Opulent Akmens: Misty Pearl

The Morbid Truth

They looked at each other in shock. The door to their small but benevolent inn was ajar. The warm but distant smile that greeted them every day after a venture in the town's streets was missing.

"She must've gone out for some vegetables, right?", Myrda asked. 

"Yeah, most likely. She did say she wanted to cook a stew tonight.", Banepo replied trying to relieve his adoptive sister.

But this was unusual. Baba Haji would never knowingly leave the fire unattended. She would never leave the inn door open for the world to see. She would never leave a pile of newly washed clothes on the floor to become dirty again. But most unusual of all was that she would NEVER leave the inn without Banepo and Myrda.

Banepo quickly ushered his sister inside and shut the door of the inn. He then picked up the clothes and put them aside. Then he added some firewood to the furnace. Myrda wasn't surprised by Banepo's demeanor of not caring much about the closest person that they can call a relative was unusually missing. She had, after all, grown up with him.

A glimmer caught her eye. She noticed something strangely shiny in the fire. And while the furnace's flames were always bright, there was a shimmering light that strangely didn't seem hurtful to the eyes. Myrda got up and started to pretend to tend the flames but instead she grabbed the stoker and gently nudged the shining object out of the flames. But the moment she removed it, she stepped back in shock. This thing wasn't supposed to be in their inn, much less in their vicinity! She dropped the stoker and it fell to the ground with a clang.

Banepo, who had left to fold the fallen clothes, returned after hearing the stoker drop and saw his shocked sister staring at something on the floor. The moment his eyes fell on the object, he too glared at it with a baffled look on his face. 

"What is the Empire's emblem doing here?", he asked his sister while staring at her. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Her entire body was shivering. "I don't know, Banepo.", she said. Her voice was shaky and breaking.

The Empire. More specifically, the Jerdan Empire. Banepo and Myrda hailed from a small town named Marelly in the great continent of Phalpesit. In the vast landmass of Phalpesit, there reigned various royal families and people of power, but undoubtedly the most revered and feared organization was the Jerdan Empire. Millions of soldiers at their disposal and a concerningly high number of powerful mages and adventurers by their side, made it indomitable. Each village and town under their eye and their jurisdiction infallible.

But the idea of a member of such an organization, having entered their tiny yet humble adobe and the suspicious disappearance of their only mother like figure, seemed like an unimaginable coincidence. 

Why would something that great want anything to do with Baba Haji? Why would they leave something important like a badge in the inn's fireplace? How was Baba Haji's disappearance related to the Empire's badge? 

These questions run amok in the teens' minds but not a single clue was left behind. The closest thing to a hint was the badge and even then, the next course of action was unknown to the kids.

No. The answer was there. The badge had the truth. And if not, then the ones who wear it surely would. Banepo was still in shock, but Myrda cleared her mind of any overthinking fodder and grabbed the warm badge and her brother's hand.

The warm yet stinging heat of the badge brought Banepo's train of thought back to speed and he looked at his sister. She had watery eyes, but the determination to see things through.

The look on her face inspired Banepo. Her disheveled hair from the lack of brushing, due to the absence of the one who would brush. Her lower lip being bitten by her to hide the terrified quivering for the actions they would have to conduct. Her watery eyes, that glistened in the fire but kept strong and didn't let a tear be shed. And the ash on her face that signified her position. A teenage orphan girl, trying to steel her nerves to face a formidable force in concern of the only person in the godforsaken town to ever care about the kids.

Banepo swallowed any and all fear he had. His sister needed him. Baba Haji needed him.

The siblings dusted their clothes and held each other's hand, clasping the badge in between, locking the door of the inn behind them.

The gray and dull streets of the town were yet to be decorated by the oil lamps that formed huge shadows of those that walked the paths. The Jerdan Empire's patrolling force would be at the town's gate ensuring that nobody suspicious would enter or leave. 

They took a deep breath and walked away from the sign that read, 'Priapus Inn'.

The teens failed to notice because of their fleeting emotions and inability to grasp their surroundings. The inn hid another clue.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

A ghastly shade of red. That was the color of the drops falling in the now-dying flames of the fireplace.

Had the siblings discovered the grotesque scene found by the Jerdan Empire's surveillance team, an hour later, they would've questioned their knowledge about their loving adoptive mother figure.