Anansi's Web

During a breakfast of cereal, burnt toast- that was my fault-and some old, blueberry muffins lying around Cara and I watched TV in silence.

I wondered how she could be so happy. Maybe it was just in her nature, but I will never say that I’m being over dramatic. I’m about to go into a war zone that almost no one knows about. I could feel the emotions coming back, and I forced them down with all that I had. This was going to be a good day, whether I like it or not.

We were saving the informer from Fervan tonight… maybe I could slip away as we were coming back to the house, and Cara could cover for me? No, what would she say? I had to think of something before Ember decided what she was going to do.

When everyone was awake, we sat around the table in the center of the room, looking at each other from separate couches. The MOD members were just walking outside the house, watching the morning traffic that passed by. They monitored people walking their winged dogs, and joggers trying to get some exercise on a warm summer morning.

Vince Cara and I exchanged look for a moment, because we knew something that Ember didn’t. I felt weird going behind Ember’s back, but it was for a good cause. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew everything.

“I say we go to the mountains tomorrow. Can we agree?” Ember asked, looking tired of thinking about this. I could hear the weariness in her scratchy morning voice.

“That sounds good.” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. I didn’t want her to be sad, I relied on her for so long, and I didn’t want to see her so…defeated.

Ember smiled back. “Do you want to learn any magic soon? I could teach you, and maybe the officers could help. It’s time you learned some different kinds of magic.”

I didn’t try to fight the smile on my face. “Can we do it before this afternoon?”

Ember nodded, and saw Cara smile from the corner of my eye. I bit the inside of my lip, with unease coming over me like frost creeping across a field.

Later that day Ember and I walked outside, along with the female agent. We stood on a rickety brown patio. I stepped on creaky splintered wood, as Ember sat down with her legs crossed, and a confident look that I hadn’t seen since we left Sraff for the first time.

“I think I should teach you something cool. Is there anything you might want to learn in particular?”

I thought back to all of the magic fight’s I’ve seen, and I hummed as I came to my decision.

“I think I want to learn how to shoot those bolts.”

“Erras spells? Those could be useful, but I wanna teach you something a bit…bigger than that.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know, what do you recommend?”

“Charms are too advanced, hexes are a bit slow to learn, and Jinxes are difficult…I think I should teach you the disorienting spell.”

“What’s that?”

“I used it when we fought those trolls on the train. It flashes lights in front of someone to disorient them.”

“Oh, okay, cool.”

Ember stood up in her elegant way. “Alright, so what you have to do is hold your hand out, and imagine every color you can think of coming out of your palm.”

I shrugged. “Sounds simple.”

“Try it then.”

I held my hand out at the air in front of me, and imagined every color I knew coming from my palm. When it didn’t work, I closed my eyes, and really concentrated…still nothing.

“Are you sure you told me everything?”

Ember nodded. “Keep trying, you might almost do it by tomorrow, and that’s impressive for the first time.”

I ground my teeth. I didn’t need this spell tomorrow I needed it now. I tried again, but nothing happened. The MOD officer snorted.

“It’ll be a while kid. Everyone starts with energy magic; it’s the easiest, but also the slowest because you’re a beginner. It’ll get easier.” Tracy said before walking into the house.

I sighed, and wanted to quit, but Ember encouraged me to continue until I got tired. After a few minutes I started to feel a bit light headed, so I had a seat.

Ember provided a few more words of encouragement and then we went inside. I was disappointed that I failed, but I guess I wasn’t anything special; I had to take as much time as everyone else.

I was inside, and waiting for two o’clock to roll around. It was twelve now, and I was starting to get bored. Cara walked into the living room then, wearing a tight dark green shirt, and shorts. She looked uncomfortable, constantly wriggling around, and stretching out the shirt.

“Hey, we’re about to leave with Tracy to look around for a bit.”

“Where’d you get new clothes from?” I asked.

“It was a gift from Tracy. She bought all of us some new clothes last night, based off of what she thought our size was.”

“Where are my clothes?”

“They’re in your closet. Didn’t she tell you?”

