‘’The creepy wiseman and the shady businesses’’

‘That’s intriguing… So, you are investigating out of pure curiosity, if I summarize what you’ve just said?’

‘I told you, it’s because of my family. Curiosity is far down the list of reasons why I want to find Cinder!’ I rebuke to the man that’s walking next to me. We’re walking to some place that can ‘’help me with my personal investigation’’. I have no idea what he means with that, since he constantly talks with a form of mystery in his voice. Everything he says sounds mysterious, like he is hiding all his secrets, and is playing with his cards against his chest. I think back to the library…

[‘Fair enough…so…what do you want to know about ‘’Cinder?’’ he asks me out of nowhere.

‘What do you mean with that? Are you willing to share some information you’ve got? Shouldn’t that be reported to the police?’ I ask him suspiciously. Frankly, I just want to stand up and walk away, but I am still interested in what he has to say. Either way, he uncrosses his legs, and leans with his elbows on them.

‘Quite the cautious one, aren’t you? There is no need to be like that around me.’ His smile widens even more, while is eyes remain so narrow, they look like they’re closed.

‘……you still didn’t answer my second question…’

‘You still haven’t answered mine,’ he says while his expression remains the same. I find it creepy to look at. As if he is prying…digging into my eyes, trying to unravel my secrets. It’s unsettling…the air is feeling denser with every breath I take.

‘……I want to learn more about them, yes.’ I decide to answer his question as cautious as possible. I feel like I cannot let my guard down around him.

‘Oho…and why is that, if I may ask?’

‘I have my reasons…’ I look directly at him. I completely forgot my surroundings, until…

‘Aha, I see! Well, don’t you worry! I can help you out with your research! I am a very important person after all. Did you know that?’ he says as he stands up from his feet and grabs one of the books I had taken with me to purchase. ‘’’The principles of Magic’’, huh… Are you interested in magic, perhaps? I wonder why that would be…’ He takes a glance at me and opens the book. ‘Why would one be interested in magic, I wonder…’

I quietly stand up and take the book out of his hand. ‘I am interested in a lot of things…including your attempt in involving yourself in my business. I have no idea who you are, yet you constantly ask me questions, trying to fish something out of me. Tell me something about yourself first, before you ask me a handful of questions. Let’s see, how about you introduce yourself to me first…’ I tell him as sternly as possible. I put the book with the other magic-related book. I take another look at the title, before returning my gaze at him.

‘Hm…can’t do that. Sorry.’ He shrugs his shoulders like it isn’t his problem. I want to lash out at him, but I hold myself back last moment. What would that solve? I need to stay calm and leave. He’s obviously pranking me. I should be the bigger man and leave.

‘Ah, I see… Then I will wish you a good day, sir. I must purchase these books and go my way. I still have some important matters to attend.’ I make a slight bow with my head and grab all the books I want to purchase and head to the counter.

‘With matters, you mean going to Evander the Wise, right?’ I instinctively turn back fiercely to him, while steadying all the books in my hands. ‘Bullseye.’ Damn, I let myself get carried away. ‘I wonder how such a young boy, which seemingly no history or knowledge on Illuminia has been able to hook up with someone so important and powerful. It makes me interested in who you are as a person.’

This man is dangerous… I don’t feel any threat from him physically, but I feel like he can read through everything I think. ‘I truly don’t understand. No knowledge over Illumina. Does that mean that magic is the fundament of Illuminia? It’s helpful, but it can exist without it. I think you need to wise up yourself, if you think you can throw me off the charts with a few randomly-shot presumptions about me,’ I say in the calmest fashion I can deliver that sentence. I need to make sure I don’t look nervous.

‘Ah…ahahaha…hahahahahaha!’ He starts to laugh hysterically, followed by annoyed people turning into our direction and shushing us. ‘No, I really like you now. You’re calm. Very calm. You analyze your enemies carefully, and you don’t trip they lay out in front of you…you’re sharp, and I like that. He walks up to me and starts pushing me to the counter. ‘I’m paying for all these books, ma’am. Please provide a bag for this young, intellectually pleasing young man. Put it on the tap of the government itself.’

