After the bedlam in
the cafeteria, Liam had again, won the fight. The room was in a clutter of
smelly untidiness, so now the Vixens were tidying up the place, lining the
tables, mopping the spoiled platters across the floor, except for Fatima. The
troublesome girl had just left the room without even apologizing to everyone.
“I did great, didn’t
I!?” Liam said brightly. Ciara shook her head. Chase made a disapproving sound.
“Oh, come on! I did it to save you two from getting bullied!”
“Liam, we can take
care of ourselves," Chase said sharply, "Didn't you have enough of it
already? Every time you and Fatima see each other, it always ended up like
this, especially when Ms. Stupey is away.” Chase scolded. “Plus, you have a
large cut on your cheek,” Chase sighed, “Never mind, I’ll treat it right awa—”
“No touching, little
brother,” Liam said hastily, “I can treat it myself. Right now, you should be
training in the Sparring Room to become…”
“—like Kyra!?” Chase
protested, “You’re asking me if I wanted to be the kind of person to kill
someone just to prove that I am stronger than them? No thank you."
“Is Kyra that kind
of person?” Ciara asked loudly, and a hand was clamped on her mouth. She could
taste blood dripping from Liam’s fingers, so she knew Liam got injured from the
brawl.
“Don't say that out
loud, stupid!" Liam whispered. "If someone hears it, we'll definitely
be in big trouble, you know."
“I'm sorry,"
Ciara’s cheek blotched red as Liam's hand unclamped her mouth,
“Just come here, and
we’ll discuss this in my room, okay?” Liam said impatiently, gently pushing
Ciara toward the door. The screeching of metal stung her ears. She could hear
glass shards, and plastic ware being swept across the floor.
“Going somewhere, Liam?” a woman said,
blocking their pathway to the doorway. Judging from the sound of her rigid
voice and weighty footsteps, Ciara reckoned the woman was a member of the
kitchen staff, since she smelled like fried garlic.
“Hey Ms. Stupey,”
Liam said anxiously, “Sorry for wrecking your cafeteria. But don’t worry, this
time I’ll promise to pay you later with a turkey," Liam was slightly
pushing Ciara forward, "so if you don’t mind, we’ll be goin—”
“As if I will let
you pass, Liam Crude!" Ms. Stupey barked, "Not after you wrecked my
cafeteria twenty times this month, along with that girl, Fatima.”
At least some people care for the mess they
did. Ciara thought
“But you see—"
Liam began.
“Liam, give it a
break.” Chase sighed. “Don’t mind my brother, Ms. Stupey; I’ll be the one to
pay you for my brother’s damages.”
“No can do, lad. You
have done enough...” Ms. Stupey said, and pinched Liam’s ear. Liam yelped.
“Come here, young
man. I won’t let you out of my wing this time!" Ms. Stupey yelled angrily,
"For today, you are going to cook one hundred stew platters for dinner
time, you hear me!”
“Umm…” Ciara
muttered, “I don’t mind if I help Liam out.”
She heard Ms. Stupey
releasing Liam’s ear. Liam groaned.
“Oh, dear. I didn’t
see you there!" Ms. Stupey was startled by Ciara’s uninvited response. "You’re
a newbie, right?' Ciara didn't say a word, and Ms. Stupey continued. She seems to be a lively woman... Ciara
thought. "Ho, ho. Sorry about that, pleased to meet you…I’m the Chief
Staff of this cafeteria, Ms. Stupey.”
“Ciara…” she paused, not remembering what her
last name was. “Pleased to meet you.” she stepped out from Liam’s back and
heard Ms. Stupey gasping.
“Dear me! You’re
that girl—the Candidate of Prophecy!” Ms. Stupey screamed, her voice booming across the cafeteria.
Upon hearing Ms.
Stupey’s astonished broadcast, the place immediately turned quiet. A sense of
alarming panic crossed Ciara’s face.
“It’s the girl.” someone
whispered.
“I didn’t even notice
her…”
“She’s the one
Fatima bullied. Yeah, she’s small too…didn’t see her a while ago.”
“Blind…”
Ciara cringed in
fear. She could hear pity on their reluctant tones—the insecurity—and the scorn
hatred. She squeezed her head to stop her brain from inputting the murmurs into
her mind. Scorn voices filled her thoughts, stinging her ears, making her
uneasy.
“Hey! Don’t talk to
her like that!” Liam yelled, silencing everyone. Ciara flinched, “Even if she’s
the Candidate, show her some respect!" Liam barked, "Just because
she’s blind doesn’t mean she can’t hear all of your voices. Now get back to
your own business and leave her alone!”