I checked in my closet, and there were a few pairs of new clothes. I picked a very light blue shirt, and some jeans, and wore my old shoes because she hadn’t bothered to pick out new shoes.

When I looked in the mirror I thought it looked okay, but my white eyes bothered me. They did look creepy…evil almost.

“I want to leave early so we can look around the city a bit. Tracy already agreed to drive us.” Cara said.

“M’kay” I said, brushing my teeth.

Everyone was ready except for Ember, who preferred to stay here with the male MOD member, who I didn’t like too much.

Vince sat in the passenger’s seat. He wore a tight, dark grey shirt that showed off his muscles, and light grey jeans with black shoes that were actually new. When I asked Tracy about this, she said that Vince needed new shoes the most, and that she was tired, and wanted to spend as little money as possible.

The city was as busy as I remembered, and traffic was pretty slow. Homeless people were sitting on corners, wearing tattered clothing. I wanted to help them bad, but I had to be cautious. I knew that most of them weren’t bad, but I couldn’t risk being caught again.

The people were cautious, and I noticed this hostility in the air since coming back. When I asked Tracy, she said that normally Sraff is like this, only changing for events when a lot of tourists visit to the people lighten up.

Tracy took us to a parking garage, and we walked down several stories of the dark platforms. The smell of rubber, and city wind swallowed us while we walked down the dirty cement stairs, littered with trash to be picked up by community workers. I looked at the world from his height, and it managed to compare to flying. I looked out over the people, moving below like a colony of ants. Sunlight glinted from buildings, glittering off of the glass reminding me of how legendary this city seemed to me when I first came here.

In the city below we walked around a bit aimlessly until we came across an interesting store every now and then. All around me were people of different places, with different ideas, and lives.

Together, we bought some shoes for Cara, Ember and I. After that, we sat down outside on a bench, while shifting through menus of something for lunch. Tracy’s phone said that it was one thirty, so we didn’t have much time, but she didn’t know that.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” Vince said.

“Yeah, it’s a break. Sad Ember didn’t come though.” I said.

“Yeah, but she didn’t want to come with us. She’s taking a kind of break too. She’s been looking after us for so long.” Cara said, putting down her menu to look at everyone who had their noses buried in the booklet of options.

“Hey Cara, I wonder what happened when they found that demon we fought after we destroyed the park that night.”

“Oh yeah. They probably didn’t know what to do with it. I would love to have seen their faces. I bet nothing like that’s happened before.”

I smiled thinking about the shocked workers, and then I remembered the boy whose leg got hurt, and I stopped smiling. I would have brought it up to Cara but I didn’t want to ruin the mood.

“Oh, I forgot,” Cara said, putting her arm on the table. There was a bracelet on her wrist; it had some small little trinkets on it, marked with symbols. “The girl dropped this in the mountains when she was chasing me. You know, the flying girl? I took it, but I forgot to tell you guys about it.”

“It looks nice.” I said, “Except for the bits of dirt on it. Have you washed it?”

Cara shook her head. “I forgot it was in my old pocket.”

Tracy put her menu down to look at the bracelet. “Looks like a charm.”

“Is it one of those charm bracelets?”

“No, it’s an actual charmed bracelet. It’s been jinxed for luck probably.”

Cara inspected the jewelry closer, her eyes lighting up. “Finally I get something cool.”

“What do you mean by good luck?” Vince asked, watching the bracelet as thought it would grow legs, and walk away.

“Maybe something coincidental will happen in Cara’s favor. But it’s pretty picky with when it works, and what Cara gets luck in. She might find ten dollars on the street, or she might find a single earring she lost a long time ago.”

The waitress came as we all admired Cara’s arm. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

We got drinks, and told her we needed more time to decide.

Music played from a speaker outside, quiet behind the sounds of the city. It was easy to ignore, but I couldn’t help humming along to the cheap pop song as we sipped our drinks.

When we ordered, and the food came, we talked, and joked as we ate, but I found that my appetite had left because I was worried about what we were planning to do after this. More specifically, what I was planning to do.

