I dedicate this chapter to some awesome, loyal readers who always vote and leave lovely comments on my chapters! A big thank you so much for; wprstx2 Giselle_2468 and Darkchester !

New chapter... enjoy ;D

PS: who could that be, hidden under that hood... *points to media*

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"Do you boys have a new playtoy?" the man said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. He shifted his gaze back to me. "You can do so much better than that, sweetheart."

"She doesn't matter to you, Balder," Vace said sharply. "Mind your own business."

The merchant smirked and shrugged lightly. "There is no need to get agitated, my friend."

"You are not my friend. You are my informant, one who I pay far too much," Vace said through gritted teeth. His shoulders were tense and I could see he had to restrain himself. "So, do your job and inform me."

"We're a little sensitive today, aren't we?" Balder coughed. When he didn't receive any reaction he continued, raising his palms dumbfounded. "We can't do this here, can we?"

Vace gave him a stare. "I don't understand why not."

"By the Five, boy, you are unbelievable. Come here." Balder pulled together his wares, slinging the bag over his shoulder. He disappeared again, waddling away into the alley behind his stall.

Vace, Haco and I shared a look, before slipping behind the stall and following the shady informant. As soon as we entered the alley, the sounds of the square muted, only the pulsing of the Globe remaining, laced with the scatter of some small rodents digging through the trash.

"This is better, is it not?" he said, setting his goods on the floor with a content grin. He folded his hands behind his back. He coughed softly and held up a hand. "Sir?"

Vace sighed audibly. He muttered something as he dug his hands in his pockets, pulling out a small rectangular black box. He pressed it in the merchant's hand. "Talk."

Balder weighed the box in his hands, pressing a button on the side. It made a small clicking sound. Blue light illuminated the informant's face, which made him grin contently. "That will suffice."

Vace gritted his teeth again. "Talk."

"Aren't you a joy," Balder sighed, "Well, down here it's been quiet. More than usual. The rally of last week is still lingering in everyone's minds."

"Rally?" I whispered, turning my body to Haco standing next to me.

"Executions," he said gravely, "Of prisoners, Seconds—women who are pregnant for the second time with their partners—, law-breakers and the like. Last week was apparently exceptionally bloody," he whispered, his eyes focussed on the merchant. "It's horrible."

Balder scraped his throat and continued. "Yes. The uppers are unaware and uninterested, per usual. There is a ball planned for upcoming week. Lords and Ladies of the Blackwater family host, I recall. Their daughter, Riven Blackwater, is celebrating her name day. I hear she is to be wed to the eldest Darkloft son."

"And?" Vace pressed, digging for more.

"And, nothing. As I said, it had been quiet," Balder said, smirking slightly.

Vace groaned. "Get out of my sight."

Balder shrugged. "Sure thing, boss," he laughed. "Until next time, sweetheart! Would you still be alive, of course. Ta ta!"

He took off with his wares and tabletop, disappearing in the crowd.

"I hate working with that man," Vace sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "He is greedy and tells too little."

"Why do you keep him in your service then?" I asked simply. I wasn't sure how to feel about the man.

"He holds much influence on the regg. They listen to him. Plus," he added, "he is a servant at the Darkloft Tower. He might know more. They are the richest Family in the Higher District."

"Fair enough," I answered, looking around the messy alley.

There were boxes and broken crates stacked in the corners, discarded and forgotten. The regg didn't often come to the ground, they tended to stay high up in the buildings. Only the poorest and the merchants stayed behind, desperately trying to sustain without support of the Masters. Balder seemed wealthy—for regg standards. I could still smell his foul odour lingering in the dim alley.

Yelling caught my attention. "Gather 'round, my friends!" I heard an unmistakable woman's voice exclaim. "The Goddess has spoken!"

The three of us shared a look. Vace and Haco seemed to be as surprised as I was.

"Not another..." Vace muttered, unable to hide his eye roll.

"Another?" I asked.

"Religion. It's the second this week," he said. He stepped towards the end of the alley, craning his neck to see what was going on.

My gaze darted to the by lightning struck Haco, glued against the ground.

When Vace turned around he saw, and immediately jumped in front of him. "No, Haco, it cannot be her," he said, pressing his palm against the red-haired boy's chest.

Haco ignored him, pushing past him and making his way into the crowd.

Vace called after him. "Haco! Wait!"

Haco disappeared into the mass, dispersing into the stream of people. With his trademark red hair hidden under his hood, I wasn't able to spot him.

Vace sighed. "He can't just keep running after every single female preacher. He thinks it's her."

"Who?" I asked.

"His sister," Vace said gravely, before pulling a hood over his head as well and following his friend into the crowd.

I stayed behind, pressing myself against the wall of the alley. Vace had disappeared into the mass, but I could clearly see where he was heading.

* * *

"The Goddess has spoken to me!" the priestess exclaimed once more.

The woman seemed to be in her early twenties, clad in self-made, loose robes which reached till her ankles. Her long, fiery red hair was draped over her shoulders as she raised her hands, her clear voice projecting over the growing crowd. Only then I noticed the black markings under her eyes which wrapped around her cheekbones and trailing down her jawline and neck, disappearing under her robes. They gave her a wicked look, her sunken, near-black eyes strengthening the effect.

I expected her to be a half-blood, a mix between regg and upper. Regg didn't have such brightly coloured hair. Maybe she had dyed it. Nevertheless, she stood out—and not even a little. She stood on an elevated platform, amidst the brown-coloured sea of regg. She had her face turned upwards, her palms turned to the sky.

