Five stops down the line, their stays had been mostly uneventful. The novelty of the train had worn off on Alex, and she was now simply overwhelmed by the size of the country. She'd never even heard of any of the cities (let alone the towns) they were stopping through, and even through the train travelled faster than anything, the maps in the train station showed that compared to continent-spanning Mauvoria, even a week's travel barely made any distance.
Observing one city to the next, she noticed one common theme: humans were not living well, not in a single one. The nicest buildings in the human part of town were the military bases and shops, while the rest of the population lived in run down houses, huts, and often, the streets. Meanwhile, the troll neighbourhoods and train stations seemed like the ultimate indulgences, proving far more decadent than even she, a princess, was used to. They went down the streets wearing the finest clothes, travelling from one of their massive sky touching glass buildings to the next on noisy motorized vehicles. She would've been blind not to notice the sharp contrast, and it infuriated her.
She knew that up until then, she had lived incredibly well. She was the princess, after all, and she knew she was lucky. But Isabella had taught her all about how there were different classes of people, how some were poorer, and how she had to respect them as her subjects; and other sorts of things like that. But she was certain that no matter how poorly commoners in Fenelle might have lived compared to nobility, it was nothing at all like this.
Seven and Alex walked down the uptown street of their latest destination of the town of Rat ("All these troll towns have such weird names," she commented on arriving). Seven had told her that on the train, a whole city back, he had heard from someone that apparently there was a considerable revolutionary presence in Rat; both agreed that it would be a good idea to investigate.
So they wandered throughout the streets, familiarising themselves with the layout of the town.
As evening started to approach, they headed back to the poor part of town, taking up at the only human inn in town.
"We're running low on money," Seven told her, after they'd paid for the night in advance.
"I know," Alex said. She looked through her purse, still open. "We've got maybe enough for another night, maybe two. I don't know if there's enough for another train ticket."
"Well, then, that puts us in a shitty position," he said bluntly. Alex put away her purse and they walked up the staircase, heading to their single room. They couldn't afford two. "What did you do to get money before?"
"Whatever I could," she responded, quietly. "Unthinkable things."
Seven gave her an odd look, his less innocent mind not interpretting that last part the way that Alex had meant it at all. He opened the door to their room, and there was a moment's silence as Alex magically lit the room's lamp, and the two put their bags on the ground.
"Work, beg, 'borrow'...," she clarified, adding even more softly, embarassedly, "steal...." Before the invasion, she'd never even thought of doing any of those things, let alone considered the possibility that her survival would depend on it.
"Steal?" Seven asked.
"I'm not proud," she murmured, turning a bit flustered. "But I needed food... and, well, I took as little as I had to...," she added. She wasn't actually sure either part was completely true, in retrospect; she didn't like to think about it. She'd always thought petty theft was far below her.
"Desperate times," he responded, knowingly. "But... well, I was just thinking. You've got magic like the soldiers do, right... do you think you could take out a couple, if you got the jump on them?"
"I don't know... I suppose so," she said after a moment's thought. Then she caught onto his line of thinking; she knew from observation that the army's street patrols were always in pairs, and often carried enough of their wages on them to buy cigarettes and coffee.
Which reminded her-- she could use a smoke. She reached into her bag and pulled one out, taking it in her mouth and lighting it with a snap of her fingers. After taking a drag, she said, "That's not a bad idea."
"Unless you feel bad about robbing the army," he said with a snicker.
"Heavens no," she said in the most scathing tone of voice she could muster-- unable to think of words harsh enough to express her contempt for them. "They deserve it. After all they've done...."
"You sure don't need to tell me," he said, sitting down on the only thing on the floor aside from their bags; a thin mattress.
"Hm?" Alex murmured, sitting cross-legged against the wall, facing Seven. She took the cigarette out of her mouth again, blowing out smoke. "What is your story, anyway?
"My story?"
"Right. You've got to have some reason for wanting to travel alongside me...," she said. "It's not that I don't trust you, but, well, I'm sure it's not just pity."
Seven smiled. "You see right through me. No, it ain't. But... truth be told, I honestly don't have much of a story to tell. I don't really remember much before a year ago," he told her.
"Amnesia?" she asked, thinking back to all the stories she'd been read before the fall of Fenelle; it was a fairly common cliche.
"Yeah," he said. "Or at least, something like that. All I know is that I escaped from some laboratory, and the military wants to bring me back in... and, well, I'm not too cool with that. You've seen what they're like; they're fuckin' awful. I mean, I don't think there are posters with my face on them, I'm not public enemy number one or anything...."
