“Hm?”
They all looked at Arthur curiously. The boy had been silent the entire time, looking elsewhere as if he was searching for something. He was listening to Isla speaking but also kept looking around, knowing exactly what she was trying to reach.
They slowly approached him and looked where he was pointing. They didn’t know what else was there to unravel but if it was anything useful.
“Look at these lines.” He said as he pointed at the ground. Looking there, they all saw a weird set of lines going left and right in a rather organized yet also chaotic manner.
“The way these lines move… They don’t look like they’re just pointless prints.” He muttered. Arthur squinted his eyes as he inspected every single detail of the lines.
“… What even is it then?” Herculia asked.
“…”
“…”
The group continued staring at the lines until Arthur finally snapped his fingers as he was struck with an epiphany.
“A map! It’s a goddamn map!” He exclaimed.
“… A map?” Emmy asked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes! Look at this particular point, it’s dug deeper than the rest of the lines. That’s where the map starts, which is our current position. Then, the line moves up here, then left, right, and stretches very far.” He muttered as he quickly opened his map. “One of the kids drew this! I am certain of it!”
‘Good work, you guys!’ He thought to himself as he smiled widely.
“Wow… Those three… They’re always impressing me. Even in such a brutal moment, they were able to leave a trace for us to find them.” Danny crossed his arms with a proud look on his face.
“We have to find them now!”
Meanwhile, Isla kept staring at Arthur without blinking. ‘The fact he noticed this small detail and didn’t think it was just some random prints… His perception had always been something impressive.’
Isla was quite the perceptive person herself, but even she knew she didn’t hold a candle to Arthur when it came to this particular aspect. The boy could see things even she couldn’t see. Something about his eyes was truly magical.
“It goes… From here…” Oblivious to all of that, the boy started tracing the path on his map, going from one street to another as he crossed the large city. Eventually, the line finally stopped at a particular spot. Arthur’s flashed with a weird glint. Looking up at his friends, he said in a cold tone.
“I found them.”
***
Far away from where the group was situated at that moment, inside a very dark and humid place somewhere in the city, Sora slowly opened her eyes as she faintly looked up dazedly at her surroundings.
“Ugh…” She groaned as felt sharp pain assault every part of her body as if she had a strong beating beforehand… Which wasn’t far from the truth. Looking down at her body, she saw traces of blood on her dirty clothes.
She could feel the pulsing pain from all the beating she suffered. It still hurt a lot and it still was horrifying. After being captured by the men and dragged back to this hell, she was beaten up again and again for several hours before she was thrown into that dark cell and then left there to rot.
She didn’t know what happened to Finlay and Serko as they were taken somewhere else. They were completely unconscious and still bleeding when she last saw them.
The girl stared blankly at the dark wall. No emotions were left in her eyes. Everything she wished for was completely shattered in front of her eyes. Even the people she trusted were harmed and it was all because of her.
“…”
In that dark cell, she watched her life end once, and now she was watching that happen again. But, for some reason, she really couldn’t feel anything anymore. Things suddenly became cold, colder than even the floor she was sitting on.
She didn’t care anymore about anything. She didn’t care if she lived or died, breathed or suffocated, or even smiled or cursed. She just didn’t want to do anything anymore.
“…”
Resting her back against the wall, she closed her eyes and sat there, feeling the pulsing pain in her body. ‘I’m tired…’
She pursed her lips as she slowly wrapped her arms around her legs. ‘Really tired…’
As she was like that, she heard footsteps approaching her cell from outside. The echo of these steps had become something she heard every single day and was always for one of two reasons, either for another session of beating or to give her some food and both were equally bad.
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However, this time, when the door opened, she didn’t hear someone put a plate down or approach her. Instead, she heard two loud thuds. Looking up slowly, she saw two bodies being dropped on the ground.
Slowly, Sora’s eyes widened as she realized who they were. ‘Finlay… Serko…’
“Tsk, to think we would find a bunch of disgusting dwarves inside that place. What the hell is this? I can’t believe I had to even treat these nasty bastards.” One of the two guards said.
“Shut your mouth. Boss told us to treat their wounds as he was going to send them back to the wall. You better not complain in front of him or both of us are dead.” The other man replied.
“Tsk, I know, bastard. Don’t tell me what to do.” He said as he turned around and walked outside, closing the cell again as if they didn’t care at all. They didn’t even bother staring at Sora.
When the girl heard them walk away, she looked at the two kids, and then slowly, she dragged her tired body toward them. An incomprehensible look flashed across her eyes as she saw their tattered bodies.
“Finlay… Serko…” She muttered as she stopped in front of them. The two were motionless, but she could hear their small whimpers and it only tore her heart apart even more. They looked simply horrifying… Their injuries and the blood spots on her body were a small indication of the hell they went through.
She was in pain, yet they were in even more pain, unable to even speak. Sora stared at them with a broken look on her face.
“I’m sorry…” She eventually spoke. “I’m really sorry…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she kept repeating the same sentence again and again and again. That was all she could think of. She apologized for their pain, she apologized for making them go through hell for her, and she apologized for even existing in their lives and bringing them so much pain for no reason.
If she simply didn’t exist, things would’ve been far better for everyone.
“I’m sor-“
At that moment, she realized that Finlay had lifted his hand slowly and put it on her hand.
“It’s… fine.” He said with whatever energy he had left in his small body. “You… did… nothing wrong… Cough! Cough!”
Sora stared at him with wide eyes. “No! I-“
“You… are… our friend… We won’t let them… take you… Believe in Arthur…” He said as he held his side, trying to breathe with immense pain.
But, those words he said, struck Sora strongly. They reminded her of what Arthur told her just yesterday as he smiled at her.
‘You’re in safe hands.’
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3