In the city of Monovidad, there is a street of important establishments, known to all its residents. One of these establishments is called the Cardinals' Palace. One of the first government buildings in the country's history. On this street there is also a building called Valley, a luxurious apartment where important figures of society usually stay. Because of a religious parish, it was a holiday. Many people were on the streets, families gathered, children with their parents and many friends meeting. With that, it was not very common, on that day of the year, for people to stay at home.
Inside the Valley building, the corridors were deserted. On the stairs that connected the floors, nothing was heard. A resident or tenant door slammed, making a noise that broke the silence from time to time. In short, that day, everything was peacefully calm through the corridors and floors of the apartment. However, on the outside of the building, there was a balcony. From up there it was possible to see the alley that was on the right side of the building and further ahead, you could see one of the streets through which a saint's parish passed, due to the day's festivity. Two ladies were drinking coffee, while talking on the balcony of the building, where there was a beautiful garden.— Puxa, você demorou! — disse uma moradora do edifício.
— Ah, you know what Vincent is like. You can't do anything alone. Nor prepare your own breakfast — replied her friend.
The two ladies laughed at the situation.
— What did you think of this orchid? Come here!
Then there is a noise of breaking glass bottles coming from the alley next door.
— Ah, I love orchids. I intend to put it in my garden, taking advantage of this time.
— If you want I can get you some.
— I'll need to come here more often then.
— Look — he said taking a rose and cutting its stem — this rose I want you to take as a souvenir.
Another noise is heard, now clearly louder, of countless glass bottles falling, breaking with the sound of bags and boxes being crushed. The ladies, frightened, when they heard the noise, stopped the conversation. Worried about what might be, they went to the edge of the balcony and looked down the alley. They even saw a person with a big dark coat, beret and long blond hair, quickly leave and turn the alley, where their visions were no longer in reach. After the mysterious person disappeared, they both looked at each other with a fleeting look of concern and unease.
In the city, many merchants were dedicated to serving their customers and people who passed by the extensive fair that lived on the streets due to the holiday. The streets were crowded, making the simple act of walking there very difficult. The energy of the fair and trade was contagious that day of the year.
In the square, where there was a fountain, there were many benches to sit on. The sun was shining in a few parts of the square, because of the tall houses huddled together that surrounded them, which made that place a very refreshing place. Many people gathered there to rest and talk. Especially near the fountain. Among the eccentric traders, everyone did what they knew to earn some money. In particular, the population of that city, which for the most part was very poor, still had a boost in itself, even in difficult times. A boy was juggling a bottle of water. He threw it up and balanced it by taking it with his forehead. Then I threw it high and grabbed it with the back of my hands. Everyone who saw him was impressed.
— Wow! Look at that! — said a woman said to her friend when she saw the boy.
Some people cycled through the square and others took shopping in rectangular paper bags to their homes. Lots of traffic and advertisements from traders flowed through the streets. And so, then, the morning period passed.
It was noon when Hidana stopped to attend the parish in the city of Monovidad. He saw a strangely elaborate motorcade as a support to lift a saint high up through the streets. As he was not religious, he stayed there to find out what attracted the faithful in that sculpture.
— Hum... — he muttered to himself.
Watching the march, he slammed his hand over the left pocket of his coat, covering his cigarette pack. Then he put his hand inside his pocket to take it while looking back to see the movement. When opening the pack, he found no cigarette. So he decided to stay there for a while, to let him pass, even without his cigarettes.
Seized by the urge to smoke, Hidana started to walk through some streets, until he found a stall. Upon finding a cigarette stand, Hidana asked for a pack of Havoc cigarettes, her favorite. While waiting for the stallholder to return with his order, he folded his hands behind him and looked to his right to see how he was moving around the streets. He saw a child with a red balloon in his hand sitting on the shoulders of a man who appeared to be his father. He felt something touch him, but he didn't want to see what it was. He looked next to a child and saw a man with a plaque and dark glasses shouting fervently:
— "THE END IS NEXT! THE FINAL JUDGE IS VERY NEXT! REPENT! BAD TIMES ARE BLAME OF OUR SINS! WORST TIMES WILL COME IF WE DON'T REPENT! REPENT!"
