"What are you spacing out for?! Stand up trash!"
Snapping his long leather whip, the young master viciously whipped Yuri's bruised up face, sending her minor form to her left side as her aching body harshly slammed down the ground, her head hitting the hard horizontal surface headfirst.
This is bad… Super bad!
Stepping on Yuri's head, the young master grinds his foot down, snorting as he speaks, "Coward! You dare talk ill of my subordinate, yet you can't even stand up on your own feet!"
This…! This asshole!
Carnation Ysrael...!!
Ysrael is the first child of one of the 5 Great Family leaders in the City of Drossel, a direct descendant of the illustrious guide that fought at the Age of Genesis, Carnation Elleine Yoo.
At the time when Ysrael and Yuri first met, Ysrael was only a mere 12-year-old child and while Yuri was already 8 back then, considering how the latter has a high-profiled background, the common people feared Ysrael whenever he often visited outside of the 4 central cities, hence when the 8-year-old Yuri spoke up to him about his most loyal confidant, Ysrael got instantly agitated and at once lashed out his anger by beating up the young Yuri, dragging her little form in the middle of the bustling street of Azure Water Village.
Going back to present time, as she was unable to speak properly, Yuri spits out a handful of dust that got inside her mouth as she was struggling. "S-Stop…!" Yuri weakly voiced out her words under his feet as she feebly grabbed unto Ysrael's leg.
"Don't touch me!"
Ysrael aggressively kicks Yuri's hand away as he whipped her again, and again, and again, making a sharp and fast "Snap! Snap! Snap!" sound until her clothes were all ragged and thoroughly damped by her own blood.
"AH!!"
The smell of strong iron filled the air as screams of agony were heard throughout the street. Feeling her consciousness fade, Yuri curled her body into a small ball, her clothes covered in footprints and fresh blood.
Right now, she was a mess, and it was obvious that someone had heavily beaten her. Even her hair had been tangled with grime and blood. Judging by her size, she was a very tiny creature, shaking as if her smooth, soft skin had been forcibly peeled off. Honestly, it is incredible that she was still alive after such a violent beating!
After seeing that Yuri was about to pass out, Ysrael at once waved his hand as a couple number of buffed men, dressed in steel armor, rushed forwards, surrounding the pitiful little child as Ysrael strictly spoke in repulse, "Arrest that disgusting child! Confine her and wait for my command of punishment!"
Glancing to his side, Yuri took note of a young child that's dressed in the same exquisite clothes but not as luxurious as Ysrael's, that stood beside him, telling him to stop as his big and round tangerine orbs reflected his empathy to the child that was being beaten by Ysrael in broad daylight.
That boy with unique orange eyes… Isn't he the major cause of all of this?
Snapping out of the trance that she was in, Yuri remained in a dazed state, as she did not move when she was dragged, did not struggle nor resisted. She just stayed still, not wanting to exert more pain on her already burning body, as in that instance; Ysrael hopped on his white, pearlescent Rolls-Royce car and rode off unto the distance.
"Clang!"
Feeling the icy metal steel clasp tight around her wrists, once her wrists and ankles were successfully cuffed, Yuri was thrown at the back of an average horse carriage, flinching as she broke another bone from the sudden impact.
Ah… I wonder when I would be back in the space tunnel void…
As she was thinking of calling out Vivian, Yuri's mouth opened and then suddenly closed as she pursed her lips together and tears welled up from the corner of her obsidian orbs.
I want to go home…
Shutting her eyes close, Yuri's tensed figure eased up. She's too tired to do anything, too exhausted to even tend to her open wounds.
For now, it would be best for her to just take a rest and recuperate at the time being. Yuri had been in this time before and she knows how tumultuous Ysrael would punish her. Once she was thrown into prison, she would suffer even more beating and torture. If she doesn't have enough stamina to endure Ysrael's punishment, Yuri's body won't be able to uphold themselves and she would die even before she could go back to the space tunnel void.
