1337 A.c. (After construction)
The great city of Argus was considered by many to be the greatest human achievement to date. Situated in a massive geological cavity hundreds of meters high and thousands of meters wide, some even believed that it was built by angels to protect mankind from the many disasters and calamities nature wrought upon them in the past.
From the nigh impregnable walls, designed to protect the city from the terrors that crawled out from the many dark tunnels that connected it to the rest of the world, to the great palace, situated in the centre of city , that basked in the ever present glow emanated from the star.
It was truly a sight to behold to anyone who had never seen it before witch, interestingly, was no one. Every single soul that inhabited Argus had been born and raised in her, never leaving the confines of her walls, and yet, to date no one had ever felt the need to, and were content living their lives regularly, with little to no change.
It was, however, precisely this daily life that Noah Tallus found quite dull. Perhaps it was because he had mostly grown up on his own, his grandpa having to tend to work and his store most of the time, but he had always sought more than was presented to him.
In fact it was precisely these feelings that brought him running into his grandpa's workshop one day as he worked:
-''Old man! old man! Listen to this, in 7 cycles my group is going to visit the Archive! Who knows, I might even be able to find a book about the god tongue in there somewhere.'' He yelled energetically in his grandpa's ear.
The old man turned to look at him and for just a moment he saw the face of his son-in-law smiling back at him, but after blinking, the smiling young face and mop of long grey hair was back to torment him, as it had these past 13 years. The old man opened his mouth and said grumpily:
-''Is that so? Good for you. Of course I seem to remember the consent of a guardian being needed if you want to go, and last time I checked you spend more time running around on rooftops and ducking through market stalls than you do reading. I think you would have a better time helping me in the workshop or running errands for Jerald rather than roaming around some dusty old library.''
Noah's face paled in horror when he heard his grandfather's words and was quick to respond:
-''It's not just some dusty old library, It's the largest collection of knowledge in all of Argus! Please let me go. I have 7 whole cycles before I go, that's 56 entire hours. I can help in the shop when I'm not with our group's instructor and I can run errands in my free time so PLEEAAAASSSSEE let me go?''
The old man pondered his proposition for a minute or two, witch felt like a gruelling eternity for Noah. Finally he looked at his grandson and nodded saying:
-''Fine. But on one condition: under no circumstances are you to cause any kind of trouble like you usually do. If I get a single complaint from the instructor I swear I'll lock you in this workshop until you polish every single item in this store!''
Noah just smiled when he heard this and thought to himself:'' The old man is getting softer, two years ago he wouldn't have let me go, period.''
But on the outside he smiled and quickly agreed, before running to go tell his group that he was coming with them.
The old man just shook his head as he watched him run off while muttering to himself:
-''If I had known all those years ago the sheer amount of trouble that kid would cause me I wonder if I still would have decided to take care of him. I don't understand why he couldn't be more like Sal, always caring, smiling and peaceful. Instead he just had to turn out like his troublemaker of a father.''
He entered the shop through the back and began taking inventory when he heard the jangle of the small belle attached to the door, signalling the arrival of a customer. It was a soldier, a member of the wall patrol, as one could tell by the small brick pattern brooch that held his red cape around his shoulders.
The soldier addressed the old man in a lively voice:
-''Long time no see, Sander! Looks like you've been doing pretty well for yourself in my absence.'' He said, looking around the shop and examining the items neatly lined up on the shelf.
Sander just grunted and carried on with his work, seemingly ignoring the boisterous client.
However the soldier didn't seem fazed or even surprised, walking up behind the counter and draping his arm around Sander's shoulder. the Problem was that Sander was at least half a head taller than him, so it made for a rather uncomfortable, if rather comical scene.
A sigh escaped Sander's lips as he finally stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the soldier. Short brown hair, a nose slightly too big for his face, and big grey eyes with a distinct sparkle hidden within.
-'' What do you want Dan?'' He asked as he eyed the soldier.
-''How cold of you! I can't even stop by to greet an old friend anymore?'' Retorted Dan as he removed his arm from around Sander's neck, instead folding them on his chest as pretended to glare at the old man.
Sander simply looked at him with a deadpan expression before reminding him that the last time he had stopped by to ''just greet him'', he had taken Noah with him to a bar and nearly got the poor boy drunk. He was saved only because Sander realised that it was a bit too quiet in his room and, realising he was not there, had gone to look for him.
Dan just looked away, giving the usual excuse that Noah was going to be a man soon and that he should be able to handle a cup or two of booze.
