The next day, Petra and the girls, followed by Levy and Elli, went to the Black Market.
The day passed and the sky brightened.
The Black Market was a single street that had been built into the heart of the city. The street was dark and unkempt, with broken and unfinished architecture, constantly overseen by overly aggressive city patrols. The street was dark grey, contrasting with the vibrant atmosphere of the rest of the city. The sidewalks were packed with street vendors, merchants and peddlers, each selling their own wares. Going deeper, the buildings that lined the streets were sealed off, not allowing easy entry for those who were not welcome. Here, there was almost no limit on what could be bought and sold.
The open street was second only to its own shadow.
Beneath the Black Market Street, the city sewers had been repurposed and transformed into an underground bazaar. This was where order started to blur, and crime became rampant and unaddressed.
Going down even further, beneath the sewers was an underground passageway that extended even deeper into the abyss of the undercity, and this passage led to the 'real' Black Market. This underground tunnel network was like a small dwarven city that had existed long before Sevensen.
Down here, light was scarce and people moved like swaying shadows. Here, no face was shown, and one's identity became an anonymous whisper in the dark. Even your presence became a thing of constant doubt, because the flickers that flashed past the corners of the eye could not be trusted.
In the dark underground tunnels that spread out beneath Sevensen, lives were lost, people disappeared, and the simplest law became a thing of myth. Within the deepest levels of the underground labyrinth, one could find the undiscovered nests of those unspeakable forces that had silently rooted themselves in Sevensen. These dark organisations didn't only include the Mercenary Alliances darker powers, many other banished and taboo forces had gathered within the city's shadow as well.
* * *
The girls arrived quietly.
The sun had risen and the air was dry.
Soryn took the lead, followed by Mell, Nebula, Elli, and Petra holding Levy's hand.
Each girl wore a long black robe, concealing their figures beneath an indefinable curtain of black cloth. This was important because young women were often targeted in the black market.
Petra walked through the streets, her small body hidden beneath her child sized robe. She held Levy's hand, the same way a child would hold their big sisters. They were a large group, allowing them to move mostly unperturbed. Excluding the occasional pickpocket, the girls advanced through the streets like every other group.
Petra peeked out from beneath the deep hood, her eyes sparkling with the greedy light of an emerald dragon. That curiosity that she had a hard time restraining had flared up.
The street stalls here held a different kind of flavour compared to the rest of the city. The small markets and simple stalls disregarded the many restrictions that limited common goods, displaying their 'darker' products openly. Petra found poisons, hidden weapons, and 'taboo' materials. There were shady Informants selling private information, beautiful women offering their personal services, and wandering mercenaries who were open to any kind of requests. It was a dark place full of unbound desires and unlimited possibilities.
Petra had Wind barter with an elderly man and were soon invited to one of the private stores. The girls followed him to a large building that had been sealed with a heavy lock.
The old man released the lock and welcomed them inside.
Inside, this place sold a variety of special clothes and illegal cloth, the kind that came from endangered animals and unspeakable sources. There was erotic clothing, personalized uniforms (Hellion Soldier) and taboo outfits (Old Vestments of Light). There were cloth rolls formed from extinct species, sacred beasts, and sources of corruption.
Petra bought a few rolls of cloth, intending to give them to Lilly when they returned.
When they were done, they left without incident.
-
They continue to shop, visiting a few other places over the course of a few hours.
They visited a stall that sold mermaid meat. It was old and grey, with wisps of steam rolling off its crust. The man claimed that mermaid meat had regenerative properties, but Petra was unsure. She wasn't unsure about the regenerative properties, instead, she was unsure what this grey blob was…
Next, they found a private seller that collected exotic beasts. The store was filled with different beasts, each one having been banned around the continent for one reason or another. Some could be used for assassinations, others would eat their owners, and there were even some that would attract the wrath of certain races.
After that, they found a small cubicle that sold 'forbidden knowledge' here, one could find tomes of taboo spells and curses. Petra's little eyes scanned the collection, and eventually landed on a book all about black magic. As a stingy girl, she didn't pay for them, instead, she scanned the books into her inner library, leaving the shopkeeper confused.
-
Time passed.
After leaving another stall, the girls were suddenly attracted to the loud cries of a young woman.
They approached, finding a large crowd surrounding a woman and three large men. There were murmurs about the 'poor soul' and 'unpaid debts'. Mud stained her green skirt and sharp stones cut her pale skin as she was dragged by the hair. The woman's clothes were torn, and her red eyes were feral. She was violently dragged across the floor, approaching a nearby stone wall.
