Six

Thirteen moons later

Two preens sat upon the rooftop together as they stared up at the stars while the city lights glowed below them. Before this Silla had never seen stars. The massive city lights, smog covered sky, and dome made it almost impossible. Even if the stars were dim for the first time, she could still gaze upon them at this altitude.

The sky was why Silla wished to fly as the young girl she was. It was the most beautiful art, alive with raw energy, at times she felt as if she could feel it vibrating somehow, whispering in a way ears couldn't hear. She guessed it felt friendly when the world of people around her and the city were so devoid of love.

Beyond her and the city walls so many things took up the sky. Although they seemed much farther way, the two moons stared brightly back at her, reflecting in her blue eyes. A small one and a larger one. Two full moons one white and one blue. Originally there was only one moon, however due to the strong tides and never ending hurricanes they needed a new moon to help regulate the oceans.

As time had passed, she was less and less of the fearful crybaby she used to be. Silla was proud of her development of character. Now things didn't scare her as easily as they once did and she only ever cried once. Not only had she, developed mentally but now that she had aged, the thirteen-year-old girls body had already begun to develop into its womanly shape. Despite her malnutrition her chest slightly blossomed, bulging like a soft juicy peach.

The her now sat on the ledge and viewed the night sky as a welcome sight, appearing like magic at each sunset, promising to return as it faded at dawn's first light. There were times in the daytime, under skies of green and gray, Silla would think of those faraway stars and how they'd return after the shadows blended into the dark. Stars lighting the sky like snow-flakes in the night.

The soft city lights glowed throughout the upper and lower ring. Though even the bright lights below didn't impede the phosphorus moonlight that spilled in. Behind the inner wall, a majestic view of the skyline appeared with startling beauty. There wasn't a green smog covered cloud in the star-speckled sky. Rows of towering skyscrapers stretched above her, their windows alight from within. A full moon hovered at the fringes of the luminous cityscape, where the red blinking lights of distance towers twinkled. The lower ring cityscape was unbelievably urban. There were no trees or city planted blooms, just monoliths of concrete soaring out of the sidewalk in an exact grid like pattern. At night it was beautiful in its own way, so many lights.

The city spread below her, made the world suddenly feel so wide and free that she wanted to jump. Lights glittered everywhere just like stars dropping to the earth, huge and small buildings collided in a mixture of shadow and geometry, tiny holocrafts rushing along tangled lines of streets creating twisting threads of light- like they all intertwined together in a magnificent mess of a dream. A breathtaking, marvellous, almost frightening cyber dream that made her feel like some fake, unlucky living thing.

The upper ring was scrubbed every nightfall by machines, wilting plants replaced and litter removed from the streets in the upper city. In that way the upper ring cityscape stayed new, like an architects plan, only with the real citizens living inside. There were hyper electric trams, holocraft buses and the levitating monorail - hardly any personal vehicles at all.

There were days Silla would look cloud-ward just to see if she could catch a glimpse of the architect in the upper ring over the inner wall. Then she'd feel foolish and stifle a grin. The rooftop was the kind of place where the only moonlight you saw was under a shimmer of a moon-reflecting aircraft above. Phanes' and Silla's favorite spot allowed them to see as far as the ancient walls stood.

A year had passed.

Phanes was now fifteen and Silla had just turned thirteen.

Looking back on it she realized how much everything had changed since then. She was no longer the nervous, low self esteemed, stuttering girl but what had transfixed her the most was Phanes.

He was much taller. He had grown freakishly fast and his limbs were so much longer than the rest of him. The face that once looked more like a girls had become more defined and he had lost his baby face. His somewhat human features that he had held earlier were now disappearing, and what should've been normal looking green eyes had gotten darker. She was amazed by his rapid changes both mentally and physically. Silla had never seen or even heard of how trans-humans develop through their natural stages of life and it fascinated her to see it in person.

