Kita and Raya spent the last moments of sunlight trekking within the corridor of the canyon, making their way back to the city. It was much further away than its glistening lights suggested. In the meantime, they'd decided to hunker down in a small cave, with a fire made by the Princess to keep them warm through the night.

  Hiding out was a precaution in case the raiders were on their way back to their base. Raiders like to move in the shadows of the moon, and Kita felt as though Raya's blue hair stood out a little too much for them to stay exposed. Not to mention Vlad and a few of his goon squad would probably recognise Kita as well.

  One soul left. The invisibility spell worked like a charm- It was a good thing Kita left a few souls aside for it. Five souls is a hefty price for a spell that still left her vulnerable. If those raiders were any wiser, they would have fired blindly into the room- She can't discount someone doing that in the future. It was a good ability, but it needed the right circumstances.

  "You have a completely different approach to combat now," Raya said, glaring at Kita with her soft, ocean eyes. Sitting by the fire with her legs crossed and back postured abnormally straight. "I like the more stealthy Kita," She added.

  "I'm not so sure you could call that 'stealthy'," Kita responded.

  Raya chuckled, "I haven't seen you use this set of spells,"

  "What spells did I use in the past?"

  Raya's eyes widened as she reflected, "Lots of fire,"

  "Oh. I hadn't even thought about fire,"

  "You would often cast a flame without it travelling the distance in between you and your opponent. Your targets would simply combust,"

  "Woah," Kita paused- That's pretty hardcore. However, Kita didn't find it very practical. Surely that would come at a large cost.

  "How many souls would that need?"

  "I don't know the exact number. But, you had a baseline that would never fall below two hundred souls,"

  "Two hundred?!" Kita choked on her surprise. That's… A lot. It would take forever to consume that many souls.

  "Your magic requires quite the toll… Well, that's what I used to think. When you told me you only had nine souls, I thought we were going to die," Raya giggled under her breath.

  The baseline sounded familiar to Kita. There's a reason for it beyond fire or spells. In her past lives, she would never drop below two hundred spells, because…

  "Why would I have set the baseline at two hundred souls?" Kita asked anxiously, trying to satisfy the itch in her memory.

  "You'd need it to reincarnate," Raya responded.

  That's right… In the cell, Kita’s body naturally healed itself. Does the same apply if she's dead? That would mean a lot of souls would be needed depending on the severity of her death. The memory was clearer to her now. In her past lives, the first thing she would do is consume to her baseline, two hundred souls. The power she must’ve felt with that many souls would explain the ego she'd have had in past lives. Killing would become so easy.

  Who could stop me from taking whatever I wanted?

  She ought to get the baseline tattooed on her because that memory might not have returned without Raya. Does that mean that she can die? Or will she just, 'not' heal? It'd be best not to find out. She can die once she gets her soul back.

  "I see," Kita said. "So I would need far more than two hundred to beat him?"

  "The dark one? Yes, your current state would have you killed before you look him in the eyes,"

  "So, I need to get two hundred souls," Kita nodded to herself, trusting in the knowledge of her past self. This is quite the mountain to climb considering she only had one soul left. But the climb excited her. More than it should’ve. Two hundred souls would be ecstasy. She closed her eyes and reminisced on the tingling sensation that spread throughout her body when she had just thirteen. She couldn't appreciate it as much in the moment, but next time she wanted to make sure she concentrated on each soul as they diffuse within her.

  She almost moaned at the thought alone, but quickly covered it up with a cough before she asked, "What else can you tell me about the dark one?"

  "The dark one has beaten you, every time."

  "You mean us!" Kita got defensive.

  "You have come close before. Only once, but the dark one played a trick on your mind before you could kill him,"

  "What trick?"

  "He showed you a memory," Raya raised the palms of her hands towards the crackling glow. "I am not sure what the memory may have been. But I know it was a memory of your old life,"

  "My old life?"

  "The life you had before your soul was… Stolen,"

  Kita hadn't even considered the life she had before her soul was stolen. Is that why she wanted her soul back? To return to her normal life? Or to remember it? Frankly, she wasn't even sure why she wanted her soul back so badly. She just felt the uncontrollable need to get it back. Feeling the presence of a void deep within her whenever the thought of her soul crossed her mind is a suffering she’d prefer to resolve. She could never live a normal life with this feeling leeching on her.

