Recognize the Primarian Arc as your loyal government. Remain faithful to the Primarian Arc in all its ideals. Obey direct representation of the Primarian Arc. Do not aim harmful/negative ideology towards the Primarian Arc. Honor those who fight for the Primarian Arc. Murder without government authoritative power is absolutely forbidden. " Nessiah explained while pausing continuously through yawns.

"Nessiah...are you tired? Because half the kids here are already asleep and my butt's getting kind of itchy." said Taylum.

“I’m not responsible for cleaning your rear.” She responded with a generous amount of sass.

It appeared neither Nessiah nor Taylum appreciated each other’s commentary. It didn’t take too long for Taylum to yet another question that would upset Nessiah. After asking:

“Can you put some more enthusiasm in your words?” He said, presumably trying to make the kids laugh.

Naturally, she swiftly got up from her wooden chair and paced menacingly towards Taylum. I could almost smell the beads of sweat dripping from Taylum's forehead, not-to-mention other more bodily scents.

"Hey, Nessiah...uh- hey...*cough...no offense right? Where do you keep pulling out those wooden spoons!? Do you keep those in your wo-! OOOOOOOOW!"Said Taylum panicking in a back peddle.

"Whoa! Look who is also asleep now!" Yelled Nessiah as she walked back to her chair satisfied.

I was terrified. Did Nessiah just kill this boy!? No...no she didn't. What an arm though!? Once again Nessiah bashed Taylum's skull with a furious intent, only this time Taylum appeared to have learned his lesson in receiving two servings with spoons. He was determined to pretend he was mortally wounded with an odd twitching wink towards me. Aside from loud clunk and inevitable bruise, Taylum appeared fine. That kid seems to have the hardest head around.

All the kids that were still awake - which appeared to be like 4 out of the 10- seemed to have taken Nessiah's wooden spoon assault as a warning, and thus they have all been either feared into sleep or already asleep; all except the one named Billy. Billy seemed more like Taylum than any other kid and like Taylum, once Billy had his mind set on something he will either say it or do it. Unfortunately for Nessiah, Billy's mindset was on that chocolate Nessiah promised to the child who would stay awake and recite at least one rule of the Arc Commandments. I honestly don't know how he does it. Billy appears to be the youngest of the children, therefore what Nessiah is saying to him is nothing short of a monotone lullaby. Clearly, these rules were meant for the older children to memorize, and myself of course.

"Rude interruptions aside, back to rule number seven! Breaking rule number seven will lead to the execution of both the murderer and a legal guardian/relative. I love this one. Pretty much, anyone, the government deems partially responsible." Said Nessiah, whipping up the golden piece of paper back into her hands.

"7. Any heinous sexual acts will result in the imprisonment of the accused party and ultimately divine extradition. Nessiah continued.

8. Stealing is forbidden.

Billy, Lian, Taylum, and anyone is still pretending to be awake; if you are caught stealing, the perpetrator will be forced to give up one of his limbs or to pay the victim a 200% hike value in Talon; the choice is of the victims choosing. We have only FOUR Limbs." Nessiah recited with an odd sadistic smile.

"Finally,

9. False testimony of an accused party will result in the divine extradition of the criminals entire family or present guardians.

These rules are presented and given to you by the Primarian Arc. As a civilian, you represent New Dwarden's government, laws, and ideals. Please refrain from disobeying any of these rules or suffer it’s associated punishment. Thank you citizen, for becoming part of the New Dwarden vision, thus forth being part of the greatest city in the land. For further obligations and details, please check and see the latest New Dwarden Manuscript provided by your government the Primarian Arc once a month every Friday.

Interesting huh? Huh, kiddies?" Nessiah disdainfully explained.

Nessiah appeared pleased to finish reading, that is until she spotted Billy. Every child except for one in the front of her was essentially asleep now. Even Taylum seemed to have accidentally fallen asleep as he laid there pretending to be unconscious.

