Ash town (1)

Walking into the town at the bottom of the mountain, they immediately began to barter their disposable goods hanging off of their waists.

Mostly being things that they couldn't carry, they then exchanged it for the widely accepted currency of Aether dust, a crushed up powder that had various applications.

Some of which being an aphrodisiac when mixed with certain things, but that wasn't the application that Ester and Eva were thinking.

Since it wasn't an uncommon sight to see people bartering their goods, no attention was drawn to them when they began to sell their goods to the various hawkers lining the sides of the street.

It was just that when the quantity of which things were being sold exceeded a certain number... it was then that they attracted unsavory attention.

Gathering with each other at the end of their fire sales, Ester and Eva compared the sizes of their pouches which ended up in Eva's victory.

Even if they were both basically the same size, something that Ester claimed but was hopelessly denied.

It was also a victory that she flaunted by pushing out her large trophies hanging off of her chest.

This however, had the negative effect of inciting the greedy gazes on them, or more particularly, the several fist sized pouches in their hands.

Lust now being added to the greed radiating from the eyes looking at them, at some point in time, a group of ten who couldn't hold in their desires had gathered at some point to surround them.

Making their presence known in the already sparse crowd, those with any bit of sense instantly began to clear the way of the ten man group.

Even the hawkers nearby had packed their things in preparation of dipping when things inevitably went south.

No one would care if their things got destroyed if things turned violent, and even more wouldn't care if they were to incidentally lose a few valuables during the chaos.

It was a dog eat dog world where if you didn't have violence to backup your claims, then wolves would appear out of nowhere, smelling the spilled blood in the water.

It was after all the source of the many clothes set besides the lakes filled to the brim with the hidden flesh eaters.

"Hey." Eyes glinting with a mixture of greed and lust, a black haired man who seemed to be the leader of the ten person group smiled from underneath their mask

"You know the drill, hand it over, or we'll have to beat if out of you."

Pushing out their hand, the other nine subtly pressured the duo as they tapped their respective weapons against the ground and their shins.

Shining underneath the bright sky of the star bugs, they glinted menacingly underneath the starlight.

Straightforward.

Sharing the same thought, they glanced at each other all the while the combined sound of twelve respirators filled the air.

"What if we say no and we both go our respective ways?"

Stepping forwards, Ester placed his hand on his coat, revealing the pair of black steel katars hanging off of his belt.

Seeing the weapon made of dark steel, the man's bloodshot eyes twitched as his hand shook slightly.

But when he looked again at the other nine accompanying him, his confidence which was flickering uneasily seemed to blaze brighter, fed by the confidence that even if he couldn't deal with them by himself, there were ten others with him.

And no normal human would be able to fight off ten against two, it was five people against their one.

Pulling out the scrap metal blade from their belt, the leader of the nine pointed their blade at the duo.

"I won't say it twice, hand it over."

"Think about it carefully, even if you beat us, are you sure that you would be able to fight off everyone that appears next? I can tell you right now that we'll kill at least two of you before going down."

"..."

The man looked at their surroundings before looking at the duo carrying the fist sized pouches of aether dust.

"...You drive a harsh bargain."

Sheathing their blade, Ester smiled lightly and covered his weapons again underneath his cloak, gesturing for Eva to put down the hidden crossbow that would've instantly launched an arrow at the man's throat.

If he were to actually go along with his threat, the first one to spill blood would have not been the two cloaked figures, but the gang of ten.

"Great."

Walking forwards confidently, the leader of the ten begrudgingly made way for them, his heart pounding with desire but his mind logically balancing the scales.

It was a smart evaluation of the possible gains and losses.

And as he was walking by them, Ester lifted his goggles and let his eyes glow a fierce ashen grey.

"Just so you know, you got off lucky."

Already pale face paling even more at the sight, the man trembled subtly as the duo walked past the gang of ten.

