What does traveling city mean? Is it like Howl's Moving Castle!? Oh, hell, yes!
"Do you want to go see what it looks like? I'm sure we'll be able to see from the upper deck."
I turned to Minh, "You, wanna go outside?"
"Yes, a historical event, I know," he scoffed, sitting up.
I got up, "Are you sure? Emily said that you shouldn't walk around much."
"No, she said to rest, and last time I checked, walking isn't a federal crime," he argued, getting up from the infirmary bed.
I reached to help, but Minh, being an asshole, stopped me, "I'm fine, it's just pain, I'll just walk it off."
"I don't think that's how pain works."
"It worked for ông, it probably works the same."
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. Stubborn bitch.
I grabbed the map of the ship and we headed to the upper deck lookout.
Wow, it's so nice outside! I haven't been out in so long! There's a crowd of people on the lookout today. I feel the cool air blow in my face, this is why I like going out.
I grabbed Minh's wrist and dragged him to the railing. I looked ahead and saw giant buildings peeking out of the clouds.
"Minh, look!" I cheered, pointing to the buildings in the distance.
Minh squinted, "Look where?"
I moved his head a little to the left, "Over there," I pointed.
"Oh. Now I see it."
"We're getting you new glasses when we land," I smiled, watching the clouds pass by.
"Like we can afford it."
"We'll get jobs then."
"Since when could you hold a job?" Minh shot back, slumping down to the floor.
"Hey! I've done chores around the house before, l-like washing dishes and stuff," I refuted.
"Sure you have," he scoffed, rolling his eyes, "We don't even know how job interviews work in this world. If it's anything like our world, I predict we'll be broke and homeless by the end of the week if we're lucky."
I sigh, "Way to kill my optimism Minh, thanks."
"Of course, I'm just doing my job," he shot back.
"Fuck you."
"You as well."
I watched as the buildings got closer, revealing a whole city just above the clouds. I turned to Minh, "You should look around, it's really nice here."
"Nah, I'd like to remain in my dank little corner if you please."
"Suit yourself," I shrugged, hearing a loud horn blowing and the static voice echoing through the radio. Seriously, why is the radio so loud?
"Attention all passengers! We have arrived at our destination. Please escort yourselves off the ship in a timely manner," it announced.
And like that, everyone started leaving the deck. I looked at Minh, "We should go get our stuff."
He stood up, "Well it won't be much anyway."
"Well yeah, but we gotta take what we can get."
"Agreed," He nodded, "I'll get our stuff, you go out first."
"But what if I get lost?"
"Just stay near the entrance; you'll be fine," he assured, walking towards the lookout exit.
"Hey, wait for me!" I yelled, running after him.
After that, we split off, Minh heading to our room and me just following the crowd. I squeezed through the hoards of people and popped out of the exit.
Okay. Where am I?
I looked around. There were so many people here! I didn't realize the ship was that big. I mean, I did see a few kids running around and stuff while helping out, but not this many people! Oh, right, stay at the entrance. I turned back, but then another wave of people rushed out and I was swept away.
I stumbled out from the crowd, bumping into a window display.
"Ow," I yelped, rubbing my forehead.
I looked at the window I headbutted into. There was a really beautiful dress on the display with pretty lace and everything. If only dresses weren't so hard to walk in, I would totally wear it. Well, it's not like I can pull off something that flashy anyway.
I stared at the dress for a moment.
Suddenly, a tiny bell chimed, and someone called out to me, "Are you interested in buying, Miss?"
I jumped back, "Oh, uh, no, not really, I was just looking," I stuttered.
Even if I did have cash on me, it was probably really expensive.
"You're sure? You can come in and have a look if you like," the lady in front of me suggested.
"No, really, I don't have any money on me," I explained, fiddling with my hands.
The lady looked me up and down and smiled, "It's alright Love, you can just look around. We're not starving for customers at the moment. Come in."