I picked at my fries, and had a few bites of my sandwich, but I wasn’t feeling it. Cara was eating hers like crazy though. She also committed the atrocity of getting onion rings instead of fries, which I told her I could not forgive. Vince had something healthier than the rest of us, making me feel bad, and driving me farther away from eating. He had a small salad, without any dressing. Tracy picked from my fries, who were sitting there alone.

I finished my lemonade, and then I had nothing to do while everyone else ate. Cara was done quickly though, and she stifled a burp by doing it with her mouth closed, but it was still audible. Tracy finished my fries, and Vince’s small salad was gone after a few minutes. We sat there, talking for a bit about the city and our memories because we still had time until two, but if we wanted to make sure the man was safe we had to get there before two, so we got up, and walked back towards the parking garage.

We were rushing Tracy when we were in the car. Vince had the directions to the building the man was at from the paper we found in the farmers house. I felt bad that we didn’t manage our time better. Luckily the building wasn’t far, and on the road there, there weren’t many cars.

When we pulled up in front of the large, abandoned building I stared up at it in awe, only to be stressed out when I saw a sleek black car parked in front.

The building looked like it was four stories. The greyish blue paint was peeling, and was gone in huge chunks in some areas, revealing the faded bricks. Windows were tinted green, and smashed in some places, leaving webbed cracks in the glass. An old sign hung from the front, but the letters had been washed away by the rain, and made faint by the sun.

We got out, and Tracy looked at us like we were crazy. “Are you sure this is where you were in such a rush to go?”

“Yeah,” I said. Tracy coked her head to the side, but said nothing. Her eyebrows were crinkled, and she frowned, getting out and following us to the building.

We walked up to the door. It was wooden, and peeling, a dark navy blue. The paint was dotted on the wooden surface, and the knob was golden, but rusted, and loose. The hinges cried with agony, and joy, as we were their first visitor in a while.

Vince, Cara and I walked inside, but Tracy was a bit slow to follow us. “What’s so special in here?” She asked.

“Heard it was haunted” I lied quickly.

“From who?”

“Someone I know came here, and when they got back to my school, they told me it was haunted, and I asked him for the address when I knew that I was coming.”

Tracy was quiet for a moment, and I felt her skepticism hitting me in the back, but she took the answer for now.

Inside, the floor boards squeaked, and with each step clouds of dust rose up from their hiding place in the carpet, and in the sunlight tiny dust particles floating in the air. The smell was familiar, but awful. The place smelled like old books that had become brittle and crumbly, mixed with moth balls, and rotting furniture. There was also a tangy stink that trickled into the air, most likely from a wild animal that had decided to nest here.

We all exchanged glances as we moved through the crumbling building. Right now we were in some kind of waiting area. A dust layered carpet lay in the center, with old leather couches around a table in the center of the carpet. The leather couches were torn open, and fuzz stuck out. Ahead of the couch area there was a desk that had an old spinning chair ominously turning, making a consistent creak as the wind from the busted window swooshed inside. I noticed a small birds nest on the counter of the desk.

Then, there was the sound of footsteps above us. Voices spoke softly. Dust rained down onto us, and I thought I could see where the pressure was by looking at slight bulges on the ceiling. I was scared that this place could collapse at any moment.

We began to walk up the wooden stairs covered in a tan colored carpet, but the staples where the carpet was attached stuck out, piercing the sole of my shoes.

“I’m not sure about this.” Tracy said.

“Don’t worry.” Vince said, in front of me.

“It’s my job to worry. Maybe I should take you guys back.”

“But we haven’t even looked long.” I said as we climbed cautiously up the moaning steps.

“What was so special about getting here so quickly?”

“I heard the ghost doesn’t show up after two.”

Tracy made a noise behind us.

The voices became louder, until they heard our steps creaking towards them, and then the talking hushed.