When contemplating that scene, Hidana saw how people ignored the man and passed him, as if he did not exist. After observing the scene, the owner of the stall comes back with his pack of cigarettes and hands it to him.
— Here is.
— Ah, ok. Thank you — he said as he took the pack.
A person who was on his side, on his left, turned and started walking naturally. He saw her for a moment. As he reached into his left pocket to get his wallet, he was startled and followed by a shock. His portfolio was no longer there. Hidana had been robbed.
Perplexed, he looked at the people on his left and saw a person with a thin appearance and long hair on his back walking quickly, the same person who had just left his side. Around the corner, the person looked at Hidana, and for a brief moment, he could see her face perfectly. Seeing that he saw it, the person started running towards the corner. Hidana ran close behind. Arriving at the same corner, he was disappointed when he came face to face with a crowd of people.
— Great... How to find a needle in a haystack — he said at the same time he had given up trying to find the person who had just robbed him.
Despite the strange episode, over time, in the middle of the afternoon, the fair was still very busy. Among so many streets and streets, a young man passed by bicycle with his purchases along the street of the Palácio dos Cardeais. Of the establishments on that street where the boy had passed, in the part above, focusing on the Valley building, composed of very rocky bricks, full of windows. Going up a little further, you notice an unusual window between them.
Within this window, an apartment could be seen in complete silence and without any internal light. A very cozy place, however, was empty.
Inside the apartment, curiously, there was a small candle that struggled to keep its flame burning. This was in a lamp inside a room, after a room. Even with the candle wax in its final stage, the flame continued to burn smoothly.
There was a docile calm in that apartment. The owners of the house had left and this was a politician's apartment. The atmosphere of being alone in that house was very inviting, especially if you thought about getting loose on the sofa in the living room, which was filled with innumerable pillows. The whole house was clean and the curtains and windows were closed. The environment was partially dark. In the bathroom, the door was open. No one or any light was in it. Everything in the house was in its proper place.
On the wall of the room, numerous photographs hung from molds. In one of them there was a military man with people in a type of meeting, in a very well decorated restaurant, smiling next to people who seemed to be his family and friends. The guy was hardly smiling in the other photographs. He seemed to be a very happy person with what life had brought him. A little further down was a photograph of a dog holding a ball in its mouth.
A wind blew through the curtains in one of the living room windows, followed by a light that came in through the window that was ajar.
As he left the room, a person entered fearlessly, in silent steps, into a room on his right. He thought there was no one in the house, deducing from the silence of the apartment. The sound of an aquarium bubbled. A small fish that swayed from pause to pause in the aquarium. He saw this person slowly enter a room, where the goldfish, who recognized that he was someone different from those he was used to seeing around the house, moved his little mouth frantically opening and closing it, as if he were complaining, worried, when he saw the person moves from the living room to the bedroom.
Inside this room, there was a door on the side of an illustrated wooden cabinet. The mysterious person stops in front of the closet door and for a few seconds his reflection appears in the door. When looking to the right of the room there is a closed door, so that the person who was there had walked to this door, gently placing his hand on the handle, and after turning it, he came across what appeared to be a office.
The windows in that office were all closed. A completely dark environment, except for the lamp that had a candle, mentioned above, with its flame that seemed to be almost going out. The candle was lit on a desk. Very humble in size, the lighting didn't look like much, but its light was very bright on the desk.
The curious person was still there. It was not possible to see his face from the door to the entrance of the room, because his back was to her. Standing, hands on hips, she looks at the office with a calm face. Next to his eyes, where he could hear his panting and the details of his youthful face, his eyes were blinking continuously calmly, as he watched the whole room and his desk.