  "I have no memories of a life before my soul was stolen,"

  "You've had dreams in the past. Of people and places unfamiliar to me," Raya said.

  "Hmm," Kita sighed at the nothingness of her memories. "I don't know who my parents are."

  “An oddity for certain… You're quite the mystery, Kita. I've known you for thousands of rotations and I still know little about you,"

  "Then why stick around?"

  "Because we're friends," Raya smiled.

  "Then tell me, friend- What exactly are you the princess of?"

  "I was the princess of an underground nation called Casiim," Raya announced with pride. "It was always a strong nation. It took over eighty thousand rotations to build. Our ancestors found a cave entrance that led to a cavern underground. Slowly, it grew from a few hundred citizens to over three hundred thousand. It had plenty of space. Enough food and water to go around… We were a happy people," She lowered her head, looking deeply into the fire before she continued, "I was the first heir to the throne when it was destroyed,"

  "Destroyed? By who?" Kita asked.

  "The dark one," Raya looked into Kita's eyes with a swell of rage built up in them. "He demanded we sacrifice the souls of our people to him. We refused. We believed we would be able to protect our people from whatever threat he may have possessed… But,"

  "He came and took them anyway," Kita finished for her.

  "He caved the city in… I don't know of anyone else who survived,"

  "How did you survive?"

  "You saved me," Raya smiled.

  "Seriously?"

  "Of course,"

  "How long ago was this?" Kita asked.

  "Over ten thousand rotations or so,"

  "Huh?" Kita squinted at Raya. "How old are you?"

  Raya chuckled to herself, "When you saved me, you placed a thousand souls into my body,"

  "A thousand souls! So you can cast spells too?"

  "No, I cannot. The souls only heal my body after it's been harmed," She raised her knife to the palm of her hand. "It's more of a healing spell that you placed on me,"

  "Why would I do that?"

  "Because I told you I wanted to kill the dark one. If I hadn't told you that, I'm quite sure you would have consumed my soul the day you found me in Casiim," Raya chuckled, cutting across the length of her palm as red spilt out.

  "So you want revenge, huh?"

  "Something like that,"

  "And the souls I gave you have kept you young?"

  "I presume so," Raya responded, glancing at the palm of her hand as the wound quickly zipped closed. Appearing as if it was never there to begin with. "I only have half of them left,"

  "Need a top-up?" Kita chuckled.

  "I'd rather not. I have yet to fulfil my purpose with the ones I have. You've never cared much for the people whose souls you take, but I do,"

  There was an air of silence as Kita found herself unsure of what exactly Raya meant- but the look in her eyes suggested something much more meaningful was hidden beyond her words.

  "So… Where is the dark one?" Kita asked.

  "To be honest, I have no idea,"

  "Huh? You said you knew where he was!"

  "I lied," Ray shrugged, "I could tell you didn't recognize me, so I said what I had to,"

  Oh great, Kita rolled her eyes.

  "Not very royal of you to lie," Kita sighed. "How did you end up in there anyway?"

  "I've been held prisoner by various wealthy folk over the rotations. Most of them would treat me like an ornament, and parade me to their friends as an ancient Princess that they own. Once they got bored, they'd sell me to the next wealthy family,"

  "Everyone here answers simple questions with depressing ass stories," Kita mumbled under her breath.

  "What?" Raya squinted.

  "That's awful, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Kita said with endearing eyes.

  Raya giggled, "Your lack of empathy is needed. I prefer not to feel sorry for myself,"

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Thank god. Because I wasn't about to feel sorry for you," Kita laughed. "Why didn't you just leave?"

  "Honestly? I had nothing better to do. I may have been a slave but I was coveted. They treated me like royalty so that I still appeared as a Princess,"

  "Sounds like a pretty good deal," Kita commented.

  "It was for a while. I got taken by the Raiders when I did something I shouldn't have,

  "What'd you do?"

  "I killed my owner," Raya responded.

