With his lighthearted, playful argument with the silent child over, he reached out and firmly grasped the child's arm. Arc wasted no time at all. With a tug, he led the child down the long, once elaborately decorated hallway. The walls that were once adorned with paintings, elaborate curtains, and other expensive items now lay bare, and all that remained were the ghosts of their presence and the scars from the fight that seemed to have been barely tended to.
As they moved, the faint glow of Morin's warm light filtered through the intricately designed windows that lined the hallway, creating a soft spotlight on the glossy wooden floor, but the beauty of Morin's light could only blind to the burns and scars that decorated the once pristine wood that the pair now ran on.
Arc's footsteps echoed through the corridor as he moved at a quick, heavy pace contrasting sharply with the soft, small steps of the child trailing closely behind him. Arc disregarded any worry of being discovered by the Seedlings. His only concern was to keep what lay below the small village a secret as long as he could. He was aware that some of the Seedlings knew of this underground, but They, just like him, had chosen to remain silent about this but for differing reasons that remained their own.
With a sudden burst of energy, Arc pushed open the creaking door to the servants' lounge. With his forceful entrance, the room that had just settled with another thin layer of dust was once again sent spiraling into the air. The heavy curtains lightly and subtly swayed, startled by the sudden entrance, letting in frames of light showing the abandoned room once more.
Without pausing to take in the surroundings, Arc dashed to the room where the entrance to the hidden passage was.
Carter had been dragged along throughout the halls and pulled through the room. But as he stepped into the dimly lit room inside the lounge and his gaze fell upon the body, pristine and eerily still on the neatly made bed, an overwhelming jolt coursed through him. The figure was a haunting sight, the pale skin almost luminescent against the dark bedding, and the eyes stared blankly up at him, devoid of emotion and clarity.
At that moment, it felt like time had frozen; everything around him faded into a dull blur. No coherent thought pierced the thick fog in his mind, and his muscles felt like stones, refusing to budge. He was anchored, immobile, as if some invisible force held him captive at the room's entrance.
Carter's breath quickened, each inhale becoming shallow and rapid, yet he remained fixated on those unblinking eyes, which seemed to beg and plea for help. The silence was deafening.
"Child, you're wasting time. It is just a body. You will see many more in your life. Now, hurry, I do not want to stay in the village a second longer than I must."
Arc's voice echoed through the dark entrance to the underground as he shouted, his tone urgent and sharp. Just as he prepared to storm across the room, intent on grabbing the child once more, he noticed the child cautiously maneuvering around the lifeless body sprawled across the bed on the other side of the room. The child's dull eyes were fixed on the motionless figure, but nothing but the scene in front of him was reflected in those eyes.
With careful, deliberate steps, the child maintained a safe distance, avoiding the body. It wasn't until he neared Arc that the man reached out, his hand swooping to grasp the child's arm and pull him down the narrow, winding steps leading into the depths of the underground. As they descended, Arc could sense the child's false tension; even in the shadowy darkness, the boy's focus remained glued to the top of the stairs. The deeper they went, the more the atmosphere thickened, yet the child's gaze was still anchored above them.
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Step by step, the pair descended, their footsteps echoing softly off the cramped walls. The air grew cooler, carrying with it a faint scent. Each step echoed in the stillness, and only the gentle scrape of their soles gliding across the chiseled stone steps broke the mundane sound as they walked on and stumbled down in the darkness.
Arc could sense the weight of the child's struggle behind him with each cautious step they took into the deep, dark passage. The child fought against him, their small wrist slipping slightly through his grip as they hesitated and jerked at every unsettling noise that echoed in the shadows. Arc tightened his hold, feeling the warmth of the child's skin under his fingers, and he fought against the mounting frustration that threatened to boil over.
He would have preferred to leave the child behind, but he knew that wasn't an option. They were in this together, whether he liked it or not. As they descended further, the child's panic became more evident; their breathing turned quick and uneven, and every pause made Arc's already frayed nerves twitch. He prided himself on his patience, but this child had a knack for getting under his skin, pushing every wrong button. Arc sighed inwardly, determined to remain steady amidst the turmoil, knowing that they had to press on, no matter how difficult the journey became.
As they finally descended the last few steps, the child, overwhelmed by a mix of anxiety and panic, tried to go back up the stairs. Arc snapped sharply in response, unable to contain his frustration any longer.
"You useless waste of space!" Arc seethed as he glared at the child, trying to escape by backpedaling up the stairs.
"Stop your cowardice, you useless child! By the ancestors, you're a Feyrisian. Act like one, you useless thing! Stop hiding from everything! Stop wasting mine and everyone else's time and get over yourself!"
Arc observed as the child stopped in his tracks, his head tilted downwards, staring at the cobbled stones that formed the floor. It was difficult to sense what the child was thinking, given his emotionless face and lifeless eyes. At first, Arc found it amusing to see one of his kind in such a state, resembling a distraught Seedling. However, as days turned into weeks, the situation became more annoying. Despite his irritation, he maintained his distance, reminding himself it was not his problem. He was only required to watch the child, as the elders and the old man instructed, but enough was enough.
Arc lunged forward, his sudden movement catching Carter off guard. Startled, Carter's feet tangled with one another in a frantic attempt to escape. In that instant of panic, he stumbled backward, losing his balance entirely and tumbling up the stairs. He could only stare at the red-faced Arc as he hovered over him.
"You can't even..."
Arc stood over the child, his mind a storm of clashing emotions. His rage surged and receded like dancing waves in the storm of his mixed emotions. The child gazed up at him with dull, lifeless eyes that seemed to absorb Arc's presence yet reflected nothing else within.
Every line of the child's face was like a blank canvas that grew Arc's annoyance and frustration. It was infuriating how the child's acts of fear didn't match the emptiness in his gaze; there was an unsettling contradiction that stoked the fire of rage inside Arc.
Why did the child pretend to engage with the world around him when he lacked a genuine desire to connect? If the child chose to observe, to remain an innocent bystander in this world, then he should do so quietly. Yet here he was, occupying a space that seemed to mock everyone and everything. If there was any cowardice, any real emotion simmering beneath that still exterior, it should manifest as something, anything, not this silent, empty shell as if everything is only an act and he is simply a puppet on strings.
The tension between them stifled as Arc found himself grappling with the mix of pity and rage. He couldn't ignore the impulse to shake the boy, to demand answers from those blank eyes. But rather than receiving responses, he was met with an unsettling silence.
CHK CHK
CHK CHK
A strange noise echoed from deep within the labyrinth. Although Arc could hear the sounds, they felt both distant and close at the same time. The echoes carried the noise a long way, making it seem as if it were beside him. Arc immediately turned his attention back to the child, thinking the sounds were nothing more than settling stones or the ground around them.