Chapter 18: Xienorra

When Xen came outside from the bank facade, he was still smiling but not his greatest, even though he was carrying twenty bags of piloncitos that guards had to help him put in the cart. As they went to their temporary home in an abandoned building, Xen found a letter but directly threw it in the trash.

"Xen, is everything okay?" she asked, unable to hide the heavy weight in her chest and thought that there might be something wrong. Different amounts of piloncitos, different banks, and different places, but there was one thing that was the same: the difference. Too much difference had become consistent, stagnant, and a memorized routine.

"Of course, none! Don't you trust your big brother?" Xen then mocked an act of gripping his chest as if having a heart attack. "It hurts me, you know? My beloved little sister isn't trusting his amazing big brother anymore!"

Xienorra giggled through the humor Xen oozed out. "You're over dramatic, brother. Of course, I trust you!" Of course, Xen was amazing and there's no chance he would fail. She believed in him.

One dark and cold midnight, while sleeping on the cold bare dusty floor, Xen woke her up and told her, "Let's play hide and seek."

Xienorra was confused, trying to glimpse her brother's face by the dim light of the moon trying to pierce through the window. They never played hide and seek in the evening because the banks were closed at night. She buried her face on the floor and started to count but Xen tapped her.

"No. This time, I'll count and you hide. If I find you before the sunlight, I'll never treat you in the restaurant so do your best."

Even though it was dark, Xienorra could feel his warm smile while staring at her. But at the same time, she noticed something small sparkled in his cheeks, reflected by small moonlight, crawling to his chin. But she trusted her brother.

She stood up when she heard a knock on the door. But Xen put his point finger against her lips and hissed. "Also, don't use the door. Go through the window at the back. Be as quiet as you can, okay?"

"But who was that?"

"It's just a cat. I'm going to start counting now and better hide your ass, okay?"

She smiled, whispering in a cute, exciting tone, "Okay!"

She went upstairs and did her best to hide inside the cabinet under the kitchen sink. There were cockroaches but she didn't mind. She anticipated that her brother would find him outside on the cold street at night until he came back inside as the sun shone up, he would be surprised at how good she was. And the next time they'll play again, she would hide in different places, not copying her brother's predictable move.

Xienorra yawned every minute but her mind was too excited to sleep. She waited for an hour. But she couldn't see outside if the sun had already came up. Until her excitement turned into boredom so she decided to go outside. The sun had already peaked in the sky, no wonder she felt starving since it was already lunchtime. But as she came down, all she found was blood splattered around the dusty walls, dripping on the floor like a pond, bathing a cold deformed body just how it was beaten into death.

She doesn't know what to feel or think. She directly opened the bloody envelope and pulled out the letters. It was all noticed by the bank telling him to pay his debts or his life and her sister would be the payment. He had no real job. All he did was to loan and loan to the other bank to pay the first loan and repeat the pattern until it became too big that the bank couldn't offer him the amount anymore. And those projects were just a waste of money, a very foolish way of thinking it would bring them luck.

Now that she had only herself, she did her best to survive in a smarter way but still ended up in her near-death experience if only the Invisible King hadn't shown up and given her a second chance to start over. So now she'll do everything to perform well at her new decent job. She already failed once and she couldn't afford to make it twice.

~

"Oh, Chame," Kairus' raspy voice suddenly calmed down, echoing through the dark hallway. "You're abducting a woman. You perv."

Xienorra's body was now sinking below her waist. The more she tried to get out, the more she sank.

"Stop teasing me! We're capturing her, you idiot! And besides..." Chame's tone turned down. "Papa might like her."

"So Papa is also a perv."

"I mean to be our sister!"

Kairus furrowed his brows. He was also being swallowed by the pond from the bottle of water Chame threw. "Are you stupid?"

"You're the one who's stupid!" Then a slim man in a brown civil guard uniform appeared in the middle. "That bamboo hat, fox kimono mask, and double glaives. I knew it, it was her! She works for the banks to sabotage business establishments to make them borrow and that's how she earns commissions. I never realized she has a match with you! You can't just kill precious gems, Kairus!"

"I'm not even getting started."

Chame turned to Xienorra while pouring his own brown hair with a bottle of water, wetting his eyes full of courage. "Fox lady. If you only want money, then we can share the profit of that box and work together with other businesses."

"Who told you that you can just decide on your own, Chame?"

"You won't regret this, Kairus. I promised you," he then turned to Xienorra and smiled. "You tried to change the world once and you failed. But this time will be different because you now have us." He then lent his hand. "My name's Chame Leon. Welcome to our family."

Xienorra accepted his offer, smirking behind her mask. trying to hold back her laughs by the foolishness of the man so called as Chame. He was full of confidence and ready to take the consequences.

This is the irony of intelligence. Those who think well are most likely easier to be swindled than those who don't. Because the way they take the bait makes them think they are solving puzzles. And their confidence made them fight for what they believe–believing their perception is better than anyone. They create an influence of their foolishness without realizing they've become the plague.

Just as what she needed, an audience. Because no matter how the director wants to execute the story, if the audience demands something, it's either to follow them to raise its popularity or disobey them to reduce the interest of the viewers. She didn't expect someone to secretly eavesdrop on them but that's a possibility that had now turned into reality.

Zao Xienorra
The Queen of Connections

MVCabusas | The Invisible King