Alusion
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Interlude Four: The Black Market
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Interlude Four: The Black Market
Adrian and his team stand near the back of the Mercurial compound. Their attendant, a man wearing a bright white suit and an even brighter smile, stands beside them with hands clasped behind his back.
“Something like this will serve the exact function you intend,” Crispin says, gesturing to a heavily inscribed saw hanging on the wall. “Earning it will only take a few days if you do it right, and it will allow you to saw through even solid stone. Perfect for intrusions.”
Adrian isn’t worried in the slightest about getting the inscribed items to work for him. With the things he and his team had been through these past few years — since being recruited by the Reavers — he’s certain he can buy anything here and have it work just fine. No, what he’s concerned about is the monetary cost of the items.
“How much?” Adrian asks, his voice gruff and scratchy from a life lived in smog.
Crispin rubs at the small tuft of a goatee on his chin, “For this? A million yen.”
Internally, the price makes Adrian wince. He’d only been given ten million yen in total to buy supplies, and even that is more money than he ever thought he would see in his entire life. It had come straight out of the stygian mana research fund — from Hikaru Kimura himself.
Outwardly, Adrian keeps his cool. This isn’t the first backroom deal he’s been a part of, and it certainly won’t be the last. “We’ll take the saw,” he says, not allowing his voice or expression to change.
Crispin’s smile grows just a touch wider, “Wonderful!” he exclaims, waving to one of the two attendants hovering at the back of the room. “Now, what else can I get for you fine gentlemen?”
Adrian forces himself not to roll his eyes despite how badly he wants to. He and his team are neither fine nor gentlemen. Adrian, Big Tom, and Little Tom had given up on the finer ways of life when they realized that it would get them nowhere. When you’re born dirt poor, all acting proper will get you is a life staring up at the towers of those who consider themselves superior.
No, Adrian and the others are not fine, but they are hard. They were born and raised on these streets, changing gang colors like a rich woman might change clothes. When the Reavers had absorbed their previous gang, they’d gotten lucky. Lucky, or perhaps unlucky, enough to be chosen for a job like this.
The attendant, a young woman in a flowing white dress, strides elegantly forward to take the saw from its place on the wall. Adrian allows his eyes to linger on her lithe form as she moves — no street girls move like that. Still, Adrian keeps his hands to himself as the young woman moves away to put the saw in a side room curtained off by a black velvet drape. The guards around the compound, and Crispin himself, would never allow him to do as he pleased here. He’ll have to wait until he gets outside to do that.
“Now,” Crispin says, recapturing Adrian’s attention, “let’s go and take a look at another item I feel you might be interested in. It’s a bow that conjures arrows that will teleport the user to wherever they hit. Perfect for getting into places you shouldn’t be and for getting out of a sticky situation.”
Adrian grunts in appreciation. He had his doubts when he first came here, but this place is proving to be a treasure trove even greater than the one that he intends to raid. Still, you’d have to be a bigger fool than Adrian to try and steal from the Mercurials. Rumor has it that not even powerful sentinels would dare cross them. Not that the actual target is better.
Crispin leads the team out of the room full of utility tools that they’d been in and through one of the crude concrete tunnels that connect all the rooms of the compound.
They emerge from the tunnel into yet another large concrete box that had been highly decorated with finery — this one with bows lining the walls instead of various utility items. The bows all look sufficiently impressive, beautifully made with brightly glowing inscriptions of various colors. Still, Adrian looks over them with a dismissive air. He’d known men to try and use a bow on streets — trying to imitate one sentinel or another. They’d proceeded to miss every shot before getting killed by someone with an actual weapon. Either a gun or a sword. Adrian just can’t see what the point is besides the occasional utility. In his opinion, either a gun or a sword is always the superior option.
Crispin moves his hand to gesture grandly to the bows, shimmering uselessly on their places on the wall. “As you can see, we have quite the selection. Here, let me find the piece I mentioned to you earlier. I believe it’s right over-”
Crispin is cut off as one of the many black-armored guards dashes into the room. “Sir!” she exclaims, her voice startling Adrian. Who hires a woman guard? “There are sentinels at the door, sir! Six of them, led by Voidfire Warden!”
The guard’s next words shatter all of Adrian’s thoughts about her qualifications. Ice runs down his back, and his breath catches in his throat. Sentinels, here! Had they descended from their ivory tower to strike them down?! Had they learned of Adrian’s insolence in planning to rob them?!
Big Tom grabs Adrian’s shoulder, “Boss, we need to get out of here,” he says, his deep voice edging on panic.
Adrian agrees wholeheartedly. “Crispin!” Adrian demands, spinning on the golden-haired man, “Where is the back exit?!”
