The ironwood carriage rattled over the massive cobblestone threshold as we crossed the outer gates and entered Caria City. The sudden explosion of sensory information completely overwhelmed the carriage interior. Outside the glass window, the bustling streets were a chaotic, vibrant tapestry of life that Evelyn had never imagined possible from the confines of her damp, pitch-black cavern. She pressed her hands and nose tightly against the pane, her twin jade-green eyes wide with an expression of pure, unadulterated awe.
For the very first time, she was looking directly at a functioning society. The crowds were a dense, swirling mix of diversity, wealthy human merchants draped in fine silks, elegant elves navigating the paved walkways with practiced grace, rugged demi-humans carrying heavy crates of imported goods, and distinct races from all corners of the continent working side by side. The sheer scale of the architecture, the vibrant colors of the market stalls, and the overlapping din of thousands of voices talking, laughing, and bartering filled the carriage with a lively energy that felt worlds away from the silent, predatory tension of the deep mines.
Yet, as she stared out at the passing architecture, the innocent, childlike wonder in her eyes began to shift. A subtle, sharp focus settled over her features. Evelyn wasn't just a tourist looking at a new city; she was an organic super-computer processing live data through a stolen network. The tactical combat data, identities, and neural pathways of the elite Capital Knights and high-ranking Bureau guards she had devoured over the last six years didn't just give her language… they gave her an intricately detailed blueprint of the very streets we were traversing.
As the carriage rolled seamlessly past the grand archway of the 4th District, the looming, pristine marble facade of the Luminous Knights Bureau Association came into view. The grand courtyard was filled with lower-ranking squires and couriers rushing about with massive stacks of parchment.
Evelyn leaned away from the window slightly, a strange, analytical tone bleeding into her youthful voice.
"The 4th District... This is where the Luminous branch handles all of their logistical gridlocks. My absorbed memories from a commander four years ago show that knights spend more time drowning in disciplinary paperwork and deployment logs here than actually wielding their swords. He hated this building. He used to hide his overdue field reports under the floorboards of the eastern archives."
I looked down at her from beneath the deep shadow of my heavy canvas hood, my single jade-green eye tracking her expression, fascinated and slightly chilled by how effortlessly she could recall the intimate daily lives of the men she had slain.
The carriage pressed onward, descending down the sloping cobblestone roads into the dense, suffocating smog of the 5th District, the sprawling, overcrowded tenements and slums of Caria. The buildings here were stacked haphazardly on top of one another, built from rotting timber and soot-stained stone. Alleyways were dark, narrow, and filled with desperate souls lingering in the shadows.
Evelyn's gaze hardened as she watched the impoverished citizens scatter away from our armored escort.
"The tenements... A memory file from the Vice-Captain I ate three years ago recalled this place vividly. He was a ruthless man, Eirene. He led a rogue cleaning squad through these specific slums three winters ago, executing alleged syndicate criminals and petty thieves in the dead of night without trial, washing the blood into the gutters so the Bureau wouldn't have to pay for jail cells. The screams from those alleys... they're still perfectly preserved in my brain."
I reached out with my right hand, gently resting it on her shoulder over her thick cloak. The tight bio-slime bodysuit beneath our clothes pulsed softly, a silent reminder of our shared monstrous nature, but my gesture was entirely human… an older sister's attempt to ground her from the ghosts of the dead men whispering in her mind. Evelyn felt the touch, her posture relaxing slightly as she gave me a small, grateful nod.
The landscape shifted drastically as we crossed the canal bridge into the 6th District, the bustling Merchant District. Here, the scent of burning coal and sewage was instantly replaced by the rich, sweet aromas of roasted spices, fresh pastries, and expensive perfumes. The streets were packed wall-to-wall with elaborate stalls displaying exotic fruits, fine fabrics, and glittering trinkets.
Evelyn's eyes darted to a heavily guarded granary storage unit.
"The 6th District... A miner who masturbates five times a day, whose soul was processed by the hive-mind after he stumbled into the third shaft, used to live here. His memories showed that he desperately stole a single loaf of enchanted elven bread and three copper-worth of dried meat from that very corner stall to feed his ailing daughter before he fled into the mines to escape the bounty hunters. He never made it back to her."
Before the weight of that memory could linger, the carriage turned a sharp corner, plunging us straight into the neon-like glow and roaring music of the 7th District… the notorious Entertainment District. Even in the bright daylight, the district was alive with theater barkers, bustling taverns, and high-stakes gambling dens echoing with the clinking of coins and rowdy cheers.
A faint, amused smirk broke across Evelyn's face as we passed a particularly lavish casino adorned with golden statues.
"Ah, the high rollers. According to the memories of an elite guard that I just devoured days ago, a desperate gambler lost five whole gold coins over a single, rigged game of baccarat right inside those doors. He was so deep in debt to the underground syndicates that he deliberately volunteered for the suicidal Caria Mine reclamation detail just to escape his collectors. Ironically, he ran straight into my ravine instead."
Finally, the carriage slowed to a steady, heavy crawl as the horses entered the massive, heavily fortified plaza of the 8th District. The atmosphere here was instantly different, sterile, heavily disciplined, and radiating absolute authority. Looming over the entire square was the gargantuan, obsidian fortress that served as the primary strategic base of the Capital Knights Bureau Association. Thousands of elite troops in pristine plate armor marched in flawless formation across the grounds, their banners snapping proudly in the wind. This was the heart of the kingdom's military might, the very place that sent executioners like me into the dark, and the ultimate origin of the knights whose minds now resided inside my little sister's head.
