Chapter 6 - Saved
On the street where Aqueo blasted his first magic with his water spirit, Aquifer, everything was in shambles—wreckage of merchant stands, wood planks, foods and other broken things littered the road, and escaped live animals and beasts flying and running around made it more difficult for the people to salvage the goods that weren't spoiled yet.
In the middle of that commotion, a young man wearing the uniform of Hyndrel Academy was looking at Aqueo as he ran through the ruins caused by his own magic. On his side, another young man wearing the same uniform was struggling to free half of his body from a heavy pile of wood and sacks of grain that fell on him while Aqueo was fighting his stalkers.
"Rinoan," he shouted through the noise. "What are you looking at there? Help me here!"
Rinoan sat beside him. "He dropped his book," he said while raising Aqueo's book in front of him.
The young man just gave him a puzzled look, "So what? He buried me alive. Let's just burn it."
"I've never seen him before. We need an extra member for the tournament. I think he's the one."
"What? Didn't you see they were trying to catch him? He's going to be caged!" he said while still trying to free himself.
"We don't know the story yet. People here will help you. I'll try to make him join us."
"What?" He was about to say more but Rinoan was already running to follow Aqueo.
. . .
Aqueo continued to run with Aquifer. The three remaining stalkers were still after him, who obviously got careful about approaching him. He was almost caught again and again, but he wasn't panicking anymore. After casting his first magic spell, he gained a newfound hope that he could defeat them and go back to Hermina.
That was until he casted another spell and it blasted one stalker a couple of yards away and ruined one unlucky merchant shop—swearing to pay them back for the damages when he was finally able. He tried to run again but realized that his body was feeling weak. The spirit was consuming his energy again. He had completely forgotten about it and didn't even consider it. Now he was just standing there, trying to think what to do. And flying with Aquifer as a last resort looked like an impossible thing right now. He would go weaker at a faster rate and they would catch him in the air.
The remaining two stalkers were both dumbfounded, again, looking more careful than ever. They looked at each other and nodded. One took out a piece of fabric from his clothes. Aqueo realized it was a pouch when the guy pulled out a few small bottles of pink colored liquid and gave some to the other stalker. Both of them were now holding one bottle of pink liquid in both hands.
Aqueo had a bad feeling about this. He had seen similar looking potions that had been used in battles in Aquifer's memories, but he wasn't exactly sure what those things were for. He had some ideas, but most of them were too terrifying to imagine that those things would be used against him.
Aqueo picked up a broken wooden pole on the ground and held it tightly with both hands. If he was going to use magic again, he had to make sure to take out both of them. He wasn't feeling as weak when he met Himi, but he also couldn't bet that he could cast more than one without completely draining himself. He had no idea what would happen to him. He might end up rendering himself unconscious or even dead.
He decided to run to another street again but before he could cross the corner, he saw two of the bottles hitting the stone road in front of him. Pink gasses immediately formed from the broken bottles and spread out in that corner of street where Aqueo stood.
He felt terrified about the possible effects on him. He looked around and saw that the bystanders around him started to act weird. It looked like they were hallucinating. Panicking, Aqueo started to feel dizzy himself as if the world around him was moving sideways back and forth. He saw that his two remaining stalkers were walking leisurely toward him. The broken wooden pole he was holding clanked loudly as it fell on the stone ground.
. . .
Rinoan finally caught up to them. Clutching Aqueo's book in his arms, he quickly followed the mess on the streets to know which way they went, even asking people around for directions.
When he finally caught up to them, he saw how Aqueo casted the same spell again, and still expressed the same amazement by the magic he displayed. He was just a first year and yet already capable of performing that level of magic.
He stopped and decided to just watch them from a distance. With that level of magic his help wouldn't be needed, he thought. But that was until he saw Aqueo's stalkers pull out the dreaded hallucination potions that could render anyone unable to fight.
He saw Aqueo pick up some broken wood poles on the ground and ran to another street. He was about to run to him when Aqueo's stalkers threw the potions in his way. He felt hopeless when the pink gasses surrounded that entire corner, including Aqueo. All the people in the vicinity who saw it scrambled away.
The gasses kept on spreading and Rinoan couldn't do anything to get near. He saw Aqueo drop his weapons and was unable to move from his position, just like the people who got caught in the gas, and he just helplessly stood there and watched how the two stalkers approached him.
He had to do something. But the hallucination gas was too much for him. He decided he would try to save him after they got out of the pink gas. So he did his best to study their current surroundings and planned how he was going to do that.
