The building violently shook as I clutched my bag, cursing the existence of this Godforsaken city. What function could floating structures that break apart have that could outweigh the now obvious risk. Pheralynn had kept the door locked consistently throughout my stay here, which left me only one direction to go. I focused on the floor beneath me and traced lines outlining my frame into the stone floor until I suddenly got my wish and started falling.

The stone slab I rode down a floor below crumbled as it broke its fall against a wooden desk placed perfectly below our entry. My chest slammed against the desk, throwing me to the floor and knocking the wind out of me. As I struggled to gain composure, I heard people rummaging around in my room above.

"Find him quickly!" Pheralynn's voice called out.

The only responses came in heavy plodding steps, that of golems that had accompanied me for most of my stay.

"No, no, no! We need to find him now!"

Pheralynn cleared her throat at the level above me before a voice projected through the room I fell into. "Attention all current occupants of the crafter's tower. Evacuation of the tower has now fallen to a secondary priority. Everyone's main objective must be finding and capturing Mersault Star, then reporting his location immediately. I repeat, do not leave the building until Star has been found and detained."

I hopped to my feet, reaching into my bag of mismatched materials. From these, I managed to craft a rather tasteful cowl for myself. The cowl was pinned with a perfect replica of the sun-shaped insignia I'd seen many crafters attach to themselves. It wasn't the most incredible disguise, but it was the best I could work with, considering the circumstances.

"Broke, where am I headed?"

Known exits are on the second floor and ground level. With discovery becoming more likely the lower you go, I recommend the path to the second floor.

I headed out of the room below mine, praying that whoever lived here wasn't kept on the same lockdowns as I was. I opened the door and was greeted by terrified crafters pushing past one another in an attempt to find freedom. To my surprise, no one seemed to take Pheralynn's orders very seriously. I suppose starting a manhunt inside a crumbling building had to be rather tricky. However, having guards watch all of the exits simplified things for her.

I spotted two watching the tower bridge on the second level, with another four below at the main entrance. I decided on the path of less resistance.

"Help! Oh, help!" I cried out, stumbling onto the pedestrian bridge. "My baby, oh no, my baby!"

I gestured to my bag placed beneath my clothing on my stomach. I pretended to faint and was caught by one of the guards assumedly sent to thwart my escape.

"Ma'am? What's wrong," a guard started before a look of realization came across his face. "Oh no."

I gripped both hands onto the guard's uniform. Then focused on unbinding one side and breaking down just enough. At my will, the threads reached out, clawing at the other guard and pulling the two together. After the fabric synched tightly around the men's legs, I pushed with all my might as the two came toppling down. Onlookers shouted in concern, but I had already headed into Dulcrois freight company's connecting building.

"Sorry!" I yelled back to the two men wrestling on the bridge.

'Guillotines,' as the locals loved calling them, were three-by-five-foot metal buckets filled with goods needing to be transported throughout the city. Bins exited and entered from all sides of this ample storage space. Of course, the space was automated, or else it probably would have shut down due to the chaos inside the city's walls. Once past this warehouse, I could effortlessly blend into the surrounding city. All I needed then was to find Nev and a way to leave without being imprisoned again.

A figure stood at the far end of the facility, standing at the only exit I could see. They wore dyed leather jerkins and trousers with a featureless mask covering their face. Everything they wore was pitch black. I had seen this person once before, riding a fractured building into the tower I was forced into.

"Oh screw that," I said, turning away from the stranger and sprinting toward the pedestrian bridge.

After a couple steps, I realized I was cornered. Pheralynn crossed the bridge powerwalking with five guards in tow. Locked with executive dysfunction, I watched the crafters push toward me and, craning my neck back, realized the stranger was doing the same.

"Mersault Star," Pheralynn called out, continuing her pace.

"Oh hey there, boss!" I called back. "Weird, this isn't my room. I'm glad you found me though I was worri-"

"Silence," she replied.

Other lies caught in my throat, my lips refused to move, and any attempt to speak was met with a searing pain emanating from the back of my neck. I'd felt this before but only with movement.

"I'd given you a home, food, a job. And this is how you choose to pay me back? Running from us the second you had the chance."

I turned to run, but my path was blocked by one of the city's 'guillotines' pushing through the facility.

"Stop," her words echoed through my mind, and my body's only option was to listen.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You could've been one of us in time, Star, but this is the life you chose instead. Maybe it's my fault. I'd been far too generous, allowing you to come on outings with me and pretending I didn't see you taking little keepsakes from your jobs." Pheralynn gestured toward my bag. "But no more. No more tower views, no more keepsakes, no more patience."

I tried to beg for forgiveness but was only met with searing pain. I had no doubts that she could make my life far worse than it was.

"Bring him," she stated with a swing of her arm, commanding her guards in tow.

As the crafter's sentries surrounded me, I tried to flex any muscle in my body, anything that would allow another chance. Instead, I felt a sense of loss that I'd never be able to help my friend and resentment toward the ones that forced me to become a tool. I allowed this resentment to fill me until it occupied just as much space in my mind as the searing pain that filled my blood.

"Fuck...you..." I managed to spit out despite Pheralynn's arcane compulsions.

"What?" She turned in shock as I disobeyed her orders, but that quickly changed to fear as her eyes locked onto me. "You idiots! Grab him now!"

I was suddenly lifted by my right arm and pulled through the warehouse, feet dragging against the ground. My back was thrown into the side of the metal bin, and I could hear audible groaning above me. As we hit the building's edge, my feet dangled against open air while the 'guillotine' sailed along its invisible tracks. Looking up, I could see the figure all in black, struggling to support me with one arm. A second hand gripped my shoulder as they continued their groaning above.

A third arm wrapped itself around my chest and pulled me into the bin.