On his way to the Wizard, Altinae found himself in a wretched alleyway between two short buildings placed on the east side of the city; one a small office, and the other, an almost abandoned hotel.
The alley was dark, almost dimly lit as above tarps hovered over the roofs of the two buildings, flapping annoyingly as the wind persisted with cooling gusts. Only a little light would shine through, but in the night, none did, making the alley an almost void-like darkness.
Below, across the floor, old blankets, tents, and cardboard boxes flooded the ground, as well as heaps of trash that would probably never be thrown away.
Because of this, a rotten stench engulfed the area, only manageable to those used to its fishy odor.
As Altinae began his journey through this wide alleyway, the atmosphere was tense. Many other homeless dwellers looked at him as he passed by, using their siding eyes to intimidate him; the one who shouldn't be.
He felt like prey ready to be taken at any time, feeling their strong piercing gazes, but he didn't fret; it was code to not harm or steal from a fellow dweller, even if someone was from a different encampment, and by breaking code, their status would diminish and they'll be off on their own, exiled forever…
Continuing, he suddenly turned a corner to the right, coming to where the alley ended in darkness. A rummaging sounded from his right, almost against the back of the abandoned hotel, and as the rummaging stopped, a deep voice sounded, startling him.
"Alti! You're back! Did you finally make it big!?"
A dweller with broad shoulders and tan skin had suddenly spoken to him from the ground. Altinae looked at the dweller, and instantly a relief fell over him, seeing the man's face. He was familiar to Altinae, actually a pretty good friend of his, whom he had lived with for years, before he made an attempt in a different part of the city.
Altinae glanced at the man and smiled.
"If everything goes well in the next few days, let's just say lobster is going to be all over the menu for us."
The dweller raised an eyebrow.
"Oho! What did you manage to find?"
Altinae scratched the back of his head.
"I'll tell you soon, but I need to talk to The Wizard right now; the situation is still ongoing."
The dweller burped, then stood up.
"He's asleep right now, so if you'll uhh give me a second, he'll be right at your service."
Altinae nodded.
"Thanks."
The dweller began walking further into the darkness, stopping just beside a small green tent that was fully zipped up at the end of the alley. He began vigorously shaking it, and as he did, a man's angry voice yelled from within, clearly annoyed by the dweller suddenly waking him from his peaceful slumber.
"Ah! What the hell, you darn fools! Stop waking me all the damn time!"
Suddenly, the tent zipped open, revealing a dirty old man with a round face and a long, dirty gray beard that stretched to the ground. He was the one known as 'The Wizard,' and unironically, his looks actually resembled those of a real wizard, just without the robe, the wand, or the pointy hat that one would always wear.
The old man crawled out of the tent with an angry expression and instantly looked at the dweller.
"What the hell, Tobe?!"
"Wizard, you got a client."
The Wizard almost instantly fixed his composure.
The Wizard always valued his clientele first; he didn't care about anything else if a client arrived, he only cared for how they saw him, and the lavish rewards they would give him for helping out.
"A client?! Who is it?"
Tobe turned around and presented Altinae to him like he was some kind of king, bowing while doing so.
Seeing this, The Wizard began examining him from head to toe, and suddenly, his eyes lit up, realizing who he was.
"Alti! My boy! You're back!"
Altinae hesitantly smiled.
"Wizard, it's been a little bit."
"It sure has! What brings you here? What do you need?"
"Well, I need some information…"
He paused for a brief moment.
"Well, go ahead, spit it out! I'm all ears, kid."
Altinae exhaled deeply.
"Do you know someone who runs or works at a black market?"
The Wizard scoffed.
"Of course I do, you know this, Alti! So, whatchu plan on selling?"
Altinae reached his hand into his left pocket and shook it around, causing the necklace inside to rattle.
"Jewelry."
The Wizard's eyes widened, and so did all the dwellers' eyes around. They all knew what it meant. Soon, one of their own was going to break free from this endless cycle.
"Really?! Is it real?!"
