Arc 1 Sands and steel

  CHAPTER 9 (Direction)

  Avelin sat atop a stack of cargo crates, legs dangling as she absently kicked the metal edge. Across from her, Silas perched on another box, hands clasped, posture stiff—like someone who still hadn’t decided whether he was safe yet.

  The door slid open with a hiss.

  Eren stepped in, hair damp, shirt finally free of dried blood. He rolled his shoulders once, exhaling.

  “…I genuinely can’t remember the last time I took a bath.”

  Avelin raised one eyebrow slowly and looked him up and down.

  “No shit, Sherlock.”

  Silas blinked.

  “…What does that mean?”

  Avelin glanced at him, then nodded toward Eren.

  “It means he doesn’t remember anything. Not his past. Not his name. Nothing before I found him.”

  Silas turned to Eren, surprise flickering across his face.

  “You serious?”

  Eren shrugged. “Afraid so.”

  A brief silence followed—one of those uncomfortable ones where the engine hum filled the gaps.

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  Silas cleared his throat.

  “So… where exactly are you two headed?”

  Avelin opened her mouth, then paused. She glanced at Eren. He met her eyes, then looked back at Silas.

  “…We have no idea,” she admitted.

  Silas’s face went completely blank.

  “…You’re joking.”

  Avelin shook her head.

  “I’m just looking for someone who knows about cybernetics. Someone who can tell me what this thing is… and why people keep trying to kill me for it.”

  Silas leaned back slightly, thinking.

  “…Maybe Kova,” he said at last.

  Eren straightened.

  “Then let’s head to Kova.”

  Silas let out a dry laugh.

  “Not that simple. Kova doesn’t allow outsiders. I can enter—but you two?”

  He shook his head. “They won’t let you past the gates.”

  Avelin frowned.

  “So there’s no other way?”

  Silas hesitated, then nodded slowly.

  “My trading craft is docked there. I could fly you in.”

  Eren didn’t hesitate.

  “Then we do that.”

  Silas held up a finger.

  “There’s a catch.”

  Both of them looked at him.

  “We’ll need to stop at Zemlyia first—the north pole of Titan. The land between Zemlyia and Kova is nothing but marshes. Toxic air. Unstable ground. Try crossing it on foot and you’re dead. No exceptions.”

  Eren and Avelin exchanged a glance.

  “Fine,” Avelin said. “We wait.”

  Silas exhaled, relieved—but the relief didn’t last.

  “There’s… one more thing.”

  Eren’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “Go on.”

  Silas’s voice dropped.

  “My sister. She’s being held in the sewers by a gang called the Biohazards. I was on my way to negotiate when I ran into those crawlers—and you.”

  A heavy silence settled in the room.

  “If I help you get to Kova,” Silas said carefully, “I need your help getting her back.”

  Eren looked at Avelin.

  Avelin didn’t even hesitate.

  “We’ll help.”

  Silas stared at them, stunned.

  “…You don’t even know me.”

  Eren turned toward the door, resting a hand on his sword.

  “Yeah,” he said calmly. “But we know what it’s like to be hunted.”

  Avelin hopped down from the crate, eyes sharp.

  “So where do we start?”

  Silas swallowed.

  “In the sewers,” he said.

  “Where the Biohazards rule.”

  And just like that, their path forward twisted once more.