His gaze drifted over the desk, and the world map was placed on a wooden wall. The map consisted of a drawing of two spheres glued together.
On the desk was a typewriter, a can with some pencils, pens and a box which was not locked. However, its latch was fully exposed. Ready to be locked by someone who arrived there with a padlock. Papers of various sorts and documents were spread out on the desk. The curious person began to examine them in order to find what was being sought. His hands were lost in so many papers and his eyes expressed a certain anxiety, now, with frowns.
On his left, there was a window, which was being illuminated by the light from the illumination. The window was latched. However, there was a grid that prevented any hand from reaching the window latch.
— How can anyone open this window if there is a grid preventing it from being opened? — The mysterious person who was there at that moment wondered.
For the first time your voice is heard inside that quiet apartment. It was a female voice, pleasant to hear.
At this moment, you hear the sound of someone climbing the stairs of the outside corridor, made of wood. A conversation accompanied the rising of the steps that came closer and closer. The woman hurried out of the office. His steps were so fast that he had not had time to fully describe what his face looked like. Slowly following its exit, it hid in a closet.
Now, Hidana used to stay in high places to reflect. Despite his sometimes crude, sometimes impulsive nature, he reflected constantly lonely. Especially at night. This habit he acquired when he climbed high places to see what was happening over the streets and alleys of his neighborhood. He liked to be alone watching the city. For him, it was like a gesture of being alone at the top.
He repeated the habit, climbing on the terrace of a resident he did not know, in a very high place to look at the city, its streets and alleys, while he pulled a cigarette from his pocket to smoke it. A smoker devoted to his practice.
He then observed the parish that was still passing that late afternoon. A very privileged view. Hidana really knew how to choose a good place to contemplate the view.
Despite the blow he had applied to the Yug family and starting his own faction, he used to travel alone from time to time, to meet new cities, new people and possible new points of business. Now, in Monovidad, upset about being robbed and not knowing much to do in that situation, the view calmed him for a moment. However, the loner takes a deep drag, immediately afterwards expelling a very strong smoke from his cigarette, looking at the floor, with his arms resting on the edge of the terrace. Hidana used to consume heavy tobacco.
As he took a drink again, he looked to his right and saw in the next street, through the window of the Valley building, a person walking inside an apartment. When he closed his eyes to see better, he saw that the person's physical aspects and physiognomy were the same as those who had stolen him earlier. Chewing on something with the unhappy face, he turned his attention to the person who sucked his attention.
The young woman ran into a closet in a room and hid there. Hidana, still smoking on top of the building, saw it the moment she ran to get into the closet.
From the inside, looking through the gaps in the details of the closet door, the mysterious person tried to recognize who the two women who had just entered the house were. One of the women, who spoke very loudly, laughed and laughed while the other listened. They seemed to be happy.
— I told him that I wanted to visit Praia do Goco next year.
— But already? And what did he say?
— Who would think.
— It is not a good sign.
— It is very annoying to always visit the same place, right? We have to change. I have already made you aware of what I want months in advance.
— I already visited it with my godson. It is a very good place to relax. This beach always has few people in the New Year. You would like.
Hidana sees through the window two women entering the room where the person had been hiding, inside a closet. He took a stronger drag and mumbled to himself the scene he had just seen, curious, to know what would happen.
— Hum... — grunted.
A strong light coming from a lamp that was in the hands of the woman who spoke loudly penetrated through the decorative holes in the closet door where the young woman was. Irritated by the excess of light that seemed to want to cross her eyes inside the closet, she put her hand in front of the light and tried to see what was happening outside, irritated, once again with a frown.
Finally, the women left the house and closed the door. The girl waited for a moment and waited. Putting his ear to the door, he tried to hear some noise. When he realized that the apartment was quiet again, he decided to come out of the closet.
