Three people sit
within the small hideout filled with colorful vapors writhing through the air.
In the center, Kanso sees the plump Fredryko sprawled out over a leather sofa
watching his holoplayer. In the chair to his left sits Kento, a tall, muscular
nan with midnight hair tied back into a long ponytail. His face and complexion
are of the Tybattan bloodline. Standing to Fredryko’s right is Yvinka, a beefy,
towering lady the likes of which could only be forged from the genetics of
people descending from Yrsa. They’re watching a news broadcast on something
that happened at The Temple of Light. The footage shows the iconic white beam
of light being turned blue as The Clergy recites their chant. The headline
ribbon reads “Miracle from the Heavens or Elaborate Religious Hoax?”
“Can you believe
this garbage, Kanso?” Fredryko muses, shoveling some fried goma chips into his
mouth. “I mean is it even possible to believe that The All Powerful personally
came down to our level, just to change the stupid color of some light that may
or may not even actually be produced by the prayers of the holy.”
“I never
believed in any of it,” Kanso states simply.
“Of course,”
Fredryko tosses back another handful of junk food.
Yvinka saunters
over to where Kanso stands, fists clenched at his sides like a child about to
get scolded. “I’ve missed you, baby,” she jeers.
She slides a
large hand across the side of his face with a surprising amount of tenderness.
Then without warning, she balls her free hand into a fist and sinks it into
Kanso’s abdomen. He keels over coughing and falls to his hands and knees.
Before he can recover, she takes hold of his shaggy hair and yanks him up to
his feet with a yelp. Then she shoves him against the wall and squares off to
him. He shrinks away, unsure of if another blow is coming his way or not.
“It’s been too
long!” she grumbles, doing her best impression of a neglected girlfriend.
It seems to
Kanso then that she looks like a reaper. Her skin is whiter than the moon, her
eyes are a crystalline blue, and her half-buzzed blond hair fails in pointed
locks on one side of her face. Everything about this wonan looks cold and hard.
She spreads her broad shoulders wide, letting him see the veins pop in her arms
as she clenches them. She knows he’s terrified of her and she loves it.
“Did you at
least finish the mark? If you didn’t, don’t worry, I’ve been craving a good
long date with you. I’ve got something extra special planned for us tonight if
you were stupid enough to show empty handed.”
Kanso’s hands
tremble as he withdraws the comm unit from a pouch in his belt. His entire arm
quakes as reaches to hand it to her. She snatches it out of his open hand and
grins at him coyly.
“Ah, well maybe
Fredryko will still let us have a little special alone time anyway given how
monumentally late this is.”
“I’m sorry,”
Kanso says softly. He tilts to the side, trying to look around Yvinka and meet
Fredryko’s eyes.
“Hey! You’re
talking to me you little piss!” Yvinka growls.
She charges up
to Kanso and grabs him by the collar of his jacket. He shrinks back into the
wall with even greater force as though it might embrace him in his time of
need. His whole body quakes now and his breathing comes sharply.
“I didn’t mean
any offense,” he pleads.
“Offense taken!”
She pulls him forward and shoves him back against the wall. The blow rattles
him.
“That’s enough,
Yvinka.” Fredryko sounds bored as he calls off his enforcer.
Yvinka gives him
one last shove before stepping back from him and bringing the comm unit over to
her boss. Fredryko scrutinizes it before powering it on. He flips through the
contents that display on the holo screen for a minute before shutting it down
and looking back up at Kanso.
“Can I trust
that this was at least acquired cleanly?”
“Yes sir,” Kanso
replies, perhaps a little too quickly. “Mon Patel and his nen think they simply
tried to mug the wrong Fendaren. I made it look like I just robbed them once
I’d defended myself. I even have the comm units for all his nen.”
Kanso
frantically rifles through the pouches in his belt until he has all three of
the other devices in hand. His legs shake as he steps up to his employer with
hands held out. Fredryko eyes him with an unreadable smirk.
“You could have
made a nice profit off of these if you kept them for yourself,” he muses.
“I thought your
client might like to have them.”
“You mean you
thought that delivering these as a bonus might save your ass from a beating?”
Fredryko takes
the devices from Kanso, his grin a little wider. Kanso shifts from side to
side, his arms crossed and his eyes downturned. “I thought it was the least I
could do. I stole their money too, but I thought it might be nice to hold onto
that if that’s alright.”
“Well you really
did rob them blind didn’t you?” Fredryko chuckles. It’s a deep, raspy laugh,
the kind that comes with years of poisoning one’s lungs.
“I wanted to
make sure it seemed real.”
“Well if there’s
one thing that can be said about you, kid, it’s that your work is beyond
thorough. I value this quality, as you know, but I also value speed.”
Kanso gulps
although his mouth and throat are exceptionally dry right now. His eyes come up
to meet Fredryko’s for a second before they shoot back down to the floor.
“Quality and efficiency. You really need to work
on that second part.”
Kanso wants to
explain that he didn’t realize Mon Patel would be so well guarded. He wants to
deflect some of the blame to incomplete intel. He’d even like to yell at
Fredryko for putting him in so much danger. Part of Kanso hates Fredryko. He
hates how smug he is. He hates how he can just lean back on his couch and take
a drag from his long, cylindrical pipe while Kanso stands here in fear and
shame. But he remembers what Maiya told him so he keeps his mouth shut about
all of these frustrations.
“I tried to do
my best,” Kanso says at last, kicking a tuft of pink smoke that slithers by his
feet. He sounds as defeated as he feels. Every part of him just hopes that
Fredryko really will let him off easy.
