Arthur had his cheek pressed against the stone floor, feeling every grain of dirt. The weight of the man pinning him down was suffocating. No matter how hard he struggled, his childish arms couldn't even make him lose his balance.
Damn, this only happens to me...
How could you free yourself from someone who weighs almost three times as much as you and is almost two meters tall?
Impossible.
System... he thought, with a glimmer of hope. Now would be perfect if you gave me some ability to get this idiot off me
....
Tch
"If you've already stopped thinking about a way to escape," said a deep voice next to his ear, "let me tell you that it will be useless. Now I just want you, when I take my hand away from your mouth, not to scream or try to escape. Understood?"
Arthur clenched his teeth. Part of him wanted to resist, wanted to bite the hand that was silencing him, wanted to scream until his throat was raw. But it was a small part, drowned out by the weight of the man on his back.
He nodded. Slightly.
The hand disappeared from his mouth. The pressure on his back lessened, though not enough to allow him to get up. Arthur took a deep breath, feeling the cold air of the alley fill his lungs, and waited.
"I'm not going to hurt you," said the man, his voice sounding different now. Less threatening. "I just need you to listen to me. Can you do that?"
Arthur didn't answer. He wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.
The man must have taken it as a sign of acceptance, because slowly, with a care that surprised Arthur, he removed his weight from his back.
"My name is Siegfried," said the man. "Siegfried Kaslana."
Siegfried Kaslana?
Isn't he Kiana's father?
The question echoed in his head, repeating itself over and over as his brain tried to process the information. Siegfried Kaslana. The man they had been searching for for weeks. The man Kiana had mentioned every night since they met, with that mixture of hope and pain.
And that man was here. Kneeling in front of him. He had just kidnapped him in an alley.
"Siegfried Kaslana?" Arthur repeated aloud, unable to help himself. "Kiana's father?"
Siegfried nodded. He said nothing else, but his silence confirmed what Arthur already knew.
"She's looking for you," Arthur said, his voice sounding harsher than he intended. "She's been looking for you for weeks. She crossed half the country. She slept rough, went hungry, got into trouble just to find a clue that would lead her to you. And you..."
Siegfried looked away. For a moment, his face contorted into something that could have been shame, or pain, or both.
"I know," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
"Then what are you doing here?" Arthur couldn't keep quiet, even though he knew he probably should. "Why don't you go with her? Why are you kidnapping me instead of..."
"Because I can't."
The interruption was abrupt, sharp. Siegfried raised his hand, his only remaining arm, and Arthur saw that it was trembling slightly.
"I can't go with her," he repeated, more slowly. "Not while they're still looking for me, I'd only put her in danger."
"Look." He ran his hand over his face, a gesture of exhaustion. "From what I hear, you're planning to go to Italy."
Arthur blinked, taken aback by the change of subject.
"How do you know..."
"I know everything, kid. I've been watching since you arrived in this city. It's not like you were being subtle, shouting it all over town."
Arthur felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He couldn't argue with that. Kiana had asked everyone she came across for directions, and Emilia, in her attempt to help, had only managed to amplify the disaster. If Siegfried had been following them, he must have heard their "master plan" repeated at least a dozen times.
"Besides," Siegfried continued, and something in his voice changed, becoming more serious, "Italy is not a place to go just like that. Not now."
Arthur frowned.
"Why?"
"I imagine Kiana told you about the Honkai."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"Something."
Siegfried leaned against the wall of the alley, and for a moment his enormous figure seemed to shrink.
"The Honkai," he began, "is not a disease, nor a plague, nor a natural disaster. It is a force."
He raised his single hand, bending his fingers one by one as he listed.
"First, there are the zombies. They are humans infected by the Honkai, empty bodies that only know how to destroy. They don't think. If they see you, they attack you. Period."
Arthur nodded. He remembered the snowy forest, his first day in this world, the moment when a zombie had appeared among the trees and he had had to run for his life.
"Then there are the Honkai beasts," Siegfried continued. "Creatures born directly from the Honkai, not transformed humans. They come in all sizes and shapes. From small ones, the size of a dog, to true monsters that can knock down buildings. Some have some intelligence, others are pure instinct. But they all share one thing: they hate humans."
