"Lady Purus!" A voice calls out to me.
Just choose something already. Either call me Melan or Lady Purus. I don't care, but make it consistent, why don't you?
"Yes, sir?" I ask, internalizing my frustration. I just wanted to get a snack. That's all I wanted. And if anything, I wanna pay for the damn thing, too. I don't want it to be free like everything else I get when I come down here.
Plus, Lib still owes me that smoothie.
"Are the rumors true?" They gape, and I blink. "Are you planning to head down to the Surface to speak with the Grounded?"
I hum, tilting my head, "I am unaware of what you speak of, though the idea is amusing. If so...I suppose it'd be up to the Council to decide that."
"B-But you could override that decision!" He hesitantly interrupts, voice somewhat raising.
Okay, now I don't know how to act. I don't know if he's in support of me going to the Ground or not, and if anything, I'm curious as to how they found out about Lib's plan.
"That'd be an abuse of power, right?" I roll my eyes, letting a bit of obvious attitude show. He'd probably take it as offending me, but hey, I'm not an actual goddess. "Unless I'm truly convinced on the matter, I won't stand against the council if it doesn't go against my morals."
He stares, eyes wide, no idea what to say. I let him gather his thoughts before speaking up again, "Is there anything else you wanted me to say?"
He gulps, "I...I don't want you to be unsafe, my Lady." He's definitely older than me, but he seems less...rational than normal people his age. There are a few wrinkles of age, but his body still seems healthy. He's still got more energy in him than other people older than him.
His body's...confident. There's not a lot of muscle or an imposing figure, but I see the raw confidence exuding off of him.
"Huh?" I blink, genuinely confused; it's real, because I genuinely can't understand where'd he get that idea. "What do you mean, sir?"
"The...the Ground is a horror, Lady Purus!" He gasps, emotion shaking in his voice. "The people living there are uncivilized and violent!"
"They are?" I ask once again. "From what I've read in the libraries, it just looks like some normal suburbs."
Of course, I don't really care about etiquette around other people. I just do it with Council members because, you know, common courtesy.
Turns out, the people call me the Humble Princess because of it.
Of course, his outburst causes the rest of the people nearby to whirl around and look at me.
"Lady Purus, please believe me, for your own safety!" The man urges, and I slightly back up at his voice. He's unusually loud.
"Lady Melan...are you actually going down to the surface?" A woman whispers, though her voice is the only thing filling the area other than the previous yell of the man. She's tall. Incredibly tall, her long black hair cascading down without a ponytail.
I click my tongue, "Not sure, really. I think Lib's curious about the idea, but we haven't really talked too heavily about it."
She bites her lip, before letting out a thankful sigh before looking back at me, "If you do, please say hi to my family." She pulls out something from a purse of hers. "I had to say goodbye to my mother and father because they thought this would be a better future for me." She holds out a photo, which I hesitantly grab and look at.
It's a beautiful photo. Surrounded by lilacs and trees, and the family smack dab in the middle. I can tell which one the lady is, simply based off of the smile she has.
The other man gasps, "You come from the Grounded?!" He points frantically at her.
Surprisingly, she just nods with a somber smile, "I haven't seen my family in 17 years. A way to go to the Ground, even if just for the Pure Souls, would mean the world to me. Maybe I could speak with my father again, you know?"
"That doesn't matter if we're putting the Pure Souls at risk!" The man argues, causing a few members of the small crowd that'd gathered around us to nod in agreement.
"So you're okay with people like me not being able to see my family? Just because I was born down there?" The woman nearly spits, looking down on the man, who she was abnormally taller than.
"That's not what I'm saying!" The man sputters. "I'm saying that it may be a health risk! If you haven't been down there in 17 years, who knows what could happen in that time!"
Another person speaks up, and I genuinely don't know what to do, "You can't assume it's just going to be terrible! Who knows, what if they're actually really nice people?"
"We can't take that risk!" Another person comes, and I can tell what's going to happen.
I take a deep breath. And another.
Yells around me. I feel like there's going to be fists flying if I don't do something soon.
There's a reason that a Pure Soul's word is law, but I hate ever having to use it.
"Sir, stop," I begin, putting a hand on his shoulder. I look into the initial aggressor's eyes, biting my lip. "I can assure you that, no matter what happens, I will not put myself in harm's way if I can help it."
A flash.
A sound.
A smack.
That's all I hear before my vision goes dark.
And all I see...
is his watchful, no...fearful gaze, the eyes of the people, the crowd, the lady, everyone around me.
