and started downing the soup. I mean, it wasn't the best soup I've ever had, but it was way better than salted water and veggies. And after eating all the leftover veggies, the canh was gone.
I looked to Minh, who had already finished his food. He grabbed my empty bowl, placing it in the sink with the rest of the dishes, and started cleaning.
I turned to stare at the leftover bread still on the table.
Should I eat it, or nah?
.... Meh, it tastes horrible, might as well save it for Minh later.
I took the half loaf of bread, glancing at Minh to make sure he wasn't looking at me, before stuffing it back into the bag wth the other stuff.
After I turned back to Minh, still washing dishes. Walking over to him, I leaned back on the counter, watching him as he just... doesn't look at me. Bro, I'm right here. You can at least talk to me a little.
I leaned towards him, still staring at his stupid-looking face. After a few seconds, the asshole finally says something other than telling me what to do.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"If you're not going to help, go change, we have work today."
"Since when do we have clothes to change into?" I asked, starting to walk around the room.
"Since I bought us some, now go change, and take a shower. I know you stink normally, but I refuse to acknowledge that you have the same bloodline as me until you take a bath," he retorted, now drying off the bowls and pot before placing them back into the bottom cabinet.
"I smell just fine asshole!" I shot back, rolling my eyes as I walked out of the kitchen into the entrance hallway while muttering, "You just have a dog nose, you smell like shit too."
I open the door across the hall, stepping into the bathroom. It was pretty small, with a toilet and shower. The shower having only a curtain for privacy stuff. Wasn't really much difference from our grandparents' house in Vietnam.
I looked around, spotting a shirt, pants, and socks hanging on a hook next to the shower. No towel though.
I mean, I could use graphien to dry myself- nope. Stop there. Didn't I swear I wouldn't use graphien anymore? That shit knocked me out twice. The first time, I almost died! I mean, it wasn't that bad the second time, but it still hurt like hell! That asshole was even poking me when that happened!
Magic?
Yeah, fuck that.
Nope, never using it again.
I am not getting my soul ripped apart for the third time!
If I can't find any towels, I'll just yell at Minh later for not getting them.
After taking off my clothes, I got into the shower. Finding the knobby things, I turned on the water and got doused in boiling water.
"Ow ow ow ow!" I screamed, pressing myself against the wall and away from the shower head's range.
The hell??
To be honest, I was expecting it to be lukewarm, cause like, no hot water and stuff. Why is the shower trying to boil me alive?!
I inched closer to the shower knobs, squinting my eyes to make out some faint carvings on each side.
Son of- how in the fuck could I see that? The fairy lights are good lighting, but it ain't that good!
I reach for the knob, turning it to the cold side. Checking the water, it didn't burn this time, so I did my shower thing, changed; they were kinda big on me, but it's fine. After changing, I waved my arms around for a minute. I dunno, big sleeves are just really nice to move in.
The moment I opened the door, Minh was standing there with a stack of towels in his arms.
Dang it, he did buy towels.
Tossing a towel onto my head as he started drying my hair.
"I forgot to leave them in the bathroom. Also, you're wearing my shirt."
"Too bad, it's mine now."
He rolled his eyes, pulling the towel onto my shoulders before flicking my head.
"Ow!" I yelped, rubbing my forehead before smacking him back.
"What the fuck?!"
I mean, he doesn't hit that hard, but it still hurts. Also fuck him. What did my head do to you, asshole?! It's your fucking fault that you left your shirt in the bathroom.
"Vengeance for my shirt," he said, dodging my second hit.
"Truly an unfortunate fate to be worn by someone as ugly as you."
"We have the same face!" I shot back, going for another hit.
He dodged again, running upstairs before shouting back, "I firmly disagree!"
"You fucking- get back here!" I yelled, chasing after him.
---------------
Walking down the dark streets, we followed along the line of lit lanterns along the road.
Turns out, this city does have lights. It's just that the people here are nocturnal and work at night 'cause these lights weren't here when we arrived.
I glanced at Minh, who was walking beside me, before elbowing him in the arm. He elbowed me back, my arm kinda stinging a little.
Asshole.
I smacked him back, and he kicked the back of my legs. I tripped, almost falling, but he pulled me back before my face could hit the ground.
I hit his shoulder, "s\Stop it."
"You first," he shot back, gripping my arm before dragging me away.
We stopped at a large building with big display windows, a metal sign hanging above the wooden door. I looked into the display window, seeing shelves of steampunky objects with small cards in front of them. I couldn't really tell what most of them were based on looks, but there was one that I could roughly guess.
It was an open box with golden flower engravings along the edges of the lid. Inside, there was a flower, kinda like a lotus, with graphien symbols carved onto its petals.
