Chapter 1 - the new era…and a bit of overindulgence

Year 37, NE.

Twist was born in the New Era - and that was all he knew. Any knowledge of the Old Era was given to him through education, and on the extremely slim chance, stories from those who were from the Old Era. There weren’t many who survived from that era, no. And the ones who did were less than ready to speak on their stories, directly at least.
Elysium was not only the capital of Ceres, it was also one of the largest and strongest cities in the New Era. It was nicknamed the “Impenetrable City.” But it’s far from a perfect one. Of course, Twist would never say such a thing out loud. He may be one of the higher ranking Enforcers out there. But he was far from the highest. There walked the Eir’s Talons; the personal, handpicked guards of the Eir - aka the reigning lord of the nation. If there was anything most people could agree with, it was that you wanted to say out of the way of the Talons.

Staring into the skies of the world, Twist stood upon one of Elysium’s towering walls. Outside of the walls rested the Ceresan Outlands; a barren place, notable for its deep cave systems, and occasional Old Era Ruin. There were also the caravans, and nomads. But then there were the dangers - the reason why the city had the walls.
What dangers, Twist had not encountered, hoping not to. He hadn’t even set foot outside of the walls; an uncommon thing. He could only hear the stories. Stories of bandits, Outlanders, the occasional battles. But there were also the Devils; the beasts of the Old Era. It was rumoured that they had caused the end of the Old Era, but had been greatly weakened as a cost.

Twist turned to his right, moving across the walls. He was not alone up here of course; other people could be seen, tending to their morning duties. Twist was, of course, one of the only Enforcers up here, identified by his specialized weaponry and gear. Enforcers would conceal their identity, although they were a bit more relaxed than the Talons, who no one but the Eir and his closest circle knew the names of.
Having patrolled the walls through the day, Twist was reaching the end of that. He was tired - so he’d head over to his own abode..located a fair distance away from his current location. The sun was setting, and the sky darkening, dotted with clouds. Twist had been able to afford one of the better houses in the city..but as a cost (besides the actual money part) to himself, it was also located in the wealthier part of town - aka, towards the very back of Elysium, hugging near the wall of the mountain. It made for quite the exercise, walking back and forth sometimes. Although as a result, Twist learned the shortest routes to take.

Twist walked down the stairs into the main city itself. The city was…always busy. It rarely slept. Only when the alarms sounded, could you find the streets to be completely empty. But right now they were crowded - people moving along, pushing against each other. There was barely any room - Twist opted to take one of the side routes this time. He spun around and went into the side alleyways, heading past a few conversing merchants - none of which gave him a glance.
The side alleys were a bit quieter. Smaller, though. And a bit riskier - but who would try to attack an Enforcer? A rather tall one at that. The only thing he could do walking here was keep himself on guard, and hope his appearance was enough to deter anyone hoping to scavenge some coin. It was not unheard of, people selling Enforcer gear in the Outlands. They’d go into cities and find the rarest of the rare. Twist hardly understood why they’d do that. When they could live in a far safer city.
Twist barely suppressed a yelp as he felt his shoulder grabbed - and spun around, lifting one hand from his weapon, lifting his elbow to jab the attacker.
But they dodged - and with a surprised laugh, Twist recognized her, but wasn’t all too relaxed just yet.
“Jumpy, are you?” She grinned. It had to be Enola, another Enforcer of similar height to Twist. She nearly met his height of 6ft.
Exhaling, Twist turned away and blinked. “N..yes..just cautious. Here. What..what are you doing here anyways?” The question appeared in mind. Enola usually stuck to the wealthier side of the city. Seeing her out here was a bit surprising.
“Came to find you. Saw you as you were leaving the walls, so I followed you.”
“..You’ve been following me?”
“Since you left the walls, yes!”
Twist inwardly cursed. “Either you’re really good at sneaking, or I’m really bad at detecting people..”
“Both. It’s both.”
“Oh, screw off.” But Twist chuckled - his tone was light. Enola was one of his friends. Although he’d only met her when she joined the Enforcers, shortly after him. 3 months difference, he had to say. After a pause, he asked a question.
“Seriously, though. You couldn’t have come all this distance to see me. What is it really?”
Enola hummed. “There’s a new restaurant. Close to my place. Have you eaten tonight?”
Guessing what she was hinting at, Twist answered anyways. “No. But I was going to go home.”
“It’s also not that far from your place, you know. Kind of in the middle of both yours and mine - how convenient is that? Anyways, I was wondering if you would..go with me?”
The two continued to walk down the alleyway, nearly reaching the end. After a moment, Twist answered. He hadn’t eaten anything since before noon. It couldn’t hurt. “Sure. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Great! I’ll lead the way?” Enola smiled at his acceptance. Twist nodded, letting her take the lead. The two picked up pace slightly - exchanging minor conversation along the way. How was your day, what did you do, things you saw, etc. typical things. But they were soon at the restaurant in no time, arriving on one of the streets. Twist couldn’t help but note that it was quieter here - there was a bit of noise coming from the shop itself, lights were on - it was active. But the surrounding area was…weirdly quiet.
“Not that busy, despite opening night?” Twist questioned. Enola hummed, pondering the same question.
“I don’t know why. I think it’s just not that well known. I’m sure it’ll change, though.”
“Well. Let’s head in.”

