Mayhem
Chapter 2: The Steampunk King
(From the narrator's perspective)
The 2950th year of the Ancient World era.
The City of Winds. The continent of Tautari.
The City of Winds was one of the largest cities of its era on the continent of Tautari.
A huge population, incomparable production capacities, and an advantageous location between the sea and the mountains made it independent and practically unreachable for neighbors.
It was an ideal place for traders and entrepreneurs. Here they stored wealth, concluded deals, built plans. Year after year, the city grew richer, expanded, and became noisier.
An innumerable number of mills, a sky filled with airships and hot-air balloons, steam engines intertwined with magic at giant factories — all this gave the City of Winds a unique flavor.
And it was in this city of opportunities that Leon Arman, who had lost his parents as an infant and lived in an orphanage for orphans, was celebrating his seventeenth birthday.
(From Leon's perspective)
—HAPPY BIRTHDAY! — yelled my best friend Marcel and slammed a cake into my face with all his strength.
—YEEES! — I yelled back, even though my entire face was smeared with cream.
—Girls, this is your chance to lick Leon's face, — Marcel smirked. —His face has never been this tasty before.
—Why do you think I'd let anyone lick my face at all? — I snorted. —I'll handle it perfectly myself.
—Well, apparently no one wanted to anyway, — he continued. —But don't worry. I'll lick your sweet cheeks myself.
And he quite seriously started licking my face.
—Have you completely lost your mind from drinking?! — I indignated, trying to break free. —Marcel, get off! You're embarrassing me in front of the girls!
The other kids in the orphanage could no longer hold back their laughter.
—Do you think I'm embarrassing you? — he stopped.
—That's what I think.
—Wrong, — Marcel smirked. —I'm embarrassing both of us.
And he went at me again.
All this was explained simply — he was drunk as a skunk.
—If you light a fire near your mouth, you could make a flamethrower, — I muttered, continuing to struggle. —Being near you is dangerous for life.
—Okay-okay, — he grumbled. —I've already… licked everything there…
And finally backed off.
—Guys, pour him some more, — I said. —Let him pass out faster.
The laughter only intensified.
At that moment, Grandma Rita, the orphanage caretaker, finished setting the table.
—From Marcel, I expected nothing less, — she smirked. —Everyone to the table.
And you, Leon, go wash up first, and only then come back.
By that time, Marcel had already managed to pass out.
Despite all his antics, I could without doubt call him my best friend. With him, life was much more fun than it could have been without him.
Grandma Rita prepared so much delicious food that we ate until we were stuffed, after which we went to bed. I left Marcel a little bit of everything and put the food in the drawer with the freezing crystal, since he was still asleep.
Usually, Marcel didn't drink that much. He knew himself that he got drunk quickly. But today he clearly wasn't holding back. Apparently, he was rejoicing for me from the bottom of his heart.
I went into the bedroom where the other guys slept, climbed onto my bed.
The hot summer day gave way to a cool night. Fresh wind burst into the room through the open window.
No wonder this place is called the City of Winds.
I wrapped myself in the cool blanket and quickly fell asleep.
(From the narrator's perspective)
A little bell rang, hung on the wall by the door.
Inside it was installed a small magical stone, tuned to start vibrating once a day. That's how the local alarm clock worked.
Leon and the other guys reluctantly woke up. The ringing meant one thing: it was already seven in the morning.
The calm, cool night gradually gave way to the city's noise. Through the open windows came the voices of people hurrying about their business, the creaking and clanking of wooden and steel machines — primitive predecessors of the automobiles of the Awakening era. They ran on steam engines combined with magic.
Air balloons, airships, and strange flying structures resembling sea sailing ships, only adapted for the air, rose into the sky. The city was waking up.
The room was already filled with warm sunlight.
The guys left the bedroom and headed to the washing room. There were shower stalls and sinks — simple but reliable mechanisms, fully assembled by human hands.
At 7:30 there was breakfast.
As always, breakfast was semolina porridge.
After breakfast, the children gathered for school and at 8:20 set off there. The journey began from the roof of the orphanage, where two medium-sized hot-air balloons were already waiting for them. In twenty minutes, they delivered the students to the school building.
Lessons started at 9:00 and lasted until 13:00.
In school, the children studied reading and writing, history, mechanisms, and the basics of magic theory.
After classes, the hot-air balloons did not return for them.
First, the younger children had to be taken back to the orphanage, and then the older ones could go about their business.
(From Leon's perspective)
After lessons, Marcel and I went to Mr. Charles — the man who found work for us.
After completing the task, he took thirty percent of the payment for himself and gave us seventy. For us, orphans from the orphanage, these were good conditions.
We entered his store. The shelves and display cases were filled with magical crystals and stones of various shapes and shades. Some glowed quietly, others vibrated barely noticeably, others looked completely ordinary, and it was usually those that turned out to be the most dangerous.