Man...
A smoothie sounds really good right about now.
~~~
"Melan," I hear a relieved gasp come from near me.
My body feels like it was...dipped in jelly.
I groan, "What...happened?"
I hear someone's calm, reserved voice explain, venom lacing their voice, "A riot. Someone hit you." Yeah, no doubt, that's Luna. There's a little bit of tiredness in there.
Lib, concerned as always about me, gently presses the back of his palm on my forehead, "You good? Why didn't you stop it? You've done it before..."
I gulp, "I...I don't know. They started rumors about us going to the Ground, and a lady--"
"Handed you a photo of their family, correct?" Luna raises his left eyebrow. He's leaning against the doorframe, lanky arms crossed over his frail chest.
"Ah, that reminds me," Lib scratches the back of his head. "You heard about how the guy who hit you's supposed to be imprisoned soon? Apparently, they'll be meeting with the Council soon to decide what punishment he gets."
I sit up, grunting as I do so, eyes wide, "What?! Lib, you know they'll just toss him off the edge!"
The edge is practically just sending people down to the Ground because they committed a crime. The people voted it the first few ones to be cruel, because, you know, sending people over a kilometer down to the ground without a cushion to their death is kind of unfair.
That being said, the cushion that they put down there isn't all too great themselves. Instead, people are sent off through this super quick water slide stuff that ends up with the person sent through it unable to get back up.
"Well, you're right about that...the Council wanted to wait until you got up because you were the one who got hurt...and I gotta say, I think they're right in this, so you aren't going to be able to override the decision," he explains, clicking his tongue. "Besides, if he isn't guilty, you can tell them yourself. Not my place to say. Who knows, maybe he'll try to climb back up."
Somebody tried once.
We had to clean the tube they went down. It's a really poorly made waterslide, because why would the Council put in effort into something for the 'worst criminal offenders?'
We had to clean the tube because flies kept coming up from the infection after some of their...flesh got caught on a loose segment.
"I..." I gulp. "When's the thing going to happen?"
"Depends," Luna shrugs. "They wanted to do it when you were awake and situated. You wanna go up there and show yourself or want us to do it?"
I take another deep breath.
"I...I dunno. Could you do it, Luna?" I request, brushing a hand through my hair. He nods, wordlessly going out of the room.
Lib takes a seat next to me, causing the mattress I was laying on to bounce a little bit.
He glances at me, but instead of speaking, he silently points to my left. My eyes follow his finger, and lands on the orange juice on the table nearby.
I, with a bit of effort, reach out to grab it, only to wince and look at my hand.
My wrist hurts like a bitch.
He sighs, handing me the glass, "You know...I don't think it's the right time to head down to the Ground now. If there are rumors spreading, it probably isn't the best decision to make a public decision, especially after the recent debacle."
I gulp, nodding, "Yeah, but I really wanted to, you know?"
He hums, leaning back on the wall, "I get what you mean. I just didn't think someone'd actually do something. Maybe he didn't mean to, you know?"
I click my tongue, "Yep. I probably should feel angry or annoyed...but I don't. Does that make sense?"
He lets out a dry laugh, somewhat tired, "Nope. Not a little bit."
I slowly move, gently letting my legs hit the floor, "Yeah...but, I think that I shouldn't postpone it any more than I have to. If the thing's going to happen, I don't want everyone tense because of it."
He rises from the bed, offering me a hand, "Yep. You should probably wear something else, though."
I look down at my body, pale as it is, and realize something.
I let out a light chuckle, "Guess my dress got torn."
He snorts, "And you're probably going to be asked a ton of times for your measurements so that they can make you something just like that."
I roll my eyes, scoffing, "God, I hope not, but you're right. There's no way that I'd get out of that even if I never went back up there for the next year or two."
As if on cue, fervent knocking pounds on the door, and I meekly whisper, "Come in."
To my surprise, it's not Luna, but a person from the Council who comes in.
It's not any random member, or one of their underlings.
It's the Grand Coordinate himself, the leader of the Council.
Jackson.
That's all he goes by, at the least. He's never revealed his last name, or at least, that's what I'd heard.
He's extremely tall, looming over Lib by at least a foot. However, he's not very buff. He's not even lean. He's lanky and thin, but even while hunching, he seems like a giant. His eyes pass over me. I shudder. I always find them weirdly creepy, like he's staring intensely at everything his eyes pass over.