His voice hardened.
"The most common ones you'll encounter are the chariot class," he said. "They're the standard beasts, the ones that appear in almost every outbreak. They come in various forms, some with thick shells, others faster. A few can be a problem, but with training and the right weapons, they can be dealt with."
Arthur nodded, trying to memorize the names.
"Above those are the knight class," Siegfried said. "Highly mobile beasts, designed for pursuit and quick combat."
He paused, and his expression grew more serious.
"Then there's the templar class. Those are elite beasts. Large, strong, armored. Schicksal requires that any Valkyrie below rank A only face them in a squad. Individually, a Templar can destroy a team of novices without breaking a sweat."
Arthur swallowed hard. The image of such a creature was difficult to process.
"And then," Siegfried's voice grew more serious, "there are the Emperor class. Those are nightmares made flesh. The size of buildings, with powers that defy logic."
"To take down an Emperor beast," he continued, "it takes an entire squadron of experienced Valkyries, or a single S-rank Valkyrie. And even then, there are no guarantees."
He paused, his eyes lost in some distant memory.
"And above the Emperor class," he said, his voice barely a whisper, "are the Judgment class beasts."
"Judgment," Siegfried repeated. "There have only been a few in history. The best known is Benares, a beast that was born alongside Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, during the Second Impact. A dragon capable of controlling wind, ice, and lightning. It destroyed entire squads as if they were ants."
"And all this is not in the public eye?"
The idea was absurd. Beasts that knocked down buildings, dragons that controlled the elements, Herrschers that could bend reality... and normal people knew nothing about it? The news didn't talk about it? People didn't take to the streets to protest, to flee, to hide?
Siegfried looked at him. For a moment, his expression softened into what might have been a wry smile.
"Let's just say Schicksal does a great job," he said, scratching his cheek with his remaining hand.
Arthur frowned.
"A great job? How are they supposed to hide something like that? It's not exactly easy to hide a dragon."
"You're right," Siegfried admitted. "It's not easy. But it's not as difficult as you think. First, because most people don't want to see. They prefer to believe that the world is safe, that bad things only happen in movies. Second, because Schicksal has been doing this for a long time. They have experience."
He leaned against the wall, adopting a more relaxed posture.
"Natural disasters," he said. "Industrial accidents. Gas leaks. Earthquakes. Fires. All of that serves to explain the inexplicable. An Emperor beast wipes out an entire village, and the next day the news reports talk about an earthquake followed by a chemical explosion. People believe it because it's easier than believing that a giant monster trampled the houses."
He moved away from the wall and stretched out his only remaining arm, as if trying to relieve accumulated tension.
"Look, kid, I'm not going to lie to you. Schicksal isn't perfect. It has shadows, many shadows. People like Otto Apocalypse, who has been pulling the strings for years, conducting experiments, manipulating lives. But it also has Valkyries who risk everything to protect people."
"Arthur!"
The voice came from the entrance to the alley, sharp, desperate, unmistakable.
Kiana.
Arthur turned his head instinctively, but Siegfried put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"Stay put," he whispered. "Don't go out yet."
"Arthur! Where are you? This isn't funny!"
"Shit," Siegfried muttered. "I got sidetracked."
He knelt in front of Arthur, forcing him to look him in the eyes. His expression was serious, urgent, but there was also something in it that Arthur hadn't seen before: fear.
"Look, kid," he said quickly, speaking in whispers. "The reason I stopped you, the reason I need you to hear this, is because right now in Italy there are a lot of Emperor and Templar class beasts."
Arthur felt his stomach freeze.
"What?"
"They've been appearing in recent months," Siegfried continued. "And if you guys go there, if Kiana decides to come looking for me in Italy..."
He shook his head.
"I won't be able to protect you."
"Arthur!"
Kiana's voice sounded closer. Too close.
"I have to go," Siegfried said, standing up urgently. "But listen to me carefully. Take this."
He reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a black card.
"What is it?" Arthur asked, taking it.
"A special card. With this, you won't have to worry about money. Hotels, food, transportation... it works almost anywhere."
Arthur looked at it, incredulous. A black card. Unlimited money...
