It was all gone.

In the fight against those who had followed Sironia in her fight against the darkness of the world, the guild was one of the first to fall. They weren’t fighters. No, they were just children learning to hide and survive in a cruel and unjust world. The light had crushed the tavern and the guild without a second thought, despite their thievery being aimed at only the corrupt who would abuse their power. Those who had survived had scattered on the wind. Some stayed in Hoja, while others fled the city and found sanctuary elsewhere.

By the time Xeik had made his way to the old hideout, nothing but a pile of rubble and char remained. The guild had been officially destroyed.

It had been weeks since the incident had occurred. The boy’s day to day life had all but stalled in favor of a haze of depression. The once beautiful sights of Jayou were now a dull grey, the sounds of laughter and joy muted. His guardians were out and about dealing with their own lives as usual, leaving Xeik to his own devices. This usually meant wandering about the streets without a real purpose. Every so often, out of instinct, he snuck his hand into a random pocket of a random passerby. Usually this was aimed at the more haughty looking individuals, but every so often the boy would do it on a hunch, and find the most bizarre items.

Coins, pebbles, and the most bizarre trinkets found their ways into the pans of beggars and the hands of children on the streets. Even if it did bring a half smile to Xeik’s face, it didn’t leave a mark on the vast emptiness that he felt inside.

He turned into an alley, and looked at the few remaining items that he had snatched. Useless baubles and fake currency were the usual things that he ended up left with, but this time was something unique. A small bag of what looked like leaf. He knew of drug dens and what went on in them, but he had never truly seen any of their product.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this…?” he asked aloud. He could easily just ditch the product somewhere. But a part of him wondered what it would do. He had seen people who smoked and injected various alchemical products into themselves, and had seen the blissful look on their faces. Something to kill the pain. Something to fill the void.

Would it work?

“But how do I even…”

Why they were back in this city Bianca had no idea, but here they were, back in Jayou wondering the streets. They weren’t alone in the city, Iliana was around doing her own things at the moment and they had a plan to meet to back up at their inn room later on. As much as they loved each other everyone needed some alone time, and Iliana and Bianca had been together for some days now, not away from each other for very long. So today they had decided to each take a day to explore the city on their own and meet back at their room for a night of pleasure and fun.

Bianca had on then some items to make the night that much more interesting, one of which was some leaf. It wasn’t a wickedly strong drug but it gave a nice feeling all the same, combined with the drinking they were apt to do and the couple would have nice buzzes going on followed by mild headaches in the morning. But it would be all worth it, that was until Bianca noticed that their pocket was a bit lighter than it should have been. ”Shit.” They swore and checked all the pockets on the full suit of black and blood red they wore, the leaf was gone!

Bianca turned in time to see a young making his way away from them through the crowd and their hunch said to follow him. Bianca was looking rather, well, it was one of those times that Bianca looked neither male or female and yet both at the same time. A very slight chest, but that could also be heavy muscles, a beautiful face that looked either male or female depending on angle and preference of the viewer.

Bianca rounded the corner into the alley to see him standing there, looking like he was going over what he had pickpocketed from people. Bianca’s fire orange glowing eyes were easily visible in the shadows of the alley, and their blood red hair done up in dreadlocks was just more uniqueness that made them stand out. They eyed the boy for a moment he seemed confused, but Bianca slowly approached as they spoke. ”Hey, boy, I think perhaps you have something in your hand that belongs to me, hm?” They observed, yup, that looked like the packet of leaf they had bought before in his hands. ”Do you even know what that is and what it’s used for?” With the promise of a good night’s fun ahead of them Bianca didn’t feel like getting bloody by killing the boy, besides, he was only trying to make a living. Stopping their walk forward a few yards from the boy if he hadn’t run off, Bianca leaned back against the wall and grinned. ”Well?”

