Versi and Mono glare at each other as the air in the room grows tense. Turning his head away, Mono says, "We can debate all we want, but understand that the opinion of just you and me doesn't matter; it's the opinion of us all, and that will show itself in more than one way regardless of whether you choose to listen to it or not."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, it's a warning Versi, of how humans behave when they are pushed to their limits."
"I understand, but if you think this is being pushed to your limit, you have seen the true horrors of this world."
ΦRubbing my hair as the words from inside the room start to quiet down, I say, "I really didn't want to hear all of that."
Turning it towards the basin of water, I say, "It seems like we lost our opportunity to deliver this; I guess we should just leave it here and watch as they leav-."
Looking at Siegrund, I see him dead asleep, without a single peep coming out of his body like a corpse. His hands look weary, his eyes seem heavy, his body looks like it could collapse in on itself at any moment. I guess he really has been keeping things safe for everyone, but to think even he has visible limits."
Hearing footsteps come out of the door, I quickly grab his body and throw it on my back before dashing off, and say, "You're surprisingly light, I guess swords are precision weapons at the end of the day."
I continue to move at full speed, and as I do, my eyes take in the sight of the village around me, the air, the land, the animals, the people that all used to roam free and unimpeded, are distorted from what they once were, and deep in my stomach somewhere it makes me feel sick.
-Break-
Location: Zaad Ziener; Grasslands
Stretching my back as I move through the field, I say, "No one should be able to find him here, you;ll get a good rest."
Rubbing my chin, I say, "But if he is asleep, couldn't I escape?"
In an instant, his body rises as he sits up with one eye barely open. He mumbles, "Escape?"
Jumping back in a fright, I say, "I was joking, okay!"
He instantly falls back down into his sleep, causing me to say, "I don't want to know what punishments he has automated his body to give me in case he finds me running away."
Turning around and walking through the fields, I take in all of the air moving through my lungs, and look at the flowers around me. Their size was so big they used to cover me multiple times over, and would've still in my adult life, but now they are barely at my height.
Now they fight with the very same humans who take in their sustenance for air and water that used to fall on them; even now our machinations have made the abundance of sunlight fail to reach certain sections of them.
You could've gotten lost in the flowers every single day without a single person being able to reach you, as even sound was dampened by their size, but now I can hear every single scream and whisper clearly, though it's not like anyone would come down here during a working da-.
"SIEGRUND PLEASE HELP!" I hear a voice yell.
I jump up using Spirit Energy to boost myself into the air, then fall down towards where I see a lady yelling, and say, "What's wrong?"
"I am looking for Siegrund; we need his help urgently."
"Did something happen?"
"A child has been taken hostage?"
"What? Were."
"Close to the centre of the village. None of are capable of disarming the man; we need Siegrund to come in and help us."
"I see. If you continue in this direction, you'll see him passed out in the middle of the grass, but he is a rather deep sleeper, so I don't know how long it will take to get him up, I will head down in his stead and see if I can do anything."
-Break-
Location: Village of Zaad Zeiner
Arriving in the middle of the village, a large crowd of people have been gathered, forming a circle. I push my way through till I reach close to the front, and there I see a foreigner holding a knife right up to a kid, yet the closer I look, the more familiar the boy's face becomes to me. It's Bell's son.
That idiot, can't he stop getting himself in trouble?
Staring at his eyes, I see tears running down them as he sits in the lap of the man behind him. The man starts pressing the knife closer and says, "HEY, I ALREADY TOLD YOU EVERYONE BETTER THAN STILL OR ELSE I WILL END THIS CHILD'S LIFE. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A SINGLE SOUND FROM BEHIND ME, OR EYESBALLS FLY, YOU GOT THAT! IF I EVEN SENSE SIEGRUND'S PRESENCE, THE KID DIES, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Staring at his body, I see Spirit Energy flowing through it. This is an awful situation. If I try to blitz him, he will sense me and end that kid, and it's not like we have any ranged or Cursed Weapons to kill him with. Maybe Siegrund could throw Hrunting and strike his head, but the sound would set him off, and I doubt Siegrund would take such a risk with unclear returns.
I could try to scurry to his side, but after my fight with Bell, I think he might recognise me enough to keep his watch out, and I don't think I would be able to reach him in time. The best thing to do would be to wait for his arm to tire, and then throw a stone at him at full force, allowing Siegrund in that moment to rescue the child.
