ＭＵＬＴＩＰＬＩＣＩＴＹ ＴＨＥＯＲＹ

[eden .]

I shall make the fancies later ;;

multiplicity theory
being the story of:
the selfish aristocrat
the loud mouthed thief
the silent assassin
the AWOL general

[eden .]

about

all I say is this: the premise is generic on purpose (;

anyways, apparently nanowrimo is a thing in july, too, but I only just found out about it? anyways, I'll try and squeeze in this work as my july piece, for now.
my goal was supposed to be 100K when I took the challenge in november, so I guess I'll shoot for that? I guess it'll be kinda easier, since this is a way more relaxed plot that I NEVER finished. alexander/ra was away heavier ;;

anyways, please enjoy yourself ~
count [as of 01/07/13]
1 435 / 100 000

[eden .]

Table of Contents

[eden .]

rules

1. don't steal as your own. that's a given, right? o3o
2. feel free to comment idc.
3. that's it, I guess?

[eden .]

just in case

[eden .]

just in case

[eden .]

just in case

[eden .]

prologue

spaaaceThe landscape was empty and desolate, the red sand and dirt only a few shades harsher than the crimson sky. A few feeble, thin desert clouds wearily crawled across it. Brave little shoots were sprouting defiantly in the cracks in the bedrock. It was quiet. There was no wind. The very air was suffocating.
spaaaceOut of nowhere, it seemed, appeared a quartet of travelers, falling forward and onto the sand, disturbing it. They coughed and spluttered, their mouths full of gravel and dust filling their nostrils.
spaaace“And where are we now?” one of them grumbled, pushing his outlandishly long hair out of his face, only to have it tangle further. “Malik, where have you taken us, this time?”
spaaace“Not sure,” the one called Malik spat out a globule of dirt. He stood and looked around, bewildered. “It looks desolate, doesn’t it?”
spaaace“Take us out of here,” a third demanded sharply. Malik frowned and turned towards the speaker, whose back was to him.
spaaace“Something wrong, Alex?”
spaaaceAlex did not reply, only stumbled to his feet, his knees shaking and his hands trembling. His one eye that was left exposed by the layers of cloth he had covered his face with was wide and staring.
spaaaceNot here, he thought to himself. Anywhere but here. But there was no escaping the red sky, clearly, and the desert underfoot was only too familiar. Alex felt a shiver slither down his spine.
spaaace“Malik—” Alex began to say again, but he was cut off as the back of his cloak was seized and harshly pulled back. Alex let out a pained huk! before he was swung around and his neck was released—only for his wrists to be bound together. He was now facing his comrades, two of whom were swallowing more dirt, red dust caking their faces. Jackal, of course, was shouting profanities through his hair, while Malik was only gritting his teeth and struggling a little. The soldiers holding them down did not let up, but they did drag them into a kneeling position, binding their wrists like Alex’s.
spaaaceA scouting party? Alex thought to himself. Out here?
spaaaceStreak was the only one left unbound, and he was giving the other soldiers quite the fight. Alex felt a leap of hope for a moment as Streak—silently and efficiently—sidestepped one of the attackers while at the same time seizing the blade she had been striking with. Before she knew what was happening, Streak spun smoothly, like a dancer, and cut off her head with one clean stroke. The second soldier hastily raised her rifle and made to shoot, but Streak was too fast for her. By the time she had lifted it and undid the safety, he was already kicking it out of her hands. The woman, still flinching for the tiniest fraction of a second, gave Streak all the opportunity he needed. He seized her arm, twisted it behind her, kicked the inside of her knee, forcing her legs to buckle, and pushed her into the ground, dust puffing up around them. By the time it had settled, Streak’s knee was on her arms behind her back, his entire weight on top of her, and the rifle that must’ve sailed down was now in his hand, aimed point blank into her temple. He didn’t speak, but his glare at the other three guards, unable to move lest they release their prey, gave an unmistakable message: let them go, or she dies.
spaaaceTo illustrate his point, Streak pointed the rifle perhaps an inch away from the woman’s face and let the bullet explode into the ground. The woman cried out as grit flew into her eyes and cut her face, and a few of her comrades shifted instinctively to help her. The click of the safety being undone again stopped them in their tracks. Streak replaced the rifle on his victim.
