Chương 33: Candy Land

Fifteen years ago, in the city of Gungnir, two children sat in a dimly lit cell. One of them was Millie Aldrich. She was younger then. Smaller. Still with both arms. Her short brown hair was messy, her black eyes wet with tears, and her clothes were stained from the cold stone floor. Beside her sat her older brother. Milo Aldrich had black hair and dark brown eyes. A pair of cracked glasses rested on his face, and his thin arms wrapped tightly around his little sister as he tried his best to keep her warm.

Millie trembled against him.

"B-big brother…" Her voice was weak.

"I'm hungry…" Milo's arms tightened around her.

"I know." He forced his voice to stay gentle.

"I know, Millie." Her stomach growled softly in the silence. Milo looked toward the cell door. No one came. No footsteps. No food. No mercy. Still, he smiled. It was a false smile. The kind children should never have to learn.

"Don't worry," he said.

"Everything will be fine soon." Millie looked up at him.

"Really?"

"Really." Milo brushed dirt from her cheek with his sleeve.

"Uncle will come back for us. I'm sure of it." Millie sniffled.

"And when he does, he'll take us to Candy Land." Her eyes widened slightly. Milo's smile grew warmer, even as his own stomach twisted with hunger.

"You'll be able to eat all the sweets you can stuff in your mouth."

"Candy?"

"All the candy you want." Millie clung to him.

"Okay, big brother." Milo hugged her close.

"Okay." For a moment, the lie was enough. Then footsteps echoed down the hall. Milo stiffened. The cell door opened. A knight stepped inside, his armor dirty and his expression filled with disgust. Milo held Millie tighter.

"Stay behind me." The knight grabbed him by the hair. Milo cried out as he was dragged away from his sister.

"No!" Millie screamed. She reached for him through the dark.

"Milo!"

"It's okay!" Milo shouted, forcing himself to smile even as tears filled his eyes.

"It's okay, Millie! Uncle will come back!" The knight dragged him toward the door. Millie slammed her small hands against the floor.

"Why is this happening to us?" The knight looked back at her. His face twisted.

"Nobody wants noble brats like you in our city." Millie froze.

"You nobles are what's wrong with everything." Milo gritted his teeth.

"We're just kids." The knight yanked his hair harder.

"Be grateful we didn't kill you like your parents." The door slammed shut. Milo's voice disappeared down the hall. Millie was left alone in the cell. For a long time, she did not move. Then she crawled into the corner, wrapped her arms around herself, and cried.

"It's fine…" Her voice shook.

"Uncle will come back for us." She rocked back and forth in the cold.

"Candy Land…" Her tears fell against the stone.

"We'll all go to Candy Land soon." Fifteen years ago, Gungnir had been swallowed by revolution. The ruling family was slaughtered. The old order was torn down. And in its place, something even worse was built. The Aldrich family had not been just. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. They had not been clean. Their name carried sins, debts, and blood. But those sins did not belong to the children left behind. Millie and Milo were only children.

And Gungnir punished them anyway. Later that day, Milo lay on the cell floor. His glasses were broken. His lip was split. Bruises covered his face and arms, and one of his eyes had swollen nearly shut. He tried to sit up when Millie crawled toward him, but his body failed him.

"Milo…" Millie touched his shoulder with trembling hands. He forced one eye open.

"I'm okay." His voice was barely there. Millie knew he was lying. Then voices echoed from outside the cell.

"Good work," a man said, laughing.

"Keep those brats in their place." Millie froze. That voice. Her eyes widened. She pushed herself up and stumbled toward the bars.

"Uncle?" Milo's expression changed.

"Millie, wait…" But she was already gripping the bars with both hands.

"Uncle, is that you?" Her voice cracked with hope.

"Please help us. Please, Uncle." Footsteps stopped. A man rounded the corner. Ivan Aldrich looked down at his niece with cold eyes. He had dark skin, white hair, and the calm posture of someone who had never once feared hunger. He wore a clean black suit untouched by the filth of the prison, and a golden ring gleamed on his finger. Millie stared up at him. For a moment, she looked relieved. Then she saw his face. No warmth. No anger. Not even pity. Only annoyance.