"Awww... Billy, you were not supposed to stay awake for this C'mon! Chocolate is no good for someone right before nap time. Don't ruin my plans!" laughed Nessiah.

"I am the winner. Really strong." Whispered Billy, his body teetering between sleep.

"No, no, no Billy. You haven’t one yet, I’m still here." Yelled Taylum.

“Yeah well your not part of this contest. You probably already stole from the stash I had hidden to get hazy brained Lian up here.” She said, poking fun at me.

“And was that a bad thing?” He responded cheekily.

“Clearly you weren’t listening to the Arc Commandments.” She laughed.

“Well, Lian and his little gang wouldn’t of been saved if it wasn’t for me flexing the rules a bit.” He said straight faced.

“Well you got lucky. In all honesty, you were even luckier that I didn’t ground you for ages to come after pulling that stunt. Go see how your flexing of rules work out in New Dwarden, I promise you’ll never see chocolate again.” She explained.

“Well I’m tougher than I look.” Said Taylum defiantly.

"Taylum (*cough), you have tears coming out your eyes right now. In fact, I am a hundred percent sure you were just crying." I whispered with a heavy sigh.

"Of course I'm not! It’s a... "Whispered Taylum aggressively towards me.

"Riiiiight....weren't you supposed to be sleeping Taylum?" Nessiah changed the subject mercifully.

"I was unconscious! You hit… really hard. But these tears, they're not tears, I only had uh... super happy dream, like I was so happy I teared up." Taylum said, trying to cover up his shame.

After a very short and horrific game of wooden spoon tag, Taylum was "not crying" in the corner again. Shortly after there game, the children woke groggily from their positions on the center of the balcony. Even though Nessiah appeared impulsively violent, she was amazingly raising ten children. Everyone seemed to respect her to a degree, and Nessiah, in turn, works really hard to keep everyone safe and fed. Nessiah was truly a beautiful and respectful woman, and beautiful in all regards. My mom would have really liked her.

"Alright now that everyone is semi-awake here, go change into your striped PJ’s, walk to your beds and go back to sleep! Maybe when most of you guys are a little older than eight you can stay up with us." Commanded Nessiah.

The exhausted children systematically got up and slowly walked inside towards their large candle-lit room. Grunting and yawning accompanied them all the way back to their little white cotton beds.

"Now Lian... that little explanation was for both you and the children... but mostly you." Nessiah laughed.

"I got the hint when most of the children fell asleep." I said, appreciating her obvious subtlety.

"What is the Primarian Arc anyway?" I immediately asked.

"You are not an informed person are ya?" Nessiah said as she giggled playfully and stretched her arms to make herself comfortable on the small wooden chair again.

"Listen here Blue Eyes, this one is going to be kind of a doozy, it's the meat bud, extremely important! IMPORTANT! OK?" Nessiah continued.

"Got it, thanks for the warning." I said in assurance.

I know the enigma essentially put away most memories that would cause me pain, and that tomorrow I would remember even less, but I can still remember how excellent of an engineer my mother was and how she would always read me somewhat terrible bedtime stories when I was a toddler. My mom would often read me stories like, Engineering 1+1, and The Adventures of Robotics. Even though the thick books would put me to sleep, I feel as though I really retained quite a bit from these lengthy and often convoluted novels. From bedtimes to every morning breakfast, my mom would always read to me a piece. Walls of text aren't appetizing, but I learned advanced mathematics, programming, and even how to speak "with big words" -as Taylum pointed out earlier- at the age of twelve. I’m ready to see this place for what it is.

