Avanth swept loose trash into a paper bag and craned his head to look at the hyperscreen in the middle of the square. Hooded figures swarmed around him, not caring if they crushed his fingers while rushing by. He blew out a breath as someone threw a juice carton at his head. He threw it into the makeshift trash bag and stood up.

Peering at the large screen in the middle of the bustling market, he returned to his spot behind the jewelry booth. Leaning against the wooden pole, he crossed his arms and watched the news program run.

"And now, previously recorded footage of a robbery in the large city of Eyra. The thief has not yet been caught and if you have any information regarding the heist, please report it to the nearest police station," the lead newscaster was saying. She folded her arms neatly on the table as her profile flew to the bottom-left hand corner of the screen to make room for the security footage.

Avanth, bored out of his mind, watched the small figure dart across the screen. A darkly dressed female in all leathers bypassed the main gate, only seeming like a dark rat from the angle of the camera.

After her brief sprint to the back door of the Museum of Iaecaean Art, the footage glitched to a video of the female running away from the building, a small bulge in her leather jacket. She clutched that bulge as she ran with inhuman speeds towards the gate leading to the rest of the world.

The gate was already closed by the time she got to the gate but she turned around and faced the guards rushing for her.

The lower half of her face was obscured in shadows from her beanie and the low tilt of her head, but you could clearly see her dark eyes. She closed those determined eyes and the guards with their outstretched tasers fell back.

Avanth pushed off from the pole and stared directly at the screen. How—

A blast of lightning erupted from her body and his jaw dropped. The female had magic. She had to be fae with the sharp, jagged spike of electricity that had erupted from her.

The footage cut off and became slightly staticky due to the electricity in the air before it completely ended and looped itself.

He felt a rumble of power rushing through the room and quickly shut his eyes. When his breathing had steadied again, he glanced at the hyperscreen where the footage of the fae's escape had been replaced with a man talking about her lucky heist.

Avanth realized that no one else had seen that brief flash of lightning.

He stared at the monitor for a good long time with widened eyes as he rewatched the footage of the fae female's thievery. He had been told . . .

The fae female was not supposed to exist. He pushed back the urge to check that his shoulder-length black hair was covering his sharp ears and blinked, hard, trying to clear the flash of lightning from his mind.

Her simple act of robbery would cause an uproar once they realized that no human could have taken that book so effortlessly. He saw the way her lithe body had ran down the three hundred meter parking lot.

He averted his eyes from the hyperscreen and muttered to himself.

"Shit. That female has landed us in shit. Once the government finds out—there will be a fae hunt . . ." he whispered as he felt his dark power stir again. He had heard stories of the first fae wipeout.

A fae male had killed a human king in retaliation for stealing his human lover and that single act had caused a centuries-long war. Of course, this was a thousand years ago, but the humans at that time had still been developed enough to decimate most of the fae population.

Atomic bombs and machine guns . . .

And he was sure that whatever she had stolen was important. It was on the news after all.

He had no reason for his anxiety though, plenty of fae citizens have gotten away with murder and robbery through . . . certain means, but he couldn't calm the sudden rush of panic.

"Hey, you."

Avanth turned around to find a woman scowling at him from the front side of the booth. She pursed her lips and scanned the jewelry for display on the table.

"Is that real silver?" she asked. Her husband drifted over from where he was browsing dart guns to make sure his wife doesn't make a pricy purchase.

"Is that real Channel?" Avanth countered blandly, nodding to her handbag. The woman turned pink and muttered something Avanth chose not to hear.

"What do you sell kid? Knock-off gold?" the man scoffed, trying to drag his wife back to the dart booth.

"She sells jewelry, Amster. And I fricking don't care if it's not real, I have a business meeting in a week and I need to look loaded," the wife pulled against her husband's grip and continued examining each piece of jewelry.

Avanth pressed his lips together as he watched the lady browse, "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Do you have any star jewelry?" she asked, slightly distracted by the teal waterdrop necklace she was looking at.

"We have some starfall necklaces," Avanth replied. He took out a silver necklace from inside the display case and showed it to the woman. Along the front of the chain, long strands of stars came down like an uneven waterfall.

