A/N: Oren and Sophia go sightseeing. It's not very fun.

  Especially since the God Hunters are once again proving themselves to be assholes.

  -x-X-x-

  "Looks like we found their headquarters."

  Oren's voice is faint as he and Sophia stand off to the side of one of Skycastle's main streets. It's obvious he's caught off guard by the sheer size of the building in front of him. Sophia doesn't bme the Otherworlder… it truly is massive, putting anything that they've seen on their travels yet to shame.

  Towering above most of the city, she honestly wasn't sure how they'd initially missed it back when they'd first entered through the gate. The only excuse Sophia can really muster is that they were both more focused on the obvious duplicity of their 'guide'… who was also incentivized to take them down a route that would keep them from spying the massive structure in the distance.

  Still, there was no denying that the building in front of them now was where the God Hunters had made their base. Not just because of its huge size. Not just because there were God Hunters all over it, both guarding the doors and coming in and out constantly.

  But also because… it wasn't the first time that Sophia and Oren had run into a situation where the God Hunters repurposed a pce of worship for their evil deeds. Only this time…

  "Sophia? Are you alright?"

  Blinking, Sophia turns to Oren, only just then realizing that her hands are clenched into fists at her sides and shaking to boot. On top of that, she had almost bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood. Letting out a low exhale, Sophia shakes her head, taking a step back to put some distance between herself and what she's currently feeling.

  Fortunately, Oren doesn't hesitate to wordlessly support her. They move away from the God Hunters' Headquarters and once they're around the side of a building and out of sight of it for a moment, she's finally able to breathe again.

  "Were there runes like in Goldriver, Sophia? Could you feel them suppressing your divinity?"

  Sophia hadn't even thought about that until Oren brought it up. But… no.

  "I'm sure there are, Oren. But that wasn't the problem. That… was a church once upon a time. A church to my father, Law."

  Oren's eyes widen, his brow climbing as he gnces back in the direction of the mega-structure they'd just left behind.

  "That? It looked more like a damn pace than a cathedral. Or maybe a fortress."

  He wasn't wrong about that. Unlike the destroyed church in the burnt town they'd stopped in what feels like a lifetime ago, the God Hunters were much more thorough with this pce of worship for Law. Sophia hadn't seen a trace of where her father's statues might have once stood, nor any evidence of his iconography anywhere.

  As well, Oren was also right that the pce looked more like a fortress than a cathedral at this point. There were pces where Sophia could imagine massive stained gss windows once resting, but they'd clearly been removed and filled in with stone before iron bars were slotted on the outside for good measure.

  In the end…

  "They've had a long time to do renovations. I know it was his once because even now I could feel echoes of him lingering."

  It was just like back in that burnt down vilge. Remnants of her father's passing had remained even in that small pce. Here… the feeling was much greater for her. Or maybe her senses were no longer limited and suppressed by Law's fraying bindings.

  Sophia grimaces, her hands curling into fists again. It was… hard. Not just because the God Hunters had taken what was clearly one of her father's greatest pces of worship on the Mortal Pnes and desecrated it. Not just because they likely unknowingly did so on her tyrant of an uncle's orders as well.

  It was hard because Sophia hadn't really come to terms with what Law had done to her yet. As much as she wanted to stop Tyranos, as much as she wanted to kill her bastard of an uncle and put an end to all of this… she still had to reconcile the fact that her father had kept her shackled and bound for her entire life and if not for his death, she might never have discovered the truth.

  Letting out an explosive breath, Sophia makes a conscious effort to push that all aside and focus back on the task at hand.

  "The Celestial Metal is somewhere in that building. But it's a big building so… how are we going to get in?"

  Oren thins out his lips, looking at her carefully for a moment.

  "Are you sure you're okay, Sophia?"

  Smiling, Sophia shakes her head with a sad chuckle.

  "Am I okay? Are either of us really okay, Oren?"

  The Otherworlder grimaces, looking away. Sophia quickly steps forward, pcing her hands on his chest and leaning against him so he knows she's not trying to push him away.

  "I may not be 'okay' Oren… but I know I'd be a whole lot worse off if you weren't here."

  In response, Oren wraps an arm around her, pulling her close and giving her a crooked smile.

  "I guess we're better off 'not okay' together than we are 'not okay' apart, huh?"

  It's a dumb, silly joke. Sophia still finds herself giggling at it. Laying her head on his chest, she finds it a lot easier to calm down and find her equilibrium again by listening to the strong beat of his heart for a few moments. Finally though, they pull apart again and Sophia raises an eyebrow.

  "So… do you have a pn? Because we both know we're not going to be using one of MY pns."

  Oren snorts in amusement at the self-deprecation, before looking back the way they came for a long moment. In the end, he shakes his head.

  "A city this big… the God Hunters might pretend that this pce is one of w and order, but it's not. Not really. Our experience in the slums is proof of that. Hell, the very existence of slums is proof of that."

  Sophia slowly nods, following along so far.

  "…Tyranny demands submission and obedience but creates resistance and rebellion as a byproduct."

  That… Sophia furrows her brow at that.