"The Primarian Arc is a group comprised of five powerful governing bodies, and bodies they are because the things they do can barely even be considered human, let alone humane. One body represents each major influence in the four large Sub-Area’s. It's not a secret that I dislike all of them though. Anyway, each Sub-Area is comprised of hundreds of individually named...districts. The city of New Dwarden is made up of four major Sub-Areas labeled Residencian, Komidan, Tre'bal and the Main Convivium. Really flashy names I know, but nobody really calls them by their true name, only there nature. The Residencian is the living quarters area where the majority of homes and small businesses preside." Nessiah explained as if she was reading off the golden piece of paper with the Arc Commandments.

Admittedly it was a little difficult for me to pay attention to the whole spiel Nessiah was giving me. I don't know if she really knew what a wild concept it was for me to see naval ship's, fortresses, and whale's, flying alongside each other in the sky. I knew Nessiah was giving me crucial information about New Dwarden, but one gaze at the striking night blue sky and I was lost to my thought's. That planetary light was unbeatable and humbling. Luckily, Nessiah hadn't noticed my mind was drifting so I began to ask questions to ground myself to reality.

"Is the entirety of New Dwarden architecture comprised of instrument shaped skyscrapers and buildings?" I asked in an attempt to shift my mind back into hers.

"Why of-course why wouldn't they be!?" Nessiah smiled.

"Don't mind me... it was just a thought. You were saying?" I awkwardly stated.

"If somebody asks you where you're from, you can just state your Quadrant's name. Just say hi I'm Lian, and I am from D-Layton, D for district, A.K.A. here. It honestly comes down to preference, you can also state your buildings number if you want -Cherubim #929-. Since your suffering from amnesia, I'd prefer you stick with us in here. This city hides many knives.” Said Nessiah.

"No... I think I got that idea when you put a knife to me and threatened to kill me." I said with a sigh of understanding.

"Glad we are on the same page!" Nessiah smiled..

"...Nessiah can I ask why we have to be up here instead of the festival?" I said.

I think I was starting to get a handle on who Nessiah really was. She seemed to be this unique kind of passionate...or crazy in a way. She appeared extremely intelligent and good-hearted, so long as you don't cross her. Honestly...I can begin to see why Taylum had grown such a crush on her. She is tough and fierce, and her fiery orange hair only compliments her mood swings.

"I don't want to drown you with information Lian! Let me get to that a bit later. I-O-U ok?" Explained Nessiah as I nodded my head in approval.

"Anyway, the Komida is the agricultural districts where most food growth and nature-related occupants reside. The Komida, or the better known Rush Gardens, is almost strictly farmland and nature preserve's." Nessiah continued.

"Rush Gardens?" I asked

"The Komida earned the name Rush Garden's because of the sheer speed people are accustomed to working to over there and the creatures that you need to bolt away from should you find yourself somewhere you shouldn’t be. " Said Nessiah.

"The Tre..Tray...Trel...hold on I always screw up the way this sounds." Said Nessiah.

"You said it right before..." I said in the hopes of cheering her up.

It didn't cheer her up. In fact, it was as if she grew crosshairs for pupil's and the reflection of my face was dead center. I could only awkwardly cough to dissipate her frustration.

"Tresbal! Tre'bal! Tre'bal! Yes, I got it!" Said Nessiah with bubbling joy.

"Tre'bal is the area of the city where the larger businesses reside, and it's also where the schooling system takes place. The Tre'bal has many ridiculous nicknames like Chi-Cho, The Backsides Coin, Gunner Alter, but the prominent name is The Commons. The Commons is the largest section of the four. The Commons has many reasons why it's called the way it is. The widely accepted reason why it's called The Commons is that people consistently visit it. If you visit it often, then you have a normal life. Everything that isn't home or small businesses resides in The Commons. Be it schooling, mining, policing, or other big jobs, The Commons is where you need to be if you want to overly succeed financially in New Dwarden. Don't even get me started on schooling, New Dwarden's school system is a whole other day of explanation. I'm not trying to stay here all night." Nessiah Continued.

"New Dwarden sounds massive! I'm assuming everything is connected right?" I said in awe.

"Right you are Blue Eyes!" Said Nessiah proud.