Petra nibbled on a cracker, her eyes shining with an unknown emotion.
The man pulling her was indifferent, completely disregarding her life. He treated her no different than an object, something to sell so he could regain his losses. He didn't look back, he just yanked her along, suppressing her flailing limbs from time to time.
The three men approached the stone wall and pressed on an inconspicuous brick. With a rumble, the wall opened, then folded in on itself, opening a passageway that led deeper down into the abyss.
The crowd did not react, almost appearing used to this method of 'kidnapping'.
Looking at their reactions, Petra was sure that this was a common occurrence for the black market.
The woman was dragged down into the darkness, the stone wall closing behind them.
After a moment to discuss, the girls decided to follow. This was one of the few passages that led down to the underground bazaar and finding another one could be difficult.
They walked over.
-
The stone wall closed behind them with a bang.
The tunnel was plunged into darkness.
The muddy slope beneath their feet was crudely dug into the shape of a set of stairs. Footprints and fingernails were carved into the wet mud, while large chunks of dirt had been displaced after the long and frequent use. A torch in the distance flickered, its light casting long shadows through the passageway.
They moved, their footsteps echoing on the precarious steps with wet thuds. A gust from the depths fluttered their clothes like the breathing of an unseen beast, indicating some sort of airflow below. The dulled screams of a woman rang in the distance, matching the faint flickering light.
They descended for an unknown time, the walls of the tunnel expanding and contracting in waves. At times, they could walk shoulder to shoulder, while at others, they could only squeeze through one at a time.
Soon, they reached the end of the tunnel.
The hallway opened up into an underground chamber. The ceiling was about ten meters tall, and the room extended forward, like an underground street. The air was damp and cold, with a sharp smell of mold that would stick to the nose after a long time. The corners and crevices grew with underground flora, and small beasts ran back and forth, mostly rodents with the occasional cat. Large buildings were built into the cave walls, crude but functional, some even reaching three floors tall. The 'road' had been paved with stone, making this underground chamber more functional for busy merchants and common laborers.
The businesses down here were different as well, more sinister and unrestrained.
Petra felt like she would never see Sevensen quite the same way after this trip. After her first visit, she had quite a good impression of this city, but after seeing this underground world, she felt like the city lord had gotten off easy.
They passed a few stalls, some selling human meat, while others offered interrogation services. There were brothels and poisoners, hunters and informants. Many of what appeared were things that irritated Petra, leaving her with a bad taste in her mouth.
They stopped in front of a slave market.
Petra entered.
This was unlike the small tent that she had visited before.
This was the dark side of the coin, and there were no 'free slaves' here.
Petra looked around at the young men and women that had been chained up. They were all battered and bruised in different ways, some had broken spirits, while others reacted violently to even the smallest stimulus. These were probably the missing civilians who had become victims to the calamity and were taken as slaves.
Levy rubbed her chin, thinking of something, Elli was as quiet as Nebula, Wind's face was dark, and Soryn was disdainful at such a practice.
Petra walked through rows and rows of cages, their numbers reaching into the thousands. Some were placed alone while others were locked in batches. If what Petra had experienced before was a friendly market, then this was the 'after-sales giveaway'. Yet, she still felt like something was wrong.
Petra's mind turned.
She had Soryn call over an employee and ask a few questions.
When the topic of high end slaves came up, Petra learned that there was a place even deeper underground, one that held the 'high end products'. If she wanted 'better slaves', then she had to find her way down and talk to the real Slave Market.
The woman explained the black market's common sense.
Unlike at this level, to go deeper was to tread into the unknown.
The underground network that led to the heart of the black market was unmapped and unsafe. Only by finding your way through its labyrinthine structure could you reach its depths. Down there, there were no guards, no rules, no order, it was just a place where one could do as they pleased.
Petra's heart moved.
Such an environment, it didn't seem much different from the place where she had grown up on Earth.
They left, not thanking the woman. None of them would miss that flash of greed that flickered in her eyes when Wind spoke.
To delve further, one had to pass through the 'Black Arch', a gateway that led down into the labyrinth. It was a black gate built from stone and ash, one that was consecrated with holy runes. It was unknown whether this gate was meant to keep things out, or to keep things in, but it was a famous part of the Black Market in Sevensen.
The girls passed through, space rippling as they moved.
Although unseen, a small crack, only a few millimeters in size, appeared with Petra's passing.