Chapter 104

Always the Same (I)

Silence reigned inside the small room as Lukas, Diya, and Jamal slept their troubles off while Cain mentally practiced pulling off hepta-attunement -- something he hadn’t done since his fight with the Ruined King. I... I should be able to do it again... I think? That wasn’t a fluke, no way. Soothing himself, he unconsciously pulled out and lit a cigarette, taking a deep puff. He began humming a song, one that’s been stuck in his head for decades but he couldn’t remember where he heard it, no matter how hard he searched and looked.

It was calm and peaceful, a sensation that was difficult to come by in the Tower. Inadvertently, his mind began to drift and pull at the deep-rooted memories of the distant past. He shuddered, rapidly ripping himself out of it; it was dangerous, he realized, swimming in those waters. His body would react instinctively and poke at his nerves, alarming him.

Sighing, he tossed away the cigarette, having barely taken a few puffs. I seriously need to quit... yawning, he stood up just in time to see two shadows speed out of a nearby alleyway and toward him. He didn’t react, having long since memorized everyone’s Mana ‘signature’ of sorts -- that unique aspect of somebody’s Mana that belonged to them and them alone.

The two that abruptly appeared were Senna and Emma, both wheezing and doused in sweat as though they’d just ran a marathon. Cain was worried at first since there were just the two of them that something might have gone awry, but noting the distinct lack of wounds on either of them calmed his heart.

“Wow! You guys missed me so much that you ran all the way back?! I’m touched. Seriously, touched!”

“Ease with the theatrics,” Emma said. “We need to go.”

“What happened?” Cain asked.

“We picked up a seemingly normal ‘clean up the bandits’ mission,” Emma said while Senna went inside to wake up the others. “And, at first, everything went smoothly. However... there was no end to them. Soon enough, we found a couple of their ‘safe houses’ you could say. And... the newest one we found... had people in a cage. A lot of them.”

“Oh?” This... sounds familiar... Cain frowned, stroking his chin and trying to remember.

“You know who it is?”

“Nope!”

“H-huh?”

“Come on, Em’,” Cain groaned, rolling his eyes. “It’s literally been twenty-five years. The only reason I remembered so much from the first floor was that it was a massive sensation and media covered every single thing. Plus, people weren’t shy yet over revealing the secrets. However terrible it may sound, people in the cages was so normal it didn’t even warrant a rumor, let alone a whole news segment.”

“... what are we gonna do?” Emma asked after a short silence.

“Help ‘em, of course.”

“...” she smiled gently as she looked at him lovingly. “I really do love you.”

“Good,” he smiled back. “’cause otherwise that engagement ring I bought would have been a real waste.”

“E-eh? You bought me another engagement ring? You didn’t have to,” she said. “I still have the last one.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yup,” she nodded. “Why? Is it weird?”

“... kinda?”

“Eh.” she shrugged, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll take it.”

“I’ll propose to you proper,” Cain said. “When we’re out.”

“You better,” she chided. “A romantic dinner, candles, music, and a very, very moving speech.”

“Emma Mathews, you are a sparkle of sun in my soul and--”

“We can skip the moving speech.” she interrupted.

“Yeah, yeah, good idea.”

“You guys ready?” Senna asked as she left the building, followed by the still-sleepy trio.

“Yeah. Emma brought me up to speed.”

“What’s the plan?” Senna asked with a faint trace of uncertainty in her voice.

“Go over there.”

“And then?”

“And then what?” Cain said, prompting Emma to grunt.

“We’ll save ‘em,” she interjected before Senna started yelling. “He’s just messing around.”

“Tsk, you just had to go and ruin it, didn’t you?”

“...”

The five departed swiftly after, following back through the route Emma and Senna took on their way over. The narrow alleyways cut through the damaged buildings, most having been abandoned some time ago. The alleyways themselves varied both in length as well as ‘cleanliness’, some appearing almost normal while some ended up having even a full skeleton or two lying around.

The group didn’t stop, their speed increasing with pace as Cain stealthily used Wind to propel them gently. Most of the world around, for him, was quite unfamiliar; he knew best the Den and the Central Plaza, as well as the direct path to Mercy, arguably the most important part of the City for an Elementalist.

They arrived under less than an hour, stepping into the room and prompting Daniel to walk out of the shadow in front of them. Cain glanced at the cage and noted the variety of races present there. Hmm... from what I know, most slavers this low prefer homogeny... was there really anyone who went after such a wide pool?

“Did anyone come while we were gone?” Emma asked.

“No,” Daniel replied. “As quiet as the night.”