"The city pretty much looks like a wagon wheel with pimples." Shouted Taylum from the corner of the balcony.

"What....?" I scoffed in disgust.

"Are you crying?" Asked Nessiah.

"No. Sniff*" Replied Taylum

"As unsavory as the simile was, Taylum is somewhat right. The city essentially does look a wagon wheel. Imagine a giant circle with four rings inside of it. The Residencian is the outermost ring, the Tre'bal would be the third ring towards the center of the wheel, the place where everything comes together. Finally, imagine the Komidan or Rush Gardens being the second ring in-between the center of the wheel and the Tre'bal. Now just add four huge bridges as the dividers of the wagon wheel and presto! We got a wagon a wheel for a city."

"Yeah I'm beginnning to picture pretty well. Doesn't seem as complex as it appears." I thought aloud.

"I mean it is when you consider the many little rings inside the other rings, then the underground, other tiny bridges for maintenance and the like, and even the skies have sections but that's a talk for another day. Wel'll just stick with the bridges for now." She said in a fit of laughter.

"Thanks for sparing me. I do want to know sometime soon though." I said clapping my hands against my thighs.

"First thing in the morning. I'll tell ya. We'll stick to the bridges for now." She said with a wide smile.

"The four bridges serve as the crucial connection to every district and getting around between the Sub-Areas. Those four main bridges basically unit everything that is essential to daily life in New Dwarden. Even though the four bridges are the main routes of travel, there are other ways of getting around. One can always try and avoid bridges by traversing upwards or below through the Rush Gardens, and risk being killed by monstrous livestock and creatures alike. If someone is truly desperate, they can sneak through some mini-bridges provided only for government affiliates." Said Nessiah.

"I'm sorry, where do the uh...pimples come in." I asked after daydreaming about what kind of creatures New Dwarden considers livestock.

"Right the pimples..." Nessiah sighed.

"That's the final Sub-Area, it's the Main Convivium! Just reel it back and picture the circle again for now. “ Said Nessiah.

“Imagine random bumps on the outside of the wheel. Essentially the Main Convivium is attached to the outer rim of the city, and only being attached through specific means and specific areas of the Residencian. Sometimes even the bumps have smaller bumps attached to them. To sum everything up, the Main Convivium refers to all the little hills attached to the Residencian, and believe me, there is an extraordinary amount." Nessiah continued.

At this point, I grew a bit tired of the imagery. With all the "engineering" my mother read me, I feel like the circle analogy was getting to be a bit much, albeit the pimples bit is strangely appropriate. Nevertheless, all the rules, punishments, and sheer scale of the city have gotten me a bit uneasy. Aside from when Evan or Eva grabbed me, I never have gotten into such a situation where I don't know so much, it's nauseating.

The thought of being killed so young, or having my limbs sliced off over a misunderstanding is horrifying, not-to-mention the monstrous livestock allegedly living in between. The thought of having my quest potentially ended by all these roadblocks was a little scary to put it bluntly.

"Clench your fist any harder and you won't have any fingernails Blue Eyes. Did you get everything I said? Because if you didn't I'm sorry, I am almost out of breath." Warned Nessiah.

"Ok... I think I got it so far." I quickly replied.

"The Main Convivium, known as New Dwarden's Backsides, are the individual sections of the city where entertainment is the number one priority. Altogether the Main Convivium is the smallest of the Sub-Area's and is best known for its vaudeville, restaurants, and gambling establishments. I must add that you're better off going there when you're older Lian, less uh... restrictive." Nessiah continued.

"Well, that was a lighter note," I said relieved.

"Wait! You just named four Sub-Areas and there is are five people in the Primarian Arc." I said nervously.

