Chapter 3: Psuché–Paper Scroll

'You my friend, have violated the kingdom code of the Ka'al Tumal Jurisdiction and thereby you are arrested.'

When the guards revealed their faces, Dion calmly dispelled his shocked expression and his superciliousness subsided. He surrendered by raising both his hands up and staying motionless. This people were definitely stronger than he was to destroy his wall with only three hits.

'Exhibiting mantra of any sort in local residences is restricted only if authorised by orders from above.' the female with a scare added while introducing shackles to Dion.

'I was authorised, by an order from above.' Dion calmly stated and kept his hands up high.

'You can save your excuses for later.' the second guard spoke bluntly.

'I am a member of the Sixth District Sentinels and I'm currently undergoing a special task formally requested by the Sixth District Master herself.' said Dion.

'As Sentinels, I'd request you attest to your words.' the scared lady spoke.

Dion slowly reached down to his pocket situated at the back of his mail, slightly below his waist and gently pulled out a grey plane disk. He then tossed this disk to the lady without a scare. After tossing it, he blankly stared at the scared lady.

The scared lady gently shifted her gaze to her partner and enquired surreptitiously by raising her chin.

A customary nod by the second guard after inspecting the disk proved the situation to be indeed what he said.

'Why would a Sentinel from the Sixth District travel to the First District?' the scared lady enquired.

'As I said earlier, I was sent by the Sixth District Master.' Dion put his hands down after he proved himself and explained.

'If you were really sent by the Master of the Sixth District we would have been informed before now.' said the scared lady.

'Or are you an imposter, I should warn you of the consequences for lying and including a District Master!' the second guard spoke infuriated.

'I'm not an imposter. The matter at hand can be said to be family-related and a trivial one also. So informing the first District Master would greatly be unnecessary.' he explained.

'What exactly is family-related that has to be done during midnight and in the open?' asked the second guard.

'As you can see, the man beside me is a fugitive, wanted by the Sixth District Master herself.' Dion regained composure and answered while gesturing his hand behind.

The two guards exchanged confused glances before the scared lady asked, 'What fugitive?'

'This man here…' Dion continued to speak as he turned around, '…is wanted for– wait where is he?' Behind him were the empty midnight breeze and lonely moonlight.

'Wait no he must have run out the moment you came in.' he faced them to ask hurriedly, 'Did you see him?'

'See who?' the second guard spoke confusedly.

'He must have run off just as those chains broke through my wall… Argh! That son-of-a-gun!' Dion screamed and ran towards the entrance to the building of their apartment.

'Hey! Stop right there!' the remaining guards followed behind.

..

Moments earlier,

Vester sat at the corner of his bed while holding unto a golden paper made of silk material with foreign text written all over it. Luckily, he was able to decipher these writings and read them out.

'When the sun forgets to rise and the moon refuses to emerge. What will prevail?'

He then turned the back of the paper and found arts of planetary drawings on every inch of the page.

'Hmm… what could this me–

Boom!

The walls to his room shook like it was hit by a meteor.

Booom!

This time, he was thrown to the ground including every item that stood independently in his room. Immediately, he jolted to the window only to see a blue box that encompassed half the street shattered by an enormous chain all the way to the other side.

'Urg…crap.'

Vester quickly jumped off his window and off unto another roof. The market buildings were closely connected so only narrow streets created alleys around. Within a few seconds, Vester approached a rooftop and watched as Zizzle ingenuously manoeuvred his way out of Dion's sight.

'Looks like it's just me tonight.' Vester murmured inwardly as he watched the spectacle.

After seeing Zizzle trudge west, he began his separate journey to the east.

..

Boosh!

A door was knocked down hard to make way for a taut man who quickly dashed through it. After looking around the empty room, he made an interior noise from his throat to emphasise his anger.

The remaining two figures who followed behind stopped their tracks when they realised the issue at hand.

'This is the home to Zizzle and his annoying brat.' the second guard mentioned.

'Don't tell me this whole family situation thing is related to Zizzle?' the scared guard surprisingly asked.

Dion calmly turned his head around, answering with one word, 'Yes.'