  °?°?°?°

  Having made their way back to the bustling passageways of Canyon City. The rising sun beamed against a giant tarp that covered the entryway to the city like a great dome of material. The city didn't expand the entirety of the Canyon, and to avoid myst entering any large openings, this end of the city also acted as a gateway.

  A few small gaps were cut at the base of the fabric to allow passage in and out of the city, leading both of them straight into the poor people's district. It probably had a name, but Kita had no idea what that might be, and she preferred to call it how she saw it. All Kita wanted was to get to the strip so she could eat something. The growls of her stomach last night kept waking her up, so her mood was a bit grim this morning. Fuck! She turned to Raya with a panicked look on her face. Her mouth hung open as she swallowed in hesitation and thought of asking Raya a dreaded question.

  "Do you have any coin?" Kita sighed, expecting the worst.

  "Why?" Raya asked.

  "Seriously? You're not starving?"

  "I've been trained to withstand the body's urge for food,"

  "Ugh," Kita rolled her eyes. "Well, I wasn't. If I don't eat something soon, I might have to eat some of these poor people,"

  "I'll snag some coin once we reach the strip," Raya winked at Kita, prompting a sense of relief in Kita.

  "I think we should be friends again," Kita smiled, now thinking about what to order. But her excitement dwindled at the smell of what she could only describe as death. It was putrid here. As if these people have been shitting on the very ground they stand. Trash was scattered around all the tents and pathways, buried in what had better be mud. Every person they walked past looked sick and pale, dressed in grey or black rags that didn’t look suitable for travel or even warmth... Food must be scarce for most people here, and coin seemed hard to come by.

  "Glad I won't have to eat them," Kita spewed, "This is gross,"

  "Wealth is so poorly distributed in cities. The elites of this world are truly fowl,"

  "No, no. I was talking about all of these poor people,"

  "What?" Raya's expression dropped in confusion.

  "They all look like they're dying. Maybe I should just end their misery," Kita chuckled. It's not a bad idea- These people couldn't defend themselves anyway. They're probably weak because they're malnourished. It's a soul buffet- They would be so scared!

  "This is no laughing matter," Raya chided Kita, "These people are being mistreated. They deserve better,"

  "I can give them better," Kita's eyes fixed like that of a predator,

  "Death is not a solution to suffering,"

  "Excuse me, wealthy elites, would you mind sharing your coin with the deprived?" Kita jested.

  "A forceful hand is needed," Raya responded, clenching her fist as she continued to observe the mess.

  "I'd love to see that forceful hand of yours, Princess," Kita winked at Raya.

  The two of them made their way to the strip without any issues. On their way, they noticed the large tarp above the city was being removed, and many of the wealthy tents and stores in the strip were closed and getting ready to travel. Raya used the coin she stole to buy the both of them a meal. A crispy dough-like bun with lettuce, tomato, and some type of meat inside it- Apparently it's called beef. They got it from the only kitchen in the city that sold beef, so it was really expensive. But Kita managed to hassle Raya until she gave in, despite her overwhelming reluctance in the name of ‘savvy spending’. So worth it. The chef told them it was a dish created by the old humans. They would usually add a slice of cheese as well but that would have doubled the price of the meal. If Kita had more souls, she'd have tried to scare the guy into adding the cheese for free. Oh well, she'll just bring more coin next time. Something seemed sacrilegious about harming that chef. He was a genius. A sorcerer of taste. He deserved the coin.

  "How are we going to find this kid, Jan?" Raya asked Kita.

  Kita held up a finger, signalling Raya to wait as Kita took the last bite of her meal- Closing her eyes to savour the taste. My body must remember this meat, and find it in every life she’d live. She'd probably had it before, but it seemed like a plus side to dying was that she could have experiences for the first time again.

  Kita opened her eyes and pointed to the clutter of bridges suspended between the two walls of the canyon, where a group of guys occupied one of the walkways- Each of them puffing out smoke as they chatted away.

  "They're Vald's raiders?" Raya asked, noticing Kita’s glaring.

  "The ones who captured me. Those assholes deserve a beating," Kita said.

  "How do you plan on achieving that with only one spell?"

  "I'd have more if you let me consume those poor people,"

  "Ugh," Raya scoffed, "You can consume them,"

  "Thank you, Princess," Kita chuckled.

