Somewhere Someplace

The grass blew with the wind; the late afternoon sun descended ever westwards, yet still shining with might up high upon the foothill landscape. Ancient ruins and bygone structures; dwellings, dens, and camps; all such things filled the wide-open emptiness both near and far. Directly forward and up ahead, not too close but by no means far away, was a small town of density and activity, which proceeded Mount Berry and, of course, those menacing and towering elvish walls.

"So, this is…Grandberry, huh?" Blue mellowly remarked, her mood considerably damp; "For a capital holding prefixed with the adjective 'grand', I was perhaps expecting something grander." Indeed, it was awfully empty and spacious, barely a 'city' at all.

"Outer Grandberry, more like…" Red corrected; "It's not the real city. That's way up there…"—he pointed to the obvious destination ahead—"That's Grandberry."

"Yes… I figured suchly." Blue was just trying to make talk. "What a bizarre looking city… Elvish, that assassin would probably say… But I would assume dwarvish."

"I don't know much about the history—I am not a walking book…" Red thus began to remark, going along with the topic's flow; "But I wouldn't be surprised if the old dwarfs had something to do with that place… Didn't they love mountains or some shit? Heard they build their cities in them—and I mean in them."

"How in all the thousand realms am I supposed to know that?" Blue was plain and frank. "You are the adventurer and Far West man, and I am the wizardy girl. Thus, I can, at least, explain to you what the vapor school of magic is."

"Bah. No you can't. Nobody can. The whole idea of that school doesn't make any sense." Red was blunt. "I mean, in all my years, I've never seen a vapor mage once!"

"Ah… One would presume you would know that your being unable to understand or explain does not mean there isn't an explanation or understanding." Now she was just teasing him. "For example, you have met a vapor mage—me, I am the vapor mage. Most generally, vapor magic is a simple process of fusion between ice and fire magic—every fire and ice mage knows at least one vapor spell. Fire, Ice, and Vapor being the first organized schools of—"

"Yeah, yeah…" Red, interrupting, so brushingly waved; "Save the lecture for when you get your first adventurer skill." Which was never. "I'd recommend mana conservation. Might make you more useful." Now he was teasing her too.

"Peh…" Blue puffed a breath, though she had a small smile.

Their banter was not malicious; it helped take their mind off of matters… Although, such was difficult when sights visible remained at be; sights recently witnessed still too fresh in mind.

A short quiet ensued as Blue peeked her head out from the wagon's edges. There was a slavers' encampment not too far from them to their left, she saw, to which she decided not to pay attention; in fact, she swapped benches to the right, peering from those edges instead.

A small patrol of guards, she saw… Yet… Hm. Compared to those two men who had greeted them at the gate, these ones were more…traditional, being more variously armored—leather, chainmail, steel breastplates or brigandine; various kinds of helmets, some open, some fully closed; amongst other plated accessories, with only some having the distinct crest of Grandberry County embroiled somewhere on them.

"So," Blue flipped her eyes to Red, "who were those guards back there? At the gate… They did not appear to be…any typical men-at-arms, knights-at-be, or warriors-at-war; they seemed very different from… Well,"—she pointed at the patrol—"those guards…"

Red eyed that patrol… "That's because…those guys are actual Grandberriens." he replied; "The two morons back there, though, were with the Guild."

"That explains why they seemed awfully familiar with you…" Blue so remarked; "Thus, are they a type of adventurer or something?"

"No, not adventurers." yet Red thus stated; "They're with the Security Office. The Citadel Guard… Basically the Guild's own little army."

"…army?" Blue's voice was emphatic. "Since when does the Adventurers' Guild have an army?"

"Since Pegasus decided to annex almost half the continent." Red was very blunt. "The Empire's not as far from the Guild's last and only citadel as those top-eggs would prefer, and if another war happens, the Empire is going to go for the kill. They didn't think the Dark Guards would be enough, so they made the New Guard using advisers and veterans from the Company."

"…now there are these implied-to-be separate 'Dark Guards'?" Truly, sometimes it was as if with every answer, there were only more questions.

"Yeah, but they're with the Bureau, and they're a weird…exclusive tribe of elite mercenaries." Red explained. "Great for small things like guarding eggs, but not what the Citadel wanted to survive a war and defend its interests. The Blue Guard recruits from every realm that recognizes the Guild."

"New Guard, Citadel Guard, now 'Blue Guard'…" Indeed, it was also as if he could not settle on a single name. "And 'defending the Citadel', you say… So, then, why are they here?"

