He stared at the shocked faces of those all around him as he held the orb in his hand. As a guard ran off to call for others to confirm his placement, an eerie silence played across the room.

How had he gotten into this situation? Just a few minutes earlier…

Psia took a sniff in the air and said, “We’re here.”

“How do you know?” Caught completely off guard, Ressen was sat in between Psia and Pii who were stuck in an immense stare-off.

“It smells a lot less like dragon”

“Pii!” Pii growled in response. Having been stuck in the wagon during the entire fiasco caused by Psia, Pii wasn’t happy.

“Alright, are you two going to stop soon, or will I have to leave?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way - we’re actually here.”

“... really?” Psia had spent the entire time locked in a staring contest with Pii ever since they got here. He hadn’t learned anything about the procedures… “What about the proc-”

“Oh, they’re easy!” The wagon came to a stop, and Psia walked backwards towards the entrance of the wagon, eyes still locked with Pii. A shout from Brutus called Psia away. “I’ll get them to wave us in, so follow me.” Psia finally turned and jumped out of the wagon.

Pii let out a victorious “Pii!” Before snuggling against Ressen.

“Sorry, you’re going to have to stay here again. Do a better job saving me from her next time alright?”

“Pii!”

“I’m going insane…” he muttered to himself as he hopped out of the wagon following Psia.

Only a few steps away from him sat the towering walls of Aer. Glistening in the sunlight. A gate the size of a tree blocked the road, and if the immense size of the cliffs had been large - the height of these walls were even greater. He wasn’t even sure if Psia’s previous magic could lift a platform as high as these walls.

As Ressen searched for Psia, he could see that all around them were guards doing business, and attempting to freshen up before the inspection.

“Over here!” Psia shouted, turning some heads. She stood to the right of the large gate, in front of a smaller one for human traffic. “Ressen’s lucky! He’s early, so there's no line yet!”

As he followed Psia through the door, he instantly met a dark, musty smell. The room was filled with smoke, and in the middle of it was a long desk and an old man with a long white beard. Behind him were rows upon rows of drawers and cabinets, some with pieces of paper sticking out of them and others without.

The old man looks up frowning, “Mhmm...” and nods to a chair in front of him.

“So, how does this work?” Ressen asks before sitting down, looking around the room.

“Mmhmm”

“What?” The musty air seemed to constantly grow in thickness.

“Mhmm”

“Sorry, I was just asking what do I do? Or do you, or -?” Confused Ressen examined the room further, looking for a clue. Was this a test?

“Mmhmm”

“Is this some kind of joke?” Ressen looked at Psia, who had walked into the room after him. He followed her gaze… back at the old man... who wasn’t even looking at him but instead staring daggers into - he traced his gaze - Psia. “Huh?”

He stood up blocking their line of sight. “Eh, are you going to take my aptitude or no-” Wait, what is he doing. Why is he following this girl so closely? This could be his opportunity to get out and get back to his village with his new found companion Pii. “Actually I-”

From behind him, Psia reacted, “Huh? Ressen, that’s not the inspecto-”

“That's right, I’m the inspector.” A small voice echoed from behind a set of bookcases behind the old man. Loud banging noises could be heard, as if someone was running. Thump, Thump, Thump, BANG.

The entire room shook due to the sudden bang, and everyone looked at each other in awkward silence. From behind the staircase, a deeper voice sounded, “S-sir are you alright?”

“Darn it, I just tripped - I’m fine!” Rustling could be head opposite the bookcase.

“Who is that?” Ressen looked at Psia behind her.

Before Psia could respond, the bookcase slid open, revealing the figure of a tall, imposing man clad in armor.

“Y-you’re the inspector?” Ressen looked at the man standing at the base of a staircase.

“Hey! Down here.” The squeaky voice again. “I’m the inspector not this dwit behind me.”

The old man moved out of the way, to let a small white haired boy jump onto the seat he was on. His head was barely visible.

“You?” This was getting ludicrous. “You’re… like nine years old?”

The boy nodded. “The name’s Flot!”

Something about his smile really ticked Ressen off. “Nope. That’s it. take me back. The old fart was right, this place isn’t safe for me.”

