Indomitable

s.e.v.e.n

The journey to the east side of the city took nearly the entire day, as it was large and crowded. The sun beat on Remi's brow and caused her forehead to drip with sweat, though disappeared behind the clouds a few times to provide her with momentary relief.

She couldn't imagine what her poor horse was feeling.

Remi usually loved the sun, but the humidity that often accompanied it was an entirely different story.

Earlier, one of Captain Rismak's cabin boys met them and handed them a detailed, colored sketch of the man they were looking for. His hair was brown and shaggy with a few wrinkles around the sides of his mouth and corners of his eyes, and his eyes were too far apart. Just to make sure they didn't take another corpse with the same name.

Though the captain hadn't explained why he wanted this crewman so badly, Remi already knew the answer.

Captains were notorious for believing in the most absurd of superstitions, and often sacrificed some of their own crew to the monsters of the sea, and to the sky if a treacherous storm threatened to devour them. They valued no one except themselves.

If Captain Rismak was willing to pay for them to go to all the trouble to bring his crewman back to life, then he must hold some important information that was worth the great sum the captain was paying for his rejuvenation.

While Remi found all lives precious, she didn't know of a single other person who shared her view on the value of life.

She supposed that was why her city had lost sight of all morals and plunged into a sea of evil and corruption. Did anyone even have a conscience anymore?

Sometimes Remi felt like she was truly and utterly alone, even when there were people around her. Ice clamped around her heart and made her anxious.

Upon seeing the huge, offensive building looming before her, casting down a deep, cold shadow, Remi entirely forgot her train of though. She narrowed her eyes, hoping she could burn a hole through the building, but it was to no avail.

The Meat Palace was gigantic, pristine, and white, and shimmered in the brilliant sunlight. Stairs, entirely free of dust and dirt, led to the entrance, which was wide and decorated by large, ancient pillars from the original building.

Everything was spotless, and yet, nothing was clean. Death contaminated everything with its dirty corruption, and Remi could feel it hovering above her skin.

"Why do you hate this place so much?" Blue asked blankly, with no real emotion in his voice. She wondered if he even wanted to know the answer. She couldn't always tell with her cousin.

"The things that happen in this building under the leadership of Papa Roche is reviling, morbid, and wrong," she stated passionately, fire in her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized just how outspoken she'd sounded.

Blue gave her a sidelong glance. "That's no reason to dislike this place, or the owner. He is the same as every other person in the city. They are all morbid beasts. Morbid beasts that we do business with."

Remi huffed in annoyance at his dismissal, crossing her arms. She almost fell off her horse in the process, flailing her arms and trying to regain her balance. Killure's snickering didn't help her feel any better.

She shot him a glare as she swung her leg off the white horse, which only seemed to amuse him further.

Blue jumped off his horse and landed gracefully on the ground. He helped his sister off her horse, and tied all the horses' ropes securely around a tree.

Remi followed behind him, her eyes still narrowed. This place gave her the creeps.

An older man, large in every way, stomped over to him. His expression was pinched in a grimace, and his features rigid and angry.