30 TENTH DECK COMMANDER

Stone Spitters have long left. Bilka and Pilli were in the worst situation they have ever been in their entire lives. They couldn't even cry out loud anymore as even the slightest movement of their limbs hurt them so much. Yet, it pained so much that they couldn't contain themselves from moving around. It was a literal nightmare for the two of them as they crawled in their own blood, feeling plenty of veins that needled them from the insides of their bodies.

"What do you want to do now?" Pilli just wanted to ask that question, his face in a dismal decoration.

"I want to beat the shit out of you," Bilka extracted out some words out of the pain coursing through his veins and then went into a disconcerted pause before speaking again. "Getting beaten by him back then didn't feel that bad. But right now, I feel pathetic. It's embarrassing to be lying on the ground like that."

"I apologize," Pilli rolled his eyes towards Bilka who lay beside him. Bilka didn't say anything, but his ruffled face revealed most of his thoughts.

"Guess who's back?" A voice rang in Pilli's ears, almost bringing him a heartache. When his pupils shifted by degrees, he saw the face he least expected to see. It was Lirzod who squatted down, making a poker face. The two of them had their eyes broadened in bewilderment. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry." His words puzzled them both. "So don't mess with me again, okay? I'll be climbing the decks, so I guess you won't try too hard to come after me. Anyway," he placed a somewhat abnormal almond on Pilli's chest. "There. You can eat it and regain some strength. It will reduce your inflammation too, only a bit though." He stood and looked at Bilka. "Hope you got what I'm saying as well. Too bad that I only had one almond left. If he's willing, you can break that one into two. See you both later." Saying that Lirzod began to walk away.

Pill took the almond off his chest. What was it that he just received? An apology? A warning? No, he's messing with me! "Damn you…" He threw it at Lirzod who turned his body a bit and caught the almond by his pant pocket.

"Don't want it?" Lirzod shrugged his shoulders, before turning back and continuing his walk. "My mistake. I thought everyone liked almonds. Well, at least everyone in my town does."

Pilli squealed from the pain he felt because of moving his body.

Bilka slightly blew air through his nose. "A fool till the final second."

In the Z block of the tenth deck.

One room was quite different than others be it in size or style. Its door was locked but was being guarded by two Hollows that held shimmering spears. A messy gray-haired man kowtowed on the ground in front of those two, albeit he didn't speak, he still gave off a gloomy aura.

The entire street was eerily silent, and not even winds whirled. Breaking the stillness of the street, the sound of soft pacing grew ever so clear by the second.

In less than a minute, a panda of ample proportions slid at the corner of the street, taking a sharp turn and stopped at the first room itself. From atop its back glided down a small and somewhat stocky brown-haired man, his shoulders and chest guarded by slender and stylish plates that curved creatively around his muscular curves. His hard angled brows helped him in forging a fierce look with ease, and his mutton chops beard would shed all presuming doubts of him being a boy. His pompadour hairstyle increased his height just a bit.

Both the guards bowed before one of them hurriedly unlocked the door and the brown-haired man walked in. The gray-haired man still assumed the same position. His heart, however, beat almost twice as fast. The panda sat down and was playing with a scurrying bark beetle, by blocking its path with the hand. After receiving a bite, it squashed the beetle into smithereens with a cupped hand and looked around, seemingly looking for another one.

"Commander is calling you in," the guard gestured at the gray-haired to come in. Upon entering and passing through some sub-rooms, he stopped in a room that looked distinct than the others. An oversized painting made of blacks and whites decorated one of the walls and fully set the tone of the room. That large-scale art was the map of the tenth deck.

The brown-haired man was seated in a peculiar yet comfortable chair that lacked arms. Its design resembled the rear half of a fish, with the tail fins rising towards the ceiling. Seated in that Thing Throne[1], he looked intimidating. Only the commanders of each deck had these custom-made thrones. "You look like death warmed over." His voice was rich and imposing.

The gray-haired man knelt on the green carpet and could no longer hold onto his tears. "Please forgive me, Commander Zentzu," he caught the legs and pleaded, "just give me some time and I'll make sure to pay you back."

"Pay me back by when, Komal? A week?" Zentzu said in a detached voice but got no response. "A month? Or do you want a year?"

Komal managed to squeeze out a few words through his heavy throat. "Two, two months. That's all I need."

"Two months?" He kicked Komal under the chin, forcing his whole body to lose contact with the ground. He crashed down ten feet away from the throne. Zentzu got down from his seat and got to Komal and stepped on his chest. " Whose leg do you think you're pulling?"

Komal frowned as he bled from his mouth. "If she didn't fool me, I wouldn't be in this place right now. Just give me two months."

"What will you do in two months? Go up and get your money back from her?" He pressed his foot a little hard, making it hard for Komal to breathe. "If you wanted to stay rich, you should have stayed away from sluts. A man without money and a woman without a womb are one and the same. Both are equally worthless beyond a shadow of a doubt. Tell me why I should make you an exception?"

"I…"

At that moment, the barking of the panda reached his ears. Zentzu looked at the guard and softly said, "Give Pupuu the usual menu. Ten kilos of young and fleshy shoots, and five kilos of luscious leaves."

"Right away, commander," the guard hurriedly left.

Zentzu glanced down at Komal who had a mix of a splenetic and a sullen look. "Gotta feed my blue-eyed boy in time or he'll get aggressive by the minute."

