Hyuponia, Kingdom of Sorrow 2

                                       Innocence is Charming

    "Waniipu firudana tuareti rafimanyaa rufana maniwafidu. Waniipu firudana tuareti morurufa wentu. Waniipu firudana tuareti firufa manyurufa. Inewai isu raburigentu rutini." Even Kevik's favorite song, Firudana, couldn't put him at peace after what he saw that day. The black-furred cabbit laid back on his couch trying to focus on the music rather than what was etched into his soul. He couldn't understand how it had happened. Only Volkies ever constructed explosives, and getting a bomb that powerful into any of the Hyuponian shops would be no easy task. But no matter how it happened, it still happened. Tears began rolling down Kevik's white cheeks when Rellus came to mind. He'd be happy to not have Rellus making too many noises for Kevik to enjoy his music for once, if only Rellus wasn't in the hospital. It was late now, and Kevik continued to cry and think for all he was worth. Firudana echoed throughout his house, but it didn't make things any better for Kevik. He simply sat at his window overlooking the towers below and above, foggy from the runoff of Hyuponian society. The azure depths of the seemingly infinite fog were somewhat calming for Kevik, but it wouldn't be enough to get him to sleep. Either way, he had to be at the commissions agency tomorrow for his newest assignment. "Fuck it." Kevik gave up natural ways of calming himself and took a sedative caplet formulated in La-Lakoosha. He was out like a light in a few minutes, but his mind was still working. Nightmares, all night long.

    ☼

    The next morning Kevik was rested physically, but his head hadn't gotten any peace. He got up and began the standard Hyuponian hygiene routine, shower, teeth brushing, ear cleaning, fang sharpening, and a healthy breakfast. Kevik saw a chocolate bar in the fridge while he was grabbing the ingredients for his breakfast and allowed a small tear to escape his eye. No one saw, so he didn't care. A few minutes later Kevik was out the front door and off to his work.

    "Hey, Kevik, you're all right!" Duul cried out to Kevik in sheer joy. "It'll take more than an explosion to keep me from my duties." Kevik dropped his work bag and picked an envelope left on his desk. "What's this?" Kevik asked confused. Envelopes weren't the usual procedure for delivering orders. "It's your next assignment. Commissions wasn't sure if you'd be in today and they couldn't reach you via Soul Whisper like, well, you know, so they thought they should leave you your orders here for when you got back." Kevik stared at Duul, clearly annoyed that commissions would think he'd skip work. "Well, go on, open it up. As long as you're here you might as well get your mind of yesterday." The first thing Duul said that day that Kevik actually liked.

                MISSION ORDERS
         R.K.: Kevik Janla
         Rank: Royal Knight First Class
         Objective: Locate the disturbance in the Hyuponia maintenance tunnels. (Oh crap...)
          Summary: A strange life form has been seen in the Hyuponian maintenance tunnels by workers. It has been concluded to be dangerous after having attacked and killed a worker. Use of lethal force of is authorized, but bring the subject back alive if possible.
          Note: I know that you're hurting right now Kevik, but if you have to, have some fun. Beat the crap out of that bastard that killed one of us (Head of commissions always treated Kevik like a pure-bred), and be badass about it.

    Kevik obviously wouldn't let his personal emotions get in the way of a mission objective, even if it was optional. The determined Knight grabbed his "hostile mission" set of weapons out of his work bag and was off to the undercity of Hyuponia.

    Kevik was walking along the walkway on his way to the Royal Knights' tower elevator which led to the undercity, worried that there might be another bombing. He heard news announcers on speakers delivering what information was known about yesterday's incident to the public. "The bomb has been determined to be of Volkie make, however nothing is yet known of how the explosive was set off so deep inside Hyuponia. Thirty-four dead, fifty-eight injured and two missing from the..." Kevik lost interest at that point, he didn't need to be reminded of the statistics. He counted them all when he called out with his Soul Whisper. Kevik arrived at the elevator and punched in the Royal Knight access code and waited while elevator music filled the silence.

    Kevik stepped out of the elevator onto a dirty ground, something he was used to, unlike most Hyuponians. Luckily for him, the maintenance tunnel access terminal wasn't too far off, about a three minute walk. He couldn't bare the sight of the less fortunate fending for themselves in the undercity. What a mess. Kevik thought to himself when the terminal came into sight. He saw workers running out with horrified looks on their faces. Kevik rooted one to the spot before he could run away. "What's going on here?" Kevik asked in his professional voice. "I don't know, myan! It's like... It's like he just exploded from the inside! There was bits EVERYWHERE!! Oh myan, just let me go!" The worker motioned fearfully, all the while trying to run away. "Calm down and tell me what happened." Kevik said looking the worker in the eye. "Okay... Melly was working on a pipe when he got a Whisper from his wife, then there was this really loud screech and someone yelled 'Shut up!'... Then Melly just blew up from the inside!" Kevik let go of his grip on the worker's feet and began sprinting for the tunnel entrance.

    Kevik knew whatever was killing the workers was caused pain by Soul Whispers, so he had to be sure to not use his at all. He was going against the flow of workers running from their work stations, and then the gruesome scene came into view. Blood, skin, ligaments, and all other manner of biological matter was smeared all over the wall of the tunnel. He saw a skinny looking Hyuponian child writhing in pain on the ground screaming "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up shut up shut UP!!!" and covering his ears. Kevik knelt down beside him and shook him. "Get a hold of yourself! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kevik yelled at the boy who was now crying as well. He stopped for a moment and looked up at Kevik, and a grin slowly appeared on his face. "You don't make Cedrik's head hurt like the rest of them. Cedrik's name's Cedrik!" Kevik was puzzled at the boys manner of speaking but replied anyway. "Um.. My name's Kevik. Why are you down here?" "Cedrik's not sure. Cedrik's been here as long as he can remember..." Kevik couldn't believe how his week was going. Why do you hate me, Claire...