Chương 5: Rin's Rescue

Rin grunted as the hemp-cloth bag was ripped off her head. Another cell. Figures.

"When I get out of here, you're dead."

"That's the spirit!" The silhouette lurking in front of the bars stepped forward. His hair was pink and slicked back like a helmet, his eyes a frightening shade of cyan. There was a beauty spot beneath his left eye - fake, purposefully drawn. He wore a jester's hat and costume, both split cleanly down the middle between pink and cyan. His appearance was so strange that she barely registered the scepter in his hand, which was capped with a fat glowing green gemstone.

The glow of the scepter illuminated the dark cells in an eerie, sickly green light.

"Are you the boss, or just another lackey?" He grinned, sharp and dangerous.

"I prefer The Host." The glowing gem danced in the air as he exchanged the scepter between his hands.

"As for my assistants, I'm afraid no entertainer can get by without help. That's just called… hmm… what's the phrase? Effective delegation?" Great. He was a freak. Rin lowered her head. She had learned in the orphanage that talking back only made things worse. She had learned in Lady Vyx's dungeon that talking, arguing, screaming, only for it to fall on deaf ears, broke your spirit more than theirs. She would get out. Alone. Again. As she always did.

"You, Rin, will be joining me in the business of entertainment," the man purred.

"We'll put on a great show, and bring smiles to everyone's faces. I hope you're just as violent as your peers claim you are. I'm really going to need you to bring that energy in the next hour! You'll be our star!" With a chuckle he spun on heel and walked back the way he came, whistling a jolly tune. The quiet was long and dark. Then…

"Rin?" a girl whispered.

"Is that really you?"

"Marika?" Rin rasped.

"I… I'd hoped you had gotten away. That you were living somewhere nice, eating good food, making real friends…" She didn't have the heart to tell the girl she'd gotten caught trying to find her.

"You and the others are my real friends. I don't need anyone else."

"They make us fight each other. People watch. Place bets on the outcomes. There's so few of us left, Rin." Rin stared at her feet. Marika continued, "I thought it was supposed to be better on the other side of the canal. But I look in the stands, and I see members of the city watch… they don't even bother to change out of their uniforms, you know? And I see proper ladies laughing behind their fans as we get punched and cut… I realize why we've always been treated so badly by everyone, Rin.

We must be a different species than them… a lesser breed of human."

"Gods you're depressing, Marika," Rin snarled.

"It's true! It must be true, why else would our lives be like this?" Rin was quiet for a moment, a horrible anger building in her chest.

"You aren't wrong. We are lesser than them. But not because of our blood, but because we are weak. If you can't stop someone from taking advantage of you, of course you are lesser than them. That's the definition of the word." She leaned back against the stone wall, tilting her head back to stare at the dizzying darkness of the ceiling. Her red eyes narrowed.

"Get stronger or die, Marika. Your weakness is your fault."

"No…" A sharp chuckle left her.

"On what authority do you refute me? Or are you just parroting the newest thing someone told you, like always?"

"Leave her alone." Another voice - a boy's - weakly spoke up from somewhere.

"Toma. So you're here too." Rin didn't dare to feel too hopeful.

"How many of us…?"

"Just us three," said Toma.

"It's good that you're here. The next fight would've been me against Marika. Neither of us have the guts to go through with it." He paused. His voice grew even quieter.

"Whichever one of us you fight, you can make it quick." Hot, dark rage boiled inside Rin's stomach." Indeed." An hour. That wasn't any time at all. If she was going to save them, it would have to be in the ring itself. When the guard returned she wasn't ready. He grabbed her by the arms, yanking up a flight of stairs. Lights shone directly in her face. Rin blinked the stars out of her eyes, squinting to see her surroundings. This was a warehouse. Large. Cold walls of thick stone.

In the middle was a square pit sunken five feet into the ground, guard rails around the edge.

Fifty or sixty people crowded the room, eager to watch the next bloodbath. The Host spread his arms, welcoming the crowd.

