Rat infestations were rampant in every star but it could be said on the kealir The rats could be found spread out through out the star, there was at least 2 per block, one of these rats was by a stall, kealir was the universal marketplace, it was said if you needed anything you headed for this star, this rat in particular had made the journey in search of freedom and landed in her personal hell, she peeked from from where she stood, in the crowd she was all but non existent, for all her past glory here in the thicket of gods and godliness she was nothing, she breathed in and emerged from behind the stall, knocking over a basket of Time stones

"Watch where you're going woman" The trader hissed and glared while his thralls rushed to lean up the mess

"S-sorry" She stuttered

The god stared at her for a few more seconds before his attention was diverted to the crunching sound of breaking glass as one of his thralls dropped a stone

"How useless the lot of you are!!!" He yelled

The rat grabbed his pouch off of him and pulled back, immediately disappearing into the crowd, she went a few feet, tucking the pouch in her dress successfully she grinned at passerby's and stepped into an alley

"Thief!!!" She heard the street get thrown into panic and she heard the heavy footfalls of sweepers marching through the market, she turns on her heels and ran

"I saw her go down the alley!!!" She increased her speed

She turned and saw the unforgettable face of her pursuers, it was blank. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, it felt like it was going to explode out of her chest, they were silent when they gave chase which was quite contradicting as they could be heard at least ten blocks away when they marched.

"Damnit" She saw a man eyeing some thralls and called out to him"Hey!"

He turned and arched his eyes, she tossed the pouch to him and ran the other way, she kept running a good distance unsure if her pursuers had chosen instead to chase the man, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found no one coming for her, she sat and leaned against a wall, she heard a commotion and saw the stranger from before, he leapt from tent roof to roof avoiding the sweepers, who went through the market as quietly as they had come, they went passed traders and buyers, avoiding goods and carts, thralls shuddered as they passed and she knew why. They were the next most feared in kealir after the council.

She saw him use a glamor spell and duck into an alley and watched the sweepers dash by, how had he evaded them, for all the sweepers didn't have, only a few managed to evade them, once they gave chase they caught you, that was their reputation.

She crossed the street and stepped into the alley, she saw him leaned over and panting and cleared her throat, he spun around and glared

"What.Was.That?" He glowered and a hand travelled to his sword hilt

She eyed his sword wearily, how far was she from the street again? Not that it mattered, it was either this or the sweepers, she raised her hands

"I didn't know what else to do" She said quickly

"So you involved me?" He narrowed his eyes

"I-" She started but was interrupted

"It was a rhetorical question" He hissed then let his hand drop to his side "Damn Angels" He muttered

"Get out of here" he motioned to the street

She turned to go then paused

"You want to say something?" He asked

"The soul-stones" She said uncertainly

"Oh this" He pulled the pouch from his pocket

"I stole it fair and square" She said

"And tossed it to me. Let this be a life lesson, you either hold onto what you have or you lose it" He said

"You can't be serious!" She hissed

"I absolutely am" He smiled

She opened her mouth then closed it and gave him a look and then turned and slinked back to the street.

"What an asshole, smart talking -" She was muttering as she stomped through the market, she looked up a second too late and walked into someone

She fell to the ground shocked, she held her head and growled

"Dematrix, don't mind the thrall, let me discipline her" She heard someone say and immediately replied

"I'm not a thrall" She hissed before she paused

'Wait a minute, they said Dematrix' she thought as she looked up

She gasped when she looked up into captivating green eyes, she blinked a couple of times when a hand reached for her, she winced and tried to block

"Take my hand" She heard and looked up again, she saw a hand reaching out for her and she took it, she was pulled to her feet and gulped, the man smiled as he stared down at her, a crystal was in the middle of his fore head, his golden yellow skin glistened and his hair a short straight jet black

"I must not have been looking where i was going, i apologize maiden" He bowed slightly and his companion scoffed

"Archiduis, you are too forgiving"

'Archiduis…Isn't he the- Why is he here? Apologizing to a nothing like me?'

"D-dematrix- I'm sorry, i wasn't looking where i was going" She apologized and bowed, her head bumped into his and she jumped back

"D-dematrix, i-i din't mean to"

"Hahahahaha, no need to call me that. You're not part of my household are you?. I'm sure i would have recognized such a pretty face" He said and she froze

"N-no, i-i wish" She stuttered

"We don't have all the time in the world" His companion spoke again

She wore royal colors purple and blue, and looked every bit as he did, green eyes and golden yellow skin, the only thing that was different was her gold locks

"Now now sister, a gentleman must always apologize to those he wronged" Archiduis grinned

"Hmpfh" His sister huffed

"You remind me of the Osetril bird, a little bird in comparison to the others but by far the most beautiful" He said putting a hand on her chin

No longer was she a rat, her eyes widened. She had been noticed by one of the council.

"I wish our paths cross again, little bird" He grinned and swept by her, his guards walked by glaring

She felt all the eyes of those in the market on her and she heard the mutters

"Why would he notice an angel?"

"How dare she talk to him?"

"What's so special about her?"

