Other than the pounding in my chest, I felt completely ordinary when I came to. The alley walls framed the clear night sky, and it took me a moment to fully register that I was right back where it had ended for me.
Sitting up, I touched my face. There weren't any bruises, cuts or pain although it was still wet with blood. Sitting up felt completely painless.
Was I really restored just like that?
"No fucking way!" I blurted.
"How is he alive?!" a perplexed voice exclaimed.
I looked up and saw the two monsters from earlier only a few steps away. Barely any time had passed since I spoke to Karma. I quickly rose to my feet.
"How are you alive? I was sure you stopped breathing," said the one-horned Monster.
As he and his friend approached me, I felt a dull rage sitting at the bottom of my stomach. I let out a cool sigh, trying to relax my clenched jaw. I may as well test out whatever abilities Karma gave me on my killers.
"Even you face is-"
I didn't let him finish. My wish resounded in my head as I felt a tingling feeling travel down to my arms. My fist was fast, hard and resolute — I wanted these two gone.
When my fist connected with the two-horned Monster's torso abdomen, there was a flash of blue light and a deep rumbling that traveled from my arm and through his body. He flew up and backwards before his body fell to the ground with a dull thud. He didn't get up.
"You were a Monster the entire time? What did you do?!" the one-horned Monster sputtered.
He approached angrily but I moved quickly, aiming a kick at his head. The same explosive energy sent him flying at the wall where he slumped, unmoving.
Without hesitation, I aimed a kick at his head, the same tingling and sparking fueling a power in my movements. Unable to react in time, The same boom was heard as my kick connected with his head. He quickly went flying into the alley's wall as if hit by a heavy object.
I stared at the scene in the alleyway. Two Monsters whose bodies I didn't even want to check for life and blood on the ground. My blood.
The sound of sirens in the distance snapped me out of my daze and I put my hood over my head, running the rest of the way home.
***
I woke up in the afternoon, my eyes snapping open. As if I hadn't slept at all, my mind was racing, replaying the events of last night. I could barely believe it all happened, but my bloody clothes on the floor were a reminder that it did happen and it was all real. I had died and now that I was back, I was no longer a regular Human. But as if in protest, my stomach growled.
I picked up the clothes off the floor and threw them into the hamper as I made my way to the bathroom. When I saw myself in the mirror, it was just as I expected. I looked awful. Dried blood all over my face and hair which was all out of shape and a complete mess as well. Otherwise, I looked the same as before.
After I'd cleaned myself up I made some food. All I could think about was the mission Karma imparted on me.
"Beat The Tsar," I muttered,my leg bouncing up and down.
I didn't know where to start. I'd agreed to the god's terms so boldly but I really wasn't sure how to go about it. There were six other Monsters I had to take down too: the Councilors of each of The City's districts. Starting with them would definitely help me to find The Tsar.
I pulled out my phone to see if there was anything online about The City's Councilors but saw that there were quite a bit of messages for me. Deja and the others had texted me in the morning asking me if I was alright. Apparently the two Monsters I encountered were on the news and they wanted to make sure I got home safe. I quickly replied to them, letting them know I'd only just woken up but I was safe. Then I resumed my search.
The City's districts were as followed: Tsentry at the center, Vecherinka bordering the northeast of Tsentry, Sklep bordering both Dokhod and Tsentry in the southwest, Truschoby to the east of Sklep and south of Vecherinka. There was also Ostrog, an island all the way south of Sklep, but it was a prison island.
The City's Councilors were generally an elusive bunch, not really appearing in public although they were running the place.
Sklep was run by a man called Plutaud, a handsome man with tan, olive skin, dark brown hair and a goatee. He was often smiling in pictures but his smile didn't reach his eyes. He appeared Human, but that could easily be a disguise.
Vecherinka's Councilor was secretive, but was rumored to be a woman.
Dokhod was The City's financial district, and its fitting Councilor was an older man and owner of an arms company. His name was Argyros.
Truschoby's mess of a district seemingly had no known Councilor. It made sense, considering Truschoby was the worst district to live in for a plethora of reasons.
Ostrog's councilor was a young, androgynous individual with a hard expression called Olmarin. Along with being Ostrog's Councilor, they were also someone The City's police chief answered to.
Finally, Tsentry's Councilor was… also a mystery. Apparently they were new, but had not made any public appearances. Tsentry's symbol was a tower aptly named Tsentry Tower, and this was supposedly the Councilor's base of operations, however it was a multi-use building with a lot of security, so it was hard to know if that was really the case.
I sighed and got up to put my plate in the sink when something round on the counter caught my eye. Something off-white with a darker round spot on one side. I let out a cry of surprise when I realized what it was.
An eyeball.
When the brown iris was in full view, the eyeball abruptly stopped and the pupil constricted. It began to roll again, quickly falling off the counter and dropping with barely a bounce as it made its way towards my room.
I put down my plate and quickly went after it. The eyeball rolled to the wall under my window where I heard a tapping sound. Looking up to the window, a disembodied hand... stood. It was pale, with a nub of a wrist. It tapped on the window and pointed at the hatch, asking me to open it, I suppose.
"What is this?" I said in disbelief, looking at the floor again only to realize the eyeball had disappeared.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The hand seemed to be growing impatient. While I thought of what to do, I noticed a note tied to the hand. I let out a hum as I thought about it for a second more before unlocking the window and opening it. The hand hopped around excitedly then crawled in.
The hand presented itself to me, standing on its index and middle fingers and posing. The note was tied to the hand at the little nub of a wrist it had. I winced as I carefully untied the note to avoid touching the hand, and once I had it, I unfurled the rolled paper.