  They both left the bustling strip and headed toward a suspended bridge that connected the half-dismantled network above. They slowly approached the wafts of smoke before Raya told Kita to stop at the end of the bridge- quite a distance away from the raiders. None of them paid any attention to Raya and Kita beyond a few glances, presuming they were just a few civilians.

  That prick is here too. The one with the glasses and steel teeth that gave her the smug smile. The one that talked to Kita like she was a nuisance. I want his soul.

  "The jerk with the sunglasses and steel teeth," Kita said.

  "What about him?" Raya asked.

  "He's the one we'll question,"

  Raya nodded as she crouched beside Kita and drew a small handgun that she had holstered in her pants. She held a second magazine in her hand as she found a comfortable grip on the weapon.

  "Ready?" Kita asked.

  "Mhmm," Raya grunted, aiming down the sight of her weapon.

  "Hey, asshole!" Kita yelled across the bridge.

  The soft chatter she heard swiftly dissipated as she grabbed their attention. They all turn to her with uninviting glares. Steel teeth stepped out from amongst his group of friends, raising his glasses to squint across the bridge.

  "Is that the liar girl I see?" He chuckled.

  "Do you work for Chevo?" She called out sarcastically before casting the shield around herself and Raya.

  The guy stood back, noticing that Raya had a weapon. But a quick shot to his thigh dropped him to the floor, wailing in pain. Raya fired at the rest of the group, with brief intervals between each shot as she shifted her aim- Trying to use a single bullet on each and shooting them in the leg to make consuming easier for Kita.

  They were all in a panic as the ticking of Raya's gunfire hit them one at a time. A few of them fired back amongst the mass shuffling but to no avail. Each bullet was caught in Kita's shield and fell to the floor. Raya reloaded her weapon after taking out half of the crowd and continued her merciless firing.

  This is more of a massacre than a beating. Kita loved it. She felt nothing for these bastards and after trying to imprison her, this was merely a debt being paid. They should have listened to Kita when she told them she had no idea who the fuck Chevo was. Too bad there won't be a next time. Kita dropped her shield as she heard the second click of Raya's weapon. Running toward the asshole who somehow kept his sunglasses on this whole time. Kita grabbed him by the collar as he mumbled in pain, clutching his leg.

  "Where's the boy?" Kita asked him with rage-filled eyes.

  "What boy?" He asked.

  Kita kicked the wound in his leg, prompting him to scream.

  "Wrong answer," She said with an unblinking glare into his eyes.

  "Where is Jan?" Kita yelled louder.

  "Are you talking about the kid without a soul?" He asked, clutching onto his wounded leg.

  "That's the one," Kita confirmed, threatening to step on his bullet wound again.

  "Vlad went to trade him to some rich folk in the East,"

  "Who?" Kita pried.

  "I don't know," The guy squirmed at Kita's aggression. "Some family that collects the soulless,"

  "What's the name of the city?" Raya asked from behind Kita.

  "It doesn't have one," He responded with worry, "But I know it floats on a river or something,"

  Kita released his collar, shoving him to the ground.

  "We even now?" He asked as he tried to sit up.

  Kita didn't respond. She just raised a hand towards his face and consumed the shadowy soul from his body before it crashed to the ground.

  "Yeah, we're even," Kita responded.

  "I made sure not to kill them all," Raya said, pointing to the groaning groupies on the ground.

  Kita walked amongst the raiders' bodies, searching for ones that still held life. As she stood above the few who did, she drew each of their souls into the palm of her hand, taking the time to focus on them passing through her body.

  "So, we're going East?" Raya asked, collecting a few magazines for her handgun from the raiders' bodies. She also looted each of them for any coin they had and placed it in a backpack she got from one of them.

  "You're coming with me?" Kita asked, surprised considering their deal had technically come to a close.

  "If the kid knows something about the dark one. I want to hear it,"

  "It's okay to admit you're obsessed with me," Kita chuckled.

  "It's more like enjoying the taste of poison," Raya responded.

  Kita felt a potent shudder throughout her body as she consumed the last few souls. Having consumed each of them in succession, she realized the sensation that passed through her got better with the more souls she already had- the thought of two hundred trickled through her.

