His lungs felt like they were going to pop. Keldon stood as still as he physically could, not even daring to blink.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself!” cried the figure in a warped voice. The mask had warbled the figure’s intonations in their voice, most likely to hide their identity.

The cloaked figure jumped off the ladder that hung from the sewer ceiling, creeping in Keldon’s direction. They held a combative stance, emanating a fearsome aura as they summoned their skill orb at the ready.

When Keldon had been trailing the figure through the sewers, he’d accidentally stepped on a rat causing it to squeak out in pain, alerting the cloaked figure.

“Shit,” Keldon had thought.

And what a shit situation that it had ended up being. At that instant, the person whipped around and threw two needles in his direction that whizzed by his cheek, implanting themselves into the wall.

His adrenaline spiked as he felt Karyx twitch and burn in the pit of his stomach. But still, he didn’t dare to even bat an eye.

But before the figure drew any closer, a muffled ring came from their pockets.

They pulled a silver pocket watch from their cloak, muttering words that were too soft for Keldon’s ears. Turning around, they stuffed the pocket watch back into their cloak, scrambling up the ladder without a second thought.

Relief washed over Keldon as he gasped for air, having gotten used to the sewage stench. A static noise sizzled from him as he looked down, noticing that Sim’s skill had begun to fade, and his body reappearing.

He inched towards the steps; his body poised to retreat at a second’s notice. The danger wasn’t entirely gone yet though. Would the figure return for him? Keldon scurried back, behind the corner and waited. Watching.

The sewers were quiet. The only noises he heard were the sloshing of the sewage river.

Keldon inched towards the ladder the figure had scampered up.

The rungs were oily and rusted as he had expected. But looking up, it seems the ladder led up to a dark metal plate which he could only assume was some kind of manhole. He grabbed the sidebars, giving the rungs a light push with his feet to test for sturdiness as he ascended the steps and climbed closer to the metal plate. The further he went up the steps, the more he could hear the city sounds as excitement tingled at the back of his neck.

He touched the bottom of the dark plate, mentally preparing himself as he lifted the plate and pushed it to the side with a rumble.

Keldon poked his head out of the hole for a quick peek. Red brick walls surrounded him and blocked his view as the sounds of a bustling city seemed to be around the corner. He pushed a black garbage bag nearby out of the way, climbing out the hole into what he could only assume was some kind of alleyway. He swept his gaze over his surroundings. But his wariness slowly dissipated as after some searching, he concluded that the figure had vanished as Keldon relaxed his shoulders.

Just around the bend, he could hear the sounds of civilization as his earlier excitement returned and filled his stomach with butterflies.

Keldon pulled the manhole cover back over the hole, jogging around the corner. He patted away at his pants to brush the dust off his new clothes as he followed the sounds of the city. Passing heaps of trash bags, eventually, the alleyway led him to a bustling city road.

Keldon stumbled out onto the sidewalk, admiring a teal horse-drawn carriage that clopped by.

“Oh wow,” said Keldon.

The bulk of the street was filled with all sorts of carriages and carts. They paraded through the city square in every shape and shade. Keldon’s jaw dropped. He’d never seen this many carriages in one place before. “How did they even have the room to park all these?” he wondered.

Suddenly, he was shoved to the side as a disgruntled man with a salt and pepper beard glowered at him, quickly returning to ignoring Keldon like his very presence was a disturbance to the peace.

“How friendly…” murmured Keldon. Kharburn was supposed to be this bustling city of wealth and life, how come people were even less friendly than at the Hissings?

“*cough* *cough* spare change for the meek sir?” came a soft voice from besides him.

Keldon looked down, finding a young girl no more than the age of 12 leaned against the side corner, sticking out her hands. She had a glint in her eye and a dirty bandage stuck across her face, as she looked Keldon directly in the eyes. A classic move.

“Now that’s a hit of nostalgia,” thought Keldon, crouching down to eye level.

“Please sir, anything helps,” said the young girl, holding her hands out. Behind her, he saw a small pouch that was stuffed with coins sticking out behind her back. He leaned cupped a hand around his mouth, leaning in to whisper to her.

“Your loot’s sticking out from behind you,” said Keldon with a smile.

“What are you talking about mister?” said the young girl, glancing down. She quickly shuffled the bag of coins behind her with a jingle, looking up at Keldon with an innocent expression on her face.

“Stick out your bottom lip more and give them the puppy dog eyes next time, they eat that stuff up,” said Keldon, patting her on the shoulders.

Her eyes darted around. Once she’d made sure nobody was looking, she slapped Keldon’s wrist off her shoulders with a glare.

“If you don’t have any money, buzz off. What’d you steal to end up with clothes like yours anyways?” said the young girl. Notes of jealousy tinted her voice.

