Chapter 25 - Birdcage

Soon enough, Dionysia was in its final stages. Everybody had regrouped, and Dominic pulled me off to the side to speak.

“You haven’t trained in quite a bit. Follow me.”

I was rather confused. Why would I need to train if I wasn’t going to fight?

I followed him away from everybody else as he led me into an empty warehouse with tens of extra swords lying around.

“This used to be my training room. It’s abandoned now, so it’ll be good to give it some use.”

He lifted his sword and spun it, before gripping the hilt and pointing it towards my heart.

“It’s always nice to stay sharp, even without a certain reason. A bit hypocritical for me to enjoy aimless training, but it doesn’t matter.”

He seemed more enthusiastic here than he was at the festival, so I felt as if I needed to.

I picked up the sword and seized it with both hands. I was unfamiliar with how to wield it, due to my only experience being with Ame’s water blade.

I swung it, but it was rather slow.

“Nell, swing with the sharp part in the direction you want to cut. It’ll be faster.”

I nodded and tried again.

He was right. It did go faster.

I smiled slightly, happy that I was learning through experience.

“If you have magic, you can use objects as catalysts for them, not that I would know though. Swords work particularly well for precision because they have concentrated tips.” Dominic said.

I nodded again and pointed the sword at the wall as he spoke.

“I saw you use enhanced coating against Justin Beckwith, so just try and shoot it out the tip. I don’t know the specifics. It’s been a while since I’ve taught anybody as well. Ask Kaya to teach you later.”

I, yet again, nodded and attempted to shoot RME out of the tip. I wasn’t sure how it would work, so I first coated it. I then slid the magic coating down the sword as if I was wiping water off of it, until it reached the tip.

I released it all at once, and it shot out as a tiny beam, similar to the light the little balls of RME would make when they scattered.

It hit the wooden wall and broke it as Dominic clapped.

“Good job, Nell. You learn fast. I’m proud of you.”

I smiled softly as I gripped the hilt of the sword.

Despite how I may have looked, I wanted to show off a little. When Dominic said he was proud of me, it was an incredibly nice feeling. I wanted to hear it again.

I pointed my sword at the wall again as I put a much larger amount of RME into it.

I closed my eyes and focused all my energy.

The door behind me slammed open.

“Surprise!”

Ame burst in and launched a light ball of water at me.

I had less than a second to turn to him. We both stared at each other in horror as the water magic collided with the RME on the sword.

BOOM!

The entire room blew up as I was shot back, but suddenly got stopped.

I was propped up against a tall man’s leg.

He was rather well dressed, with an expensive looking Cittaglian outfit. His hair, going down to his lower neck, looked similar to Dominic’s despite being a darker brown and a bit more curly. He looked more muscular than a majority of other people I had seen, but was still slim.

He had a golden metallic armband on his forearm and wrist with astral designs on it. He had a deep navy blue shirt that was thin and shaped to his muscles, and a royal military cape looking thing that I had only seen something similar to with Justin Beckwith’s outfit.

His boots were thin, high, heeled, and black, unlike Dominic’s military boots. The thing my eyes were drawn to when I was thrown back was his head. More importantly, what was on top of it. A golden leaf crown, topped with 5 modest gems, laid on his head, almost slipping off but held firm in place.

He spoke, pronouncing each word clearly.

“Dionysia is no place for your folly, imbecile. Go back home before I send you there myself. I will not let a single child’s absurdity ruin my evening.”

He softly kicked me away and put on his glasses.

After a moment, he turned his gaze back to me.

“Nell Moren?”

He knew who I was?

I looked back up at him. I didn’t know who he was. Was I really that famous?

Ame rushed over and beamed at him.

“Aqlli!”

Ame knew who he was?!

“My name is Forskare Aqlli, not ‘Aqlli’. You need to use one’s full name if they command respect, Ame. Please provide solid reasoning for the actions of your allies at once, or I will escort you out of the country.”

Forskare Aqlli?! The Historian King?! The man who could cut past the planet’s crust?

This was the king of Cittaglia?!

