The Ascension

17: Aster at sea

 Aster was back- if that was the word, as she had never really arrived in the first place- in the house. Senya and Wren were a step ahead, looking at the lavish decor of the house. Fine statues made of silver and personal altars to each of the gods decorated the entrance hall. Anything could be stolen here and sold for far more money than they needed.

"We can't do this." Aster said.

"What? You're just having some nerves. Don't worry, the first time is always the toughest. You'll get over it."

"No, I mean, Ikina told me we can't steal. Probably you'll lose your immortality."

Senya and Wren looked at her for a moment, wide-eyed. Then Senya shrugged. "Okay. Whatever. I never planned to be immortal forever, and I'm super hungry right now."

Senya turned around and grabbed a small statue from an altar of Ikina, a winged Ikieen staring up in devotion to the sky. He slipped it into his pocket and walked up to Aster.

"It's done." He said with a mock seriousness. He then hugged her quickly, like he was about to embark on a life-threatening mission, and laughed.

"I mean, it's sort of a life lesson we're teaching here. If the owners ever notice the figure is gone, they'll learn the good lesson that is 'locking one's doors.' I don't mean to blame the victim here, but they were sort of asking for it."

"Let's put it back." Aster said, standing in the door way and preventing the boys from leaving. She looked around, perhaps expecting Ikina's wrathful visage to appear behind them.

"No. We need to eat." Senya lightly pushed Aster aside and walked out.

"I love mortality." Wren added, following him.

There was nothing left for Aster to do but join them. A bit down the street, Senya pulled the figure out of his pocket and examined it further.

"Pure silver, I'd expect. Gold detailing. Small diamonds crested on the wings. We can buy a lot more than food with this."

"Once we stop using it to survive, the morals of the crime become testy." Aster warned.

"Everything helps us survive. New clothes and a boat down to Ae-ah certainly help our mental state survive by letting us circumvent the hardships of walking."

"You think you can buy a boat in this city?"

"With the right connection, I think I can buy anything."

For maximum profit, they had to search for a specialty shop that knew worth when it saw it. And preferably was not affiliated with the people they had stolen this from. A bit of asking around cut out their first few choices.

Eventually, Senya found a shady kind of man in a place that smelled of smoke and alcohol. The statue sold well, but not nearly at full price. It was plenty coin to buy food though, and certainly rid Aster of the anxiety that the police were going to show at any moment and arrest them all.

"Is the boat idea out?" Aster asked as Senya counted his coin in between his dinner of bread and soup. She felt like she could have run across the ocean if needed, but would have liked it if the boys didn't have to walk- and complain- the whole journey over.

"I'm not actually familiar with the economy here." Senya said testily. "But I'm good at bargains. If we buy one tonight, we can sleep on it and leave in the morning."

"Are we... even near the ocean?" Wren asked.

The answer was no.

"I figure we can buy a ride to the coast pretty easy and work from there." Senya shrugged. "Money is pretty good at getting things done. You two seem the type to know that."