Oblivi walked out of the infirmary, Nova trailing half a pace behind. As they cut through the cobblestone streets toward the city's perimeter, Nova took in the layered masonry and towering stonework before breaking the silence.
"So where exactly are we going?"
"When someone here says 'the wall,' they usually mean just that," Oblivi muttered without turning. "One of the mural towers along the boundary. This one's the closest."
Nova raised a brow. "Then why not just call it 'the tower'?"
"Too many syllables."
Nova gave her a sideways look. "Was that a joke?"
Oblivi didn't look back and kept her pace steady. "Maybe."
Arriving at the perimeter rampart, Oblivi gestured toward the massive fortification looming overhead. "Well, this is it. I'll leave you to it."
"Where are you off to?" Nova asked.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I have to go patrol a vacant site for my sect duties," she retorted. She turned on her heel back toward the inner city, leaving Nova standing on the flagstones.
Tucking the stack of papers under his arm, he let out a low breath. One step at a time, I guess. He stepped up to the window embedded in the wall and tapped the bell perched on the sill. It gave off a high-pitched chime, yet no one appeared—or so he assumed.
"You rang?" a voice came from below the counter line.
Nova peered downward and blinked at a woman barely half his height staring back up at him. When he lingered on her face a second too long, she snapped, "Are you trying to memorize my face or something?"
Catching himself, Nova fumbled for the paperwork and handed her the stack.
"Umm, I'm gonna need some context for these forms," she said, skimming over the first page.
"Right, sorry. These are documents Ogun handed me, so I don't really know what to do with them," he explained, his palms slightly clammy.
"Ogun?" she questioned.
"Yeah. I'm Nova, the new head of the sect."
"Well, I'm Mimi, receptionist at West Point Towers." Mimi thumbed through the sheets until her thumb caught on an official stamp: a crisp black snowflake centered in a rounded squircle.
"Something wrong?" Nova asked.
"No, no, no. I just need your name."
"It's Nova."
"Well, I know that, but I need your full name."
"That is my name. Nova. Just Nova."
Mimi eyed him skeptically. "I suppose we can sort that out later." She pulled a coiled wire with a button from a hidden cubby. "Look straight ahead for me."
Nova followed the instructions, but before he could ask why, a flash pummeled his pupils and gave him a sense of deja vu. While his sight swam with colorful eye floaters, Mimi disappeared into the back office with his forms. I guess I'll wait for her to get back.
Once a quarter hour passed, Nova had gotten bored of leaning against the stone casing. So he peeped through the glass out of curiosity. Inside, flourishing green vines and wild lash wrapped the interior room—a surreal form of organic architecture. He saw Mimi coming from around the corner, rustling through the foliage. Nova backed away from the window, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.
"Here you go." Mimi slid his papers back across the sill alongside a metal smart card etched with Nova S.15-02. "This'll grant you access to all properties in Grymsnow and most buildings in territories. Your files have been processed and documented."
Before he could offer a word of thanks, she snapped the privacy shutter shut in his face.
Tucking the access card safely into his wallet, Nova turned to leave for The Peachy Corner. He took a glance along the foundation of the mural tower; his eyes caught a hooded individual crouched in the undergrowth with a hammer and chisel in the seams of the rampart.
Well, that's not normal.
He leaned forward to inspect the scene, but his boot snapped a brittle branch with a surprisingly loud crack. The chiseler whipped around, locked eyes with him, and bolted.
Welp, better to leave it up to the authorities.
A heartbeat later, the realization struck: Shit, that's me.
Nova dashed into a full sprint. The runner cast a frantic glance over one shoulder, took off their leather sash with chisels and hammers in the straps, and whipped the entire tool set straight at his head. Nova ducked under them as he continued his chase. The chiseler took a sharp right along with Nova; they banked into an open market plaza.
The square was packed with canvas awnings and vendor carts. The chiseler zig-zagged between spice crates; they grabbed a spice capsule and sent red pepper powder billowing into the air. Nova closed his eyes and barreled through the haze without hesitation. Right after he was out of the spice mist, the chiseler slid clean under a table. Accordingly, Nova vaulted over the table, closing the distance as they had towards a building being remodeled; therefore, with nowhere else to run, the chiseler scrambled up the rungs of a scaffolding frame surrounding the foundation.
Nova skidded to a halt beneath the structure, glaring up. "You need to come with me, now!" he barked. "You cornered yourself, so come down peacefully."
Caused by the pressing circumstances at hand, instead of climbing down, the chiseler sprang off the platform, diving over Nova's head, tumbling hard across the stones, and scrambling back to a sprint, heading to an alleyway while screeching, "Help!" Immediately, a boot shot out from the shadows of that alleyway.
The chiseler tripped, hitting the pavement flat on her face as Oblivi stepped out of the darkness.
"Oblivi?" Nova blurted out. "Why are you here?"
"This is the vacant site; I'm only here to make sure nobody messes with the goods the merchants left here," Oblivi replied dryly, keeping a boot on the fallen fugitive's stomach. "Until I heard someone shrieking for help."
Oblivi reached down and flipped back the hood, uncovering a girl barely twelve years old, her face marked by shallow wounds from the fall.
Oblivi narrowed her eyes. "Wait a second." She looked at the girl's chest and noticed a copper pin in the shape of a chisel and hammer forming a cross above the name: Amari. "You're a mender."
Panting on the cobblestones, Amari gasped, "Yes, I am, ma'am! Please help me get away from him!"
Oblivi lifted her foot at the same time she shot a disappointed glare at Nova. "You're abusing your authority this fast?"
"I didn't know what she was doing!" Nova argued, gesturing wildly back toward the wall. "She was chipping away at the wall, and the second she saw me, she bolted. I figured she was sabotaging the damn thing!"
Still on the ground, Amari pressed herself tightly behind Oblivi's cloak. "You chased me right over the fruit bins and market stalls!" she yelled.
"Real mature, Nova," Oblivi remarked, nudging the mender from behind her. "Apologize to little Amari here, so you can finish this list by today," Oblivi stated flatly.
"Fine, fine," Nova conceded with a reluctant roll of his shoulders. "I'm sorry you were so terrified of my face, Amari. I'll work on looking less menacing," he apologized mockingly while pinching and pulling on her face.
She slapped his hand away. "Stop!"
Suddenly, Nova took a feint forward. Amari squeaked and retreated behind Oblivi. Nova snickered under his breath.
Oblivi shook her head and helped the young girl to her feet. "Please go gather your chisels and get back to your post."
Amari scurried back toward the scattered tools in the square while the two mages turned back to the alley, heading for the next stop on the list: the tailor's shop.