As Mia came to herself at noon, she could barely keep her eyes open. She had to focus on preparing an enigmatic encounter for the members of the Resistance that concluded the objectives of next week’s missions as several new details were recently acquired. Unfortunately, she was not the kind who could rush in and slaughter officials or plunder trade convoys, therefore she tried to ease the stress of her comrades with organizing some peculiar parties or mesmerizing meetings. She had been helping them for a long time, meaning she was considered a member of the Resistance, although she wasn’t an official agent.

The room Mia lived in was of a mediocre size in which only modest furniture could be found. There were a wooden desk along with a disenchanting chair, whose legs were not of the same length. These were set at the window that displayed half of the Lower City in an ideal weather. As it had a wide ledge, she could sit on it, and daydream about the future that was always brighter than reality. Beside these extraordinary items were the door that was perpendicular to the window. Also her wardrobe could be found on the other side of the room, mostly filled with casual dresses and clothes for the sole reason to blend in the crowd if the opportunity presented itself.

The building she lived in was an inn, mostly made of wood but some concrete painted white could be observed outside. The previous owner was fond of old-fashioned architecture and wanted to build a structure resembling the fifteenth century. It was an ambiguous experience of primitive and contemporary style, death and life, bizarre astonishment of blatant beauty and hideous hedonism, most of which were scarce in this miserable world of mist, murder and mischievous matters.

“After all this time, it is still producing an accurate reflection?” She wondered when she glanced at her old mirror. This massive relic was thrown out of the window by a drunken fellow once, when it was transported to the room, crushing a poor chirping soul on its way, but it still seemed intact after the fall. The only damage caused was some research notes leaked out of the back as it was previously owned by Mia’s parents.

Staring at the surface of the mirror, she examined her body as it was her daily routine to identify unwanted changes on her skin, not to mention rashes or birthmarks which were the first signs of several fatal illnesses. She started with her head, and teeth. Then her grey eyes shifted to her medium sized breasts and checked it carefully whether a lump appeared or else.

The only thing that she detested nowadays was that her hair became unkempt after a very busy shift or during sleeping since she unconsciously motioned. Thus she had to rinse her hair to soften it up in order to be able to comb and style it to improve her already enchanting beauty. Usually, she would spend twenty minutes to conclude the act, but considering being late, it would be rather inefficient. Therefore the only thing she could do was applying a jewel, a copper clasp, which had been given by an old acquaintance, and tied her hair with the unusual trinket. She used the self-proclaimed hair tie to make a ponytail and nothing else to cope with the schedule and the time-consuming task of dressing up.

“Mia, are you up? We ought to start organizing the party soon, maybe in ten minutes.” A low-pitched voice posed the question from the bottom of the stairs.

“Yes, I have started to dress up.”

“Twenty minutes you say?” responded the mysterious figure.

“I’ll try to hurry.”

“Fine by me.”

The proper attire had not been appointed yet, moreover, she was barely conscious of that. As a result of being late, she took out some of her lingerie, which mostly consisted of the underwear we know, and some finely adjusted white cotton fabric band. She craved for the dazzling disguise of a proper host to appeal to the others this evening, so she sorted the unnecessary ones out by taking the most alluring outfits out of the wardrobe. “But this might be too much for a party.” Then she took out a checked shirt of blue and red colours with black linen trousers. “This would suffice.”

The moment she finished, she opened the door, ran down the stairs to the ground floor and announced the completion of another successful morning routine.

“Finished. What can I do for you?” Mia asked Jack in a heart-warming tone.

Jack was the owner of the tavern and the innkeeper who could be depicted as a bald, brawny and boring person. This middle-aged individual wore a brown apron, dark green trousers and a black shirt all of which were made of linen. A simple personality accompanied his raw appearance that could be described as hard-working, melancholic and sceptic.

“Could you go to the good old butcher? Not to that arrogant asshole at the Upper City Market.” Replied the gloomy innkeeper.

“Noah and Vale had some trouble over the Upper City. You remember their scars? They got it there when they were told to steal from the shopkeeper.”

“Yeah, yeah. Buy a rabbit or two, if they still have any. I know quality meat is rare nowadays, but we have an inn to run. Two Serenity Tokens will be enough, I suppose.” He put them in Mia’s soft hands, turned around, and started to move the furniture so that the hall would be sufficient for today’s meetings.

The moment Mia departed from her uncle’s premises, her vision was blurred by strength of the stalwart Sun that had not shone this bright for several years now, thus cutting through the sickly smog. The girl turned right and ventured forward to the butcher’s.

Halfway through, an individual teeming with various sexual desires approached the errand girl to seduce her. Although he was a handsome lad about the same age as Mia, he was not at all cherished for his ill-mannered action. The girl could deduce that he was a member of an affluent family as his velvet outfit displayed pride and fortune, yet she was not fond of being used for the sole purpose of agitating one’s male reproductive organs and bear the consequences. Thinking that he found someone of his liking, naivety and joy flickered in his eyes.

“May I offer my services to such a gorgeous young lady as yourself?” asked the lad valiantly.

“What for?” replied the gorgeous young lady in a cautious manner.