  "But we haven't seen any evidence of a rebellion, have we?"

  Oren shakes his head in agreement.

  "No, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. It's just a matter of what form its taken. The harder you try to crack down on crime in a pce like this, the more organized and underground it'll become. When tyrants rule, criminals and rebels become one in the same."

  Understanding dawns on Sophia and she can't quite help her initial reaction as her nose wrinkles in disgust.

  "You're saying we have to cavort with criminals to get what we need?"

  Oren chuckles, offering her a half-shrug and a crooked grin.

  "We'd be in good company. After all, we are criminals, Sophia. Just for existing for one, but also because we murdered a God Hunter and his friends."

  Admittedly, that was a very fair point. Sophia hesitates for a moment before slowly nodding. She can't help but give Oren a dry look though.

  "If only we'd thought of this pn before we dealt with those men. They probably would have had a way to get in contact with who you're looking for."

  But to her mild surprise (and ultimately her approval when she hears his reasoning) Oren shakes his head, a serious look on his face.

  "No. I wouldn't have let those men live regardless of if they could have helped us. Not after their leader expined what their pns were for you. If they were ready to do that to you and me, just how many other women and men like the young couple we were portraying had already fallen victim to them?"

  Oren sets his jaw.

  "However many it was… I hope the women who were under their thumb rest easier once they realize those men are all gone. And maybe, just maybe, they can begin to heal."

  Biting her lower lip, Sophia finds herself stepping forward and hugging Oren again.

  "… Agreed."

  They stay like that for just a moment this time around, before Sophia looks up at him with a wry grin.

  "So then… back to the slums? How are we supposed to find this criminal underbelly that you're talking about?"

  Oren grins right back.

  "We're not going to find them. They're going to find us."

  -x-X-x-

  They do go back to the slums, though not the part where that God Hunter led them into an ambush with his friends. Not only would they be more likely to be recognized in that area… but also it wasn't the kind of pce where there were a lot of people to be found. Probably why the men Oren had killed had taken them there in the first pce.

  Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, Skycastle's slums were massive… and in fact, something of a continuation of the refugee camps that surrounded the base of the city on all sides.

  Skycastle, as it turned out, was a series of rings. Once you got past the massive, outer wall, so long as you didn't look grungy, filthy, or any other negative physical descriptor, you could mostly walk through the city at your leisure without being stopped. However, that didn't stop there from being a clear delineation between the outskirts of the city and the inner areas.

  Skycastle's slums therefore encircled the entirety of the inner city in the same way that the refugee camps encircled the outer city. It made it easy for Oren and Sophia to find themselves in a low price marketpce in a certain section of the slums filled with people just trying to scrape by.

  Its there that they begin ying their bait. Oren has Sophia put on more of her jewelry and begin 'subtly' fshing it all over the market. They also spend more money than they probably should. Not any gold, but definitely more silver than this market probably sees in a week, let alone a single day.

  Eventually, Oren directs them away from the market, whispering under his breath that they've definitely caught someone's attention. Even Sophia recognizes that they're being followed soon after they depart from the market. It's a pair of men and she can practically feel their intent.

  Before long, there's two more men up ahead of them, big and burly and mean-looking. They're hemmed in shortly after that and find themselves in yet another dead-end alley. This time they haven't been led there though but rather corralled there… not bad for a bunch of thugs, Sophia finds herself thinking.

  "Right. Not sure what you two were thinking, coming down from the inner city and fshing that much cash around these parts. But pytime is over."

  Oren's hand falls to the pommel of his sword, only for two of the men to pull out crossbows of all things. They're much more prepared for resistance than the previous group had been.

  "Don't try it, boy. My men will have you stuck like a damn pig before you can get that sword even halfway out of it's sheath. Nobody has to get hurt though unless you decide to be a damn idiot. Just hand over your valuables and the little dy's jewelry and you'll both be free to go."

  The interesting thing is… Sophia can tell that the man means it. While she's definitely gotten a couple of appreciative gnces from this group since they were corralled in here, it's not nearly as bad as it was with the other group. The looks haven't been quite so… sleazy.

  Oren grunts, not drawing his sword but not backing down either.

  "Is that so? One would expect you to demand I leave both my valuables AND my woman before you let me go."

  Sophia blushes a little bit, unexpectedly pleased at being called Oren's woman. Meanwhile, the spokesman for this group of thugs just frowns.

  "… Well its your lucky day then kid, cause that ain't our style around these parts. The Kingpin has standards and this area, along with more than half of the rest of the damn slums, is under his control."

  Kingpin. That… sounded like exactly what they were looking for. She can tell Oren agrees because he's suddenly smiling and faintly vibrating with excitement.

  "Oh? And what if I were to tell you I'd be very interested in meeting with this… Kingpin? I have a business proposition for him, one might say."

  The men all exchange looks at that… and then begin to ugh. It's obvious they're not taking them seriously. They're especially not taking Oren seriously.

  They're lucky that they're more useful to her and Oren alive, Sophia can't help mulishly thinking. Otherwise, that would have been the st mistake any of them ever made.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Sophia is developing some serious pride in her Otherworlder lover lol.

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