She opened the door and I followed her in. It'll be fine. She said it was okay, so I'll just have a little look around and leave.
Inside was a bunch of mannequins with sparkling dresses galore. I walked around, passing by a mirror. My shirt is pretty big on me but that's probably fine. I'm not showing any boobs so that probably doesn't count as flashing. I moved some hair away from my face and kept looking around. After a little while, I finished looking at all the dresses I couldn't afford and left the shop.
I breathed out a sigh, "First on the to-do list: Get a job."
I walked down the streets passing through a crowd of people. Everything looked really old, kinda like those pictures of Victorian towns on Pinterest. Tall black lantern posts stood along the sidewalk, and wooden carts pulled by horses drove by on the road. I kept walking, getting faster as I looked around. After a while, I stopped at a big sign. The sign was held up by two black poles and pots of yellow flowers at the bottom.
Marigold Alley
I walked past it and stood in front of a shit ton of people, even more than what I saw on the airship when we landed. I had nothing else to do, and looking around didn't cost anything anyway. There weren't any roads. Instead, there were a ton of stalls selling different things with signs at the front with different prices.
"A loaf of bread for 2 silver!"
"3 silver for five apples!"
"Hey! I'm selling fine dresses for 1 gold!" People from stalls shouted, holding up whatever they were trying to sell.
"Hey, girl!" someone shouted. I turned around to a stall I just passed. The seller pointed to me. "Yeah, you," the man nodded, looking around uncle age. He stepped out of his stall with a wooden cane with an even worse posture than Minh.
"Never seen you around here. You new?"
"Uh, yeah, I just got here."
"Well, here's an offer for ya: 9 silver for a few pastries. It's a good deal, no ?"
"No, thanks," I said, turning away to leave.
"Hey, hey, wait!" the person shouted.
Seriously? I turned back as the guy from the stall hobbled over to me.
"C'mon, think about it, it's a pretty good offer ya know," he said, "I'll tell you what, 8 silver, how about it?"
"Dude, no, I don't have any money on me," I refused, slowly walking off.
"7 silver! 5 silver! Heck, 3 silver! That's a steal!" the seller yelled, coming closer.
Oh, hell, nah! I turned away and ran. He uses a cane, so he probably won't catch up.
I kept running and ended up face-planting into someone.
I stepped back, "Sorry!"
I looked back at the crowd of people behind me. Looks like I lost him. Wow, I'm faster than I thought.
Cool.
I turned back to the person I bumped into and- holy shit He's tall! I looked up at a guy with a black beard looking down at me.
I stepped back a few more steps, "Uh, hi there," I said waving my hand.
"Oh, hello there, mate," he smiled, waving back.
Was that... a Scottish accent? Well, I mean, technically there aren't any rules when it comes to human races in a fantasy world. Lowkey I thought everyone was just British here.
"Well, I gotta go. Bye."
"Alright, be safe out there, you hear."
"I will," I nodded, before running past him.
I turned the corner and stopped at a dark alleyway. I leaned against the wall, slumping down as I took a breath. I'm never running like that again.
I swear, stuttering is a curse!
I looked out the entrance of the alley and watched people walk by, vendors selling their stuff, and a few kids running around. Wait, shouldn't they be with their parents? I got up, dusted off my butt, and went over to a group of kids near the alley.
"Hey, kids."
They turned around, all of them staring at me. Okay, creepy, but at least they heard me.
"Where are your parents?" I asked, walking closer to them.
The kids looked at each other and then at me.
"I don't know," one of them said looking down, "I haven't seen Mama in a long time."
The kid had scruffy brown hair, wearing dirty clothes, and holding the saddest-looking teddy bear I had ever seen.
That bear has seen things.
Also, what kind of Mom leaves her kid like that?! Should I call CPS? Do they even have that here? I turned to the other kids, all of them not being any better. Jesus, parents suck here. I've never appreciated Mẹ more.
I crouched down, "Are you guys lost?"
