Where did Pierre go?! Pops' Faction on the move!

growls

Pierre clutches his stomach as he wanders around the town. It was after he ran away from a group of people that he unintentionally bit one of them.

"That almost got me killed! Didn't know I would be that hungry, making me act mindless." Pierre sighed as he holds on to his stomach.

From exhaustion and hunger, Pierre decided to take a rest and sit on one of the barrels located in one of the hundreds of alleys on the island. The alley itself is dark and quiet, unlike the ones he passed by earlier which are nearby the town square where everything is lively. In that same alley, there are a few people sitting on the ground with their skin as dry as sand and looking like they haven't eaten anything for the past couple of days.

"You've got some food in you, boy?" one of them approached him, begging him for food. It was an old man with skin so thin, you can mistake them for a bone.

He reaches out to his pocket, finding a small piece of bread he hid before he left the pub this morning. He could lie to them and keep the bread to himself or give it to them and stay hungry for a little while. He chose the former.

"Here you go, old man." he gave the bread with a smile on his face, knowing that he needs to suffer for a little longer.

The old man's face lit up from the happiness of receiving food. He hurriedly shared it with the people in that alley, dividing them into smaller pieces. With a smile on his face, Pierre watches them as they receive their first meal after days of not eating.

"D-do you want some, mister?" one of the kids approached him.

From looking at the people in this alley, not only they are as thin as paper from the hunger they've been in but some of them are wounded or have rope marks or burns all over their bodies as if they've been tied up for quite a while.

"Nah, I'm fine! Unlike you, this is my first time getting hungry for this long. I think it would be fair if you enjoy yourselves from the little thing I can offer to you." Pierre responded to the kid's question.

"By the way, where is this? It is quiet, unlike the ones in the town square." Pierre asked the people in the alley.

"Oh, kiddo. That means you're not from here?" a woman around the same age as Pierre asked him.

"Uhm, yeah. Hehe. I got left by the ship I was in and all my money is in there." Pierre answered as he scratched his head from the embarrassment.

"Is that so? If you were left by your ship, you should have gone to the pier where they can help you with that matter. There's no reason for a tourist to be in the slums." She told him.

As soon as he heard it, Pierre looked at the people around him and observed his surroundings.

"So this is the slums, huh? Interesting." Pierre says out of curiosity.

As they were having their conversation, a child came running to them, out of breath. The child looked like he has been running for quite a while as sweat comes running down from his forehead.

"The sword guy is here! He got us some food for this week, old man!" he announces to the people in that alley.

As he finished an announcement, a tall figure appeared behind him. That figure is familiar to Pierre as he just saw him this morning.

"Heya, I've got you some gru- oh? Someone got you some today?" the man asked.

"Yeah, sword guy, this good guy here gave us some bread!" the child answered, gleefully at the sight of food in front of him.

A basket is full of freshly picked fruits and about a dozen of loaves, enough to feed the mouths of everyone for the whole week. The man hands over the basket as everyone passes it around so everyone can have their share of food from it.

"By the way, thanks for the help, young - What?!" the man said, surprised to see Pierre among the people in the alley.

"Oh, the former knight, Eggy!" Pierre responded nonchalantly as he chowed down on a loaf of bread in one go.

"Why are you still here, you fool?! And don't eat the food I gave them!" Bedi pulled the basket away from Pierre and gave him a lump on his head.

"Ow!"

"So you already knew this guy, Bedivere?" asked one of the elderly people.

"Yeah, I met Beggy this morning and gave him a good ol' beating! He was snoring when I knocked him out! Hahaha" says Pierre as he laughed about what happened.

"Jeez, you're such a headache ain't you?" says Bedi as he sighed in disbelief about Pierre.

"Anyway, I came here to let you all know that Pops' Faction is making their move on Doll Faction in an hour. You should evacuate and move somewhere else if you don't want to get caught in their battle." Bedi continues and warned the people in the alley.

"But, we don't have anywhere else to go." one of them pointed out the fact that they cannot go anywhere else.

As other people agrees to the argument given by one of them, Pierre stood up from his seat.

"Is this Pops guy a good guy or not?" Pierre asked him.

"It depends on how you see him," Bedi answered.

"So, how do you see him then?" Pierre asked a second time.

"A target. He has something I want, and I'll do anything to get a hand of it. For a promise I made." Bedi clenched his fists as he recall something from his past promises.

"Well then, now that I've had some food. I guess I'll go and see this Pops guy and say hi to him." Pierre gleefully declares his intent.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the town square, Pops and his faction is being surrounded by scorching buildings. The town is filled with screaming and crying as some of the townfolks' homes and businesses are being run down by the fire.

"Do you know why this island is called Scorching Haven, Bran?" Pops asked his right-hand man.

"No, Pops. I don't know why it is called Scorching Haven." Bran, the right-hand man answered.

"Heh. I thought so. You see, from time to time, once a month, with enough energy, the whole island will be a living hell. Everything is filled with fire as others who are weak will have their bodies burned while they are alive. Everything! From the skin up until everything about you will turn into dust. That's why it is called Scorching Haven." Pops tells his right-hand man.

"And with the Doll Faction scouting the area, now, when everything is turning into a living hell, would be the perfect time to go out and take advantage of the situation where we can knock the living hell out of them and steal their artefact!" Pops continues.

The town that is turning into hell has its grounds starting to shake with the footsteps of the Pops Faction. On the other side of those flames, they can faintly see a shadow of a young man looking at them.

"Are you Pops, by any chance?" he asked.

"And if I am, what would you do?" Pops asked the man.

"Well, if you are Pops, then I'll do this!"

On the other side of the flames and smoke that are separating them from each other, they can see a spark of light coming out of the feet of the man in front of them.

"A blessed child?" one of the members of the faction asked.

"It is without a doubt that it is a blessed child." Barn agreed.

The light coming from the other side disappeared like a bubble as the smoke starts to clear up as a gust clears up everything in its way. The blessed child kicked Pops, only being able to defend himself from the impact of the kick with his scimitar.

"A blessed child of light, huh?" Pops says in awe.

"What's your name, kiddo?" Pops asked the man.

As he is now near to his face, Pops was able to see him clearly as he introduced himself.

"I'm Pierre, and I will be the King of the World. Nice to meet you!" Pierre introduces himself.

As soon as he knew that a surprise attack wasn't able to take his opponent down, he backed away as he think of the next move he'll take.

"King of the World, huh? Tough luck, kid but you will never beat me with that weak light of yours." Pops confidently declares to Pierre.