spaaace“Hold it,” a new voice cut through the tension. From behind Alex and his captor came a new woman, a cap on her head and badges on her shoulders and shirt front. A commander, clearly, and highly respected. Even with their hands full, the other three soldiers still standing put their feet together and raised their heads a little. She waved a hand—at ease—and they relaxed, going back to focusing their energies keeping Jackal and Malik from fleeing.
spaaaceStreak’s dark eyes narrowed as the commander approached him and her subordinate. He readjusted the rifle and tightened his grip on the trigger. It was a minute movement, but the commander saw it, nevertheless. She paused in her tracks.
spaaace“You’re certainly not from around here,” she observed distastefully. “I’d never allow a man to learn to overpower a woman where I command.”
spaaaceStreak only blinked.
spaaace“Don’t you speak?”
spaaaceStreak did not reply.
spaaace“Jack,” Alex finally chocked out. Her other three companions visibly shifted and turned to Alex in shock and disbelief.
spaaace“What, you know her?” Jackal spat.
spaaace“Jack, listen, please,” Alex ignored Jackal, who realized it was probably best if he shut up for now. He settled back to muttering under his breath and glaring.
spaaaceThe commander named Jack tilted her head to the side before turning on her heel and facing Alex, now, completely putting her back to Streak. Alex privately hoped that Streak would shoot Jack, but Streak was not rash enough to do something like that. He didn’t know enough about the situation. Sometimes Alex wished Streak would have a bit more impulsive behavior.
spaaace“So you’re back,” Jack observed, considering Alex while stepping forward. Alex forced himself not to recoil from Jack’s touch as she extended two slender fingers and ran them along Alex’s cheek.
spaaace“I missed you,” she told Alex.
spaaace“Like ----.”
spaaaceJack smiled, her brown eyes glittering a little. “Same old Alex.” She cast a glance over Jackal, Malik, and Streak, who was still gauging the situation from the soldier’s back.
spaaace“So these are your friends?” Jack asked with polite curiosity.
spaaace“No,” said Alex, sweat slipping from his forehead to his neck, and not just because of the broiling heat. Malik looked shocked at Alex’s answer, Jackal’s eyebrows only knit together further, and Streak only glanced at Jack to measure her reaction. She didn’t seem convinced.
spaaace“How do I know you’re not lying?”
spaaace“I’m not. You think I would try and befriend a pack of men?” Alex spat. It was easier than he had expected to fall back into old habits.
spaaaceJack stared at Alex with an unreadable expression. Alex’s heart was pounding.
spaaace“Take Alex and these two into the jails,” Jack finally commanded, and Alex felt her stomach drop. But wait, what about—
spaaace“I suppose there’s no convincing you to let my soldier go?” Jack queried. Streak’s stony expression was answer enough.
spaaace“Then shoot her and come with me,” Jack waved a dismissive hand. Streak blinked, apparently taken aback, and he didn’t move as Jack began moving forward. The other three guards followed after her, roughly pushing Alex and the other two ahead.
spaaaceAfter a few paces, Jack paused and halfway turned her head to glance back at Streak, who hadn’t gotten up. She waved the other three guards ahead as she turned around fully and called to him, “Either shoot her or don’t, it’s your choice. But you won’t get anywhere by sitting there all day.” In the meanwhile, Jackal, Malik, and Alex were forced forward and past Jack, who waited for Streak.
spaaaceOne crack of a rifle later, Streak was pacing a safe distance behind the group, Jack at his side. Ahead of them loomed the Wall that Alex hated so much. It was made of thick trunks of trees, easily four times the height of Jackal, who was over six feet tall, and which had been a fortune to import over, and the top of the trunks had been whittled into sharp, deadly points. Alex remembered when they would sometimes pierce men’s bodies onto them—specifically, the stomachs—and wait for them to die in the baking heat. The smell was disgusting. And sometimes carrion birds—vultures, mostly—descended upon the compound those days. It was disturbing.
spaaaceThe wooden gates, identical to the rest of the surrounding wall, swung open with a mighty and ominous groan, the metal and machinery moaning like a wounded animal. It was wide enough to let out an entire army in full formation, which was usually the point. As a small party like theirs felt daunted and almost threatened as they entered the yawning opening.
spaaaceHome sweet home, Alex thought to himself bitterly as the gates thundered shut behind them.
spaaaceLocked in.