Though I need to wait for him to wake up, so for now all I can do is sneak around before he catches on to my prese-
In front of my eyes, through the crowd, my father walks out, moving slowly towards the foreigner in the middle of the crowd.
Φ Looking at Versi walk towards him, the man says, "STOP MOVING!" As he presses the knife closer towards Bell's son's neck, making a little blood drip down.
Holding up his hand, Versi says, "You don't need to hurt Ring. I come only to watch the boy and calm his nerves so he doesn't do anything stupid."
Staring at the boy, the man says, "If he tries to do anything, I will kill him. Stop pretending."
"Of course you would; any normal adult can understand him, but don't forget that he is a child, and it is better me to be here than his father, whose current state would only work the boy up in a negative way. Besides, we can have a nice chat."
Sitting down cross-legged, Versi smiles at the man, who says, "I don't want to speak; I just want the things I asked for!"
"They're already on their way. Transportation out of the city along with all the money and food you could need. Just be patient."
"You have an hour, or the kid dies. I have no plan to be tricked when I am tired."
"I know, I know, but before they get here, could you tell me your name?"
"As if I want to talk."
"Too bad. But I happen to be a funny guy who has a plethora of A-Grade comedy material. Why does a skeleton never argue?"
The man glares at Versi, who says, "Because a skeleton has no guts!"
Silence fills the area at the presence of his joke, with the only exception being Captivant, who holds back a laugh, along with Ring, who bursts out in a combination of laughter and tears.
Rubbing the back of his head, Versi says, "I know a bunch of others do; you want to hear?"
"Get the fuck away from me, or I will gut this kid like a cow!"
"My voice is so annoying that you'd give up your entire chance of escape and be brutally tortured and ripped to shreds by all the people around you with absolutely no benefit to yourself, just because of little old me? Really? I am that special to you?"
Annoyed, the man grits his teeth in frustration and says, "You can talk all you want your getting no more responses from me."
Twiddling his thumbs, Versi says, "A long time ago, I went out into the forest; it was just like every other time I did when playing with my friends, but at the end of it all I got lost chasing a beetle and wound up far deeper in it than ever before. This was back when our forests were so lush and giant, someone would probably register them as a Dungeon if we didn't have the Windmills.
In that maze of greenery, I couldn't find my way back and was stuck there for a week. On the first day, I enjoyed the adventure, waiting for someone to come and get me that was until I got hungry and tried to get home. But I only got more lost, and as sounds started to emerge from around me, the fear started to hit me. I was hungry, I was thirsty, I didn't know where I was or when I was going to be found; for the first time in my life had contemplated the fact that I could actually die.
I cried, I screamed, I prayed, I did whatever I could think of to escape the current situation, but in my efforts I found no way out, and on the third day, as I started to rot away, I did whatever I could to survive. I scooped up whatever puddles of water I could find, ate whatever bugs on the ground I could to survive, I shat on the ground, I ran and climbed to where I needed to hide from predators, and let my voice roar out whenever it was safe to find those who could protect me.
And at the end of that weak I was found, I was brought home, yet the fear never left, the fear of such an existence, fear that even someone like me with all the inheritance I had be given as a citizen of Zaad Zienner, didn't help me in that moment, that the language, clothes, class, morals, I had to be given didn't stop me from being rendered to such a state. The fear that filled my vessel is what opened up my heart, as I realised what it means to be scared, and what it truly means to survive with your life on the line, even if it means taking a kid hostage, even if it means trying to end everyone for the sake of your goals. I know that even a good man can be rendered into such a state by the world. Even you."
The hand of the foreigner shakes, yet he steadies it and says, "Then bring me my goods, bring me more than I could ever need. Make it so my belly never goes empty, make it so that my bed is as soft as can be, make it so that any woman my eyes wish to have lies with me. If you understand, give me everything so that this fear disappears!"
Disgust rises on Captivant's face, yet Versi stays in the same state as he says, "I learned something that day: empathy, the ability to understand other people's hearts, but deep inside me I had another thought. That the reason I was able to live an existence so separate from that nightmare is that people stood beside me; it's because others loved me, and right now you're hurting those whose hearts could open up to your own, you fool."