The footsteps slowly faded away, while Yuriko and Millie edged towards the sidewalk. Millie’s eyes glowed orange with her Animus then she tilted her head towards where the footsteps came from. She bit her lips and squinted.

A cold breeze blew from the mountainside, the buildings funnelled it down the road, amplifying its speed. The wind cut through Yuriko’s shawl, sending a shiver down her spine, and it blew her skirt up a couple of inches.

She paid it no mind, focused as she was on their surroundings. Her hands groped at her waist, but she didn’t carry a weapon this evening, not even her belt knife.

That didn’t mean she was helpless. Over the past weeks, aside from weapons training, Master Antiga had drilled her and all the other girls in a barehanded martial science that involved a lot of redirection, joint locks, and takedowns. And escaping from a grapple, too, though that hadn’t been difficult for Yuriko considering her bodily strength. However, her unarmed skill was a far cry from her sword dances.

Millie’s head whipped to a side, her eyes widening. Yuriko followed the direction she looked at and could barely hear more footsteps. Logic dictated they should have left instead of staying here, emotions, fear and anticipation, filled her instead. What she expected, she didn’t know. Maybe it was that swarm fodder who touched her back at the inn?

A few moments later, a pool of light came from around the corner and a couple of men in dark brown coats came into view. They recoiled in surprise upon catching sight of the two girls, and the one on the left, who had a long jagged scar across his left jaw, blurted out, “What are you kids doing here?”

“It’s late,” the other man said with a frown. “Who are you and what are you doing out here?”

Yuriko and Millie exchanged glances and Yuriko answered, “We came from the Blue Butterfly and are on our way back to the Imperial Academy. I’m a student of Sharom and she’s of Lunette.”

“That a fact? Do you have identification?”

“Yes.”

Yuriko reached into the pocket where her safepouch was, withdrew her side-blade license and handed it over. She also had Fri’Avgi’s license there but she thought it imprudent to show that off.

“You don’t have your school ID?”

“No, sorry. I left it back at the dorm.”

“What about you, Miss?”

Millie fetched her Lunette ID and handed it over. The older man, the one on the right, stared at the crystal cards for a few moments before he returned them.

“You shouldn’t be out this late, honestly. It’s dangerous. Do you need an escort?”

“Oh, uhm, if it wouldn’t be trouble?” Millie asked.

“Not at all, a pleasure for such pretty flowers such as you two.” He gave them a reassuring smile. “This way, please. A pity the Trams closed an hour ago, but I suppose that’s why you’re walking.”

“Indeed. We lost track of time at the dance.”

“Huh, I suppose it happens.” They walked at a brisk pace. The lamplights were little pools of illumination against a sea of shadows.

“Pardon me,” Yuriko said as they followed behind the two men. “What do you mean, dangerous? Are there…uhm, muggers?”

“No, petty theft and strongarms are rare up here in the Upper Ring,” the first man answered, “but there’s been some trouble brewing lately. I expect the Dukes will declare a curfew soon but I’m not sure that would work.”

“Of course it would,” the second man said. “Keeping the law-abiding citizens indoors means that the only ones who dare walk the night are we constables or never-do-wells. Much easier to find the likes of the Freethinkers that way. ‘Course they have to impose curfew down in the Mids and the Lower too.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. Even in the Upper Ring, them nobles would protest anything that curtailed their privileges. The Emporiums would decry the lost business and the haulers would clog up the morning traffic instead.”

“Excuse me,” Yuriko butted in. “Freethinkers?”

“Yes, a group of insurgents. Their leadership had been captured a couple of seasons ago, but the rank and file are still out an’ about. Word ‘round the street’s they’ve formed a new group. We don’t know the name yet, else the Inquisitors would have used the Fateweaver to find them,” the first man continued.

“What, you think they’d waste time looking for a local problem,” the second man scoffed. “No, even if we knew the name, it would take more before the Inquisitors moved.”

“But if they did it would solve so many things!”

“What are they paying us for then?”

“Quite chatty, aren’t they?” Millie whispered in Yuriko’s ear.

She couldn’t help but nod. When she came to the capital city, she’d had the impression of bustling prosperity. Well, even the Lower Ring that she only visited once was filled with vibrant people going about their lives. The Mid Ring was all business, while the Upper Ring was beautiful. What kind of unrest was this?

She frowned as she briefly recalled someone talking about the Freethinkers. Was it during the Commuter Tram ride or something she overheard at breakfast? News pamphlets were distributed at the Willow's lounge, but she rarely looked at them.

The two constables chattered with each other for quite a while, still mostly talking about the Freethinkers and how those fools would ruin everything because of their selfishness.

“They’ve been linked to sabotage, sedition, and treason,” the first man added, finally addressing them.

Yuriko shuddered. Dreadful people indeed. Why couldn’t they be content with what they had?

“A few years ago, someone tried to destroy the Channel docks,” he continued. “It disrupted trade for weeks, and Emporiums lost millions of Sovereigns in damages and lost business. The nobles had to foot the bill to repair it. It was only then that the Inquisitors were forced to move.”

“What did they do before?”

“Mostly make a nuisance of themselves. Well,” the second man answered, “They made a stink about inequality and all that, but equal treatment is nothing more than tyranny in disguise.”