When the two guys finally reached Aqueo, Rinoan was astounded when he saw him quickly pick up his wood weapon and hit one of his stalkers with it. The guy stumbled and fell unmoving on the ground. The other one tried to grab Aqueo but he fought back and swung the wood at the guy. The guy evaded and tried to take the wood from Aqueo. They both struggled until the guy finally managed to take the wood away. Rinoan's heart skipped for him, but was once again astounded when Aqueo shouted, "Aquifer!", and the stalker in front of him was blasted away.
Rinoan couldn't believe it. He managed to defeat them in the middle of the dreaded hallucination gas. 'He is so going to be my teammate!' he thought excitedly.
Aqueo appeared to be struggling to balance himself. Rinoan wanted to help him but he could only wait for the gas to subside or for Aqueo to get out of there himself. If he only had the same mask they were using to cover his face, he would've already rushed there.
Just when he thought he only needed to wait for him, the guy who fell on the ground started to get up. Rinoan felt helpless once again. The guy wobbled, as well as Aqueo. He saw how Aqueo struggled to run again, but now slower. He went into another street.
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Rinoan had to follow him, he thought. But the street was still filled with pink gas, so he ran to the next street knowing he would meet him at the other side, hoping he would reach him first before the masked guy.
. . .
Aqueo dizzily walked away from the fume. His balance was a bit off and he felt weaker than ever. Even weaker than when he first met Himi.
He didn't know why his body reacted differently compared to the people around him who lost themselves when the pink gas reached them. But it still had a negative effect on him. When he saw the people acting weird, he took it as an opportunity to catch his stalkers off guard.
He thought it was finally over after he and Aquifer blasted the last standing guy with their magic. He didn't know that the one he hit with the wood would recover. He was wobbling too when he left him, he hoped he would be too dizzy to catch up to him soon.
Aqueo just kept on going, the narrow and empty street he entered seemed to be rocking and he couldn't make himself look back to check on his last pursuer. He could see Aquifer by his side, floating. He had been trying to reach its consciousness and urging it to help him. But the spirit just continued floating by his side.
He suddenly stopped.
'Hu-huh? Wh-what happened?' Aqueo thought, his senses were impaired, unable to feel the world properly.
He wouldn't have known why if the guy that held the back of his clothes to stop him didn't rotate his body around. It was his last standing stalker. He could see that the guy was still wobbling himself, struggling to pull a rope from his pocket. Seeing that the guy completely dropped his guard and was just taking his time with the rope, Aqueo tried his best to gather his strength in his right arm and threw a punch.
It hit the masked guy square in the face and fell on his ass, regretting that he went easy on him. He stumbled for balance and laughed, "Ahahaha! I can't believe a f*ck**ng lowly slave like you managed to make us struggle like this!"
"S-slave?" Aqueo asked, but it was more to himself than the masked guy.
He was a bit shaken by the word. That was the reason why they had been chasing after him? He wasn't in his right mind right now, but he still managed to recall what happened earlier before he was followed. The clothing store. He remembered how the muscled man at the shop looked at his tattoo and even raised his sleeves. Now, he finally realized it. The tattoo on his both arms must've meant that he was a slave. Aqueo's heart sank. It was never a special tattoo. How foolish of him to think that. Dread started to fill his mind and he felt like the world around him was rocking sideways even stronger.
"Yeah! You lowly slave. The boss said, you're special. Must be why you survived that potion. Let's see if you can take this one," he said while still sitting on the ground, taking out his pouch once again and pulled out a different looking bottle, a purple one. He threw it on the ground and laughed, "Hahahaha! Dance more, you f*ck**ng slave!"
Aqueo tried to back away, but in his state, it was impossible to get away from the purple gas forming right below him.
The smoke engulfed the both of them, the masked guy was laughing and Aqueo was panicking. The effect was immediate, he felt that this smoke was stronger. Already shaken by the thought that he was reborn into the body of another slave, he was starting to lose himself. And his horrible memories with the human traffickers started to surface.
"S-slave? I-I'M NOT A SLAVE!" he screamed. His past memories were starting to consume his mind. He knew it was the effect of the purple smoke.
The masked guy laughed louder. "Yeah, you are. Hahahahahaha!"
"N-No, I'm not." Aqueo fell on his knees, dizzier than ever. More memories appeared as if forcing themselves to be replayed in his head over and over again. He felt like he was starting to lose consciousness, but he was still holding on, barely. If he got caught here, he would be back to being a slave.