"The Three Faced Goddess showed herself to me," the woman said. "She said her First Face would be shown to the true believers! To us! We would be granted mercy, and join her in bliss eternal paradise." She sounded completely convinced of herself. "We would be free!" she yelled, spreading her arms again and closing her eyes. A serene smile decorated her face, as if she was intoxicated by the love for her Goddess. I had never seen someone with such dedication before.

I regarded her with scepticism. I had never been one of the diehard believers. At home we never really practiced religion—simply because it was inconvenient. Also, no one really remembered the gods. If you escaped the Globes you usually left them behind. Only a few, like Granny Froster, practiced the old religions—but that was mainly herb medicine and aroma therapy: the practical, magical side of religion. They worked; Kael often used the rituals to treat his patients.

I paid attention to the regg surrounding her. Some cheered her on, yelling phrases like, 'May our souls join the herd' and 'Oh, Goddess, have mercy for us all.'

The larger part of the regg, however, seemed only curious about the woman. They regarded her with a wary eye, quickly making way once they found out what it was: out of the ordinary. For some unknown reason that was enough for them to quickly leave again.

Me, on the other hand... I wanted to know what was going on.

Still, a number of regg were persistent, cluttering around the makeshift platform, raising their exposed, calloused palms to the priestess.

I spotted Haco, his hood covering his flaming hair, only several metres away from the platform.

In a split-second decision I left the shadowed safety of the alley behind, making my way through the regg. I got some looks, but the regg made way once they looked me in the eye. They lowered their heads, stepping aside. Even though they gave my clothing a strange look, they still moved. Only after I heard a 'Sorry, my Lady.' I realised what they thought I was.

An upper.

A chill crept up in my neck, a feeling of wrongness like a black pit in my stomach. They were scared of me.

I composed myself, trying to stop myself from yelling I was not what they thought I was.

They were thinking I was an upper. A member of one of the High Families which suppressed them, and forced them to do hard labour for their own benefit. A knot twisted in my stomach, only because they couldn't be more wrong. And I wasn't able to tell them they were.

I kept my gaze down, and the whispers lessened. I had to push away more regg now, the smell of unwashed bodies growing stronger as I reached the densest part of the mass.

Once I had reached Haco I gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

He sighed. "It's not her," he said, his voice cracking. He immediately knew it was me. I supposed a regg would never do such a thing.

He sighed and shrugged slowly. "Not like I'd expected her to be."

I nodded slowly. "You can hope, can't you?" My eyes met Vace's, who was standing on the other side of his friend.

"She's long gone, kiddo," he said, turning around. A sad smile tugged on his lips. "I have always..." He trailed off. His eyes shot wide open, as he focussed on something happening behind me.

He grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the crowd. "Hide!" he exclaimed, dragging me along, as I stumbled over the uneven floor.

I got a second to catch myself, flinging a glance over my shoulder. Shining black suits. I needn't see more. Them again. Those Stripes were really getting on my nerves.

I was pulled behind a broad metal beam. I pressed my back against the cold metal, Haco standing in front of me. Suddenly, a weight pressed against my side, warmth immediately seeping into it. I snapped my head aside, only to be confronted with Vace's grin. "Be silent and observe."

So, I observed.

The woman was still preaching on her makeshift stage, a large part of the group dispersing once they had seen the Stripes walking up to them. The woman hadn't seen, or didn't care.

There were five of them. They spread out, the regg in their path stepping aside and creating an empty space in the crowd where they walked.

If they were scared of the uppers, they were utterly terrified of the Authorities.

The regg that weren't fast enough got shoved aside to be trampled by others. Still, the square had fallen completely silent. An eerie silence rose up from regg, filled with an unidentifiable suspense. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was.

One Authority reached the stage, attaching his gun to his back. In one swift move he struck the woman with the back of his hand, another grabbing her and dragging her off the stage. The sound of his hard hand colliding with her bare flesh echoed through the silent square—to be pierced by a cry.

The priestess screamed and trashed about, trying to squirm herself free from the Authority's grip. Her screams echoed over the square, unanswered by the regg silently observing the event. Another Authority rushed towards the woman, grabbing her by the arm. Together they hauled her away, her cries resonating through the large square and bouncing off the high structures.

The third Authority stepped on the stage, the remaining two positioning themselves in front of the platform, their guns raised.

"This regg woman has violated our laws," he said, his voice sounding cold through his helmet. "She is to be set as an example to all you mutts. Know that your true faith lies by the Five. Follow the Five, and you will live peacefully. Do not..." he trailed off, turning his head to the direction the woman had disappeared into. "...and you must face the consequences. Five will gather, all will follow."

A chorus of mumbled voices rose up from the crowd: "And so it will prevail."

I shivered at the cold, robotic sound of the saying—it eerily resembled a chant.

"The Five?" I asked, peeking around the corner of the beam.

"It's the main religion," Vace answered. There are Five Matters in life, which if you follow, live a full life. Safety, Family, Destiny, Health and Community. Officially, you're allowed to follow other religions, but..." he gestured at the woman. "—they're not really appreciated."

"Where do they take them?" I whispered absently, to no one in particular.

"I hope for her she'll be executed. But she'll probably end up in the gaol," Haco said.

"What happens there?"

"No one knows. All I know is that even if they come back," Haco said, his eyes staring into the distance, "they come back like an empty shell. Broken, mad, and far from what they once were."

I swallowed bodily. They'd end up like Galli, stuck in that gaol for who-knows how long.

And Kael could be in there too.