Aylin and I were walking to our next class together when we saw a crowd gathering in the school garden. We both curiously walked up to see what the commotion was all about. In the middle of the crowd was an open ring where a man with silver hair and an eyepatch stood atop multiple boys who were notorious bullies. The bullies were badly bruised and beaten to the point of unconsciousness. The man stood resolute in the middle of the ring before proclaiming that a sailor never yields, never regrets, and never relents. He raised his bloodied fist into the air and smiled.
"Who am I? The man who will have his story written in the history books as the greatest sailor!"
The crowd watched as the silver-haired boy limped away, and everyone started to scatter as the teachers came running. Aylin and I vanished from the scene before we could be caught by the teachers.
I looked over at Aylin, who wore a silent yet painful mask. It seemed like the words of the student with the eyepatch had switched a gear inside of her.
She took a deep breath and swallowed before regaining her composure.
The word sailor seemed to bring forth bad memories for Aylin, and I just kept quiet, following her to class. The day ended rather quickly, and as I was walking back to my dorm, I saw the same boy from earlier kneeling in front of one of the dorm rooms and fiddling with a picklock, trying to get the door open.
"And what do you think you are doing?" I asked him.
He didn't flinch and continued trying to unlock the door.
"This is my room. I forgot my key inside, and the doors automatically lock when you close them." He threw me his student ID card, and the room number really did match his ID.
"You do know the doors are infused with reinforcement loxes that prevent entry?"
He dropped the metal lockpick in his hand, and it fell to the floor.
"Shit…" His face soured before he slammed into the door.
"Just go talk with one of the teachers. I'm sure one of them would help you."
His face soured even more, and his eyebrows flared as soon as I mentioned teachers.
He was my roommate alongside Aylin, so it wouldn't hurt to get on his good side, right?
"Step aside," I said, placing my hand against the door.
I remembered Lua's lox lesson. To focus on the objective and let the loxes flow through my body. I felt the same tingle as before, and that's when the metal bolts of the door started to corrode and turned into black sludge. The guy watched in amazement as the door opened. The silver haired man thanked me sincerely and said that he owed me a big one.
I sneaked a glimpse into his room and saw that it was adorned with ship models. He then reached out his hand, offering me a handshake.
Our hands shook, and he told me that his name was Ciel. It sounded oddly feminine for a man with such defined masculine features. I introduced myself as Vivshi and said that I was from the capital.
"The capital, huh… I heard that place had some unrest a few days ago. Apparently there is a dispute amongst the princes over who will become the next heir to the throne."
"Is that so."
"The first prince is making all the states of the continent vote on who should ascend to the throne. This includes Nautilus…" Ciel sighed.
"Then what is the issue?"
"You really believe those scummy royals wouldn't deliberately pay states to vote for them?"
"Right."
After some talking, Ciel thanked me once again before closing the door behind him. Aylin peeked out from her room and asked me who I had been talking to.
She facepalmed while sitting on my bed as I told her about what was happening in the capital.
"The royal family… I can completely agree with Ciel that they are a bit underhanded," Aylin said.
She laid down on my bed and asked me what I thought about the situation.
But as the word royal flashed in my mind, memories of the kindness Emovi had shown me streamed forth. I thought about telling Aylin about my encounter with a royal who wasn't scum, but I bit my tongue.
"I don't like what they have done to the people," I said calmly.
"I have to agree with you. When I first came to the capital with Ellie, the discrimination, poverty, inequality, and corruption riddled the city, and the royal family took no action."
Aylin turned toward me, asking me if I wanted to do anything fun this afternoon.
"Sulking in problems won't help. Take a deep breath and let time guide your thoughts straight. That's what my mom used to tell me, at least." Aylin giggled a bit before asking me again.
"How about it? Shall we take a walk around Nautilus before nightfall?"
Aylin looked at me with puppy eyes, and my conscience wouldn't allow someone like her to become dejected.
I let out a big sigh, and Aylin let out a happy hurray.
"Let's meet in about one hour then!" Aylin sat up and walked out of my room, waving her hand.
I opened my nightstand drawer, and inside were envelopes. A new one had arrived just yesterday. Inside was a large sum of cash and a little doodle from Rentry.
"Don't spend it all in one place! Or else Grandma will get mad at you." Beside the note was a doodle of him giving a thumbs up.
This was the allowance Rentry was sending Aylin and me every month. That old hag… she really cares for her girls, doesn't she. I counted the bills, and it amounted to around 7,500 livis, which would allow us to afford a luxurious lifestyle for almost an entire month.