Ever since he lost sight of her in that underground den a year ago, Phanes and Silla had become inseparable... Well, it was more of him clinging to her, but he secretly knew that she liked his company. She had since figured that the reason he took her from the warehouse in the first place was because he was lonely. Now that he actually talked to her, he kept her company and staved off the soul crushing loneliness she thought could only be warded off in her dreams.

When she had first met him she had thought he was like a wild animal. Quiet and closed off from the rest of the world. Now, Silla knew that behind this Phanes cared and could be kind.

He truly meant well...

Probably.

As she got to know him more, he seldom revealed anything about his past. But to be fair neither had she, in the year they were together. Over the course of their time together despite him being older than her, she had become his mentor, a teacher of sorts. Because of him being isolated for so long he had many things to learn, mainly about social cues and the outside world.

Thinking of the past she was soon reminded of a rather odd moment. It was only a few months back she had heard the name 'Kaiserreich.' She couldn't remember where or from who she had heard it but at that moment deja vu hit her and the name seemed to ring a bell.

______________________

"The Kaiserreich"

This family name.

Theft,

Fraud,

Drugs, and poison.

They were among the five.

In the upper ring there was a group of five major families among the aristocracy. These few families were made up of the most powerful crime syndicates that dominated the underworld and the city. The Kaiserreich being one of them were possibly the most powerful family in the entirety of The City of Bones.

If necessary they would kill without hesitation even their own children weren't an exception to this. Those among them that were deemed too weak were eradicated. Weak lineage was not tolerated. The children of this family had to follow that family tradition to become a true Kaiserreich.

Their Slavic background was a rare trade mark for them as in the year 2522 virtually there was no such thing as cultural and race anymore. Everyone was so mixed within themselves that it was uncommon for a person to have a single origin. There was no one hundred percent of a certain culture anymore as it had completely blended with other cultures. Even a few new languages were created in the process.

Families like these concerned her but the more pressing matter was how this related to Phanes. She couldn't simply ignore his strange circumstances nor his accent. It was unlikely but still a possibility...

Discreetly scooting close to her and leaning into her shoulder Silla quietly rolled her eyes with a small smile. She leaned into the sudden warmth as Phanes affectionately brushed her hair out of her face with his large hands. His deep green eyes locked onto the entirety of her form. Unsettling enough the boy had no grounds on personal space. He took too close for comfort to a whole different level.

Since then she had just assumed that he didn't know any better because he hadn't been around other people due to isolation. Silla was convinced that with the language barrier he had a hard time understanding both her and her mannerisms. Phanes simply didn't understand social cues and it was to no fault of his own. She would just have to teach him no matter how difficult that was.

The boys incessant staring made it hard to do anything; it was like having someone constantly breathing down her neck. Practically all he did was make moon eyes at her with fascination. All she could do was ignore it. What else was she supposed do? He just didn't know how inappropriate and strange such actions were. Explaining it to him would prove to be a challenge. With this in mind perhaps he just didn't notice what he was doing? Naively that was what she had thought at first.

The touches had started happening more frequently, slowly moving closer to certain places and if left unmanaged... Thankfully it never got too far and upset her too much; she was too indifferent to care. It was likely that he was curious of how she differed from his own male constitution.

Strangely, most girls would have swooned at his behavior. But to her it was plain annoying. She'd figured that he was just a hormonal teenage boy who would throw his affections at anything with legs. It was the only possible explanation for his weird behavior. Scooting away from him the girl sighed and went towards the exit and opened the door. However, before she could step out, the door was suddenly slammed shut by a hand. Phanes had trapped her between him and the closed door.

"What is it now?" She asked him confused. Though weirdly he looked pissed. He was being more persistent than usual.

"Don't- ignore me," he nagged this time getting a bit aggravated and grumpy. Whenever he would try to get her attention, she would instantly start to ignore him and he would almost instantly pout like a small child for a few days before going back at it again. The boy obviously has attachment issues and struggled with separation out of fear of emotional isolation, but she'd have to teach him to trust her more.