Dominic had previously told me that he turned in the body of Justin Beckwith to him, but I had never seen him in person.

He took his glasses off and brought his two guards over.

“If I were to present you with the predicate of ‘I only use my glasses when I wish to see something’, along with the statement of ‘I have just taken my glasses off’, then what would you believe ought to be true? It’s a simple string of logic. Even you should be able to answer this.”

Sy raised his hand jokingly and spoke.

“It ought to be true that you’re a little bitch!”

Ame laughed a little. It seemed like they were comfortable with each other.

Aqlli grit his teeth.

“This is no laughing matter! Eternal Flame! I had let you off the hook because you took out an adversary of mine, but you are naught but a group of bumbling dullards. If I were to step on your head, would you feel pain, or are you simply a philosophical zombie? Are you too idiotic to see the consequences of your actions?”

We started to get a little more tense. It appeared I misunderstood their relationship, and so did Sy.

The guards restrained Sy with ease as Aqlli walked up to him, and placed his shoe on his face. Each guard had strength equal to Verwa, so they were most likely his personal squadron.

“So, Sy Beckwith, what is it that you feel?”

Sy grinned slyly and opened his mouth.

“E-”

“I didn’t ask you to speak, did I? Guards, please escort these apes to the prison. The only thing worse than murder is idiocy.”

He turned his back to us and walked away. I needed to fight. I didn’t want to have my freedom taken away. Not after all the time I spent being free.

I began to build up RME in my hands while scowling at the guards attempting to restrain us.

“NELL!”

I heard a shout from behind me. It was Dominic.

“Don’t resist! I won’t have anybody dying today!”

I looked down in a tiny bit of shame and put my RME away.

We were dragged away from the festival in silence as our weapons got confiscated. It took everything in my power not to resist, but I did as Dominic asked.

Soon enough, we were taken underground and were thrown into one large cell. There were around six guards, but none of them were as strong as Aqlli’s personal guards. After they locked the door and walked away, Dominic stood up.

“God damnit. Just as I was settling down. Aqlli isn’t this irrational. What is going on?!”

He paced around the room as Ame shot water at the bars and broke them open. Kaya and Sy sat there wide-eyed as Dominic turned to him.

“What are you doing?! Are you stupid?! We haven’t even had time to think, and you bust open the door?! Why was the door even so weak?!”

Ame replied with a blank look on his face.

“We were gonna escape anyway. What's the problem?”

Dominic sighed and pried open the bars while speaking.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. We get our weapons and then hide. Aqlli won’t appreciate our escape, even though it was unlike him to even put us in here.”

Well, as long as we would escape, I didn’t care about some random king. Especially after he was that rude to us.

Ame frowned a little.

“Aw. He was so nice.”

Maybe he wasn’t that bad of a person. He was a king, so he had to have some redeeming qualities.

Kaya rushed out of the cell as Sy, Dominic, Ame and I followed. We ran down the hall for a bit, without running into any other guards or prisoners.

And, halfway down the dark tunnel, I felt a pair of eyes watching me. I froze in place and turned to the cell to my left.

A woman stood there, about the same height as me, staring at me through the bars with a grin. She had dark skin, a lot darker than Dominic’s slightly tan skin. It was something I had never seen before. Her eyes were black, but had a golden hue to them. Her hair was slightly curly and dark brown, a similar but darker color than mine. It was a bit shorter in length than Aqlli’s, but slightly longer near the front. There was a small safflower drawn on her upper thigh.

Everybody stopped along with me, seemingly on guard as well. She looked incredibly strong- maybe even equal to Justin Beckwith. I couldn’t tell what to feel.

She spoke in a sharp and serious tone.

“Don’t keep going. You’ll be killed.”

Dominic immediately held a straight palm up to her neck.

“Speak. Who are you?”

Her demeanor immediately shifted. She stood there, unsurprised, speaking in a light-hearted voice.

“Chill out. I’m not here to hurt you, haha. Quite the opposite, actually.”

She ripped the steel bars open as if they were cardboard and stepped out of her cell as Dominic stepped back.

Kaya put her hands on her hips and spoke proudly.