Still lost in thought, Xeik found himself in a situation that, for the most part, rarely ever happened. He was tailed, and followed into the alleyway. Any master thief should have felt ashamed of being caught so easily, but with the events that had transpired, the boy felt almost nothing. It was this sense of apathy that had probably gotten him caught in the first place.

The old Xeik would have made a run for it. There were more than enough options, and the toolkits at his disposal would have made the chase quick, but in the end, the lethargy won out, and instead he turned to face the mark.

“I would assume this is yours, then,” Xeik said with a half smile, a lie more for himself than the person leaning against the wall. They were…unique, the boy observed. If he had to put a description on them, it would have been something close to what he thought an actual celestial being would look like. Elegant, but almost ephemeral when it came to nailing down anything specific. It was difficult to tear his gaze away.

“Sorry, I must have picked it up on habit. You don’t look like anyone I would have intentionally targeted…” Xeik trailed off. He was letting way more slip than he should have. Not that it mattered. If they intended to use violence, they would have already.

“It’s leaf…I know at least that much,” he said, tossing it back to them. “But…not a clue on how to use it.” His fake smile was starting to hurt, so he dropped it. “Won’t happen again.” The apathy was beginning to set in again. He started to turn away, then paused.

“Actually…” He glanced back. “Where…would one go to learn of and purchase this kind of leaf…” The happiness he had seen others experience…was it something that he could feel if he started using it?

”Yup.” Bianca replied with a grin as the young thief, surprisingly, didn’t run away from them. Not that Bianca would have chased him down anyway, he was only trying to get by and it wasn’t something that couldn’t be easily bought again from the same source. ”Oh? Well, regardless, I will commend you on your skill, young man, I didn’t notice it missing until I went to make sure that it was still there.” Bianca offered, catching the leaf as it was tossed back to them as he explained what he knew of it, and that was pretty much just that it was called leaf and nothing else.

He started to turn away and Bianca shrugged, at least they got the leaf back, he watched him for a moment and saw him pause. At his question of where to get the leaf Bianca grinned. ”What an interesting question.” They chuckled. ”You want to get some for yourself? While not knowing how to use it?” They questioned and glanced up at the sun, ya, they had a bit of time left before they would meet with Iliana. ”You caught me in a good mood, and since you did well in pickpocketing me and was honest when I caught up to you and gave it back, I’ll do you a favour.” Bianca tossed the bag of leaf back to him again as they came forward.

”You keep that, but I’ll show you how to use it, properly, so that you don’t do something stupid like try and eat it.” Bianca laughed. ”How does that sound to you?”

Xeik caught the small bag as it was tossed back. The boy was confused at first. Most of the time, when a thief was caught, they had the guards called on them. He had fully expected to run away from the encounter. Yet, this woman was all for not only giving him the leaf back, but for showing him how it worked and what to do with it. He would have eventually figured it out on his own, but this was a much quicker and cleaner process.

He didn’t need much convincing about learning from the woman. “Sure.” He turned back to her, his eyes shimmering in a wanting way. Would this help?

“Oh,” he said after a moment of staring. “I almost forgot. My name is…” He hesitated. Should he give his true name? It had been such a long time. But, then again, did it matter? The guild was no more, and he had nothing to hide. “Xeik.” He took a step closer and strained a half smile.

“So what do we do?” He had at least the common sense to know that however it was used, it wasn’t in public in a back alley. “Where should we go?”

Bianca nodded when he agreed to their idea, and the want in his eyes made this more of a fun idea. Corrupting someone was always fun. ”Bianca.” The blood mage replied as he introduced himself as Xeik. Bianca knew this city, memories from a past life were handy sometimes. ”This way, it’s just out of view, guards don’t come here unless called, and even then only if they care.” They informed and walked a ways, a few allies over and around another corner into one more alley that was well out of the way. A bit dark from shadows cast by the buildings Bianca lobbed a small fireball down the alley to make sure it was empty. It was, and they snuffed the fire before it caught anything else alight.

