Editor's Note: So, Ren here. I edit SQN for C, and I apologize in advance for the boring ending of this chapter. The truth is, there was supposed to be another scene, but I couldn't resist posting this because it has been so long since Chapter 1 was up. And any grammar/spelling errors can be blamed on me, not C, since I'm in charge of that. Story complaints can go to C!

Just a brief heads up- I created a LiveJournal community for this story, in case there are any fans interested. It will contain semi-official artwork from me (official since they are drawn with instructions from C. Atelier) and interviews with the author.

Just go to lj and look up sqnatelier.

Sine Qua Non

2.00. Rocks and Scissors

Ternasbara- the city capital of Aksamlad. Located deep in the heart of the state, it was bordered by deserts to the east and west, the plains to the south, and the Ranphormos Highway to the north. Dusty dry winds blew through the city streets, the desert heat forcing people to seek the shade provided by the clay and stone buildings.

In this flourishing trade center, the people were segregated into classes, forming a solid social pyramid over the centuries. At the bottom, the street urchins and penniless beggars resided in the detested lower town, the slums located under Ternasbara. Those at the top of the pyramid owned luxurious rooms in the Imperial palace, long vacated by royalty to provide high class residencies. In between the two extremes, the merchants and shopkeepers stayed in apartments near their shops or stalls, making up the competitive middle class, always looking for ways to move up and not drop down.

In such a caste-orientated society, there was only one position for the four boys- way down under.

:2.01:

Sydney wrinkled his nose at the noxious odor in the air as the four boys followed an old man down the cold stone staircase leading to the lower town. Martin and Julian had been asking a guard about shelter when the old man, hunched over and dressed in foul rags, approached them, going on about some empty house that they could take. The boys agreed hesitantly, wary of the man's appearance and senile disposition, but also unenthusiastic about spending a night on foreign streets. Thus, they let the old man lead them through the city's maze of alleys.

Right now, the further down the stairs they descended, the stronger the stench of sewage and sweat quickly became. Next to the youngest boy, Martin made a face before covering his nose and mouth with a hand. Jay seemed unaffected, looking around at the grimy walls in interest while Julian tried to breathe as lightly as possible, striding forward with a determined expression.

“Where you young'uns from?” The old man asked, casting a bug-eyed glance behind him at the suffering boys.

“Dia-” Sydney's response was quickly cut off by Martin's hand clapped across his mouth. He licked the hand, snickering as Martin yanked it away as if burnt and made a startled sort of “gyugh!” noise before sending an irritated scowl to the grinning kid.

Thankfully, the old man was laughing enough at their antics that he had forgotten his own question.

Julian breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the man to resume walking down into the slums. Soon, they reached the rusted metal gate leading to the lower town. It swung open with a screech and the five stepped out of the staircase, immediately assaulted by a wave of humid heat and sickening stenches. On the sides of the roads, various vendors had their meager wares on display on tattered rugs, while orphans sat on barrels and crates lining the streets. The boys followed the old man past a large open area where the denizens gathered as traveling merchants auctioned their goods. Stray cats and mongrels brushed by the boys' feet as the animals scoured the ground for scraps of food.

Finally, they arrived at a small alley. The old man pointed a wizened hand at the door in the tiled wall.

“There. Long time no one has lived there. Big enough for four brats like you. Has a stove, too, but might not be working,” he muttered, nodding at the door. He gave a wheezing laugh, then turned and walked out of the alley, scratching his chin and murmuring to himself. The boys stared after him for a minute, but then immediately turned back to regard the door with a sort of dubious curiosity. Jay pushed it open and they stepped in one by one.

“Not much, is there?” Julian's comments earned a few nods. A tiny cot in the corner, an old iron stove and a grime-covered glowing stone in the wall as the only light source... It was certainly a far cry from their Academy dorm rooms, covered in satin and connected to private baths. Here, there was only a chamber pot which they all stared at in disgust.

They looked at the cot and then at each other. Immediately, Sydney pounced onto the bed shouting dibs on it. Jay shoved him off a split second later, but Martin immediately jumped onto the oldest boy, sending him sprawling. Soon, a dogpile formed on the tiny bed. Under Sydney and Julian, Martin said something unintelligible.

“What was that?” Sydney lifted his knee off of the older boy's face to look at him questioningly.

“This,” Martin said, untangling himself from the pile of lanky limbs, “is not working. Let's do rock-paper-scissors or something.”

“No way! I ALWAYS lose at that,” Jay roared, standing up quickly and causing yelps of indignation as Sydney and Julian fell off of him and onto the ground.

“That's because you always throw rock, moron,”Julian grumbled and stood up, gingerly rubbing his back.

“Do not!”

Julian glared at the oldest boy while smoothing out his auburn locks. “Jay, when I first taught it to you, you tossed an actual rock. Remember that whole speech you gave about how it was better than paper or scissors because it flew better?” Jay sputtered angrily, but ended up just crossing his arms.

“Are you serious?” Sydney cackled on the ground, earning a swift kick from Jay. Wincing, the youngest boy stood up, rubbing his ribs. “You should be happy he didn't try throwing scissors. They fly the best.”

Julian blanched. “Let's just get this done with.”

Five minutes later, Martin sat on the bed triumphantly.

