The four of them arrived at the outskirts of the Capital although Maya did not know how it was possible. They had no horses, they had no automobiles. Rei’s thigh had bled profusely before Zachary bandaged it, and Maya’s gashed cheek and broken ribs slowed her down.

They almost died today, but they were somehow saved by a girl with cherry blossom hair and a man whom Maya came to know as Isaac. For once, she was thankful, but she will never forgive him for what he had done to Mossmore village.

It was already two hours after noon, meaning that the lockdown had started, but they were lucky enough to avoid the soldiers bustling around outskirts. None of them were really paying attention, and why would they? The town they were headed to was the center residential area of the Archanians. Maya rarely reads newsletters, but when she does, it is always full of articles on which family joined which side, an unneeded publicity. Archanians were mostly joining the Military despite it being a war to overthrow them, knowing that they do no stand a chance against guns and soldiers.

They bypassed the guarded perimeter of the town they were headed, and once they were in, Maya knew that she could finally get some rest. The high-class area in front of her was packed with giant buildings, most of which were bigger than Folke’s manor. Not one looked the same as well as though each Archanian had a different meaning to grand, but to Maya, each one was just the same awe-inspiring.

One house had three stories with multiple triangular roofs and was made of quarried stone. Another was low but wide, its knobbed doors non-existent and instead replaced with sliding ones that exited into a big garden. There were many more others to gaze upon, but Maya was suddenly disturbed by a realization that she forgot about the buildings. “The town is empty?” she asked.

Not a soul was around and all the big houses seemed to be void of movement. The town was vintage and aging, with manors built all around, but without anything going on in it, it just seemed ghostly.

Folke was silent. Something about his noble demeanour looked fake at the moment. His eyes were forced to be calm, and his grip on his sword was deadly. Something was definitely wrong. “It was not like this last I came,” he said. “Every area we visit always seems to have gone through bad luck. Why is that?”

“Because you never left Mossmore in a long time,” said Zachary.

Maya was reminded of the village where they fought the Star-born.

They all started to walk slowly through the ghost town, each of them looking in their own direction of interest. Maya observed the distant wall in the flat horizon behind all the houses, and although they were that far from the Capital’s wall, it still looked humongous.

There was no pattern in the direction of the asphalt roads as they went all around in curves and freedom. There was one or two automobiles, though without drivers, to be seen and they seemed to be the older models. Something about the outdated town told Maya that it has been abandoned—both by its residents and the Capital.

Rei seemed extremely intrigued in the automobiles. Maya had to ask, “You want to drive one?”

“No,” she said. “It’s just I never saw anything like it.”

She raised her eyebrows at that. The automobiles were invented since a few years ago already, it was impossible that Rei had never seen one, unless she lived in the ocean like Maya. She decided not to further ask about it though, as she deemed that it would just be rude.

They continued to follow Folke as he confidently walked through the eerie town looking for the destination. The wind howled softly through alley passages, giving Maya aching shivers. “Talk about haunted,” she said.

Zachary frowned. “Yeah… The big houses make it worse.”

Folke exhaled. “Like I told you on the way here,” he said, “This is a town made for Archanians. I found it quite vain to be living someplace away from other people that I just had to refuse the offer of staying here.” His eyes dimmed and his mouth fell into a downward curve. “Luckily, too. This town… something wrong has happened here.”

Maya glanced at Zachary at hopes that he knew what happened, but he replied with a shrug.

“We are here,” said Folke stopping outside one of the many manors in town. It had a double wooden door, just like Folke’s manor, and the façade was smooth cement in cream. The many windows were all curtained and locked, and the roof were plain grey slates. Compared to the other houses, Maya found this building boring and menacing.

“Let’s hope my friend still lives here.”

Without anyone knocking, the door opened to reveal an old man in a green and blue plaid robe. Bones poked out of his face, and the skin was taught on his body, making him look like a skeleton in Maya’s eyes. His ghoulish features sometimes switched to that of a hawk’s, especially with his sharp nose, elongated chin, and brown wispy hair. Despite it all though, he carried himself with dignity and distinguished pride.

The old man stared down at the four. “So you’ve come,” he said with a voice that almost sounded nasal, “Old friend.”

Folke’s hand twitched on sword’s hilt, and he stared at the man at the door for quite some time. Maya was beginning to suspect that Folke had fallen asleep or something, but he finally moved his arms out into an embrace. “Obad, my friend,” said Folke, hugging the man, “I have not seen you since the uprising.”

That would mean five years, thought Maya. She was just twelve at the time, but she would not forget the red shores and tides. It was a horrifying time, and Maya was lucky enough to be out on sea. Passengers only talked in whispers back then, and Mister Castel was always grave about something.

The man, Obad, waved for them to get in the house. His nose was so long that it was still prominent at side-view. “You could have written to me,” he said as he waited for the group to enter the manor. He locked the door behind them. “You never know when I could have left this forsaken place.

