Shattered Reality And The City With No Name

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As time wore on, Mae found herself steadily losing jobs and her reputation went right along with it.

As the weeks trudged by, the nickname her town gave her, was "Misfortune Mae".

Whichever shop or place she worked at or whatever job she took up, was bound to end in misfortune.

A large part of the town felt sorry for the girl, but there was nothing they could do to help her. Someone like Mae, wasn't suited for a life working like that. She isn't a part of this town, and that part, this town made it very clear.

As she spent more time there and also more time wallowing in her sorrow, she turned to drinking.

Almost every day, she would show up back at Mrs. Evelyn's house drunk, and the lady would help her in and put her to bed.

"I'm just... worthless... I can't even do anything..." she mumbled one night, as Evelyn carried Mae over to her bed.

"it's okay darling. Now take rest." Evelyn said, placing a comforting hand on her head after she tucked Mae in for the night.

Just as She was about to leave the room , a voice called out to her "Mrs. Evelyn" 

She turned, still putting on that warm smile on her face.

"Am I... too irresponsible and worthless?" She asked Evelyn in a drunken stupor.

"No, my darling. I can house you till you find a proper job here. A girl like you just roaming aimlessly in this world terrifies me." Evelyn said, as she walked back to Mae.

Mae got up from her bed, and stretched out her arms. "Can I get a hug?" She asked, her eyes gleaming like a puppy's eyes.

"Sure, darling." Evelyn then tightly embraced Mae, and they stayed that way for quite some time.

"No, Evelyn. I don't deserve this." Mae said, as she gently pulled away from the hug.

"I'm leaving. Tomorrow." Mae seemed to have snapped out of her drunken stupor.

"Why?" Evelyn asked.

Mae didn't answer her. The truth was, she didn't want to burden Evelyn with the same type of responsibility that she had placed on her father.

The next day, she left Trudid after parting ways with Evelyn, and after aimlessly wandering around, she found a carriage which was travelling in the same direction as hers.

Her goal: The city with no name. According to an old man that she heard from in Trudid, that was a city which accepted anyone and anything, and Mae having exhausted all her options, decided that it was the only place worth checking out right now. 

It almost felt like she was in a trance, just being carried by the current of misfortune in her life.

"Is this really the work of the Ebonheart Urn?" She thought to herself, as she walked slowly out of the quaint town, looking for a carriage.

Her once glorious red and white casual dress had now lost it's bright sheen, and was also dull from repeated use. She finally spotted a carriage, and waved for it to stop.

She stopped the carriage "Can I hitch a ride?" She asked, hopeful that they would let her on too.

"Where to?" The coachman asked.

"Wherever this carriage is going, and however far twenty mido can take me." Mae replied.

"Alright young lady, but you better be prepared for the place we're headed to." He said, a foreboding tone in his voice.

"Why is that?" Mae asked curiously.

"We're going to the city with no name." He said.

Mae gulped audibly, as she swallowed, thinking about the city with no name. It was a grim name.

Mae, despite the ominous warning, was intrigued by the mysterious destination. She had nothing left to lose, and the allure of the unknown was more enticing than any life she had left behind

As the carriage lumbered on, the landscape slowly changed, along with the sunset.

Lush and green farm fields slowly turned into yellow and then just straight up dusty savannahs, travelling winds which blew sand into anything and everything. There were no royal guards patrolling the roads, no banners of the kingdom.

The road was dark and dusty, reminding Mae of her bleak existence at this point.

This was a place that had been abandoned by law and order.

The landscape outside the carriage window began to change, becoming a twisted, unruly terrain where the rules of the kingdom held no sway. There were no guards patrolling the roads, no banners of the ruling monarchy; it was a land abandoned by the law.

As Mae got down there, and took her meagre bag of belongings, she could see why this place was so dangerous. As she walked further into the city with no name, she got more and more on edge.

It was already well beyond sunset, and she didn't like being out at night.

The dimly lit alleyways, just the way the city was constructed. The chaotic nature of the place became increasingly clear. The streets were in disorder, with badly constructed buildings, and the citizens seemed to have this sense of inflated ego among them.

The first order of business for Mae was finding some sort of lodging. "Where should I ask?" She thought, as she spotted a group of men standing. They had this pretty scary look to them.

She wanted to approach them, so she started to walk up to them. But soon after, she had a change of heart, so she stopped, but it was too late.

One of the men had noticed her.

As Mae walked alway, grabbing her purse a bit tighter, one of the men called out to her.

"Hey there, young lady!" He said, his voice deep and raspy, and sending chills down his spine.

Mae proceeded to ignore him, and continued to walk away.

"Hey Gorgeous! I'm callin' you! You in the red and white dress! You wanna spend a night with me!?" He continued to call out, and now he started to tail Mae.

Mae quickened her pace, but the man continued to tail her.

She turned into a maze of winding alleyways, desperately searching for an escape route, but as she rounded a corner and entered yet another alley, her heart sank.

It was a dead end.

The man was closing in on her, and there was nowhere to run.

The man's voice, now filled with malevolence, cut through the chilling silence of the alley. "Nowhere to hide, sweetheart. You're mine tonight."