The masked guy laughed again, "Ahahaha! Woah! You're still conscious? Just how special are you? You'll definitely fetch a high price!"
Aqueo, with the last ounce of consciousness he had, heard him, and felt so insulted. In the middle of his hallucinations, he forced himself to move closer to the laughing guy sitting in front of him.
The guy was shocked when Aqueo went closer to him. Still hadn't recovered from Aqueo's blow on his head, he couldn't do anything but say, "Wh-what are you—"
And before he finished saying that, Aqueo yanked down his mask and almost immediately, the guy's eyes pointed upward, convulsed violently while screaming so loud until his eyes were all white, and he fell unconscious on the ground.
. . .
Rinoan sprinted with everything he got, hoping he wouldn't be too late. He cursed the length of the streets when he finally made the last turn and saw Aqueo in the middle of the horrifying purple smoke, crying and screaming loudly in that desolated street. He ran even faster and stopped when he almost reached the edge of the smoke. It was already dissipating, the faint breeze of air coming from his side was helping to thin it out, even though slowly.
Rinoan knew what the color of the smoke entailed. And his heart ached from dread and sympathy for him, and along with those emotions, lingered an admiration and amazement that he had never felt for anyone before. With that purple gas, Aqueo should've been unconscious by now, if not dead.
He waited, and waited, and waited him there. And standing there watching him was excruciating.
Rinoan never felt this helpless his entire life. Aqueo was on his knees, screaming and crying there, clutching his messy hair and rocking back and forth as if he was in pain. He would occasionally shout, "I'M NOT A SLAVE!" and "I DON'T WANT TO BE A SLAVE!", in the middle of his screams and wails which had broken Rinoan's heart.
‘So they really were gonna cage him,’ he thought.
When the air was finally clear, Rinoan didn't waste a moment and immediately ran toward Aqueo. The first thing he did was check his eyes, they were dilated and looked like they were looking through him, but he took it as a good sign that he wasn't shouting and screaming as loud as before. He was still mumbling, and crying, and pleading for someone Rinoan couldn't see. He tried to wake him up, shake him up, but he still couldn't get through him. He continued to clutch his head and rock and writhe in suffering. Rinoan just hugged him tight, trying to comfort him. He wasn't sure if his words were even reaching Aqueo, or noticed his caring touches.
When Aqueo finally stopped writhing so much, he carried him in his arms and he rushed him to the direction of his apartment that was a couple of streets away.
Everything around them appeared as a blur to Rinoan. He was running as fast as possible to reach his apartment faster. As he ran, he was gritting his teeth at his inability to alleviate Aqueo's suffering. Especially when he suddenly screamed so loud and writhed and they almost fell on the stone ground. He thought the screaming was finally over.
He struggled, but he endured it. It was nothing compared to what the young man in his arms was experiencing. It was nothing compared to the training regime he had to occasionally do in the academy.
Finally, they reached his apartment.
In that small bed of his, Rinoan stayed with him, watched him, tried to comfort him, hugged him, even cried with him.
He couldn't quite fathom what kind of past Aqueo had to say those unspeakable things in the middle of his hallucinations.
Rinoan could remember all of it clearly. All of Aqueo's cries and screams, his pleadings and beggings, his terrified and mournful faces, the way he tried to press his lips together as he cried as if trying to muffle the haunting sounds that made his heart heavier and heavier as he sat with him on the bed, hugging him to prevent him from hurting himself from so much writhing and clutching of his head, and even biting of his lips.
The cries continued. Rinoan stayed with Aqueo and hugged him as it went on, and on, and on. . .
"Please, don't!"
"Please, don't hit them!"
"Please, don't don't hit me!"
"Please, let us go!"
"Please, don't take my friends!"
. . .
“Please!”
"I'm begging you!"
"Please, don't take me!"
"No more, please!"
"Please!"
. . .
"I don't want to!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Please, let us go!"
"Please!"
"Please, let me go!"
"I'll be a good boy!"
. . .
"Please stop!"
"I can't take it anymore!"
"Just kill me!"
"Please just kill me!"
. . .
. . .
. . .
"I . . . don't want to die!"
"Please just kill me!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Please just kill me!"
. . .
"I don't want to die!"
"Please just kill me!"
. . .
"Please!"
"Please!"
"Please!"
. . .
"Please . . .!"
. . .
"Please . . .!"
. . .
"Please . . .!"
. . .
"Please . . .!"
. . .
"Please . . .!”