”Perfect, we’re alone.” Bianca removed two wooden pipes from the Goddess Box they wore on their hip. ”The leaf.” Bianca asked holding out a hand, once given they opened it and stuffed some of the leaf into the pipes. ”If you pack it too tight it won’t burn properly, if you pack it too light it’ll burn too fast, but it depends on how large the pipe you’re using is.” They explained. ”You want it just tight enough that when you turn the pipe upside down nothing, or at least not much, falls out.” Showing this Bianca then put the tip of the pipe in their mouth. From their finger a small flame popped up and they used it to light the leaf, carefully puffing as they did. ”If you inhale too deeply as first you’ll snuff it out, and don’t exhale into the pipe.” They warned. ”Take small puffs at first, don’t hold it for too long, you’ll likely start coughing until you get used to it.” The held the pipe for Xeik. ”Go ahead.”

As Bianca introduced themself and lead him to the next alley. It was interesting seeing someone know intimate knowledge of the area, much like his guild had in Hoja when it was active. The fact that guards rarely came down that way, even when called was something that the thief tucked away in the back of his mind for later use. For now, though, he was learning something more tangible.

The boy waited for Bianca to check if the alleyway was clear, and once it was, Bianca pulled out the pipes. Xeik had seen them before, mostly in the hands of the rich or those in drug dens. A few of them he had even stolen, more ornate ones to sell on the black market. But this was different. It was just an ordinary pipe.

He watched as Bianca packed it. Their explanations were simple and to the point, and once again Xeik tucked them away in his memory for later use. After demonstrating the workings of the pipe, Bianca passed it to him with another quick set of instructions. He took the pipe, and carefully followed them. A quick puff. Even though it wasn’t much, the smoke that filled his lungs caused him to cough almost immediately, but there was a pleasant aftertaste.

“It’s…different,” he said after he recovered.

Bianca watched as Xeik took his first pull from the pipe and couldn’t help a chuckle as the boy started to cough from it, as expected. ”It has a taste that’ll grow on you in time, and I know some places that sell leaf with different flavours infused in it. But, personally I prefer it straight like this is.” They explained and took the pipe for a moment and inhaled for a solid second and handed it back to him. Bianca held the smoke for a few seconds before exhaling it slowly from their nose. ”Oh ya, there it is.” They laughed.

”Try again, another small puff. The affect will hit you soon enough and you don’t wanna over do it the first time.” Bianca instructed, as their own mind buzzed lightly from the larger inhale. ”I don’t want to get too fucked up right now on it, I’m meeting my lover soon and we planned to get fucked up together. I have a bit of time left I can help you with this, but I don’t wanna be late in meeting her.” Bianca informed and gestured to the pipe. ”Again, each time you puff, let your coughing subside before inhaling more or you might end up gagging. Once you settle take some more, you’ll adjust to the smoke and won’t cough as much the more you do it.”

Xeik took his time with the next few puff, taking it in a much smaller dose this time. Like Bianca stated, it was a bit easier this time to keep his lungs from immediately rejecting the smoke. He was a fast learner, and prided himself on it. But soon that wouldn’t matter, right? The point of this was escapism. At least, that’s what he thought.

It wasn’t long before he felt…something. It was a strange sensation, almost as if he were physically present, but mentally a step behind of everything he did. It wasn’t a bad feeling. After another small hit, he decided that maybe he liked it. The boy smirked.

“It’s…it’s nice,” he said finally. Bianca seemed pleased with their own high, which made Xeik…happy? He wasn’t sure why.

“Oh? You have a lover!” he said with a smile. “That must be nice.” He remembered seeing couples and their genuine happiness towards each other and the world they lived in. What a wonderful world it was, having family. Xeik’s thoughts shifted, and suddenly the buzz didn’t seem like enough. He took another hit.

I want that happy feeling again.

“So all I have to do is find the sellers?” he asked as he passed the pipe back to Bianca. “That shouldn’t be too hard.” And coin is never a problem. “I really do appreciate this.”