Introduction
Cludia is found in the clouds.
Along the clouds of the sky, buildings and bridges connect clouds to form a sleek and shiny utopia. Floating buildings, sleek nearly transparent, orbs dart across the sky and dive below. Shiny oddly shaped buildings protrude over the expanse of a massive white cloud.
One structure stands out from the rest. At the center of all the clouds stands a massive rectangular structure. The building is a soft and pale green color with bright yellow, orange, and purple glowing flowers dotting the surface in a geometric pattern.
The Chancellor's Compound.
Home to the royal Cludian family of light weavers and healers.
The Ihe family.
For centuries, the Ihe, blessed with powers of tremendous light weaving and heat distortion, have led Cludia. Every Ihe family member lives in the Chancellor's Compound. The structure is ever-changing and growing; building, compressing, and adjusting to serve the needs of the Chancellor and Their heirs.
Cludia has prospered for centuries by exporting its highly medicinal native fruits and high-quality textiles to the different realms inhabiting the land and cosmos.
For millennia, the Chancellor and Her nine cabinentmen have served as mediators and negotiators of Cloudian business, trade, and culture exports. Without the guidance of the Chancellor's counselors and line of Ihe Chancellors,
Cludia would not have flourished.
Chapter 1 -Dina
The streets were packed with the wispy glowing and dancing flames from the food shacks and stalls in the Cloudia Night Market. Spicy seasoned meats and dried fruits hung in floating white nets above the shacks in rows. Cisè hopped from one food stall to another, in fervent and determined pursuit of flavor. Cisè's companion, Dina, strolled leisurely from food stall to food stall, lazily looking at the fresh artisanal wares and seasoned meats. The Cloudia Night Market wasn’t his favorite place to be, but he frequented the location at the request of his beloved friend Cisè.
Dina and Cisè had been friends for ages. As offspring of the affluent Cludian gentry, Dina and Cise spent a lot of time at elaborate parties and gatherings wandering and exploring together. As they grew, the time they spent with each other increased. Both Cisè and Dina attended Cludia's top institutions. Cisè attended the Cludia Longson University of Creative Arts while Dina attended Miller School of Science and Innovation. Both schools were connected by a food and micro-business district. They were never seen without the other on campus and at royal gatherings.
They were practically brother and sister.
Dina searched the crowd for his energetic and very hungry friend. The market was full packed with vendors and solicitors vying for the attention of potential customers.
Further in the crowd to his right side stood Cisè, with several floating containers of dried moonfruit tea leaves and specialty market-seasoned meats.
"Cisè! Cisè! Have you eaten your fill already? I got some business I need to attend to in the next district over." yelled Dina
"No! You can gone head and go if you got business. I'm gonna hit up a few more places. I'mma see you later" Cise gleefully replied
Dina wasn’t going home.
Cisè’s 20th birthday was coming up and he had important plans to make it special.
Through the winding, irregular streets of Cloudia Night Market, Dina made almost practiced and punctual steps. Spicy scents of lightfruit and pepper drifted through Dina's path.
Dina was searching for a special food stall.
Cisè all-time favorite food arrangement was a steaming hot plate of Cloudian pepper noodles, sweetni fruit ice cream, and an iced moonfruit tea sweetened with imported cane sugar. For Cise's birthday, Dina was determined to find the best bowl of Cloudian noodles and moonfruit tea. After months of bribing and working with local food stall owners, paying for imported ingredient shipments, and asking around the Night Market; Dina was able to locate the creme de la creme of noodle eateries. Through his extensive research, Dina found out that this particular restaurant was available 3 times a month.
Dina walked, twisted, and turned through the increasingly dark and narrow back streets in search of this elusive food spot. After an eternity of hurried trotting, Dina started to faintly smell the spicy aroma of sizzling Cloudian peppers.
Walking faster through the narrow alley, Dina spotted a structure. A hastily built wooden shack sat perched atop a small roll in the ground. Surrounding the shack, rusty metal tables teetered precariously.
Startsup Eatery and Tea house.
He made it!