Crispin, damn him, looks only mildly alarmed at the arrival of the sentinels. “There is no back exit,” the man says, his refined voice still as calm as ever. “Additionally, sentinels will not attack you here. I dare say they respect the rules of this place better than you do.”
Adrian growls. Intellectually, everyone knows that the Mercurials sell to all comers, regardless of morality. Still, giving the sentinels weapons to further oppress those kept in the darkness and the smog! What kind of monsters are they!
Those thoughts aren’t what Adrian uses to fuel his argument, though. “Crispin!” he hisses. “They are the ones we are planning to rob!”
At this, Crispin does wince. “I… can see how that’s a problem…” Crispin thinks for a moment before nodding to himself and gesturing to a dark corner of the room. Rather than concrete, the corner is veiled by a black velvet drape that falls down from the wall. Each room in the compound has a corner like this one; it’s where the attendants go to package up purchased items.
“Hide in there,” Crispin orders. Then, the man straightens his suit and dashes for the tunnel. Off to guide the sentinels, just as he had Adrian.
Disgust twists Adrian’s gut. What kind of a man serves a sentinel? They are tyrants, the worst of the worst, monsters far worse than the Volcora. The Volcora have reasons for why they do what they do, but the sentinels? Their very existence puts into question a fundamental truth of humanity that all men are created equal. While one might have riches and another rags, humanity is connected in what is possible. Sentinels ruin that; they harnessed powers that no ordinary man should have and make a mockery of the idea of equality.
Still, his hatred does nothing to banish the cold fear running down Adrian’s back. If Voidfire Warden — or any sentinel for that matter — learns what they are doing here, they will bring the entire GDF down on top of the Reavers. No longer will they believe that they are just an ordinary gang. The second the GDF finds out about the stygian mana research — and the promising results — they will do anything to bring it to a stop.
“Boss, what’s the plan?” Little Tom asks, although his nickname makes less sense now than it had before. He’d grown up to be taller than Adrian himself but still shorter than the mountain that is Big Tom.
Adrian grits his teeth, he hates the idea of hiding from these monsters, he wants to fight back, show them they are not so far above the ordinary men of the world. But it isn’t time for that yet, the research is still in its infancy, and promising results won’t protect them from a true sentinel.
“We hide,” Adrian snaps, turning to the small, curtained-off room. “And we hope none of these sentinels like archery.”
***
As it turns out, the curtained off packaging room is not the best place to hide three relatively large men. They do fit, but just barely. The concrete room is tiny and crude with a small table stacked high with supplies. Since the room had been designed for the average sized attendants, and only one of them at that, it’s a squeeze.
“Tom,” Adrian grumbles his face mere inches away from the black curtain, “your elbow is stabbing into my back.”
“That’s not my elbow!” Little Tom hisses, sounding annoyed.
“I was talking to Big Tom.”
“Big Tom is crouching on the table; that’s a roll of packaging paper,” Little Tom insists.
Adrian raises an eyebrow, “Big Tom is doing what now? I can’t see anything but this damn curtain.”
“He’s crouching down on the table,” Little Tom says. “It’s the only way to make room.”
“I’m going to need to sit down, though, I can’t hold this crouch forever,” Big Tom says. “Can you move forward?”
At this, Little Tom begins to push Adrian forward, trying to make room for Big Tom to move.
“Stop that!” Adrian snaps as he’s nearly shoved out of the room. Then, he freezes, “Wait… I think I hear someone coming, be quiet!”
“It won’t be quiet when I fall off this table,” Big Tom complains before promptly shutting up. There are voices approaching.
“As you can see, have quite the selection of finely crafted bows,” comes Crispin’s voice.
Adrian clenches his fists; that slime of a man is giving the exact same speech he’d given Adrian just a few minutes ago!
“Wow, this place is incredible,” comes a second, female voice tinged with amazement. “Did Audrey… or, sorry, Stardust Angel, buy her bow from you?”
“She did!” Crispin exclaims happily, even as his answer makes Adrian see red. “I helped Miss Solara pick out her current bow in this very room only a year ago. She has come far in such a short time. As her protegee, I’m sure you will do the same.”
Adrian’s anger is once again suddenly doused in a moment with icy fear, sending shivers down his spine. Stardust Angel’s protegee is here?! He’d never even heard that she’d taken an apprentice! This female sentinel must be one of the new sentinels from the twenty-seventh generation!
New sentinels aren’t nearly as invincible as their older counterparts, it’s possible Adrian and his team could actually win a fight against her! To be able to take out a monster like that before she could grow… If this sentinel girl is anything like her mentor, it would be more than worth it to end her early. Even if it means bringing Voidfire Warden down on their heads.