"No," Alex said, with a bit of a grin. "I think that's me."
"Ha ha, yeah," Seven agreed. "You probably are. So no, it ain't pity; it's... it's understanding."
"That's...," she trailed off, thinking. She wasn't sure what she thought that was. After another drag and a moment's pause, lost in thought, she finally decided, "That's nice to hear. I'm glad there's somebody who understands."
He didn't say anything immediately in response, and she was fine with that. She just sat there quietly, staring at the older boy-- actually, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if she considered him a boy or a man. He was much older than she was, doubtless, but at the same time, he wasn't like any other adult she'd met. He was honest with her-- like now-- and unlike nearly every single other, he didn't condescend to her at all.
She continued to smile a bit, realizing that it sure was fortunate that she'd met him. She felt more and more confident now, compared to how paranoid and miserable she'd been on her own; she knew that, even though her situation was awful beyond all description, she had a hope of pulling through.
And so after a while, they started to plot their next move, Alex's growing confidence being funneled into fury towards the visible Mauvorian authorities: the military.
Alex stood, leaning against the alley wall, in waiting. She took
another peek out into the street, but she couldn't see Seven. It took
her all that she could to not tap her foot impatiently; but she knew
she had to keep quiet.
After what felt like a lot longer than it actually was, she heard Seven's voice shouting "Quick, she's in here!", and she took a deep breath, knowing that was her cue to get ready. She put out her arm to her left side, making sure that she remembered: east was that way. If she got confused in the heat of the moment, her magic wouldn't work, so she reminded herself of her orientation once again, just to be sure. But she knew was ready as she'd ever be.
Two soldiers with Seven right behind them rushed into the alley, to find Alex leaning frontwards against the wall, convulsing and groaning.
"What's going on?" the first soldier demanded, both approaching her immediately.
Alex looked up. She had planned on saying something clever as a response before knocking the closest one out, but it occurred to her at the very last moment that it wasn't very clever after all. She instead proceeded to swing her other fist up at his chin, her fist shining and sparkling as she hit him with a magically powered uppercut. The force knocked him several feet up in the air-- and needless to say, he hit the ground, out cold.
Seven proceeded to hit the second soldier from behind; but not with nearly as much force as Alex had gotten the first with. The woman staggered forward a bit, stunned, but still standing. She reached for the black box pinned to her shoulder, starting to say something into it, but Alex reacted quickly, and pointed her hand towards the second soldier. With a murmur and several glowing circles emerging in the air in front of her hand, a gust of wind shot out from them and knocked the soldier into the alley wall with a loud slam.
She took a moment to catch her breath, standing there, shaking. Neither of the two bodies moved; in the space of ten seconds, they'd been both knocked out cold. She'd spent all that time panicking-- and it was over, just like that.
"Show off...," Seven grumbled, as he started to check the soldiers' unconcious bodies for valuables.
"God, I'm so hungry, I could eat a whole orchard!" Alex announced
loudly to Seven; her voice a sharp contrast from her usual soft mumble.
"You don't say," he said, opening the pub door. "The Witch's Kettle", it was called; and as near as either could tell, it was the cleanest looking place for humans to eat in this town.
"I'd settle for just one decent, full meal, though," she said. "It's been forever."
"No way decent's possible in a place like this, but a full meal we could probably do," he replied, speaking quietly into her ear, so she could hear him over the din and noise of the pub.
They made their way through the crowd, taking seats at a table in the back. All along the wall, the tables were seperated by crude wooden partitions, giving booths with what Alex could only assume was some sort of attempt of privacy. It reminded her dimly of a train car.
"You want me to go get the food?" Seven asked as she put her bag down on the bench beside her.
"It'd be nice," she said. He left to the counter; she amused herself by watching the people around her. It sure was lively, she noted, much moreso than she'd ever noticed in previous towns. People talking loudly, a musician playing in the opposite corner, and a general feeling of excitement in the air. She'd never seen a gathering of humans in Mauvoria before that wasn't miserable and solemn; it took her a moment to even realize why it seemed so strange.
Seven returned shortly, putting down the two plates on the table.
"Fried potatoes?" she asked, quickly taking her dish.
"Well, the man did say it was a meal fit for a princess," he said. "I think he's full of shit, but it's the best they've got."
"If it was fit for a princess, it'd have some meat in it," she complained, not entirely seriously. She started to eat, taking bits of food carefully with her chopsticks; Seven used his fingers. After a few bites, she added, "I know I'll never see a royal meal again, but all I mean is, I certainly would kill for some beef."