—Hello, Mr. Charles, — I began.
And didn't finish.
One of the visitors in a black hood suddenly lunged at the display case, snatched a dark stone, and rushed to the exit.
—Catch him! — Mr. Charles immediately shouted.
Marcel and I didn't even exchange glances and immediately dashed after him.
The thief flew out onto the street, jumped into his machine, and sharply hit the gas, nearly hitting several passersby. Steam from the exhaust pipes mixed with people's screams and the clanging of metal.
I jumped right onto the machine.
Managed to grab onto the roof and hung, holding onto two metal plates with the inscription "Taxi". The machine raced at enormous speed. People, carts, and other steam machines dodged at the last moment, someone fell, someone cursed after.
The driver sharply turned, trying to shake me off.
I was thrown to the side, but I held on.
He made another sharp turn, I held on again.
And how else? If I let go, I would fly into the stone walls of buildings at full speed.
The machine stopped abruptly.
The thief jumped out and, without even looking at me, started running.
I didn't waste time and dashed after him.
Several water barrels stood on the side of the street. I concentrated, pulled a stream from them, and directed it right under the runner's feet, and in the next second froze it.
He slipped and crashed onto the ice.
I rushed at him, and right then slid on the ice I had just created myself.
The black stone fell out of his pocket.
I grabbed it and tried to get up, but the thief suddenly grabbed my leg, knocked me to the ground, and bit me. The pain was sharp and unexpected.
I loosened my grip.
He snatched the stone from my hands and started running again.
And at that moment, Marcel crashed down on him from above.
He jumped from the roof of a two-story building, hit the thief on the back of the head, and snatched the stone.
But the joy lasted less than a second.
Out of nowhere, a second person in a mask appeared. He kicked Marcel right in the face with a swing, took the stone, and the two of them started running.
I had already gotten up and dashed in pursuit again.
We raced along a busy street. I collided with people, someone fell, someone shouted, I was nearly hit by a steam machine that passed a couple of centimeters away.
The thieves dived into a building.
It turned out to be a pub.
I flew in after and saw them quickly climbing the stairs to the second floor. I dashed after them.
We climbed onto the roof.
There, an air balloon was already waiting for them.
One of them jumped inside and started launching. The second clung to the rope at the last moment.
I grabbed his leg.
He hesitated for a second, but then started cutting the rope on which we both hung.
—DON'T DO THIS, IDIOT! — the thief shouted to his partner.
—DON'T YOU FEEL SORRY FOR YOUR FRIEND?! — I yelled.
But he cut the rope anyway.
We flew down from a height of about twenty meters.
I was falling onto the roof of one of the buildings, but at the last moment Marcel appeared. He created a powerful air vortex that softened the fall and allowed me to land.
One of the thieves fell straight to the ground and didn't move anymore.
And at that moment, a sailing boat flew up to us.
It was piloted by a girl with white hair. The lower part of her face was hidden by a white scarf, and her eyes watched attentively.
—Hey, you! — she shouted. —Can any of you control the wind?
—Marcel can, — I immediately replied.
—Then on board. Help me speed up the boat.
We hesitated for just a second, but then jumped onto her boat.
Marcel immediately concentrated. An artificial wind rose around the boat, the sail tightened, the hull shuddered, and we were jerked forward sharply, right after the air balloon on which the thief was escaping.
We quickly began to close the distance.
Noticing this, the thief turned around, pulled out a revolver, and started shooting. Bullets whistled over our heads, one pierced the edge of the sail. We instinctively ducked, hiding behind the side.
A second later, the white-haired girl also pulled out a revolver and, without losing composure, opened return fire. Shots echoed through the air, reflecting off roofs and metal structures.
Marcel, meanwhile, didn't let go of the wind. His face was concentrated, his hands trembled slightly, but the flow remained even and directed.
—WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! — I shouted, trying to outshout the noise of the wind and shots.
And at that moment, we noticed it.
Right towards us, slowly and majestically, floated a huge airship. Its metal hull cast a shadow on the streets below, and the propellers hummed so loudly that it blocked our ears.
The thief stopped shooting and sharply veered his air balloon aside, getting out of the airship's way.
Marcel, without slowing down, continued the pursuit.
At the last moment, we slipped past the airship. Air currents swirled, the boat shook, but we held on, and almost caught up to the thief's air balloon.
The white-haired girl didn't wait.
She jumped sharply, landed on the balloon, and with one spin kick sent the thief into knockout.
In the next second, a stream of fire burst from her palm.
Fire engulfed the balloon's fabric.
The flame quickly crawled upward, coloring the sky with flashes of orange and black.
She grabbed the black stone and immediately jumped back to the boat.