"Like I said," Red plainly glanced at her, "they are the Guild's personal army. Every Guild hall is Guild dominion; they show up whenever there's a problem in them…or if they decide to throw in their spears to help a 'buddy'." He returned his eyes to the way ahead. "They're here for the same reason there's a fucking secretary here."

Blue sighed… "And now 'secretary'… With each word, a new question to reveal the depths of my ignorance…" She could only wonder what—in the context of the Guild—that one was now. However, she decided not to press on, for they were approaching that small town of density. "So, are we not going to the Company place?" She shifted subjects.

"Fuck no. I don't trust them for shit." Red bluntly replied; "Especially not after all that uncertainty that was bleeding from Sergeant Bathtub's mouth. 'Temporary', 'for the time being', blah blah blah… Flip a coin chance they're going to be pulling out—or maybe piss Grandberry off to intentionally attack their embassy so they have an excuse or some shit—Far Westerners love doing that… 'oh, we're just defending ourselves'… I don't know how this is going to go."

"Prophesize as you like, Red…" Blue looked at him with a teasing smile… "But we both know that you just don't want to walk the way thence hither."

"…" Red was quiet. "Shut up."

Blue giggled…

"Besides," Red thus began to say, "we don't even know if we'll be staying here. Until I know for sure, I'd rather keep my own eye on this damn thing myself… I don't trust it for shit…" Especially not after what it had done in Humbleberry—albeit, granted, Red was also being quite stubborn during that event. Regardless, he would prefer to be in intervention range of it, in spite of the potential complications its presence could cause.

The unicorn meanwhile was moving much slower than usual, perhaps out of annoyance that it was unable to properly gaze at the sights to behold at the stone walls… Or perhaps, more likely, it was simply fatigued from the journey.

The wagon nevertheless proceeded enter that patch of concentrated activity, filled within which were buildings and shops alongside people and noise. Both the mountain, those menacing walls, and that grand palace towered ahead, bringing to their eyes the true comprehension of Grandberry's scale… That that grand city so etched into that mountain, from the base up towards that grand palace… Yet the mountain still seemed triumphant.

"Wow…" Indeed, the scale was finally striking Blue. "I see what you mean now… That is the true city, huh? Those are formidable walls…"

"Yeah…" Red was glancing in kind. "Don't get fooled, though. Grandberry isn't that large, it's just tall and it looks bigger than it is. Its actual population isn't that big compared to Strawberry and especially Megaberry."

"Rightly, but you are comparing some of the largest cities in all the thousand realms." Blue pointed out; "Compared to most typical cities, Grandberry still seems…quite large, never mind…unique."

As the wagon continued to slowly make its way, Blue leaned out once again from the wagon's edges, 'admiring' the scenery—that scenery being, of course, the sudden and very open rows of public gallows. A few hanging bodies and a few more unfortunate souls bent over in the stocks, smothered with rotten food… Ah… Now this was a familiar sight; almost every holding, minor or major, had an area like here.

"And letteth this be a sign most indicative!"

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There was a small crowd gathered before a podium. A Grandberrien guard, one of high stature given the extra qualitied armor, was shouting; an executioner wearing that dread-filling garment of chained rings and that black mask, standing by with his…instruments. Three people had been tied naked by their limbs, bindings barbed and thorny, to wooden poles: a petrified woman, a crying child, and a horribly beaten man—his swollen face being practically a grand berry.

Blue could not avoid paying attention as the wagon passed by.

"By newest decree by his excellency, Noelfears the Twentieth, that to be spreader of lies and seeders of discord; to be a rioter or an agent of chaos; within his capital…bith treason against his Great Huckleberry Dutchy!" so shouted the Grandberrien guard. "His will hithertofore hath been clear, but seemeth it may that rebellion's seduction remaineth twice suchly! The previous reminders haven't sufficed."

The unicorn had paused, its head turning to that same scene. "Oh, what the fuck?" Red muttered; "Move… Move! What are you… Gods' sacred…" He knew there was no use, though he kept flinging the reins.

Thankfully, the unicorn was in the periphery of that orating Grandberrien's vision, the horn not registering.

"There shalth not be an other riot! So, letteth may be this the clearest reminder to any would-be tellers; that it beth best to keep your tongue stuck in your throat! For any more spreading of these lies and gossips shall see no longer only you joining the walls, but all whom you have touched!"