"How much is it?" she asked. Avanth checked the price on his tablet and scrolled through all the other sales on the market for something similar to it.

"200 silver coins," he glanced at her retreating husband and added, "It's much cheaper than any other seller here in the market. The dealers like to up the price. I know we're expensive, but it's the cheapest you'll get here."

The woman's husband growled, "Come on, Mareh. We shouldn't have come to the black market. Look at all these sketchy dealers here. We're better off finding something in an antique shop."

Avanth frowned. The woman protested, "But I want this necklace. I don't think I can find any like it."

Avanth cut in, "It's a unique piece, made by an ancestor of mine. We have a long line of jewelers in our family." It wasn't true, it was just passed through centuries of dark dealers, but he didn't mind lying. Especially if it would speed up this sale.

"Fine, Mareh. But after, we get the hell out of here. This is murder territory." The lady—Mareh—rolled her eyes but didn't argue with her husband.

"How much was it again?" she asked Avanth. He was about to respond when screaming started in the eastern booths.

"Run or die!" 

Gunshots sounded in the air after the shout rang out, warning the other black-market dealers to get the heck out of there. Avanth made to bolt, but the woman grabbed his elbow.

"We pay now, and you don't go until I get that necklace," the woman hissed. She pulled out a coin purse and slammed twenty gold coins on the table. "Is that sufficient enough for you?" Avanth nodded and tossed her the starfall necklace.

The couple immediately dashed away, leaving Avanth all by himself. He glanced around the booth, looking for anything worth salvaging, but most of it was all knock-off junk.

He grabbed a handful of fake gold jewelry and ran towards the exit. He had to leave the underground market. He heard the sirens of police cars from above the subway due to the fact of his stupid fae hearing. Occasionally, the police would raid black-market holes like this, but everyone who sold shady things would always be determined enough to find another square to sell again.

Avanth was rounding the corner that led up to the subway lines when a heavy body jumped him.

He felt his arms being held against his back and knew it was no use against the Iaecaean police who would detain him through torturous means if he objected.

He felt himself being dragged upright. Two male police officers surrounded him, and one of them was holding his arms back. Both officers were similar in their olive complexion and with the matching uniforms, they were impossible to tell apart.

He would try to make use of the cursed powers he inherited from the fae, but with panic coursing through his veins and his arms restricted, he had no choice but to stay incredibly still and hope the police mistook him for a lampost or something.

The officer in front of him held out a hand, palm up, "Papers?"

"What?" Avanth asked. First, no one in the black market had permits to sell, or they would do it out in the open where there would be more customers. Second, even if he had papers, he couldn't show them if his hands were tied behind his back.

The officer sighed, "Do you have any ID on you?"

"Course not." At this point, everyone who entered the underground network knew not to bring identification with them for this exact reason.

"What's your name?" the officer behind him asked.

"Leonardo DaVinci," Avanth deadpanned. The officer holding his arms growled.

"Do a face recognition scan. We need to catch more of these illegals like her." The officer in front nodded as he took out a tablet to run face recognition software on Avanth's face.

Holding up the tablet, the officer motioned for the other officer to center his face in the frame. Avanth rolled his eyes and gave a mock smile for the camera. The officer he could see scowled, but downloaded the picture of him to the app.

A faint beeping came from the tablet as the computer ran through all results.

After a minute, a ping sounded and the officer raised his eyebrow, reading the name on the screen. "Avangeline Acharya?"

Avanth stiffened as he heard his real name, "Just Avanth." The officer scoffed but scrolled through his information in the city's database.

"Orphan, huh? And dealing in the dark business? Come on, let's go, we have a nice cozy cell in Ryhun Confinements for you." The second officer started shoving him forward and Avanth purposefully stumbled all the way to the police van.

The officer pushed him into the backseat and Avanth quickly flipped them off. One of the officers saw it and growled. The car door slammed and the engine was on soon after.

On the whole drive to the holding center, Avanth was cursing his way through hell.

"You have one large mouth, girlie," one officer muttered halfway through the drive. Avanth ignored him and the fire and intensity of his profanity increased.