Everything is to fast-paced for me now, but I get a bag handed over with all the books I wanted, and he starts pushing me out of the library after.]

After we exited the library, he asked me about my origin. I already have a made-up story I discussed with Evander and try to tell him with as little detail as possible. My sister got kidnapped by Cinder, so I use that as an excuse to research them deeper. He kept asking questions about my past, and constantly doubts my motivation, but I don’t think he has seen through me yet.

‘So…where are we going? You’ve been keeping me in the dark long enough,’ I ask him, checking his reaction out of the corner of my eye.

‘You’ll see. Don’t let your impatience get the better of you now.’ He keeps smiling creepily, without turning his head to me at any point in time.

‘You mentioned the tap of the government itself at the library. Is that where we are going?’ His smile widens, so I presume I am correct.

‘Good. I need to have you sharp. You’ll get boring otherwise.’ He finally turns to me with his creepy laugh and barely open eyes. I find it unsettling, but I don’t show it. We keep walking for a bit longer, until we arrive in front of a big building, surrounded by a wall and guards. It’s a dome-shaped building, and its size shows the importance of the building itself. ‘We’re here. Let’s head in.’ I follow him inside. The halls are lit up by the sun. The first thing I see after walking in the hall is the giant square in the middle, that probably functions as a garden or living room. It has an open roof, so the sun is beaming down into the building. We walk further, and after taking a few turns, we arrive in a room full of books. ‘These are the archives. They hold the records of everything that happened in Rakenia,’ he says as he grabs a book from a shelf and hands it over. It has lots of loose pieces of paper inside it. ‘I think you’ll find it interesting.’

I grab the brown, leatherback book out of his hand, and open the book up in the middle, which contains the largest piece of paper. ‘T-This is…’ I stare at the article that is presented in front of me. [Missing children against the State?] It shows a picture of a young, blond, with long hair and bright, green eyes. She has a small face, making her look like a minor. The article talks about the girl. Carley Langdon. She went missing years back and made her appearance as an assassin. She died in action, during a mission to kill the governor of Rakenia. Although they succeeded, she didn’t make it, with a bunch of other kids that went missing years ago. Carley Langdon was carrying an infiltration plan, and local authorities think it’s connected to… ‘Cinder…’ They make their appearance again. I put the book down on the wooden table near us, and look the creepy guy in the eyes, which he still has barely closed. ‘Why…are you…showing me this?’ His smile growths as I ask.

‘To be frank, it’s because you’re suspicious to us.’ I step back as he says that. He just showed his true colors. ‘A young boy, accompanied by the great Evander the Wise, telling me that he is looking into the disappearance of a sister. Things don’t add up, you know. Did you even think your background through? The fact that you underestimated Evander’s popularity, and the fact that Evander is a wise man that helped this country is many ways shows how suspicious you are.’ I really want to tell him that it was actually Evander who came up with the backstory, not me, but that would only make the situation worse. ‘You probably didn’t notice that Evander is so popular because people don’t want to bother him on his business.’ I gulp. He has me in a bind. ‘You…are you perhaps from anot-‘

‘Sir.’ A man that looks to be a guard walks into the room before the creepy guy can even finish his sentence. ‘The governor is waiting for you, sir.’

‘Ah, thank you very much. Well then young sir. Let us go to the governor.’ He grabs my arm and after I drop the book on the ground by accident, forces me to walk into the long corridor. After a few more corridors and stairs, we arrive at a room with a big, wooden door, decorated in gold and gems. This look more of a king’s door than a governor’s one, but I push that thought out of my head. The creepy man opens the doors himself, and reveals a beautifully decorated room, filled with treasure and gold scattered around the sides of the huge room. The clay colored room has big bowls hanging from the ceiling, with fire in them to light the room. I see an old, fata man sitting in a clay-colored throne, filled with even more gold and gems, while his throne is sided with statues of giant-catlike creatures, as if they’re trying to intimidate me. Above them is a giant window. The room is heavily guarded. I count around ten guards, all fully armored, wielding spears. To describe the room in one world, wealthy.