Altinae nodded.
"Positive?!"
He nodded again.
"Holy shit, kid! That's huge!"
Indeed, it was.
"Y-yeah, I just need a place to convert it to cash since it would be too risky to do it in a normal market."
Hearing this, The Wizard smirked and crossed his arms.
"Well, aren't you lucky, you came exactly to the right place!"
The Wizard knew exactly where he could sell the necklace, as expected of him.
"You trust me, right?"
It was an obvious question. Altinae knew The Wizard only cared about two things: the first being money, he always had a golden tooth, and the second being his reputation, so he was more than trustworthy in his eyes.
"Yes," Altinae responded.
The Wizard chuckled.
"Alright then, listen closely…"
He began to explain exactly where to go, and by the information Altinae heard, he figured out that the place he had to go to was an old abandoned house on the opposite side of the city. To him, it seemed like a treacherous journey, but just thinking about the money, he knew it would be worth it in the end.
"Is that it?" Altinae asked.
"Yep! Now go on! Make me proud in riches!"
Altinae smiled, then turned, but before he turned around completely, he spun back around and reached into his pocket, taking out the black gem.
"Actually, Wizard, I have another thing to ask you."
The Wizard looked at him.
"Hmm?"
"You see, I also got my hands on this weird gem, and I don't know what it really is. And I was hoping you might know."
He held out his palm, flashing the black gem to the Wizard, who almost instantly batted an eye.
"I've never seen any gem like that before. Are you sure it's not just a rock?"
Altinae smiled, then tossed the gem over to the Wizard, fully trusting him.
"See for yourself."
Catching the gem in both hands, the Wizard began examining the black gem, gleaning it on every edge, examining every little cut that made up its shape, and all around, he noticed it just seemed dark. Even with his knowledge, he had no idea what type of gem it was.
"It feels smooth, but it looks just like a rock."
Suddenly, Altinae blurted:
"Tap the center of it."
Hearing his words, the Wizard tapped the center of it, and though nobody could see it, the black mist appeared in front of the Wizard, shocking him.
"Holy shit, Alti! What is this? A mist just appeared from it!"
"Yeah, I'm not sure what it is. I thought you might've known."
Silence engulfed the two for a second, and the woman's information and portrait showed themselves to The Wizard. As he saw the woman's portrait, his eyes narrowed, and his tone became serious.
"Altinae…"
Altinae tilted his head.
"Yeah?"
"Is this the woman you got the gem from?"
Though Altinae couldn't see the mist, he knew he was talking about the woman clad in armor.
"Y-yeah. Why?"
The Wizard sighed deeply, pausing for seconds, before saying:
"I don't know what this gem is, or why this mist appeared out of it, but this woman, Melia Laven, I know her."
"Hmm? Who is she?"
"Gareth Laven's daughter, she is the President of Honnel's daughter… Alti, you stole from the President's daughter."
Altinae's eyes widened instantly.
"What?! The government's daughter?! Why didn't she have security?!"
"That's because she is strong; she can fend for herself and kill nearly anything without a sweat. Alti… I know you may be happy and all since you can finally help your mother… but…"
He paused for a long moment…
"But what? What's going to happen?"
The Wizard sighed, then tossed the gem back to Altinae, who almost dropped it as he barely caught it.
"I can't bring my heart to tell you…"
A worried look appeared on Altinae's face. He knew what The Wizard meant, and he knew that he favored him so much that he didn't want to hurt him, even through words. He then closed his eyes and looked down.
"I understand, Wizard."
He turned around and began walking as all the dwellers stared at him.
"Thank you…"
Slowly, Altinae turned the corner, and as he did, Tobe looked down at the Wizard with a desolate gaze.
"So… he's probably going to…"
"yeah…"
Drops of water began to spread on the ground below the Wizard…
"My boy, Alti…"
Tobe suddenly put his hand on The Wizard's shoulder, looking down the alley.
"Don't worry, that kid, he'll make it. We know he will…"
***