Amara’s apartment building was noticeably more clean than Armina’s. It wasn’t spotless, if it were, people would notice. It was merely average.

Amara had cleaned out the room. All that was left was her potted geranium. She looked down on it with a sentimental smile.

She left it there, and closed the door. Heading down the hall and outside, she found Arnold.

He was carrying Amara’s suitcase on his back down the steps outside her apartment building, “Why…d’ya people…need so much…stuff?”

Amara helped hold it up for him, “Sorry, movin’ can be a lot of work, ‘specially at the last second,”

The pair slowly eased the suitcase to the ground. They stopped to take a breath.

“Ya can take it yerself the rest of the way, right?”

“Yup,”

An automobile pulled up next to them. Arturia was driving it with sunglasses on. Armina sat shotgun, a bright smile on her face, her elbow over the edge, and cigarette in hand. In the back, was an old man looking ready to fall apart any moment.

“‘Re ya both ready?” Armina asked.

The was a bump in a nearby alley. Amara smiled.

“One more thing,” she exclaimed, running over.

There was a dumpster, but to her, it looked like a castle. She opened it up, and there, sat two children with a potato. To them it probably looked like it was the size of a watermelon.

“Oy, d’ya both need a more comfortable place to stay?” she asked, tossing them the keys to her apartment. “Rents paid for the rest of the month, so ya should have no problem gettin’ some shut eye proper eh?”

The children eyed her carefully. They looked at each. They nodded. They smiled.

………

The girls and Arnold parked near the train station. Arturia sighed as she got out of the automobile.

“It was so expensive,”

“But its also a steel death trap,” Armina added, helping the old man out. “‘Sides, we won’t need it where we’re goin’,”

“I guess yer right,” she responded, giving her a peck on the lips.

“Is there anyone ‘ere who likes me?” the old man groaned. “That’s the problem with society, men’re so devalued that-,”

“Come one Pa, ya can rant about it on the way,” Arturia urged, helping him along with Armina.

Arnold and Amara rolled their suitcases over. Drescher Mechs glared at them. The pair shrunk down nervously.

 Without saying a word, the mechs picked up their luggage, and took it into the train. The pair sighed.

“D’ya think they know we’re not comin’ back?” Arnold questioned.

“‘Course they know,” Amara shuddered.

She felt a slight nudge. She looked around. There was no one there.

The gang got together, waiting in line so long that the sky turned dark. They then had to sleep in line, waiting for the day to come. Eventually it was a bright, cloudy morning. It also smelled like black mold. What a lovely country.

They got onto the train. Arturia and Armina cuddled together, making googly eyes on their side of the cabin. Amara, sitting next to Arnold and Arturia’s Pa. She couldn’t help but look a bit sad. She rested her chin in her hand, her eyes glazed over.

She reached into her pocket. There was a piece of papier.

She took it out, her eyebrow raised. She unfolded it.

Her eyes widened. Tears immediately flowed down her cheeks.

“Amara…’re ya alright?” Armina asked, crouching in front of her.

Amara just smiled and nodded.

---

There was a black painted building in the middle of Hafennest. It looked like the city’s shadow. All citizens avoided it, thinking it was a den of Corruption.

They weren’t wrong. It just wasn’t what they figured.

“Thorn Red…you failed to keep an eye on the Reaper,” a Batler with a voice like a silent alarm criticised.

The Batler was dressed in a uniform like Thorn Red, only it featured a more prominent, maroon Krylo emblem on her back. It was dark enough to miss casually, but big enough that anyone looking would know immediately. She stood with her back to Thorn, emphasizing the emblem.

In uniform, Thorn Red bowed, “Izvinite{I’m sorry} Madam Krasnov, she slipped from our vision once she entered the city,”

Krasnov sighed, “Net. Orpheus XI has no time for excuses,”

She placed her hand on her lowered head, “We may be able to trap her very easily. Perhaps if we reported her to one of the Drescher Lo-,”

“Net,” she stated. “We know her kind.  She's a gambler like her boss, here to make this city her casino. And as the Razputin teaches, the best way to keep a gambler in your trap is to let them think they're lucky,”

She turned around. Her mask had a sharp teeth pattern. She placed her hands on Thorn’s shoulders.

“If we can play the long game, we may be able to catch this fish and maybe even…a bear,”

“A bear?”

“Soon to be the Zvezden bear,” she stated, placing a hand on Thorn’s forehead.

To Be Continued………