word count [chapter]: 1435
word count [total]: 1435

[eden .]

ＰＡＲＴ ＯＮＥ: ＪＡＣＫＡＬ

in a world of thieves
the only final sin
is stupidity

- hunter s. thompson

[eden .]

chapter one

spaaaceHis clothes were outlandish and gaudy, the soft green trim accenting his pale white suit. His shoes were polished until he could see his own reflection in them, and his jacket and pants were pressed and sharply creased down the sides. He moved stiffly, as if he was trying to be prim and proper, but all he looked like was a malfunctioning robot. On one bony finger was a hefty silver ring that was nearly as wide as his lowest knuckle, and embedded in it was a very impressive red jewel. The same jewel decorated his ear lobes, although the studs were considerably smaller. Still, the dark blood color was hard to miss against his pale skin. And, when accounting for the rather hefty money pouch looped around his side and the decided lack of weaponry on him, it was a wonder he hadn’t been robbed yet—or killed (and then robbed).
spaaaceBut perhaps that was due to his sizeable cloak hanging around his shoulders, the hefty, scratchy material rubbing against his skin and making it crawl. It was cheap and bought off a side stand on the street, and it was disgusting. Still, it shrouded his suit underneath and the money at his hip. The wide hood covered his face, somewhat. In other words, this man looked like any other poor traveler that would pass through any small town—if the traveler had recently bought a very clean cloak. But no villager was going to ask any questions.
spaaaceThe single main street was crowded with peasants running about towards their business. Some were shouting out from their vendors, others were struggling between carts to get to fields, and others were on horses, making sure order was kept. Houses were a haphazardly strewn in a vague straight line, although doors would face different directions and angles, so you could walk down one street and see three house backs, two houses with their sides to you, and another six with their fronts facing forward. It was disjointedly disorienting.
spaaaceThe traveler impatiently tried to force his way through the crowd, but he was short and narrow-shouldered and too used to commanding people to move to the side when he ventured into backwater towns like this one. He didn’t make it very far. People bumped into him again and again. One nearly knocked him completely over. He shot the hefty woman a withering look, but she was already striding away. Obviously, colliding with people was a regular occurrence in this town. No one seemed to care, anymore.
spaaaceStill, the traveler paused as another person bumped shoulders with him. He turned to watch this person begin to walk the opposite way, towards the town’s entrance.
spaaace“Excuse me,” the traveler called after the person. He couldn’t be sure if it was a woman or a man. The shoulders were broad and it seemed much too tall to be an average woman, but at the same time, its hair was long and tied back into an impressive tangled bunch at the back of their head. No other features could be determined because of the large robe draped over its broad back.
spaaace“Excuse me,” the traveler repeated, now striding after the stranger, who paused a little.
spaaace“Yes, you,” the traveler said a bit testily. The stranger turned to face the other. Strong jaw, wide nose, thin lips…a man, then.
spaaace“Can I help you, sir?” this man asked in a low voice, only confirming the traveler’s guess.
spaaace“I think you just bumped into me?” the traveler queried politely. The man blinked, as if confused the traveler would even bring up such a mundane occurrence, but guessing what this traveler wanted, he said, “I’m sorry about that.”
spaaace“No, no,” said the traveler, “I’m more concerned about my money, really.”
spaaaceThe man paused. When he did not move, the traveler repeated, “My money, if you please.” He held out one hand, pushing aside his cloak. The man’s gaze flickered over the traveler’s obvious extravagance and wealth. Then he smirked and chuckled a little to himself.
spaaace“Well, damn!” he laughed to the sky before grabbing something within his robe and throwing it towards the traveler. He caught it with surprise and bemusement, but the pouch jangled, clearly full of money. He considered it for a moment.
