The Rise Of The Consortium

Rio waited to pick up her packet of meals after tapping the details on the screen. After paying for it, it showed her the total earnings of the day. Five hundred and forty-three COH. She wondered how she would earn about eighty thousand coins in a week. The coins don't grow in a tree. Unless one hits a treasure anyway, it is impossible to think of earning that much. She wished it happened, even if that is not real.

She didn't know whether she did it right to pick up there. She wondered how she could be careless. By that time, she would have reached her home. Her head was aching even more as she could hear murmurs behind her. But mostly it was about her as she could hear her name being taken. It was a mistake to cross her home to arrive at this eatery. Something made her feel embarrassed to turn back to see who was behind her. But the thought of picking up food for her mother couldn't make her think about anything. She is taking some responsibilities after all when it is hard what might make her feel better.

She couldn't understand how she could miss a lot of things back in the hospital. Although the last word she heard was snatched, it didn't make any sense. What does it have to do with the ones who run to the swirl? Another series of a throbbing headache began. She wondered what was taking so long for the package to arrive.

Meanwhile, some shushing behind her made her look away from the machine. A small crowd was gathered behind her, waiting to get their package.

"Whoa, look who it is! The famous Rionora Tarnilier." said a man disgustedly, outstretching his hands to his sides to prevent people behind him to go further.

"Is it her? Really?" spoke a woman behind him slowly, crawling behind him quickly as she heard the name.

"Yeah, the one who is in the news," said the man who stood a few feet away from Rio.

"I don't know what is left for you to take. The swirl is already doing its job. You people…." Rio couldn't hear anymore what the first man was saying as she heard the clanking of the food machine. Her quick takeout had arrived. As she picked it up, a low warm wind hit her face, her hair stuck on her face. In an attempt to fix that, she messed it more, making her leave the place in rage. She wanted to say a few words to that man, but something in her prevented with all its might. After crossing a few steps ahead, she paused. She could hear even more heightened conversations. She turned back, facing the crowd that moved ahead.

"Excuse me, the one you're looking for is dead." spat out Rio that silenced all the murmurs.

She didn't feel like she could work anymore. Her head started aching which was lowered, not bothered about what was going on in the city. She very much wanted to lie down and forget about the world around her. "How is it that I forgot the name heard a few days ago?" asked Rio to herself. She was now walking down the circular road to reach street four. She realized that she wasted time by stopping by those guards in the hospital. "By the way, who were they?" asked Rio to herself. They didn't look like the ones in the police station. But they talked about their boss. Could they be the Manings' bodyguards? What were they doing? Has anything happened to one of the Manings? Is Kner alright?

Once she entered street four, all the conversations about her and notices from the vehicles, everything fell silent. All the gossiping faded as she was nearing her home. She thought that might reduce her headache, but it ached even more. She wished her mom not to talk about anything. But the future had its plan. When she stepped inside her home, her mother was sitting in the living room, scrolling down the news from her device, intently reading through it.

She closed the door behind her and walked towards her room, without looking at her. She felt her heart would burst anytime. Her voice made her stop on her way.

"You're late." her voice in that familiar tone made her feel as if her chance of getting sleep was lost. She turned slowly to face her sullen face. She wondered what she should say now. Her throat felt miserable to produce a sound. Still, she gathered energy to extend her right arm that was carrying the takeout. A few moments passed but her mother kept looking at the package. Rio felt embarrassed for holding it out like that. She placed it on the table in front of the couch her mother sat on. As she took her hand away, her mother picked up the package and ripped it. Taking a whiff of the fresh food, she filled her mouth quickly. Thinking that there won't be anything to talk, Rio slipped away to her room. When her mother realized what she was doing, she cleared her throat, making Rio freeze on her way. Her mother curled the empty package into a ball and threw away to a corner.

"Don't think you can always escape with all the warrants behind you." said her mother in a tone that made Rio feel like she heard it somewhere. Maybe heard some authoritarian speaking. Her mother gave a politician vibe. Wait, she heard somewhere that her mother was a politician, right? But where? Oh, why am I thinking about this? She realized her mother was waiting for her to speak. Looking closely, she saw that her mother raised her hand to show her an article. She didn't put much effort to read it as she realized it to be the breaking news of the day. The blue light emitting from her device clearly showed the headline in bold letters. 'The future chairman' s ex-girlfriend speaks the evil language of Zolzeim. '

"I don't think you'd need to work anymore. You had an affinity of staying at home instead of at work, right?" her mother said chirpily. "Your boyfriend made your problems easy. Enjoy."

Rio waited for a few more minutes, expecting more things to hear from her mother. When she felt her legs slowly turning into stone, she turned towards her room, preparing to close the door behind her. Her mother's voice made her pause again.

"Don't think anyone can help you." Rio was digging her palm into the edges of the door handle. "If your dad were here, he couldn't have done anything for you." this made her look at her mother, who was seated casually. Taking a deep breath, Rio closed the door behind her.