They all nodded. So we're all lost. Well shit, I guess we'll have to find our way together, 'cause I'm not leaving these kids alone on the street.
"Well, if you're lost, you can come with me and we'll find your parents."
God, I sound like I'm kidnapping them. Well, I kinda was, but that was not the point right then.
"'Kay," they nodded.
"Okay, let's go," I smiled as I got up and held out my hands.
The kids grabbed hold, and I successfully kidnapped- I mean, took them to safety.
We walked around Marigold Alley for a little while, looking at all the different foods and buildings.
"By the way, what are your names?" I asked.
I forgot to ask Althea's name the first time I met her, I'm not doing it again.
One of the boys looked up at me with a smile, "I'm Darick."
"I'm Mary," one of the girls said after.
"And I'm Cass." another called out.
"Well, I'm Aliya, nice to meet ya."
Darick, Mary, and Cass.
Pretty nice names. If only their parents could put that much thought into not leaving them on the streets! Then again, kids are kinda dumb, so they might have gotten lost by themselves. Or, another thought, since this was a fantasy world, these guys might have been orphans. If that's the case, I'll have to find a good orphanage and drop them off there. Jeez, is this what Mẹ felt when she was taking care of us? This is way too much responsibility. I'm never having kids. Well, it's not like I wanted to have any anyway.
We wandered around the place for a while until we came back to a place that had roads. We stopped at a crossroads, and the image of a truck ramming into my face flashes in my mind. Okay, deep breaths, trucks probably don't exist here anyway, just relax.
I looked at the kids, "On the count of three, we run. Okay?"
"Okay," they said. Alrighty. I looked to my left and then to my right and I took a deep breath and tightened my grip.
"One, two, three, go!"
We ran forward, jumping onto the sidewalk on the other side. Oh, thank fuck we didn't die! Getting isekai-ed is nice, but not again.
Darick tugged on my sleeve, "Miss Aliya."
"Yeah?" I answered, crouching down to him.
He pointed to the road behind us and said, "I dropped my bear."
God damn it.
"I'll get it," Cass let go of my hand, heading towards the road.
Oh hell nah! I grabbed her arm, pulled her back onto the sidewalk, and put her back with the other kids.
"I'll go get it back. Don't go anywhere," I warned, before turning back to the road.
I looked at my right and left before running for it. Truck-kun I swear to fucking god, don't you dare! I snatched the stuffed bear on the ground and ran for my life. Okay, we're all good. I gave Darick his bear back, and we continued walking.
"Miss Ali, look!" Mary cheered, pointing at a shop window showing a really big wedding cake.
She ran up and pressed her forehead against the window, the other kids following behind her.
Mary turned to me, "Can we get it, Miss Ali?" she asked.
I came over to the window, I didn't see a price card anywhere. Either way, I couldn't afford it anyway.
I crouched down to Mary, "Sorry, Mary, I don't have any money right now."
"Oh," Mary frowned, looking down.
Sorry kid.
"It's okay, we can get it next time, right?"
I patted her head, "Sure," I nodded.
Great, I'm already lying to them. I'm a certified parent now. Yay.
I got up, "Come on, let's go." Holding out my hands, we walked away from the bakery, and further into the city.
After walking a few blocks, I heard someone call out to me.
Oh god, is that guy from before? How the fuck did he catch up with me? Doesn't he have a cane?! Dude, I don't have any money, I swear! Stop trying to sell me shit!
I turned around, keeping the kids behind me just in case. But instead of that old guy with a cane, it was a different guy in a red military-looking uniform and a hat running towards me. Military uniform...
he might be part of the rescue unit like Emily. Wait, no, her uniform was black, this one was red. Hmm, I remembered Emily mentioning something about colors before... well I couldn't remember crap. Fuck me.
"Excuse me! Miss, could I have a moment!?" the red guy shouted, waving a few papers in his hand. He stopped in front of us, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
"Um, hello?"