  "I want more," Kita blurted out with a grit in her voice. A lower-pitched voice harmonizing with her own. It scared her. For a brief moment, she took a back seat to something else…

  Kita looked back to Raya who tossed her a bag. Did she hear me? Inside the bag were some clothes Raya got from the raiders, as well as some coin.

  "The weather will get strange to the East," Raya said, paying no attention to what Kita said.

  Kita looked down to the strip below, noticing that few people reacted to the shooting that just took place. No security or armed guards were on their way to investigate this massive crime scene.

  "Why haven't we drawn any attention?" Kita asked.

  "Shootouts between raiders are probably common. Most cities can barely afford to maintain their leadership, let alone armed guards,"

  "Lucky us,"

  "It won't be the same in the East. The city he spoke of is far wealthier than this one."

  "You've been there?"

  "No. But I've heard they conduct trade in meats, medicines and vegetables. I'm not sure what their wealth may look like, but I'd presume it includes security,"

  "Noted. Ready to go?"

  "Go?" Raya asked, startled. "We're not ready yet,"

  "Of course. Because we obviously need…"

  "A tipi. Food and water, too. I'm surprised food isn't the first thing on your mind," Raya jested.

  "Right!," Kita chuckled. "Food for the road!"

  "Among other things…" Raya responded. "We'll buy enough to get us to the next city- It will take a few nights for us to reach it,”

  "I was thinking the same thing," Kita said, crossing her arms.

  The both of them made their way back to the strip, where they'd bought themselves a two-person tipi that would keep them covered in case they ran into the myst. The few bottles of water they bought cost more than the tipi did, which surprised Kita considering everyone needed water. How could the poor people possibly afford this?

  They walked amongst the passing bodies of the busy street, scouting for a store that sold food that would be good for travel. The storefront Raya stepped up to was selling pastries, nuts and dried fruits- so boring. But it's travel food so Kita didn’t protest.

  "How much for the creamy tomato soup?" Kita asked the chef.

  "12 coin," He grunted, passing a glance between the both of them. "Should I ring you up for some of that too?" He asked Raya.

  "Yes," Kita answered, glaring at Raya to agree.

  "I'm askin' the polite one," The chef dismissed Kita's answer.

  "What are you trying to say, old man?" Kita gritted her teeth, returning the eye contact.

  "We'll take two of the soups as well," Raya responded, placing more coin on the counter. "For travel," She added, shaking her head at Kita.

  "Understood, You can wait at one of the tables over there and I'll bring it all out for you," He pointed at the crude dining area.

  "Much appreciated," Raya said.

  "You better use love when you make it too," Kita scolded as the man walked away, ignoring her.

  "Looking for love, sweetheart?" Said a seductive voice from over her shoulder. Kita turned to lock eye contact with a bright pink set of pupils. It was the tall, orange-haired girl with a white fringe. Her tight skirt hugged her curving body as she towered above Kita.

  "Uhh…" Kita stammered, overwhelmed by her beauty as she recognized it was her. The nerves were getting to Kita, and responding was more of a challenge than anything she'd faced thus far.

  "Smooth," Raya scoffed at Kita's response.

  "Did the mission go as planned?" The petty lady said, leaning closer to Kita as she caressed Kita's arm.

  "Y-yeah... I'm a hero now," Kita responded.

  "Not mine, though," The lady frowned, placing a hand on Kita's.

  "Well… I could be," Kita smiled. "Right now, even,"

  "You're quick like that, are you?"

  "When I need to be," Kita responded, "I often like to take my time,"

  "You can take all the time you need, sweetheart"

  "Does your, uhhh, friend still need saving too?"

  "He does, he would be very disappointed if I didn't bring you back with me… To save him,"

  "Then I better not disappoint," Kita responded, prompting the lady to take Kita's hand. "I'll be back," Kita said to Raya.

  "Mhmm," She mumbled.

  Kita walked behind the tall lady, holding her hand as she watched her rear sway from left to right with each step. The high heels she was wearing made her legs and bottom look so firm. Kita took one last look at Raya before she entered a tipi, behind the orange and white-haired lady, where she saw the man with the latex pants and stunning pecs.

  He passed her a smile, "My hero,"