Chapter twenty two

In the room, there was a desk, and another squeaky chair. There were plaques glazed with dust hanging on the wall, and cabinets lining the room. There were some leather green chairs across from the desk, where two people sat, looking at us. One of the people was a brown skinned woman, clutching an axe, and the other was a buff man, with a gun in his hand. Across from them, in the spiny chair was a handsome man. He had grey brown hair, and a small, tame beard of the same color. His eyes were umber, and he looked in his twenties. He was fit, but not as muscular as the man in the chair across from him. When I looked closer I noticed a scar on his cheek.

The two sitting in the chairs across from the man got a wide look in their eyes, flooding with recognition. I recognized them too. They were two of the pirates we kept running into.

“What are you doing here?” The male pirate asked, “And with him.” he gestured at Vince, who looked as shocked as the other pirates.

The man in the chair was looking at us, not quite sure what was happening.

“What do you mean?” Cara asked.

The guy pirate sounded vicious. “He left us after that trip to Fortri when the boat was attacked. We talked to him in the mountains a week later, and he didn’t go back with us. He’s a traitor. And because he didn’t come back with us we were exiled from the island as our last strike.”

Vince looked more angry than surprised. “It isn’t my fault. I never wanted to be a pirate in the first place. What does it matter now? If you’re exiled, you’re free.”

“We don’t want to be free.” The man said with a deep, rugged voice. “Catching the general will get us back to the island.”

“The general?” The man in the chair asked, almost seeming to enjoy what he was seeing.

“The general you know, from Fervan.”

“Do you mean to say the director?”

The woman groaned. “Whatever he is, I don’t care. We just want information. They have to wait don’t they?”

“They can stay if they want information like you.”

Tracy stepped between us, and the pirates. “That’s what you came here for, information? I shouldn’t have trusted you, let’s go.”

“No, wait!” I insisted as the backed us towards the stairs.

“I’m not hearing it, we’re leaving.”

The pirates snickered from where they sat, but just as we were about to fight out way past Tracy, the window in the office shattered, with strong winds scattering the pieces about the room. The shards blew past with such force; they darted into the wooden wall, sticking with wooden clunks.

The pirates grunted in surprise, but when they didn’t cry out in pain, I figured they were okay, but as I pushed my way past Tracy, I saw that they had gashes of scarlet on their arms, and cheeks. They had fallen backwards from their chairs, and were struggling to stand.

In the window was a thin man, with midnight black wings, and silky black hair. He wore glasses, and was pale, with a sharp nose, and his neck was longer than normal. Beside him were two ordinary men, with no wings, but they still seemed to be standing in the middle of the air, like the man from the farm.

When they saw my face, and Vince’s, and Cara’s, the man with wings whispered something, and flew off, while the other two fit into the window one by one.

I stood in front of the doorway, with my group. The two men were standing in front of the window, both wearing sunglasses, and casual clothing so that they might not have been suspicious on the streets. They raised their hands, and a blast of wind blew us back until we hit the wall with a menacing crack. The breath was knocked out of me for a moment. I fell to the floor, gasping, with the others clustered around me. dust was gathering in the air around us, and I was breathing it in, making me cough.

“What in terra’s name is this?” Tracy asked before a painful sounding sneeze.

“We’re rescuing that man from being killed by those two.” Vince said, standing, and heading into the room. His breath was ragged, and deep, but it slowly became normal again.

We all got up, and walked into the small room as quick as we could. The first Ecrealt man, who had brown hair and olive skin, had his hand in front of the informant’s mouth. The informant’s face was becoming cherry red as a long exhale was escaping his lungs. The other one had red hair, and was tall, just like the one we met on the farm. He had the two pirates caught in his red magical aura, stuck in a confused position with blood from their cuts still slowly sliding down their skin.

A bolt of orange light came from Tracy, and a rope was tired around the man who was choking the informant. The informant fell to the ground, gasping, and coughing violently.

Vince walked up to the red haired one, and punched him in the face. He lost balance, but managed to stay standing. The two pirates were looking around for their weapons.

“Where’s your gun?” I asked Vince from my safe spot the corner of the room.

“I left it so Ember wouldn’t be suspicious. Don’t worry, I had a plan.”