That's not really plausible…
Focusing her senses, she removes all thoughts from her mind as she carefully propped herself up and sat in a lotus position, silently meditating as the horse carriage drove off unto the distance making a loud "Thump Thump Thump!" sound.
After removing all of her thoughts and has cleansed her mind of any worry, Yuri's primordial spirit enters a realm inside the depths of her mind, a place where there was only her, and a lone guitar under a peach blossom tree.
Approaching the tree, Yuri reached out her hand to catch a falling leaf as it dissipates into a speck of white light once touched by her skin.
"This place…"
I don't remember seeing this place before.
I've never been here.
But why do I feel like that this place is familiar…? A place that resonates a comforting feeling of a warm, loving home?
Looking down at the flat ground, Yuri gently picks up the guitar on the ground as she sat down beside the tree, humming as she gracefully plucked on the strings, making a sublime but also sorrowful tune.
"Ah…"
Feeling a knot well up on her throat, Yuri gulps as she forced herself from shedding tears, mumbling under her breath, "I… I don't remember knowing that tune…"
Shuddering as she shut her eyes close, Yuri was forcibly taken out of the spiritual state she was in when her general body was suddenly thrown unto the cold ground, making her yelp in surprise as she pried her eyes open, violently coughing as she felt her lungs lose the rights to breathe in air for a moment.
"Hah… Hah…. Hah"
Yuri was still catching up on her breath when the metal cell doors of the dark prison room was slammed shut. However, not after a few moments later, the door was once again aggressively banged open, as a set of 3 or maybe 5 people's footsteps entered the damp, empty room, exclaiming, "HIT HER! HIT HER HARD IN THE NAME OF THIS PRINCE! HIT HER!"
"W-Wait!"
Shielding herself with her already bleeding arms, the sight momentarily stunned Ysrael as he gestures for his royal guards to halt.
"Any last words?" Ysrael says as he looked down on Yuri's kneeling figure in a very imposing manner.
This scene…
Yuri's figure was on fours on the ground and Ysrael's figure towers over the pitiful young Yuri.
If Yuri was to proceed alike what had happened in the past, the next thing that she should have done is that Yuri would have begged for forgiveness.
Back then… She was only a child. She thought that if she begged for forgiveness, then the beating would stop.
But if she did that now… which she already did in the past, Ysrael would have beaten her up as if there's no tomorrow.
Biting down on her chapped lips, Yuri forced herself to speak as she croaked out the words, "Do… Do you have any proof that what I've told you were lies?"
At once, Ysrael was dumbstruck but immediately retorted, "Lies? Of course, you were only spouting utter lies in that filthy mouth of yours! Plus, let me ask you this question. Do you have any proof that you're telling me the truth?! Clown! You have none! So don't even think about you, having rights to seek fairness in this world, if you can't even prove to me what your 'truth' is!"
Yuri chewed on his words. Her head lowered down as she spoke in a small voice, saying, "And what if I could prove to you that I was telling the truth? Would you still beat me up and try to silence me?"
Suddenly speechless, Ysrael lowered his whip, saying in a firm voice, "If you were truly telling me the truth, then I won't beat you nor silence you. Instead, I would rightfully punish whoever it is that should have been held accountable in the first place"
Huh?
This… This is not right!
Ysrael's response is different!
Was it because I changed what I did back then…?
Thus avoiding Ysrael's punishment?
Suddenly flustered by the sudden change of events, Yuri mumbles under her breath, "If my theory is right, then going back to this time won't be that bad after all…"
After hearing Yuri mumble incoherent words under her breath, Ysrael poked on Yuri's nose in annoyance, speaking in an agitated voice, "What are you mumbling for yourself about? If you want to escape the state you're in right now, then, you better show me something interesting or else--!" Pausing as he stood up straight, Ysrael continues, "You will have to face the consequences and accept my punishment!"
Having heard that, Yuri finally had the urge to look up, revealing a solemn smile as she does so, "Sure. It's a deal then… Just wait and watch… I'll show you something that would be truly worth your interest."