spaaace“All of it’s in there,” said the thief, who was smiling a little, yet.
spaaace“No, I know,” the traveler assured the thief, weighing the pouch in his hand. “I’m just surprised that you gave it to me so readily.”
spaaace“Ah, that’s just an exercise I do,” said the thief, who took a step closer to the traveler. “If someone catches me when I steal something, I give it back.”
spaaace“Why in the world would you do that?”
spaaace“It encourages good growth; if I stick to it, I’ll try harder to keep myself from being caught. Which means you must’ve been stolen from before, sir.”
spaaace“You could say that,” the traveler commented lightly before stowing the pouch and going on his way. “Thank you for returning my money to me. Good day.”
spaaace“Now, wait a moment,” the thief called after the traveler. His long strides easily kept up with the other’s smaller ones. “Where are you going, sir?”
spaaace“I don’t understand why it’s of any concern to you,” the traveler said.
spaaace“Is a man not allowed to be curious?” asked the thief.
spaaaceYou call yourself a man with such long hair? the traveler thought to himself. Aloud, he said, “I’m looking for someone.”
spaaace“And who might that be?”
spaaace“You wouldn’t know them.”
spaaace“Try me.” The thief widened his arms and grinned a little. “I’m a thief, my good man. I know everyone.”
spaaace“Quite,” said the traveler as he headed towards the other side of the town and the opposite gate. The thief patiently trailed along at the traveler’s side.
spaaace“Might I ask your name, sir?” the thief asked eventually.
spaaace“I thought you said you knew everyone, already, as a thief.”
spaaace“Only anyone worth knowing,” the thief laughed.
spaaace“Malik,” said the traveler tersely, without any trace of amusement in his voice. “Malik Thermopylae.”
spaaace“And I am Jackal,” said the thief, spinning in front of Malik, stopping the younger one in his tracks. Jackal bowed low with a broad sweep of his arm with such drama that it was difficult to tell whether or not he was being sarcastic.
spaaace“Jackal,” Malik repeated, “the thief that doesn’t sell his prizes.”
spaaace“You’ve heard of me,” Jackal crowed a little, a smirk on his face.
spaaace“You’re famous around these parts.” Malik tilted his head a little. “Would you like to join me on my travels, then? I could use a quick hand like yours.”
spaaace“Oh?” Jackal straightened up and made room for Malik, who continued down the path towards the exit, again. “What a gracious and sudden offer.”
spaaace“Take it how you’d like,” said Malik indifferently.
spaaace“I didn’t say I was dubious,” Jackal pointed out as he rejoined Malik. “What, exactly, are you doing in your travels?”
spaaace“I’m looking for the Wish Maker,” Malik told him. Jackal stopped dead in his tracks while Malik moved forward a few more strides. He paused when he realized Jackal was no longer beside him and looked back.
spaaace“You’re serious?” Jackal asked, a ridiculously dumbfounded look on his face.
spaaace“Rather,” Malik nodded. Jackal stared, apparently too shocked to speak.
spaaaceAnd then he began to laugh, which Malik expected but still did not appreciate. Jackal bent over himself, covering his mouth with one hand and holding his stomach with the other, apparently trying his best to stifle himself. Still, it didn’t do much good. Not much later, Jackal was gasping for breath, going between whoops to cackles to howls. He could not seem to control himself. Malik stood patiently, waiting for Jackal to calm himself down until he could string together coherent words like the adult that he was. Finally, he regained his composure—somewhat. He was able to straighten up, anyway, and after some deep breaths, was able to speak with more or less a straight face.
spaaace“The Wish Maker?” Jackal repeated seriously.
spaaace“Yes.”
spaaaceThat nearly drove Jackal back into fits, but he held himself together.
spaaace“You do realize,” Jackal coughed, “sir, that the Wish Maker is only a legend? It’s a story they tell children to give them hope through the cold months.”
spaaace“It’s real,” said Malik. “I’ve seen it.”
spaaace“Have you, now?” Jackal smiled a little, clearly thinking Malik mad. Malik was not bothered. Many others had thought this before—even some like Jackal standing before him.