“These?” said Keldon, pulling at the clothes that he’d gotten from Sims. “Are these particularly nice?”

The young girl stared at him like he’d sprouted another head.

“Who are you real-“

“Hey!!” shouted a deep voice from across the street. “I told you not to show your face around here again you stinking brat!”

A grumpy-looking officer in uniform shook his fist at the two of them, trying to cross the street but was blocked by the stream of carts and caravans that passed them by. He waved a badge at the caravans, screaming something about ordering them to halt.

“Oh shit,” said the young girl. She scrambled to grab her belongings, dashing down the street and turning the corner as the man in the uniform ran up to where they had been, stomping his feet in frustration.

“And don’t come back or I’m gonna rip your ankles off from their sockets!” howled the man in uniform. He huffed violently as veins bulged from the side of his forehead. But as the man in uniform looked around and noticed that all eyes were on him, he cleared his throat, turning to Keldon.

“You alright sir?” said the officer, straightening the silver badge on his uniform.

“I’m fine,” said Keldon.

“Good to hear. My apologies for the uncouth behavior sir. These little brats have been known to cut the purses of the finer folk in our city from time to time,” said the officer.

“Uh, no problem officer. She didn’t do anything to me,” said Keldon, slightly offended.

“Just constable is fine. Did she run off with any of your coin?” asked the constable.

“No no, just having a little chat with the girl was all.”

“Alright sir, I’ll leave you to your business then,” said the constable. He knocked his heels together, giving Keldon a salute as he turned to march off.

“Wait!” said Keldon, suddenly realizing that he needed directions.

“Something that I could help you with sir?” said the constable.

From the bottom of his bag, Keldon pulled out the wrinkled copy of Bertram’s letter that he had given him way back when he had just left Greenhearst for Kharburn.

“How do I get to this address?” said Keldon, pointing down at Bertram’s sloppy writing.

“Hm. It’ll take you about an hour to get there by carriage,” said the constable.

Keldon made a grim expression.

“And how long on foot?”

“On foot? About 6-8 hours depending on your walking speed,” said the constable. “It’s not too expensive for a carriage in this sector, only about a couple dozen copper denier or so,”

Keldon’s heart pierced with fright.

“C-couple dozen copper denier?” stammered Keldon. It had only been a 2 copper denier for the ride between the Hissings and Greenhearst every day for work. His stomach churned.

The constable nodded.

Keldon gave the constable a weak smile and feigned laughter.

“H-haha. I see. Well, thanks. But I’m more in the mood for a scenic jog, do you think you could write down some directions for me?” asked Keldon, his hand trembling as he handed the constable a pen.

The constable scratched his head, but eventually agreed as he spent the next few minutes scrawling down a rough map and directions to where Keldon needed to go. He pointed his finger towards the cliffside in the distance, politely giving Keldon assisted instructions as Keldon tried to keep the winding directions in a corner of his brain somewhere.

“-and then after three left turns, you’ll reach your destination. You get all that?”

“Uhhh yeah.”

“Guess your memory’s better than mine,” said the constable with a laugh. He tipped his hat at Keldon, waving goodbye as he walked off into the crowd of people.

Keldon let out a nervous chuckle as he waved back, forcing a smile on his face despite the creeping anxiety that clutched his hands.

He let his eyes wander into the distance, daunted by the near-endless number of buildings, strange signs, and people that stood between him and his destination. The scarf around his neck hummed with soothing warmth.

“Look look!” said a familiar voice.

“I thought you left alre-“ said Keldon, thinking he was about to talk to the girl who dashed off.

But at that moment, the entire world disappeared from Keldon’s reality. By his side, there was a pale shadow of a young boy who was bright-eyed and full of energy. White specks peppered his black hair as the specter child rushed into the crowd, jumping and twirling in excitement.

Keldon slowly lifted his trembling hands, reaching out to the phantom child like he was in a trance.

“Look Keldon! We’re in Kharburn!! We finally made it!” said the ghost-like boy.

No one else seemed to notice the boy as he passed through the crowd of people, bouncing up to stalls in child-like wonder.

“OOhhh they’re selling coffee beans!! These are like real adults Keldon! You think we could get some?” cried the ghost-like boy.

Keldon fell to his knees as tears streamed out of his eyes. He groveled on the ground watching the ghost-like boy bounce around in so much joy. It hurt. The dam that held back his emotions was shattered in an instant, as sorrow, anger and shame flooded out in a crushing tsunami.

“I’m sorry Luther!! Luther, I’m so sorry!! Please, forgive me… Please…” cried Keldon.

And the shadow of Luther disappeared as his form was blown away like mist in a harsh breeze. The essence of Luther’s form flowed into Yan’s scarf and it lit up with a gentle glow. Once again, Keldon was left alone in tears under the weight of an uncaring crowd’s gaze.