"Folks, tonight we have a very special show. Usually we do a 1v1 format. But why not change it up to welcome a new contender?" He pointed directly at Rin. Every pair of eyes swiveled to appraise Rin. Dark, interested looks. Rin quietly digested that information. They were going to make her fight Toma and Marika at the same time?

"Those last two orphans are barely alive. Ten gold they'll kick the can in the first round," someone called out. Laughter.

"Are you new here? Kids on the verge of death fight the hardest. Besides, the new ones never have the heart to give it their all at first. Three rounds." From the other side of the warehouse, two guards charged through, each one holding an orphan. Marika and Toma. They looked worse than Rin could've imagined. Marika's eyes were swollen and black, and she hung in the man's arms, limp. Toma's physical body looked better, but he was very thin and listless, like he hadn't eaten in a week. Rin felt sick.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Then came the rage - the horrible, dark rage - which burned even hotter with the knowledge of how impotent it was. Rin twisted wildly in the guard's arms. The sudden motion caused him to slacken his grip for a moment. She reared up and pierced her fingers into the man's eyes, causing him to shriek in pain. His cries were drowned out by the excited yelling of the crowd. A fist slammed into the side of her head.

She barely reacted; the pain felt like it was happening in some distant place. Rin wrenched herself from the man and sprinted toward Marika and Toma. She barely got five feet away when a green glow caught her in place.

"Hahaha. Does that change any of your wagers, folks? I told you, Rin's a vicious one!" The Host waved his scepter and Rin rose into the air, landing in the pit. Toma and Marika joined her a moment later. Thrown in, like bags of trash from a window. They were mounds on the ground, barely able to move. The crowd leaned their heads over the guardrail, five feet above them. They muttered excitedly amongst themselves, like this was just a weekend horse race or boxing match. Rin hissed between her teeth. She'd failed.

It all happened too quickly. She hadn't been able to come up with a plan in time. Her last-ditch effort had been useless too. The Host had caught her with the ease of a mother cat scruffing a newborn kitten that had wiggled too far away. Rin stared down at Toma and Marika, her red eyes flat and bleak. The two kids were in such a poor state. Even if she miraculously created an opening, they wouldn't be able to run. And she couldn't carry them - not quickly. No. She was being selfish.

It was her fault they had ended up here. The least she could do was take responsibility for her weakness. The least she could do, the most merciful thing she could do… was to end their suffering. The Host grinned like he understood her thoughts.

"Oh, Rin. If only you'd told someone where you were going, if only someone cared about the plight of orphans. Well, it's no matter. Who could you have possibly told? Who would dare stand against us?" The crowd tittered meanly. A voice cut through the laughter like a door closing in a quiet room.

"Funny. That's usually my line." Lady Vyx glided into the warehouse. In the darkness, her eyes shone, droplets of molten gold. She still wore her beautiful, ostentatious plum gown. Her level was hidden from view now, instead of being shown off like before. Rin's stomach flip-flopped. A part of her wanted to hide. She had spent a year terrified of this woman. But another part was glad for the interruption. What was Lady Vyx doing? Yes, Rin had run away, but to think the woman had chased her all the way here…

"And who might you be?" The Host asked pleasantly.

"I'm afraid tonight's show is sold out."

"You don't recognize me?" Lady Vyx seemed surprised, though it was hard to read her expressions, which were never completely genuine.

"Well, I suppose I haven't made many public appearances lately. No matter. I came for my apprentice. But now that I'm here, I suppose I'll take the two others as well."

"I am sorry, but those children are spoken for. We have contracts, legal and binding." The Host's face was full of glittering mockery.

"You must trust me, this is not something you want to pursue. If you have an issue, I suppose you can take it up with our sponsor, the Prince Solomand. Please leave." He gave a short laugh.

"I'll even let you keep your eyes and tongue!" Rin stared at The Host in quiet horror. He had no idea who he was talking to, did he? The rest of the crowd, which was made up of nobles, members of the city guard, important merchants, and other powerful characters drew up threateningly. A charge grew in the atmosphere. Spell arrays forming, weapons being summoned, fists clenching with enhanced strength… Against The Host, Rin was sure Lady Vyx could win. But against this entire crowd?