Evelyn stared up at the massive obsidian spires, her hand gripping my tattered cloak tightly. She was surrounded by the collective history of her victims, yet as she looked at me, her eyes remained fierce and unbroken. We were in the belly of the beast, but we were unified, and we were finally going home.
"Oi, oi, Eirene, your sister of yours freaks me out. She a fucking stalker." Plasma said through my thoughts
We stepped out of the reinforced ironwood carriage and onto the polished stone of the 8th District's main plaza. The mid-day sun was blinding, beating down on the obsidian fortress of the Capital Knights Bureau. I instantly winced as the harsh rays threatened to blister my mutated skin I got from my sixth evolution.
I gripped the edges of my heavy canvas cloak with a desperate intensity, pulling the hood completely forward to seal myself in shadow, making absolutely sure not a single sliver of light could touch me or reveal the massive, bat-like blood wings folded tightly against my back.
Beside me, Evelyn did the exact opposite. Craving the freedom she had been denied for six long years, she threw her hood completely off to breathe in the crisp, fresh surface air. The bright daylight caught her soft features, illuminating her brown hair and making the faint, bioluminescent slime tips at the ends glow with a soft, ethereal light.
She looked around the heavily fortified plaza, then turned her twin jade-green eyes up to me.
"Why are we here, big sister?" she asked softly.
Since I was completely mute, I reached into the hidden folds of my slime bodysuit, pulled out a small notepad and a charcoal pencil, and quickly scribbled a note:
"Need to report to the secretary that the mission is complete. Wanna come inside?"
Evelyn read the messy handwriting and nodded eagerly, her expression brightening.
"Yes! I want to see where you work."
Together, we walked toward the massive, heavily guarded iron gates of the 8th District's primary headquarters. Standing guard at the checkpoint was a towering, stern-faced gatekeeper in immaculate plate armor… Damien Morkov. He lowered his halberd slightly to block our path, his eyes scanning us with professional coldness.
"Both of you, toll fee and status cards. No exceptions." Damien droned, his deep voice bouncing off the stone.
A sudden realization hit me. Evelyn didn't have a status card. She had spent her entire life in a dark ravine, completely unregistered by the kingdom's bureaucratic system. But the timing was actually perfect… we were already heading directly into the heart of the Bureau, which meant I could register my baby sister and get her an official identity card today.
Damien stepped closer, his visor shifting as he squinted into the deep shadows of my hood. The moment he recognized the jagged lines of my Glasgow smile and my single, sharp jade-green eye, his strict posture wavered.
"Eirene? Damn, I barely recognized you. I didn't know you got a tan out in the field. And..."
He shifted his gaze down to Evelyn, his eyes widening slightly as he took in her features.
"...who is the girl beside you? She looks almost identical to you, but with incredibly pale skin. Are you two related?"
Evelyn immediately stepped forward, playing the innocent child flawlessly to protect our cover.
"She's mute, and I'm her little sister."
Damien let out a dry, irritated grunt, crossing his arms over his chest plate.
"Girl, I already know Eirene is mute. I've guarded this gate for years and I know him weeks ago. But Eirene has never had a sister on the records. Who are you really? Cut the small talk. Toll and status card, now."
Before the tension could escalate, Evelyn's super-intelligent tactical brain flared to life. The vast network of absorbed memories from the fallen Capital Knights surged through her mind, perfectly recognizing Damien's rank, the exact gate protocols, and the strict legal loopholes of the 8th District.
She didn't flinch under his gaze. Instead, she looked up at him with a calm, eerie confidence that didn't match her 5'3" frame.
"I don't have a status card, I was lost in the lower sectors. I am currently unregistered, and we are entering the Bureau specifically so my big sister can sponsor my legal registration." Evelyn said smoothly, her tone perfectly replicating the formal terminology used by citizens arriving from unmapped outer territories.
Damien stared down at Evelyn for a long, silent moment, the strict, unyielding authority in his eyes slowly giving way to a look of genuine surprise. He let out a low whistle, clearly impressed by how articulately a kid her age could cite the Bureau's legal registration protocols.
"You're a clever girl, alright, come inside. And you, Eirene, lead her straight to the registration desk. Though I've gotta say... I never knew you had a second little sister. Even Elicia always said she only had one younger sister… you… and one older brother, Elias."
My heart did a strange, heavy flip inside my chest. Hearing my siblings' names out loud after the absolute hell of the last twelve hours made the reality of what we had accomplished hit home. Elicia and Elias didn't know Evelyn was alive. They still believed, just like I had, that our mother's third child had perished in the womb six years ago.
I didn't give Damien any indication of my internal shock. Keeping my face hidden beneath the deep shadow of my canvas cloak, I reached into the leather purse slung over my tight bio-slime bodysuit. My fingers brushed past the heavy ammunition before finding the cold, metallic edges of our currency. I pulled out two silver coins… the toll fee for our entry… and dropped them into Damien's armored palm.
The silver clinked sharply, a sound that carried a lot more weight now that I knew how scarce these coins had become while Evelyn was guarding the gold mines.
Damien nodded, pocketing the silver and stepping aside completely.
"Go on through, Eirene. Get the kid registered before the higher-ups start asking questions."