“Oh, why’s that?” Millie asked curiously.

“Well, I heard that, uh, er…Decanus’ got the answer for that, er, lemme recall.”

“Hmph,” the first man grunted. “Not all are born equal, and to insist on treating everyone as equal is unfair.”

“What did they want anyway?” Yuriko asked.

“Equality. They believed that the Empress had no right to rule.”

“What? But that’s stupid!” Yuriko blurted out.

“Yeah, the Empire was created by the Empress and is a bastion of Order against the Chaos. Those fools want nothing more than to remove the Empress’ dominion over us, well, of Rumiga anyway. Crazy, right?”

“Yeah,” both Yuriko and Millie immediately agreed. Without the Empress, there would be no Empire, and without the Empire, there would be no beacon of stability during the dreadful centuries after the Shattering.

The Empress protected the people. Otherwise, they would have become nothing more than livestock for the varied Chaos Lords and other denizens of the Chaos Sea. To bite that hand that saved their Ancestors…to Yuriko, it stank of ingratitude.

Soon enough they were near the campus’ main entrance. Yuriko and Millie thanked the two patrolmen and waved goodbye.

“Well, that was interesting,” Millie remarked.

“If by interesting, you mean frightening and worrying, then yes,” Yuriko muttered.

“Come on, Yuri, don’t be so serious. We’re all safe in the Academies and the only thing we need to worry about is doing well and graduating.”

“I suppose.” Yuriko shook her head. They walked the rest of the way back to the Willow in silence, and bid each other goodnight. The lounge was practically deserted at this point, save for the guard stationed near the entrance. Yuriko hurried to her suite, taking a quick hot shower then turned in. Hunter Kitty popped into her bedroom and made circles around her belly, kneading and treading on her. She had to shoo him off her bosom when he put his weight there.

“Myaa!” he protested, but settled eventually on top of her stomach and started purring. The sound soothed her and stilled her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

______

Lukas carefully scrubbed Kiruna’s face with a damp cloth. His sister grinned and stuck her tongue out. Her eyes were open but Lukas could only see darkness where her sclera and irises should have been.

They were in their new home, though they were still in the Lower Ring, they were closer to the cliff face and out of the slums. It was a small apartment on the second floor of a three-storey building. Each floor had about four apartments, each about ten paces by five, was a single all-purpose room, with a small toilet and bath.

Kiruna sat on their mattress. The curtains were drawn close and the light panels were at their dimmest setting. His sister couldn’t stand bright lights but thankfully, she hadn’t been blinded. She could see quite well in the dark, actually, but any kind of light seemed to have the opposite effect on her.

That was quite troubling, since even at night, Rumiga’s skies were illuminated by the Chaos streams and the Moon. The only place she could function properly was if they went back inside the tunnels and that wasn’t an option.

“The researchers in Lunette Academy said that there was a way to reverse the changes, Kiru. Don’t worry, we’ll have your eyes back to normal.”

“But, big bro, we don’t have that many coins to spare!”

Lukas sighed, remembering the man in the black coat and the woman in red.

“I’m afraid coins won’t pay for this. Not any amount we can scrounge up.”

“I’m fine, brother,” Kiruna soothed. “As long as there’s no light, I can still work!”

There was a catch in her voice though. Lukas knew how much she enjoyed going outside and running around. It was nearly impossible now, and even with the nights of the Dark Moon, it was still too bright. Not to mention the dangers that came from other humans.

“No, I’ll find a way to fix this.”

They’d finally pulled away from the spiral of hardship that they’d been on. Mister Mazer and the other councillors granted him a higher stipend and even this property belonged to a member of the Council. They weren’t staying for free, but a large chunk of the rent was subsidised.

The past weeks, Lukas had been working as many hours of the day as he could. His control over his Animus was stellar, and that, in turn, helped him master Empowered Strike enough that he could have inlaid it already. Unfortunately, doing so would have sucked away his usable Animus, so he had to wait until his Animus Cap was at Sollus.

Every week, Aengus gave him a single vial of Zoi Elixir. By the middle of the Season of Water, he should have fifty lumens in his reserve. That would allow him to progress to Apprentice, and hopefully be of more use to the Council. The wealth that they were pouring down on him and his sister was unreasonable, he knew. Far more than a promise to his dead parents was worth.

Still, he couldn’t turn away from it. The hook was deep in his throat and he had no choice but to go where it pulled.

“What will it take?” Kiruna asked.

“Merits.” Lukas shrugged. “There are a lot of odd jobs that the Academies give out to its students. I need about a thousand worth. They’re only allowing me to earn merits since you’re a strange case.”

The two of them had to report to Lunette’s facilities once a week for research. But the rate at which he’s earning merits means it’d probably take years before he can earn enough. Still, he heard whispers that there would be a draft soon. It would mean he’d go to front lines but the amount he’d earn was magnitudes more than just running errands.

“Well, I’ve got to go to work,” Lukas sighed.

“Take care, big bro!”

Kiruna hugged him tight, and he couldn’t help but tremble at their helplessness.

Things had to change, he thought. The Council of Judgement would see it through.