Komal didn't say anything, or rather he couldn't speak anything because of the pressure on his chest.

"I'll give you one week, like how I give to those I have some trust in. Don't know what you will do or whose boots you will lick, but if you fail to give my money back in time..." he put down his foot and lighted a cigar as he walked back to his seat, "you can bet that you'll spend the rest of your life as a slave who never sees the light."

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to understand the betrayal of love either!" Komal roared, making Zentzu stop. "You are rich, richer than I can ever be. You can eat different food, wear different cloth, and sleep with a different girl every day. What would you know about attachments? What would you know on how much it hurts when the girl you loved and climbed a hundred decks together with betrays you for some f*cking prick of the higher decks? All you care about is making sure that you're feeding off people's blood and sweat in the form of interests."

Zentzu let out a stiff smile. "This is what I get for charging a three copper per week interest when I could easily make that six or seven copper," he turned and strode ahead, his facial features becoming prominent and especially his resolute look pierced Komal's very soul. "Do you know how it feels when your own stepmom and stepsister bully you for what you are, a three-foot three-inch scrotum-faced shaver? Do you know how easily they can make smiles that strike you sharp and dig deeper than a dagger ever can?

"Do you know how miserable your days get when you come home in bruises and bloody limbs only to get further beaten up by those who should be taking care of you? Do you know how pitiful you become when they feel stronger and better by bullying you and turning you into a weaker and worse being?

"Do you know how much you cry when you look for a rare moment of support, but the truth makes you realize that there's no one to catch your fall? Do you know how days go by when you feel suicidal, losing any hope of life getting better? Do you know how long the nights get when at the end of every day you can't even feel glad for being alive? Do you know how cursed you feel when you try so hard to love them but doesn't get a speck of it in return?

"Do you know how it feels when you realize that nobody is perfect but have already beaten both your stepmom and stepsister by then? Do you know how it feels when you look at your past during which all fingers point at you for one wrong thing you did which you aren't proud of either, but not one of them point at those who made me do it in the first place? Do you know how gut-wrenching it gets when you go mad and literally beat yourself up, again and again, before you even grew a beard?"

Koma's eyes broadened not knowing what to say.

"We all get shit smeared on our faces at some point of our lives," Zentzu said as he rotated around Komal. "So don't act like the whole world is weighing you down. Get your shit together and don't waste your days on planning your revenge. If fate has it, you will teach her a lesson. Knowingly or not. You just have to focus on paying my money back." He paused a moment, and the sound of his footsteps was the predominant sound in the room. "My grain is faker than your girlfriend. Trust me. You don't want to see it in full." He began to walk back to his seat. "Get out of my room."

Komal stood in silence for a few seconds, before his feet took him towards the exit door.

"By the way, I won't cut down the interest rate," Zentzu said, rubbing the cigar in the ashtray. "If your regret had righteousness, it would have reached my heart. Sadly, it didn't."

"Thanks," Komal said in an enervated manner before his slowing down pace picked up again.

The moment Komal left the room, a guard entered and quickly knelt on one of his knees. "Commander, I went to the room you told us to check. Its door was open, but nobody was inside."

"Mm, what about the neighboring rooms?"

The guard flinched a bit, "Commander, you didn't tell me to check the nearby rooms as well. So…"

"If the information is right, he boarded the ship with two others. They would have been given rooms next to each other," Zentzu said. "He might be staying in one of those rooms."

"Then I will immediately go and bring him," the guard swiftly stood and turned back.

"Wait," Zentzu's voice stopped the guard. "Instead of wasting my time here, I will go myself."

The guard slightly bowed his head. "As you wish, commander."

A few minutes later.

Sariyu just reached her room, murmuring about something, and she didn't seem to be in a good mood. "The official assemblies sure have it easy."

As she was about to enter, a voice came from far. "Wait, miss!" She looked to the side and saw a short man striding towards her. Another guy was closely following him.

After getting closer, the short man put his hand forward and said, "I'm Zentzu, the commander of this deck."

Sariyu measured him from top to bottom before turning her hand and stepped into her room without saying another word.

Zentzu looked at his hand before pulling it back.

"How dare she!" The guard tightly grabbed the spear and took a step ahead, but Zentzu's arm blocked his path.

Zentzu stood right outside the door. After discerning that the neighboring rooms had no people in them, he said, "Do you know where Mr. Lirzod is?"

Sariyu raised one of her brows. Her lips slightly stretched to the sides showing signs of suppression of smile. Her face was out of their view. (Mister? Now, that's a first.) She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Why do you ask of Mr. Lirzod?"

"I heard that he had a skirmish with Geragorn, so I just came here to see how he's doing."

"Oh, thanks for worrying but Mr. Lirzod is not here. And he's not going to bother Geragorn again."

Zentzu frowned a little bit. "So, is he staying on this deck?"

"Mm?" Sariyu narrowed her eyes. (What did he do now? Oh my days, he better not come to me for money.) She gleefully disapproved the thoughts that came to her mind. "I don't know. You should ask him."

"Miss. Do you know who you are talking to?" the guard said, standing behind Zentzu.

"I don't think I have to know that." Her austere voice rang in the guard's ears like the buzzing of a bee.

--------------------------------------------------

[1] Thing Throne: A deck commander's chair made to resemble a certain being or object.