Once again, it was dark. As Ana slowly regained consciousness, the world sharpened around her piece by piece. Cold came first, the rough floor pressing against her skin, followed by the ache radiating through her limbs. Tight restraints bit into her wrists and ankles, leaving them throbbing. Her ribs screamed with every shallow breath she took, and worse still than that, a splitting headache pounded behind her eyes.
She nearly fainted upon waking. Gritting her teeth, Ana forced herself into a sitting position, a task made nearly impossible by her cuffed wrists and chained feet. Pain flared through her body as she blinked through the haze and took in her surroundings. This room was not the one where Aurel and the others had tortured her. The walls were smooth and seamless, the door thick and metallic. A prison. That much was clear.
Summoning more strength than she thought she had left, Ana tried to stand. And miserably failed. They had not broken her body outright, but she knew how little it would take. One well placed stomp and her tibia would snap. Still, she clenched her teeth and crawled toward the small barred window set into the door. Beyond it stretched a corridor, and directly across from her, another cell.
A pair of eyes stared back through the opening.
“Finally awake, aren’t we, my lady?”
Even through the ringing in her ears, Ana recognized that voice. Sarcastic, sharp, unmistakable.
“Lidya?”
“Yep. It is indeed I, Lidya.”
“That voice…” came another, gentler one from the same cell. “Ana?s? Is that you?”
“Uta.”
“Yes, it’s me,” Uta confirmed as she took Lidya’s place at the window. Just as Ana had suspected, they had been captured too. “Are you alright?”
“…Yes. I’m alright.”
“Stop lying. No one’s buying that,” Lidya said flatly. “You were half dead when they threw you in that cell.”
“I saw it too,” Uta added quietly.
Ana let out a strained, embarrassed chuckle, but pain flared through her ribs and cut it short. “Alright then. I’ll admit it. I feel like crap. But I’m alive. That’s what matters.” Remembering a certain girl, her eyes widened suddenly. “Charmy. Where’s Charmy?”
As if summoned by name alone, a voice rang out from nearby.
“That voice… Ana?s? That’s you, right? You’re okay?”
“Oh goddess, she’s awake,” Lidya groaned. “It’s about to get loud.”
Charmy’s voice was not coming from the same cell as Lidya and Uta. It came from the one directly beside Ana’s.
“Ana?s! It is you, right?!”
“Yes, it’s me, Charmy.” As ridiculous as it felt given their situation, Ana was relieved to hear her voice. “You’re alright?” She stopped herself almost immediately. “No. Uta. You. Are you okay? They didn’t do anything to you?”
Her fists clenched instinctively, but she held herself back. She remembered the title she bore, Oathbound. She would not make a vow she might regret.
“I’m alright,” Uta reassured her.
“You’re sure? They didn’t touch you?”
“Yes. They really didn’t.”
“I can confirm that,” Lidya added. “Not a single scratch.”
“They separated me from the others to appraise me,” Uta said, then hesitated. “But other than that, nothing happened.”
Ana heard the pause. They had clearly done something. Nothing like what she herself had endured, but enough to leave its mark.
“I see. If you’re fine, that’s what matters.” Ana exhaled, then immediately regretted it as her ribs screamed in protest. “And you, Charmy? Are you alright?”
“I’m not!” Charmy burst out. “While you were gone, they came right into the shop. No knock, no warning, just grabbed us. I woke up in this creepy white room that smelled like metal and mold and despair, and then the questions started.”
Her voice kept rising, frantic and breathless.
“Questions about me, about you, about the Garden, about my whole life as a Flower. Where I was born, who raised me, how I eat, whether I sleep on my back or my side. What does that even mean? Then they started asking about you. Who you are, where you came from, why I know you, if you’re even real. And then, oh Seraphims, they said they would hit me if I didn’t answer. So I panicked. I told them everything I could think of. I’m just a village girl. I didn’t sign up for this. I begged them to let me go, and do you know what they did? Nothing. They told me to shut up or they would make me shut up. I tried. I really did. But you know how I—”
“Oh shut up already,” Lidya snapped. “Do you ever stop yapping? Even now?”
“I’m not—”
“And by the way,” Lidya cut in, “in case anyone cares, I’m fine too.”
“I see. That’s a relief,” Ana replied dryly.
“Yeah. Everyone got off easy except you,” Lidya continued. “What did you do to earn that beating? Hahaha. Or… not haha.”
“Lidya! How can you laugh right now?” Charmy shouted.
Ana agreed with that one.