The city watch themselves had extensive training, not to mention nobles which had rare bloodlines and possessed powerful artifacts. How could Lady Vyx fight against them all? Could she fight? Rin actually wasn't sure. She'd only seen Lady Vyx use minor spells. And the poison! The poison weakened her, which was why she was desperate for a cure, right? Her blood went cold. For the first time in her life, she hoped that Lady Vyx wasn't a giant fraud. Lady Vyx didn't seem to register the danger.

She kept talking to The Host like the rest of the crowd wasn't worth the dirt beneath her heels.

"A contract, hm? How much…" Lady Vyx paused for a second, then her eyes slimmed in dark amusement.

"Forget it. Talk is cheap, and I'm an expensive woman. I want to see how great of an entertainer you really are." The air grew colder, and Rin's breath turned to fog in front of her. The Host didn't seem so jovial anymore - the lines on his face were tense. He threw his scepter out.

"Assistants!" Rin felt an extreme danger in the air, like the edge of a knife pressing against her throat. Her instincts took over. She flung her body over Toma and Marika's.

"Get down!" Not a second too soon. The very moment they hit the floor, a thin white line appeared in the air above their heads.

"[Spatial Rift]!" The Host stumbled backward in shock, his cyan eyes dulling as the light left them. His top half slid off his bottom half. And so did the top of the entire building they were in. Walls crumbled to the ground as the top half of the warehouse slid backwards, collapsing behind them in an avalanche of mortar and stone. The air rang with the sheer might of the spatial magic. Cold enough to burn. Rin clenched her teeth, her gums tingling unpleasantly. Goosebumps rose across every inch of her skin.

Lady Vyx adjusted the rings on her fingers, ensuring the jewels faced upwards. She smirked coldly.

"I suppose I'm not cut out for the entertainment industry. That wasn't much of a show." Rin stood up slowly, looking at the ruin and carnage around her. Not just The Host, but every person in the crowd had been separated. Piles of torsos and legs. Her heart palpitated in her chest at the sheer power and destruction. Awed. Terrified. So this is what an archmage is capable of. And she doesn't even look winded. She had never stood a chance against this woman. Escaping was impossible.

Even if Lady Vyx succumbed to one of her fits, one flick of her fingernail could probably end Rin. She just couldn't wrap her head around why Lady Vyx would rescue her. The woman had never made a show of her powers before, why now? She doubted it was more tricks. This was far too much effort for a mere prank. Maybe… maybe one of her fits had damaged her brain? Lady Vyx went to the edge of the guardrail, looking down at them. This time she was the only figure. A crowd all her own.

Rin suddenly felt nervous being stared at like that.

"How did you know where I was?" asked Rin.

"I'm very good at observing." Lady Ophelia smirked and tapped the area below her right eye, which flashed blue.

"In fact, it's my Natal Skill." Rin's mind flashed with insight. If Lady Vyx had a powerful [Observe] skill, then Rin had a test for her. If the woman actually passed, then she would know for sure if she was brain damaged or not.

"I don't believe you. [Observe] is one of the rarest skills someone can get," said Rin.

"It's true." Lady Vyx crossed her arms, dagged sleeves billowing.

"Ask me something."

"What's my Natal Skill?" It was scary how instantly she seemed to know. Rin had seen people with [Observe] before - they needed to strain their concentration just to pick up a few details, and anything do with another person's Leveling System could leave them incapacitated with migraines for days.

"It's [CONSUME], of course."

"And how does [CONSUME] work?" Rin asked. Ophelia looked away at something that didn't exist. It was awkward as Rin had ever seen her.

"You gain skills and levels from killing people. There - satisfied?" Rin paused, digesting that bit of information. Then… She threw her head back and laughed. Laughed like she had just been told the funniest joke in the world.

"And all this time, I thought it would be something difficult…"