Maya’s eyes first caught onto the chandelier of a hundred crystal pieces hanging high on the ceiling. Two balustrades led to an overview floor where it oversaw the whole entrance hall. The floor was linoleum in shades of cream and brown, and it reflected the chandelier’s light perfectly. Compared to the outside view, the interior was much more striking, though in a happier way this time. Maya would have loved to live in a place like this if she was not so much as missing the Kingfisher.

“Speaking of forsaken,” said Folke, his stature growing cold and serious, “What happened here? I remembered this place… livelier.”

Obad shook his and sighed resentfully. He fixed his robe on himself as he said, “The Military made their move half a year ago. I was away at the time, but when I returned, everyone left. I could not bring myself to leave this place—I didn’t know what happened. I stayed, and luckily, too.” He laughed without the merriment. “If I were not here, where would you go in this impossible situation? The lockdown will eat you alive.”

Folke laughed in the same way. “I’m just glad to have you here.” He gestured to the three of his other companions. “Let me introduce to you these youngsters I picked up along the way.”

“Picked up?” mumbled Zachary, questioning Folke’s choice of words. Maya sniggered.

“Zachary, Maya, and Rei,” said Folke, “They’re all quite… special.” Folke snorted with pride, as if the three people were his prized possessions.

Obad eyed each of them judgementally. Maya felt threatened by the man’s sense of scrutiny over each of them, as if they were inferior beings. She glared when they met eyes. Obad cleared his throat. “They’re certainly special. Never too young to become a rebel, isn’t that right, Folke? Well, I’m going to have to do my best to hide you during this lockdown. Tolerate the eeriness of this town. Soldiers only come by once or twice. They know that I’m the only one who lives here now.”

Folke nodded with total agreement. “We have a lot to catch up on, Obad.” He turned to the three others. “Stay here. No one goes out.” His voice was firm and Maya was reminded of Mister Castel. They definitely should stay where they are if Folke was that serious. The two older men ascended the balustrade and disappeared through the hallway on the right.

Maya looked around, standing still near the doorway. The manor was definitely outstanding in the luxury it showed off, and she could not help but wonder what was inside the big door in between the balustrade. The division to her right was closed with an engraved door, while the one to her left was open and showed a ridiculously large living room.

Zachary stirred from his spot and went striding into the living room. Rei paced after him, gaping up at the chandelier as she did.

Though anxious to walk around, she followed thereafter through the door of the living room. It was carpeted and the walls were redwood. The glow inside was an awing red and brown, like the living room was the season of fall, especially that the afternoon sun outside had toned down to a cloudy weather.

Zachary was aloof at this point. “Might as well get comfy if we’re going to stay here for a while,” he said, “Which I don’t mind, but I’d rather be out on the road running away from the Military.” He slumped himself on the long red velvet sofa and closed his eyes. It did not look like he was asleep but he was definitely trying to.

Maya, too, sat down on one of the armchairs. She almost screamed when her body sank down in the soft cushions of it, but then laughed when her feet could not touch the floor anymore. Rei, meanwhile, sat down on the floor and placed her long sword on her lap. Maya watched as she brought out a white handkerchief from somewhere in her pants and unsheathed her sword. She cleaned her blade carefully, her hands moving in familiar motion, like a weaver making tapestry.

“Amberstone…” Maya said, remembering the red hilt and gold engravings as well as Rei’s story on how she got it. “Are you sure you’re not from the Handar community? Maybe you forgot, but you don’t know what an automobile is. Technology is kind of hard to reach that place.”

Rei frowned. “I am really not…”

Maya stretched her lips downwards in a pout as well. She seemed to be getting to a topic that could lead to a fight, so she decided to let it go, but she would be returning for sure.

“You seem to ask a lot about me,” said Rei.

Maya began to feel flustered, like she had done wrong. She did not mean to make Rei uncomfortable, she really was just curious. Awkwardness refrained her from speaking her mind.

Zachary came to the rescue by opening his eyes and saying, “Malaya just wants to know more about you, is all. You are a natural mystery to both of us.”

Rei looked thoughtful about it. “Well, so are you two to me.” Her naïve eyes pierced through the two, somehow leading them to feel ashamed of themselves. Rei was not angry, though. She continued to clean her blade. “I know I said that I would tell my story soon, but I do not think today is the right time. I am sorry if I am making myself look suspicious, but I really am not.”

Maya nodded, still shocked at Rei’s frankness despite her having a few earfuls of it already. It was true—Maya and Zachary were still mysteries to Rei just like how Rei was to them. In fact, no one the group actually knew anything about each other. They were just people sharing the common goal and enemy. The one person, though, that was cloaked in the most mystery was no doubt Zachary.

He was, in the simplest of terms, a weirdo to Maya. A person as loud as he is should have been exposed of his nature in no time, but he seemed very careful not to let anything slip through. Though Rei was a puzzle, Zachary was an enigma.

Her thoughts were getting the best of her this time at noon, and though she was beginning to feel sleepy again, she did not want to close her eyes. She feared that being well rested would lead her to dreams of Mossmore village, and though she needed to convince herself that there was nothing that she could have done, nightmares found their way through anything.

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