She dropped her head and scurried away quickly stopping in front of an abandoned building, she tried to calm herself before stepping into the building

"Finally" She was addressed by a boy her height, 5'8; his blue eyes were bright, his hair cascaded down his back and he had tan skin

"Where were you?" He glowered

"Getting us lunch, Thuk" She sighed

"And? Where is it?" He narrowed his eyes

"It was… Taken from me" She said

"Taken from you? Are you sure you didn't lose it while you were swooning after the god of the free"

"You followed me?" She grit her teeth

"Not me, Tera" He crossed his arm and as if on cue a girl stepped into the room

"Tera, i told you to stay put" The angel glared at the other

"Well you had been gone long" The girl protested

"You follow my orders" She glared

"Maybe back home, but not here" The girl hissed

"…"

"Don't both of you!" A little boy yelled

They all turned to him, he sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with his torn sleeves, his big brown eyes were watery, he had short brow hair and was unlike the rest of them, human

"Sorry Fer" They both apologized, glanced at each other then approached the boy

"Ardie, i don't want you to fight" He sniffed

"We're not" Tera took a knee and ruffled the boys hair

"We're playing a game" Ardie smiled and hugged the little boy who smiled

"Really?" He asked

"Yeah" Tera nodded

"Good" He said and ran to Thuk "Come play with me" He ordered

"You don't order me around" Thuk said scowling

"You don't want to play with me?" The little boy sniffed

"Play with him" Ardie hissed and Thuk rolled his eyes

"Oh come on, what do you want to play" The elder grabbed the little boys hand and led him away

"What now?" Tera glanced at the other angel

"Just give me time to think" Ardie said and left despondent

Minutes later found the little bird in an alley, she kicked a can and yelled, how annoying. She couldn't even provide for the only three people who she had.

She paused when she a scent wafted up her nose, she followed it to a store where bread was displayed by the window, unfortunately she didn't have any soul-stones. She grit her teeth and stomped past the shop, she rounded the corner and was inches away from a sweeper

'Wth'

"That's her. The girl that sole from me" The trader from before glared and pointed, almost poking her eye out, he stood with a sweeper in its uniform black armor

"Wrong person" Ardie backed up putting on her most innocent look

If she was expecting empathy from the sweeper she got none and instead the sweeper stared, she could feel eyes boring into her even though she could see none, the eerie thing about the sweepers wasn't their lack of three senses but that they made you feel like they did.

She turned and tried to make a run for it, behind her she couldn't hear the sweeper but it could be just behind her so she didn't dare look back, she took a right and ran face first into a sheild

"Hngkh" The blackout was immediate.

She opened her eyes slowly, where was she? It was cold, she could feel the floor beneath her, she sat up and rubbed her head, her eyes slowly dusted to darns, she was sitting in a cell, what was that smell? Roses? She saw other cells and saw a person in another cell, was she in a jail?, there was a huge metal door on the other side of the room.

The door swung open and two sweepers stepped in dragging a person, Ardie walked to the edge of the cell, the sweepers tossed the person into a cell and locked it, they left immediately, returning after some time to open her cell door and step aside waiting for her to step out of the cell

'For all their reputation, they're courteous' Ardie thought as she stepped out of her cell, a bag was thrown over her head and she was dragged away, where to? A bag was over her head for goodness sake, how was she to know.

She was set in a chair and the bag pulled off her head, she sat in a empty room save for the two chairs and a table, she blinked when a woman sat opposite her, another sweeper, faceless.

Unlike the others this sweeper wore a red and black uniform, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail

"What do you want?" Ardie asked and then sighed, she was talking to a sweeper who practically had no mouth.

'There must have been more than one of you?'

"Did you just - What was that?"

'Mind relay. Now as i was saying, there were reports that you had an accomplice'

'Sorry. I work alone'

'So you did not or did you throw your stolen contraband at a man at the market'

'I'm not going to say anything to you"

'Do you have a Dematrix? A master perhaps or do you speak for yourself?'

"…"

'We can do this the hard way or the easy way'

"Is this the part where you do that thing where you open a box and pull out torture devices and tell me how you'll kill me?"

'Are you some sort of comedian?'

"i've survived gods, who the hell are you?" Ardie hissed

She watched the sweeper for a reaction which was already hard to find and got none

'I am what you fear, i am what even the gods revere, i am a sweeper, second only to the council, it can go the easy way or my way, your choice' The sweeper leaned in and grabbed the archangel by the scruff of her dress

"T-the easy way" Ardie stuttered

'Good. Now the man from before, was he an accomplice?'

"N-no, i didn't know anything else to do so i tossed the pouch to him" Ardie answered quickly

The sweepers let go and leaned back 'Did you retrieve it?'

"No. He wouldn't give it back"

'So he stole it from you?'

"Technically i stole it first" She said and then added "Yeah he stole it from me"

'Is this him?' The sweeper raised a flier and Ardie squinted, the only light was from a window high up

"That's him" She recognized his smug smile

'Thank you for your information' The sweeper said calmly and exited the room

"I'm still in here" She called out

Again a bag was thrown over her head and she was dragged away, it was pulled away and she was once again tossed in her cage.