Animus

Veno City Pt.1

I walked for days through the desert, only stopping at the occasional lagoons that seemed to dot the landscape. I eventually started seeing mirages and I foolishly ran toward the false promises of water. Eventually, I gave up on following mirages, but soon I grew too thirsty to ignore them any longer. I saw a mirage that looked like palm trees and a lake. I didn't think any good would come of it but, I walked on. I got closer to the mirage and it seemed that there were actually palm trees there! I got closer enough and I fell down in joy at what I saw.

It was not only a lake, it was a river! I drank the water and I was feeling much better. I figured I'd better see what was around here since, where there is a river, there is a city. I walked east and I soon saw adobe houses and realized that I was in the capital city of the Snake Empire, Veno City.  At the center of the city stood a large palace that had ancient heiroglyphs of the first Snake people all over it's walls. It was the snake king's palace. It was such an amazing sight! I was joyed to see the city but afraid since I did kill the Titan Snake which happened to be a snake god. Also, the snake people were know for their hostility to not only eachother but, especially to outsiders. I figured I needed a disguise. 

While making my way to the city I saw a farm house that had clothes being dried outdoors. I stealthily crept to the clothes and picked a dark grey cloak that had a hood. There also was a small white belt that went along with it. It had a white band on the hood, it was the sign of a commoner in the snake people. I swiped it and I left 16 Agretsis for the farmer whose clothes I stole. "At least he can buy something with the money." I thought. I put on the cloak and I made sure that I hid my face as best as I could. I headed toward the city and realized that I had to get approved to enter the city by the guards on the bridge that lead inside. I didn't want them finding my true identity since I bet there was a bounty on my head by now and I didn't want the metal orb to be discovered either. It was obviously an important relic to their people, having it in my posession was not going to help my reputation. I courageously stepped to the guards on the bridge and they stared at me hard, with their snake eyes.

One guard said, "State your businessss." and I didn't answer. He repeated, "I said...state your business!" Just as he was about to pull out his whip on me, a loud crash was heard. Someone had set a bunch of horses free from a stable in the market! The horses went wild since they were slaves from the Horse people and began to ravage the market square. The guards turned and ran toward the commotion. The guard who yelled at me still was being wary of me and turned his head around while running. There I shoud've been standing, on the bridge doing nothing but watching the disaster unfold. But, I had vanished.

I had quickly jumped onto the side of the bridge opposite to the side the guards were on and I luckily found a small ledge that I used to sneak my way across. People from boats hardly noticed me and I made my way into Veno City. I needed food so, I went to a small restaraunt I found that served fried mice. It was rather disturbing but, I couldn't turn away from the mouse once I ordered it, or else the other people would suspect me of being different. I ate it and walked out of the restaraunt with a fake smile on my face, as if I'd eaten a good meal. I proceeded to throw up in a trashcan behind the restaurant.

While making friends with the trashcan, the orb fell out of my pocket. It hit the ground with a clang! and proceeded to roll down the alleyway. I noticed it just as it picked up speed and I ran toward it. Since this had to be the alley in the city that went steeply downward catching the orb was no easy task. It bounced off of walls and trashcans. It didn't dent though it hit the ground multiple times. I finally caught it right as it rolled behind a trashcan that was filled with half eaten dead mice. How did I know this? The orb popped up because it hit a stone and it landed on the trashbag, making it explode on me. After picking up the orb and throwing up once more, I started walking to the street again. Suddenly, the orb started glowing and I stopped. It formed strange pattern and formed a circle of blue light around the button. I felt I should press it and when I did, I was surpised at what happened next.

The orb started minimizing and became the size of a walnut. It flew out of my hand and glowed brightly with its blue light, then it started to quickly hover away. I chased it through alleyways and even through some strange passages I never knew existed. It was obviously leading me somewhere so i figured I'd better keep up. People didn't seem to notice the orb when it zoomed by, but they did notice me when I plowed into them. The houses around me were very nice and some had pools and flowers cascading from down the white wooden windows. But, each house declined in brilliance as I ran on. Eventually I was in a strange and uninviting neighborhood away from the main road. This wasn't my ideal situation. The orb shot straight at a door that looked like it was a century old and it belonged to a house that belonged to another time. The windows were a little cracked and cloudy but you could tell they once were nice. There was a balcony that I could see that rested on the houses second floor. It was made of adobe but it was painted white, although the color was chipping off. There were shutters that actually were functional and not for decoration like the fancier homes I'd previously seen. The orb hit the door once and it suddenly stopped moving and fell down, it's job was done. I picked it up and as I was about to ditch the scene for fear of getting attacked by someone, the door creaked open. A voice that belonged to a human said, "What do you want?" 

I responded, "Nothing!" and was about to walk away when the orb lit up once more and flew to the doorway. There was a gasp. And then silence. The door fully opened and a middle aged man with a beard told me to come inside. He sounded deadly serious and a little excited. I did as I was told after retrieving the orb. The interior of the house was strange. There were random pieces of furniture that didn't match and there also was a fireplace. I noticed a big brown chair with cushions that looked cozy next to a white sofa with softly colored yellow flowers on it. Candles lit the room's dimness and the walls had paintings of humans wearing armor and wielding swords. Although I'd never seen this place, it felt like a comfortable place.

The man with the beard and I sat down on the white sofa. He stared at me in what looked ike amazement and spoke with a nevous smile saying, "We've been waiting a long time for you. I bet you've heard the 'prophecy' is beginning to unfold and that Animus is going to end. But what you haven't heard is that this starts and ends with YOU." I laughed and said with complete and utter denial, "Sorry dude, I don't know you I just got here because I ate some bad mouse."