The place wasn’t overly fancy - in fact, what caught his eye first was the fact the entire place was decorated with plants. It seemed to be a plant themed place. Twist debated touching one of the vines on the walls, to see it they were artificial or not - before deciding against it as Enola pulled him along.
“Hi!” Enola greeted the server, who glanced at the two with their lips thinned - before smiling, but it did not quite reach their eyes.
“Hello! Can I get you two a table?”
“Of course!”

The server was significantly shorter than the two of them. Around 5ft, maybe less. They simply smiled and led Enola and Twist on, towards an empty table. It wasn’t that hard to find, seeing as there were only three other filled tables.
“Do you need anything? I’ll be right back in a moment!” Enola waved at them as they left, but Twist couldn’t shake the odd feeling he got about that server. What did their nametag say? Mina. He’d remember that.
Enola pulled open a menu, and parted her lips. “Oh, wow. These all look so good.”
“What is there?” Twist questioned, still thrown off by the behaviour of the server.
Enola spun the menu around. “Take a look.”
Enola wasn’t lying - it did look good. She was only on the appetizers page. And all of it was surprisingly cheap, for Elysium standards. Had they advertised with their prices, Twist was sure there’d be far more business here. Assuming that the food was good quality, of course. The pictures may look good…but was it genuinely good?

“Let’s get the basket of buns and cheese puffs. That good with you? You’re not allergic, right?”
“No, I’m not allergic to anything.”
“Oh. Same here! Good to know.” In the nick of time, the server arrived, and Twist kept his head down, fiddling with his hands as Enola spoke their order.
“Alright! This won’t take long!”
And they were right. In the shortest time that Twist had ever waited, the food was on the table, hot and ready. “If you need anything, just shout!” The server moved away, heading to another table to tend to their needs.
It did not take long for the smell to enter his senses. He could swear that it made him far hungrier, his stomach suddenly growling quietly.
“Mm! These are good!” Apparently, while he was lost in thought, Enola decided to take the first bite. She gave him a thumbs up, and Twist stared for a moment - before reaching over and taking one of the puffs. He looked it over. There was something off about this whole place. And it was like he was the only one who realized. Could it be poisoned? For a moment, he glanced at Enola, fear creeping into his mind, but she seemed fine. Enola was smart, though. She’d realize if they were poisoned, he reassured himself - before lowering his own mask and taking a bite. More like, eating the whole thing. They were just bite sized things.

And damn. They were good.

As though he’d previously forgotten his own hesitation, Twist began to dig into the bread and puffs, matching Enola’s pace, maybe even faster. The two were focused on eating, not even pausing to look at each other. But when Twist’s fingers brushed against the bottom, he paused, and stared at Enola.
“Oh no,” she said. “We ran out.”
They both met eyes. “I could have sworn there was…more.” Twist swallowed his final bite of the buttered bread. And he couldn’t believe it, either. The fact that it was all gone. That, and the fact he felt like he was starving still. As if he’d gotten even hungrier since eating.
“Um..” Enola said. “Then good thing we can get more!” She propped up the menu again, this time flipping the page. “What looks good to you?”

Twist leaned forwards, inspecting the menu as she turned it towards him. “Sweet potato fries. And fish.”
“Good choice!” It was onto the main course, now. Enola summoned the server - Mina, over - and told them their orders.
“And would you.. like anything to drink, either of you?”
There were drinks? Twist almost said out loud. He didn’t have the menu. Did Enola know? But the look in her face told him she didn’t.
After their silence, Mina spoke again. “A suggestion, perhaps, our mead?”
“Sure, sure,” Twist answered, waving his hand. He was just so hungry. Get this over with, get the food already.
Mina nodded. “I’ll be right back!”
Despite that fact that it was a bigger meal, it took them the same amount of time to return with their food, drinks and all. They set it down.
“Enjoy!” This time, they did not say much as they moved away. Twist dismissed it, choosing not to dwell on it. He was more focused on eating. Twist was before Enola to take the first bite. The fish. It had to have been imported from somewhere else; in most cases, it would have made it extremely expensive. But it was cheap. So odd. But not enough for him to take his attention away from devouring his meal.
Enola was on the same wavelength, but not matching his speed at which he ate. The fries were delicious.
Finally, Twist began to feel his hunger fade. He sipped his drink - then took a larger drink, when he realized just how good it tasted.
“We’ve gotta come back here sometime, maybe invite some of the other Enforcers after their patrols. I’m sure they’d love it!” Enola commented.
“Mmhm. I’m sure they would,” Twist said.

