Welcome to Eden's Edge

Kai groaned as he opened his eyes, his body sore and his head pounding like a drum. He looked at the wooden roof above him before scratching his head and attempting to sit up. "Are we still alive?"

"Hell yeah, we are, Kai Kai." Mei's familiar and strong yet comforting voice sounded from the other side of the small, dusty room he found himself in.

"Mei!" Kai popped up out of the bed excitedly, discarding any lingering exhaustion. "How long was I out?"

She hummed in thought for a moment and crossed her legs on the dirty floor cushion she had parked herself in. "Hmmm. About a day, maybe. Nothing too crazy, considering the scale of what you did; you've definitely been taken out a lot worse than this."

Kai smugly chuckled. "Maybe I'm just finally starting to tap into my potential. Better watch out."

"Yeah, I'm cowering in fear over here." She lightly scoffed and rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the wooden plank fashioned to the wall as a makeshift door, which began to creak open slowly.

"Sorry, that took a long time. There are patrols out everywhere looking for us. Seems like I didn't make as stealthy a getaway as I thought… hey you're up!" Lunareina stepped into the room and dropped the bags she had carried in.

Kai stared at her for a moment, trying to piece together his memories from before he passed out. Her face was the only thing that seemed familiar, but he had hardly looked at it, so he couldn't be sure. One of the only things he remembered was the rough animal skins she had been wearing before. Now, those were nowhere to be found.

Instead, she was dressed in a fitted, low-cut black halter beneath a cropped black leather jacket. A crooked, gold-tinted belt cinched at her waist, leading into a layered black overskirt embroidered with gold patterns around the edges. White leggings ran up to her thighs, fastened just above her knees by sleek, unfamiliar straps. The polished look was a stark contrast to the rugged furs he recalled.

"Oh, Luna, you look so different I almost didn't recognize you. We're all alive so you must have followed my plan. Good job." He mused.

Luna groaned. "It's Lunareina. And what the hell are you talking about? All I did was change back into my normal clothes."

Kai shrugged. "Agree to disagree. Let's head out; I want to see this place." He walked past Luna and opened the door behind her, which led to a small, overgrown, wooded area enveloped in shade.

Mei quickly followed behind. "Me too. I was about to go look around without you if you took any longer to wake up."

Luna quickly tugged on a hat and glove and ran after them in a frenzy. "Wait! Didn't you just hear me mention the patrols?"

They both stopped and looked back at her, unconcerned. "So?"

"So… we need to lay low. You don't want to mess with Tulsa. They'll hunt you anywhere. Plus, if they catch you and find that you're marked, they'll stick one of these new stupid things on you!" She pulled up the hair on the back of her neck, revealing a silver mechanical device embedded into her skin.

Mei and Kai leaned in to get a closer look at the device. Even at a quick glance, they could tell that it was far more complex and advanced than anything they had ever seen before in their land. They took a moment to study the small, raised silver circle in the center of the four protruding prongs digging into Luna's neck.

"What is this, and who put it on you?" Kai quickly questioned, his sudden direct seriousness throwing Luna off guard.

Luna put down her hair and took a step back. "Well… thanks to the stupid girl who was chasing me boasting to her comrade about it and me, I know it's some kind of prototype power inhibitor. I heard rumors about Tulsa going after Nidavellir, assuming that's true, they probably got it there."

Kai scowled and looked at the circular, winged mark on Luna's chest poking out from her clothes. "So you can't do anything and were hurt like that because that thing is stuck on you?"

Luna quietly nodded. "It's nothing to concern yourselves with; it's best to get in their good graces and fall into their ranks; you'll be set for life. Constantly going against them caught up with me, and I'm not exactly what most would call a good person; I scavenge, trade, steal, and fight them to survive, so it was kind of deserved, I guess."

Mei laughed. "Do we look like good people to you? Moreover, people who would want to serve under someone? Especially ones who would take such drastic measures against our friend?"

"Friend?" Luna quietly whispered. She had fought beside people before, traded with them, and used them—but never had someone outright claim her like that, as if it was an absolute and obvious fact.

Kai began walking away toward a large stone archway in the distance with a metal gate in the center. "If I recall correctly, you said this land was used for farming. However that looks to be a city over there."

Luna and Mei quickly ran over to catch up with Kai. "Uh, yes… this is a farming land, but there's one small town that serves as a stocking and resting hub for travelers, which is what you see in front of you."

"Perfect," Kai muttered as he continued his quickened pace forward.

"I told you we need to be careful! I'm a criminal, and there are guards and patrols everywhere! If you get caught with me, it's over for you two!" Luna whined, her tone concerned.

Ignoring her warnings, Kai stepped out in front of the gate, making himself visible to the guards. The burly men in sleek silver and black armor quickly pointed their weapons at him. The spears in their hands whirring, with smoke puffing out from the center as a collection of parts rotated and shifted.

"Hey," Kai said sarcastically as he pointed behind him at Luna, who had just broken through the brush. "Do you recognize her?"

Two vines quickly exploded from the ground below the guards, impaling both of their right feet. Keeping a stoic expression through the searing pain that was surely shooting through him, the guard on the left quickly turned to his comrade. "I'll handle things here, call lady Adelheid at the inn. The girl is back."

The guard nodded and turned toward the city. He began to limp away on his good foot, dragging the one with the vine behind him.

"Well, that was easy. Thanks for giving me all the information I needed without asking, gentlemen." Kai chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. Then, he waved for Luna and Mei to follow him. Ignoring the scene in front of him.

The guard readied his weapon, ready to strike Kai through the head. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop right there. Harboring fugitives is not tolerated in our nation."

Kai chuckled and calmly continued to walk past the remaining guard. "If two halfwits who can't even recognize when something is happening in their own body are what amounts to security around here, then we have nothing to worry about. For all the buildup Luna gave the patrols, you're nothing. Just effing boring."

"What are you… talking… about-" The guard's speech began to slur as his face turned bright red. His weapon clattered to the ground, the slam drowned out by the earth beneath him. Shortly following his weapon, the guard fell next to it unconscious.