CHAPTER 18

After more than an hour lost in the labyrinth of corridors, caves, and hallways beneath Muspelheim, Alex and Lÿarah finally reached the surface. To their surprise, they accessed the city through a building, but the lights there were off, and the people were too desperate to care about them.

“What's happening?” Asked Lÿarah. “After the mess we made down there, I thought there would be a 'welcome committee' waiting for us here.”

“People seem to be fleeing from something... Let's go outside and see what's going on.”

When they stepped out of the building, they saw something that left them speechless.

“But what? Did we... did we cause this?” Said a terrified Lÿarah.

Several parts of the city were without power at the start of the evening. Fires were spreading in all directions, and new explosions could be heard from time to time.

“The furnaces of Muspelheim, the explosions underground, are spreading and hitting the pipelines that supply heat to the houses...” Alex said.

Alex brought both hands to his head.

“What did I do? What did I do?”

Lÿarah shook Alex.

“Stop it, pull yourself together! We don't know if it was us... Something else is happening... Look, aren't those troops over there?”

Alex took a few seconds to understand what was happening.

“But what's happening? The Mother of Logic's personal guard is fighting with... Wait, isn't that the royal guard of the Mathematician? What's going on?”

“It looks like a civil war. That’s what it is.” Said Lÿarah.

“Well... I only left for a few days... and I come back to this mess?”

“Listen to me... where's your house?”

“My house?”

“Wake up! Think fast!” Shouted Lÿarah. “No one has suspected us yet. Let’s use this chaos to hide and better assess the situation.”

“Yeah... You're right. Let’s go to my house.”

And so, into the night, amidst that chaos, the two moved through the shadows, through alleys and backstreets, until they reached near Alex’s house.

“We're close.”

“Great. Let’s move quickly.”

Suddenly, they were caught off guard by an explosion coming from a nearby house.

“Watch out!”

After some walls fell, a fire spread.

“Are you okay, Lÿarah?”

“I am, but the people in that house... Oh heavens! Just as you imagined... The heat pressure in Muspelheim is causing explosions in the house’s pipes...”

From inside the house, a woman ran down the street, desperate.

“What do I do? What do I do?” She shouted while standing still in the middle of the street.

She saw the two and started yelling at Alex.

“I don’t know what I should do! What if I do something I wasn’t told to do? I have no directives, please... give me an order! I... I can't decide... what do I do? What do I do?” The woman said desperately.

Lÿarah noticed the neighbors were also lethargic and took no initiative. They all suffered from the same problem as that woman. They didn’t know how to make decisions on their own or take responsibility for their choices.

“First... it would be good to put out the fire! Where is there water?” Shouted Lÿarah.

“But can I do that? I wasn’t told to; I wasn’t told to... I didn’t receive an order... give me an order!” She shook Lÿarah by the shoulders.

Lÿarah slapped the woman.

“Stop! Calm down! Tell me, are there other people in the house?”

“Yes... YES! My daughter... my daughter... is on the terrace! She... she...”

Alex looked at Lÿarah, as if to say, with his expression, that he would take care of it.

“Forget the water, ma’am... Let me handle this.” Said Lÿarah, pushing the woman away.

“[Execute: Ignition Loop]. I am fluid and free like water. [Compile: Water Parameter].” Lÿarah cast a water element magic and captured all the humidity from the air, concentrating it into water pockets. Manipulating the element, she began trying to extinguish the fire with it. She struggled, since this was attack magic, and changing how she manipulated the liquid to create jets of water was more complicated than using it as whips.

“[Execute: Ignition Loop]. Physical order magic. Gravity! [Compile: Special Physics Parameter].” Said Alex.

“How?” Lÿarah was surprised to see Alex repeat a magic she had only performed once in front of him.

Alex used the magic and jumped toward the terrace. He fell and got a little hurt, but he managed to reach the highest part of the house. There, in a corner, he saw a girl about 10 years old, in shock. She couldn’t decide what to do. Not even the most basic instinct, survival, prevailed against the powerful conditioning those people had been subjected to.

He didn’t think much. He grabbed the girl and jumped off the balcony. Seconds before a new explosion.

“Lÿarah!” He shouted for his partner.

She cast wind magic to cushion their fall. Alex carefully used his own body to protect the girl’s.

“Very good, Alex!”

“It wasn’t perfect... but it worked! Thanks for the help.”

The girl finally snapped out of her self-imposed trance and ran into her mother’s arms.

The mother turned to Lÿarah and Alex to thank them, then went pale with fear. The panic hadn’t made her notice before, but now she faced two strangers without necklaces.

“You... Don’t you have necklaces? Don’t you follow directives? Are you transgressors?”

“What?” Said Lÿarah, annoyed. “How about a ‘thank you,’ huh, ma’am?”

“TRANSGRESSORS!” The woman shouted, pointing a finger at both of them!

Everyone watching the fire passively started to look at the couple.

“Transgressors... this catastrophe is only happening because there are people who don’t follow their directives... it can only be you! TRANSGRESSORS!” Shouted a man toward the two.

“Let’s go, Alex; things got real.”

“But the house is still on fire.” Said Alex, worried.

“They’re more concerned with obeying their blind faith than saving their relatives and their stuff... to hell with it! All of them. RUN!”

They both ran into the night, leaving the mob behind.

After distracting the crowd, they reached the gate to Alex’s house.

“It’s locked... I don’t have the key.”

“Why? Let’s jump over.” Said Lÿarah.

“Oh... Yeah!”

Using gravity magic, the two easily jumped over the gate. They quickly passed through the small garden and headed to the door.

“Huh? It’s unlocked... If I remember correctly, I locked it when I left...”

“If you didn’t plan to come back, why did you bother locking it?”

“I don’t know... maybe out of habit?”

“And why the habit of locking the door? I thought crimes had been eradicated in a highly controlled society like yours.”

“Well, if that were the case, there wouldn’t need to be so many men working for the Executioner around. Believe me, there are transgressors. And there are many soldiers after them.”

“I think they’re more discontent than criminals... but let’s leave that for another time.”

When Alex entered the living room, he noticed some things were out of place. Or at least, it wasn’t how he usually arranged the furniture. The house also looked quite clean for a place that hadn’t seen its owner in many days.

“This place should already be filled with dust... Someone cleaned it.” Said Alex.

“Listen... I think there’s someone...”

They were surprised when a figure tried to strike Alex in the darkness that filled part of the house.

Lÿarah defended him, drawing her blade and striking a metal object heading for his head.

“Who is it?” Shouted Alex.

A woman was writhing in pain on the floor after falling. She was well-dressed and holding a... frying pan as a makeshift weapon.

“What are you doing in my house? Who are you?”

“Your house?” Said the young woman, very beautiful and young, emerging from the darkness and revealing herself. “What do you mean, your house? What’s your name?”

“My name is Alex. And yes, this house is mine.”

“So... You... Are you Alex?”

“Huh? Yes... That’s me... and you, are you?”

“Theresa.” She said, standing up. “If you’re Alex... then I’m your fiancée, your wife, or I don’t know what...”