Sander just sighed:
-''I guess I should ask how things are on the wall. We don't hear much about what goes on up there around here. Do they come often?'
the lively atmosphere died down and, after a short pause, Dan responded:
-''Thing's could be worse. It's not that hard to push them back, but that's mostly just because they aren't very smart and just run at anything that glows in a crazed frenzy. Still gives me the creeps though, not matter how many times I see them it always will. I remember the first few weeks up there, I would have nightmares about them. I would dream that they climbed over the walls, rampaged in the streets until finally there were so many of them that the light from the star would be completely blotted out, and we would be plunged into eternal dark.''
Sander listened silently before opening his mouth after a few moments:
-''Argus has stood tall and proud for 1337 years. whatever you dreamt will never happen, its impossible.'' He stated firmly.
Dan seemed to regain his composure before agreeing with Sander, his good mood appearing to have returned.
-''That said, where exactly is Noah? Please tell me you haven't locked him up in that smelly old workshop, forcing him to make the trinkets you've sold to gain your wealth. If that is the case I'm afraid I will have to arrest you, seeing as this kind of exploitation is utterly unacceptable.''
This actually drew a rare chuckle from the old man who looked at Dan as if he had grown a second head told him:
-''Their are days I want to do that so bad I have to consciously remind myself I can't. The boy drives me insane! I have tried to teach him my craft but he refuses to learn, by the Allfather he won't sit still for more than 10 minutes! I get complains from his instructor about all the mischief he causes and the foolish and dangerous things he does. Honestly I have no idea what goes on in his head, like, just earlier he came to me because his group was going to visit the archive and he begged me to let him go. Last time I checked he is about as compatible with books as oil is with water. If he continues like this he will end upmaking a mistake that not even I can fix.''
Dan listened to his rant with a small smile on his lips and, when it was over he just chuckled and commented:
-''You must really care about the kid.''
Sander just smiled wryly and answered:
-''I care about him too much, he's going to be the end of me, I feel it''
-''there are worse ways to go'' Dan replied with a smile.
-''Aye, you're right about that much'' Sander said quietly as the face of a certain young woman flashed in his mind.
-''Well, tell him I said hi, can't be late now, cycle's about to start.''
Sander nodded to Dan as the latter left the store, flipping the Open sign to face the street on his way out, before disappearing into the crowd.
Noah walked down the street with a skip in his step. The cycle was about to start and he didn't want to be late or the instructor might complain to the old man about it, witch Noah could absolutely not afford
On his way there he stopped at a fountain for a drink, witch was normal seeing as most regular homes didn't have running water as the logistics for that would simply be too complex and costly for the average person. Instead these fountains were placed at regular intervals and provided the many inhabitants of Argus with a clean and convenient supply of water.
Like the fountains, nearly all public facilities in Argus were very well kept and supplied seeing as thousands of people used them every day, like the massive bath houses with heated water or lecture halls where children from ages 11 to 15 were educated on the basics of society, history, basic biology, etc.
Noah was on his way to this exact lecture hall when he heard some voices coming from a nearby ally and, when he went to see what it was, found 3 men beating another man. By the looks of it it had already been going on for some time and the man was barely conscious.
Noah watched one man kick him in the stomach violently, sending the contents of the man's stomach back from where they came, another punched him in the eye, leaving a purplish bruise that was sure to leave a scar. The last one took his right arm and broke it at the elbow with a sickening snap.
Noah watched all this unfold with a slightly stunned expression, until one of the men noticed him and told him to leave, lest he also recieve the same treatment.
-''Why are you doing that to him?'' Asked Noah as he looked at the worn and bruised man with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
-''He owes us money.'' Replied one of the men.
-''A lot of money'' Added another.
-''I see...'' said Noah seemingly thinking and, after a moment of hesitation asked:'' So you're basically just having him pay you back by taking a beating instead of giving you money?''
the third man turned to Noah and, after looking him up and down, approached him. Immediately Noah tensed and, fearing the worst, closed his eyes. He waited 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, but the punches never came, so he opened his eyes and saw the man kneeling down in front of him, handing him a small silver coin.
-''What's this?'' He asked looking at it and turning it over in his hands, not understanding the meaning behind the sudden gift.
-''Keep this with you always, and whenever a dept is owed to you and the debtor won't or can't pay you back, flip that coin. If it's sun side forgive them and if it's moon side, well, do as you see fit. Now go, this man's coin landed moon side, so don't concern yourself with him.'' The man said as he got up and turned away, silently dismissing the boy.
-''What's your name?'' asked Noah to the man who already had his back to him. The man was silent for a moment then replied:
-''It doesn't matter, a lesson is more important than a name. Now go.''
Noah left the scene with a frown on his face but then, remembering his initial goal, began running in the direction of the lecture hall, already coming up with a new excuse for his tardiness.
