A Sun in the city

[Amaterasu]

Note to readers: This post is unrelated to the prior one, and takes place way in the future of it.

Fiara's mount drew several odd looks when she came trotting through the Coruscant Gate. People just weren't used to seeing something as outdated as a horse being used to traverse the city, when everyone was using cars, gliders and similar hi-tech vehicles to move around. On the good side, everyone presumed that someone as eccentric as to summon a steed in Coruscant, no less one that moved as fast as Fiara's because in reality Amaterasu had summoned it, had to be a Prime, thus she wasn't bothered much neither by the officials nor by the citizens. Her visit was going to be short, anyway... she just needed to collect something left behind for Amaterasu in some vault on the first Tier of Coruscant. The necessary code for it was on the Dataverse Device that Amaterasu had given her, so ideally there would be no issue. She just wondered what that item was going to be.

After a lengthy trip through the streets, running alongside and sometimes overtaking all sorts of gliders, Fiara stopped her horse before a huge establishment that her Dataverse Device informed her was the Bank of Coruscant, though outside of transacting with money it also allowed the citizens to rent a secured locker and store any items they needed for a modest fee. Fiara "parked" the horse just outside and locked its legs together with a chain that was hanging from the saddle - an old and simple but effective mechanism to keep someone from stealing it. Forcing the lock would no doubt attract the attention of the patrolling Stormtroopers or get the criminal caught on camera. Not to mention, stealing a horse... well, why not go for a proper method of locomotion instead, like a glider? She headed right inside and presented the locker's code to one of the employees, who pointed her in the right direction with a smile.

Five minutes later, Fiara stood before a gigantic wall of lockers, each labeled with a number. They reached dozens of meters high, there were hoverboards and ladders to get to the higher levels but the sheer thought of how many things may be contained here made her head spin. Luckily, the one she was seeking, Locker No. 10674-5, was one barely off the ground. She punched the code number into the pad and watched the little safe-door swing open for her.

Inside was an ingot of a weird metal, it was unusually light and looked like it was a glass case containing liquid mercury. Stamped into the surface was a hallmark with a long number, probably some ID code, and a value: 1001. No idea what this was, but it looked like it was worth a lot. She checked that nobody was watching before sliding the ingot into her bag. That was when she saw that there were two other items inside the safe: a folded letter and... a small figure? She grabbed the latter and examined it against the light of the neon lamps behind her. It was her... a plastic figure of herself, with a confident smile and in a boxer-like stance with her fists raised. With a confused frown she stuffed the figure away.

And the letter? A bad feeling spreaded through her gut as she picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it. The western alphabet, of course, but at least printed letters were being used.

Miss Amaterasu,

To my regret I must inform you that your Secondary friend named Fiara has met her unfortunate end in the latest Dante's Abyss. In the name of Syntech and privately I offer you my most sincere condolesences.
Fiara was a valuable aide to us and will be held in high esteem for...

She could not keep reading. The letter crumpled up in her balling fist, she felt like she was going to be sick. She leant her head against the cold metal of Locker No. 10674-3 and took deep breaths, holding back the urge to empty the contents of her stomach over the pristine floor. What an ironic experience, to be reading a letter about her own death yet being alive and kicking. And then knowing that the letter was speaking the truth, she HAD died. In a location that she could not remember, by an enemy she couldn't recall. Fighting alongside warriors that she would not recognize. She calmed her shaking breath and her stomach, then lifted her head and slammed the locker shut to vent her anger. What was the ingot in her bag, she wondered? A consolation so Amaterasu would get over her loss? She wanted to toss it away, to break it in half, to crush the little figure with it. But she knew deep within that it wouldn't make her feel better. The letter however, she tore to fine shreds, crumpled every shred up and distributed those paper balls into three different bins scattered about in the lobby of the bank, imagining to her mild satisfaction that she was tearing this Karl Jak guy apart. She would keep the action figure as a memento for what had happened... and the ingot? Amaterasu would know what to do with that.

She unlocked her horse and climbed into the saddle once again before retracing her steps towards the Nexus Gate. The next order of business was to find Kushi and to join up with Amaterasu in the Frozen Fields. She needed to get away from this place, to leave it all far behind herself. If she thought about it any longer, she would explode. And she really couldn't use that right now.