‘Sir. I have brought the ‘’suspicious person’’ to you,’ the creepy guy says as he pushes me a bit forward from the back.

‘So that was your goal all along…’ I look at the creepy guy with a sharp glare, before I turn towards the quite fat, very hairy person in front of me, who sits on a throne with fancy clothing fit for a king. If I am honest, I wouldn’t think this man for a governor if I saw him without his fancy clothing, and even if I did, you’d think he was of royalty rather than of office.

‘So…’ the man speaks with a heavy, clotted voice, as if he has trouble speaking. ‘You’re the boy that has been causing trouble in my city, right?’ He rests his head on his arm, clearly having no interest in me.

‘I haven’t caused any trouble, sir. I just arrived here, and I plan to leave soon as well. I was just researching magic, until I stumbled on articles about Rakenia themselves. I stumbled on the history of Rakenia, and that’s when your companion decided to bring me to you. I’d like to believe that I did nothing wrong.’ I conclude my case.

‘You...’ he speaks up as he points his ring to me. ‘haven’t kissed my ring yet.’ He shows me a very big ring with a bright red gem inside, while covered with gold and other small gems. The ring itself looks greasy, especially on his fat finger. I look at him confused, questioning his intentions. The creepy guy tries to push me to the fat man, but I withstand his push as much as possible.

‘You idiot,’ he whispers to me. ‘Just kiss his ring or you will be killed.

‘Like hell I will! It’s greasy and disgusting. Besides, I don’t know him,’ I whisper back to him.

‘You…’ he speaks again, still sounding like he is stuffed with something. ‘Why haven’t you kissed my ring yet? Don’t you know it’s a crime to refuse my orders?’ he speaks. I am genuinely confused right now. Who does this fat guy think he is? I stand firm.

‘May I ask…? You are the governor of this city, right?’ He doesn’t answer me. He puts his arm back and holds his arm in the air. I have a terrible feeling about this, but I continue nevertheless. ‘This fancy room, and that rotten attitude of yours. You look more like a fat, bastard king that has no idea what he is doing.’ I take a quick glance at the creepy guy, who has his eyes opened for once, with the look like all the blood just got drained out of his face. He looks genuinely frightened. I turn back to the fat man, who looks seriously agitated, as he drops his hand. I see all the guards around the place point their spear to me. They’re ready to attack. I look around me. The creepy guy is gone. ‘Shit, where is he?’ No time to worry about him. I need to run away. I can’t fight all these guards on my own. I look at the entrance. Two guards. Then four on each of my side. The only place to go…is… I start running, while I unsheathe my sword. I don’t care if they recognize the sword at this point. They’ll think it’s a prop anyway. I rush towards the fat man in his seat, who turns from agitated to scared. I get just in front of him and use his shoulder to launch myself up the catlike statues. I climb up and jump through the window. ‘ThisisbadThisisbadThisisbad!’ I unconsciously shout my fear out, as I hang on the window from the room with one arm. I look down, realizing that the height would surely kill me. I try to scan for a window below me, while my sweaty palm makes me lose my gripping. I am so scared right now, but I need to stay rational. I can make this. I spot on window below me. ‘You can do this, Brandr.’ I focus on my sword, trying to have the magic flow to the tip. I miraculously pull it off, and after I take a very deep breathe, while trying to push all the voices to the back of my head that tell me that I’m stupid for attempting something like this, I let go, quickly grabbing onto my sword with both hands. I wait for the moment I am at the window and step my sword into the wall just above it, and quickly use my momentum to fly into is. I kick the curtains away, and safely land into the archive room I was earlier. ‘Well, that’s a coincidence,’ I think out loud, before I lie down of the floor. That was scary, but I managed to escape. The guards must be looking for me though. I sit up and see the book that I dropped earlier. ‘This…’ I say as I pick it up. ‘might be useful…’ I open the door, with book and sword in hand, and peek out. I cannot see anyone, so I try to sneakily walk out. I take on step outside, and…

‘There he is! Don’t let him escape!’ that’s all it took for them to find me.