"Nice catch! The fifth is governed by the head honcho, he is the man in complete charge of all Sub-Areas and the hundreds of districts that make up the city of New Dwarden. The head honcho is known as Erasmus Alhonder or more commonly known as King Alhonder. I hear no one has the "honor" nor courage to call him by his full name anymore, after some...accidents. He is the highest puppeteer in our government, who very few have ever seen." Nessiah informed me while passionately cracking her knuckles.

"Are you angry?" I asked politely.

"Yeah." Nessiah replied reluctantly.

At this instance, Nessiah's fiery eyes dimmed for a moment. I don't know Nessiah perfectly well, but what I do know so far her kind of personality demeanor demands respect, almost like my father. Seeing a moment of weakness in this kind of person makes you want to give the world to them. It's honestly a very scary feeling.

"Is Taylum crying too loudly?" I said in the hopes of changing the subject and cheering Nessiah up.

"Nah, he's fine in the corner," Nessiah replied with a crack of a smile.

"I'm not crying. Billy threw something at my eyes!" Taylum exclaimed.

"I didn't, I'm supposed to be sleeping!" Shouted Billy from the inside of the home.

"Then why aren't you sleeping?" Asked Taylum with a smirk.

"Yes Billy, why are you not sleeping?" Yelled Nessiah while trying to hold in some laughter.

Nessiah turned to me with a huge smile. I felt like she knew what I was trying to do and she appreciated it.

"You know, you're probably wondering how a 21-year-old got stuck playing house with 10 children, or how and why I am reading New Dwarden law to a bunch of children." Nessiah leaned over to me and whispered.

"I am wondering a lot of things right now Nessiah. So I am keeping my curiosity on priority control." I responded.

"That's a really nice way of saying shut-up, please leave me alone, and I don't care. I appreciate the effort, Lian!" Nessiah laughed loudly.

"No, no, no, no, it's nothing like that Nessiah. It's just that I feel overwhelmed. Like I need to pick up the pieces of my current puzzle before I start a new one." I responded semi-embarrassed.

"I may not be as hard-headed as Taylum, or as sweet, but I live as an Aeronean as well. I feel it is my duty as an Aeronean and as a fellow human being to help you ease through your situation, granted you having that cross helps me trust you. That cross is an extremely important symbol to us Aeroneans, it’s in fact so important that out there, you’re simply executed when you wear it." Said Nessiah.

“That’s why you threatened me at dinner when I didn’t when I didn’t know its significance. Right?” I asked.

“Sure is.” She nodded.

"Don't go out of your way! I don't want to make life harder for you than it already is." I said in response to her unexpected understanding.

"Why do you think I am teaching you all these laws and providing you with five-star hospitality Blue Eyes? I want you the hell out of here! Another mouth to feed you’re crazy!" Nessiah laughed loudly.

I smiled at her, feeling strangely comforted by her passionate stare. It seems that Nessiah isn’t the enemy I put her out to be.

"We have just one more lesson before I fall asleep where I am sitting, so cut the soul-searching." Nessiah said, breaking our stare into one another..

"If I am ever to let you out of here, you must know who the Aeronean are. It's the reason why I am playing house and the reason why I almost slit your throat at dinner. Sorry about that by the way." Nessiah explained.

"No...problem...?" I uncomfortably said.

"The Aeronean, or formerly known Dominus Eros, and sometimes even known as the Dominus Aeronean, were an underground group of heroes, at least that's what I believe. The Aeronean has many different names, I know, let's stick with the old and true Aeronean. Since I am really tired and I desperately want to go to bed, I will make it nice and short for you. The Aeronean is a heroic way of life." Nessiah proclaimed very proudly with a fiery shine in her eyes.

“The Aeronean was a group of heroes dedicated to praising human morale, remove harsh New Dwarden punishments, and dispel unnecessarily impractical laws. The Aeronean was often considered a religion or a way of life due to its depth of commitment. If you remember what I said when I was reading the Arc Commandments, then you would remember that one of the laws prohibits the spreading of negative or conflicting ideas towards the Primarian Arc, and that was the major backbreaker of the Aeronean; I'm not even counting the many others. Upon realizing the as they put it “blatant rebellion” of the Aeronean, the Primarian Arc issued a 'Cleansing Order'." Said Nessiah, visually uncomfortable.