spaaace“Yes, I have,” Malik nodded. “Although, if you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to stay behind here. I’m sure you’ll be very satisfied with your, ah, pickpocketing endeavors.”
spaaaceIt was a clear dig, and Jackal didn’t fall for it. But he did narrow his eyes a little as he asked, “And what makes you so sure that it was the Wish Maker that you met, sir?”
spaaace“You’d know, too, if you met a god.”
spaaace“The Wish Maker isn’t a god,” Jackal snorted, rolling his eyes.
spaaace“As far as you know,” Malik said serenely. Jackal sharply turned his head to look at him critically. Malik ignored the look and began walking again. He could feel Jackal hesitating behind him, but eventually, the thief followed the traveler, again. As they exited the town at last, the sun now lower in the sky, Jackal grumbled, “I still don’t believe you, you know.”
spaaace“No one’s making you come,” Malik pointed out, “although the help would be appreciated.”
spaaaceJackal remained sulkily silent but did not leave Malik as they continued down the dirt path that was still occupied by a few stragglers and beggars. A few extended their hands out to Malik and Jackal.
spaaace“Please,” they rasped, rags covering their eyes and their clothes torn, “please, I’m hungry, I have a family, they’re sick. My youngest child is dying. Please, sir, please, anything you can spare…”
spaaace“Sorry,” Malik would reply each time, “I don’t have any money.” Jackal simply ignored them. But when the pair was out of the earshot of the beggars, Jackal said with dark amusement, “You’re quite the heartless soul, aren’t you?”
spaaace“Keep walking,” Malik nearly growled. Jackal chuckled a little under his breath but didn’t say another word on the matter, silently moving at Malik’s side. Malik felt like some sort of lumbering beast next to Jackal. The dirt and sand crunched every step he made. Jackal’s steps were light and quiet—although, Malik supposed, that was a good sign. A loud thief was a thief not worth investing in.
spaaaceEventually, the number of people on the flat, thin path thinned, and the only thing that kept them company was each other and the side expanse of plains on either side of them, stretching out like a sea. It was almost fearsome, how infinite they seemed. Where was the end? Did anyone ever dare to stray too far from the path? Did they get lost sometimes? Did they ever come back? Or did carrion birds circle around them like a twisted halo, waiting for them to die of starvation and thirst, alone in the world?
spaaaceMalik didn’t know and Malik didn’t care. He had no time to entertain such abstract and superfluous notions. And who knew what Jackal thought about in his spare moments of the day.
spaaaceWhen the sun was beginning to set and the black outline of mountains, looking like nothing but small triangles in the distance, began to appear against the hot amber-orange light, Malik and Jackal finally began to approach a milestone: a large stone—or a small boulder, if you’d like to think of it that way—materialized some ways away. As they came closer, Jackal spotted a figure on top of it, its back to them as it contemplated the colors of the sky. Jackal felt wary, but Malik didn’t seem bothered. In fact, he seemed to recognize this person and picked up his pace. Jackal allowed Malik to go half a step ahead of him, but did not stop.
spaaace“Alex!” Malik shouted when he knew he could be heard, and the figure turned to watch Malik approach. “Are you enjoying the view?”
spaaaceJackal nearly stopped then and there out of shock. For a moment, he thought the person’s face was an ashen white and without a nose, and completely bald on top of it. Upon closer inspection, however, Jackal saw that it was only a mask—although a rather disturbing one, and a strange one. It wasn’t one of the masks of animals that he usually saw made for children for carnivals and festivals. Instead, this mask was of a human face, although it had a ghastly expression. The mouth was thin and curved up in an impossibly high and narrow smile, and was vicious on top of that, the tips of the lips only just stopping below the bottom of the eye slits. The eyes themselves were crescent moon shaped, the concave side facing downward, towards the mouth, and the convex side pointing towards the top of the mask. It gave the expression a crazed and fanatical look. When Jackal came closer to the bearer, he saw that there were holes in the eye shape, although the mouth was sealed. It must’ve been simply carved on.
