## I. Captivity and Routine
Nati awoke with a searing pain in the back of her neck, a dry, brutal reminder of her defeat. She was in an improvised but secure cell in Zack's basement. The walls were cold brick, and the only light came from a small crack in the ceiling. The humiliation of defeat was less than the terror the Black Moon had planted in her mind. The smell of fresh bread and coffee, however, was an anomaly that confused her.
In the days that followed, Nati became a forced observer of the routine of that dysfunctional family. She expected to see the monster, the King of Horror, but she only saw a tired man.
Lyra and Mira took turns caring for "The Boy," teaching him to handle the dagger with the sweetness of mothers and the precision of warriors. K, the pragmatic one, trained with silent ferocity, but never missed an opportunity to cast disapproving glances at Zack.
Nati noticed the contradiction: the man whose head was worth a billion, the most feared in the world, was the center of a home. He was gentle with the women, patient with the boy, and carried the fragility of someone on the verge of collapse.
## II. The Deconstruction of Nati
Nati's mind was a battlefield. The silence of the cell brought back the flashbacks that the Black Moon had awakened.
She was only eight years old when the **false elder** began. The entire village worshipped him. By fourteen, the abuse was a silent routine, and the betrayal of her parents, who handed her over in exchange for blessings and status, was the deepest wound.
*The smell of fresh bread...*
She remembered the smell of fermenting bread in her parents' house, while the elder took her to the barn. The smell of innocence mixed with the smell of rot.
Then, **Ygon** arrived.
He was not a fairy-tale savior. He was a red-eyed giant who destroyed the village in the name of a new order. He found her, dirty and broken, and took her out of the barn.
> "You are no longer a victim. You are **Nati**. And from today on, your pain will be your strength."
Ygon embraced her, an embrace that was not of lust, but of care. He trained her, gave her a new name and a purpose. Nati saw him as a messiah who took her out of suffering.
Nati rationalized the hunt for Zack: Ygon needed fame, allies. Killing the most dangerous man in the world was the perfect proof of power. It was a necessary sacrifice for her savior.
## III. Family Tension
K could not contain her frustration.
"Zack, she's a general of Ygon! She tried to kill us! Why is she still alive?" K asked, her voice low, but laden with venom.
Zack was sharpening the Black Moon, the metallic sound filling the room.
"She is a prisoner, K. And a source of information."
"Information? She tried to kill you with your own strength! And she tried to break me with my own pain! Kill her, Zack! It's the pragmatism you taught us!"
K looked at Lyra and Mira, seeking support, but they just shook their heads.
"Zack always has a reason, K," Mira said, without taking her eyes off "The Boy" who was training.
Nati, in the cell, watched the scene. She did not understand why Zack did not argue with K.
"Why don't you kill me, Hunter?" Nati shouted one day, her voice hoarse.
Zack approached the cell, his face tired.
"You are ill-mannered, Nati," he said, with a slight smile. "But I don't kill you because... not everything is solved that way. Often, a hug is enough."
Nati felt the bile rise. She spat in Zack's face.
"You hypocrite!"
Zack wiped his face with his sleeve, the smile unshakable. "I know you are suffering, Nati. And I won't give you the relief of death."
## IV. The Boy and the Liberation
"The Boy" was persistent. Every day, he brought a piece of bread and a cup of water to Nati.
"You shouldn't be here," he said one day, his disguised golden eyes fixed on her.
"I am a prisoner," Nati replied, her voice cold.
"You don't look like a prisoner. You look sad."
Nati did not answer.
One night, "The Boy" went to the cell. He used the dagger Zack had given him to force the lock.
"You are free," he whispered.
Nati left the cell, adrenaline rushing through her veins. She turned to the boy, murderous intent in her eyes. She prepared to attack him, to kill him and then kill everyone there.
But, looking at "The Boy," she saw herself at eight years old, before the elder. She saw the innocence that had been stolen. She saw the boy's smile, a pure and malice-free smile.
She did not want to be a monster like her parents and the elder.
"The Boy" approached and hugged her. His small, warm body against Nati's cold armor.
Nati remembered Zack's phrase: *"Often, a hug is enough."*
She did not return the hug, but she did not push him away either. She felt the pain transform into something different.
## V. The Silent Farewell
Nati moved away from the boy. She did not attack him. She did not attack the house. She did not attack the family.
She turned and ran into the darkness of the Red Forest.
Zack was on the roof, watching her leave. He did not stop her. He did not call her.
He just smiled, a smile of relief and weariness.
Nati's sentence was not death, but the freedom to choose who she would be.
****End of Chapter 44*