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Ch 3: Burning bricks

There wasn't much activity in the city early in the morning, as the sun was barely rising. Rain had insisted moving at this time, as there were less people to recognise the famed magician Phoenix. Ava was clearly not on board with this idea, her feet dragging on the cobblestone pavement as she was being pulled along gently by Rain. They'd only been walking for ten minutes, and the smaller woman was already complaining. "Just five more minutes, Ava. We're just going to my apartment."

Ava just mumbled some unintelligible gibberish, adjusting the red duffel bag hanging from her shoulder. She was dressed much less extravagantly that her usual performers get up, wearing a simple peachy dress with a thin jacket, belt, and boots. Despite the long shadows cast by the buildings, the morning was surprisingly warm. There were only a few passerby's around, farmers who were hurriedly rushing to set up their stalls for the vegetable market at 7am. Finally, they made it to Rain's apartment building, and the sight of it seemed to wake Ava up a little more, though maybe not for the right reasons.

The building was surprisingly tall, with old rotting plant life falling off the dusty stone, whatever was left clutching on for dear life. Most of the windows were pretty much blacked out with caked on rot, bar a few near the top floors and a couple on the bottom. The front door was quite literally falling from it's hinges, the bottom one rusted into oblivion. A wooden sign hung above the door chipped and broken the only letters left being 'A' and 'M', the rest lost to time. Stairs crawled up the sides of the buildings, meant to be a fire escape but looking like they could break with just one strong jump.

"It's better on the inside, I swear." Rain reassured, carefully opening the door so as to not damage it more. Ava followed her new found friend inside, clapping her hand over her nose as they started their accent up the stairs. Something smelled foul, though the only bright side was that the smell lessened as they rose up. Eventually they made it to Rain's place, which was probably the only apartment with a fully functioning door. They headed inside, Rain locking the door behind her (though locking doors never really did anything security wise in this place).

"It's not what you're used to, but luckily we probably won't be here for long." Rain made herself comfortable on the kitchen bench, Ava dumping her bag and sprawling across the couch. "Why'd we even move?" Ava asked, closing her eyes attempting sleep once more.

"Well, those people have been looking for you for ages. They'd probably find us there." Rain swung her legs, carful not to kick the cabinets underneath. "Speaking of them, the only reason they're looking for you is because they want to find an entity, right? So let's beat them at their own game, find the entity before they do, lead them to each other. Then they'll leave you alone."

Ava's eyes flew open, startled by the suggestion. She sat up, looking wide eyed at Rain. "I- that makes sense." Rain nodded, happy to have the woman's approval. "You've been around for a long time. Have you ever met an entity or encountered someone who has?"

The blue haired girls eyes lit up and she went to her duffel bag, unzipping the front pocket and pulling out an old journal. "Actually, yeah. I've met a lot of people like me with abilities. I kept track of them, their names, abilities, birthdays and the dates when I met them. Obviously this is filled with hundreds of people, and we'll also have to cross off who is probably dead or not, but the ones that are likely still alive we can find."

Rain hopped off the bench, looking at the journal as Ava flipped through the pages. "Holy shit that's a lot of people." She plopped down on the couch next to Ava, pulling a pen from her pocket. "Alright, let's get started then."

***

Shiloh, Chrome, and Zeta all walked down the street, concealed in the hustle and bustle of the early morning markets. The three all looked a little out of place, but stares were quickly gotten rid of by Zeta who could out-stare anyone if staring was a competition. Shiloh looked up at her brother, ignoring the strangers around her. The woman was never a fan of crowds. "Chrome. How far away is this woman's place?"