“I felt a sudden urge to help a fellow citizen. My father was appointed a magister, so I try to follow his footsteps.”

“Oh, another newcomer? These people just want to get someone pregnant, don’t they? They cannot do anything with their newly-found wealth.” she thought “If that urge can be defined as a stimulation of your gonads, then I would respectfully refuse. I am sorry, I am on a tight schedule, which means you are to be left here all alone. Will you endure the humiliation?”

“I could only felt guilt leaving a beauty explore the city only by herself.”

“You should try expressing yourself correctly so that I would not yearn for slapping you in front of everyone. So long.” She bypassed the dumb one and continued her journey.

As Mia was wandering, her thoughts shifted to Vale and Noah. “I have not seen them for some time now. I have heard that they had some business to do at the Skirmisher’s barracks. I hope they can come to the party tonight. It would be a shame if they missed another one. That would mean I have to herd drunk people alone…”

On arrival, only two rabbits remained, so she bought both of them, which were excessively overpriced, and returned home. Although the street was full of different shops that obtained their goods from the Church’s factories, she took notice of a boutique, which was not a church-owned store. She approached the wooden stalls in front of the shop and asked about the price of a red dress gorgeously ornamented with flower symbols in the middle and ivy on its sideways.

“Twenty Serenity Tokens? I knew that the Virtues demand a tithe from independent shops, but this? This is daylight robbery.” She acted to be furious when she took a look at the price tag so that the shopkeeper would take the possibility of a discount into consideration.

“All you see is handiwork, not some low-quality junk anyone can buy on the streets.” Replied the clerk. ”Best I can do is eighteen Serenity Tokens or a hundred Leaf’s Tokens.”

“I shall bid farewell then. Bye.”

Ten minutes later, Mia arrived at home and yet she was still concerned about those clothes she left behind.

“Did you get the meat? Or should I order some of those substitute stuff?” shouted the bald innkeeper from the kitchen.

“Two rabbits for one point five Seto.”

“Well done.”

“Thank you.” she bowed elegantly.

“How many idiots did you run into?”

“Only one.”

“Then you were lucky compared to Lucy.” She was the chef’s apprentice and sister-in-law. “She met with a priest, a colonel’s son and a prick from the Merchant Association.”

“Well, being old enough is full of ill-intentioned desires. So bad. I should get a husband soon.”

“I don’t want you to marry yet. I have no money for a proper wedding.”

“Shouldn’t spoil me, Uncle.”

“Then go and get some change.”

“Aren’t enough Appetite Tokens?”

“You guessed it.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you.’

She turned back and headed to the closest shrine as only they were allowed to change tokens to different types. The most valuable and rarest was the Serenity Token. There were several others that was only used for getting a type of product, so that the Seto would not be involved.

Waiting several hours, just to have a chance to talk to the priest, she stood in a queue as the priest took frequent breaks. Then it was her turn.

“Good day to you, I want to change fifteen Serenity Tokens to Appetizer tokens.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll take a break.”

“But you have had a break before the previous customer.”

“So what?”

“Sir, I have been waiting for several hours now. You have only served ten people during that time. This is basic division and multiplication.”

“So?”

“So? I have other matters to attend to.”

“Good for you.” He stood up. “You can attend to them after I have taken my break.”

“What does he do during a break? Jacking off? They don’t like to do anything, do they? Sitting behind a counter, intentionally postponing the procedures. They do not even have to do a sermon. They are useless. I bet if they were told to solve a problem outside their counter, they would just ran away crying like little girls seeing a rat. Not like it was demanding or challenging to do this, you just have to calculate depending on your customers’ needs.”

She was standing before the closed counter for fifteen minutes. She almost fainted once, since she haven’t eaten anything yet.

“I am here.”

“How was your break? Did you churn some butter?”

“Whatever. How can I be of your service?” he asked indifferently.

“I have fifteen Seto to change into Appto.” She handed over the tokens.

“Here is three hundred.” Now he handed over the tokens.

“Thank you, have a nice day.” When she approached the exit, she heard the priest say ‘I’ll take a nap’. She was furious, but she got what she came for. There was no reason to meddle in government affairs. That shortened life expectancy drastically.

The sun was already setting when she entered the tavern. “I am back. Is there anything I could do for you, Jack?” She shouted.

“No, not really.” He replied.

“I reckon my friends are here, I haven’t seen them since the last time they went out. I go and search for them.” Said Mia.

“Okay.”

“I think you have done a great job organizing this meeting. Thank you.” She said to Jack.

“Welcome.” Replied the innkeeper.

“Hello there.” Noah greeted Mia out of the blue.

“Long time, no see.” Mia replied. “Where is Vale?”

“She had other matters to attend to. But I’ll try to do my best substituting her.”

“Do you want me to talk over girly things with you? Anyways, how was the operation I should not know about?”

“Well, I have spent some time sitting in my own excrement.”

“Good for you… and as I see you lost some weight…”

“Then another prisoner was presented, who had an amazing personality compared to my dignified colleagues. Unfortunately, Vale did not like me having another friend, so we dumped him in the forest.”

“Is he alright? That is not what I expected of her.”

“I guess.”