I watched the fighting from where I stood, unsure of what to do. A few times, I tried to use that trick Ember taught me, but it never worked. Luckily for me though, nobody seemed to notice me. I still wanted to help in some way.

A knife appeared in front of the man who was tired up. It slashed through the ropes, and he began to attack Tracy, who was quick enough to react, and engage him before he saw me or Cara, who stood next to me. Cara tried to throw a blue alchemy stone from her pocket at the man Tracy fought, but it was blown out of the window by a harsh gust of wind.

Tracy waved her hand, and the man she fought was contained in a field of orange energy. She quickly ran to Vince to help him fight the other Amunite while the one trapped in the field was trying to escape his prison.

I heard the floor boards squeak underneath during the fighting. The man in the field was in the center of the room. Vince and Tracy were a decent distance from him, and the unconscious informant was right at my feet. Maybe I could do something.

I lifted the informant’s desk with my energy using my determination to help to fuel my magic. The desk floated into the air, and I moved it to the center of the room, and slammed it onto the floor three times. Each time there was a loud CRACK. The floor finally broke, and the Amunite fell to the ground, where the orange force field shattered. He was soon covered in a pile of rubble.

Tracy, Vince, and the Amunite they fought almost fell too. The hole was wider than I expected, and the floor was sloped down into the hole.

The Amunite regained his feet quicker than my friends, and he swept the two confused pirates into the hole. They screamed, but I caught them at the last minute, and let them fall safely away from the rubble. The bird that made its nest here flew off, followed by its chicks.

Tracy gained her senses, and got in some kind of magic fight with the last Amunite, who wore a few bruises from Vince’s attack. Tracy shot a spell at the man, but he deflected it, and Tracy got knocked into the hole. I gasped, and tried to help her, but she saved herself with her own magic, and she glided gently onto the floor.

I sighed in relief, and saw Vince attacking the Amunite with nothing but his fists. He hit the Amunite every time he started to raise his hand, and danced around each gust of wind that swiped at his feet. It was amazing. I tried to help using the spell Ember tried to teach me, but again it failed.

“I have a plan.” Cara said.

She whispered her plan to me, and I nodded. I was going to stop the Amunite with my magic, and she was going to make a distraction with an alchemy stone. I caught the Amunite, to Vince’s surprise. He made his way around the hole, and towards us, while Cara threw a black stone at the Amunite across the room. Black smoke filled the room, and the three of us picked up the informant, and walked around the hole, out of the room, and down stairs.

Cara looked surprised that the plan worked, but then she looked down at her bracelet.

“That’s what you guys came here for?” Tracy asked harshly. “Do you know how dangerous this could have been? Lucky I was here.”

The two pirates cursed as they got up, moaning. It was good to know that they were alive. Then I heard a blunt thud, and I saw that they knocked out the Amunite who had crawled from the pile of wood, pipes, and plaster.

“This is important; we could get important information on Fervan from this guy.” Vince said, ignoring the pirates, who were scuffling out of the building.

The informant came too slowly, looking at the wreckage around him. “Maybe this wasn’t the best temporary hiding spot.” He groaned.

Tracy had her arms crossed, and her lips pressed tightly together, but she snapped, and the outside world from the windows became dark, like it was night time.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“No one can see inside now. But it’s a limited time, so we need to hurry.”

We set the informant on one of the old musty couches, and stood around him as he resurfaced into reality.

When the informant spoke his voice was soft, and rugged. “Well, w…what do you w-want to know?”

Cara Vince and I looked at each other, coming to some kind of silent meeting. I spoke, “What does Fervan want?”

“They want to rule everyone under a single government… Terra knows the leader of Fervan isn’t anywhere near fit to rule. Her people are turning against her, only to be stopped by her brutes.”

“How did you get here?” Cara asked.

“Queen doesn’t let us travel over sea, but when war started there were riots. My brother and I stole a large boat, and with the help of a few people, we sailed here. That was a long time ago. My brother died a few years back. He was killed by some Amunites from Amedia. They work with Fervan when it suits ’em.”

“What’s she gonna do with the Siribi?” Vince said.