“Why didn't I win? I didn't use rock this time,” Jay whined at a miserable Julian, who swatted him away.

“We all knew you were going to use scissors after hearing what Sydney said. Shut up and go away,” Julian snapped, trying to shove the petulant young man away from him. “Go find a bed outside or something.” Jay sighed at the advice, mentally contemplating whether or not his laziness permitted him to go through so much work. In the end, he looked at the slimy tile floor and left the room with a slam of the door.

Meanwhile, Sydney was trying his hardest to win over Martin, who, although admittedly not as difficult to convince as Julian was, was pretty dead set on sleeping on somewhere that was not hard and slippery.

“Can't I just sleep on you?!” Sydney's whining made Martin look at him until the older boy realized that the younger one was serious, at which point the conversation became a mad scramble to simultaneously protect the bed and get away from Sydney. Julian watched from the side, wondering if he should drag the younger boy away before Martin died from panic.

:2.02:

Jay kicked a bottle into the gutter as he strolled around the alleyways, hoping a queen-sized bed would materialize. Perhaps, if he focused enough, he could will it to exist... Determined he put all his energy into imagining a bed with a fifty thousand dollar mattress and silk sheets and fluffy pillows and...

A girl walked by, clad in a bikini top and a skirt which barely covered her hips. He watched her long blond hair dip past her waist, accentuating her rear. She looked at him over her shoulder. He smirked back, running a thumb over his lip, cheering inwardly as she licked her lips at his movement. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she walked away.

With his eyes glued to her long, tan legs, Jay was completely unaware of the presence behind him until...

SMACK.

“Ow, what the fucking hell?” He spun around to face Julian, who leaned away from him at his outburst.

“I thought you were going to find a bed, not a bed partner.” The younger of the two crossed his arms and raised an accusing brow. “I should have known that anything with two legs and long hair would distract you.”

“You don't distract me!” Jay retorted, scowling at the insult.

Julian glared before flipping his hair off of his shoulders. “My hair's not long! It's barely past my shoulders!” Eyes flashing with anger, he continued, jabbing Jay in the chest to emphasize his words. “And what does that mean? Are you calling me a girl? Is it because I'm short? Huh? Do you have a problem with that?”

Jay backed away quickly, his face pale. As short as Julian was, it did nothing to decrease his intimidating air he gave off. “N-no, not short at all! You're big and... manly... and PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!”

The other boy winced at the high-pitched wail with which Jay's sentence ended, looking around to see if anyone was about to report the noise to authorities. “Shut up, moron! Are you trying to break windows?”

Jay looked at him with an affronted look. “I'm not that bad.”

And thus the two bickered for an hour more until someone tossed a dead mattress out the window, which lead to more screaming from Jay.

:2.03:

“I thought it was a zombie!” Jay's complaining made Julian roll his eyes as the two lifted the mattress. “Like, a flesh eating, brain sucking zombie! Weren't you afraid? You were, weren't you? I mean, I screamed, but it's not like I was the only scared, right?”

Julian looked up to see Jay staring at him intently, frowning in expectation. He sighed. “Jay. Shut up and start walking. Tell me if I'm going to run into anything.”

“Ok.” Jay peered around Julian. “Large pile of trash to your left.”

CRASH.

“Your... other left?”

Julian directed all the stress and frustration building up inside him into a string of curses aimed at the sheepish boy across from him.

They hoisted the mattress around for a while. Then, they hoisted it around some more. Finally, Julian stopped walking with a dark scowl on his face.

“Jay. Switch directions with me.”

“Why?”

Julian tried to count to ten. Tried to remind himself that ripping Jay's head off would count as homicide. Tried to ignore the building fury.

“Because, moron, you got us LOST. We've been past this store THREE TIMES. I should have known better than to let you navigate...”

:2.04:

“I'm hungry.” Sydney groaned and stared at the ceiling. Looking over at the sleeping Martin, he stood up from the bed and stretched. Hands behind his neck, the boy kicked the door open and stepped outside.

“Food...” There is much to be said for the motivating powers of hunger, and Sydney felt like he could probably eat a bear before it ate him currently. Aimlessly, he wandered through the alleys, salivating at the sight of roasted meats laid out by vendors and having to stick his hands in his pockets in order to resist the urge to snatch the food right from the stands.

“Hey, kid.”

Sydney looked up from a row of shish-kabobs at the cook behind the stand. The man was large and burly. Sydney stepped away from the food and considered running, glancing at the butcher's knife in the man's hand warily.

“Hey,” the man addressed him again, putting down the knife. He waved at the boy to come closer. Sydney approached him carefully, still eying the knife. “You new around here or something?”

A nod.

“Got a job?” Sydney looked at him in confusion before replying in the negative. Looking the boy over, the man nodded in approval. “I need a cook. I'll pay you ten dollars an hour and some more depending on how good business is.”

Blinking in bewilderment, Sydney tried to see if the man was tricking him. “I don't know how to cook.”

The man rolled his eyes and pointed at the kabobs. “All you have to do is make sure these don't burn. I'll do the marinating and preparation, you just turn the kabobs for me and serve them up when they're ready.” He watched as Sydney considered the offer. Finally, after much contemplation, a roar of the boy's stomach settled the issue.

:NEXT: