Chapter 36: Lawless City
"Welcome!" A man shouted with a huge grin on his face. "Welcome to the Lawless City! The sewer of the world!"
Claire frowned. "Is he being serious or is he just crazy?"
The man had leapt out in front of her as she was leading fifty armed men towards the knight order's base. Not even a quarter of them were members of the knight order. They were a multinational force made up of dark knights, hired mercenaries, and adventurers. But they were all, with one notable exception, people with good reputations as warriors. Most folk wouldn't deliberately get in the way of that sort of party.
But here was a man with a felt top hat, scarlet jacket, gold shirt and trousers, waving a feathered staff about. He reminded Alexia of someone she'd see at a circus or small county fair… if she'd ever attended something like that. Before Alexia could give her opinion though there were some shouts from further down the line.
"Hey! My purse is gone!"
"Mine too!"
"Hey! Where'd my sword go?!"
By the time Alexia turned her back from the direction of those shouts that gaudy showman was nowhere to be seen, but he gave a parting shot from somewhere in the crowd. "Hope you survive the experience!" This was followed by mocking laughter.
"He was neither," Alexia groaned. "He was just a distraction."
"Everyone keep one hand on your purse and the other on your sword," Claire yelled.
Just about anywhere else in the entire world pickpockets wouldn't dare try and target a group of well-armed men. Normally they would be yelling for the city watch and running through the crowd to chase down the foolish thieves.
Here though, there was no city watch, no police force to call on. And running wild through this crowd was only likely to get a lot more purses snatched. In this city what passed for 'order' was maintained by the three crime lords who ruled here. Tyrant the Juggernaut, Yukime the Enchantress, and Elizabeth the Blood Queen. They and their organizations were based in the black, white, and crimson towers that rose above the hovels and shacks that made up the rest of the landscape. Only an utter fool would turn to people like them for help. And while the crowds in most other cities would point out the thieves or maybe even assist in capturing them, here they completely ignored what happened. The locals were much more likely to commit more crimes than assist in stopping them.
Claire glanced about at their surroundings with distaste. "What a wretched hive of scum and villainy."
Alexia could only nod her agreement.
"I don't know," Poochie said. "You've at least got to admire the skills those pickpockets have."
She and Claire both turned to glare at him.
"Or not."
"Don't be so naïve, Cid. You shouldn't respect people who are criminals just because they're good at it," Claire grabbed hold of his right arm. "You better stick close to me, or you'll be robbed too. Maybe even kidnapped."
Alexia instantly pressed his other arm into her chest. "You better count yourself lucky that I'm here to watch out for you."
Claire gave her a hooded look which Alexia returned with an angelic smile while trying to rub her boobs against him.
Poochie looked kind of pale and nervous for some reason as they continued to the base.
XXX
Given the recent revelation that Poochie was actually Shadow, Alexia damn well knew he was in no actual danger. No matter how powerful the Blood Queen and the rest of her brood were she was sure they'd stand no chance against Shadow and his Iamtomik power.
But she'd made the decision to keep treating Poochie like Poochie. Alexia couldn't guess how much of his personality was real and how much was an act. But he had saved her life twice and helped her on numerous occasions. Not to mention the fact he'd been her first true friend and gotten her to fall completely in love with him. As strange as it might be, she trusted him with her life.
Now, on the surface, Alexia understood how stupid it was to trust someone who she knew was a criminal mastermind. She'd believed his confession to her that day had been because of a stupid penalty game. Now it was obvious he'd deliberately planned to get close to her from the start. There was no way to know his true intentions. If, in the end, Shadow just used her and threw her away she'd only have herself to blame for allowing it to happen.
Yet, whether it was naïve or not, deep in her heart she believed he cared about her. Just how deep his feelings went she honestly couldn't say, but she was sure they were there. Afterall, what man would go through so much abuse and humiliation for a girl if he didn't genuinely care about her?
So, going on the assumption that Shadow/Poochie was enamored with her and doing all this just to be close to her, Alexia needed to keep treating him the same way she had up until now. And in no way would she have let her Poochie come to this cesspool without her there to keep him safe.
Honestly, she could already predict what would happen. Claire and the majority of the expedition would set off for the Crimson Tower while she, Pooch, and a handful of others remained behind to guard their base of operations. At some point Poochie would loudly declare he had to take a shit and disappear for a long while. Eventually Claire would return only to report that Shadow had mysteriously appeared and eliminated the Blood Queen along with most of her high-level subordinates.
Alexia was quite sure that she would spend this entire trip just sitting around doing nothing while others saw all the real action.
XXX
Several hours later…
"Cut their heads off!" Clare screamed. "You have to cut their heads off!"