He looked up, standing up straight as he saluted, "Hello, ma'am, I'm Officer Jacob. I'm here on a missing person report and would like to ask you a few questions."
Missing person? Hold on, officer? Shit, am I getting arrested? Officer, I swear I didn't kidnap these kids!
"Uh, okay?"
"Thank you," he nodded , shuffling through the papers he was holding.
He took out a sheet from the pile and gave it to me, "Have you seen this girl anywhere? Her name is Aliya. Her brother filed a report not too long ago."
I looked down at the paper. It had the word missing in big letters and a picture above it. The picture was of a stick man with scribbly lines for hair. Beside, there were a few words.
Chó cái bạn ở đâu >:[
.....
Minh, you fucker! I should've known from the start. He drew me bad on purpose that asshole. I looked back at the guy in the uniform.
"So, have you seen anything? Sorry, the picture isn't that great," he asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Yup. You're looking at her," I answer, crushing the paper into a ball.
I watched as his eyes widened, "Oh. Huh, that was easier than I thought," he muttered.
I heard that.
I rolled my eyes and looked back at him, "So, where's Minh?"
"Who?"
Oh, right.
"I mean Angelo, my brother," I clarified.
God, calling him that is weird, I'm never doing that again.
"Right," Jacob nodded, "He's currently at one of our stations in the residential district, I'll escort you there."
"Alright, and also," I turn to the kids, behind me, "Can I put in a report for these kids , too?"
He looked past me and nodded with a smile, "Of course, please follow me."
I nodded, taking the kids' hands, and following the officer.
"Miss Aliya, I'm tired!" Darick whined.
Me too, kid. We've been walking for a while now. I'm starting to think we're being kidnapped.
...Nah, never mind, that was definitely Minh's handwriting. Last time I checked, Vietnam isn't really a thing in this world. Or maybe he also got kidnapped? Doubt it, though, even if he's a twink, he not that weak.
I pat Darick's head, "We're almost there," I assured him.
A tall old-looking building with an opened black metal gate was ahead. Why is everything so tall here, we're already in the sky, do the buildings have to touch the sun?
We walked through the gate and past a courtyard with flowers. I looked around, a bunch of flowers organized in patches of dirt, divided with white bricks. It was pretty nice. Not as big as the palace garden though. We went inside the building and I spotted my genderbend-self waiting at a desk at the front. He turned around and yup, it was him.
I waved at him, "Hi Minh."
"Sup ass-hat," he scowled.
Yeah, he's pissed. The kids hid behind me, hugging my legs. Minh, do you mind not having a resting bitch face right now?
"You just can't listen, can't you?" he groaned, walking up to us, "What did I say when I went to get our stuff?!"
"I know, I know. Wait at the entrance until you come back. It's your fault for taking too long. We don't even have that much stuff anyway," I huffed, rolling my eyes.
"I was gone for three minutes!"
"Ahem!" Jacob chimed in, "Now that we're here, let's file those reports," he turns to me, "I'll take these three off your hands."
I looked at the kids behind me and nodded. Darick, Mary, and Cass ran off with Jacob to somewhere. Hopefully he's not kidnapping them. I turned back at Minh.
And 3, 2-
"Since when did you start kidnapping children?" he asked, flicking my forehead.
"Ow!," I yelped, rubbing my forehead.
"I didn't kidnap them!" I pouted, puffing up my cheeks.
"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night I guess."
"Fuck off," I snapped back, punching his shoulder.
He rolled his eyes, grabbing my wrist and dragging me away.
"Where are we going?"
"To the registration office."
"Why?"
"Because unregistered immigration is illegal."
"Oh, right."
We went over to one of those wall desks with a glass screen.
The lady smiled at us, "Nice to see you again sir. Is there anything you need help with?"
"I need to register this dingus," Minh asked, knocking me upside the head.
"Ow!"