Tapping his sheathed blade and sending vibrations through the man's clammy hands, Ester returned the goggles to their proper position as he fixed the pouch of aether dust to his waist.

Turning to look at Eva who had stayed silent all this time, she nodded her head, showing her hands which didn't shake a bit.

[Don't worry, it will take a bit more than a group of pups playing wolf to scare me.]

Modulated voice coming out as nothing more than a whisper, Ester silently nodded his head and tapped her side, showing that he was still with her.

"Close are we?"

That was until a silky smooth voice whispered to them out of nowhere.

Unmuffled by any cloth covering their ears, it whispered into their ears as if the source of the voice was speaking directly into them.

Instantly stiffening, their bodies instinctively crouched slightly, ready to bolt at the slightest sign of aggression.

The one who whispered to them with the sound of a breeze however had no intention of attacking them however.

"Aw... How violent of you, and to think we departed on such good terms."

[Oh... It's just you.]

Somehow conveying disgust through a mechanical voice, the source of the voice revealed herself from within the shadows, covering her face with the palm of her hand as she chuckled.

Stepping out, Astra leaned against the dirty sheet metal wall.

"Yes Eva, it's just little ol' harmless me."

"There's nothing harmless about you." Muttering to himself, Astra's eyes flickered his way.

'She definitely heard that'

Staring at her, he noted her hourglass figure seemingly unstained by the world.

Her stormy grey eyes which seemed to flicker with the lightning of an unknown emotion.

Her perfect smile stretched across her face.

It was to the point that Ester couldn't help but feel a distinct unnaturalness worm up in his heart.

'Why does she always seem like this?'

Even in the past, he couldn't shake off the unnatural feeling of everything that consisted of Astra's essence being a carefully molded creation.

Flexing his fingers against his waistband carrying the Katars, he debated whether he should fight, ignore or talk to her

But in the end, Astra chose the last option despite having chosen to ignore her.

"So why are you both suddenly bartering? Last I recall, our mentors taught us that at least one person is required to stay home and guard the valuables correct?"

Crossing her arms, Astra had a leisurely uncovered smile on her face as she leaned against the wall, her uncovered eyes seemingly staring into their very essence.

Flickering between the two of them, the smile on her face only seemed to grow larger.

"Please tell me, I'm curious on the why"

'...Should we?'

Turning to look at each other, Ester saw the conflict in her eyes as did she, but in the end, as if sharing their thoughts, they both nodded their heads.

"Guys..." Pouting playfully, Astra giggled "Ihihihi Don't leave me out of the loop, tell me what you both are nodding about."

Stepping forwards, Ester spoke softly to her.

"...Our mentor got something for you"

The smile on her face flickered for a moment before it returned, gracefully plastering itself against her face.

It seemed a bit strained in comparison to the natural perfect smile that once covered her face.

But despite seeming strained, Ester couldn't help but feel as if this strained smile was more natural than that perfect smile.

"What... What do you mean? Our mentor left something for us? That man?"

Even her speech was shaking showing how unsettled she was despite appearing completely unbothered by everything.

He could see it in how she was looking at them with her eyes.

The Eyes were the window to the soul after all.

Walking forwards, Eva's mechanical voice whispered

[Here.]

Pulling out a black box from within her bag, Astra's eyes shook as if struck by an earthquake, her face seemingly trying to retain the perfect unnaturalness.

"I-I see."

Receiving the black box, Astra held the box in her hands to the point that veins started to appear on the back of her hands.

"..."

Understanding what she was going through, Ester and Eva glanced at each other before making their way past her.

Leaving her to come to terms with her own emotions.

To bad.

If they just had the presence of mind to linger a bit more to comfort her, they would've been able to see Astra's face shake.

Not that they had the ability to turn back time.

That was the domain of the Architects that designed the universe, only they had the authority to turn back the time of the universe.

It was inevitably an ability that normal humans would be unable to touch in all their lives

+++

Tree