#sinbad 01

One way or another, Light had managed to make it from the place he’d awoken to the apartment he was apparently meant to stay in. Or, well, he’d made it to the apartment building, at least. But... 

Well, he’d made it to the floor he was supposed to be on. Maybe. It was hard to tell when Clover wasn’t around to be his eyes. Of course, he was rather good at navigating on his own, but this was a new place. The problem now was that he wasn’t exactly sure which door lead to the correct apartment. He’d avoided asking for help so far, due to his own pride, but at this point, getting assistance from someone was becoming unavoidable.

When he heard footsteps approaching, Light turned to face the direction of the person approaching.

It is nothing short of strange to see Sinbad here, in a world where he is neither king nor conqueror, when it is all that Kouen has ever known of him.

He is a man who can make the world move--a man who can tear the earth in two if he so wished, and a king who can make it tremble and bow with but a pretty, gilded word. But he did not. Instead he’d insisted on consolidating power in a way reminiscent of coagulating blood, as if warm smiles and saccharine offers would be at all effective in hiding how he sewed each thread through the flesh of the world, a puppet in the making.

I don’t like you, Kouen had said to him once, and even now, in a city and world so far removed from the one they viciously vied for, he holds his sentiment to be true. Sinbad, as Kouen knows him, is not the kind of man who is changed by the world; he is the kind of man who shapes it. 

It is all Kouen can do, then, to wonder how much of Hive City has been affected by this man who is still king in all but title.

It had finally happened; Mikoto's patience had slowly worn thin the more he traveled around the City, until there was nothing left but a tenuous thread. He hadn't been able to find a single out, having run into a wall at nearly every turn. Hive City was vast and seemingly never-ending, but even at it's furthest reaches, there was no sign of a door leading to a suitable escape. 

And Mikoto raged  --

"Nothing more than animals in a cage...Are we meant to die here?" It was rhetorical. His gaze slid to a nearby 'citizen,' and he questioned, "Where do these 'scientists' hide? I'm done with waiting."

Kougyoku woke with a gasp as she attempted to catch her breath. Cold sweats covered her body from head to toe and her hair was in complete disarray. Though she could not recall the dream that had scared her so, a deep sense of fear clawed at her. She took several calming breaths, closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, but after several moments she knew there was no hope of falling back into peaceful slumber.

With the prospect of sleep beyond her reach, the princess rose from the plush bed within one of the many luxurious guest suites inside the Sindria palace with a heavy sigh. She walked slowly towards the far right of the spacious room where a marble basin and mirror were stationed along the wall beside a row of windows to the outside. Kougyoku gently raised the clay pitcher full of clean water resting on the edge of the stone bowl and poured some of its contents onto a white cloth. After wringing the rag of excess, she lightly patted her face to remove some of the sweat from her face. She then placed the used cloth on the rim of the sink to dry before picking up her brush to try and tame the wild mane her hair had become.

Once she was somewhat satisfied with her reflection in the mirror, Kougyoku peeked out from her bedroom door to see if anyone was currently occupying the hallway. She quickly determined that there was no one around and deemed it safe to take a quiet stroll and perhaps clear her head as well. As she was about to turn down another passageway a halo of light -- from a guard's lamp she assumed -- caught her attention and in a panic she ran off into the opposite direction only to run into the broad chest of the king himself.

"S-s-inbad-sama!"