I leaned forward, squinting to read the symbols engraved on the petals. Of course, I'm not going to say them out loud, I already know what could happen. Like hell I'm gonna miss my first day on the job. Well, my job is technically to lie to people. But hey, other than dying, being a spy should be fine.
I turned to the sign above the door, the text faintly glowing in the lantern-lit darkness. I noticed that the sign, like the music box, also had small graphien symbols etched along the edges of the sign board.
Sunshine Mechanical Marvels
Huh, you'd never guess this place was a front for a cult. Ah well, once our mission is done, this place will probably shut down anyway.
Minh pushed open the door, and one of those doorbells in some old-timey shops chimed. I followed after, the bells giving another chime, before the door closed behind us.
The inside was actually lit up properly, no dark places anywhere. Good, I'm fine with dark places, but forever nighttime is kind of a lot.
Anyway, there were neatly organized shelves with the same steampunky objects on the display windows, a dark blue carpet with gold stitching from the entrance to a counter across from it, and a man waiting at one of the shelves.
I looked around, glancing at Minh before scooting over to a nearby shelf. But, like a jerk, Minh grabbed the back of my collar, pulling me back to the entrance.
"Do you want to die?" he whispered, scowling like I did something illegal.
Like dude, I was just looking around. You don't have to be such a bitch.
I rolled my eyes, pulling his hand off before standing put next to him. The man at one of the shelves turned around, smiling before greeting us.
"Hello valued customers, you're actually a few minutes early, and we haven't opened yet. I ask that you please step out and-."
Before the guy could finish, Minh cut him off, "No need, we're new staff."
The guy- I guess he's a clerk or something- stopped, before his smile got a lot whole brighter. He walked over, taking Minh's hand in his as he started saying something. Honestly, it was way too fast to catch, so I'mma just ignore it. I mean, like, cult behavior and stuff, so it makes sense. I think.
"Oh praise our lord Solace, for he has graced upon another two souls to see the sun's divine light!" the guy cheered.
Yup, cult behavior. Or maybe not. Maybe he's just really dedicated to the bit or something.
"Now come with me, this is no place to speak about our lord. You must meet with the priest to formally join."
The clerk held Minh's hand in one of his and took my hand in the other before dragging us away into the back of the store. It looked like a storage room, filled with boxes and shelves of items that were displayed on the shelves outside. After moving a few things around, the clerk knocked on the back wall eight times, and graphien symbols started to glow in the shape of a door, before part of the wall opened up, like the wall in Harry Potter at the train station.
I couldn't catch all of the symbols, but I made out a few, like open and conceal. Stuff like that.
We stepped through the entrance, walking down a flight of stairs before arriving at another door. The clerk pulled out a necklace with an eight-pointed charm on its chain. I couldn't really tell what it actually was from where I was, but it probably had something to do with the sun.
Actually, now that I'm thinking, this cult should be worshiping the evil god that Asteria sealed away, right? If that's the case, then shouldn't their goal be to break the seal? Why are they staying in this city?
The guy pressed the sun charm on a dent next to the door. The next moment, the door opened into a wide hallway with multiple doors and people. The clerk motioned for us to come in before hurrying past the entrance. Me and Minh followed after him, walking past other people, who were probably also part of the cult.
After turning a corner, we followed the guy into an office room. Inside, the left and right walls were lined with small drawers and bookshelves, with a woman sitting at a desk at the back, and an eight-pointed sun hanging above.
"Ms. Fren!" the clerk called, his face practically glowing.
Okay dude, calm down. It's not that deep.
The woman looked up from her desk. Her face was slightly tanned, with black curly hair and brown eyes. She wore a frilly white shirt under a red blazer and gold jewelry.
Okay, damn. Thanks for calling me ugly in fifty ways, really appreciate it. Even her name is kinda nice.
Ms. Fren turned to us, her blank face turning into a bright smile, and stood up from her desk. Before she could speak, the- at this point, really annoying- clerk started yapping again.
I lowkey really wanted to ignore him, but there might be important stuff in there, so I don't really have a choice.
"Ms. Fren, these people are the new members our lord has graced upon. Ms. Lulen had said that we would be welcoming a new brother and sister. I didn't think they'd be here so soon!" he babbled.
Ms. Lulen? Maybe that's Emily's last name or something. Maybe not though? But then why did he immediately drag us here if Emily didn't give them a heads up?
I turned to Minh, who's been way too quiet. I mean, he's kinda quiet normally. But this isn't a normal situation right now. How in the fuck are you so calm?!
I turned back to the clerk and Ms. Fren, both still smiling at us.
Creepy.
Ms. Fren stepped away from her desk, standing in front of us as she took my hand in hers.
"Hello there new siblings, welcome to our cause. I'm so grateful that more people have seen the light of our lord," she beamed.