A painful silence
struck inside the cafeteria.
Ciara knew the
Vixens would get furious at Liam for defending a feeble girl from their
organization. But to her surprise, the Vixens gloomily stride passed them,
exiting the cafeteria without anyone daring to engage a fight with Liam.
Ciara lowered her
head.
Perhaps Virgo’s
intuition was right. Maybe that was why Virgo had tried to kill Ciara in the
first place. But why did the Vixens thought she was the Candidate? She was
blind, and even she couldn't fight the Rein Guards with her minimal strength.
How was that supposed to make her the Candidate?
“I got an idea!”
Chase said brightly, after Ciara was sure they were the only ones left inside
the cafeteria. Chase said to Ms. Stupey, “Let’s make a deal. After we finish
our prime mission, we’ll be able to pay your debt by tomorrow morning. Will
that be okay?”
Ms. Stupey made a
disapproving sound, “No, can do.”
Chase insisted, “Please Ms. Stupey. Our
mission is important, and we promise to give you an exquisite turkey later.”
Ms. Stupey gave a
little hum. “Alright! But I expect Liam to be the catcher of that turkey. And good
luck to you, Ciara. I hope you will be comfortable in Sputter Palace.”
Comfortable?
Ciara
assumed Ms. Stupey was going say "enjoy", but comfortable was an unusual
thing to say, especially for a newbie.
“Thank you, Ms.
Stupey!” Liam cried jubilantly, "You have no idea what this mission means
to me!"
"Just catch
that turkey and don't mess up my place again. You hear me!" Ms. Stupey
shouted.
“Yes ma'am!"
Chase and Liam shouted delightfully.
After they left the
cafeteria and trudged to the farthest corridor, the Crude Brothers sighed with
relief.
Liam spoke first.
“That was good, little brother. I can’t believe you did that for me.”
“Hey, don’t thank me
yet. We still need to catch that turkey by tomorrow, you know.” Chase said.
“But Ciara doesn’t
even know how to catch one!” Liam protested.
“She’s still a newbi—”
“Why do we have to
catch a turkey?" Ciara interrupted, "Why can’t you guys use your
money to pay your debts?”
“Vixens don’t use
money," Liam explained. "Here in Sputter Palace, we use rabbits,
turkeys, or any kind of wild animals in substitute for money.
“But why use turkey, Liam?" Chase
complained to his brother, "Can’t we capture something much easier like a
dear, or a squirrel…?”
Ciara heard a light slap
on Chase’s shoulder. Liam said, “My dear, Chase. We are the Crude Brothers. Those
animals you mentioned are for novices, like Ciara." Liam lectured, "Keep
in mind that we’re already Rank 3’s, so it’s a common tradition for us catch a
first-class turkey, especially if you really need to pay that wreckage."
"Well, it's
your fault anyway," Chase complained.
“Rank 3’s?” Ciara
asked.
“Every person living
in Sputter palace has a Rank to determined how strong they are," Liam clarified,
"Chase and I are Rank 3’s, a mid-expert level which freely allows us to
take on perilous missions," Liam continued, "For some people who don’t
know how to fight yet, they are called Rank 1's, like you. They can only do
jobs like fishing, gardening, or light sparring.”
“Why is fighting
crucial for the Vixens?” Ciara asked.
“Remember our motto?
The strongest shall live, the weakest
shall die," Chase explained to their novice member, "Our training
involves a lot of torture and punishment in both body and mind," Chase
continued, "So get ready, because it doesn’t get any easier, especially
for disabled people—like us.”
“You told her you're
crippled!?” Liam yelled at Chase.
“Of course,” Chase
said defensively. “After all, Ciara was the first one to figure it out. Besides,
there’s nothing wrong about hiding my disability to her. That way we can understand
each other completely, since we’re both the same.”
“You idiot, she's
still a newbie, which means she isn’t to be trusted yet!" Liam gritted his
teeth.
“Hey, don’t get mad,
Liam!” Chase said hastily. “Look, Ciara's not like that." Chase reminded,
"Remember, control your anger and calm down.”
Ciara was conscious
of Liam restraining his anger, because she could detect a tepid wave releasing
from his breath. She never experienced Liam getting angry at his brother
before, especially when the topic wasn't major to begin with.
Why is Chase telling Liam to calm down? Ciara thought, recalling Chase's
words at the cafeteria.
