Lord of Cages - Vessel

Chapter 12 - A Part of Something Greater

Chapter Twelve

A Part of Something Greater

When Anwen cheerfully hopped into the living room in that lazy morning, Naya could've sworn she had just closed her eyes. As her sister playfully pulled her covers, opened the curtains and sang, Naya groggily and slowly got up, feeling more than just a little exhausted.

But Anwen's energy was contagious so, soon enough, both Keepers were strolling through the streets of Aurora once again. Luke was, once more, perched on Naya's shoulder while Sariah stayed at home (she was too obviously a Keeper's Ally).

Anwen showed Naya a different part of the city. The houses were much smaller than the ones on Kayla's level and more heavily stacked and crushed upon each other. The roads were thinner, the streets more crowded and the people there were louder and much more energetic, while there was also an obvious lack of green spots and trees. The buildings were more colorful, but looked poorer, the streets less clean and taken care of and either smelled wonderfully of all types of food and perfume or smelled horribly of waste. There was art everywhere, which blew Naya's mind.

Art was something inherently humane and Aurora displayed it everywhere in this area. There were people playing music on the street, others dancing, others painting walls or even the ground. It was beautiful, it was alive, it was raw with humanity.

"This is where I work," Anwen told her, as she showed her a quaint little stone building that was hidden beside a stone bridge that formed a short tunnel.

"What is it?"

"It's a bar," Anwen explained, shrugging lightly. "Not the fanciest place and also not the best salary, but it's good enough for me and I have fun working here."

"Shouldn't you be working then?"

Anwen laughed. "Not yet. I do the last shift, late at night. Oh, I know the best little food stand around here, it's cheap but delicious, you'll love it. Let's go, lunch is on me."

Anwen took them to a small area that was crowded with food stands and people walking and eating everywhere. Naya didn't know much about human languages and cultures, but it was easy to tell that there were many different people from many different places and backgrounds here, as she could definitely hear different languages and accents, see different clothing, diverse skin and hair tones and different styles of food everywhere, completed with different kinds of street music.

It was a very overwhelming and busy environment, but warm, familiar, fun and dynamic at the same time.

Naya was completely clueless on what to choose, she could barely register what was happening around her, such was the energy in the small place and she had to struggle to keep up with her sister, who moved around gracefully and completely at ease. She decided to choose the same stand that Anwen went for, which was owned by a kind and loud woman with flawless dark skin, big round and expressive eyes and a genuine, giant smile. She dressed in colorful robes which also covered her hair and insisted on calling them 'honey', 'darling' and 'sweetie'.

The girls walked away from all the confusion into a quieter place. They sat beneath the only tree in the area, a huge and large one that shared its shade with them, sitting on its massive roots right in front of a small and passive pond. It was quickly becoming one of Naya's favorite places in this world.

She had no idea what she was eating, but it was surely delicious. The sisters enjoyed a quiet meal for a few moments, before conversation naturally started.

"How long have you been down here, Anwen?"

"Oh, too long," Anwen replied with a clumsy smile, as she chewed. "Years and years, probably more than a decade."