Paramythi I: City of Glass

“So, do we just wait around until nightfall and then take this guy by surprise?” Asked Elias, frowning as he followed Psykhe’s footsteps through the city.

He felt nervous to be back here after so long, moving past familiar and unfamiliar faces as they got closer to the docks and further away from the inner parts of Tentrail. It looked like it had been raining recently. The walls of the buildings and the paved floor were glistening with the remains of droplets and Psykhe seemed to be going out of her way just to step into every puddle until they reached the dock’s entrance.

“We can’t stay until nightfall. Remember what happened the night we signed up and the Prowlers were set loose?” Psykhe tutted, rearranging the encased scythe on her back, ensuring that the small hood she wore covered most of it. “We have to ask around and see how much we can find out about this guy, then call for an aircraft to take us back up to Base before anyone can turn us in.”

Elias sighed softly and turned his attention to the dock’s entrance. He had been here before many times, mainly to visit Maxa or help her crew. She always had the idea that someday, far in the future, she would be turning the whole company to Elias; which gave Elias the upper hand in their current situation. He knew where everything would be located and just how they could get in without Maxa ever having to know he was here.

“What time is it now?” Elias asked, stepping off to the side rather than directly following the small slope of uneven ground towards the front entrance. He turned towards a small shed and tried the handle, content with its loose turn and pushed it open. “It’s late, right?”

“Just gone half one,” Psykhe checked the small glow on the inside of her wrist, a handy tattooed holographic-watch which solely worked on the power of its host’s body heat. They were a big thing when they were first brought into Emvolo a few years back, but Maxa absolutely despised the idea of them; which led to Elias being unable to ever tell the time unless he remembered to bring his phone or have a good view of the sun from his house. “Due to Capitol guard’s rounds in the city, the Rebellion can’t always make a landing unless they want to be questioned over and over until nightfall, in which we get sent back home.”

Elias merely grunted in agreement and stepped over the small gap between the edge of Tentrail’s ground and the wooden shed built over the calm waves lapping at the low rock. The shed creaked under Elias’ weight. The shed served as a storage for Maxa and her workers.

It reeked of fish, since it was usually one of the many places they stored the barrels of goods and produce in the corner. It was cool enough to keep most of the food fresh for a couple of days and there were gaps between each plank of wood to let in the sea breeze to keep things from getting too hot and suffocating.

“Why are you going in this way?” Psykhe lowered her head as she followed Elias into the shed and frowned, pinching her nose when the strong smell of fish hit her like a wave. “Ugh…it stinks in here. You can smell that, right?”

“Sure. It’s just fish,” Elias shrugged and tiptoed his way towards the second door in the shed, an entrance which led straight out towards the dock and the harbour’s dealings. He was tense as he pressed his shoulder against the doorframe and peeked through the open gap left as a result of the door being left open; as per usual, “and we’re going this way to avoid Maxa. She always opens the entrance to the docks when someone knocks…unless she’s sucked into some big deal, but since this time of year is pretty slack, she’s definitely on patrol by the entrance.”

“Maxa Kara is supposed to run the whole harbour, right?” Psykhe pulled the door shut behind her, cutting off anyone from peeking in to see them sneaking past the entrance, and hurriedly reached the second door, shoulder pressing against the opposite side of the frame in parallel to Elias. “So why does she bother going on patrol when she should be in her office, signing papers and giving orders to her men?”

“My sister likes to play the equality card with all the workers down in the docks after what happened between her and the previous boss,” Elias replied, blue eyes scanning the area for any movements. He pushed down the small remembrances of Maxa coming home with one hand and tried to forget just how scared he was of being left alone for good. “She treats them all the same and gets things done loads easier compared to how they used to be. In fact, the papers said that Emvolo has never been so full of working trade since Maxa took over.”

With a smirk, Psykhe crouched and followed after Elias as he took the first step out and tracked his way behind crates and tarps, nets and planks of wood until they reached another shed and ducked inside it.

“As much as I like the thrill of being undetected, I gotta ask…” Psykhe stood up and rubbed the lower half of her back, eyes squinting as she watched Elias close up the door and scout around the darkness of the shed’s confines. “How are we supposed to question anyone if they’re not allowed to know we’re here?”

“I never agreed to that plan. We don’t have to question anyone,” Elias shrugged. “We just gotta find the right information to bring back to the captain.” Leaning over one of the many crates in the shed, Elias grunted and reached for something within the darker regions of the damp, cold space. “…besides, I saw the pictures Kane had. The blurred images Junior R gave to him. Now, you guys probably wouldn’t be able to make out most of the area surrounding that blurry guy in the photo, but lucky for you…” standing back up, Elias pulled a slim briefcase out from behind the crate and settled it upon the hard surface with a wide smile, “I happen to know every inch of this place.”

The look on Psykhe’s face was a mixture of surprise and satisfaction. She pursed her lips together to stop a small chuckle from escaping. Her composure had to stay in check, of course. “So, the guy in the pictures was standing outside of this shed? Nice work.” With a balled fist, Psykhe playfully punched Elias’ shoulder and knelt beside him, eyes tracing over the briefcase.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain how the suspect managed to get inside the docks in the first place, and the pictures were taken even higher, so the Junior R must have climbed the rooftops around here to get it…” Elias bit the inside of his cheek and turned his head, glancing outside towards the motion and the faces of Maxa’s workers, including the blue flash of his sister’s hair. “Shit!” The small breath left his lips involuntarily and he rolled to the side, out of sight completely.