“Heeh Ressen?” Psia looked at him in dismay as Ressen turned to leave the room.

“Oh - Psia. So you were the one that brought him here.” The little boy smirked at her. Flanked by the two men he almost looked imposing. “You’ve already gotten back to the city? What a shame, we could have left without you.”

Psia stood there, looking at him blankly. “I know it was you that did the order…” She fingered around in her pocket, the tension in the room rising.

This wasn’t looking pretty. Pausing at the door and turning around, Ressen stood between them. “Alright, I’ll take the test… Flot.” He looked at the old man. “So who is this old man?”

His line of sight broken from Psia, Flot returned to his obnoxious smile. “Oh, this? She’s just a harpy I leave here to guard the area while I’m off duty-” He paused. “Doing business.” he looked at the Harpy who slowly turned into her original form, revealing feathers on her arms clawed feet. “An old man is slightly more intimidating - no?”

“Hold on, she? N-never mind.” Ressen looked around the room and was shocked that no one was fazed by the sudden transformation. “So, uh, the test?”

“Aah - yes sorry, you probably were confused.” That smirk again. “I apologise, I had to leave for business.”

“You we’re totally sleeping.” Psia had sidestepped from behind him and glared at Flot.

Ressen turned around to gave Psia a lecture, but Flot interrupted him before he could speak.

“No, no its all fine - some people are just jealous of others positions.”

“I’m not jealou-”

“Anyways Psia, the senate called you and wish to speak to you.”

“The senate? Already?” Psia’s eyes lit up. “Is it for -”

“No, not on that. Luckily.” Flot looked at Ressen. “Something a bit more confidential to do with your reports. You can take the access behind me.”

“Wait - hold on - you can see the senate just like that?”

Psia gripped her fists and gave Ressen the best smile she could. “I’ll be right back Ressen! Wait for me outside, I can’t wait for Ressen’s results!” she said before running off into the staircase.

Flot watched her run up the staircase for a few seconds. “Ah, yes.” He turned to the harpy next to him. “Follow her.”

Ressen’s gaze followed her the entire way. He’d rather be with her than with… Flot. And that’s saying a lot considering she’s a low enough reference already, but meeting a senate?

“Now that that pest is out of the way… let us start the test. Shall we?” He slid his hand under a pouch located at his waist and pulled out a small grey orb, cracking it slightly before sliding it into a space on his belt. He motioned for Ressen to sit.

“Lets.” He wasn’t going to let the boy tick him off anymore and sat down.

That’s what he thought at least, before a strong gust of wind blasted through the small space, blowing the musty smell out of the room and opening the window shutters, letting light into the room. “Ah, much better.” Flot had seemed to rise above his seat slightly, and was now eye to eye with the sitting Ressen. His eyes were glowing slightly white. “Harpies always give off a gross smell, you know?”

Ressen grit his teeth. “Quite.”

“So, did Psia tell you the procedures?”

“Sadly, she forgot while we were being bombarded by terrorists.”

“Ah yes, just like little Psia. Always avoiding important... things.” He leaned forwards as if looking for Ressen’s approval.

Ressen had to agree with him on that. “And? How’s this going to work, you going to ask me questions? Make me do a physical test?”

“No, no, nothing of the sort.” Flot motioned towards the guard next to him who opened a drawer and placed a perfectly clear orb on the desk between the two. “Just crack this.”

This really is a joke.

♦

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, Flot bobbing up and down on his invisible cushion of air and Ressen sitting on a simple wooden chair. “I just… crack this? What happens?”

“Well, first off…” he reaches under his shirt and pulls out a similar pendant to Psia’s, slightly more grey and definitely duller. “I do hope you know what this is at least? Psia does bring around some of the dullest people sometimes...”

“Yeah, Psia showed me hers.”

“She showed you hers?” His eyes shot open in surprise. “That’s rare…”

“Haven’t you seen it?”

“No… what was her orb like?” He leaned forward at a dangerous angle on his invisible cushion.

Flot was beginning to sound suspicious, and Ressen could say he definitely liked Psia a lot more than Flot. “If Psia didn’t tell you, I have no reason to. Can you just explain what happens?”