After an hour, we were standing in the bustling streets of Nautilus. Aylin was shining brilliantly like a gemstone in her blue frilly dress. Her hair was like fine pink silk, glittering in the evening sun. Her eyes were as captivating as the ocean's gaze, and her voice was as soft and comforting as the waves.
"Vivshi… did I mesmerize you?" She giggled, and the blue gem Lua had given her, now made into a bracelet, jingled.
"Come on, let's go!" She held her hands behind her back, waving them up and down, telling me to hurry up and keep pace as she skipped through the market.
Aylin stopped by a fruit shop that was selling chopped fruit. Her eyes were glued to the strawberries coated in white chocolate glaze. She was practically drooling, and I made eye contact with the seller.
He gave me a reassuring nod before winking. He handed us both a cup of strawberries, and as I tried to pay him back, he shooed me off and winked again.
We continued to traverse the streets and found a multitude of interesting items and shops. I found a jewelry stand and looked down at the array of jewels. One especially caught my eye. It was a pair of earrings that were a deep, dark blue, as if they were forged in the deepest darkness of the ocean itself. The merchant noticed me eyeing them and asked if I wanted a closer look. I nodded, and he took them out for me, asking if they were for the lady behind me. I nodded again. He smiled before saying that they would look marvelous on her.
"How much for the earrings?"
"5,000 loxes." I almost choked at the price, but then I looked behind me and saw how happy Aylin looked.
"Wrap them up for me."
"Thanks for your patronage!"
I looked at my wallet and saw that half of it had already vanished. The words on Rentry's note teased me. But at least I could see that smile shine even brighter.
I held the earrings close to my chest before stuffing them into my pocket. We continued to explore the market, and Aylin got distracted by another food stand while I stood there, waiting for her to get her confections.
A black hooded figure suddenly zoomed past me, and I felt the weight in my pocket decrease. I tapped my pockets and felt that my wallet and the earrings were missing. The black figure leapt onto the buildings with nimble steps. I ran after them, and it didn't seem like they noticed me following behind. They finally leapt down into an alleyway. This was my territory… as a stray who had lived in alleyways for years, I knew the ins and outs to a T. It was like my natural habitat, and I navigated with precise accuracy through the alleys, finally finding the hooded figure standing there with a bag full of wallets and people's belongings.
"Hand back my stuff, you thief."
"Like hell I would," a female voice replied.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" A big silver haired man zoomed past me and slammed his fist into the wall right next to the thief. The wall started to crack before shattering, leaving a hole behind.
"Ciel?!" I said, confused.
The thief fell to her knees as the punch scared the life out of her. She continued holding onto the bag of money even though her life was in danger.
Ciel's thick, veiny arm grabbed the thin neck of the thief and lifted her into the air. Her hood fell off, revealing her face. She was a young girl, almost the same age as Emovi. She had luscious black hair and crimson red eyes.
With his other hand, Ciel tried to snatch the bag away from her, but she held onto it with all her strength. Eventually, his overwhelming power tore it from her grasp.
"Did this pipsqueak steal something from you?"
"Yeah. My wallet and a pair of earrings."
The girl looked dejected, her eyes filled with despair.
Ciel dug through the bag and found my wallet and the earrings. He then pulled out his own wallet and said he would return the stolen belongings. I took a few steps toward the little girl, who was sitting cross legged and staring at the concrete ground.
Normally, I wouldn't sympathize with a thief, but something felt off about her. Those weren't the eyes of someone who would steal.
"So why did you steal?"
"Are you here to berate me now? To belittle me? Yes, I'm a filthy petty thief, so what?" She shouted, her voice almost breaking.
"I sense it. You aren't the type of person who would commit petty crimes."
For some reason, my eye was glowing purple, and I could see a star glowing inside the girl's body. It shone with a bright, pure color. Her star felt warm and gentle.
She wrapped her arms around herself to make herself smaller, and I asked another question.
"You must have a really good reason for this, right?"
The girl looked up at me with a confused expression. Her eyes widened as she stared into my glowing purple eyes, which were admiring the star inside her.
"What would you understand," she muttered, trying to make herself even smaller.
"I used to live at the bottom of society, a stray as many people say. I know a thing or two about desperation."
The girl went quiet.
"You won't hurt me?" she asked anxiously.
I shook my head, pulled out my wallet, and handed her 1,000 livis.
"This should get you through a month or so. Try not to resort to stealing, okay?"
I turned around and ran back toward the market, realizing I had been gone too long and that Aylin was probably worried.
The girl huddled in the alleyway, clutching the livis bills in her hands and crumpling them with shaking fingers.