Madhouse

~ Fate

We rise with the morning sun, it’s light yet hidden by the city walls, warms the sky ringing in a new dawn even for those of us living in shadow. A group of strange young people wearing shirts and capes bearing the purple eye, wander about the streets outside, cleaning up the roads.

They carry some food that they give out to the few people living on the streets and in the alleys, due to poverty, drunkenness, or both. A fight nearly sparks up, but the leader steps in and calms things down before it can escalate. I’ve known plenty of the sort, those people who just want to shine a little bit brighter.

I stretch at the table, cracking my knuckles as breakfast settles inside. The oils from the bacon, resisting the milk that tries to wash it down.

“So, I’ll need some extra hands on the two big days of the festival.” Lucette says, her long blonde hair tied up into a braid over her shoulder. “You’ll need to deliver food, take orders, and if any customers want to barter without using money, then just call for me.”

“Does that happen often?” I ask.

“More often than in the past, apparently.” She says, shrugging. “The owner doesn’t mind, and it’s a bit of fun for everyone really. Ah, I’ll be back in a second.”

She bounces over to the customer that just walked into the door, laughing at something he says and just hanging about close and getting rather touchy with him. In short moments, she heads over to the kitchen to give the owner the order before returning to us.

“So, the most important thing is to remember what each patron is asking for and deliver it to them hot.” She says. “They’re not expecting perfection, but we should try to give it to them anyway.”

“That sounds rather simple.” Hope says, looking around the room with a shrug.

“Yeah, say that again when you have customers pulling you left and right.” She laughs, “You can’t forget anyone, okay? That’s the easiest mistake to make when it gets busy. You also have to pay attention to the quiet ones. They’re less likely to shout to you, and you have to go to them if they’re looking like they need service, got it?”

“I’ll be on the lookout.” I say, I can usually read a room pretty well, but I’m really not sure that Hope can handle this all that well. She’s not good with people even normally, will she be able to handle the crowds while working?

Did I make a mistake, bringing her into this?

Should I have sorted something else out?

“If it’s too much for you, I can probably handle working the whole festival.” I say to Hope, but she doesn’t seem as concerned as I thought she’d be.

“Thanks, but I should be okay.” She says, the smile she returns doesn’t feel as pressured as before. Maybe she’ll be fine, she was even willing to leave the bones back in our room, though we made sure to secure it all properly.

“So, that’s cute and all, but who’s up first?” Lucette says. “It’ll be easier training you two separately, so I’ll have one of you help me for the morning and through lunch, and the other, dinner and into the evening. Ah, but don’t worry, I’ll set things up so you can spend time with each other on the day of the festival.”

“Ah, that sucks…” I say, rubbing at my head and trying to figure out a solution.

“You’ll still have the afternoon to explore the city together.” She says, “We can make that the morning, or evening if that works better?”

“Evening.” Hope says, surprising me by taking the lead. “We’re wanting to visit the evening markets tonight.”

“Ah, well the first shift in the morning to lunch, then the second afternoon to dinner?” She suggests. “We need to get you into shape before the festival starts.”

“That should be fine.” I say, already loathing how much time we’ll be spending apart. I mean, I’ve heard it said that distance can make the heart grow fonder, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about this.

“Good morning!” Sable shouts, entering the tavern floor and running right over to us before I can come up with an idea to get out of this. “Do you girls have some time? I can show you around all the best places in this city.”

Her offer has to do with Hopes quest, and as much as I hate it, I will not get in the way of that.

“How about I take the morning shift, then.” I say, reaching out and taking Hopes hand. “If you find anything interesting, you’ll have to take me there afterwards though, okay?”

“Okay.” Hope says, nodding firmly and looking over towards Sable nervously. She shakes off her hesitation and rises from the table. “I have to get something from my room first, also, we have to be back for lunch.”

“I’ll wait here for you!” Sable says, excitedly nodding towards Hope as she leaves up the stairs.

“Lucette, it’s good to see you again. How are things here?” Sable asks, smiling happily. “Everything going okay, you don’t need any extra help?”

“Well, with these two girls helping me, I think it’ll be okay.” She replies. “You got a little too much attention from the older guys when you helped us with the drinks.”

“That’s because you squeezed me into a dress and messed with my hair!” Sable says, shaking her head at Lucette, who chuckles at the memories it surely inspires passing her drink to Sable.

“Well, you would look good in a dress.” I say, and Sable chokes.

“Okay, I’m ready!” Hope says, joining us but now properly equipped with her bag. “What were you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Sable says, rushing to her feet. “Let’s get going!”

Hope hesitates to follow for a moment, hanging by the side of the table and looking back at me.

“I… I’m looking forward to the night market.” She says, not waiting for my reply before rushing away. I don’t know what she’s thinking exactly but hearing her say that just makes me feel a little bit happy, Lucette leaps at me the moment that Hope is gone.

“Are you two a thing?” She asks, “Like, love and romance and all that stuff?”

“Yeah,” I say, “Or well, we’re working on it.”

“Ah, I’ll leave her alone then.”

“Huh?” I ask, surprised by her attitude. “I thought you were into men? What with how you were looking at that customer.”

