¨Hello? Is anybody there?¨

Someone called out to whomever they were meaning to meet, if they needed to at all.

Norel went to the door, crossbow raised at normal head level, ready to shoot if needing to.

¨Hello? Please, anybody come to the door, it's burning out here.¨

The voice that was calling for anybody sounded like someone I've met before everything went to hell. Sounding soft like a pillow, like a female, and like one of my friends, but from all the shock, I couldn't remember which one it was. Norel popped off a couple locks on the door, threw off hooks, and removed a plank from the main of the door.

The door creaked open slowly, to reveal someone that started all this, Charlotte, the girl who I (apparently) murdered. Her dress she was wearing was torn to shreds, some parts of her skin was dry or falling off from a long timespan of decaying. She also had a bag, with food stored inside. Norel let her in as if she was being expected. Though we both caught glimpses on each other, then she gasped, grounded, then punched me in the face, knocking me out cold.

When I woke up, I was on a rock hard bed that felt like I was on a boulder. I got up because I didn't want to fall back asleep, I had to talk to her. No matter if I got belted across the chin again, or not. When I came out of the room I was in, Norel was speaking to Charlotte, probably about not attacking me like she did. ¨Hey, l-l-l-l-look. It's t-t-t-that k-k-kid again.¨

Once again I heard faint laughing and giggling in the background, as there are some ¨interesting¨ freaks in this circus.

¨I told you not to talk to me like that, alright? You may be a living being, but you're also money that could bring this place back up into tip-top shape. I can't have that ruined by you belting our boss like you did to Steward!¨

Norel clearly was pissed off at Charlotte, but couldn't do anything because if he did, he'd be killed.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Both Norel and Charlotte turned to me, shocked that I had woken up already after the blow to the head. "Steward? I thought you'd be executed after what you did. I thought Archland would tear off your head, because she was pissed as ever."

I squinted and shuffled my foot into the ground a little, because she was.

"When I dropped you, she tried throwing me off too. but she was held back by the guards there"

Charlotte then tuned to Norel, as if needing to ask a question. She then turned back to me, looking like she just went through a wormhole, and turned completely to Norel. "Do you know the Jun-jouriuen temple?"

"Jun-jouriuen. Haven't heard that word in a while, but I know what you mean. It's near the anti-barrel core, nearest to the Carlynian sector. It's the one place where most people are killed by falling, being shot down, drugged and raped, or assaulted for ransom."

Charlotte's mouth stayed wide open, I somewhat having an urge to throw a paper clip into her mouth, I stood there, waiting for her to respond. Though I was shocked too, on what Norel said. Why would he put that into conversation? "Sorry if that disturbed you, but it's true."

Norel exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts. "We may deal with people taking unprescripted drugs, but we're still kids, and we know what that is, but just try not to give the image, Norel? Is it?"

We then heard footsteps of a tall man, and the one person that we'd hoped not to come down to the dungeons, the tall boss of everybody, who hates Shadow Knights, who's a 55 degree murderer, who wants his people to obey him, who'd kill them if they disobeyed, is down in the dungeons, staring at Charlotte, Norel, I, and we all wonder what his next move is.