When he finally finished, taking in the last drops of his drink, Twist leaned back - and immediately realized how full he was. He hadn’t even slowed down that entire time. He hadn’t even realized - how? He could feel a tightness in his stomach, pressing against his uniform. He took a few deep breaths.
“That was delicious. Oh! Says here we’ll get 50% off if we do the full course meal…which means we just have desserts left!”
“Mm..I think I would rather just pay the…”
“Server!” Enola called Mina over before he could finish his sentence. Twist leaned forwards, placing a hand to his stomach and pressing on it ever so slightly. It had indeed bloated. Not enough to be noticeable, but enough for him to draw his hand back, and get into a more comfortable position. He leaned backwards again, focusing on his breathing.
“We’ll have the hot fudge cake, please!”
“Will that be it?”
“Yes, thank you!”

Enola followed Twist’s actions as the server left. “Well, I know I’m gonna take a long nap after this. You..you don’t look too good..” Enola drifted off, sitting up and staring at Twist with some concern.
“I’m fine,” Twist exhaled. “Just thinking.” He wasn’t going to throw up or anything. But he couldn’t deny that he was, well, full.
Enola wasn’t completely convinced. But she didn’t press further. The server returned yet again, dropping off their…dessert. A literal cake - Twist was thinking of individual, small cakes. This was a full sized, chocolate cake, covered in hot fudge. He stiffened at the sight. Did they really have to finish it?
Enola did want the 50% thing, though. The food was cheap, but they’d have to pay next to nothing if they could get that bonus. Twist sat up again, staring at the towering thing - it was only one level, but it was a big cake. Fit for more a party if anything.
“Hmm..let’s dig in?”
After a pause, Twist answered. “..let’s.”

His eating speed wasn’t as fast as it was once before, but still considerably fast. But he was getting a bit past comfortably full, the pressure in his midsection only increasing. The chocolate was rich, and thickly slid down his throat in each swallow. The two had managed to get halfway through the cake, but it was at this point that Enola stopped. And Twist did too, wondering why.
“I can’t eat another bite..” Enola said, almost mournfully, leaning back into her chair. “But if we don’t finish this, we won’t get the…”
“You're.. I know, I can handle it.”
Enola looked up. “Really? I mean, you don’t have to-“
Twist lifted a hand. “It’s fine. But you owe me one.”
Perhaps he shouldn’t have offered to finish the rest of the half. The half of the very large, rich cake. Once he was done, Twist felt as though he was going to burst. His belly pressed against what he was wearing at the moment. Enola watched him for a few seconds, then called the server back over, presumably to pay their fee. Twist muted the two out as he tended to his own problems. His hand moved down to his belts - Twist debated if he should undo them. He decided he would, at the very least, one. Which one - he decided on the upper one, to give his stomach some more breathing room. He winced as the pressure, and mild pain he didn’t even know he was feeling, released. Twist was a bit curious - he attempted to redo the belt again, but found he had significant trouble in doing do. He’d need to lay down and suck in if he wanted it done back up. Which he couldn’t do here. And it’s not like he wanted to either way.
He could still feel the tightness, wanting to take off the restraints. But he couldn’t. That would be unprofessional. He was pushing it by undoing one of his belts.

“Alright, we’re all paid for!” Enola announced, barely taking note that Twist was inspecting his midsection. “Let’s get home already, I’m tired.”
“So am I..” Twist mumbled.
“Have a good day!” Mina said, smiling - as the two stuffed Enforcers stood up. Twist, with a bit more difficulty than Enola. Enola offered him her support - assuming his difficulty in walking was due to the alcohol the two had consumed. He accepted.
The two stumbled out into the streets, and Twist stifled a burp.
“Excuse you.” Enola mumbled, looking around. “I think we can walk down this street, and then part ways. Will you be fine on your own?”
“Yeah. It shouldn’t be a long walk, I..recognize some of these buildings.”
“Great. Let’s go, now. It’s late.”
They moved down the streets - dimly lit by the lanterns. It wasn’t long before they reached the crossroads, and Enola said her goodbyes - but checking in on Twist, making sure he was fine to go on his own. Twist assured her, to the best of his ability that he was fine. “See you..tomorrow, probably.”
“Yeah, tomorrow,” Enola nodded. “Goodnight, Twist.”
“Goodnight, Enola.”
And the two parted ways.

——————
Author’s notes:

my return to this site at last! with a new story. some notes - I’m a bit of a worldbuilder. While this still is a wg story, I will take some time to describe the lore and history of this world. i won’t say much on the world here, aside from the fact it is a post apocalyptic setting.
although mutual wg is a thing in this story, it will have a primary focus on the MC, Twist. this is simply due to my preferences.