He was strong willed she would give him that; what would it take to break his spirit? Reminded of the story of Hypatia she had read from his old world book collection perhaps she would just have to throw an old menstrual rag at the boy to scare him off. Although hilarious it was an implausible idea.

Snapping out of her witty thoughts, she responded to his earlier statement."Whatever are you talking about?" She asked him dryly which only added fuel to the fire. The boys tired green eyes frowned pitifully, and he let out a sigh. He would have a sulking session for the next few days. His incessant pouting was getting a bit much lately.

Every time he touched the young girl; he felt a jolt as if he had been electrocuted. If only she knew how much he controlled his desire to touch the petite structure of her body to which he considered an intoxicating drug. Each time he would tell himself ' just once more.' His hands never wanting to leave her form. The feeling he felt when he touched and inhaled her homey and warm scent was indescribable. To him she remained perfect, no darkness or disease ever covered her. She was like a beacon of light in the middle of the pitch black ocean. Without a thought he engulfed her in his form, hugging her, if possible he would completely engulf her and keep her safe inside him forever. Oh how he adored the small girl.

Despite the constant physical contact, he never saw her even give him a glimpse, and it made him wild deep inside.

His mind screamed at him with all consuming thoughts of her. He never expected that every mutated cell in his body would want her like this. Every night he would lay awake his green eyes frantically moving back and forth panic stricken at the mere thought of being alone without her. He had grown increasingly attached due to his inhuman instincts and social isolation. Phanes just wanted to snatch her right this moment and go somewhere no one knew. The boy wanted to be standing there locking her in where no one could enter but him and he wanted to keep her to himself in utter darkness where no one could see her.

He knew he was a monster and a murderer just like the rest of his ill foreboden kin and if the small girl beside him knew about his family she would probably run away screaming. So, if possible he'd hide it for the rest of his life. That way she wouldn't leave him. Now that he saved her life, she belonged to him.

"Come, let's head back home. It's getting late." Silla said as she ruffled his hair and he guided her off of the rooftop.

Previously Phanes had stumbled onto a large abandoned hover-craft on the outskirts of the inner wall by luck. After a few nights they ended up turning it into their own little hideout and even managed to pick up some used furniture from junkyards to make it more homey. The craft no longer levitated as it sat on the ground but it was comfy and they managed to patch up any holes in it.

Like two excited children they ran inside with excitement and jumped onto the large fold out, a makeshift bed. They bounced up and down in child like joy until they became tired. Within the blink of an eye, Silla was suddenly pulled down onto the bed foam. Staring into bright green eyes. Phanes had an evil smirk on his face as he moved closer to her. "Oh, you're gonna get it now." He rasped out. She quickly backed up into the headboard and put her hands up in surrender.

"Nes, please don't do this. Please, I'm begging you!" She scrambled away as he slowly crawled towards her.

"Too late." He smiled. Finally, he was above her small frame, looking down at her fearful position. He raised his hands and started his attack.

"Nes, no! Please don't- tickle me!" She laughed as she tried swatting his hands away, but just could keep him from tickling herself.

"You brought z'is upon yourself, Sil." The boy continued his tickle attack for a while longer before he stopped. When he was done, she was red in the face and still laughing. The girl struggled to stop giggling as she tried to catch her breath.

"Ugh, you're so mean!" She playfully pushed him.

"Yeah, I know." He told her smirking evilly.

Eventually settling down for the night, the young children snuggled into each other and closed their eyes going into sweet deep sleep. The last hundred or so days had been nothing but bliss for the two. Phanes wished this time together could last forever. Before her he didn't know one could experience such childish joys.

______________________

The very next morning she swung her legs back and forth off the side of a tall building as she looked at the rusty jumbled buildings below her. Next to her sat Nes looking into the musty green sky. It was strange but they could still tell the sun was out because of the few rays that escaped, causing the green clouds to become slightly lighter in certain parts. At the moment everything seemed so peaceful. Silla raced across building tops as her hair whipped in the wind. She made zigzags and slid down roof panels in hopes that her friend wouldn't catch her. They had decided to race each other like they did every morning.

