Kidnapping

Out of the bandits who'd broken into the spaceship and threatened its carriers, five had remained alive. The woman who'd put them into their increasingly wretched state was none other than the one sitting next to Ciel playing on her phone.

Ciel took a closer look at the woman she sat next to.

She had fine red hair that rested on her clothes. She wore a white t-shirt and sweat pants, nothing more, nothing less. Still, a sense of nobility and high status radiated off of her.

Nick landed the spaceship on a nearby planet without a hitch; thankfully making the stressful flight more comfortable for the passengers. They'd landed on the planet Onik, a place Ciel hadn't learned much about from her history books.

The interesting thing about history was that over the course of the human race, the only noticeable progress was made when people switched back to how magic was originally used. From using magic to strengthen swords, humans spent millions of years wasted on human tempering, and even a few near extinctions, then they made it back to technology once more. Ciel found it a curious cycle.

Onik was a planet that had been discovered in the last thousand years, but its history couldn't be discredited. History could be built over a thousand years. As the planet came into sight, Ciel noticed its lush landscape. But the planet didn't have green as a prominent color. No, as they got closer, Ciel realized the color of their forests was purple.

"A note for all passengers. Due to the disruption, Lunandae will be affording everyone room and board. However, please do not forget not to leave the resort as Onik is a high-level beast territory."

Groans rang through the ship.

"Additionally, since the ship's been off track for around three days now, your flight to Balen will be increased. Lunandae would like to afford you an apology."

The announcement ended.

While Ciel listened, she realized that Lunandae might not have been the most reliable of travel agencies. They hadn't even mentioned food in their arrangements, so what was she supposed to do? Starve? It looked like she'd have to contact Elias soon.

The ship landed safely on Onik, and the purple landscape quieted the groans. It couldn't be helped, the planet was undoubtedly beautiful. Aside from the purple forest that surrounded the landing platform, there were also plants that gave off the impression that they were faintly glowing. Blue, yellow, pink, the forest was a patchwork of different colors strewn together into one large blanket covering the planet.

But the woman sitting next to Ciel paid their surroundings no mind. The woman glanced at Ciel.

"You coming?" she said. Ciel got up and followed her.

As they departed from the spacecraft, Ciel followed the woman through the gates down to the buses. A crowd surrounded them. It was those from the airport. Since they all had to go to the resort for a week and couldn't leave, they traveled together as well. Ciel noticed the pair of daughter and father as the girl gushed over the woman's relation to Midnight.

They got off at a gated area. They weren't the only ones who'd taken the buses. The group had been accompanied by security personnel as well.

A man clad in uniform took off a glove and placed his hand over a sensor. The gate slid open. But no one questioned the proceedings, walking past the men with guns into the mini-town that lay beyond the gates. This would be their resort. With their hotel vouchers in hand, the crowd quickly dispersed.

"Let's go get food at Onik's Diner," the woman said, looking up from her phone, "it's the best stuff they've got here."

Ciel went with her.

------

"So, what's your name?" the woman asked. She'd introduced herself as Alice when they'd settled down.

Alice seemed to know the place well, as immediately after sitting, she'd ordered several dishes. And by the taste of them, they weren't ordered through blind confidence either.

"Ciel," Ciel replied. She didn't see the point in lying as since this woman was an Ante, lying could do more hurt than help.

"Ah a French name, reminds me of my friend Frenchie. She's quite nice, but she's not a fan of her name; haven't seen her in a while when I think about it."

Ciel watched the woman go off into her thoughts.

"Why did you want to go to Balen?" Ciel asked, picking up a piece of a monster called Hetna. She couldn't tell whether it looked appetizing or not, so she came up with a hypothesis in her head before dropping it in her mouth. She smiled.

She'd been correct.

"My father lives in Balen," Alice said, snapping out of her reverie, "I haven't seen him in a while and I figured I'd go back and stick around. How about you?"

"I got a job there."

Alice tossed her an amused look as she stuffed her mouth with food. Ciel took it as encouragement to continue.

"I'll be working as an assistant for a mechanic."

"Oh, my father's also a mechanic. Who are you working for? I might know them."

"Elias."

Alice's eyes went wide.

But before she could say anything, she was cut short.

An alarm had gone off.

"All occupants of the Onik tourist center, please proceed to the bunker in the middle of the resort. Again, all occupants of the Onik tourist center, please proceed to the bunker in the middle of the resort. We are going on lockdown."

