A large cart of food passed in front of them, reeking of rotting meat. It made its way towards the back of the primary Cruxn building. The two glanced at each other before getting up and following behind.
The cart stopped by the entrance to the underground. Ayra grabbed Meyra and they went into the shadows. They stayed underneath the barrels of fish until they had all been loaded into a holding room. There was a small step up to another room, and they waited in that shadow.
The door opened and the cloak-covered workers walked in. Someone was chained up in a chair, with their eyes blindfolded and gagged. A glass of black liquid was on a table behind them. Ayra gasped in the shadows, recognizing the person sitting there.
“Who is that?” Meyra asked.
“That is Kanzel, the head of Cruxn,” Ayra spoke with wide eyes.
The barrels of fish were slowly rolled in and placed beside Kanzel. There were two circular symbols on the barrels, one with a horizontal line and the other with a vertical line. The vertical line barrel was opened, and someone moved Kanzel's hands on top of it. They removed Kanzel’s gag and forced them to drink the liquid, placing the gag in after.
Someone placed their hands on Kanzel's head, causing them to sit up with a stiff back. They mumbled under their breath, black smoke enveloping the barrel in front of them. The barrel became upright, a plume of smoke coming out. The normally yellow fish had become a dark yellowish-brown.
After all the barrels of that pattern had been treated, the horizontal patterned barrel was rolled in front of Kanzel. There was a large glass of a clear liquid and an empty bucket. Someone walked behind Kanzel, placing their hands so they covered their ears and eyes. They began mumbling quietly, Kanzel convulsing in the seat. The black fluid from earlier began to dribble out of their mouth, then out of their nose, before they vomited into the bucket.
The bucket with the black fluid was taken away to be bottled up again. A person helped Kanzel drink the clear fluid, a pungent smell of rotten flesh filling up the room. Meyra winced as she saw the people in the room begin to cough. Once the glass was finished, the shackles were removed from Kanzel's hands.
A person walked up to them and began to paint various patterns on Kanzel as they were further restrained, only their hands free. Once the paint had dried, they took a knife and shallowly cut along the patterns. Kanzel screamed into the gag, tears rolling down their face as they thrashed in the chair. After all the patterns had become covered in blood, they turned an ashen gray.
Someone walked up to Kanzel and poured a yellow fluid onto their hands where there were no patterns. They howled as burn marks appeared in a swirling pattern on their hands. Once the pattern had completed, it was on both sides of their hands to their fingertips. There were various swirls, lines, and dots coming out from the palm.
The barrel was opened in front of Kanzel, full of decomposing fish. Someone stood behind Kanzel, digging their fingers into their flesh. Another person placed Kanzel’s hands on the fish before backing away. Static filled the room, Kanzel's head going limp in the person's hands.
As Kanzel sat back up, they began to chant through the gag. The fish started smoking before catching fire. After the smoke settled, the fish was charred on the outside, but the interior was raw. The barrel was closed up and rolled away.
Meyra and Ayra looked at each other before agreeing to sneak after the barrels. There were stacks on each wall with each of the different markings. The barrels treated first with the vertical lines were rolled up the stairs on a board into another room.
The majority of the room was full of barrels, along with other food items. There was a partial door leading into the kitchen where the food was prepared. The two watched as the fish from the vertical line barrel were tossed in the stew at the very end. Shortly after, the stew was taken off the heat to be served.
They followed in the shadow of the stew until it was served. Everyone had been given it, alongside any other options they chose. Compared to before, more people were rowdy. Not enough to cause a disturbance, but loud, nonetheless.
"Those weird fish have got to be doing something. Is there anything we can do about it?"
Ayra looked around before sneaking the two back into the kitchen. From the shadow they looked up at one of the chefs appearing displeased. She grinned and pointed at them before dragging them into the shadows. Luckily, no one else was in the kitchen, so she reached up to turn off the flame before they snuck off.
They made their way outside to a back alley. Ayra stopped once they were out of eyesight, placing shadows over the cook's mouth. Their voice was muffled as the two left the shadows.
"We are not here to harm you. We want know about the fish that you're using." The cook nodded and the gag was removed.
The cook explained that the time they were cooking the fish was getting shorter. The excuse given to them was to preserve more of the nutrients considering the lack of other foods available to supplement the people's meals. Now, they were not being cooked to standard, still raw in the center. According to the higher ups, the stew was allowed to sit for long enough for them to cook though.
However, the cook noted that the lines had gotten so long that the food was handed out as soon as it was set down. The cook began to cry, noting that they knew the fish was being tampered with.
"What am I supposed to do? If I don't do my job, people will starve and I'll be replaced. There are no jobs that pay this well around here." They sniffled as they spoke.
Meyra and Ayra glanced at each other before Ayra took the cook back inside. She handed them some food that was prepared privately. They thanked Ayra, running to put it away before returning to work. Ayra disappeared into the shadows, scooping up Meyra as they made their way back to the guild.
"What are we supposed to do if the problem is this big?" Ayra mumbled as they came out of the shadows near to the guild.
"I think Weylyn is our best option at this time, depending how the meal goes. We have no one else that's higher up that we can trust," Meyra said as they crossed the street, "We can't trust our colleagues or anyone on the street. Considering what you told us, it sounds like Rendel and others are somehow involved since Weylyn didn't want us working with them."
Ayra nodded, staying quiet as they walked inside the guild. It was mid-afternoon, plenty of time before their meeting. Kalin was seated in the living area with a cup of tea and a scowl. His head was on his arms against the table, his eyes closed. Ayra made a shadow tickle him, startling him, and the two laughed.
"We found out some stuff about the sample. Ren is finishing the last tests now, they will be down shortly," Kalin said while sipping his tea.
"Do we want to talk about this somewhere else?" Meyra asked.
"It'll look suspicious if we keep leaving. I have a friend that can cast a sound barrier. They can be trusted on my life." Kalin smiled, waving at Ren as they came down the stairs.
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