Sprinting she made eye contact with Denni's bar and it's bright neon sign until she was suddenly lifted up into the air and spun around. Disappointingly Phanes was much more agile than her. So much so, that when he ran all you could see, was his shadow.

"Aww you caught me," She laughed while the boy held her up in the air like a rag doll.

Entering the rowdy bar they were greeted by loudly playing music and bright multi-colored lights. She and Phanes sat in a booth as they watched the clock tick by. A lot of times she wanted to ask him about his past but she could never bring herself to. She was curious and wanted to know what life was like in the upper ring.

Many people would kill to even get a glimpse of life on the other side as the only ways to be accepted in are through slavery, marriage, or indentured servitude. Many dreamed of just being a slave in the upper ring. It was considered an honor. It was also a spot highly aimed for by women; as most of them had the possibility of marriage to someone wealthy.

It was a known fact that many slave owners often married their most beautiful slaves and sometimes more than one. Personally, Silla thought slavery was disgusting and would never partake in such a thing. But Nes and herself were an exception, they were friends. It was only in name. He wasn't her master. She didn't worship the ground he walked on or serve him in any way; more like it was the other way around.

"Hey, Umm I have something for you..." Phanes suddenly muttered rather nervously as he reached for something in his pocket.

Watching him curiously he gently pulled out a small beautiful necklace and on the end of the chain was a silver pendant elegantly shaped as a serpent on the end. "Wow... It's so beautiful," she told him as he blushed.

"It was my mothers," he silently added his eyes glancing to the side as of thinking of something.

"Z'is also came with it," he spoke setting a small vintage box on the table. It too was beautiful. It had deep mahogany wood and little silver snake engravings on it. It was a small yet round almost like an egg but not quite. Music boxes were extremely rare, the kind of artifact you would find in the early twentieth century. "How do you open it?" Silla asked him curiously. She wanted to hear it play.

"The necklace is z'e key. Stick the body of the snake in the lock and turn it," he instructed her. Doing so she saw the lock start to turn by itself and the box slowly opened like a blooming flower would. On the inside were too tiny glass figures. One man and one woman slowly turning in a circle as if they were dancing themselves. The plated metal inside gave them both a tiny light show as the light hit the glass and metal. Not long after the figures started turning music also came out in sweet vibrations. The music soared through the air like a bird on an up-draft, taking with it the very souls of anyone who listened.

It was unlike any sound or type of music she had ever heard. The gentle lullaby ascended, in a magical flight to the heavens, a breathtaking melody that enraptured pure human emotion. Then after the crescendo they dived back down like ocean waves until all that was left was the silence there was at the beginning. It was music that held them spellbound in rapt silence.

To her dismay, however, an unexpected cracking of glass was heard. The glass from the window by their booth shattered into a million pieces, reflecting light in every possible direction as a silver blue glare rushed past her, hitting Phanes in the side of his arm so fast that if she had blinked she wouldn't have caught it.

They both stared at each other in shock, a distressing silence as old as time itself consuming the area. The silence stretched thinner and thinner, like a balloon blown big, until the temptation to rupture was too great to resist. Blood flowed like a lazy river. It flowed like so much red gravy across the glass covered floor and down into the crevices of the dirty tiles.

The wound looked nothing like Silla had expected from her extensive crime drama viewing. Instead of a neat reddened hole, it was oozing with dark congealing blood and the putrid smell was enough to initiate a gag reflex. As the boys flesh split, mild crimson liquid popped from the barrier and seeped away from the wound. The thick red beads crawled down his skin as it traveled downward etching red streaks. There was so much blood- A dark crimson, with a disgusting discreet, metallic scent. It cascaded down his arm, seeping through his fingertips that gripped his wound in an attempt to apply pressure.

______________

To be continued...