Soul Transcender

Emily for once thought how nice it would just to go see the outside world, even if it was said to be dangerous, unruly, or any of that. She was sick and tired of her mother, her father, her entire life telling her about how the outside was. She sat at he bedroom window, surrounded by lavish toys and clothes, watching the outside grass swaying with the branches. It was a sunlit, presumed to be happy day, but there was only a bored, empty feeling.

She longed to be outside, the stone buildings that stood so tall against the weathering and erosion, but she had watched them repaired over and over again. She had been trapped for 18 years, and unlike the stone buildings that stayed there, she had never experienced hardship, never felt cared for, never repaired. It was such a lonely existence. 

One particularly daring bird flew up to her windowsill, beckoning Emily to chase it with its carefree chirps. But there was no reaction. Emily only stared into the surroundings.

She had thought of the outside world, she had access to books, and learned how to read. But this was akin to giving a heroin addict one tiny shot that wouldn't be enough. She was addicted to the thought of the outside world, and like the addicts, she felt like breaking the rules for that substance.

All kinds of books had been through her possession, she had a brother who was fascinated with the new thoughts that some grand man had proposed. The idea that things could be split until it couldn't be split anymore, why things fell and even if their weights were different, why they still hit the ground at the same time, and above else, the human body. 

Her brother Joseph had managed to land himself to a hospital of sorts, where people were treated and probably died. Many books were handed down, the human body truly was a great and interesting thing.

Emily finally turned away, to find that her room looked like a palace in it of itself, but everything was so... feminine. Everything seemed to have a soft edge to it. The bookshelves which held all the wonderful knowledge were carved with flowers and butterflies, the closet was filled to the brim with dresses and clothes, and nothing was its original color, which was brown. Everything had some sort of color, dolls sat around staring at her, and Emily felt so trapped. This was not a home, this was a gilded cage. 

No one was awake in the small hallways. Servants were busy doing chores like cleaning the big banquet held last night, and all the rest of the people were asleep due to the banquet last night. It was also very simple to snag a leftover steak and some kitchen utensils to eat it later with.

It was scary how easy it was to possibly leave as Emily reached the front door, but there was a nagging feeling in her mind that maybe she should listen to her parents, and stay. What would happen if they found out? 

Those feelings continued to assault her mind as she pushed through the door, landing on the front lawn. It didn't take long for her to reach the front gate, nobody even cared. 

She was getting tired of walking down the street after leaving the gate, but it wasn't all that bad, she could already smell the street food and people bargaining. 

Emily had a knack for taking things without permission, like the 300 penochi she stole. It wasn't a huge sum, but it was enough to buy some food and literature. 

By the time she reached the bustling streets, it had already reached midday. The scenery had slowed her down a bit, she kept looking at the grass, and for the first time in her life, touching the grass. It was probably a strange view of a young lady wearing a pink dress and a wide brimmed hat simply bending down and feeling grass for no particular reason.

The main city was reached, a place called Madagri, an incredibly prosperous place for the most prosperous of people without a thought of the unrest of the uncivilized barbarians that lived within.

It probably wasn't a good idea to arrive in a full on dress, as people immediately started eyeing her and whispering.

"Who's that? I've never seen her."

"No clue man, she sure is pretty though."

"Probably because of that she isn't seen. Notice there is no one around her, I can conclude that she probably escaped or something."

"Isn't that just a thing that nobles say but don't actually do?"

"She might actually be a damsel in distress."

Emily heard various people colluding in a corner. She gave them a look, which seemed to shut them up, then kept walking down the dirt path, in no particular direction.

A store was upon her, it was a bakery. She pushed the door open to see a sight of various breads put on the counter for display. A kind looking old lady stood in front of the counter. It wasn't a large place, a little tight and simple designs, mostly gray. 

"Excuse me?" Emily asked the old lady, "What bread is the best kind of bread?"

"Well, miss, that's sourdough, that's rye, that's cornbread..." The old lady described ten different breads before Emily's thoughts were spinning. 

"Uhh, on second thought, that sandwich with vegetables looks nice." And so, Emily bought a veggie sandwich and left the bread store. 

With sandwich half in hand, half in mouth, she walked the streets and looked around more. People moving around, carts of dead bodies being lugged away seemed to be normal, so Emily didn't give it much thought when she saw that. 

Quite unfortunate, was the only thing of her mind when she passed some ragged people, collapsed on the street, probably turning into a corpse by now. Emily decided to throw a piece of bread towards the group, but suddenly they all woke up instantaneously and started fighting for the bread, cursing violently and shouting violently. Emily quickly left, knowing that sometimes an act of goodwill could lead to bad consequences as she could speculate that one person would probably have their head stepped on and dislocated from the body. 

The sky was becoming orange as Emily walking into a saloon. She had heard many shouts and yells, but relating to something called gravity. She decided to explore. 

"Impossible! Why does that happen, how does the Sun not go around the Earth? This scientist is insane!" A loud voice proclaimed, "Lets beat this guy up!"

"Wait! Calm down, it wasn't me who discovered this, it was some other dude who kept looking at the Sun, I didn't do it." Another man said.

Emily could see that every single person there was drunk beyond their minds, as then they simply moved on and started to play cards and drink even more alcohol. Her eyelids twitched as a burly man directly raised the wine jar and drank the whole thing while everyone watching shouted,

"Chug!

Chug!

Chug!" 

Drinking so early? What are they going to do for the rest of the day? Lie down and sleep? Nah, they most likely are going to keep drinking and experience liver failure. Emily left the saloon and kept walking.

The sky was turning dim as Emily kept walking the streets of Madagri, passing the shopping district and entering the housing district. Even though it was turning dark, many lights were on in the houses, people were still moving things and children still running around, poking other children with sticks and such. 

The sky was pitch black as Emily finally decided to start wandering back home. She couldn't really see where she was going, and the only thing that she could think of doing was to walk in a straight line, approximately how she even walked here in the first place.

It was a problem however, as Emily felt a strong hand against her mouth back, as she was suddenly forced into an alley. She tried screaming, it didn't work. She tried biting, it didn't work. She tried to kick her legs, which also didn't work. All she could do was try to watch the path, but so many twists and turns and the fact that she was now carried upside down and bouncing around made it harder for her to even see properly. 

Her kidnapper finally took a rest, where Emily dropped to the ground, dizzy and confused.

The moment she tried to scream was the moment a rag was stuffed in her mouth, but she did get a good look at that kidnapper. It was a man that clearly hadn't had a good life with scars and wounds around his face and exposed arms. A vicious smile appeared on his face as he looked upon Emily.

"So damsel, where's your knight?" He said.

Emily couldn't respond, she simply adjusted herself to stand. Her head was still spinning. She was slowly backing up until her back hit a wall. She looked around, darkness, a dead end too with brick walls surrounding her. 

The man started to slowly approach her while loosening his belt.

"I think I read enough books to understand what you are going to do to me sir, but could you just ask for my permission first?" Emily simply reached and took the rag out of her mouth.

"Okay then damsel, so, yes or yes."

Emily looked upon his face and his neck, then lunged with a kitchen knife that was in her right pocket of the dress, stabbing straight though the carotid artery. Blood sprayed around like a giant fountain as Emily laughed and cried at the same time. The man collapsed onto the ground with a look of absolute shock and terror, the life draining out of his eyes exceedingly fast.

"Why don't us humans have good protection around our neck? even typical vertebrae mammals have the idea to put their head down." Emily said jokingly to the dying man, "Because us humans think we are better than those animals, we are smarter and more capable. While that is true for some of us, it is also true that animals like you exist, so PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN!" Emily screamed, and started to remember what she was.