This time she went to the kitchen and opened the pantry. He chose a pot and opened it. Faced with several tea cartons, she chose one that she liked in appearance to make one. After preparing tea, he went to the balcony of the house, which faced the street. Risky attitude, however, he felt free and comfortable drinking his tea, as if the house were his. He looked at the streets with a serene and confident tone. A smell of flowers came to meet him with the wind, elucidating his moment of independence.
When he closed the apartment door, he left quietly with his hands in his pockets and his beret, covering his face almost entirely. Her long blond hair stood out under the beret.
He met, for a brief moment, down the stairs, with the lady who was previously drinking coffee on the balcony in the morning, going up the stairs with her friend.
— Good afternoon — said the lady who lived in the building.
— Thanks! — said the young woman.
The lady saw her go down. For a moment, he remembered that it was the physical aspect of someone who had seen it earlier, when he heard the bottles break in the alley next door. You thought about calling Hollen's military police.
Outside the building, the young woman passed through the next alley, walking quickly through it with her hands in her pocket. Reaching the end of it, he saw on a very busy street, some officers securing the place. Leaving the alley, he passed two officers who noticed his exit when the latter asked for permission to pass.
A young woman, with a rickety appearance, long blond hair, practiced Light Hands. Wearing her beret, she worked in a bar and was well known by the local drinkers. A regular place for people who went there to drink, smoke, play games of chance and eat their meals. Many spent days at the bar, as it never closed. Some slept on the floor and could not stand to walk after drinking so much. On one of the walls of the bar there was a paper taped with a photograph of the inauguration of Hollen's largest iron ore and coal ship called Helessa-17.
The young woman worked the night shift, and on this day, again, she arrived on time. As usual.
An immense chatter of several intoxicated people talking circulated around the bar while very loud music was played by a miserable-looking band.
— "TRIM TRIM...!" — the sound of the bell opening the door rang. Someone entered the bar.
— Pretended very well huh!
— I'll tell you something...
— They will not understand anything.
— From now on, whoever stops in front of me will die. Look at this katana that I got.
— Even you believed, right? Did you see there?
— No! That's good!
— It's that guy who...
— It is himself.
— Hahahaha!
— No cheating, empty your pockets!
The attendant, who was the young blonde, was cleaning the sink from the inside of the counter when a presence came up to her and asked her:
— What do you have to drink?
— It depends. What do you like? — replied without looking at the customer.
— What do you recommend me?
He snorted and turned his body towards the shelves pointing to the most diverse and colorful drinks that were there.
— We have liquor, mint, wine, rum, beers... — replied the attendant.
— Rum �� said the client.
The young woman filled a small glass of rum that gave off a very strong smell. When he was finished, he took out the bottle and looked at the customer.
— All right? — asked the client.
The young woman shook her head confidently, saying yes while looking at the customer. Her gaze expressed that she had to interact with yet another drinker who would possibly try to raise a casual subject with her. A very frequent dynamic in his work.
— Pleasure, Hidana.
— Laura.
The customer was the guy she had stolen from earlier. Although he recognized her, the attendant did not remember him.
— I will pay you later. I will want to drink more — said Hidana.
— Ok — replied Laura.
Hidana did not have many options at the time, as she had no money to return to her faction and had been robbed. I had nowhere to go. Your only option would be to walk. And since one of his few options, one of them was walking, he decided to go to the bar where he saw the girl who stole him. Earlier, when she left that apartment, Hidana followed her through the streets, without her noticing. When he saw that the girl was a very audacious thief, he thought of calling her, to help him retake his old faction, although he already started his own faction with his brother, after the blow applied to the Yug faction and the expansion of his Business.
After a few minutes, Hidana called the attendant and tried to start a conversation with her.
— Listen... Do you accept a job where you would earn in a week what you would not earn here in ten years?
The attendant immediately looked at Hidana without answering him verbally. Where he had once managed to get his attention, he continued to speak.