The best noodles and tea in the nation were almost in his possession. As Dina walked up to the shack, he noticed a small, older woman dressed in a light brown shirt and pants at the window. As he neared, he studied the woman closer. Thin hair hung in a silver curtain around the stained collar of her shirt. Her hands, resting inside the window of the shack, were gnarled and bony.
" Whats ya' order" screeched the elderly woman
Dina knew beforehand that this particular shack offered no handheld menus.
" I'll have one order of Cludian pepper noodles, extra spicy, and iced moonfruit tea. But I want it sweetened with human sugar. "
The crone raised an eyebrow at Dina.
"That'll be all," he said
The woman reached through the window of the shack and held out her hand.
"24,000 gooi. 10,000 gooi extra for the imported sugar."
Dina ruffled through his breast pocket and grabbed his human realm imported cow leather wallet to produce 9 unsullied, 17,000 gooi parchment bills. No banal Cludian used legitimate gooi parchment papers as a method of payment. Only the elite Cludian members of society were permitted physical money. Regular Cludian citizens are constrained to Cludian-specific digital currencies.
Snatching them, the old woman shut the window and walked out of sight, deeper into the shack, only yelling
"41 minutes!"
Dina assumed he was to wait 41 minutes for his order to be completed. Dina believed it to be appalling service this establishment promoted.
Turning from the shack, Dina scanned his surroundings to find several other receding alleyways. He walked away slowly from the shack, studying the dark, seedy surroundings.
Chapter 2- Dina
As he was studying the dank and uninviting alley entrances, Dina caught a glimpse of coily, white hair disappearing in an alleyway. Almost reminiscent of his dear Cise's hair.
Cisè's hair was startlingly white and full of tight curls. She often wore it braided in intricate, twisting braids across her head. Some days she didn’t do anything to her hair.
Cisè was not supposed to know about this place. She had been looking for the best place in the 3rd sector for months. Dina spent an even longer time building his connections throughout the district, looking for the perfect bowl of noodles for Cisè's birthday present. He would not have it all shat on by an early appearance.
Dina jogged to catch the phantom in the alleyway. Reaching the alleyway, Dina was shocked to find a pathway around the corner. It was noticeably cleaner and cooler.
On either side of each wall, bright purple flowers lined the seams of the ground.
Dina looked up to see the whisper of a person with blindingly white hair hurriedly turning yet another corner. He started to run further into the strange alleyway, noodles, and tea was temporarily forgotten.
Unknown to Dina was a pursuer.
Cloaked in long billowing dark blue robes, the figure followed soundlessly.
Turning another corner,
Dina trotted down a smoky back alley trying to reach the receding figure.
"Cludian pepper noodles with one iced moonfruit, sweetened with imported human sugar!"
That was his order!
Dina had gotten so wrapped up chasing the mystery figure that he forgot about the order.
Pivoting, Dina turned back toward the shack racing to claim the order.
As he turned, Dina was greeted with the sight of a figure running towards him. The person, or creature, was clothed in an extremely oversized navy blue cloak. The cloak concealed any defining physical and facial features of the assailant. The cloak seemed to drain what little light there was in the alleyway.
Blade drawn, the figure charged at Dina, slicing horizontally across his waist. Pain flooded his vision. He looked down to find a large gash on his stomach, cutting his belly button in a red half smile. Dina fumbled to the ground, mist billowing and blood seeping.
"Why are you doing this? Who-"
Dina never finished his question. The mysterious figure drew its long blade and
slashed at his throat, cutting his throat and silencing his voice in one fell swoop.
Cisè
Cisè was meandering through the food stalls of Cludia Night Market. Cisè had asked Dina to accompany her, as usual, to the Night Market for an evening of good food and fellowship. For some reason, Dina was in a hurry. He left much earlier than he normally would.
As she was walking, Cisè walked past an old lady maneuvering a large iron skillet filled with tender and juicy seasoned meat. She couldn’t help but turn and order a full bag of dried meat.
After more gallivanting around the Night Market, Cisè was practically full. She and Dina arrived at the Night Market as soon as it opened, at 9 pm. They waited in Longson’s common building, waiting hours for the Night Market bell to chime. It was almost 12 in the morning now, Cisè was full and Dina-less.
