The Zodiac Empire

Chapter 17 - Shades of Gray Collide (Part 1)

AUTHORS NOTES: This chapter is 42 pages long and 9.6k words, so I simply had to split this one into two parts at the least. I don't want to overwhelm you guys with my crazy long chapters D: Just this part alone is over 5k words, so I might even have to split into four. Let me know what you think on this in the comments down below, please and thank you!

Alile and Robin walked through the woodland until they arrived in a city unlike any she had seen before. Opposite from the bright and colorful city of Descowton, this one just felt...gray. All the buildings were around the size of Robin's shed, and looked as if they'd collapse like a stack of cards at the slightest touch. She had to hike her pants legs up a bit while she walked to prevent them from getting wet with the filthy black water that lightly flooded the streets, which she could feel getting inside her shoes. Feral cats could constantly be heard hissing, alongside barking dogs, and someone shouting something unintelligible back at them. The people that Alile could see gave her a shiver. They were all dressed similarly, or even worse than Robin. Most of them were acting like human trash, fighting obnoxiously loud, throwing garbage on the already polluted streets, and one man even pissing in a trash can. Some of them smelt as if they wearing diapers, and had been for days.

"Why the hell did you bring me somewhere like this?" Alile asked. She felt the eyes of a very shady looking man checking her out, and bumped into Robin's back as she picked her pace up.

"Don't be scared, no one here will mess with you if they see you with me." Robin held his hand out to her.

Alile was fine with him holding her hand when he just grabbed it without asking. Now that he was offering it to her, she felt uneasy. But as she felt more pairs of eyes on her as they continued to walk, she took his hand without a second guess. Alile knew she could take care of herself, but that didn't stop this place from giving her the creeps. She felt like a passing deer in the woods with huntsmen.

"What is this place anyway?" she asked.

"Old Descowton. Same city, but behind the veil of blissful ignorance. The place I once called home." Robin replied.

"You used to live here?" Alile could tell he was poor, but she hadn't imagined he had came from a dump like this.

"Born and raised." Robin came to a stop in front of a house, where a young boy stood atop the roof, swinging a wooden sword. Alile assumed the kid was around the age of ten based on his appearance, though perhaps he was just smaller due to his living conditions. His hair was long and matted as if it hadn't been combed in years, and his shirt looked like a bunch of rags stitched together. "Hello again Charlie!" Robin called out to him, waving.

The boy, Charlie, beamed up as soon as he heard Robin's voice. He waved back down at Robin and opened his mouth as if to say something, but froze in place with his mouth agape. Alile realized that he was staring at her. Was there something on her face?

Robin led Alile to the back of the house, where he climbed a ladder up to the roof. Alile climbed up after him. As soon as she reached the top, Charlie pointed his toy sword at her.

"Who are you?" he asked in a demanding tone, his expression serious.

"It's okay Charlie, she's with me." Robin assured him.

"Oh...sorry miss." Charlie lowered his sword, "I've just never seen anyone so pretty around here before." he apologized.

Alile felt the heat returning to her cheeks. She knew she had good looks, and Robin had already called her pretty numerous times. But Charlie's blunt honesty and childish innocence made it feel like more of a genuine compliment. "No need to apologize." she told him.