From Moving Crates to Killing Gods-Chapter 49: Pillow Attack

I looked over the edge of the rooftop and immediately regretted it. Five stories of silver wall stretched between me and the ground, with nothing to hold at, zero things to use as handholds. My vow had outdone itself this time, leaving me stranded like a cat that had climbed too high up a tree.

Only I hadn’t climbed here, I’d just woken up, taken a step out of bed, and somehow teleported to the top of a building I’d never seen before in a part of Argent I barely recognized.

"Great. Perfect. Exactly what I needed today." I muttered, backing away from the edge. The rooftop was flat and empty except for a large silver panel that seemed to be covering some kind of maintenance access. The silver gleamed in the morning light, catching the artificial green glow that filtered through Argent’s barrier.

I couldn’t tell anyone about my vow, the system had been clear about the consequences, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. Randomly appearing in strange places was becoming a real inconvenience, especially when those places were rooftops with no obvious way down.

I approached the silver panel, my boots scraping against the gritty surface of the roof. The panel looked like it might be an entrance, but it was firmly sealed, the edges melded to the surrounding surface. No latches, no handles, no way in.

"Alright." I said to the empty air. "Time to test if my ability works on building parts."

I took out a boot and placed it in my hand, getting ready to do a switch. Since becoming Level 2 and acquiring my boon, I’d noticed that using Switch required significantly less effort. I had only used it for grabbing meat from the fridge without opening it, but still. What once would have caused a nosebleed now felt like drinking water.

I focused on the center of the silver panel, visualizing the swap. My boot for a section of the panel just large enough to create an opening. Not the entire thing, I didn’t want to replace the whole roof, just enough for me to fit through.

Switch.

The boot vanished from my hand, and with a soft metallic sound, a circular section of the silver panel appeared in my palm instead. It was surprisingly light, almost weightless compared to its size, and slightly warm to the touch. Below where it had been, a person sized hole could be seen.

I peered down into darkness. The hole revealed a drop into what appeared to be an enclosed space. I could make out vague shapes in the gloom but nothing distinct. At least it wasn’t another five story drop.

With a sigh, I lowered myself down through the opening, hanging briefly from the edge before dropping to the floor below. My feet hit with a soft thud that seemed thunderously loud in the quiet space.

The darkness closed around me like a fist. I blinked rapidly, waiting for my eyes to adjust. The room smelled of dust and something sweeter, baked goods, maybe? The shapes around me gradually resolved into what looked like furniture, low and scattered throughout the space.

Before I could make sense of my surroundings, something soft but surprisingly forceful slammed into my back.

"Thief!" A high pitched voice shrieked. "Dirty thief coming through the roof!"

I spun around to find myself facing a small girl, no more than eight years old, wielding what appeared to be a pillow with surprising effectiveness. She swung it again, catching me across the face with enough force to make me step back.

"Wait! I’m not..." I tried to explain, raising my hands defensively, but she was already winding up for another strike.

"Cami, stop!" Another voice cut through the darkness. "Lights first, then attack, remember?"

The small girl, Cami, paused mid swing, her face a mask of fierce determination. In the dim light filtering through the hole I’d created, I could see wild, unkempt hair framing a chubby face. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of the dormitories, yet there was a fierceness in her stance.

A soft click echoed through the room, and light bloomed from small lanterns placed strategically around what I now realized was a makeshift living space. Cots and bedrolls were arranged along the walls. A table made from salvaged materials stood in the center, surrounded by mismatched chairs. In one corner, a curtain partially hid what might have been a washing area.

And there were more children, three other girls of varying ages, all now sitting up from their sleeping positions, staring at me with expressions ranging from fear to curiosity to outright hostility.

"He came through the roof!" Cami declared, still clutching her pillow weapon. "I told you we needed better security!"

The oldest of the girls, maybe nineteen or twenty, stepped forward. She had the weary eyes of someone who’d carried responsibility for too long, but her movements were deliberate, controlled.

"Who are you?" she asked, positioning herself between me and the younger girls. "What do you want?"

I realized how I must look to them, a stranger dropping through their ceiling in the morning, wearing only one boot, my hair as messy as it could get thanks to the unexpected rush of air.

"I’m Allaran." I said, lowering my hands slowly. "I’m a One. I survived the exile a couple of weeks ago."

Their reactions were immediate. The youngest, Cami, lowered her pillow slightly. The oldest narrowed her eyes, skeptical but interested.

"A One?" A girl of maybe twelve or thirteen whispered from her cot. "Like, a real One?"

"If you’re a One." said another, slightly older, "why are you breaking into our home through the roof?"

The oldest girl studied me more carefully now. "Jazy, Bubble, be quiet. Let him explain."

I sighed, trying to think of how to explain without mentioning my vow. "I got lost. I was on the roof and couldn’t find a way down, so I... made one." I held up the silver disk still in my hand. "My ability lets me switch objects. I switched this with my boot to create an opening."

"He’s lying!" Cami declared. "Ones don’t get lost. They know everything!"

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. "We definitely don’t know everything. Trust me."

The oldest girl’s posture relaxed slightly. "I’m Mia." she said. "These are Cami, Jazy, and Bubble." She gestured to each in turn, the fierce little one, the quiet middle one, and the skeptical teenager.

"Why are you living here?" I asked, looking around at their makeshift home. "Why not in the dormitories?"

The girls exchanged glances, a silent communication passing between them.

"The dormitories aren’t safe for girls." Mia finally said. "We found this place empty. No one uses it. So we made it home."

"We’re family." Cami added fiercely. "We protect each other."

I nodded slowly, understanding dawning. I’d heard whispers in the orphanage about what happened to some kids, especially girls, when supervisors looked the other way. How some created their own families, their own safe spaces away from the usual way.

"And they’re going to take Mia away next year..." Bubble said, her voice tight with suppressed emotion. "She is turning twenty one."

The words hung in the air, heavy with implication. Exile. The death sentence that had claimed forty seven of my fifty three peers. The thing I’d somehow survived.

"That’s why Cami attacked you." Jazy explained quietly. "She thinks if she’s fierce enough, she can protect Mia from being taken."

Cami didn’t deny it, just lifted her chin defiantly, her small hands still gripping the pillow like it could somehow shield them all from Argent’s cruel system.

Mia ruffled Cami’s hair gently. "We were assigned to the bakery." she explained to me. "We eat bread and live normal lives. We manage."

I looked at the silver disk in my hand, then up at the hole in their ceiling. "I’m sorry about your roof. I’ll fix it."

"How?" Bubble challenged. "By switching it back? I don’t think it will remain sturdy."

She had a point, Switch didn’t allow me to repair things.

"I’ll bring someone who can fix it properly." I promised. "And some compensation for the trouble."

Cami’s eyes narrowed. "Why would you help us? What do you want?"

The question hit harder than her pillow had. What did I want? Why did I care about these four random girls I’d literally just dropped in on?

But I knew the answer even as the question formed. I’d seen too many people die during exile. Too many faces vanish forever. And now I was looking at Mia, marked for the same fate next year, with three younger girls depending on her.

"Because I can." I said simply.

Mia’s expression softened slightly. "We’ll hold you to that promise. A fixed roof. By tomorrow."

"Deal." I nodded, while carrying the silver disk. "I’ll be back before sunset."

"If you’re not." Cami warned, wielding her pillow once more, "I’ll hunt you down. I know what Ones look like now."

I couldn’t help but smile. "I believe you would."