spaaaceThe person was not bald either, but their hair had been pulled back and away from the mask so that, from a distance, it certainly looked like they didn’t have a hair on their head. But this person’s hair was short and brown. It was the rest of their outfit, however, that made Malik look like a regular occurrence. Jackal did a double take as the man smoothly slid off the side of the rock and approached them.
spaaace The man was wearing a blood red jacket that, at the front, cut off just below the waist, but from the sides and to the back, it continued to flare out into a grandiose accordion shape. It reminded Jackal of poorly folded paper fans children would sometimes try and sell for scraps. While the torso and arms were form-fitting (this man looked quite slender and easy to beat in a fight…although, so did Malik, now that Jackal thought about it), the shoulders had been folded and sewed in such a way that they came up like horns on either side of the man’s face. The tips reached the middle of his cheek. Underneath the jacket, he must’ve been wearing a ridiculously voluminous shirt, for the collar of it was positively spilling out of the collar of the jacket like a many-petaled flower. A similar shape was poking out of the jacket’s sleeves, although it wasn’t nearly as severe as the neck. From what Jackal could tell from the space left after the jacket cut off, this white shirt had been tucked into a pair of dark pants that were extremely tight. How did the man walk around in them? These black pants were halfway covered by tall, shined boots that went up all the way to the man’s knee. To complete the outfit, the man had put on dark gloves and hooked gold chains and buttons all over his jacket. It was like a walking circus. Wasn’t he burning up in there?
spaaace “Where did you say you were from?” Jackal murmured to Malik, who chuckled a little. The other man tilted his head to the side (which, with the mask, was downright unnerving) before saying, “And who is this, Malik?” Jackal was surprised that he could hear the man’s voice so clearly through the mask.
spaaace “His name is Jackal,” said Malik. “He’s a thief.”
spaaace Jackal extended a hand and inclined a little, as per was etiquette, but the other man did not mimic him. Instead, he stared at Jackal (at least, Jackal thought he was staring at him; with the sun behind the man, Jackal couldn’t see his eyes through the holes) before commenting, “A man should feel ashamed to have hair as long as a woman’s.”
spaaace Jackal bristled at that and straightened up. How ignorant was this man? Long hair was a sign of wealth, for the love of God…
spaaace “Alex, don’t be harsh,” Malik said. “Alex is unused to this country’s cultures.”
spaaace “Obviously,” Jackal hissed. This Alex couldn’t even say a “hello”.
spaaace “Are we ready to go?” Alex sighed, turning to Malik, who blinked and looked around.
spaaace “Where’s Streak?”
spaaace “He went ahead.”
spaaace“Why?”
spaaace“He didn’t say.”
spaaaceMalik seemed to find this very funny, because he let out a bark of laughter and grinned a bit. Jackal couldn’t be sure, but he thought that Alex must’ve been smiling a bit, as well. All Jackal could do was frown.
spaaace“Well, we’ll search this land for a bit longer, although I don’t think we’re going to find her.”
spaaace“We never do,” Alex shrugged before heading down the path, leaving the other two to come when they liked. Jackal blinked and glanced at Malik.
spaaace“When you say ‘her’, you mean…?”
spaaace“The Wish Maker, yes.”
spaaace“It’s a woman?”
spaaace“She prefers if we refer her as such, yes.”
spaaace“If you’ve met the Wish Maker already, why are you searching for her again?”
spaaaceMalik’s brow furrowed as he met Jackal’s gaze with incredulity.
spaaace“Jackal,” he said slowly, “everyone has more than one wish.”
spaaace With that, he took off at a jog to catch up to Alex, who was strides ahead, now. Jackal watched with a thoughtful gaze before doing the same.

word count [chapter]: 2911
word count [total]: 4346