Before Ciel could react, the woman before her disappeared and a hand placed itself over her mouth. Fatigue overtook her, and everything went black.

----

She awoke to the blaring of alarms and pain around her waist and wrists. She'd been tied up.

As Ciel looked around, she was met with the scenery of the forest. Civilization would feel like a distant dream if not for the alarm repeating the same message over and over again. That meant she wasn't too far from the resort. The only thing that restricted her was a tree and some rope.

"Hello, Ciel," a woman spoke.

Ciel looked up, but what her eyes met with wasn't a woman, but a Technoid. Still, Ciel could tell the person who stood before her was Alice.

Actually, Ciel wasn't all that surprised at her current predicament. She'd been prepared for it ever since she'd been invited to eat by the woman. It was also the main reason she'd stopped herself from hiding her information.

Leonard had warned her that someone might notice the peculiarity in her files. He'd recommended she cross dress because it was safer, but didn't stop there. He'd also changed her files. This was because if someone realized something, their first assumption would be that Ciel was a spy, and her disguise as a boy would reinforce that. Changing her gender was one of the easier things that could be done within the file system, so he'd switched it for her with the intention of switching it back when she was safe.

He'd also given her a tip on how to get out of those situations: confidence.

And Ciel had plenty of that.

Alice was the one who broke the silence.

"My name is Alice, I didn't lie to you about that. I manage the Community Center on a cluster of planets adjacent to this one. I checked your information and you haven't so much as existed in the last ten years."

She aimed her gun at Ciel's head.

"I doubt Jextron's this shitty with their hacking so let's make this easy. You tell me why you're going to work with my father and I'll decide whether or not I want to shoot you in the face. And don't worry, with the alarms going off right now, we have plenty of time."

So Alice knew about the attack. Looking at her demeanor, it may be even more accurate to say Alice had planned it.

Ciel didn't say anything at first. Alice wouldn't shoot. Not a child. She held confidence in that. Ciel smiled at her.

It was a hauntingly beautiful smile, but a tinge of bloodlust was attached to it. Alice realized that the boy had an evil sort of beauty to him. What attracted people to him wasn't only his looks -- though they couldn't be completely discredited -- but the disbelief in death in his eyes, questioning its authority. Like a devil who'd pull you to dancing on the edge, or falling into oblivion.

The next thing that hit her was an eeriness. Bloodlust worked in different ways for different people. For most, it would assert itself as pressure or would make the recipient feel intense fear. Ciel's wasn't like that. As a researcher at heart, hers manifested itself as an odd fascination. It didn't make people run, or crush them under the weight of it yet -- soon it would, but she didn't currently hold the power for that -- in its purest form, it was a seductive pull between skin and scalpel. An obsession with death.

Ciel hadn't run human experiments herself, but her resentment and that of the souls residing within her engraved itself in her mind like a tattoo. After the ink had been placed, there was nothing she could do. After she'd gotten her vengeance, instead of her bloodlust calming down, it had evolved and taken over the form of her past oppressors to allow her to bend it to her will.

"What is this?" Alice said, her voice falling to a whisper.

Ciel's haunting smile scared her a little. Not the smile itself, but what would've happened to give someone that bloodlust. Such a smile wasn't one that should be worn by a child.

"It's not mine," Ciel said. It was, but it wasn't. It was the symbol that what they'd done to her was something she could never get rid of. Then, she pulled it back.

She'd done what she had to, the rest was up to the woman in front of her.

Alice took a second to regain control over herself. Hesitating for a moment, she lowered her gun. The head of the Technoid retracted itself piece by piece until Alice's head was left uncovered. Her expression wasn't pleasant.

She'd understood what Ciel was trying to do. By revealing all her cards she was essentially putting all her trust in her. The bloodlust she'd released was pure, with no pressure behind it. She'd released it just to the point where Alice wouldn't feel any torment. Effectively letting Alice assess her danger level. If, after doing, so Alice still deemed her too much of a threat, she'd let herself die.

But something didn't sit right. Even with such intense bloodlust, which could've only been the result of some horrible happenstance, the boy before her hadn't asked for help. All he'd asked for was trust. A pang hit her heart.

Alice walked over to her and cut the ropes that bound her to the tree.

"Alright, I'll trust you," Alice said, "but you'll have to stick by me."

She couldn't hurt a kid.