— I'll be straightforward. I have a faction and I sell drugs. I make a lot of money distributing drugs to my city and neighboring neighborhoods. My right arm, my brother Khan, passed away. We were betrayed by an old member and I was arrested. Despite having built my new group, I am going back there, old to get it back and expand it. The members there have known me for a long time and respect me. I need a right arm like you.
— Like me? You don't know me. Know nothing about me.
— I'm the guy you stole earlier near the bank. But I didn't come to report you. I want to make money from you. You can have the freedom you want. I saw how you were on the balcony of that apartment.
— You must have a lot to worry about — she replied, ignoring him.
— Look these drunks.
The young woman then looked at them after starting to clean the counter.
— I suppose they are here every day. Fallen, dirty, poorly dressed... They never leave here. This is what they do with their freedom.
— They are enjoying freedom in their own way, don't you think?
— Is living under an addiction condition freedom?
— Well, each enjoy in their own way.
— I tell you, freedom is the power to enjoy life without hindrance, including addictions.
— No, I disagree. The consequences come along with freedom. Everything take its price.
— Being addicted to something is like being a slave. There is no free slave.
— Don't be the one who dictates who is free and who is not.
— It's not me, really. But a slave has no right to anything.
The young woman stops cleaning the counter and looks at Hidana.
�� Whoever has no right to anything, has no freedom. And I know you like it.
— Not everyone is prepared to receive freedom, my dear — said, while organizing some glasses without paying attention.
At this point, two Hollen policemen enter the bar. The young woman moved her gaze with concerned concern. Hidana did the same.
— I can give you some advice? — asked Hidana turning to Laura.
— If you need... — replied without looking away from the officers.
— When analyzing what is best for your life, it is better to put your passions aside.
Laura looked at Hidana, waiting for him to finish.
— There is no way for you to control everything that happens around you or what they will think of you. Even if it were possible, it would require a lot of energy. And when he finally did such a feat, he would perform very poorly, because his energy had previously been spent on something else.
Laura, with her gaze fixed on him, had answered nothing.
— Come with me. I am starting something totally new. It will be an empire. All of this will remain in the past.
— Many evils in life apparently start out as good things, you know? At first they don't seem to be what they are in the end.
— Yes... — said a little upset scratching his forehead — There is no way I can guarantee you that it will be the Eden you desire. You will have to follow to the letter. But since you are from this life, if your passion is to do small thefts, this can prevent you from reaching larger flights.
— I understand, but I don't tend to be a passionate woman. Passion can blind.
— So you have no passion for your own happiness? Haha ha! Now I understand your little thefts and low flights — said Hidana, turning her glass in one gulp.
— Well, in passion ... A person seduced does not reason well. Just walk in the direction that the charm leads you — Laura smiles, but soon she undoes the smile — This is a way of being a slave.
— Right...
Hidana saw that she had lost the debate and failed to convince her. Standing with an empty glass in his hand, he looked at the officers and saw them talking to three men who were seated, showing them a photo and pointing at it.
— Listen, I can't dictate what is best for you. But the truth is that I am starting my business again and I will expand it in a way that no faction has done before. I need talented people like you to be my right hand. Give us this chance. Nothing will be as before.
Hidana had failed to convince Laura. However, she feared being caught by the police, as this time, she had entered the home of a very important and powerful Hollen figure to do one of her thefts. In addition, she owed a local mafia an amount of money that she had been unable to pay so soon. This mafia was from a dangerous man known as Solini. Owner of a faction that controlled a business in the area of gambling, which also looked for it constantly. Believing it to be the best option, he decided to disappear for a moment.
As if the previous conversation had not existed, he said promptly.
— OK then. Yes, we will. I will go with you.
Hidana called to her, pointing her head in one direction, leaving her empty drink glass that she hadn't paid for on the counter. Laura followed him immediately and they both fled the bar by an alternative exit, without silently drawing people's attention.