“Just be
better,” Fredryko says after he’s puffed out some more of the fluorescent
smoke. “Oh and don’t think my daughter can save you the next time you screw up.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that girl, I’d do anything for that girl. But this
is business and I’ll not have her telling me how I should run my business. Got
it?” Fredryko tilts his chin up in the air and exhales some smoke through his
nose.
“Got it,” Kanso
answers, no longer sure if he’s really off the hook.
“I honestly
don’t know what she sees in you, ya know. I mean you’re alright and all, you’re
one of my boys so of course you’re alright, but gosh is she smitten with you.
You know you’re no good for her right?”
“I know. I’ve
tried to tell her that myself...” Kanso admits.
“Well, such is
life,” Fredryko chuckles, taking in another drag and blowing it out. “One day
you’ll break her heart and she’ll learn her lesson. I’ll have Yvinka beat you
half to death, of course, but I won’t shed a tear over any of it.”
“That sounds
reasonable.” Kanso tries to keep his voice steady, but he really just wants to
run out of this room to the safety of his apartment. He feels exhausted from everything
he’s had to endure.
“The real reason
I’m letting you off the hook today is that I’ve got another job for you, a big
one. Actually it’s so big that you won’t be flying this one solo. It’s also not
in Maccaan.”
“I – I’ve never
been outside of Maccaan…”
Kanso’s mind
reels at the idea. In fact, he’s never even been outside the city of Senten,
though the city itself accounts for half the continent. He’s heard plenty about
the other three nations in the Juun Empire, but he can’t imagine what they’re
like in real life.
“Don’t worry,
kiddo,” Fredryko chuckles. “You’ll have a chaperone.” He waves a hand to where
Kento sits, inhaling bright blue smoke from his long-pipe, one ankle crossed
over the knee of his other leg.
Kento breaks
from his smoke to bob his head in confirmation. Then he returns to nurturing
his pipe. He’s a nan of few words, this Kento. Kanso fears him, but not as much
as he fears the brooding Yvinka. There are even some things about Kento that
makes Kanso feel at ease. For one, there is a certain serenity in the way his
deep brown eyes look at Kanso. There’s a smooth, matter-of-fact quality in his
voice that makes Kanso feel calmer, though the nan rarely speaks. He also gives
off a sense of refinement in the way that his pin-straight hair is so expertly
tied back and the way it falls like satin ribbons down his neck. Kento’s also
been there for Kanso when no one else has. While he has sometimes played a role
in his punishments, usually through holding him while Yvinka hits him, he’s
also been known to carry Kanso home when the beatings were particularly severe.
Hearing that Kento will be guiding him on this new journey makes the
proposition seem that much less scary.
“Who else is
coming,” Kanso asks.
“Gart will be
joining you two to Tybatta, once there, you will be joined by some local talent
I’ve arranged to have work with you. Kento will take care of all of the
arrangements. You and Gart just need to show up ready to do what you do best.”
Kanso’s heart
races in hearing that Gart will be part of this mission. His mind reels with
the fact that their last operation together still haunts him. “How soon will we
be departing?”
“Tomorrow,”
Kento answers in between drags.
Kanso’s stomach
drops a little at the timing. He’s used to taking jobs on short notice, but
this feels more like an adventure than a mark. His head spins at how little
time he has to prepare himself. He’s not even sure how to pack for a trip.
Reading Kanso’s
reaction, Kento adds, “The details of the mission will be explained along the
way. Just make sure to meet me at the Ryden Docks by 700. You’ll want to pack
two days’ worth of clothing most likely.”
Before Kanso can
protest that he doesn’t even own a bag, Kento twists around and grabs a brown
cloth pack from behind his chair. He tosses it to Kanso without another word.
“You’re
payment’s inside” Fredryko announces. “I’ve docked it substantially for your
inability to complete the mark on time. You can keep what you stole from Mon
Patel’s nen though.”
“I understand,
thank you.” Kanso turns to leave, but stops short. Turning back, he asks, “Do
you really think I have what it takes for this job in Tybatta?”
“I wouldn’t pick
you if I didn’t…”
“I’ll do my
best, sir.”
“See that you
do,” Fredryko replies, waving him out of the room.
Kanso exits the
way he came, leaving the smoky room behind him. When he gets to the closet
door, he knocks three times and then waits several minutes before the girl
behind the counter opens it for him. He steps out before anyone can see him and
gives her a nod of thanks and farewell. Then he leaves the shop and practically
trots home, afraid of Fredryko changing his mind. He got very lucky today and
he knows this all too well. He has no plans to push this luck so he heads
straight for his apartment. Along the way, he passes an old Fendaren sitting
curled up along a wall, hands outstretched.
“Help me,
brother.”
Kanso thinks
it’s funny that his fellow Landborn Fendaren call him “brother” only when they
want something. He doesn’t feel like he owes this old fellow a thing. Not once
has one of his kind ever come to his aid so he sees no reason to assist any of
them. Even with these thoughts in his head, he comes to a stop before the
beggar. He reaches into his belt and withdraws a handful of pensen to drop into
the beggar’s hands. Without a word he turns and leaves.
“Thank you,
brother,” the old Fendaren’s crackly voice calls behind him, but Kanso doesn’t
respond.
As he walks,
Maiya’s words echo through his heart, “Not
everything in life has to be a barter. Sometimes you can do something just
because you want to.”
This brings a
light smile to Kanso’s face. He’s not totally sure why this small deed makes
him feel good. Maybe in a way this is his manner of giving back to the universe
for his good fortune. Perhaps he just didn’t want to be another selfish
Fendaren. Maybe he did it to feel wealthy and powerful. In the end he doesn’t
care why he did it, he’s just glad that he did. It feels freeing that he did it
simply because he wanted to.
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