"And the voice of the goddess Mar took form in the sound of a thousand trumpets. Her voice, brilliant and exhalant, showed mercy to the ghost of Sanc Crusian as he descended the steps of Eternal Chaos. 'You shall become a guide, a protector of the future, as the world lies in your hands. Go now, and do as I say, for now you are being sent by your creator. Your quest, sacred and pure, is just as holy as your life before your doom. The Santa Daphne is the figure you shall die again for.' And so, the ghost of Sanc Crusian wept in joy, though the physical tears of a man would not be his yet, as he was in the quantum realm of fearful spirits."

⸺ Spectre 34:8-15

The constant sound of soft wave tingled his ears. His head, lulling forth and back, would almost fall as he was so close to falling asleep. The Floating Market would appear soon, and thousands of boats jammed the water's traffic almost out of nowhere.

'Welcome to South Balla Cita!' The sign said.

He ruffled his hair, fixing it before coming off-shore. He tied his sampan to the nearest pole and strode lazily through swarms of crowds purchasing their daily needs. Old ladies with hijabs called for him to buy their vendible.

He looked upwards, the sun heaping above a thousand grey clouds made out of soothe, giving the Floating Market slight essence of natural light. Streaks of yellows splayed the rooftops of so many candescent wooden homes, their structures fragile as if the whole market could just plunge into the river if it wanted to.

"Jude!" A young man, skinny like tin foil, dashed across the wooden platform, bouncing off the vendors and buyers. There was a smile so wide plastered on his face.

"That a smile?" Judas teased. "Since when can Jove Bethelom smile?"

"Since the letters came in," he answered. "Come quick!"

Judas hated surprises, but he skittled uncomfortably, following his unreasonably giddy brother through the jam-packed market. They banked left on an alley full of merchant shops, and stopped on a warehouse with a wooden sign plastered boldly at the front wall.

'Argonauts Repairs'

They clambered past men working with their electric wielding machines, their faces bright with joy as to welcome the shop's owner.

"Why's everyone so blithesome?" He asked, but no one answered. They just shove him back, and Judas climbed the metal staircase leading into his office. There, a group of people sat on the couches, their faces weeping with great joy as a fortunate news just heed them.

"Is anyone here gonna tell me what's up?"

"Dad." Judas' son, Argo, his blond hair messy with grease, hugged his father tighter than he ever had. Judas embraced him and stared at his wife for questions. She too had been crying.

As Argo pulled back, he reached for something in his bag and gave it to his father. It was a tablet and words were written on the screen. Judas frowned before reading it aloud.

"'Professor Ira Patron, Head of the Industrial Engineering Study Program in Coral Terra's Engineering Academy, hereby congratulates student applicant Argo Bethelom for receiving a one-hundred-percent study tuition scholarship in our beloved university. This scholarship covers the tuition in full, the exchange program, the community fee, the dormitory payment, and all that is enclosed in the appendix.'"

As Judas stared back into the people watching his reaction, he dropped the tablet in awe, and hugged his son again. This was the best day of his life.

"I'm so proud of you, son," he said with quivering voice.

"Vi got it too," Jove said. His brother was brushing the hair of a young woman, his daughter. She clenched a similar paper, and Judas didn't have to guess what was written inside.

Judas hugged her too. This day would change his life forever, and he knew that.

"I've contacted an apartment agent for an empty room. I'll be staying there for a bit until he can settle in."

"True, true," Judas said, still delighted. "When's the semester start?"

"In like... eight months. The study starts at August."

"Okay. I'm proud of you two. Don't let Coral Terra change you, and don't do anything stupid. The SEU is stronger than ever now and they're pretty good at propagating youths to⸺"

"Dad," Argo interrupted. "Dad, we're going to be fine, alright? The academy's like far inside this industrial complex with layers of security checkpoints. It's the safest place we can ever be."

Judas smiled. "Okay. I trust you." He sighed. "But CT is very different from Balla Cita and⸺"

"Dad," Argo interrupted. "We'll be fine. We promise."

Judas nodded. "Alright. I trust you."

"Brother, can I speak to you for a bit, here?" Jove pulled Judas to the side with his face suddenly serious.

The old man followed Jove outside where the market was busy with vendors shouting discounts at passerby. He sighed before lighting his cigar, then clasped his fingers before leaning back to the wooden wall behind him.

"There's this kid..."

"U-huh?" Judas scraped his head, wondering where this conversation was going. "She eastern?"

"What? No, no. Listen to me here for a bit, Jude."

He sighed. After such an overwhelming news, he couldn't bother to talk about work.

"Just give me five minutes."

"Two."

"Right... Two..."

Judas lifted his brow.

"Right. As I said. This... girl... is from Central Balla Cita. She's remarkable, okay? She's rebellious, and she's in a deep trouble."

"What do you want me to do?" Judas crossed his arms now, bugged that his brother stole the happy moment from him with this edgy conversation.

"You told me you were thinking about assembling a crew," Jove stated.

"That was four months ago and I think you forgot the news that I've scraped the damn idea."

"This girl wants in," Jove continued anyway. "She's a rich kid, alright? Her father's a wealthy politician, but she ain't got the smoothest relationship with her parents. Very strict and all. Kid tried to murder her parents once."

"Gods. Look, Jove, I know what you're doing here. I don't think I'll continue with this plan. I want to drop this 'crew' idea, alright? Our kids are bringing our name, and so is the other way around. They have a bright future ahead of them, and we can't ruin it for them."

Jove stroked his hair but nodded. "I agree. But at least help this girl to have some work. Her name's Cara de Staav, alright?"

"De Staav?"

"Popular name, I know."

"You're really pushing our boundary here, brother."

"Look, she was helping two of her former classmates, both easterners, to get off the island into Pacha. She shares the same value of what we've been working on, okay? She's homeless now, and a fugitive too. She's a very good coder... and has an intuition into, you know, hacking bank cyber systems and online security cameras."

"This isn't a comfortable position you're putting me into."

"I understand, I really do. But despite the scholarship... and despite everything. Lara's pregnant, brother. That's the third good news today, but my wife and I can't sustain another baby with this work."

Judas jerked back and shook his head. He didn't know what to make of this. "Have you not heard about a product called condom?"

Jove shrugged. "That's not the point, Jude! We need the money. You need to sustain Argo's life in CT too, don't you? I have a contact about a job⸺"

"A week ago, the government just decided to hunt and purge every fucking easterner in Nevva and Codal, brother. They're very sensitive, and helping a random wealthy girl whose being disowned by her parents is not on the top of my bucket list right now."

"That's exactly the reason I'm bringing you this request now! Artha's concentrated on taking vengeance against the easterners. Cara de Staav isn't one, and we're practically being shielded by this new war the mad president is waging. This is the perfect cover for us. Think about the money we can gather with this plan!"

"Fine!" Judas snatched the still-burning cigar from Jove's mouth and smoked it. He coughed a bit before throwing the thing to the ground. "But no more! After this job, we're done. We have to be done, because our kids... they're the price of our failure."

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Cover Art: https://id.pinterest.com/pin/786863366160424847/