“We didn’t notice anyone either on our way over,” as others engaged in a conversation, Cain’s eyes veered back onto the cage and on a figure pretending to be fast asleep -- terribly so, prompting him to nearly chuckle. It wasn’t that he knew her or anything, but that the silver hair she sported was fairly unique. He also noticed Daniel stealthily glancing at her and then back at him, nervous. Chuckling inwardly, Cain ripped himself from the crowd and walked over to the cage under a gaze that he could feel boring into his back. He crouched next to the iron bars and took a closer look at her face. She looks like an ante-Human... but her Mana is very distinct.

“... Daniel was right,” a partly melodic voice spoke out in a soft whisper, one that only Cain could pick up on. “You are something else.”

“... a Dragon?” Cain mumbled absentmindedly. “No, you’re too weak to be a Dragon.”

“You’re right, but also wrong,” she said. “I was supposed to be one.”

“Oh? An Unkindled Dragonkin?” Cain mumbled with interest, stroking his chin. “How’d you end up in a place like this?”

“Better yet, how do you know about the Unkindled?” the woman shot her eyes open and stared at Cain curiously and warily. Silver eyes as well?

“Something’s off about you,” Cain said. “The Unkindled have dirty silver hair and are blinded as a form of branding.”

“I’m blind.”

“Sure you are,” Cain grinned. “Who are you?”

“Larua. You must be Cain.”

“...” Cain fell silent, maintaining the eye-lock between the two. There was something strange -- both about her and him, now. His instincts... didn’t warn him of her. Rather, his ‘gut feeling’ was that she was trustworthy -- something he almost never experienced in the Tower, be it from the natives or humans. What worried him, however, that he didn’t know about her.

An Unkindled Dragonkin on the second floor would have been sensational news that would undoubtedly leak out, no matter the safeguards. After all, they were the closest humans ever came to 'befriending' anyone of Dragon blood. Yet, she wasn't in his memory -- not even as a rumor. And he would have definitely remembered someone like her as taming or befriending a Dragon was and still is one of his dearest fantasies.

“Though I’m flattered by your stare, I am afraid I am not interested.” she pulled him back out of his thoughts with a playful grin.

“Shame,” Cain grinned back. “I was gonna invite you to join us, but as you are not interested...”

“... you got me.” Larua shrugged and snuggled out of the pile she was hiding under, standing up and in front of the iron bars. “Let me join you. You won’t regret it.”

“... you’re too strong,” Cain shook his head. “I have zero doubts that we’ll be punching well above our weight if you were with us.”

“How can you tell whether I’m strong or weak?” she asked curiously.

“Your Mana,” Cain said, pointing at her. “Is so faint that if I don’t concentrate... it disappears. You’re either at the peak of the First Awakening, or have already underwent the Second. Which makes you being here -- and locked up, no less -- even weirder.”

“... you’re mistaken,” Larua said with a somewhat dispirited expression. “I... I don’t use that power. Or, rather, I don’t have access to it.”

“...” pieces slowly began to fit together inside Cain’s head as he realized something -- or, at least, the general framework of her story. “But it seeps out ever so often, right?”

“H-huh?”

“That’s why you’re out here,” Cain said. “Every once in a while, you go from a girl using her wits to get by... to someone who could raze this entire city to the ground.”

“... seriously, who are you?” Larua asked, growing wary now herself. “How do you know all this?”

“Which group locked you up?” Cain asked instead of answering to her.

“... the Parasites, I think.” Larua replied after a brief silence. “Why?”

“Well, I was thinking of stirring some shit up. How do you feel about that?”

“I like stirring shit up.” she replied without hesitation.

“... I know it might be a lot to ask,” Cain added suddenly. “But... before that, I do need you to Bond with at least one of us.”

“... seriously?” Larua asked, her expression dropping. “I’ll swear an Oath.”

“Your body would protect you from the backlash.”

“Seriously?”

“It doesn’t have to be me,” Cain said with a playful smile. “How about Daniel, huh? You like Daniel, right? He might be a bit of a pessimist and Debbie-downer, but he’s a good kid. He’d make a fine Bonded, na?”

“... fine,” Larua relented with a grunt and a sigh, helplessly raising her arms. “But at least make it time-limited.”

“Three months.”

“... what?”

“If, by the end of three months,” Cain said. “We don’t trust each other, we never will.” Cain replied.

“... I’m beginning to feel Daniel underestimated you severely,” Larua commented with a dubious look in her eyes. “Alright. So, what do you want me to do?”

“I need you to announce as loudly as possible to the entire Initiate Strata,” Cain said as he leaned in, whispering. “That you were rescued by a group calling themselves ‘The Greedy Seven’, made up of misfits of all races and origins. For the right price, tell ‘em, we could rescue their loved ones as well.”

“... say what now?”