"From what I've seen," Siegfried continued, his eyes softening for a moment, "you seem like one of those smart kids. Kiana trusts you, so I'll trust you."
He paused. Something flashed in his eyes, something Arthur couldn't quite identify. Then, with a half-hearted, almost weary smile, he added:
"Although it would be better if you didn't have those features."
Arthur blinked.
"My features? What do you mean by..."
He didn't finish the sentence. Siegfried was gone. He had disappeared with the same silent speed with which he had arrived, climbing up the wall of the alley and vanishing onto the roof as if he had never been there.
A second later, Kiana appeared in the doorway.
"Arthur!"
She saw him and ran toward him. Her face was pale, her eyes red, as if she had been on the verge of tears.
"What happened? Why did you leave?"
Arthur opened his mouth to answer, but he didn't know what to say.
"Arthur," Kiana's voice trembled. "Talk to me. Please."
Arthur looked at her. He saw the fear in her eyes, the confusion, the desperate need for answers. He saw a girl who had traveled halfway across the country looking for her father.
And he knew he couldn't tell her the truth. Not all of it. Not now.
He put the card in his pocket and forced a smile.
"There was someone who looked like your dad," he said, "so I went to see if it was him. But it looks like it wasn't."
God, I'm so bad at lying...
Kiana stared at him. Her blue eyes scrutinized him with an intensity that sent a chill down Arthur's spine. For a moment, he was sure she had figured him out.
But then Kiana blinked, and her expression changed. The intensity faded, replaced by something Arthur couldn't identify. Sadness? Relief? Both?
"Really?" she asked, her voice sounding small, almost childlike. "You thought it was him?"
Arthur nodded, feeling like the worst human being in the universe.
"Yes. That's why I went over. But when I got there, he was already gone. I only caught a glimpse of him from afar."
Kiana looked down. For a moment, her face contorted into an expression that broke something inside Arthur.
"Always the same," she murmured. "He always appears and disappears. Like a ghost."
The silence lingered. Kiana kept her eyes down, lost somewhere on the alley floor, and Arthur felt something break inside him. He couldn't stay silent. He couldn't leave her like that.
"Hey," he finally said. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find him soon."
Kiana looked up. Her eyes were moist, though not yet tearful.
"Do you think so?"
"Yes," Arthur nodded. "Besides, you have me."
He paused. The next words came out on their own, without thinking, directly from somewhere he didn't even know existed.
"I wouldn't leave you."
Kiana blinked. She stared at him, as if trying to process what she had just heard. And then, slowly, a small smile spread across her face.
"Do you promise?" she asked.
He smiled.
"I promise."
Kiana looked at him for a moment longer. Then, without warning, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder.
"You're a fool," she murmured. "But thank you."
Arthur stood still, not knowing what to do with his hands. Then, slowly, he hugged her back.
"You're welcome."
They remained like that for a moment, enveloped in the silence of the alley, ignoring the cold and damp and the ghosts lurking in the shadows.
When they finally separated, Kiana wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled.
"Hey," she said, blinking. "Where's Emilia?"
...!
Kiana's eyes widened.
Emilia.
She had left her behind.
"Ahahaha..." Kiana's laughter was nervous, forced, as she brought a hand to the back of her neck. "Maybe when I noticed you weren't there, I... left her."
Arthur stared at her. Speechless. Expressionless.
"You left her?" he repeated, his voice dangerously calm.
"Well, 'her' is a strong word," Kiana said, waving her hand vaguely. "Let's just say... I went out to look for you really quickly and trusted that she would follow me."
"Kiana."
"Yes?"
"It's been several minutes since I disappeared."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kiana opened her mouth. She closed it. She opened it again.
"It may have been a mistake."
Arthur sighed. He ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes wearily, then looked at Kiana with a mixture of resignation and affection.
"You're incredible," he said.
"Incredibly good?" Kiana asked hopefully.
"Incredibly something, for sure."
"Let's go."
And without another word, he started running.
"Wait for me!" Kiana shouted after him. "Let's go together!"
The city streets filled with the sound of two pairs of feet running at full speed, driven by guilt and the urgent need to find a sad-eyed girl who was surely wondering where the hell her only companions in this world had gone.