Kingdom Gone

ARCADIA

After a ten minute jog through the woods, they reached Arcadia.

It was a small village nestled along the bank of a river, water wheels half submerged in the current clearly showed where they got their power from. The buildings were all made of wood with stone foundations, except for what looked like a temple sitting at the end of the main road. It was made of iron sheeting with precious metal designs laced along its edges. In the morning sun, it seemed to glow from the inside out; Circe could barely look at it.

Despite it's small size, the village seemed to be alive and busy. People were riding horses, children were playing with the animals in the barn near the river, and a group of women were down by the river washing clothes. It seemed like a peaceful place.

"I don't see any cars." Jason said, eyeing a man on a horse as he trotted by. "Wonder if they have a spare horse or two."

"Are we really gonna ride a horse all the way to the Seventh Kingdom?"

Jason shook his head. "I'd really prefer not to; the rashes riding horseback will give you are not pleasant. But unless there's something with wheels in this tiny town, it seems like our best shot."

"So, who do we talk to first?" Circe asked, waving at a group of kids playing by the river. They stared at her like she'd just dropped from moon, then continued playing in the sand. She couldn't blame them; she looked like she'd just walked out of the pig pen.

"Well, I think that if anyone has a house made of precious metal, then they'd outa have a car." Jason said, pointing at the temple. "And no, Circe," He said, before she could say anything, "I'm not going to barge in and choke the man until he gives us his ride. I'm just gonna go up and knock."

"Uh huh." Circe said, not believing a word of it. Jason seemed to only have one speed: fight. She'd love to see him be diplomatic for once.

As they walked down the main road, Circe noticed people staring at them as they passed. Ladies on their porches glanced at them with frightened looks, then continued their frantic whispering with each other.

"Wonder what happened there." Jason said, nodding at a building under construction. A hole the size of a sedan was being repaired on the side of a small house. The walls were scorched, as if there had been a fire but was put out relatively early. The men rebuilding stopped to glare at them as they passed. Circe got the feeling that they were not welcomed here.

"Maybe a fire burned the hole." Circe said.

"Except that the edges of the whole aren't scorched like the rest of the house. Plus there's only debris on the inside, not out on the road."

Circe saw he was right; a man was sweeping splintered planks and shattered glass into garbage bags just inside the house. "So what do you think happened?"

"I think something broke right through the side of the house, from the outside. Something big."

That sent chills down Circe's spine. What could've done something like that?

A commotion came from the barn, then a high pitched scream.

A little girl.

Jason and Circe glanced at each other before sprinting across the road. As they reached the entrance, a herd of little kids ran out, screaming. Circe caught one by the wrist. "Hey! What happened?"

The little boy was on the verge of tears. "D.D! She fell in the bullpen!" He paused when he realized her face wasn't one he knew and wrestled away from her. Circe sighed, standing up.

Since they had arrived in Arcadia, she'd felt like neither of them were wanted here, with all the foul looks they've been getting. Circe was sure Jason came to the same conclusion as she: if they wanted help, they had to help out first. So much for diplomacy.