“Terrible things probably. Those huge creatures can’t be any good. Amunites back when they were a large race called Siribi the ultimate evil, and the humans called them gods.”

“Which one is she trying to unleash?” Tracy asked.

“Anansi, the spider. He was said to be the smartest of them.”

“Okay, there has to be some way you know all this.” Tracy said.

“I worked for the queen until the war. I was about to leave the country before she banned travel.”

“What did you do for the queen?” Tracy said.

“Does that matter?”

“Where is Anansi?” Vince asked.

“He’s on Fortri.”

“Well we’ll go there, and stop the director from finding him.” I said, my voice rattling with hidden fear that thrashed in the pit of my stomach, the vibration of fear placed a weight on my chest, but I swallowed, and forced it deeper.

“Good luck…And uh, if you want I could give you a gift.”

“What is it?” Cara asked.

The man reached in his pockets and took out two necklaces; they were golden, and glimmering, even with the mild light in the room. At the end of one of the necklaces hung a very small golden box, and on the other one was a pendant in the shape of the sun.

“What do they do?” Cara asked, her green eyes intensifying in the soft golden light.

“Charms…ancient ones. Luck ran out of them for me, but you might be able to use them. They’re sealed to keep the magic in. But if you wear it for longer than a day, the magic will wear off.” The man handed us the two necklaces, jingling as they clashed with each other. Cara snatched them from his hands, quickly pocketing one.

“You already got a charm Cara.” Vince said.

Cara shot Vince a venomous look. “You want the other one?”

“No, I don’t need it.” Vince said, crossing his arms.

“You won’t be able to use it but a few times anyway.” I said, “I want the other.”

Cara handed me the necklace shaped like the sun. I put it in my pocket. “Where did you get these?”

“I worked in Fervan’s castle. When the riots began, I knew how to get in, and where the valuables were.” He smiled, “And I don’t know if I thanked you for saving me.”

“Your welcome.” Tracy said curtly. “We need to go now before some more Fervan representatives decide to speak with us.” She gave us all sharp looks, and began to walk out. We all followed her except for the informant, who wished us luck, and watched us leave, flinching when a mild breeze drifted into the room.

On the ride home, I tapped my foot on the floor of the car. What was I going to do? My parents were somewhere out here, how could I leave? I felt the charm in my pocket, and thought against it. I needed it for later, not now…But, I would have some more time, I’m only using it for a few moments.

I took the necklace out, and slipped it on, covering the charm under my shirt, which wasn’t very effective. It still bulged, and a faint glow came from it.

The gas light began to blink, and Tracy cursed. “We need to find a gas station.”

I placed a hand gingerly on my chest, smiling. I took the necklace off, and put it back into my pocket. Cara saw me, and leaned in, whispering, “what’re you doing?”

I whispered back, “Finding my parents.”

She slipped off her bracelet. “Don’t use all the luck on the necklace. Use my charm instead.”

The bracelet was a bit girly, but I ignored that, and thanked Cara.

“But,” Cara began, “won’t they notice you left?”

“Will you cover for me?”

“What do I even say?”

“I don’t know, think of something, say I went to the bathroom, say I wanted a walk, both, I don’t know. Do something.” I whispered.

When Vince and Tracy were out of the car, and inside of the gas station, I stepped out of the car, and backed off slowly. Cara watched me, waving goodbye.

I waved back briefly, and turned around. I was going to be in so much trouble, and not just from Ember, I was getting into serious trouble. The risk of being found was huge.

I walked quickly down the sidewalk, my heart pounding in my chest, sweat forming on my face. I stared ahead, trying not to think about what I was doing.

I gripped the bracelet, twisting it. I could use some luck. I was just inside of the heart of the city, and my parent’s hotel was on the outside. If I got to the square I might have been able to find the hotel.

The sun was fading, and the fiery day melted into the rich darkness of the night. The air didn’t change like it did in rural areas. Back home, the heat faded, and was replaced by the cool night wind that lapped over your face. Here I fought against the people, and the humidity. The deep orange of the melting sun bled into the metal city, spreading beams of orange light from glass windows that blared in my face.