The lady nodded and slid a paper through the hole in the glass, "Please fill this form out," she explained, handing me a quill dipped in ink.
I took the quill and wrote out all my stuff. I gave the quill back and the lady took the form away.
I turned to Minh, "So, what do you want to do?"
He shrugged, "Depends, what do you want to do?"
"I'm hungry."
"You don't want to check on those kids you kidnapped?"
"I didn't kidnap them!" I huffed again, I do not kidnap kids!
"Uh-huh. So, food?"
"Food," I nodded.
"Alright, let's go," he shrugged, rolling his eyes "Maybe, we can go beg for food somewhere."
Oh, right, no money! I'm getting flashbacks again. I take a deep breath and walk forward, "Or we could get a job and buy food," I suggested.
"Finally, a reasonable solution from you."
"Shut up!" I shot back, taking his hand and dragging him away outside.
Side Story Dated - 11
No Money Day
"Mẹ, Mẹ, Mẹ!" I screamed.
"Đúng, bạn muốn gì?" Mẹ answered, patting my head.
"Con có thể có kẹo không?" I asked, holding up a box of chocolate.
Mẹ smiled, but she wasn't really smiling.
"Lần sau."
"Oh, okie," I nodded
No money today either.
I ran to the shelf and put the chocolate back. Then ran back to Mẹ as she put the food on the counter.
"That'll be $56.38," The lady at the counter said. Mẹ nodded and gave her a card.
She turned to me, "Phuong, đi bỏ thức ăn vào túi."
"Okie," I nodded, taking the white bag and Mẹ's hand.
We walked across the parking place and then down the sidewalk until we came home, where Minh was sweeping the front door.
"Em chào Anh!" I cheered, running up to the door.
I dropped the bags at the bottom of the stairs and hugged him.
Minh put the broom down and hugged me back, "Anh chào em," he smiled.
He looked pass me, waving at Mẹ, "Con chào Mẹ," he greeted.
Mẹ smiled, walking up and patting his head before opening the door. Minh grabbed the bags and went in with the broom.
"Đợi em nhé!" I shouted, going inside.
After we put the food away, the lights suddenly turned off.
I stared at the lights on the ceiling and then to Mẹ, "Mẹ, tại sao đèn lại tắt?"
Mẹ stared at the lights and sighed.
I look at Minh and drag him to Mẹ, "Mẹ, con muốn chơi. Hãy chơi với chúng con."
Mẹ smiled, "Được, bạn muốn chơi gì?" she asked, crouching down.
"Trốn tìm!" I cheered, "Bạn có thể đếm, con và Anh sẽ trốn."
"Được," Mẹ nodded.
I smiled, taking Minh up stairs to hide.
"Một," Mẹ counted loudly from downstairs.
I ran down the hallway, pushed Mẹ's door open and ran in.
"Hai."
I went to the closet and opened the door, "Vào trong!"
"Được, được," Minh nodded, pulling me in the closet with him.
"Mười!" Mẹ shouted from downstairs.
I held Minh's arms as we heard her footsteps come upstair. Later, we heard different doors being opened and closed, a bright light being flashed around through the room. I laughed, Mẹ definitely won't find us here.
"Câm miệng!" Minh shushed. Meanie.
But then, the closet door opened and Mẹ was standing at the doorway with her phone light on.
"Đã tìm thấy bạn!" she laughed, bending down and pulling us into a hug.
Dang it! Minh this is you're fault for talking! Mẹ ran her hands over our waists and started tickling us.
"Mẹ! Dừng lại, dừng lại!" I giggled.
After a while, the lights would come back on and we could eat and play after. Mẹ didn't stop smiling after we played games, so I wanna play with her a lot. But Minh is always a butt so he doesn't let me play around all the time. I just don't want Mẹ to be sad that's all! When I grow up, I'm gonna get a lot of money so I can play with Mẹ all the time, and she won't have to go to work. Then she won't be sad anymore!