• It shouldn't have been that easy.

    A subtle bump, an agile finger, and this, the prize. Greedy, violet eyes glinted deviously as she stared up at the small, insignificant leather bag clutched firmly in the same hand that had snatched it only an hour before. Crunched carelessly into a makeshift purse whose contents were more than half empty by the feel of it, the item was truly of little importance, but to any unfortunate wretch who found themselves trapped in the monstrosity known as Aterrum City, it was a treasure beyond treasures. And Zoanni Cylamen was perhaps the most ill-fated victim of all.

    Born in Aterrum, a series of makeshift buildings sewn together by scraps of wood, stone, and-if someone managed a bit of incomprehensible luck- by metal, the raven-haired woman had prowled through its twisting alleyways and winding, overcrowded streets for far too long. Although she yearned, as most do, to be free of the foul smelling labyrinth and its insidious dwellers, there was an undeniable pull that kept her chained in filth, indulging in sinister games.

    A pull? No, Zie nearly laughed allowed at the ridiculous notion. This sickening place held not attraction to her but rather a reality she-if no one else- saw and accepted; there was no escape, no reason to scale the enormous fissure walls or sneak on one of the many horse-drawn caravans destined for the surface.

    From her perch high on a thick slab of rock that jutted from one of the canyon's walls, she-after shoving the purse loving into one of her many pockets- watched one of these caravans plod slowly along the only treacherous path that twisted and dug in and out of solid earth at an angle steep enough to inspire the hope that the travelers would eventually be free of the presumed 'human haven.' Light trickled softly onto the sweat-slick manes of the dirty steeds the merchants had chosen for this grueling trek, creating a glittering affect that held Zie's attention more fully than the purse had only seconds before ;if that was even possible of course. It wasn't the beasts that marveled her so; no those creatures were too common to draw her interest, but rather the light within itself.

    Buried deeply within the seemingly endless fissure, Aterrum and its residences were permanently bathed in perpetual darkness broken only by artificial lighting that cast an eerie blue glow over anything and everything it touched. On clear days, however, an arch of the sun's piercing rays could be seen spanning the length of the chasm, each individual strand dispersing at various distances when the eternal shadows became too much to bare. Never the less, the rare glimpse of awe-inspiring, natural light, was breath taking, and subsequently, the reason the slender, young woman had ventured from her shelter this dim morning. Though, she had to admit, the extra coins were far from detrimental.

    Tiring of the merchants and painfully aware of her limited time, Zoanni grudgingly yet nimbly slipped from her precarious perch to latch instantly on footholds offered by the steep, crumbling wall. Far below the audacious woman, Aterrum's main hub extended across the largest of the three separate, rocky protrusions used to build the awkward structures that served as housing accommodations on. Outlaying, feeble constructions dotted the lesser rocky platforms or swung uncertainly from the web of debris-formed bridges that connected each distinct level to the next.

    A chaos most refined, Zie couldn't help but comment silently when her foot touched ground after several minutes. It was fitting; a personification of the horrors consuming every last street and alleyway in the damnable refuge. But it was a refuge. Wasn't it?
    Senseless murders, interminable darkness; hazardous, hideous, houses, and of course a stench geminately wafted about the city like an eternal plague, and yet many of Aterrum's civilians would indeed refer to the decrepit city as a haven of sorts. The notion was nearly unfathomable to the pig-headed woman. Almost.

    But compare it, an old friend of hers had once said. Compare it to what? The surface, with its dazzling light of course. Centuries ago any man or woman would have scoffed at the mere thought that their wondrous, lighted world, perched precariously though it was(in a sense), could be so diminished by battered Aterrum city, but it was. The surface world was no longer a metropolis--although in truth, Zie doubted it ever was one. Instead of endless seas of green or bottomless oceans filled with marvelous, mysterious creatures, the place humans once called home, devoid of once thriving life, was scarred with innumerable fissures ranging from slightest of cracks to the largest of canyons, much like the one Aterrum occupied, that tore looming mountains apart as simply as a sword slips through flesh.

    A hollow shell of its former glory. Or so the Council proclaimed.

    Zoanni openly snorted as her thoughts continued to twist and wind deeper into themselves. Had the world ever been magnificent? She doubted it, but then again why should she not? There was no proof, no document that allowed a fleeting glimpse into the former 'glory'. There was only the Council's word, and no matter how inspiring their words might be- and they were quite astounding by rumors alone-, Zie could not be deluded so easily. She was not a mindless drone begging for an escape from despair, no, she was not like the rest of them.

    Eventually, inevitably, Zoanni resurfaced, her consciousness clearing of the contemplation-induced haze. With mild shock, the raven haired woman realized her legs had moved of their own accord, carrying her far from the fissure’s wall and into the very heart of Xion, the largest of Aterrum's three subdivisions. All around her grim faced civilians moved swiftly down narrow streets, eager to be down with their daily tasks so that they might return to their meager shelters where cruel knives were less likely to find their way into their persons.

    With a light sigh, Zie eyed the various signs dangling from the towering, crooked structures that crowded on either side of the well-worn street in order to get a barring for her surroundings. Apparently her legs new the area quite well, for she was only a few short blocks from her desired destination. Casting one last fleeting glance at the now painfully black sky above her, the woman set off.