“A week?”

It seemed that at every turn our journey was brought to a screeching halt.

“Yes,” the courtier replied. “Unfortunately, our king is an incredibly busy man.”

Upon arriving at the Silver Palace I’d examined the place with limited interest. Massive chandeliers hung from high, vaulted ceilings. Servants, nobles and the like ran to and fro – it seemed like the epitome of organised chaos. Still, my head was too murky to take in most of the details. However, once again, the whereabouts of the elusive Alcandor seemed to be under wraps. At least this time we got some kind of answer.

“He is in service of the king directly,” we had been informed. “If you wish to know more, you’ll have to arrange an audience with his majesty.”

“Gods, I hate bureaucracy,” I muttered. I thought afterwards that this remark was ironic, considering my background, but at the time I had little room for humour.

Scarlett and I were sitting at a table in the “Palace Café”, which was situated on a large balcony overlooking the Hanging Gardens. She looked even more pissed than I was, though she’d been surprisingly quiet. I suppose she wasn’t used to being treated so dismissively, being a Lunar Knight and all. I, on the other hand, had lived with my sister for the past few years, so such treatment had become all-too familiar.

We ate in relative silence, and I watched as well-dressed tourists walked by, gawking at the magnificent greenery below. Of course, this was not the Hanging Gardens of myth, but a modern construction of King Cyrus II, self-proclaimed heir to the ancient empire. In reality, it was all a farce. Nothing of the old world existed anymore, and certainly not lineages that predate even those times.

I sipped at my cappuccino. Coffee better after a smoke. Admittedly, even someone as uneducated in the practices of gardening as myself could appreciate the architectural design of the landscape below. Much like the original, it was stepped, with all variety of exotic plants on each level. Additionally, floating platforms were suspended in the air, some in line with the floor we were on, and some higher still; like mini Sky Cities – islands of luscious greenery. It was claimed that the garden held every plant known to the old world, and some more still that were unknown in times past, new species flown in from the Lunar Colonies, or even creations of the king himself.

Blatantly ignoring the no smoking sign, I lit my pipe and leaned back in my chair. Scarlett didn’t so much as roll her eyes and she said nothing to stop me, instead casting her own gaze out over the balustrade with her chin in her hand. I found her behaviour exceedingly odd. She sighed and the air passing between her lips seemed louder than any battering, gale-force wind. Maybe I was just overly aware of her.

Just then, we heard a great commotion from below. From either side there were shocked gasps, and people rushed to the balustrade.

“Huh?” I stood. It became quickly apparent what everyone was staring at.

In the midst of the Hanging Gardens, which by the way could only be accessed by the king and a select few others, was a bearded man running stark naked through the trees. I raised an eyebrow. I wondered how such an idiotic person could have made it through the ridiculous security they had here. However, from the hushed words around me, I came to the realisation that this man was in fact the king himself. My eyes widened and I burst out laughing.

“Sander,” Scarlett said, trying to hush me with an uncoordinated wave of her hand. Some eyes were turning away from the spectacle and towards me instead.

I looked to the Lunar Knight. “I can’t help it. We’re sitting here waiting around, for a goddamned week, and the man we’re waiting for who’s supposed to be ‘incredibly busy’ is RUNNING AROUND NAKED OUTSIDE!”

My fist came down on the table, sending it careening to one side. The tourists who had their eyes on me hurriedly turned away. My hands were shaking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw several guardsmen approaching, but Basil appeared from one of the palace hallways around the corner and intervened. As the guards begrudgingly left and the cleaning staff swept up the mess I’d made, Basil approached us.

“My, Mr Yuel, I didn’t realise you had such a temper.” He laughed light heartedly, and I felt somewhat calmer. His presence was soothing, I couldn’t place my finger on why.

“Watching the antics of his majesty?” Basil stepped in beside me just as below, some guardsmen caught up to the king. “I’d heard he was rather eccentric.”

This went well beyond eccentric in my opinion.

“I’ve heard he prefers the company of plants to people.”

As Basil spoke, Scarlett still seemed very distant. She didn’t look as though she were even listening.

“Scarlett?”

“Huh?” She turned towards me dozily.

“Are you, drunk?”

She reddened. She’d only had the single drink Neptilia had ordered on her behalf, but I wouldn’t have thought it’d have such an effect on her. She clutched her hands awkwardly.

“Have you ever drunk before?”

She didn’t answer, but then slowly she shook her head. I grimaced.

“Oh my,” Basil said with a laugh.

I knew she was younger than me, but I realised then that I’d never asked her her age.

“Scarlett, how old are you?”

She bit her lip and tried to find somewhere to place her eyes. I frowned. At least I knew what kind of drunk she was. It was reassuring that she wasn’t the violent type, then I’d have to keep her well away from any alcohol if I valued my life. Still, I would have thought with her constitution that one drink wouldn’t have had this much effect. I guess we all have our weaknesses.

“Nineteen,” she said, finally.

Huh, she was even younger than I thought. I wonder how we must look to passers-by. With my haggard face and old-fashioned pipe, they might think I was her father. I winced at the thought.

“Say, do you two have any plans tomorrow?” Basil asked.

We looked at him in unison and shook our heads.

“Tomorrow morning is the weekly open court session. You might wish to come along. Listening to the proceedings will certainly be more interesting than doing nothing.”

I didn’t much feel like doing anything honestly. My head was a mess, but I figured some distraction would be good for me. I nodded. As Basil blabbered on, I looked up at the clear sky overhead. It seemed so long since I’d fought the Chaos Gargoyles in my front garden with this girl.

They’re not so different as you think. Renă’s words came back to me. I didn’t really understand the structure of the Chaos, if you could call it that, but from what I’d gathered, the masked girl wasn’t associated with those gargoyles. I wonder if I’ll see her again. I clenched my fist as I prayed she’d caught up to the sandman, and that Avi was now in her hands.