"Lady Purus," he greets breathily, his body barely moving. "Have you recovered?"
I nod, "I have, Coordinate."
Unlike Luna or Lib, he's fine with being referred to by his title. I don't know if he has some sort of pride, or if he's just indifferent about the subject.
That's the thing I think I don't like about him. Lib's very upfront about who he is. Luna's distant, but he's got some traits that I can pick out pretty well. He doesn't speak much, but you learn a lot about him from what he does say.
The Coordinate?
I can't figure out a single thing about what he's ever thinking.
"Then please, rise, for the ceremony starts soon."
His eyes...
They've got something weird in that gaze.
~~~
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Sky Towers!" Jackson bellows, hands behind his back. He shoots a glare at the man who smacked me, who's got so much fear in him that he's shaking. His knees seem unstable.
"Today, you see the man who harmed our dear Lady Purus punished for his crime!" He growls, causing a cacophony of cheers for the punishment, followed by boos towards the man himself. He looks like a cornered animal.
Lib, Luna, and I stand off to the side, and I can barely bring myself to meet the man's eyes, nor the watchful look of the crowd. I keep myself quiet, compact, one of my arms rubbing the other in nervousness.
Lib's as stoic as always, but I can tell he doesn't want this to happen. He doesn't want to speak up about it, though. He's keeping whatever's in his head to himself.
And Luna?
Impassive as always. He's watching, though. I can tell he feels some sort of resentment towards the man, though, for causing such a conflict.
I've only seen someone be sent off the edge once before, and that was when I was barely four. I couldn't even comprehend what was happening then.
"He had caused an uproar through spreading rumors and lies, verbally assaulting others, and knocking Lady Purus unconscious while she was off guard and trying to remedy the situation!" Jackson howled, walking up to the man, leaning in towards him. "For this, he shall be sent to the Ground for the rest of his life!"
One of the Council members shoved him near the metal tube, that seemed to go down further than the eye could see. Peering over the edge, I could only see a blurry outline of the land, buildings looking like tiny specks.
I gulp. I've never had a fear of heights, but it just looks so..mysterious.
"Sir, do you have anything else to say?!" Jackson blasted, his voice seething. I don't know if it's genuine or not.
There's remorse in the man's voice, all the tones of his pride and honor wiped away, "Other than the fact that I wish to apologize? No."
Jackson keeps his intense gaze on the man, before scoffing, "Lady Purus, do you want to hear the words of this scoundrel?"
I gulp, lips dry, meekly nodding, "Yes." That's all I can really muster, and quietly make my way to him.
"Lady Melan," he whispers quietly, remorse in his tone. "I apologize sincerely for my actions. I parroted about how you could be at danger, but I was the largest danger to you."
He grasps my shoulder, and I shake a little bit under the force of his admittedly large palm.
"Oy, release her at once," Jackson warned, not even keeping the Council members at bay as they quickly approached.
"I apologize, Lady Purus," he whispers, before being grasped by two of the Council members. He gasps, but his grip on me doesn't loosen.
"Lib!" I cry out, looking to him for help, and he starts sprinting towards us, because even with the attempts of the Council members, they can't take his hand off of my wrist.
I try to rip my arm away from him, but I hiss in pain, feeling him dig into my skin. Crap.
I feel myself tear up a little at the pain, but he doesn't even realize what he's doing. Is he insane or something?!
What's going on?!
"Melan!" Lib cries out to me as the guards toss him down the pipe. He grabs onto my wrist, catching me before I fall all the way down the pipe.
It seems like his instincts click in at the exact wrong time, "Wait, no, I didn't mean for this to happen!" His voice echoes throughout the tube, and I cringe at how loud it is.
"Help!" He cries out, frantically trying to climb his way up. He claws his way up my leg and other arm, and my hands feel a little clammier.
My eyes dart to Lib, who's doing his best to pull me up. He's holding me by my hand, and with the help of a few others, are trying to drag me back up.
I focus for a moment on the man, who's got nothing but pure fear in his eyes and --
"Melan!" Lib's voice cries out to me, and it takes me a second to register...that I'm falling.
Down the tube.
Off the edge.
I see his eyes. His courageous, stoic, charming eyes filled with nothing but anxiety.
I feel the fear in the man's eyes.
And I can only imagine the expression and emotions raging within the crowd's eyes.
Lib's the last thing I see, the last thing I see on top of the Sky Towers before my hair gets in the way of my face, and by the time I brush it away, his face is too far away to even see.
I fall.