"I am Helga Fren. You may refer to me as Ms. Fren, like our Leo here."
She motioned to the annoying clerk nearby. Now that I'm actually looking at him, he looks pretty young.
A little taller than us, messy pinkish hair, yellow eyes, and a cream colored shirt under a dark striped blue vest with black pants, plus, he looks around our age. The most fantasy-looking guy I've seen so far. Other than Althea and Emily.
"As a welcome gift, let us pick out a life-bound tool for you two."
I'm sorry, a what?
"Of course, we'd love to," Minh suddenly chimed in.
Oh, now you start talking?! And I thought I'd have to carry us.
Ms. Fren opened the door of the office, motioning us to follow as she walked into the hallway. We followed after her, along with the Leo guy, turning another corner until we stopped in front of a large door with the same eight-pointed sun above it.
She pushed open the door, the door making that creepy, drawn-out creak you hear in movies. Inside was a giant central room with a bunch of display tables and shelves with various weapons and items along the walls. On either side of the walls were two hallways with even more tables and shelves of stuff.
Stepping inside, the room felt even bigger than before, the hallways feeling longer, and I suddenly felt way shorter than I already am.
"This is where we store all of our life-bound tools," Ms. Fren explained, brushing her hand along the table's edge.
"All of our new siblings are given a life-bound tool, in order to protect themselves from those who align themselves to that witch they call a goddess," Leo quickly explained, looking pretty smug when he mentioned Asteria.
So they call Asteria a witch huh. Also, what's a life-bound tool? If we're also going by cultivation novel logic here too, then it should be a kind of magic item, right? Then, if that's the case, doesn't that mean we're gonna get magic weapons!? Well, we might not get weapons, but it's magical nonetheless. So win-win.
Ms. Fren let out a laugh, "I apologize for our Leo here. He's quite devoted to our lord, so he might come off a bit strong in his beliefs."
She turned back to the tables in the room, holding out her hand, and a small shining golden thing lifted itself from one of the shelves into the air before placing itself in her hand. She turned back to us, showing us a golden pocket watch in her palm. The watch hovered above her hand, slightly glowing in golden light.
While staring at it, I caught something flicker before disappearing. It was only for a second, technically shorter than that, but whatever. Anyway, I saw it, like all of the other technology I've seen so far, it was a graphien symbol. It was really tiny and kinda hard to see 'cause, y'know, it was made out of pure light, but it was there.
"This is my life-bound tool, it's quite helpful when gathering information and investigating certain matters," Ms. Fren explained, letting the pocket watch return to its original spot on the shelf.
"However, I usually don't use it very often, since it takes a lot of my life."
So, in other words, mana? That's probably what happened to me yesterday. Why in the heck did someone leave something like that in their house? Hell, why even keep it around?!
"Of course, there's normally no need for someone like Ms. Fren to actually step in to investigate anything," Leo chimed in, walking past us to stand next to her.
Ms. Fren smiled, patting Leo on the shoulder before sighing, "Yes, normally, however, there has been an incident recently that has gotten the high priestess's attention."
At that, Leo frowned, "Simply just a bunch of heretics, and they dared take one of our siblings from us. They don't deserve the high priestess's attention."
Oh? Information? Now that's what I'm talking about. See, this is what being a spy is really about. Gathering information on the enemy right under their nose!
"Now now, Leo, there is no need to speak so frankly in front of our new members," Ms. Fren scolded, knocking Leo on the head.
She turned to us, quickly smiling, "Apologies, Leo is still quite young, he is still a bit emotional about recent events. One of our members was killed outside, the City Lord has blocked all probes to the scene, so we aren't able to glean any information on what happened. Rosa was a valued member of our family, and Leo was rather close to her."
Oh, so Jacquin did die in that explosion. Wait, Rosa? Isn't her name Jacquin? I mean, she could've been using a fake name, that would make sense. So Rosa must be her real name, and Leo was close to her? Well, that's kinda awkward, 'cause uh, I technically killed her. Well, maybe not killed her, the fireball killed her, not me. So I should be fine. Right? Right.
Yeah, the fireball killed her, plus, if she didn't die, I'd be the one dead right now. If I died, these people probably wouldn't even care. They'd probably say, 'oh well, not our problem, she died for the sake of our cause', or some shit like that.
I turned to Minh, who went back to being silent ever since we came here. He looked back, moving his head towards Ms. Fren and Leo. My face scrunched into a big ass frown. Like, what? Do you just expect me to just talk to them the entire time? What the fuck do I even talk about? Their god? I barely know anything about him! He's the god of the sun, and evil, that's it! The fuck do you want from me!!!