“I think she loves you.” This statement was rather unexpected and seemed to have hit Noah hard.

“I do… wait, what?”

“She has grown in fond of you.”

“That is absurd. She would not. She knows that we could be killed any time. Plus, the leadership prohibited any kind of sexual relationships.”

“That is only a woman’s intuition.”

“Hope so.”

At that moment a middle aged, and probably respected, but brutal man opened the door of the tavern, causing the others to cheer up. His attributes included long ashen beard and slob, braid hair, blue eyes, small nose. His neck and face were covered in dirt. Also, a ruthless appearance with several scars and deformations impaired his strange clothes that were basically cut out of sacks that were mainly used at the market. Since the Head of Operations arrived, everything were set to commence this merry reunion.

“I see we are all here. Let us begin!” he shouted. “We have gained intel on Graham Asinus. This was approved by the Intelligence and the Captain, meaning that an accident might happen in the future. We will meet at the Golden Bridge tomorrow morning, where you all be given the info on the mission.”

“Hooray” The audience cried.

“We are having a difficult task, I want nobody to have hangover. Be responsible.” He turned around “Mia my dear! I see you did an amazing job organizing this party. How are you?”

“You know that I am always fine. Jack is with me almost all the time. My safety should not be your concern.”

“That old bastard owes me a beer.”

“Dice?”

“Card game.”

“What if I included another ration, gratis, on behalf of my uncle, Eric?”

“Fine with me. Free food, best food.”

“Noah. Will you accompany me? We are thankful for the information you provided.”

These parties were always created to let off the stress the assignments caused to the Operations Section of the Resistance. That included heavy drinking, gambling, brawling and even some activities that concerned sexual intercourse with someone with a specific profession.

“Noah, what if I told you that we acquired a lot of details in the past month? I mean ten times more than usual. Something is happening. We either take the chance or be killed.”

“Are you saying that the Resistance is under surveillance?”

“Or the structure of the state is rotting away.”

“None of them is good. I, personally, would not want Tyronne to be killed by some grasping idiots.”

“Well, I want to cut open his belly and hang him with his intestines, but that will not happen. The Captain will make the choice.”

Mia was observing them, overhearing these statements, in the distance since she had nobody to talk with. While she was eating she overheard a conversation about the Migration that happened some centuries ago.

“People came from the Outlands, you know. This territory was uninhabited before them.”

“Some say that the Outlands is not a valid place to live. The Cataclysm branded the soil, and people went nuts.”

“Nobody wanted to die of starvation. My family said that the catastrophe destroyed the food sources, so people had nothing to eat at all. They formed groups and tried to find a place that was hospitable, and this was the only habitable region on the continent…”

“Was this land the epicentre of the Catastrophe?” she asked herself. Then she heard that the subject was suddenly changed to the topic focusing on the delicate parts of the feminine gender.

Vale was not present, Noah was chatting with Eric and Jack was managing the inn. She was just as lonely if she was in her room by herself. Her belief of not being a true member was stronger than ever. A sudden fear of isolation emerged from the shadows of doubt and uncertainty rendering the girl whiter than a dove in the company of pigeons. Not like she wanted to be in the Resistance so desperately. She did not want to be alone. As the time was passing by, her fatigue increased every moment.

“I guess I have had enough.” She went back to her room. Noah saw her disappearing in the crowd, so he stood up and said farewell to the drunk Eric, who was speaking gibberish and almost lost his consciousness. “Do not fuck horses, their kick is heavy.” Following the girl, he dashed through the intoxicated crowd causing several of his teammates to praise his excellence in defecation. After taking the stairs, he gently knocked on her door.

“It is me, Noah. My superior got drunk again and I grew bored, but I did not see you around. I thought you would be here.”

“You can come in, no courtesy required.”

“Duly noted.” He entered the room.

“Can I ask you something?” asked Mia gazing at the sensation of the Lower City lights.

“Sure.” he sat down on the bed carefully.

“How can I be so useless? I cannot even socialize at a party like this.”

“You are not, and believe me, you should exclude these people from your social sphere of influence. What is the reason of your sadness and solitude?”

“I am afraid to lose you two.” Replied Mia almost crying.

“Remember what we did four years ago, before the Resistance was formed? We managed to take down the leader of the Vanguard and got away with it.”

“I was shaking with fear. Why can’t you just forget what happened and live happily with me, Jack and Vale? You are the only ones I have.” She was sobbing.

“Concerning the fact that my family was murdered and Vale was dumped, it’s only natural. We have done so much for the people lately. Achieving this goal will be our salvation from the dread of being eradicated at any moment in our lives. I am fighting for my family, for you, so that you could live a happy life. You know what? When I find James I will introduce you to him so that you would not feel so lonely these days. He is a decent fellow with blonde hair and golden eyes. You might have fancied him.”

“I… I might say that I might be… interested. If you stop going on suicide missions.” She stuttered.

He stepped beside and embraced her. “Everything is as good as it is and will be. I would go mad without you. I like you the way you are. I love the way we are.”

As they sat in awe of the combination of the night sky full of stars and the man-made city of stone and artificial lights, a tear rolled down Noah’s face.