"Can you shut up?" the officer driving snapped.

"Can you get me ice cream?" Avanth retorted, sticking out a tongue for good measure.

"I freaking swear —" both officers growled in unison. Avanth almost laughed at the expression of the officers he saw in the rear-view mirror.

"Aww, twinsies," Avanth cooed before finally shutting up.

When the car finally parked in front of the large white stone building of the holding center, Avanth was close to falling asleep. Why the heck are car rides so sleep-inducing?

The officer in the driver's seat cut the engine and motioned for the second officer to move Avanth into a holding cell.

The officers exited the car and one of them took one look at the flimsy sheet metal of the cuffs they had put on Avanth and ordered the second officer to change them.

"There are silver cuffs in the office," the officer informed, already taking out the keys for the metal cuffs on his wrists.

The officer reached for his wrist and he felt the lock click free and he slid the bindings from his wrists. He flexed his hands and shook them out.

"Do you know how itchy my wrists were?" Avanth muttered as he gently rubbed his arms. He quickly glanced at the rotating camera perched above the entrance to the holding center. He had to get out of here. Quick. If they did any blood tests while he was here . . . let's just say the best thing that could happen is his death.

Avanth's mind raced and in his impulsive thoughts, he just . . . chose the most stupid plan and decided to go with it.

Bringing forth his magic, a ball of cold burning fire started in his chest. He fed the ball negative thoughts and felt a chill creep over his skin.

Keeping the camera in his peripheral vision, he continued rubbing his wrists, hoping the guard didn't notice the ways his brows were furrowed in concentration.

Every dark thought of his was poured into the creation of the evil inside of him. Feeling his hair stand on end, Avanth shivered. He hated his power. Absolutely despised it, but this was one time where he would not suppress it. 

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he freed the darkness from himself, allowing it to be free.

He had timed it perfectly. The camera mounted on the wall had just pivoted to the right, completely missing whatever was about to happen.

Darkness leaked from his skin, casting the whole sidewalk in shadow. The officer watching him didn't notice the growing cold. His attention was all on the hyperphone in his hand as he scrolled through social media. Avanth fed the dark more emotions.

Soon, the dark had completely taken over, and every thought of his contained images of torturous death.

He ignored every logical sense and his focus returned to the officer in front of him. The dark whispered into his ear, End him.

The dark lashed out and speared itself through the oblivious officer's chest. A gurgling noise erupted from his throat as his blood flow stopped. He stared wide-eyed at Avanth, the dark casting an evil aura around him.

"B-beast," he hissed as he dropped to the floor, the evil sucking out all life.

The words broke past the protective barrier the dark had formed around his mind, forcing him back into reality.

He chained his magic once more and all the darkness seeped back into his skin, returning to its place in his cold heart.

When his mind cleared, he saw the second officer lying on the ground as well. He was at the doorstep with a pair of silver cuffs in his hand.

His chest didn't rise and fall, indicating the inevitable; death. Shoot, Avanth had not meant to kill him as well, but the darkness had been so tempting . . . he hated himself for giving into that sadistic pleasure.

Avanth took in his surroundings, and except for the white stone building in front of him—a plain tower that dug deep underground to accommodate more prisoners—there was no sign of civilization besides the frog sign placed across the street. Always remember the Holy Frog, a reference to the world leader's resemblance to an amphibian.

The quiet was punctured by the sound of thudding feet.

A whole army of guards rushed outside, every single one of them bearing guns.

Shoot, he had forgotten about the camera on the wall, monitoring everything outside. It must have rotated back to its original position to catch footage of the two dead guards.

"Fae whore," one of them hissed as they surrounded him, guns all aimed at his head. They herded him into the building with the massive size of their force. 

"Arrest her." 

These guards were more trained, more knowledgeable. They were not the recruits that were sent out for illegal sale activity, but the real deal. He was quickly detained and sat in a holding cell made for a box.

There was a bucket in the corner of the narrow room for him to do his business. And that's it. The cell's width was only two inches bigger than the span of his shoulders.