When I realized that I was getting nowhere in a hurry, I slipped into a small building, and pretended to look around. It was a little phone store, packed with people, and small voices chattering.

I looked down at the good luck bracelet, and waited a few minutes for something to happen. Eventually I started asking random people if they knew of a hotel near the square of the city, and I got several rude responses. Then, I decided to ask someone if they could take me to the square, and after three tries, someone agreed.

I got in their car, looking through the window, hoping this person wasn’t going to kidnap me. As the car passed by the people on the sidewalks, I heard a voice in my mind.

Where are you?

The voice was different from Embers, but it was still a girl. I thought back to the voice, Tracy?

Yes, where are you?

I had to think of a smart lie, and quick. Uh, what was I going to do?

What was the uh, about? Tracy asked.

Nothing, just…I walked back to a store that I wanted to look through. I know it was stupid.

I’m not stupid Angelo. You seem smarter than to do that. What are you after?

It’s the truth, I swear.

I’m coming for you. Stay where you are.

Kind of hard to do. I thought, but she heard me, and asked why, but I was quiet, and I sensed that she left my mind.

“We’re here.” The man who drove me said.

“Thanks,” I said, getting out. He drove further past the square. I guess he was on his way and figured why not pick me up?

I looked around, and saw everything was pretty much the same as when I last saw it. The door to Ember’s shop was gone though, replaced by yellow S-MOD tape. I wanted to wonder closer, but I stopped, and told myself I wanted to find my parents before the others could find me. Tracy probably knew where I was like how Ember could track Cara.

I walked back down a street where I think my parent’s hotel was. I remember going this way on my last day here, before meeting with Ember.

The light from lamp posts pooled in the dark, but down this street, where things were less busy, they didn’t help much.

I traveled down streets, and made all sorts of turns, and twists until I finally realized that I was lost. I looked down at the charm on my wrist, and took it off, frustrated. Then, I noticed eyes watching me in the dark. The eyes were bright blue, and the shadowed body was dressed average. The person blended in with the few others walking the street. I wondered why they were watching me. I felt weird, so I traveled down a dark alley, and slipped the golden charm over my head, and tucked it into my shirt, where I hoped it would be slightly hidden.

It was a brash decision, but I needed some serious luck right now. Someone walked into the alley, and began to push open a grey door when they noticed me. They weren’t close to me, the man was in the middle of the alley, and I was in the back, but he saw me anyway, and took a few steps forward.

“What’re you doing out here kid?” the man asked in a gruff voice.

I took a step back, my hand touching the charm on my chest. “I was…Looking for someone.”

“Who’re you looking for?”

“My friend, he is a really powerful MOD member, and an alchemist. He was also a pirate, and he trained with a Nage.”

“Sounds like a very fantastical friend.”

I nodded, “Yeah he is, and he’s looking for me too.” I said, trying to erase the shakiness from my voice.

“I can help you find ’em.”

I didn’t trust him at first, but the golden charm was powerful. “Where will you find them?”

“Everyone who’s anyone knows about The Chisisi network.”

“I’m not from around here.”

“The Chisisi network is underground, but separate from the train system. You can find plenty of interesting people there. Some of ’em knows a lot about the city, and what goes on.”

“Will anyone down there work for Fervan?” I asked. That question would either confuse him, or reveal who I was. He only smiled a dark, shadowed smile.

“People from all over come there.”

I wasn’t sure if I liked that response, but I had to trust the Charm. “Why should I trust you?”

“If you don’t want to, then don’t. A young person like you needs to lie to stay safe in a city like this. But if you chose to go, read the pamphlet on the stand when you get in. It’ll tell you what you need.”

The gruff man walked into the door, and I stood there. Waiting for him to walk back out of whatever dark closet he had walked into waiting for me to go in so he could snatch me. But after several minutes he didn’t come back out, and I even watched another person go inside.

I walked forward and put my ear to the door. There was chatter on the other side. I slowly opened the door, standing behind it, and watching for the man to pop out, but instead, there was faint light.