"Cleansing Order?" I said with a concerning gulp.

"Yup. It's as bad as it sounds. The Cleansing Order is a military command that issues a wide spread hunt for the accused. What's worse is if you're issued a Cleansing Order then anyone has the authority to disobey the Arc Commandments and essentially do as they please with you. If you disobey the Cleansing Order you will treated as if you just murdered. All of this violence and blood justified by the Primarian Arc as treason. The Cleansing Order is one of the few commands from the Primarian Arc that allows immunity towards the Arc Commandments. I was about the age of eight when my parents were taken from my home deep within the Rush Gardens, but that's another story in itself. Many of the population twelve years ago supported Aeronean ideals and actively praised them as heroes of light until the 'Cleansing Order', obviously. Now only a select few people remain. The Aeronean has been nearly reduced to what you see here living in this home; yes it is very sad but I am grateful of the friends my parents made and I am also grateful that I have the privilege to take care of these knuckleheads. Because of the positive impact the Aeronean had on people, there are few who harbor us in thankfulness, but at the same time we are afraid and too few to stand up for ourselves, although I wholeheartedly understand why. So as of now, I'm going to thank restaurant owner D’rok for giving up a bunch of extra restaurant goodies for us to munch on all the time. He and his brother owns a restaurant named Cooma's in between our Cherubim and the one to our left. Although, I hear his brother runs a restaurant exclusively not to far from here. We owe a lot to that man and his kitchen, and the fools who order too much for there own good." Continued Nessiah.

She was visibly disturbed when talking about the Aeronean. Whatever it was that happened to them, must have been horrific. I remember people in Embrace that would walk away from one child, let alone ten. I feel bad for her, but she seems to be doing well given her circumstance.

"I-I don't know what to say." I said.

"Well, I do... I am really sorry for the death threats earlier. You should be able to understand where I come from now. We Aeronean are hunted down like animals and since the Primarian Arc has such strict population records, they can execute every child here without them saying a word. This city is a beautiful city Lian, but it is founded by caged birds and blood, all in the name of order. The cross you wear around your neck symbolizes the Aeronean, and by the sound of it, you had absolutely no idea. It was rumored that in the prime of the Aeronean several firm believers would travel as exiled to spread the word of peace, like messengers if you please. The process of spreading the word is called Cedaning, mistaken by Taylum as seeding. No one ever confirmed their survival beyond New Dwarden, but I believe some of these messengers made it, and that you are the product of their triumph. It is a dangerous task to be a messenger, not only because of the wildlife on the outskirts of the city but because of the risk of being caught. If law enforcement catches you as a messenger, then you will be brutally tortured or killed and or both. Sometimes before there even caught...they erase their memories with a poison or potion...so as not to expose the rest of each other. Lian, I believe you are a direct product of a messenger. I believe someone is protecting you in the form of amnesia; there is almost no other explanation for you to be bearing that cross with so little knowledge of it." Nessiah confidently apologized and explained while wiping escaped tears from her eyes.

At this point, there was no way anyone would ever believe the means I came here by, so I am forced to accept this tale of Nessiah, albeit a very convincing one that even I would have believed had it not been for the enigma following me around indirectly through the music box. It was against who I was to lie, even as a toddler I would take responsibility for all my shortcomings; luckily today the lie was made for me.

"I don't have many memories prior to my encounter with Taylum in the alley, so...I guess I have to agree with you." I forcefully stated.

"You know what? I could tell that all this is hard for you and I, so let's call it a day shall we?" Nessiah mercifully suggested.

"Wait aren't you going to stay up and listen for the Seraphim's Chime with me?" I pleaded towards Nessiah.