Psykhe was baffled yet again and could not stop the smile from creeping up on her lips at hearing such vulgar things leave her temporary partner’s lips. “Woah, calm down. What’s up?” She asked, voice far calmer and lighter in comparison to Elias’ flushed and panicked visage.

“Maxa’s out there.” Elias whispered. He lay on his back, legs slumped apart and hands clasping his chest with one finger flexed to aim at the door, “she’s nearby. Oh, Gods above! I hope she didn’t see me!”

Psykhe frowned and crouched, tiptoeing her way over to the door to get a closer look at what could possibly be so terrifying about Maxa Kara. With an inhale of breath, the young woman took her chances and looked around the corner. Maxa was everything Psykhe had not expected. She was much taller than Elias, with a fair build around her torso, complemented by a lanky frame and long legs. She had a serious face with bright blue eyes that matched her short, choppy hair. When she went to reach for a crate and hand it to her fellow workers, Psykhe noticed the leather glove Maxa wore on her left hand and decided to lower her gaze and shift back, attention returning to Elias.

“…and you don’t want her to know you’re with the Rebellion? How come?” Psykhe scoffed, sitting down beside the door frame, back leant against the sturdiness of the wooden wall behind her.

Elias shifted to press his own back to the wall behind him and bent his knees, elbow resting lazily against his kneecap. “She’d kill me if she ever found out. She despises the Rebellion! She would always tell me that she’d kick me out of the house if I ever signed up, even though she could do nothing to stop me on my sixteenth birthday, since I was an adult and all…”

“Elias, you’ve been gone a whole year for training within the Rebellion’s base and you still haven’t gone back home. You really don’t think she’s figured it out? It’s kinda obvious, and I wouldn’t think your sister could possibly be that stupid.”

“Well, Quincy kind of helped me out…” Elias admitted. “He fed Maxa a lie and we told her I was just on some extended education and that he was my teacher. As far as I know, she took it and trusted in me.”

Psykhe lowered her head and idly rearranged her gloves, unable to look Elias in the eyes as she said. “Wonder how she’d feel if she ever found out that trusting you was wrong.”

As much as Elias would have liked to address such a comment, he held his tongue and pushed off from the wall and back to his feet. “Come on, we should check this briefcase out.” His tone was calm, which surprised even himself, and he comfortably knelt in front of the case, thumbs brushing the clasps open with a swift ‘pop’.

“Are you sure we should be meddling with it here? I mean, maybe Kane wants to check it out himself, first-hand?” Grumbled Psykhe, kneeling in front of the crate and the case, shoulder bumping Elias’. “Wouldn’t it be better to just take it and bring it back up to the base?”

Elias had already hooked his thumbs through the gap of the briefcase’s lid and shook his head. “We can do this on our own, this time. Come on.” Just beneath the boldness of Elias’ tone, there was a tremble; a plea. His eyes held the same mix of emotions and his brows knit together. “Just, back me up, okay?”

Psykhe looked to her right, catching the look of familiarity on Elias’ face. He looked just like he had that night at Eirini village after the dust had cleared and reality weighed heavy on them all. She had no right to take such a right from the young man under these circumstances and sighed.

“I got your back,” Psykhe mumbled. “No hard feelings.” Pushing up to her feet, she turned to face the door and bent her arm back, hand gripping the shaft of her folded scythe. The possibility of the case being a trap for the both of them was not overlooked and Psykhe inhaled, eyes flittering to the left and right. “Open it.”

Elias nodded. “Alright... alright…” he rolled his shoulders back and finally flipped the lid back, causing the hard surface to tap the crate with a loud thump. Frowning, Elias shifted forward and peered inside the contents with a face of utter loss as he stared at the small, single, rectangular object resting within the velvet plush of sewn encasing. “There’s nothing in here but a…business card?”

Psykhe’s breath hitched in her throat and she pivoted on her heel. “That’s not a business card, that’s a—”

Before Psykhe could finish her sentence, Elias was blown back from the briefcase by a wave of powerful energy that rattled the entire shed and rippled the sea beneath them. Psykhe was thrown back, too, but was able to land on her feet from having a prior sense of preparation from the impact and then the horrible screeching filled the young recruits’ ears; vibrating through their bodies and causing them to cry out in agony.

“What is that thing…!!” Elias screeched, rolling on his side with his palms clasped over his ears; although it did nothing to stop the horrid sounds from ripping his sanity and patience from his very skull. “Turn it off!!”

Psykhe slid down to her knees and slammed her hands against the wooden floor, teeth gritting as she tried to keep herself together. There were tears in her eyes when she lifted her head, knowing the only way to shut the damned thing off would be to close the lid to the case once again. Ignoring Elias, Psykhe struggled to crawl, forcing every movement from her gradually-draining body. She felt like jelly by the time she managed to reach the crate and her eyes stung, tugging the nerves in her head so furiously that she was certain her head would explode.

With a shrill scream of frustration, Psykhe slammed the lid shut and toppled backwards, briefcase held close to her chest in her attempts to recover from the massive strain dealt to her and her temporary-partner. Breath heaving, and with no time to spare, Psykhe rolled onto her stomach and wheezed, eyes lifting to Elias.

“Elias, get up. We gotta go before—“

“What the hell is going on back here?!”

Elias noticed the familiar voice immediately and pursed his lips together before urging the courage to open his eyes and look up. He had been flung over to the door and was laying just beneath the doorframe, making the first thing he saw to be none other than his oldest sister, bright blue eyes bearing deep into his own blue irises.

“…hey, Maxa.”