Sol’s POV
I left the room rather hesitant, but I also did not want to stay behind and do something when I knew I would slow Nephthys down. After quickly finding Theo directly outside the room as Nephthys had said, we were off to secure an exit route. Quickly running down the hallway that had become somewhat familiar in the few days I had been here, I had expected this part of the plan to go rather smoothly, but before we even reached the stair leading up towards the surface, the door that led to Ivan’s room opened. Immediately, the two of us stopped running to hide, but there was nowhere to go. This hallway was a one-way path that had doors on it but did not branch off in other directions.
That wooden door creaked open and time appeared to slow down in my eyes - the pounding of my heart overpowered every other sound that entered my ears. There was nothing we could do if he were to kill us then and there, but there was also a chance that he didn’t know what we were doing quite yet. Ivan had only come out of his office now and Theo could probably make a valid excuse as to why I was wandering around when I was supposed to be in that cellar. There was the sound of footsteps and, as I had expected, Ivan walked out ever so calmly. It seemed that he was doing better injuries-wise but still was heavily bandaged. Theo and I both pretended to play innocent, but as Theo was about to open his mouth, Ivan spoke first.
“...Don’t even bother”
I didn’t dare to speak or act at that moment - there was little in ways I could significantly influence the situation. Theo also could not so much except give excuses for the current situation - after all, he was still a slave and he seemed to have something around his neck that controlled him much like the other slaves that worked for Ivan, unlike how it was at the mines. Nervously, I waited for Ivan’s next words which would essentially decide the fate of everyone in this building. For the next few moments, all he did was look between me and the door Theo and I had escaped from in order to execute the next stage of the plan. Ivan’s eyes seemed to be contemplative as if he was in the middle of making a decision - most likely a decision that would decide our very fates.
“... hahhhh, that bastard Elize doing whatever she wants again. Theo!”
“Y-Yes!?”
“Release all the remaining slaves that survive as well as Sol and Nephthys after Elize dies.”
“H-huh?.. I mean, Yessir!”
Although I wasn’t quite sure about the unfolding situation, I assumed that the woman's name was Elize and Ivan already knew that she would die. Then, I was confused as to why he would let her go in on her own, but I didn’t question him - I didn’t have any right or power to. However, it seemed that he was letting us off for some reason and that confused me more than shocked me. What slave owner would let his own property go after buying them for what all I knew was a hefty sum? I stared skeptically at Ivan because I felt that there was no way a man like him would let us off the hook so easily after taking the time to capture us.
“You look confused Sol… well… all you need to know is that I’m letting you go… for now.”
“W-Why?”
“Oh, and take your lovely ‘parents’ with you. I don’t need them anymore.”
He didn’t even bother to answer my question, instead, it seemed like he was letting everyone go except for the ones that were already working under him. Although I felt bad for Theo, I was under no circumstance to think about him at this point. I quickly ran back to where Nephthys was to make sure that she was uninjured as well as to retrieve the slaves that were still alive. Pushing on the metallic door with my back, it took all my strength to budge it open for some reason - I quickly found out the reason why when I opened the door to a sizable degree. There were corpses and guts all around the door that prevented the door from opening - there, I saw Nephthys gutting that woman, Elize I believe Ivan called her, with one of the biggest smiles I’ve seen on her face. Elize seemed to already be dead and the surviving slaves were filling their stomaches like hungry animals.
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It seemed that although I had seen similarly horrifying things many times, the scene I was looking at this time was just so graphic that my stomach regurgitated the little food I had eaten in the past days. It was not that I didn’t understand Nephthys’s and the slave’s behaviors, but it seemed that my mind was just not expecting exactly what was unfolding before me. Nephthys continued to get splattered in blood as she continued to stab Elize while the slaves were splattered in blood from eating. After having my moment, I walked over to where Nephthys was, each step making me feel nauseous once again.
“Nephthys, that’s enough… Nephthys, that’s enough!”