“Oh, I’m after anything fun.” She says, nodding. “I’m not running around and opening my legs up to anyone, don’t get the wrong idea. I just like flirting. It’s fun. The world has already ended, if we can’t have fun now, then what’s the point?”

“The world has already ended?” I ask. “Don’t you mean it’s going to end?”

“Nope. I meant what I said.” She replies, smiling and hopping up from the table, handing me an apron. “The world is already over, we’re just reliving our last moments over and over again. Haven’t you ever felt it, like we’ve done this before?”

“Not really.” I say, putting the stained apron on and taking the dishes back over to the bar area to be cleaned.

“Not everyone does.” She admits waving goodbye to the man who came in for breakfast. “It’s not really important if you do or not, all that matters is that you keep living happily. This year has been going on for… I don’t know how many cycles, but I know that I’ve met you here before. I know that I’ve worked with you here before, like this, but a little bit different.”

“Huh…” I try to imagine her words as real, this year repeating on end. For some that would be fine, for others it would be torture. I simply can’t believe it. “Well, I’m looking to see next year, and the year after that. So, I hope you’re wrong about that.”

She chuckles, leaning in close and resting her chin on my shoulder from behind as she surveys the room.

“It’s not so bad, it’s actually a lot of fun.” She says, “Just keep looking for things that make you smile, and everything will be okay.”

“Well, I think I’ve had a nice start to the year.” I say, “What about you?”

“Hmmm?” She hums thoughtfully, “I think I’m still missing something, but I won’t know what until it comes. It’s exciting in a way, not quite remembering it, but knowing that there’s something fun ahead.”

“I guess so.”

~ Hope

Sable weaves through the thick streets like someone well acquainted to the mobs around us, many of them give way to her, or wave as she goes past. She always replies with a smile of her own, trying to bring warmth to this morning still filled with the lingering memories of the cold.

“The town had it rough a few years ago.” She says, grabbing my hand as I nearly lose her in the crowd and shooing off a kid who reaches for my bag. I panic a moment, holding my bag tight with my other hand, but Sable pulls me along through the crowd, her casual demeaner disarms my fright.

She’s not trying anything yet, and if she does it’s better that Fate isn’t with me. I can more easily fight and run if I don’t have to defend anyone with me.

Sable’s eyes are placed firmly ahead as she sticks to a path that only she knows. I have to steady my sword so that I don’t accidentally hit people with it as I pass.

“What happened? It seems… not horrible right now.” I say, still focusing on the people around me, those who could turn out to be threats at any moment. I’ve seen even little old ladies turn vicious, when a mob forms.

“The mayor of the town declared himself lord ruler and started demanding all sorts of crazy things. When he demanded all the women of marriageable age be brought to his mansion, people had enough.”

“You killed him?” I ask, as we head up a long winding path. The stairs climb up to building roofs, which then climb up to the roofs of those beside them. I see that the buildings below have been reinforced to handle the added weight of the structures built atop them.

“That was discussed as an option.” Sable says, rubbing at her chin. There’s a small cut on her cheek, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering her. “In the end, we didn’t want it to end in violence, so we stripped him naked and kicked him out of the city gates. A few archers shot arrows at him to keep him moving, and he hasn’t come back since.”

I can’t stop a chuckle from escaping as I imagine it. A big overweight noble, or in this case a mayor, running for his life while the people behind just throw slurs and a few poorly aimed arrows. If that was all that they’d done to my family…

“A good decision.” I say. “When you start burning people, I don’t think it really ever stops after that. You just start looking for more and more people to hang over the fire.”

“I haven’t heard of anything like that happening in the towns around here. Are you from far away?” She asks, as we rise up past the expansive city. It’s strange, the casual attention she gives me feels lighter than what I feel with Fate. It’s like I can say anything and none of it will really matter, there’ll be no great consequences that are born from it.

“I came from across the desert.” I say, walking up the last set of stairs. The wind is strong up here, and the rails that have been nailed into place aren’t made to inspire confidence in their safety. “I was a princess, but then… people had enough.”

“That sounds… terrible.” Sable says. “You don’t need to be worried about that here. Not unless you try to take over and start causing everyone trouble.”

“I don’t want anything like that.” I say, waving my hands in denial.

“Then you’ll be fine here.” Sable says, “We’re here.”

A small lookout rests atop the heights of the city, and from here we can see the full expanse of it.

It’s… ugly.

I can’t say as much out loud, but the buildings aren’t beautifully constructed, or even aesthetic in a chaotic sort of way. It’s a mottled brown, an ugly stain surrounding us, and the ordered farmland beyond the walls only carves up patches of land to paint in more ugly colours. The green forest in the distance is the most beautiful thing here, and it’s but a line on the horizon.

“It’s nice up here, the wind in your hair. If you focus, you can see all the people in the street going about their lives, doing their own things. It makes me wonder what they’re going through.

“Are they enjoying their lives? Are they having a rough time? What can I do to make all of this city better for everyone here. What can I do to make their smiles a little brigher.” Her eyes sparkle as she looks down over the city, seeing something that I simply can’t. It’s not something I’m interested in understanding.

This isn’t what I’m here for. This isn’t what I want.

Looking over at Sable, I pull my hand free, and look down over the city.

I wonder if I can see the Madhouse from here.