She almost didn't make it, but I managed to grab her by the hand. At the same moment, I was jerked forward myself, and I almost fell down. Marcel had to grab me by the leg.
Because of this, the boat veered sharply downward, and together with the remains of the air balloon, we started falling.
Below, I noticed a fountain.
—Marcel, let us go. I have a plan, — I shouted.
He didn't ask questions and immediately released his hands.
I concentrated and pulled all the water from the fountain. The stream rose upward and, like a living pillow, caught me and the white-haired girl.
We landed successfully, though we were completely wet.
Marcel landed after us on the boat.
The girl and I lay on the stone pavement, breathing heavily.
—Well… — I exhaled and smirked. —That was something we pulled off.
—Yeah, — she laughed.
But the fun didn't last long.
The fallen burning air balloon nearby had touched several fruit stalls. The flame quickly spread to the awnings.
We immediately rushed there.
I gathered water around, pulled it from barrels and puddles, and extinguished the fire with one stream. People around started thanking, someone clapped, someone just exhaled in relief.
And it was at that moment that the police approached us.
—You had a good time, — said one of the policemen, examining us. —And now we'll have to question you.
The three of us were taken to the station, where we explained everything in detail.
In the end, they just laughed at us for five minutes.
After some time, Mr. Charles came for us.
—These kids will have to cover the losses of the fruit traders, — said the policeman, looking at us.
—Don't worry about that, — Mr. Charles replied calmly. —I'll cover all the costs.
He drove us back to the store in his carriage.
On the way, I decided to start a conversation with the white-haired girl.
—Listen, who are you anyway? — I asked.
—My name is Lily. Lily Werner.
—Lily Werner… — I drawled. —Wait. You and Mr. Charles have the same last name.
—Because she's my daughter, — said Mr. Charles. —She didn't listen to me and ran after you too.
—You never said you had a daughter, — Marcel noted.
—And why would you need to know that? — he replied calmly.
—Fair enough, — Marcel shrugged.
—Rest well today, — said Mr. Charles. —And the next two days you'll work for free.
—Why all of a sudden? — I indignated.
—I covered the traders' losses for you.
—But we returned the stone to you, as you asked, — I said.
—Yes, — he nodded. —But I didn't expect you to bring me so many expenses.
He fed us fried meat in the store, after which we returned to the orphanage.
Marcel and I were sitting in the common hall flipping through the newspaper.
—Listen, Marcel.
—Listening.
—Mr. Charles's daughter has beautiful eyes, — I said.
—Maybe. But that's Mr. Charles's daughter, — he replied. —Don't forget that.
—Think it's not fate?
—And can you make it so that she becomes your fate? — he asked.
—It'll be hard… but possible to try.
—We often refer to fate, as if it decided everything for us, — Marcel said thoughtfully. —But the truth is that we ourselves choose: to live in a world of illusions born from our grudges and mistakes, or to leave the past and move forward.
I looked at him in surprise.
—I don't think you're smart enough to come up with that.
—Do you think I'm dumb?
—No. Just your level of development wouldn't allow you to formulate such a complex sentence.
—I read it yesterday in a book.
—Got it, — I said lazily. —At least you remembered it. You're not hopeless.
After this conversation, we both fell asleep right on the floor in the common hall.
The next day after lessons, Marcel and I went to Mr. Charles again.
—Today and tomorrow you'll work in my store, — he said, looking at the three of us.
—Mr. Charles, — I called. —What is your daughter doing here?
—She was with you yesterday too, — he replied calmly. —I have business today. You'll watch the store. One will stand behind the counter, two will sort goods in the warehouse on the second floor.
Having said that, Mr. Charles hurriedly left the store and got into his machine.
But at that moment, my thoughts were not about that at all.
Lily was without the scarf today. And not only her eyes were beautiful — her entire face was beautiful.
—I'll be the seller, — said Marcel and smirked, looking at me.
—Then we're in the warehouse, — I replied, playing along.
For the first fifteen minutes, I couldn't start a conversation. A rare case when there wasn't a single suitable thought in my head.
—Listen, — I finally said, —why were you wearing a scarf on your face yesterday?
—We were chasing thieves, after all, — she replied, without even looking at me. —I didn't want them to remember my face.
—Logical, — I nodded. —And what happened to those thieves in the end?
—According to father, both died. One fell from height to the ground, the other — with the air balloon.
—Got it… — I said. —And where did you get the revolver from?
—That boat belongs to dad, — she replied. —The revolver was in the box by the helm. I took it with me just in case.
—And where did you learn to shoot?
—I've been practicing shooting for the last two years, — she answered without much interest.
—And how old are you?
—Seventeen.
—Oh, so we're the same age, — I smiled.
And so, until the very evening, I continued asking her about everything.
About life, about studies, about little things that suddenly started seeming important.
Thus ended another day.