"Recount everything you told us that day!"
Splash!
Lucius stood silently in the middle of the dark, spiraling stairwell that led down to the prison. Above, he could hear the guard coughing and sneezing. Below, it sounded as if three men were torturing the criminal he and the aspiring captain had captured.
"I already told you everything," the criminal said weakly.
"Then enlighten us one more time!"
Smack!
It had been thirty minutes since Lucius arrived on the stairwell, and several hours since the prisoner had been taken into custody. In that time, the man had endured every kind of torment imaginable. His will, once unshakable, was beginning to crack.
"It all started on the night of the full moon." The criminal paused, his voice turning tearful. "I… I just wanted to take my son hunting for boars. We went deep into the forest, near the outskirts. That's when everything went to hel—"
Splash!
"Get to it!" one of the officers roared.
"We got separated. I searched for him for a long time. During my search, I reached a village on the outskirts, and that's when I was told some soldiers had taken him, along with other children from the outer lands, to the capital."
The man began to sob, only to be silenced with another slap.
"I felt relieved at first, thinking he was being kept safe in the capital. But I should have known. Damn it—I should have known. My boy had a genetic mutation… His irises were white. He was a Scion, but his eyes weren't red."
A Helios Scion with white eyes? Lucius thought, startled.
"I guess the guards mistook him for outskirt trash. Because when I finally discovered what happened to him…" His voice twisted into fury, "YOU BASTARDS SACRIFICED HIM TO HELIOS!"
Lucius's eyes widened. For a moment, the air itself felt heavy, choking him. He wanted to dismiss the words as madness. The Helios kingdom was cruel, corrupt, rotten to its core, but human sacrifices? That was beyond his imagination.
Laughter echoed from the prison below.
"If that's all he knows, then erase his memory. No sense wasting a perfectly good warrior."
"What? No, you can't!" the criminal screamed.
Can they erase memories?
The thought sent a chill down Lucius's spine. How many times had they done this before? Could they have done it to him?
The man's cries of resistance grew weaker by the moment. Lucius could already tell he wouldn't hold out. Sweat trickled down his neck as dread coiled in his chest.
I… I have to get out of here. Even if I am a prince, if they catch me, they'll erase my memories too.
There was no way to escape. Above, the guard still stood watch over the prison, and below, the officers were erasing the man's memories. Lucius was like a rat in a maze—every path ended in a trap.
Fuck it.
Backed into a corner, he let instinct take over. Trickery was his nature, but if he wasted time trying to lure the guard away, the officers might climb the stairs and catch him.
So he bolted up the spiral staircase, feet pounding against stone until he burst through the opening. Before the guard could react, Lucius struck him with a sharp chop to the neck. The man crumpled. A Stage Three Scion, probably, no match for Lucius, whose strength was closer to Stage Four.
He sprinted to his quarters, slammed the door shut, and killed the lights. His first instinct was to flee the compound, but that would look suspicious. With a guard lying unconscious, a search would be conducted. If he wasn't found, someone might conclude he had overheard what was happening below.
So, forcing himself to stay put, Lucius climbed into bed, closed his eyes, and feigned sleep. His body trembled, drenched in sweat.
What are the sacrifices for? My father must know about this. Does my brother? He's the firstborn prince, the favorite. Did the king let him in on the secret?
His thoughts spiraled, questions firing faster than he could control. He prayed desperately to nothing that his brother wasn't part of this.
Scions never respected people from the outskirts. To them, those villagers weren't even true citizens. But Lucius saw them differently. They were living beings with families, friends, people who loved and were loved. Unlike the nobles of the capital, they weren't cruel, nor did they harbor the same hatred for him.
And that was why, while other Scions would probably eagerly accept the King's orders in hunting and capturing outskirt citizens, Lucius felt only a crushing sense of dread.
Suddenly, a loud siren blared through the compound. Red lights pulsed across his room as a monotone voice echoed over the intercom:
"Intruder alert… Intruder alert."
Not wanting to draw suspicion, Lucius bottled up everything he had just learned and forced his usual dull facade back onto his face.
I really wish I could make clones right now.
Smirking faintly, he cracked open his door and peeked into the hall, half-hidden behind it. The corridor, once dimly lit, now pulsed with red light from the alarms. It was mostly empty.
This wing of the military compound was meant for guests. The only other person staying overnight was his aspiring captain, who was also peering cautiously from behind a door. His gaze was fixed on the main room ahead, where the shouts and strange scuffling of Scions bled faintly through the blaring siren.
Sweat streamed down his face, his wide eyes full of panic.
I don't like that look. I should be the one who looks suspicious, so why is this bastard sweating like a pig?
Lucius cleared his throat.
"Uh… what's going on?"
The captain's head turned slowly. Relief softened his features as soon as he recognized Lucius.
"I don't know. Let's go check."
The hallway seemed to stretch forever as they walked side by side. Lucius struggled to breathe, his chest tight, while the aspiring captain looked ready to collapse. But when they reached the main room, both froze in horror.
Blood painted the walls. At least six bodies lay strewn across the stone floor. The air was unnaturally cold, a freezing bite that cut through their skin. Dozens of Helios Scions stood ready, weapons in hand, their breaths ragged, their eyes blazing with fury that seemed born from the very sun itself.
Then one soldier spotted them and shouted:
"The Boreas are already here!"