“Heh. Why would we die if we kept going? Haven’t you heard of us?”

The woman laughed and patted her on the head.

“I know, I know. Kaya Koinu of Pride and Prejudice. Dominic Karna, Hell’s Ferryman. Ame Nishimura, Rain of Heaven. Sy Beckwith-”

Sy’s eyes widened as he stepped back.

“Who are you?! How do you know my last name?!”

She avoided eye contact with him.

“I-I’ve been following you all closely. That’s it. I used to have a nickname as well. Inda Devas of the Unending Torments. Cool, isn’t it? A-Anyway. Enough about names. Let’s find your weapons.”

Her title was a bit terrifying. The group nodded, but was still suspicious of her. I felt a little bad, because it was clear that we were suspicious of her. I wanted to trust her, but it was a bit difficult. I was still curious about her thigh though.

“What’s that drawing on your thigh?”

“It’s a tattoo. Why are you looking there, hmm?” She said, lightheartedly.

Hm? Was there something wrong?

I tilted my head in confusion as Ame lightly hit her on the shoulder.

“At least you tried.”

“Tch.”

She grit her teeth and then smiled, leading us towards the end of the tunnel. To the left, there was a room with multiple guards inside of it. Through the window, I could see Dominic’s sword and Kaya’s dagger on the table.

“Now, watch. Blink and you’ll miss it!”

Inda burst open the door as all the guards pointed their swords at her. Her hair began to glow, turning bright orange. It reflected any light being shone, looking like the wings of a butterfly. Within less than a second, she disappeared. A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder overwhelmed my eyes and ears as the lightbulb in the room shattered. Inda walked out with three dead guards behind her.

It was faster than Ame or Dominic had ever gone. I didn’t even think I would be able to match it with RME. Was this what lightning magic was?

Dominic looked on in shock.

She tilted her head in confusion before speaking jokingly.

“Hm? Oh, don’t worry. It was painless. I’m not a monster! What do you take me for?!”

That didn’t seem to be the issue they had. Her joke flew right past everybody besides Ame as they all sat there in shock. Ame paused for a moment, before smiling.

“Good enough. Let’s get our weapons and get out! We’re free!” Ame said, as he passed Dominic’s sword to him.

Everybody left the room as Inda led them to the back exit of the underground prison.

“Before I leave, I have but one question for you! Answer me well!”

Why did she have to leave? She was kind.

“Ahem! Listen closely. If storms ravaged the planet, and humanity was locked inside a cage forever, what actions would you take? Their freedom would be limited, but in this situation, yours wouldn’t.”

Dominic spoke up first.

“Why wouldn’t we be affected as well?”

“Just go along with it!”

Everybody thought for a moment, before Sy raised his hand and spoke.

“What is ‘Stay inside with them’! This is for 500, right?”

She smiled and yelled back to him.

“There are no right answers! Nobody is getting points!”

She quieted down, before her face turned a bit serious as she turned directly to me.

“And, hypothetically, if it was one person in the cage, and the storm was an illusion, what would you do then?”

…

“I would talk to them and see their point of view on it.” I said.

“... What if they told you that the storm hurt them, even though it was an illusion?”

This was a difficult question, but my answer had never been more sure.

“I would bring them out and dispel the illusion. You can’t be free in a cage, can you?”

She looked up at me with desperation in her eyes.

“And if the cage was an illusion too? Would that truly be freedom if released?”

“Yes. It would.”

My answer did not change. A cage could trap a bird if it existed in reality or if it was only an illusion. And both cages would stop them from flying.

Inda looked down at the floor, before grinning again.

“I hope you had a good visit, and remember to give your guide five stars! I’ll be going now, bye bye!”

She dashed behind us, back to the cell she came from.

I wanted to see her again. I was sure I would.

I followed Dominic out of the prison and opened the door as light shined in my eyes, blinding me. But there was another thing blinding me.

The reflection of light off of a certain golden leaf crown shot into my cornea.

And there stood Forskare Aqlli, alone. Grinning.

“It appears my lab rats did a splendid job at escaping their cage. You deserve a treat, don’t you think?”