Adrian shakes his head; perhaps if he’d come here for some other reason, he might consider trying to take a shot at the girl, but he has bigger fish to fry. No, he can’t draw the ire of the GDF by killing such an important sentinel. Not yet.
Still, the black tattoos on Adrian’s skin itch with anticipation at the thought of fighting a real sentinel. He could burst out of this tiny room and overwhelm her before she gets the chance to react. She wouldn’t expect a non-sentinel to have powers; he could win!
Adrian fights down the sensation, forcing himself to keep cool and calm. It’s far better if the sentinels never know they are here.
“What kind of weapon are you looking for? If you could give me some idea of that and your price point, I’m certain we can find the right fit,” Crispin was saying.
“Audrey wants to teach me blade style, I’m certain,” the female sentinel responds, “I’m not sure how a bow can have blade limbs and still function properly, but I’m willing to give the idea a try. As for price point, I’m fine with anything under 50 million yen. I’m willing to go up to 60 million if it’s more durable, though. My last bow was destroyed in its first incursion, and I’m not looking to buy a new one every week.”
Adrian feels like he’s going to choke on the air. 60 million yen… for a bow! Is this sentinel mad! For one item, this sentinel is willing to part with six times the money he had been given for his heist. This is absurd; how are the Reavers ever going to compete with such wealth, such resources, such power.
It’s no wonder that Adrian and his team had been shoved into a veritable closet while Crispin had gone to attend to the sentinels. If they are spending that kind of money regularly, then Adrian and his team of nobodies from the street are just drops in the bucket. In truth, if Adrian were in Crispin’s shoes, he would sell his team out just to gain some goodwill from the people with real power.
“Of course, right over here,” Crispin says, his voice tinged with greed. He’d be making a commission on this sale; Adrian is certain of it.
Adrian swallows, his throat working impotently. In that moment, he knows that he needs to see, he had to know what kind of monster stood behind that black curtain. He had to look upon her, if only to know the heights he would have to climb to bring her down.
Slowly, Adrian inches the black curtain to the side by only a few centimeters — just enough so he could press his eye to the slit and see out.
Adrian had recently thought that Crispin might be the fanciest person he’d ever met. With his suit, his demeanor, and his golden hair and looks, Crispin outshines everyone he’s placed beside — until now.
There’s only one word for the sentinel standing beside Crispin — radiant. Her hair is a dark sapphire blue, lightening out to white towards the ends; her eyes are twin oceans of blue crystal that seem to swirl with power. Despite being smaller than Crispin and quite a bit younger, she seems to be the largest person in the room.
This impression isn’t about her size or her demeanor; it’s about the power he feels from her. Just looking at her is like staring down the barrel of a gun — like standing before a wild tiger about to pounce. A constant breeze swirls around the sentinel, carrying wisps of white mist tinged with blue energy. The breeze tosses her hair and her hair alone, seeming to not affect Crispin at all. Unnatural.
And looking upon her face, Adrian realizes that she can’t be older then eighteen. This girl is an infant when compared to older sentinels, and already he feels nothing but terror from looking upon her. She is a false goddess, her very existence proclaiming her superiority to the lowly masses of normal people.
Adrian looks upon the face of this sentinel, and he hates her. If he could, he would take the opportunity to kill her. He would rip that perfect hair from her head and-
CRASH!
Adrian just barely manages not to get shoved past the curtain as Little Tom slams into his back. Adrain curses internally; Big Tom must have fallen off the table!
The conversation outside had halted at the noise, and Adrian hardly dares to breathe, let alone move. Luckily, his eye is still in position to see out. The sentinel had turned towards the curtain and watches it with eyes narrowed. For a moment, she seems deep in thought, her eyes flicking to a seemingly empty spot on her shoulder.
After a terrifying few seconds, the sentinel turns away, returning to her conversation with Crispin. Adrian breathes out a sigh of relief, the breath moving the curtain more than he’d expected. Or… had something else moved the curtain?
Adrian’s heart rate spikes as he has a terrifying thought. He can see the sentinel, but no sentinel is ever alone. Where is-
[Now… who are you?] a calm feminine voice asks in his mind.
Hardly daring to breathe, Adrian turns his head to the side to see the furry face of a familiar — her eyes blazing the same blue color as her sentinel’s and her body swirling with mist and power.
“We’re so fucked,” Adrian whispers, staring into the eyes of certain doom.
Comments
Alusion
I'm glad you like them! We'll have to see how much Serena picks up in the next chapter!
Thelon
Thanks for all the chapters! I wonder what information Serena and Celeste will be able to pick up from this group, depending on how visible the tattoos are.