The note was written in a colorful gel pen on light pink paper. Various stickers decorated the edges of the paper around the words, all hearts and stars. Written in round and bouncy handwriting were the words, "Hello! My name is Myrcella! I saw you last night, and you were so, so cool! My heart skipped a beat, I think I'm your fan now! I want to help you, and I think we should talk. If you want to meet me, meet my eyeball at Bulvar Eighteen's southeast 1 train exit at twelve tomorrow. My eyeball will show you the way! Hope you'll make it, Kodeko!"
"Signed Myrcella... Huh," I murmured, looking up to see the hand waving at me with its thumb as it stood on the fire escape. When it was done, it jumped down.
Feeling stunned by the incredulous situation, I looked back at the cutesy note and sighed as I looked it over again. Myrcella — whoever she was — was most likely not Human. What's more, she knew a lot about me by the looks of it. If she really wanted to help me, she could have the answers I needed.
***
Bulvar Eighteen was a popular street, but the 1 line's southeast exit was a bit out of the way of foot traffic. Stepping out to the sidewalk, I looked around the ground for the eyeball. When I looked out towards the street, I felt something hit my shoe. Looking down, I saw the eyeball from yesterday – or at least I assumed so. The eyeball began to roll along the right side of the sidewalk, against the wall. I followed it, the limited foot traffic seeming to hate me for getting in their way, but they probably didn't notice the eyeball rolling thanks to that. At the fifth corner, the eyeball made a left and I followed it into a narrow street.
There were numerous stores selling clothes outside their storefront and various other stores that were below street level. The eyeball rolled to one of the lower storefronts, bumping into and stopping at the door. It was a stationery shop. The store was closed, but a hand appeared from behind some pottery and dropped a key at my feet before scurrying back to its hiding place. I unlocked the door and entered the store.
There wasn't much light, but I could make things out. The eyeball rolled up to the counter and then to the door to the left of it. I tried the knob which was locked, but the key I was given worked on it as well. I was met with stairs and one of Myrcella's notes taped beside a light switch telling me to watch my step. I flipped the light on and made my way down. The short, wooden steps creaked as I walked down. At the bottom was a short hallway. The short hallway led to a few doors, but the one at the end was opened, a dim blue light trickling out. I could hear humming as I got closer, and I entered cautiously.
Stepping in, I scanned the room. It was dimly lit by computer monitors, all with disembodied hands doing something on them. When I looked to the right, I saw the back of a girl with long, pale-colored hair — the source of the humming.
"You can turn on the light," she said without turning around. I looked to the wall beside me and flipped on the light. Once I did, the girl's chair spun around and she rolled towards me.
She wore a small, cropped tube top and low-rise jeans, showing off her thin waist. Her hair, light blue now that I could see better, was very long, stopping just a few inches from the floor as she sat. Her visible eye was a dark blood red, deep-set and downturned with prominent dark circles. Her skin was somewhat gray but she wasn't without color.
"Myrcella?" I asked.
"The one and only! Pull up a chair, take a seat! Oh man, I've been so excited to see you!" she grinned.
I pulled a chair from in front of one of the computers and sat down across from Myrcella.
"I hope I didn't freak you out too much with how I contacted you. I happened to see what happened to you just the other night and I really wanted to talk to you," Myrcella said with a sleepy-looking smile.
"Uh, nah. It was… fine. But you saw what happened that night? Were you there?" I asked.
"Kinda. You met one of my hands and eyes already. I have them everywhere. I know a lot about The City, and I know a lot about you. You see, one of my eyeballs was in that alleyway when you, uh, died. But when you came back, I knew you must've met one of those gods and had some Ase put in you. Am I right?"
"You're right… Uh, how do you know about the gods? No one else in The City seems to."
"It's because I'm old. I know I don't look it, but I'm so old. A little older than The City. One of the gods also gave me Ase, so long ago. That's why I'm all messed up," Myrcella sighed, suddenly pulling off her head.
I watched in horror as she placed her head on her lap.
"So, okay- Sorry, this is-"
"A lot," Myrcella finished my sentence. "I know. Hey, but the good news is, I can help you! The drawback of this ability is that I'm really weak, but I can give you information!"
In my shock at it all, I hadn't really realized the significance of her ability. But what was her reason for wanting to help me?
"If you're wondering why I want to help you... It's because I really hate The City. And The Tsar. And no, I can't also read minds," she added when she saw my expression when she answered my question.
"Alright then. How much do you even know about me? And how are you so sure you can be of help to me? Surely you can't know what my goal is — if you really don't read minds," I questioned.
Myrcella giggled and spoke, "Well I hope you'll excuse me. I'm aware of your past, and what kind of person you are. I've got just about everyone's story stored in this head of mine. I know you're Dibalyan, and that is very important.
I'm not powerful, all I can do is watch – and I don't mean to make excuses but I really can't! I fall apart even if I laugh too hard and I'm no good for fighting. But what's happening in The City can't continue. I'll give you as much information as I can, so let's team up."
I really did need all the help I could get. Prior to this I was just a regular clueless person. She was probably being cautious, but she still revealed a bit about herself and her abilities. Honestly, it was the least she could do after telling me that she basically knew everything about me. But I could feel her sincerity.
"Okay. Just one more question. Whatever it is you gain from this – it won't hurt anyone, will it?" I asked.
Myrcella smiled wistfully and shook her head, "My goal is completely personal. I can't tell you right now, but it won't hurt you, or anyone else."
"Alright," I nodded and held out my hand. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Myrcella."
"Likewise." Myrcella shook my hand.