It would be fine except for the fact that there were three pairs of handcuffs around his wrist along with chains around his neck that were attached to the ceiling. The heavy silver dug into his skin and why the heck were restraints so itchy.

He leaned against the cell door and looked out the barred window. He mastered his face into an expression of complete boredom.

"Anybody in a cell near me? Jail buddies right? Do you want to play the sentence game? Bro, I hate this."

Avanth prattled on and on until a female voice shouted from a cell across from him.

"Can you just shut the frick up?" she hissed. 

"Depends," he said nonchalantly. He examined his fingernails. "And do you know why the heck are these cells so dang narrow?"

"They were made for people like us," she replied, already tired of their conversation. "Less movement apparently means less magic according to those dumb people."

"What do you mean?" Avanth asked. A female face popped up in the window of the cell door. Her face was framed by dark hair that was cropped at the shoulders with a white swirl design sprayed across the sleek length of her hair. Dark eyes stared out at him, contemplative.

"We're fae," she said simply.

Avanth's eyes widened, "You're—"

She nodded, "I don't even know why I'm detained like this. It's not like I have actual magic."

"What type of magic?" he asked. She shrugged, "I don't know, like warrior-goddess shit."

"What? That sounds so cool!" Avanth exclaimed, faking excitement, using up the rest of his energy.

"Whatever. What's your power?" she asked him. Avanth shrugged, not feeling like answering her question. If he didn't acknowledge what he had just done, he didn't have to face it—at least not yet.

Avanth perked right up, "Do you want to play that name guessing game? Like where I try to guess your name by how your look like?"

"What the heck, dude?" she raised an eyebrow, just barely visible against the barred window.

"C'mon, it'll be fun. Jail buddies, remember?" he grinned.

"I don't remember agreeing to that."

Ignoring her, he stroked his chin in a mock thinking pose, "Hmm, you look like a Bobette?"

She stared at him incredulously, "You'll never guess it."

"Fine, then just tell me," Avanth responded, shrugging. "Or, I could keep guessing. With your facial structure, maybe a Jessica?"

"Are you kidding me? No. My name's Iaelie." She propped her elbows on the ledge of the window and shrugged. "Interesting name right?" It was actually a pretty cool name.

Avanth's eyebrows shot up, "Wow, I was nowhere close." Iaelie snorted.

He was going to suggest another game when an officer started down the stairs. His boots clicked against the polished wood floor and Iaelie froze too. Right, she was fae too. He was so used to human ignorance that he forgot that some people are attentive.

Five seconds later, the officer had fully descended the flight of stairs and grinned at them both.

"You guys are coming with me. We're shipping a group of people to Zaele. Boys in one bus, girls in another. Come on, let's go," the officer pulled out a key and unlocked the door to Iaelie's cell.

She started and squinted at Avanth, finally taking in the hastily chopped-off hair. His features had been concealed by the dark cell, but when the officer secured Iaelie's bonds and started on his cell door, Iaelie saw his dark clothes and nodded with understanding. How she had guessed—

They were both led up the steps, the iron chains dangling off their limbs clinking with each movement. A beeping noise followed by a crackly sound came from behind them. The officer pulled out a walkie-talkie and held it up to his face, "Roger that."

Exiting the facility, Avanth got a lot of nasty looks from the officers gathered around the bus. He just grinned right back and waved his hand as much as his restraints allowed him to.

Not even bothering to look back and engrave Ryhun Confinements forever into his memory, he slumped onto one of the bus benches. Iaelie sat down next to him, tilted her head against the headrest, and was promptly asleep.

How the heck do people do that?

But considering the grimy-ness of her skin, she had been in that cell for days. And probably tired as heck. Avanth leaned away from her and stared out the window, looking at nothing in particular but just letting his mind wander.

Soon, he felt the presence of the bus filling up with other inmates but he ignored them altogether. 

When the bus made its way out of the driveway after half an hour of sitting uselessly on that bench while the officers finalized some shit paperwork, Avanth had finally accepted his fact that once he made his way to wherever the heck Zaele was, he probably wouldn't be free.

january 20, 2022
𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖍𝖊𝖊, 𝐁𝐚𝐢
© azalyme ₂₀₂₂