It was unusual that Nephthys did not react to me after calling her multiple times. She didn’t seem in the right headspace and there was only one thing that I could do to make her stop - physically remove her from that corpse that no longer looked like a person’s body. I did not have much confidence in my strength to pull her off, but I had to try nonetheless - she had saved me many times before and I would save her this time from plunging further into the darkness than she already had. After moving close enough to hug her from behind, I took the only arm I had and tried to drag her entire body off of Elize’s.
“Who are you!? She’s not dead yet!”
Before I could respond, she took her dagger and tried to sink it into my arm that was around her waist, but before she could, I managed to disrupt her balance and pull her off - I got off with only a knick on the wrist.
“Nephthys! It’s me, Sol! Calm down!”
I screamed at her and she clearly heard me because she seemed to freeze midair as I was pulling her off of Elize. Blood slightly flowed out of my arm, but what worried me more was how Nephthys was doing. There was no doubt a part of me that feared her at that moment, but I did not let it consume me… in my mind, that was the same as abandoning her, and I had already promised not to multiple times. As my back fell against the blood-stained floor, I kept Nephthys tightly in my one arm for a few moments to remind her that she was not alone. Surprisingly, I felt water hit and flow down my arm - they were Nephthys’s tears. I did not question it and we silently stayed in that position until I felt that it was the right moment to tell her what had happened in the moments she was fighting in this room.
For a few minutes, she was in utter disbelief at what Ivan had told me and she expressed a similar angry face for a few moments.
“You know we can’t beat him… yet”
“I… I know”
Although Ivan had needlessly indirectly killed dozens of people, he made the arbitrary decision to let us go. It made no sense and would naturally cause anger to rise, but there was little we could do against an indomitable force, even if he was slightly injured. Our best decision in the current situation would be to take our chance to live somewhere as far away as possible from the kingdom we were currently in - apparently called the Holy Empire of Raksha. This was a cursed land for anyone not considered a human being which included slaves - after all, they were considered property. Rosa and Nor would also be released from wherever they were so there was no one being left behind to worry about.
Nephthys seemed to be greatly weakened after that “duel”, so I helped her up for the first time in a long time. She seemed rather dejected even though she had utterly annihilated her opponent - she wouldn’t even look me straight in the face the whole time I helped her out of the blood-stained room. It reeked of blood and body parts were flung all over the room… I did my best to ignore it and left the room along with the slaves who were being dragged back into reality. Many had been hurling up what they had eaten after coming to the realization of what exactly they had done in the heat of the moment. Although I did not see them as any less as a person, there was no doubt that my mind was greatly influenced by what I had seen in that room - that went for Nephthys too. It would take me a bit of time to adjust my views on certain things I had seen… it was not something that I could change overnight.
* * *
Everything had already been set up for us, there was no need to work in order to procure these items. Ivan had already brought out two sets of wagons along with horses to pull them. Not only that but food and materials we may need on a trip were just given to us as if we were their allies of some kind. I found it suspicious, but all Ivan said was to consider it a farewell gift - I did not understand that man or what he was thinking. As we helped load the wagons, I finally caught a glimpse of the two people I had missed the most - Rosa and Nor. After many days of thinking that I had seen the last of them, they had appeared before me and tears just flowed from my eyes without any warning. I ran towards them and leaped into their arms, nearly causing Nor to fall on his back, but he managed to stay standing on only one leg. We all shed tears until we were forced to pick up the pace by Ivan.
I would have time later to talk to them, so I let go of them for now and exchanged a few words, and got back to loading the wagons. The sun had set a while ago and it was now pitch dark, the perfect environment to make our escape from this town at last. The slaves… the remaining people who had survived and were now free also joined us because they had no other place to go. At last, Nephthys and I got in the wagon and we set off to leave. As we left, Ivan simply looked at us without any regret showing on his face… only an ominous smile that I never hoped to see again.