Pandemonium [original]

Chapter Nine: Yep, that's a Wall.

Zaria skidded to a stop by the help of some random man. She would have ended up in traffic if it weren't for him. She thanked him, slightly embarrassed for her mistake. Continuing on her way, she enjoyed the late evening air. The many things around her enticed her curiosity. She could see the heat signatures as they created a map in her mind. She loved it so much.

***

Mal was finally feeling better as he opened his eyes, surprised that nothing was dismantled. He then frowned. That meant Zaria was either asleep or gone. Mal sat up.
"Where the Hell is my sister?" He was worried.

Rhys stared a moment snapping back to attention with the help of Mal's confrontation. "Uhh... The kitchen? Bathroom maybe?" The prince responded, sounding lazy.

Mal sighed. "She's not here! Why can't she just listen!? Why does she have to be so rebellious or curious!?" He wasn't exactly angry, just worried and scared for her.

Then Demitri spoke, "She can find her way back, I mean she has eyes, and if she's so smart she can just get back on her own."

She sighed out of boredom, she was slightly envyious of Zaria's ability to just "disappear".

Mal blinked, slightly dumbfounded. They hadn't noticed yet. He went to speak then just shook his head. "I'm going to go find her..."

Rhys spoke again, "She'll come back don't worry... " The black haired man turned his attention to the news. It was showing a biker gang and the reminants of an explosion. They were trying to explain what had happened. The leader was getting medical attention as he described what happened.

"She has red hair.... short... wearing some kind of mechanic er steampunk clothing... But it was a bit weird... almost military style and she had some sort of ranks that said WSI..." He coughed as he was taken away in the ambulance.

Mal clenched fists in anger
"Dammit Zaria! Why...!?" He grabbed his boots and was trying to put them on quickly.

"Tch... There's no way she could have done that..." Demitri sighed. "No offense but... She's like 12 right?"

Mal smacked a hand to his forehead exasperated. "She's 16 and--" he stopped. Zaria didn't like it when he told people about her eyes.

***

Zaria was standing by a smaller girl playing violin as she listened in awe. "I'm glad I snuck out..." She thought of the mental map she'd already created.

A bit more exploring couldn't hurt. She walked away, adjusting her coat slightly. As she walked she could smell all the food; she even swiped a box full of these weird bread-ish things. They were filled with something good. The box was labelled 'dumplings'. She ate happily and walked as she saw a store. She mapped its heat signatures quickly before walking inside.

Zaria walked around for a while, accidentally running into things. She couldn't map things  properly because a machine pumping cold air was messing with her senses. She had just run into another wall and was falling back, close to tears with frustration. She suddenly stopped, sensing a presence kneeling to her left.

"Hey... You ok..? I just watched you run into like four walls..." The voice sounded soothing, but deep.

Zaria flushed with embarrassment. "I-I..."

"Hey it's ok. Cas sent a text he'd be having friends." He took her hand gently and pulled her up.

"He's here act--"

"I wasn't supposed to leave... Please don't tell him..." Zaria slightly enjoyed the warmth of his hand.

He laughed. "Sneaky huh? Alright then, I'll take you back. The names Huey by the way. Like the helicopter."

"Eh... What's a helicopter...?" Zaria was extremely confused.

"Wait... uh... nevermind, what's your name, shrub?" He still laughed a bit.

"Zaria..."

She has pointed to her name tag. Huey looked at the tag.

"Special Weapons Inventor... Sounds badass... Eh well you may need some new clothes... My sister probably has stuff you could wear. She's at college and she only took her favorite dresses and hoodies."

"Oh... I guess that's ok..." Zaria sighed a bit. The two walked out together and headed back to Cass's apartment.

"I live two floors below Cas so it's useful," He smiled.

"Yeah... wait I gotta check on my brother!" She took off running, able to sense her way back to the room.

Mal stood in the doorway. He grabbed her shoulders then hugged her tight. "Thank god you're safe!"

"Mal, I'm fine..."

Zaria wasn't a big fan of hugs. Mal pulled her inside then began lecturing her.

Huey smirked, he had followed her out of concern. "Damn she's good for being blind..." He walked into his apartment to search for the promised clothes.