‘Really?!’ I scream out in agony as I start sprinting through the corridor. I turn right, towards the stairs. I slide over the railing, and quickly run underneath the pathway I was on just now. I run past some rooms, until I suddenly feel my body being pulled into one of these rooms. Unknown hands grab my mouth and body, as they keep me quiet, while the guards who where looking for me pass us. It is then that the person who is holding my hands lets me go. ‘Who-!’ I turn around almost shouting, but the boy that grabbed me puts his hand on my mouth and shushes me. He takes his hand of my mouth again. ‘Thank you. You saved me.’

I look at the boy with extremely bright, blue eyes. His eyes are more shown due his dark skin, with his bandana around his forehead, holding his black, soft hair a bit up. ‘I haven’t saved you yet. We still have to get you out of this place,’ the boy says with his soft, almost melodic voice as he looks around frantically. ‘Okay, I need to you to stay hidden until the stairs. By then, you should start sprinting. These guards don’t leave this place, and they’ll let you go. Once you get out, get yourself out of Rakenia.’

‘Wait, what? I haven’t finished my business here yet. I need to do that first. I’m not letting some fat bastard control my will. Even if he is a governor.’

‘Ugh…look, you can’t do anything to him. He has the entire city on his site,’ he says with a worried look. I have no idea why I am analyzing his face so much. I try to shake the thought out.

‘He has the city under his control. Not in his hand. I highly doubt people wanted him as the governor. He has more fat in his body than my entire family combined. And he stinks. I smelled him for a brief period, but I almost threw up.’ The boy’s expression grows more scared with every word I talk about him. He looks like he’s genuinely terrified of the governor.

‘You really…whatever. Just run away from this place and get out of Rakenia. I don’t even know what you were doing here but resume your business another time.’

‘I was resupplying for my journey, as well as researching Cinder.’ His eyes widen when I mention Cinder.

‘Cinder? What do you need to know about some crazed doctors? That’s a state matter.’

Crazed doctors? I never heard about any crazed doctors. I ask him after telling him about my sister, and after sympathizing with me, he tells me about the people that are in Cinder. Scientists, doctors and mages working onto a project to create superhumans. Humans with superhuman strength, speed and senses, able to accomplish the hardest of tasks with ease. Apparently, they were an official research group, until it was revealed they were doing human experiments, which let to their disbandment. All their equipment was stolen, and the documents were kept by the Royal Family themselves, but it seems like they are back and are still conducting human experiments, by kidnapping little children. It really saddens me when I hear the through behind it. I decide to leave without any more questions. I follow his instructions and run out of the building. Luckily, they didn’t spot me, and I calmly walked through the gates as if nothing happened. These gate watchers probably had no idea what happened inside, so I was able to fool them. I head towards my room at the inn and read the books content. Everything the boy talked about is inside. The information from the creepy man as well. An organization created by the crazed scientist who conduct human experiments to create superhuman puppets that bow to their will. The experiments were bloody and gruesome, and the Queen decided to disband the organization that was part of the Research and Development team in the royal castle. They got persecuted, and the surviving members continued the experiments, while running away from the state. I also find disclosed information that most of the members had already been rounded up, and that the activity of Cinder has decreased rapidly over time. The persecution is almost over.

‘This…is a lot to take in…’ I close the book as I lie on my bed and toss it to the side of my room. There is still one in Rakenia. Since there are still people being kidnapped here. ‘I guess it’s not over yet though…’ I get up and take a shower. After the shower and meal, while talking about my day with Evander, I head back up in my room. ‘Ah…I forgot my books at the palace…’ I guess I will have to purchase book at another place. ‘Today…a lot happened. I hope I won’t be found by that fat man. I don’t want to bother Evander to much with me being nosey. Tomorrow I have to be a lot more careful if I go out.’ As I close my eyes, my mind wanders, remembering the redhaired girl I met, as well as the creepy guy, the fat man and the blue-eyed boy. ‘Rakenia…I feel…like this it isn’t over yet…’