"...Uh"
I opened my eyes, only to see a thatched roof with holes in it. Bright blue sky peeked through the holes and warm sunrays fell straight to my face.
I didn't have that skull piercing headache, and I could smell fragrance of flowers instead of the disinfectant of the hospital room.
"Am... Am I still alive?"
A thought suddenly formed in my mind, I looked around but there wasn't anything except walls made of clay and kids wearing chains around their hands.
Only then I noticed those same chains around my hand, I looked around again to find my brother.
But....
What is my brother's name?
Did I really have a brothers?
Wha.... What is my name?
My mind became overwhelmed with those thoughts, I... I couldn't remember anything about myself except the fact I died once and I was admitted in a hospital.
*Crack... Crack*
The thin wooden door to the room where I was in opened, a huge shadow entered the room.
The man was wearing silver armour with blue accents in it. On his left hand he was holding a spear with bright red tip made something akin to a crystal.
"Only these brats for the expedition?" that armoured man asked to someone standing outside. Sunlight reflected from tip of his spear like a search light.
Then all of a sudden another man with a cane entered the room, He bowed in respect to armoured man and said. "Y–Yes, my lord. we only managed to snatch these ones."
The armored man's gaze swept across the room. His eyes were hidden beneath the helmet, but I could feel them stop on me for a moment. A chill crawled down my neck.
"Pathetic," he muttered, the single word slicing through the air sharper than his spear. "These won't even last the journey."
The man with the cane swallowed hard and forced a shaky smile. "We—we'll find more, my lord. The others are still searching near the outskirts."
"See that you do," the armored man said, turning on his heel. The ground trembled slightly as his metal boots clanked against the floor. He stopped near the doorway and added, almost lazily, "And make sure the collars are sealed. I don't want another runaway."
The man with the cane nodded so fast I thought his head might fall off. As soon as the armored man left, the air in the room seemed to loosen—barely. The tension still hung like smoke after a fire.
One of the kids near the wall let out a small sob. No one dared to comfort him.
I looked down at the chain on my wrist again. The metal was cold and heavy, etched with strange runes that faintly glowed whenever I tried to move too far.
"What... is this place?" I whispered, my voice raspier than I expected.
The kid next to me—thin, dirt-streaked, with eyes that looked too old for his face—glanced my way. "You shouldn't talk," he muttered. "They'll beat you if they hear."
I froze. My throat went dry. "Who... are they?"
He didn't answer. He just stared at the doorway, trembling.
Outside, I could hear footsteps again—multiple this time, lighter than the armored man's but fast and hurried. The man with the cane's voice echoed through the hall.
"Get them ready! Lord Arvane doesn't like waiting!"
Chains rattled. Someone yanked open the door.
A tall, pale man stepped inside, his face expressionless, eyes dull like worn glass. He held a ring of keys and a whip at his side. His gaze swept over us once before he sighed, like he was already tired of existing.
"On your feet," he said flatly. "We're leaving."
The other kids obeyed immediately, some stumbling, some crawling. I tried to stand, but my legs felt like wet noodles. Still, somehow, I managed.
As the man walked past me, the faint red crystal at the tip of his whip pulsed once. For a brief moment, I swore I heard something—distant and haunting.
A melody.
Faint, almost inaudible, but... familiar.
A piano piece.
It was somehow eerie yet calming.
Then sound vanished as quickly as it came, like it was never there.
I didn't know what this world was, why I was here, or who the hell Lord Arvane was. But deep down, I had a feeling—
whatever this place was, it wasn't a dream.
As we followed the man to outside, I saw small water puddles on the ground. It had clear water, instead of the usual muddy water that forms after raining.
"Those are water pits, they use it for water torture." the kid that was walking behind me whispered in my ear.
I glanced down at the puddles again, the reflection of my face staring back at me.
For a second, I didn't recognize the person looking back. My hair was black—messy, uneven—but the tips of the hair had a light green glow, catching the sunlight like threads of greey silk. My eyes… they weren't normal either. A deep, vivid green, so bright they almost didn't look human.
I tore my gaze away. "Water torture, huh…" I muttered under my breath, forcing a dry laugh that came out more like a cough.
The boy behind me didn't laugh. "Don't talk about it," he whispered. "They might think you're next."
Before I could ask what he meant, a sharp whistle cut through the air. The pale man walking ahead stopped, his whip twitching at his side.
"Silence," he said. His tone was calm — too calm — the kind of calm that promised pain if broken.
We were already outside, marching along a dirt path that led toward a brick building standing beneath a massive tree. The tree's branches stretched wide, casting long shadows that danced across the cracked walls.
The smell of flowers I'd noticed earlier was gone — replaced by the stench of sweat, metal, and something faintly rotten. The sun hung high above us, glaring down like it was watching.
Rows of people — kids like us — were being led toward the same building, each guarded by soldiers wearing that same silver-blue armor. The sky was cloudless, too bright, too still.
It didn't feel like a normal sky. It felt painted.
The pale man turned to us. "You are now property of House Arvane. You will serve, obey, and if you live long enough, perhaps… earn your water."
A few of the kids looked up hopefully at that word — "water." I didn't understand until I noticed the cracked lips and sunken cheeks around me.
They weren't starving.
They were dehydrated.
The pale man snapped his whip once. "Move."
We began to walk again, toward the brick building. The chains on my wrists grew heavier, like they didn't want me to move.
Then I noticed something blinking in the corner of my eyes, it was in a strange red colour light, and it was circling around me like it want me touch it.