Flot started moaning. “How boring-g-g, well if you won’t tell me about Psia then I won’t tell you about the orbs” he leaned sideways, cheek into palm as if bored. “Why don’t you let Psia tell you if you like her so much.”

This kid was really starting to tick Ressen off now. “You’re not really acting like an inspector are you…” he picked up the clear orb sitting on the table. “This won’t kill me right?”

“Won’t say.”

The guard standing next to Flot looked down, frowning. Not a good sign. “If I die… well, uh.” Huh, he can’t really tell Flot about Pii could he? “You know what, screw it.” He held the orb between two of his fingers, and pressed down. He noticed Flot quickly ducked down behind the desk. “What are you doi-?”

Cra-a-a-a-a-a-ck.

♦

As the final sounds of the crack dissipated, no one moved. The room was completely silent, other than the sounds of chirping birds echoing through the open windows. Flot’s mouth hung open alongside the guards and both simultaneously let out a gasp. “Huh?”

“W-what happened?” Ressen looked down at his hand, where a cracked orb sat, unchanged and completely clear aside from a long crack that ran down its side.

“Nothing…” Flot looked at the orb, and then at the guard standing next to him, and nodded towards the stairs, sending the guard running.

“Isn’t that good?”

“Well… your best affinity is supposed to be reflected in this orb.” Flot’s eyes stopped glowing and he fell to his feet, walking over to Ressen. “It’s supposed to literally suck out your stored energy, causing you to pass out, and store it in the orb to serve as identification...” He picked up the orb and began examining it. “But it appears you have literally no affinity with any form of magic.”

“What?” It was Ressen's turn to be dumbfounded. “But I used an or-”

“Even the weakest empties have some form of affinity - the stronger your affinity the stronger the color, and the better you can use that kind of magic.”

“But I used-”

Flot began chuckling, which turned into a laugh. “You… you’re literally the most pathetic empty there is out there. Where did Psia find a mess like you?” He hopped back into his chair on his side of the desk, still holding the cracked orb. “You’re like… the biggest empty there is. The king of all empties. No, the god of empties like Kannone.”

“Kannone?” That name again.

“You’d literally be worshipped!” Flot was cackling like a madman, taking out another orb from his pocket, and cracking it. Then he took the previously cracked one from his pocket, now completely empty, and tossed both cracked orbs at Ressen out of spite as if showing off. His eyes began to glow white again as he began floating. “I never thought I’d see the day something like you appeared in my gate.” he wiped the tears that were streaming from his eyes. “Little Psia will be so disappointed when her big brother turns out to be a reject.”

Ressen sat there in disbelief. Was he this useless? Somehow this hurt more than it should.

“Well, anyways keep that orb - it’s supposed to be your identification, not like it’s going to help you or anything.” He reached down under his desk and threw a necklace at him. “Attach this to your stupid identification orb so you can hide it.”

Ressen was hit by the necklace in the face as he held both orbs Flot threw at him. “Which one was mine?”

“Does it even matter? They’re both empty. Like you.” He guffawed at his own joke. “I can’t wait for Psia to get a whiff of this.”

Oh, right Psia. For some reason, Ressen felt bad for her, after all, she was excited for him to stay… no, what was he thinking. “Does this mean I can’t enter the city?” This might be a lucky break for him.

“Of course not, but Psia’s probably going to break some rules and bring you in anyway - she probably promised to show you around, and she keeps promises. You’re harmless anyways.” He leaned as far back on his floating cushion as he could. “Ah, she’s always such a gullible girl.” He perked his ears at a sound that came from the staircase. “Looks like she’s coming right now. How exciting!” He put on a massive grin.

As Psia appeared, she had a curt smile on her face. “Hello, Flot. I’m not taking your job anytime soon.”

“I know.” Flot's grin grew wider. “Did you hea-”

“Yes, yes I did.” she looked at Ressen. “Would you mind following me?”

“Y-yes. I’m sorr-”

Psia completely ignored him, looking at Flot instead. “I assume you don’t mind do you?” her curt smile creating an air of awkwardness as she walked towards a door opposite to the one that they entered from.

Flot just replied with a nod and a grin that should never appear on a young boy’s face, his eyes darkening from laughter.

Psia held open the door and signaled to Ressen. “After you, Empty.”