"Shut up! I know that already!" Alexia yelled as screaming civilians ran past.
A bloodthirsty ghoul came straight at her. She drove her sword down and sliced it in two. Alexia had no chance to admire her handiwork as two more ghouls were coming towards her. The entire place was in chaos as people were screaming and running for their lives while a small horde of ghouls were chasing them down and devouring those they caught. All the spellswords were fighting them off.
"Why is this happening?" Claire yelled as she hacked down another ghoul. "Word was the Blood Queen had a deal with the Enchantress and Tyrant not to let her undead feed on people inside the Lawless City."
"How the Hell should I know?" Alexia shouted as she sent a ghoul's head flying.
They'd been having a strategy meeting going over what little intel they had about the Crimson Tower and its defenses when there'd been shouts about an undead rampage. As they'd rushed out to try and stop it, they'd also heard…
"We have to find Cid!" Claire cut down two more. "I can't believe he's missing at a time like this!"
"I'm sure he's fine," Alexia saved a young woman just as she was about to be chomped.
Claire was either ignorant of her brother's secret identity or an even better actor than Poochie. She seemed out of her mind with fear for Pooch. As soon as the last attacking ghoul was dealt with the girl started to run into the panicked crowd and away from the volunteer force she'd led here.
"Hey!" Alexia chased after her. "You can't just abandon your responsibilities! You're the commander of the expedition, remember? Shouldn't your priority be getting them in order?"
"That can wait! Cid's more important!" Claire sent her a bitter expression. "I knew you didn't really care about him!"
"I do care! I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't! And if you think he's in danger maybe you should blame the person who dragged him into all this!"
Alexia got to see the arrogant trollop flinch at the accusation before turning away.
It wasn't long before the other girl came to an abrupt halt. "Cid! Cid! Where are you?! Has anyone seen a young spellsword with black hair and red eyes?"
The people stampeding past didn't pay Claire any mind. But then a young woman with red hair, an old-fashioned dress, a magical blade at her hip, and a hat with a pair of feathers sticking out of it approached.
"Are you missing a friend?" the mysterious girl asked.
"Yes!" Claire turned to her. "Have you seen him? His name is Cid and he's my brother. He's a plain looking spellsword with black hair and red eyes."
The other girl nodded. "My name is Mary, the strongest vampire hunter. I actually spotted two young men who match your description. One was captured alive and taken to the Crimson Tower. The other stood there going, 'fu fu fu' before disappearing."
Alexia was a bit wary. A self-proclaimed strongest vampire hunter showing up in the middle of a ghoul rampage? That was a bit convenient. "You say one of them was going 'fu fu fu' and then just disappeared?"
Mary nodded. "That's right."
"I'll bet that one was Pooch. It sounds like something he'd do."
"What are you saying?!" Claire rounded on her. "My brother wouldn't do anything that weird!"
Alexia's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry, have you met your brother?"
Claire ignored her and turned to the other girl. "You say my brother was taken alive to the Crimson Tower?"
"That's right, he's going to be a sacrifice." Mary pointed up into the night sky towards the full moon. "Tonight, begins the event known as 'The Red Moon.' The sun will not dawn again for three days, and its unnatural light will grant all vampires and their subordinates unusual strength. The last time it occurred three entire countries were destroyed. When the moon reaches its zenith, I'm afraid your brother will be made a blood sacrifice to revive the Blood Queen."
Alexia stared up at the moon. "Hey! It really does look red. When did that start happening?"
"If he's still alive then there's still hope!" Claire said. "I'll do anything to save my brother! Can you help me?"
Mary nodded. "My goal is to prevent the revival and yours is to save your brother. We can work together." She then turned to Alexia. "What about you? I'll tell you now, the odds of surviving this are low. The Crimson Tower is home to hundreds of vampires and ghouls and all of them will be enhanced now. The chances of coming out alive are small."
"I'll come," Alexia answered with no hesitation. If Claire was going, she had to as well. No way could she face Poochie later if she bailed and his siter got killed. "I still don't think it's him, but if there's a chance my precious boyfriend is in danger, I have to go save him."
Claire looked surprised. (Bitch!) But gave her a nod. "Thank you."
Alexia forced a smile and returned the nod. "By the way, I'm Alexia Midgar, second princess of the Midgar Kingdom."
"And I am Claire Kagenou, daughter and heir of Baron Kagenou."
"I'm very happy to work with both of you. Now come, I happen to have a secret tunnel with will lead us straight to the Crimson Tower."
"Well, that's not suspicious at all," Alexia muttered under her breath but followed after the girl.