Our first day there

Mmm, now how do I get information, Stella thought. In my world, you can pay for information or if you go to bars people will talk. But now I have this gem, and as far as I know, there are no bars.

"No way, don't tell me I'm going to lose to Max," she mumbled to herself.

"Well, what's with that down expression," she heard a lady say to the right of her.

"Huh," she turned in that direction to see a middle-aged woman running a fruit stand.

"Come on over and enjoy some papaya."

Stella walked over to her, seeing the large orange fruit she had offered.

"How much?"

"How much do ya have on ya?"

She pulled out the gem from her pocket, seeing the lady's eyes widen as she did.

"That's some rock."

"Well, a friend gave it to me." More like I took it from him.

"Oh, so this is a gift?"

"No," Stella clarified, "we didn't have money, so we were planning to trade these in for some."

"I think I can give ya a great deal. But first, let me get you some papaya," she finished saying as she cut open the orange fruit, taking a chunk out and cutting that into smaller rectangular-like pieces with a cleverish kitchen knife.

"So I was kind of sent here to see what has been going on by a guild. I've gotten a report, but that doesn't tell the whole story."

"Well, the curfew has made most go inside even before the sunsets, so I'm sure y'know how that's made people feel."

"And anything else that seems out of the ordinary?"

"No, at least not that I've seen from my shop," she continued as she scooped the papaya into a bowl and served it to her with a wooden spoon.

"Thank you," she handed her the gem.

"I may not look it, but I was fascinated by these when I was in my 20s, probably because my husband was never about to buy me one when we married, but I still love him."

"Oh, are you from the city," she asked, scooping up a piece.

It's juicy but not really that tasty; it's passable, Stella thought as she mushed the fruit in her mouth.

"Oh heavens no, I'm from the countryside, but I ended up moving here after I had my daughter, wanted to at least have her get some level of education. And what about you with your friend?"

"Well, we're going to meet up in some time, so right now, just exploring the city mainly."

"Man or woman?"

"More like a boy," she laughed.

"Didn't think people traveled that young," she giggled as well.

"Well, no. he's old enough."

"I'll have one too," a tall man said as he walked up to the stand. His outer layer was a pattern of black and white, alternating so that no 2 whites or blacks touched each other.

"Hello there, young lady," his voice was deep with a slight rustiness to it.

"Hello, how's it going."

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"Jeez, how big is this city," Joseph complained as he walked with Tiresias down a city street.

"I'm sure it's not much farther," Tiresias responded in a reassuring tone.

"We can only hope."

"Can you two stop ignoring us like we're not here," Raquel blurted out behind them.

"Sorry didn't see you there," giggled Tiresias, "Probably need to get my eyes checked."

"Stop with your lame jokes!"

"What is it with your jokes," asked Besute.

"Eh, I don't feel like my disability should really be something to look down on."

"I bet you're so lucky, Tiresias," Raquel added, "I bet it doesn't even matter how you look like or really anything."

"Sure, I can't see, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how things look like."

"Your visions? The ones that give you headaches?"

"Yeah, but I can only associate the voices of people and nothing else. It's like knowing but not being able to describe anything about it. It's actually how I met you all. Just by hearing the voice in the vision."

"Now, as much as I appreciate us being all together, didn't we all agree to split up into groups of 2," Joseph said as he saw a big stone guard wall ahead of them.

"C'mon, like we've got something else to do," She continued, "and plus, won't we all meet up back at the hotel."

They reached the stone wall that stood around 20 feet tall and had guard sections littered at the top of it equally spaced.

They located an Arch that allowed them to pass through the wall onto what seemed to be the city slums.

Joseph attempted to walk through at first, but an invisible wall stopped him before he could even get all the way through.

"We found it," he said. "Besute, what do you think about it?"

"Hmm," he expressed. "The physical wall that seems to circle around the city shows us the edge of the space we have to use here, I would say."

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"This must be the wealthy district," Athena said as they crossed the decorative iron gating that separated the two sections and had vegetation growing on it.

"Where do you think Hestia and Emily went," Frigg asked as she made eye contact and smiled with one of the guards near the entrance.

"Knowing them," she looked over to the central tower in the other section. "Over there, they do enjoy sightseeing."

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"So I guess that's why we don't see them in our world," whispered Ophelia as she looked on at a sight of demi-human slaves being sold, similar to the one Max stole.

They were mostly skinny, going from tall to short, and looked dirty all over with tattered brown rags for clothes.

"Yeah," Jacob felt sick at the sight of the starved demi-humans. "They don't have any laws that stop this thing from happening, unlike our world, and even then, they have a black market for other races."

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"I never got your name," I asked the little girl in the light blue dress.

"It's Frenda," she replied as she laid on one of the beds that came with the room.

"Nice to meet you, Frenda," I smiled as I began to think about all that I've learned and what the goal of this gate could be.

"And what's yours?"

"It's Max."

"Nice dog name," she giggled after saying. "So who's your owner."

"Owner?" I ignored her remark. "I'm not like you," I laughed back.

"Then what was that thing on your back?"

"Oh that, stuff happened." I awkwardly looked away.

Then came a knock at the door, and it creaked open.

"I brought Papaya," Stella cheerfully said as she held up the bowl in her hands.

Oh shit, I thought as I realized that I would have to explain Frenda to her.

"Who's the brat," she asked as she looked over.

"Who are you calling a brat," she shot back, now getting up.

"You, clearly."

"Stella, Stop!"

"What?" She turned her head, eyes meeting mine. "Are you ordering me around?" Her eyes seemed to be filled with hatred, and I think I was the reason for it.

"Hey, relax. I don't want you two to argue while I think," I nervously laughed off.

"So then who is she," Frenda asked.

"This is Stella," I said, looking at her and looking back at Stella. "Stella, this is Frenda, a slave I stole."

"Oh, so she's like you."

"You know that's not funny," I replied in an emotionless tone.

"Still, I can't believe you stole her. When did you start growing up," she teased, pinching one of my cheeks.

"Don't tell me you're his owner?"

"Yes, I am," she boastfully turned back to the child.

"No, you're not," I argued, giving her a crazy look.

"Max, since when did pets talk back," she laughed off.

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Some distance from them in a certain hotel, the door to one of the rooms opened, interrupting a discussion between two men.

"Back so soon," one of the men said, seeing the man with the white and black patterned outfit walk in.

"Yeah, and still no commotion or even sensible distress."

"Yeah, but did you find the change in guard rotation," asked the redhead that wore a plain eggy-white shirt with a black-stringed necklace that held up a clear, yet rough rock.

"As suspected, they mostly changed it, so they protect the richer district and leave the slums and central one unattended too."

"So then let's pick one-off in the slums," interrupted the purple-haired, tall tan man that wore a chin mail on his outermost layer that hid his black undershirt.

"No," he continued. "I think they are making the slums look like the place to go so that they can collect more information about us, remember, this city isn't normal. They aren't responding like how others have. They might even be willing to lose some people just to capture us rather than protect them all."

"So then where," asked the redhead.

"The central area," he explained. "it's the least likely place they would expect us."

"So I guess you have a target," the purple-haired man got up and walked over to the door.

"Yes, she sells fruit in the commercial area."