I turned back to Leo and Ms. Fren, trying to not look too suspicious. Suddenly, Ms. Fren took something out of her pocket. It was a black rectangular thing that looked really familiar.
Holy shit, is that a phone?!
Ms. Fren held the phone- is it a phone? Whatever, it's a phone now. To her ear, frowning after a few moments. Whatever she heard, it didn't look good. Which means that's a good thing for us. Yay!
She put the phone back in her pocket, turning to Leo before saying, "Something has happened, please undergo the ceremony without me."
Leo frowned before nodding, "I will do my utmost."
She nodded back with a smile, then dashed out of the room.
... Welp, there she goes.
Leo turned back to us, taking a deep breath before smiling.
Again with the smiling, something bad just happened- well I think it's bad, I mean for you guys, not for us.
He stepped forward, holding out his hand as he explained, "Ms. Fren won't be with us for a while. Please follow me to undergo your initiation ceremony."
I shot a glance at Minh, who pushed me forward, before taking a step away from me. Pretty much say 'good luck, don't die'.
You son of-... asshole, nope, not that either. Donkey? But the donkeys didn't do anything. Fuck it, I'll just go with fuck you.
I turned back to Leo, sucking in some air before taking his hand. He dragged me away past the large tables and shelves, Minh following behind as we stopped at an arch of flowers with a sheer white curtain hanging on it. Leo swept the curtain aside, motioning us in.
Stepping past the curtain, what I saw was a round marble room, different items hung against the walls, and a platform in the middle of the room. I ran over, stepping onto the platform as I looked around some more. Crystals floated overhead, with the ceiling looking endless as the rows of items along the walls rose higher until I couldn't see anything. And I have some pretty good eyesight.
... Well, not really. But you get my point!
This place screams magic! It kinda reminds me of the first time we came to this world. The marble room, the platform, the only difference is all the things around and crystals. And also the lack of weird people in coats surrounding us, but I think that's a pretty good change.
I saw Minh step inside, meeting me on the platform with Leo following after him. He didn't get on the platform though, grabbing a book from the wall. He opened it, looking up at us as he gave a thumbs up, obviously very excited with how he's practically sparkling right now.
I gave a thumbs up back, looking between him and Minh, who still hadn't said a word since Ms. Fren left.
Like, what's with him?
I poked his arm. Very tense. But why though? Is something going to happen soon? Should I be concerned right now?
Just then, Leo took out a vial of something from his pocket and poured the insides onto the pages of the book. It was definitely a liquid, a thick, red one... god damn it, that's blood isn't it.
At this point, I'm not even surprised anymore. Hell, if a corpse were to fall from the sky right in front of me, I wouldn't even be scared anymore. Also, what did the book do? I mean, I'm pretty sure it's evil if it needs that, but like, why though? Books are already expensive, why the fuck are you staining the pages with blood?!
After half of the vial was empty, the book started to glow red- probably from all the blood-, floating up from Leo's hand as its pages started to flip on their own. The next moment, the platform started glowing as well, rune symbols etching themselves onto the marble.
I felt an itchiness in the back of my throat, kinda like when you get a cold or something and you can't breath.
I felt Minh grab my shoulder, turning to him, he was coughing a lot, like a lot a lot, until a mouthful of red came out!
"Minh!" I screamed, patting his back while covering his mouth.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit, shit, shit!
Blood seeping through my fingers, staining my sleeves.
Suddenly, the itchiness in the back of my throat got worse, until the taste of iron filled my mouth. I coughed, and a mouthful of crimson blood poured out, spilling onto the marble platform.
Shit
The next moment, my legs gave out, the itchiness in my throat spread throughout my limbs until it felt numb. I fell forward, taking Minh down with me as we hit the platform. I couldn't get up. Don't think Minh could either. And after a while of numbness, my eyes got heavy, and then a sharp pain split my skull. The same pain that I felt the first time I overused graphien.
Fucking why?!!!!!
JUST WHY?!!
Is this karma? I didn't even kill Jacquin! The fireball killed her, I can't be blamed for that!!!
Just before I lost consciousness, I glimpsed Leo, still smiling like he isn't just watching us die.
You fucking pink-haired motherfucker! If I survive this, I swear- I'll kill you with my bare hands!!
A/N
Heyo everyone. You've probably been wondering where I've been for a while now. I won't say much, but life has been quite cruel to me recently and I'm currently juggling a lot right now. In light of this, I'll be cutting production.
To explain, I write many drafts in advance, and then proofread and edit them on the day of uploading. However, due to current circumstances, I wasn't able to do that. I want to give you my best when writing, so I've decided that instead of my usual twice-a-week uploading, it will be once a week, with each story being posted on every other week of each other. I hope you can understandand still want to keep reading. Thank you for your support and I hope you like this chapter.