"Why should I?" Ivan asked. Millie went still.

"Uncle?" Her small fingers tightened around the bars.

"We're family, aren't we?" Ivan said nothing. Tears gathered in her eyes.

"Big brother said you'd save us." Milo tried to rise behind her.

"Millie…" She did not look back. She kept staring at Ivan, holding onto the last piece of hope she had left.

"He said you'd take us to Candy Land." Her voice became smaller.

"Right?" For a moment, Ivan only looked at her. Then he turned to the guards.

"Cut off her arm." Millie's face went blank. Milo's eyes widened in horror.

"If she keeps talking," Ivan added, "kill her." The guards entered the cell. Milo forced himself up.

"No!" A boot struck his stomach and sent him back to the floor. Millie backed away, shaking her head.

"Uncle…" Ivan adjusted the cuff of his sleeve.

"Selling out your parents was easy." Millie stopped breathing.

"The new regime even gave me a comfortable position at the top." He smiled faintly.

"So sit in that cell and rot." Then Ivan walked away. He did not look back. The only sound that followed him down the hall was Millie screaming. And crying. And calling for a family that had already abandoned her. A week later, Millie lay curled on the cell floor. Her captors had been kind enough not to let her bleed to death. That was the only kindness they had given her. Her arm was gone. The wound was wrapped poorly, the bandages stained dark.

Every small movement made pain crawl through her body, but Millie no longer had the strength to scream. She only stared at the wall.

"Candy Land…" Her voice was dry and broken.

"We'll never get to go…" Milo lay beside her, just as battered and weak. He tried to reach for her, but his hand barely moved. Then a scream echoed from the hallway. Milo's eyes opened. Another scream followed. Then the sound of metal hitting stone. Milo forced himself up and looked through the bars. The guards were falling. One after another. A woman moved through them beneath a black cloak, her features hidden in shadow.

She stepped between their attacks effortlessly, as if she had already seen where every blade would fall. In one hand, she held a white book. Each time she dodged, her other hand moved across the page, drawing something. A guard rushed her from behind. The woman did not even look at him.

"Ability Activate." The page glowed.

"Fairy Tale." A poorly drawn teddy bear appeared in the guard's hands. The guard froze.

"What the—""Goodbye." The woman leaped aside. The teddy bear exploded. The blast tore the guard's hands apart and sent him screaming to the floor. Another guard raised his sword. The woman drew again. This time, she tossed a stuffed rabbit toward him. It smiled with crooked, childish eyes. Then it exploded. The guard disappeared in fire and smoke. Soon, the hallway was silent. Only the woman remained. She walked to the cell and looked down at the two children inside. For a moment, she said nothing.

Then her voice softened.

"Poor things." Milo trembled, pulling Millie closer with what little strength he had left. The woman knelt in front of the bars.

"To be betrayed by your own family…" Her hand touched the lock.

"A feeling I know well." The lock clicked open. The cell door creaked. Milo stared at her, too afraid to move. The woman stepped inside slowly.

"Most of the crimes your family was accused of were committed by your uncle," she said.

"Yet your parents suffered for his acts." Milo's lips parted. He wanted to ask how she knew. He wanted to ask who she was. But no words came out. Millie coughed weakly from the floor.

"Miss…" The woman turned toward her. Millie looked up through tear-filled eyes.

"Are you going to save us?" Her voice was barely there.

"I want to go to Candy Land." For a moment, the woman went completely still. Then she knelt beside Millie.

"If it is candy you want," she said gently, "then I will make sure there is plenty in my castle." From beneath her cloak, she pulled out a lollipop and placed it carefully in Millie's remaining hand. Millie stared at it. Then she began to cry. The woman gathered both children into her arms. Milo flinched at first, but the hug was warm. Careful. Protective. The woman held them as if they were something precious. And despite herself, she smiled. These two reminded her of her own children.

The children she had not seen in a hundred years. The children whose faces she was beginning to forget, no matter how desperately she tried to hold onto them. Millie looked up at her.

"What's your name, miss?" The woman was silent for a moment. Then she pulled her hood a little lower.

"Just call me Lady Medusa." She smiled beneath the shadow of her cloak. The children could not see it. But somehow, they knew it was real.