The Black Spire

"Let's get going, Droh," said Deus, somewhat in a hurry as he held the loose pack to his side. 'If this thing makes any noise now, I'll be in trouble. Please, please… Don't beep.'

"Deus? What's the hurry?" Droh asked, his head tilted to the side.

"No hurry, we just need to get going or we'll be late with that meeting with Mercer," Deus said. "I don't know much about him but he doesn't seem like the sort of person to be late with."

"Mercer?..." Droh breathed out, "Mercer! Right, I almost forgot! Mari, we've got to get going for now. I'll be back later to help with that."

Marigold simply glanced at him with a half-tilted head, sighing, she replied, "Fine, whatever. Just go, and don't get yourselves killed before you can repay me."

Both Deus and Droh quickly turned out of the room in a hurry. They struggled to keep hold of the vast amount of things they had gathered as they exited.

Returning to the surface through a secondary exit stashed behind the shed, they stood together in the middle of the street. Marigold's complex now sat behind them as the turned toward the center city ring. Once more a massive sprawl of activity surrounded them.

"Where to now?" Deus asked, shrugging his arms as he carried several bags, the main one strapped to his back.

Seconds flew by as the young Faun thought over everything. "We've got to go see Mercer before too long, but we still have some time left before our schedule. I suggest we find somewhere to stash our supplies where we can rest, never know what may happen."

Deus nodded his head in agreement, "Sounds good, I'm assuming I'll be following you again?"

"Mhm—keep close, and don't get lost again. Thankfully it seems everything's calmed down quite a bit while we were getting prepared." Droh claimed. Everything had mostly returned to normalcy, but there was still an uncomfortable air of tension throughout the city. A physical pressure almost.

"Lead the way, I'll do what I can to stick with you."

Deus followed closely behind Droh as the two wandered the city streets. They passed by a dozen or so local shops, ranging from rundown bars to several weapon scrappers and ironsmiths. Even though they didn't have top of the line materials for forging, that hadn't stopped a handful of smaller clans from trying to created stock. The scavenging market was without a doubt a competitive one, one with a sort of do or die mantra.

Across from them, old and broken electronics sat around several storefronts as rough-looking security kept watch over everything. There had certainly been no lack of bloodstains around the entrances and exits, that much was for sure.

Warningly, Droh said. "Make sure you don't take anything without paying first, or you'll be in for a bad time... And if you do, never get caught."

Deus was shocked, "Wait, you're saying they're able to attack people within the city? But they don't look like those soldiers we saw before…"

With a point, Deus looked toward several hooligans who stood watch over the shops, both humanoid but only one actually appeared human. They didn't seem to have anything in similarity with the previous guards who had searched the city.

"Well, of course. The city guards can't possibly deal with every little thing, so everyone has to fend for themselves down here. The clans that own everything here have all received permission from the city Lord's representation to defend their land, so long as they cooperate with all city rules and searches. Oh, and pay a hefty few every few months... Most accept anyways because they can use the businesses to sell servants and other high-end things without free of being robbed blind."

"Servants? Wait, you mean there are slaves for sale?" Deus asked in shock, remembering what sort of place he was in. Perhaps because of the peace and order of the city, he had forgotten, but this place was truly dreadful and perilous.

"What else would a clan sell when they wipe out opposing clans? Major battles aren't allowed inside the cities so most tend to forget this fact... But through every clan war there ends up more and more servants being thrown into the market. Most buy fighters or personal slaves, but there are those with other intentions." As Droh answered, he seemed taken back by something—as if recalling a regretful memory of his past.

"I see, and I assume even the cities themselves use slaves to do their building and maintenance? Hmph, so this Lord doesn't even care how their citizens handle things so long as they obey his rules?" Deus had grown disconcerted.

"That's been life here for many years... I'm shocked that you didn't know this, which region did you say you were from when we met?" Droh pondered, weirdly confused by Deus' confusion.

"Ah—wait, what's that over there?" Deus asked as he pointed towards a towering pillar, one that was only second in height to the Territory Lord's home. His attempt at changing the subject hadn't gone unnoticed by Droh as the little Faun sighed as he replied.

"That's the Spire, or so Marigold always told me—My papa had once called it the Black Spire, though. I'm not sure if it was simply because of its color or if he had a better reason behind it. Papa always said that those massive worms would bring back everything they had gathered and take it all back there, to some sort of place underneath. There's supposed to be a massive factory below it, but I don't know anything about that."

"The Black... Spire?"