With all of her hunger sated, Cisè slowly walked away from the bustling crowds, steaming cauldrons, and food stalls in pursuit of the entrance gate. As she strolled to her destination, Cise peered into the long and mysterious alleyway entrances on either side of her. Gray smoke curled and twisted away from the entrance in a way that made Cisè uneasy.
Something about the smoke coming from the entrances made Cisè's hands tingle and legs quiver. Cisè was far away enough from the food stalls that the air was no longer coated with the scent of seasoned meats and sweets.
Now, the air was heavy with a dank, decaying smell. The smell weighed on Cise and assaulted her olfactory with its harshness. Increasing her speed, Cisè glided over the hard ground of the Market, intent on reaching her destination and escaping her unease.
As she continued to walk to the entrance, Cisè's attention was drawn to a figure standing at the edge of her eyesight. In the corner of her eye, Cisè was greeted by the figure, cloaked under a mass of billowing black clothes. The figure was
discreetly nestled in the last alleyway entrance before the Market egress gates. Gray smoke flowed around the figure, filling the air with a decaying and rotting smell.
Something was very wrong.
Sirens went off in Cisè's mind. There was something very wrong and out of place about the figure in the market. The harsh and rotting smell seemed to emanate from this strange entity. An unwelcome and displaced presence, that must be avoided at all costs. The hair on Cisè's neck stood up, delicately poking through her satin top. Cisè sped up, exit in sight. Scanning her surroundings, Cisè tiptoed in long, silent steps, brows furrowed in silent focus. The wind blustered at Cisè's braids, carrying that distinct rotting and pungent odor.
After an hour of quiet and quick walking, Cisè was in sight of the exit gate for the Market.
Cisè turned to search for the dark figure, eyes scanning the distance. The sleek, light blue street was clean. As Cisè drew her gaze around, she scanned the bright floating
Her sense of foreboding left her body almost instantly, shedding in waves of wariness.
Maybe it was an omen.
Cisè's mother saw visions or figures in her visions. As the Chancellor, she used her visions to guide her judgment.
Regardless, this incident required an audience with her mother. Cisè's training ensured that she would be calm and efficient in a crisis.
Pressing her palm against a floating orb, Cise spoke
"Exit, please"
"Where would you like to go?" chimed a serene voice
"Take me home, please. "
"Chancellor heir Cisè, returning to Sector 1, Stratus District, Chancellors Compound" pealed the voice.
Cisè had just ordered a misty, formally known as a mist glider. Most Cludian gentry owned a fleet of private mist gliders, used to ferry their heirs and offspring to their desired and scheduled locations.
As the Chancellor’s heir, Cisè was permitted full access and use of all premium mistys. Cludians who weren’t so well off relied on the intracloud auto rail typically referred to as the ICA. The ICA operates throughout the sectors and districts within the Cludian chancellorship.
As Cisè's mist glider approached, she surveyed her surroundings, taking note of several speeding Royal Authority mistys, zooming in the direction of the Night Market gate. It was extremely out of place for Royal Authority to approach the Night Market. Food stalls and districts in Cludia rarely experienced crime. Reaching in, Cisè brought her legs into the misty, steadying herself in the sleek, long pod. As she prepared for departure, she watched with confusion as the first fleet of Royal Authority mistys landed at the Cludia Night Market entrance gate. At least a dozen Royal Authority mistys hovered at the entrance gate in a tight formation. The scene was becoming increasingly crowded.
Cisè craned her neck to try and get a glimpse of any more details as her misty hummed to life, departing from the Night Market in a near soundless hum.
Drevi
It was Drevi's first day as a reporting officer in Royal Authority and he already had a high-profile murder analysis to deal with. The scene at Cludia Night Market was a nightmare. Blood painted the alleyway in a wash of dark blue. The cold body of counsel heir Dina Zeluda lay in segments. Drevi scanned the scene, eyes cataloging and analyzing the intersperced remnants of the Zeluda boy.
It was obvious that the Zeluda heir was caught off guard. There were defense wounds on the palms of his hands and forearms. Walking through the scene, Drevi scanned the bloodstained walls, slowly letting his gaze drift back to the body parts in the alleyway. Zeludas hands and arms laid across the pathway, his torso sat propped up against the wall of the alley, his legs were placed neatly in front of his torso.