I hope Liam can control his anger.
"Fine...I'm
now...okay," Liam said, trying to decompress his temper.
Something wasn't
quite right. Liam was getting angry for no reason, yet what was more peculiar
was Chase telling his brother to control his temper. There must be another
reason behind it, still Ciara would never know.
z
The Crude Brothers accompanied
Ciara inside Sputter Palace. Chase tangled his fingers around Ciara’s hand out
of habit, while Liam took the lead. There were so many things she didn't know
about the Vixens, and the things she only remembered were the Swirls (food potions), Furs (clothes
attire), and Philters (upgrade rocks).
The place was so mysterious to her as well as the Vixens. But this was Liam. He
saved her, and she owed him her life. If it weren't for his help, Ciara
wouldn't be able to get out of Sore Tower and had the chance to explore the Casts.
No one knew about the Vixens, but Ciara heard some rumors about the
anti-government spies attacking Virgo at the Epicenter.
“I don’t get what
the Furs are.” Ciara said. They had been around the edge of the cavern,
probably the west side, where the corridors and tunnels interconnected with one
way to another. The whole place was a maze. The Vixen’s symbol was the fox,
which was the reason why the organization was named after that.
“Furs are the
Vixen’s cloth attire,” Liam said, "Right now, I’m wearing a fur coat skinned from a boar, and boots
made from snake skin.” Liam protested, “But how come you don’t know we're
wearing furs? I thought you know
everything?”
“Not
everything," Ciara said sharply, "But why do insist on wearing burly
coats? Isn’t it hot in here?" The place was sunken, so there wasn’t any air
circulating inside the tunnel.
“It's Kyra’s
policy." Chase said, "She’s the leader of this organization, so
everyone has to do what she says.”
They stopped in
front of a concaved room, where Ciara could smell the moist grass, and the
heavy drop of waterfall. Since she was bare footed, she could feel the muddy
dirt underneath her foot soles. We are outside. Ciara guessed.
“This is the garden
spot. It’s the safest land in Sputter Palace," Liam explained, "Rank
1’s are strictly forbidden outside the danger-zone forest, unless they graduated
to Rank 2's”
“How many Ranks are there?” Ciara asked.
“Five. Kyra’s the
Rank 5, and mostly the Rank 4’s are her body guards," Chase explained.
“Rank 3’s are usually
the spies for the outside land—the Metric, the Layer, the Group, and the
Epicenter.” Liam said, and Ciara noticed him marching forward.
Ciara took one step
closer to the open area. An input of data surged past the nerves connected to
her frontal lobe of the brain, detailing the elements of the coordinated
movements. I can
smell...flowers...several flowers...in here. Ciara observed. Birds are flying above me, chirping...
Ciara raised her head, and felt a tiny flowery petal on her hand. She smelled
it. A cherry blossom petal. To her
right, she could hear the sound of creeping water as a blast of cold wind blew
her hair backward. At last, there was finally fresh air in here.
“Looks like somebody
is finally appreciating the beauty,” Liam teased. Spontaneous words circulated
her cerebrum and auditory sense. Liam is
sitting on a chair. He's on my left side, because I can hear low chuckling
sounds coming from his throat. Ciara observed.
“What?” Ciara asked.
“Don’t mind him,
Ciara," Chase said, "He’s just teasing you," Chase indicated to Liam,
"Why don’t you show her that cool knife of yours. I bet she will like it.”
Knife? Ciara
thought.
“Good thinking,
little brother." Liam said pleasantly.
Ciara heard the shuffling of his
clothes, so she knew Liam was getting up. His
top must be bare. Ciara analyzed. I
can only hear the flapping of his pants…not just loose, but it’s a close-fitted
pants.
"Come on, get up! There's so
much more to see in Sputter Palace," Liam said eagerly, "But first, we’ll
go to the Weapon room. It’s the place where everyone gets their first
weapons," Liam chuckled, "So buckle up, because you are going to have
a pretty neat weapon coming from Aunt Realia.”
“Aunt Realia?” Ciara
asked. She repeated the names at the back of her head. Ranks...Garden located on the west side...Weapons
room...Philters...Swirls...Furs...How could she memorize all this
information in one day?
“She’s our best
Weapon Merchant," Chase answered, "Once she gets to hold your hand,
she’ll know what weapon is best for you.”
"It's so
exciting, isn't it?" Liam said enthusiastically.
"Yeah..."
Ciara muttered, hoping she didn’t have to kill people.
0 comments:
Post a Comment