"Hah. Be happy you've ever even had it," he said, his mouth full of food. "What is beef, anyway? All I know is it's expensive."
Alex stopped, giving it a bit of thought.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "It's made from some sort of soybeans, but it's all processed and flavoured and spiced and the such. It doesn't really taste anything like they do normally." Giving it a bit more thought, she added, "It's like other kinds of meat; it's made of vegetables, but the way they make it is so complicated, it doesn't really end up being like any normal vegetable at all."
"That's not really helpful," Seven said.
"I guess not...," Alex replied, trailing off; something at the other booth near theirs caught her eye.
"...hey," she said. "Don't look back immediately, but... is that a troll leaving that table?"
Seven turned his head slowly, following Alex's eyes to see the person; there really was a male troll leaving the place. He looked as out of place as could be; trolls never even went into the human parts of town, let alone patronized human pubs. But as far as either could tell, it wasn't an official or someone on any sort of business. Furthermore, nobody else even seemed to notice his presence, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
"Wow, it is," he said. "I can't imagine what a troll would be doing here."
"It's queer," said Alex.
"Hella queer," he agreed.
They both paused for a good second, looking at each other; both wondering if the other was as curious, and without saying a word, realizing that they were. Alex felt a bit upset, thinking that she probably wouldn't ever find out what the troll's story was.
Seven, however, thought much differently.
"Hey!" he called out, to a man passing by their table with an empty plate. "Excuse me there..." he paused, and the man stopped; Seven had his attention. "You wouldn't happen to know who that troll who just left was, would you?"
"You mean Lerara? Sure I do. He's...," the man started to answer, but then immediately stopped, as if he realized that he was about to say something he shouldn't to strangers. "He's just someone who comes by."
Seven murmured something, then made eye contact with the man. "Don't worry... you can trust us. He's behind something important, isn't he?"
The man hesitated for only a second-- seeming convinced instantly. "Yeah. Yeah, he is. He's our big inside, into the officer's ranks, you know. He gives us information whenever he can, that sort of thing. Real important fellow, he is."
"Who's us?" Seven asked.
"You know, us humans. The ones who care 'bout freedom, anyway," he said. Seven nodded a bit, and the man continued, proudly, "It's all hush hush from the army, 'course, but this pub is the real center point of the revolution here. We're gonna show those bastards, that's for sure... you know, we managed to get the curfew here lifted?"
"Really," said Seven.
"Oh yeah. There's revolution in the air, that's for sure." He paused for a moment; he didn't seem like he had anything else to say, and started to turn away. "Anyways, I should be getting back..."
"Of course," Seven said, with a smile. "Thank you."
"You two take care," he said, and walked away.
"See? Never hurts to ask," Seven said, as soon as the man had left.
"Holy shit." Alex was surprised. She'd never heard such open defiance in Mauvoria before-- nobody dared, it was grounds for arrest, for treason. "How'd you get him to tell you that?"
"I've got a way with people," Seven replied casually.
"I can see that much," she said. She started to think about it, amazed; maybe it was just a matter of knowing what to say, she thought. She'd been shy, afraid to talk to anyone more than necessary ever since she'd been on the run... but she wanted to be like that, like Seven. It's admirable, she thought.
"So," said Seven, "that was interesting."
"It was," Alex agreed, nodding. "I want to find out more about these rebels."
"Why? Curious?"
"Yeah," she said, then corrected herself; "No. I'm not just curious. I hate the army, I hate this country, I hate living like this... I hate feeling helpless." She sighed. "It's just, you know, I'd like to think, maybe I could actually do something to make a difference...."
"So let's find out more," Seven said nonchalantly. "I don't know if you noticed, princess--" Alex twitched at his use of the title in public, "--but you've got some pretty incredible powers. You're undetectable. You're strong. And I figure you have to be either fairly clever or incredibly lucky to have made it this far safely-- but either way, that's great. Honest, sweetie, you could potentially be unstoppable by anyone; if you want to take advantage of that to do something, I say, you absolutely should.
"It's better to have some purpose than to wander aimlessly," he added.
Alex looked surprised at his encouragement; for the first time in years, she blushed.
After eating, they both decided that they'd done enough for the night. When they checked back into their cheap, run down room that night, Alex fell asleep the moment she laid down on her mattress. It was hard (although not nearly as hard as Seven's section of the floor), and thinner than most of the palace's blankets, but that night,she didn't feel so bad; she had pleasant dreams that night.