The orating guard hailed the death-masked executioner, who approached first the bounded woman with this…rusty claw-shaped contraption. Her breaths sunk as terror clenched within, a shivering dread piercing the fabrics of her being… Such was soon then replaced by the shredding screams of breasts being torn, to the squirming cries of the child witnessing. The beaten and broken man, forced to watch, was unable to bear the sounds and sights yet could barely struggle.

Treason.

The highest of crimes in these lands, those guilty of which received the worst of condemnations—perceived to be most deserving fates for 'traitorous rats'. Such public displays of both executions and the resulting corpses being strung a forewarning decoration were not uncommon features for realms in general, never mind for sovereigns during active rebellions.

The only element that made this sight perhaps exceptional was that they were executing—slowly and surely—not only the accused, but also his immediate family. Tyranny to the commons, perhaps, but not tyranny against the ruling feudality and bounded lords…which was what mattered the most.

Blue shivered, tightened, and clenched her chest, the sight being witnessed squeezing her insides; she could feel it in her own. "Why…are we here?" she needed to ask.

"Move already…" Red kept yanking the reins.

The unicorn puffed before growling a snort from its snout, as if disturbed or frustrated; whether it was repulsed itself or upset that it had to leave was unknown. Nevertheless, the unicorn finally responded to the reins' commands and began to move. They were, thus, spared any further witnessing of Fate's condemned, although both knew that such was only the opener of this…deterrence 'show'.

-||-

Ancient yet contemporary; alien in origin yet clearly tamed by man. Muddy and rocky. Dry and oppressive. Bleak and quiet, even if there was noise and expected city-folk chatter. The many residents out and about were keeping to themselves, it seemed, though they were certainly making their ganders… No doubt, they were wondering what in all the thousand realms a unicorn—of all things in existence—was doing here, let alone dragging a crappy wagon like a work mule.

"So, this is Grandberry, huh?" Blue mumbled aloud, arms dangling out from the wagon's edges… Certainly, now this was a city.

"Low Quarter more specifically…" Red thus specified; "Not really on the mountain, but kissing it… Guild hall's here since this was the only Trinity's squeezed spot that could fit any new buildings… The rest of the city gets narrower up."

Indeed, being in the lowest sector of this city, they were in the widest and most spacious area of Grandberry proper. However, being on the bordering edges between Mount Berry and the outer foothills, the streets here were still tight and curved, with the main road progressively arching to next quarter… The whole city was sloped upwards, essentially. Despite the narrower and more squeezed areas above, Grandberry was designed to be…relatively comfortable.

"I am astonished by the lack of…" Blue was going to say, only to find that she had spoken too soon… "Oh, no. There is one…" Indeed, yet another corpse hanging for display. "Though," she turned to Red, "it seems nobody is caring about the unicorn…"

"That's 'cause they've learned to stop caring." Red frankly replied.

Yet Blue still remained uncertain… "Are you…sure we should be bringing him hither?" she asked; "What if the duke confiscates him? There is nothing stopping him…" She remarked, only to then remember… "Or, rather, I am more concerned regarding what the unicorn will do…"

"Yeah…" Red acknowledged, recognizing within. "Maybe… Maybe not." Truth be told, one of his deeper motivating factors for not taking the unicorn to the Company headquarters was that…they would have to cross direct paths with slavers' camps; he would rather risk this than force Blue to witness sights he knew she only pretended to tolerate.

But he was not going to admit that.

"We both have to enter the hall too, thus… Nobody will be watching over him…" Blue stated, slightly anxious.

"The unicorn will be fine, Blue… The worst he'll probably do is chew on something stupid." Red, however, tried to reassure.

"…yes, like that time we returned and found him chewing on a severed hand with no remains to be found…" Yet Blue's breaths did not shutter from the recall… "Such a peculiarity, this…fluffer is." Indeed, easing within, she eyed the glistening white and almost sparkly hair. "So majestic…"

The unicorn puffed with blowing lips.

"You were completely terrified of it at first, remember…" Red reminded. "Refused to go anywhere near him."

"And I still am…" Blue clarified… "But I try to focus on…the majesty of his grace, the softness of his hair, and the radiance of his magical eminence."

The unicorn, again, so puffed and bhhed its lips.

"It might not seem so," Blue continued, "but this creature is…remarkably powerful. Such a potency to him, I get that feeling."

"Yeah, you've said this before." Red merely replied. "And, yeah, shit was obvious the day I stumbled on him."

"Honestly," she looked at him—or the back of his head rather, "we ought to just sell him."

The unicorn neighed in an almost growl, tapping its hooves with a shake to its head.

