Imperfection - Chapter Thirteen (Patreon)

Olwen

I’ve only ever seen the lower levels of Etherium from a distance. It was always somewhere I never needed to visit. I could always see it from the window of my car or aircraft in the far distance.. It was just a place that existed and a number on a screen. As long as I did my job properly, the results would trickle down in their favor. It wasn’t until I met Tiberius that the notion of people in the lower levels having lives occurred to me.

I’ve never seen so many vibrant colors in one place. The lower levels of Etherium were created hundreds of years ago. They were given homes to establish themselves. They were allowed to bring what little of their culture remained but expected to conform to ours. It never occurred to me that they somehow found a way to integrate the two. It’s a lively area, nothing like the home I’ve become accustomed to. Some people sit on the steps of their uniform homes engaging in light conversation with others. But they are doing things that I have never seen their kind do.

There are people reading books, engaging in group activities, and some sit with music pouring out of their windows watching the streets filled with life.

“What is this place?” I ask in confusion. As I look around me, none of these people hold the rigid sense of fear that I’m used to seeing in my servants. I don’t think Augustus would last one second here.

“This is where individuality still lives. Your kind may have snuffed it out for the sake of a functioning society, but these people haven’t.” Tiberius continues ahead of me as we walk along the sidewalk of the lower level of Etherium. From this angle, I can’t see the palace. I can’t even see the mid or upper levels. The sky has been partially covered by the other buildings and the natural landscape, the top of the dome impossible to make out this far down.

It feels suffocating.

And yet the people here don’t see it that way. I want to see Tiberius’s side of this, but individuality means nothing to me if this is what results from it. To me, this is the result of individuality. A life on one path whose only option is to seek refuge in a place beneath the rest of the world. I don’t see how this is supposed to make me work less if anything it proves my point that these people cannot be left to their own devices. But as I move to voice it to Tiberius, I stop myself.

He’s smiling ahead of me as he waves to strangers. They all seem to know him somehow. I’m sure it’s because he is a very famous outsider. He’s one of the rare few who climbed the ranks to serve in the king’s class as a personal bodyguard. And judging from the familiarity each of them holds when greeting him, this is somewhere he frequents.

“Do you always come here on your off days?” I ask.

Tiberius’s footsteps falter and he looks at me with a guarded expression.

“How’d you figure that?” he asks.

“Surely you’re aware that there’s very little you can keep from me by now. You’re like an open book when you’re not paying attention,” I say. Tiberius thinks about my words, his footsteps faltering. But he doesn’t respond to them. He goes back to my earlier question.

“I haven’t been able to come recently. Guarding you is a full-time job even on my days off. It wouldn’t help to be too far away if something happened,” he says.

“Then why do you keep an apartment in the knight’s district? You don’t always go on your off days,” I say pointedly to which he laughs.

“If I don’t return to something that’s mine every once in a while I just might lose myself in that palace,” he says. There’s a bit of bitterness in his tone as he speaks of the palace. It’s always there.

“You really don’t like my kind, do you?” I ask.

Now Tiberius stops completely. He looks at me with a raised brow, his eyes honey-colored eyes searching my face. But he doesn’t answer. He smiles.

“Today is about free will, Olwen. I don’t have to answer that.”

We spend the day visiting the shops and bookstores. We even pop into a little restaurant that sells “authentic” food from the outside. However, I am unsure how they get the proper ingredients. Certain foods from the outside were banned centuries ago when it was decided that they only do ill for your body. But I don’t voice that to Tiberius. He seems happy that this place exists and it somehow reminds him of home. I once again find myself not wanting to shatter his perceptions with my own.

He sees individuality as an important aspect of life. And through his eyes, I see that it exists. I’ll just have to be careful when working from now on so as not to worry him—

What am I thinking?

Why do I care what worries Tiberius, he’s my guard and nothing more. His opinions and emotions do not matter in the grand scheme of things. He is here to protect my life with his own I shouldn’t care what he feels about me working. That’s his own problem, especially with his strange ideas about free will. If he chooses to use his autonomy to worry about me, that’s his own problem, not mine.

“Here you are. This one’s on the house. It’s a special brew since the higher-ups don’t allow the good stuff.” The older woman winks at us as if she’s offering us a gift and not an illegal substance. Tiberius notices my expression, speaking before I can.

“Thanks, Helen. We’ll savor it,” he says pulling the clear liquid toward us. But Helen doesn’t pick up the hint, her attention shifting to me.

“Tiberius has never brought you around before. You must be a new graduate.” Before I can respond she’s bending over, looking under the table to assess my body.

“Though looking at that petit frame I don’t think you’ll be ranking as high as our boy here. Still, good luck to you. Hopefully, you land on your feet.”

Tiberius pinches the bridge of his nose while he waits for the crass woman to take the hint and leave us alone. I can tell by looking at her she’s one of the lucky ones. She was allowed in because she had something to offer and it wasn’t intelligence. As a matter of fact I know just by looking at her that she’s very much below average if not by her actions. When allowing outsiders in, we asses every possible source of potential and she must be a cultural one, to help the newer outsiders feel like they haven’t lost their “culture”. It helps with acclimating and morale. It also helps those who want nothing to do with their old lives put forth more effort to be away from places like this; places that remind them of where they came from.