"Right, I also heard that at the very top of it is where the military captain lives, alongside the other leaders and officers. Everyone who is anyone lives within the Spire. You could say that besides the Lord's tower itself, the Spire stands as the center of Direfell."

Deus stared wide-eyed toward the Spire, watching as old black metal scraped against metal as pieces seemingly started to move slightly. It was almost as if the place itself was alive, breathing. Thousands of tiny eyes carved across the outer walls. "...So those centipedes come from there, huh?"

Droh simply nodded in response.

"Huh."

Pushing further into the heart of Direfell. City streets went from run-down to industrial, with old pipes sticking out of everywhere, puffing black smoke upward as the sounds of engines shook the ground beneath them. What felt like an enormous engine must've been working overtime under their feet, powering the city and melting down the old scrap the Midnight Centipedes had previously gathered.

Looking around, Deus was quickly reminded of just how terrifying this place was as he saw the people—if you could call them that, walking about. Some of them possessed faces of old dehydrated squids, with long tentacles draped down their chest, with others seeming more devilish in feature, with horns protruding out from their foreheads as a baleful aura radiated from their every pore. There was a shocking lack of actual humans, but perhaps that in itself was the most natural thing in the world.

Because of Droh, he had grown far too comfortable. Everyone that he had met so far was humanoid, most of them being human themselves. He hadn't kept any real memories from his time on Earth, but even he was glaringly aware of the differences between these places.

If there was one thing this place had in an abundance of compared to Earth, it was the large variety of different cruel-looking races and species. Representation of everything, with a heavy emphasis on those darker, more sinister creatures that normally would lurk beneath the surface, hidden and cloaked in the shadows. Such things now walked the city streets as if it was the most normal thing imaginable.

Unfortunately, the worry of becoming a slave was not a concern solely from Midnight, as even humans were capable of such vileness throughout their history.

"Hey Droh, I forgot to ask you this before… But how safe is it here?"

Droh paused as he pondered the question, seemingly taken aback by the sudden inquiry. "What do you mean safe? If you're asking if you'll get attacked on the streets, then no. The city guards have outlawed that sort of behavior ever since that riot broke out and killed several officials. Nowadays not even a psychopath would try anything too shocking. Outside the city though, well, you know. It's a battlefield out there."

Satisfied with that answer, or knowing he'll never get a better one, Deus continued following behind. After some time passed, they both stopped before a decently sized structure. Metal plating stuck out from the sides as if the world had spat all of it out in a flurry. Sturdier than most, they headed for the entrance.

Inside, there was a crowd bunched up, creating an awkward line. All of them paying no attention to each other as they simply stood around, waiting to be called on from the front desk. Some discussed among partners, while others kept a distance from the overall group.

'What an odd sight… A bunch of monsters waiting orderly in line.'

"Come on over here," Droh called out as he headed further inside, turning down one of the hallways passed the crowd. A large room opened up in front of them as they walked forward. Stood inside was yet another crowd of people, albeit smaller in size than the one at the entrance.

"Let's head inside. Here we can get a place to stay, we just need to pass through security." Droh explained, easily enough.

"Security?" Deus stopped in his tracks, his mind wandered—he remembered the device stashed inside the leather bag he carried. "Hey Droh, can I have a quick word?"

"Hmm?" The young Faun queried, following Deus to a corner of the room so that they could talk. "What do you need?"

"Ah—" Deus mumbled under his breath. "How to say it... I may have taken something back at Marigold's."

Several seconds passed as Droh remained silent, simply placing his palm against his forehead, creasing his nose. "What did you take?"

"Ah—something that would probably get detected by security. Something… electric. A mechanical."

"Eh?"

Deus dug into his bag for a moment, carefully exposing the mostly pale electronic device to Droh, while also ensuring that it stayed out of sight to any passersby. "This. It reminded me of my worl—something I used to have."

Deus had to stop himself midway. After all, that had been one of only two things to which he had been warned to avoid speaking on, so he had to at least take that precaution. Don't reveal where you're from, and avoid whatever this Noctis was.

Droh, still creasing his forehead, simply sighed. "You're trouble… Do you know that? I told you not to steal anything, and if you do don't get caught. I didn't say to run right up to security with your contraband."

"Heh—" Deus gave out a slight chuckle as Droh attempted to discipline him. He could tell that with this single action he had gotten his revenge on Droh for causing a scene outside of Marigolds. Whether or not he even needed to get revenge, however, was another question altogether.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Deus asked, leaving things to his partner to decide. "You're more accustomed to how everything works, and I don't want to cause any more trouble."

"Let me think… Hold on."