"Considering that he kept finding his way to you no matter how far we tried to get away, selling him will not matter, surely?" Blue finished her statement, clarifying. "He will find his way back to us no matter what we do, and we get to keep the dozen platinums."

"Platinums for it to chew on for some Gods' unknown reasons beyond anyone just to spite us." Red replied, blunt. "Terrible idea. Won't work. Don't try it. I like my balls."

Blue giggled; "As do I, Reddy… As do I…"

"Ugh…" Red felt almost violated with the way she had said that. Most truly, indeed, to speak of things that simply would not go away… Though, not that he truly wanted her to.

Blue proceeded to exhale out a satisfied breath; the teasing helped shrink the tension within. Although, she then noticed as she continued to stare around… "I am not seeing any Grandberrien guards." Indeed, she was not. "Only more of those…Guild guards." And being in greater abundancy, it was now much clearer…just how different they were from the conventional guards.

They all seemingly wore the same blueish, likely indigo dye, garment that almost but not quite resembled a Far Western-type uniform. They all had similar silver-coated steel cuirasses and a similar pattern of silver-coated helmets adorned with the feathers of the spotted dodo bird. One out of a bunch was caped, likewise. Their arms were a mix of halberds and firearms with each having a side-sword.

This pattern of uniformed wear and equipment was consistent, almost standardized—something that the armies of most realms tended to lack.

"Yeah…" Red so replied, only glancing about… "Guess the Guild is branching out, huh? Makes you wonder what the fucking point of adventurers are anymore…"

"What are you on about?" Blue had to wonder.

"Security Office shows up to take over a local branch, sure, but that doesn't mean their men have to be all over the place outside the hall." Red explained; "Manning the fucking gates and walls, enforcing around, and that shit… The rumors were already saying they were in bed with the duke, now I see why and just how much… Wouldn't be surprised if they're being paid to run the whole garrison while he sends his own personal men off to the war."

"Hmm…" Blue went quiet; she was beginning to feel dreadful again…

This silence persisted whilst she continued to gaze out from the wagon, trying to reset the mood again by focusing on the plain and mundane; she found herself slowly admiring the tyrannical city she was seeing… It was unlike any she had ever been to so far, and by now she had been to many cities. She then noticed, however, a fountain with water spurting out, people with buckets collecting from which. So mundane, indeed, yet indicative; it made her curious.

"This city has a working water distribution…and sewers?" she pondered… While such were not entirely uncommon features amongst the major cities, in a rather different kind of city like Grandberry, she was expecting something as complex as proper water circulation to be especially challenging; it was already a challenge ordinarily.

"Yeah." Red confirmed. "Don't ask me how it works, though."

"Wasn't planning to, for I know you know nothing." Blue snarked.

"Oh, eat my—No, actually don't." Red nearly stepped into the trap.

"Hm…" Yet Blue was stroking her chin, eyeing up and around both near and that palace-etched mountain ahead… "Water naturally travels down from sloped elevations, thus… Hm… Could also go through it, maybe…" This curiosity was successfully distracting her. "But I don't see any aqueducts… It must all be underground?"

"Eh, probably not." Red, however, stated; "Or, not so underground… Again, fuck if I know how it works. All I do is drop a turd in a hole, and it goes somewhere."

Blue looked at him blandly… "Rightly. That is how that tends to work…" she replied. "But what do you mean? Why not underground?"

"Because that space's already taken." Red straightly replied; "There's a whole other ruined city under this mountain, from what I know; locals always say it's a forbidden place, though not by law."

Blue rockingly nodded her head… "Wow. Truestly, there is always more to it and then more to what was more to it…" She sighed. "Although, that answers that question, unwittingly from you. They must've integrated this 'underground' city's preexisting infrastructure for water flow… Or perhaps they constructed it on top of it? It would depend on—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Red, interrupting, so waved his hand; "We get it, we get it: you're smart and intellectual."

"Hmmm?" Blue donned a teasing smirk, leaning in closer to him. "Jealous, are we? Envious, even? That I, a meagre serf-born whore, completed what thou failed to be?"

"Barely." Yet Red remained plain. "And don't call yourself that…"

"Wow, so serious…" Blue, rolling her eyes, withdrew her sight, nevertheless feeling more eased now. She once again leaned against the wagon's edge, face resting upon her arms… "Thus, an ancient city etched into a mountain atop the ruins of an even ancienter city…" she began to so reflect; "I wonder what more mysteries lay buried underneath…"