Tiberius, however, is once again one of those anomalies. Although he’s reached his peak potential, he still comes back to places like this. His motivation doesn’t match his place in life, making him an anomaly that I myself don’t understand.

“Hopefully,” I say offering Helen a tight smile. It bothers me to even acknowledge her presence, but it seems to be the only way to get her to take a hint and leave. Helen studies me for a moment longer before looking back at Tiberius and leaving us alone. I continue to watch her as she goes to the kitchen of the small restaurant, Tiberius being the first to speak.

“Sorry about her. She means well,” he says.

I eye him, lifting the drink she left for us, not bothering to mask my irritation. “Clearly,” I say.

Tiberius laughs, but I can’t understand what could possibly be funny about this situation.

“You’re not even going to try it?” he asks gesturing to my drink.

“And how would that look? A graduate of the academy and a bodyguard to the king’s advisor partaking in an illegally brewed substance?”

“Like we’re tired and need a good drink,” he chuckles taking a sip of the drink.

“Have you lost yourself in this ruse? I can have this place shut down upon our return and Helen removed from Etherium for her corruption,” I growl under my breath.

Tiberius watches me intensely as silence passes between us. The lively chatter of the restaurant fills our lack of conversation until he finally figures out what he wants to say.

“There’s worse corruption in this place than stronger booze. And it isn’t happening down here,” he says taking another sip. I narrow my gaze.

“There’s a reason we restricted certain alcohol from this level,” I say. Tiberius once again laughs, leaning back in his seat. He’s different at this moment. He isn’t the reserved guard that I’m used to. He’s the same as these people, living without fear of consequences.

I heave a reluctant sigh gripping the glass. Tiberius is watching me in amusement as I bring it to my lips. The liquor is pungent, burning my tongue and throat all the way down to my stomach. I break out into a coughing fit, dropping the glass on the table.

“What the hell is that?” I ask between coughs. Tiberius laughs boisterously, gripping his stomach as he tosses his head back. If I weren’t coughing, I might stare at the rare sight. Tears burn my vision as I try and catch my breath, the heat from the drink making it difficult.

“It’s moonshine,” Tiberius chuckles.

I hastily wipe my eyes, my irritation growing.

“So was this your plan? To bring me to the lowest parts of Etherium and have me partake in illegal activities?” I say quickly.

Tiberius smiles, taking my drink from me.

“No. I just wanted you to see that these people will make it with or without you. You don’t need to work yourself so hard. Life will go on,” he says simply. He brings the drink to his lips, and I quickly rise, snatching it from him.

“You may be off duty today but I won’t have my life jeopardized in this place because you decided to indulge during your own poorly executed lesson.”

We spend the evening at the restaurant, Tiberius insistent on convincing me that this way of life is better than what we have in the upper levels. While it isn’t my cup of tea it is refreshing seeing him in a way that isn’t so reserved. He’s at ease when he’s here among his own, unlike the rigid exterior he keeps when around my own. I do notice the inhabitants that come and go. They interact in ways that would be frowned upon. They touch and laugh too excitedly, they even speak to strangers tables over. Tiberius enjoys this kind of atmosphere, shedding a light on just how different we are.

When we finally leave the sun has begun its descent over the dome. And instead of walking ahead of me as he’s been doing today, Tiberius walks next to me, making it impossible to ignore the intimidation of his size.

“Why do you care so much about how hard I work?” I ask. I look at Tiberius after a moment, “Did you really think making me see the way the pawns live would make me work less?” I ask.

Tiberius shrugs.

“Maybe I just wanted to spend time with you when I wasn’t on the clock. Get to know the real Olwen,” he says nonchalantly. I stop, glaring at him. My heart flutters at his words, but my mind knows the rules.

“Don’t joke like that. You see the real me every day and have a problem with the way that I am or else we wouldn’t have taken this useless trip,” I snap.

Tiberius’s expression shifts to shock and he looks around making sure no one is close as he speaks his next sentence.

“I admire you and everything that you do. You just work so hard for this place even though your bare minimum would keep it running for years. You have so much to offer and they treat you like you’re not important. I just want you to see—”

“I told you I am not important, I am just a small part of this—”

“Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. You are important, Olwen. You have your own thoughts and opinions. You can make your own decisions. You don’t have to dedicate what little bit of life you have to a place that doesn’t appreciate you.”

There it is again. He’s speaking in code as if he knows something that I don’t. Or as if he’s trying to convince me of another life apart from this one. I narrow my gaze stepping closer to him.

“Do not pity me, outsider.”

His eyes narrow as well but he doesn’t retreat as he usually would. He closes what little space lies between us, the warmth from his skin radiating into me. I’m suddenly aware of just how hard my heart is beating as he watches me knowingly, taunting me. His lips hover over mine and with each passing second he shifts slightly closer. I know I should move, but I can’t.

“I’ll try not to in the future, Etherian.”