'Zizzle's a cunny one.' the second guard spoke as she shook her head.

'Excuse me, ladies, I have a culprit to catch.' said Dion as he wandered back outside the building.

Subsequently, neighbours from different apartments skedaddle into the hallway and the ones from the opposite rooms rushed outside after they were also thrown to the ground. After they gathered, they all stared at the two peculiar figures in front of them.

'Are we under an attack?!' one of the crowd exclaimed.

'Quick, what should we do Sentinels?!' another woman questioned in fear.

'Calm yourselves, we're not under any attack. You can move back to your homes please.' the scared guard explained and gestured for them to move away.

'It's just an alarm gone wrong.' said the second guard.

..

High above, the effulgent moonlight shone upon a shadow of a boy who jumped and flipped over building tops skillfully. It wasn't long before he came across a five metres jump to the next building. But as courageous and effervescent as he was, he miscalculated this jump, he didn't take a second look at this space he had to overcome…

And SWISH he leapt…

He smirked as he could imagine his leg step on the ledge. High within the skies, he flew across the moon only inches from stepping on it.

But then…

He suddenly realised the building somehow managed to withdraw itself from him.

And VOOM he fell…

Straight to the ground he fell, high atop from a storey building.

Krrkk!

The sound the fall produced was not of the force of the hit, but that of his body-bones splaying apart. This feeling sent his skeletal system into a state of pandemonium and the excruciating pain travelled all around his body to the extent if it was day, he would let out a hysterical cry that would cause the attention of the celestial.

But as relentless as he was, he picked himself up from the ground with the last ounce of strength he had left and this time decided to travel like a sane man would – walk via the labyrinthine streets and not over people homes.

The kingdom of Xylem was indeed large and difficult to find your way through, especially with all the narrow streets that made up a district. After a long plod, Vester approached a calm narrow river underneath a complex humpback bridge. This bridge was guarded by Ascenders of diverse scrolls hung behind their backs while they walk forward and backwards.

Vester couldn't take the risk of getting caught by any of them as he too knows the consequence of trespassing into a noble property. Moreover, he could say he's familiar with about seventy per cent of the guards mounting this station so getting caught won't just be a public offence, it would also be handled personally to the taste of the guards.

'I have to get to through without being noticed.' Vester murmured.

He watched the guards unnoticed, sightly underneath the bridge to understand the stakeout routine. Once he got the information he required, he manifested his silver-coloured ring around his wrist and took quick steps away from the river. When he was roughly thirty-five metres further from the river he turned back and took steady breaths before he began walking towards the river.

From walking to scuttling.

From scuttling to jogging.

From jogging to running.

Few centimetres from the river, he leapt…

5 metres…

10 metres…

15 metres…

20 metres…

Splash! He dropped close to the other end of the river.

'Hmm…?' one guard on a banded armour mail suddenly turned her sight to the disrupted part of the river. Seeing the water ripple and gradually went back to its original calmness, the guard ignored and continued walking.

Back at Vester, he didn't swim to the shore of the river instead he swam parallel to the shore, farther away from the bridge. Soon after swimming for a while he exited the river and collapsed at the grasses around to catch his rapid breath.

…

For more than twenty minutes he laid on the swathe, moon-gazing. After which he finally stood up to gazed at the building before him.

This building had a well polished and decorated courtyard which comprised of various colours of flowers and grasses while the building itself was shaped like an onion. This time, another set of Ascenders guarded this onion-shaped like mansion at every corner and made it impossible for a break-in, only if you're affiliated with the insiders, there was no conceivable way of entry. Luckily, Vester had thought things through before coming.

Beside the shorelines of the river was a tunnel hidden inside a cave. This tunnel was divided into three separate parts that all led to right underneath the residence of the mansion. And underneath the residence of the mansion, was a hidden chamber filled with the wants and desires of every ScrollMaster – Psuche Paper Scrolls.

Vester shifted his sight to a miniature size waterfall that flowed out through an opening within the shoreline of the river. He wasted no time as he led himself there and then through it.

How he knew this secret passage to a place were he'd never been to was a story to be told for another day.