“Because this is laughable,” Lidya replied. “All of it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Ana asked, suspicion sharpening. “What exactly do you mean, Lidya?”
“Oh, not much,” Lidya replied lightly. “Just that none of this needed to happen. You let them beat you. You should’ve just answered their questions.”
Ana’s eyes narrowed, her expression hardening as her voice dropped. “You… you’re with them, aren’t you?”
“Me? Absolutely not,” Lidya laughed, the sound easy and carefree in a way that did nothing to reassure her. “What makes you think I’d work with those zealots?”
“I don’t know,” Ana said slowly. “You seem to know things.”
“Girl, knowing too much is my only crime. That doesn’t mean I’m on their side.”
Ana remembered what Lidya had told her before everything went wrong, right before she went to confront that stalker. Something about her tone back then, just like now, refused to settle right in her mind.
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“Alright then,” Ana said. “Tell me. What do you know?”
“Hm. Let’s see,” Lidya mused. “I know, for example, that the reason you got such a brutal beating is because you refused to tell them anything about who you really are, Miss Secretary.”
The words hit Ana like a physical blow. That title was not something anyone here should have known. Her captors had not extracted it from her, not even under torture, which meant that if she knew, Lidya had to have acquired that knowledge from somewhere else.
“Lidya…” Ana whispered. “Just who are you? Or should I call you by your real name. Lee?”
It was the name that had appeared when she had used Appraisal, at first she assumed it was a nickname born from the name Lydia, but now she was convinced it was more than that.
Lidya chuckled softly. “I wouldn’t recommend that. There’s someone out there very possessive about that name, they might take offense if you used it for me. Just stick to Lidya.” She grinned, in a very unsettling way. “Now then, since we’re sharing secrets, maybe it’s your turn. Poor Uta’s confused out of her mind. For her sake, maybe it’s time you told us who you really are.”
***
“So, if I got that right,” Charmy began, carefully trying to summarize what Ana had just confessed. “You were sent by some organization to investigate the disappearance of pregnant Flowers in the Garden?”
It was an awfully simplistic way of putting everything Ana just said, to her credit, Charmy had listened in silence until now.
“Yes,” Ana nonetheless confirmed.
“So you befriended Uta because—”
Seeing where that was going, Ana opened her mouth to cut her off, but Lidya spoke first.
“Did you even listen? She only learned Uta was pregnant recently. She was here to investigate missing Flowers, that’s all. Her friendship with Uta has nothing to do with that. It’s just a coincidence.”
“It’s like Lidya said,” Ana added.
“I see,” Charmy murmured. “So you didn’t expect any of this to happen.”
“I didn’t,” Ana confirmed. “It was a coincidence.”
Lidya suddenly burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?!” Ana snapped.
She had been irritated from the moment she began explaining her situation. She understood that parts of it might sound absurd, like how she had ended up in the Garden, but the rest was not something to laugh about. And yet Lidya had laughed through most of it.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Lidya said, still amused. “Uta and Charmy seem out of questions for now. What about you, Uta? Got any?”
“A question…” Uta’s voice was faint, understandably so. The truth must have shaken her deeply. Ana’s real identity, the crimes hidden within the Garden, and the realization that she herself had been pulled into something far larger than she ever imagined.
“It’s now or never,” Lidya prompted.
There was a pause before Uta finally spoke. “You’re a Highbreed, right?”
“Yes.”
“A noble, even,” Lidya added casually.
“Then your Highbreed comrades,” Uta continued quietly, “are they coming?”
Ana shook her head, though no one could see it. “I was sent alone.”
“So no savior coming to save us,” Lidya remarked, her tone sarcastic.
“I see…” Uta said, even more softly than before.
“If we want out, we’ll have to rely on ourselves,” Lidya continued. “By the way, can you even use your skills?”
“Oh, right!” Charmy exclaimed, hope suddenly lighting her voice. “Ana, you’re a Highbreed. Can’t you just break us out with your power?”
Ana shook her head again. “I’m wearing special cuffs. They suppress my skills. Right now, I’m as helpless as any of you.”
“Oh…” Uta and Charmy said together, the disappointment palpable.
Then one of them asked, “What about you, Lidya? You’re not just a girl trying to become a Flower, are you? Aren’t you a Highbreed too?”
“Me? A Highbreed? No,” Lidya denied immediately. “I’m just a peon. Like I said before, I’m just a village girl.”
“I doubt that’s all you are,” Ana countered. “No ordinary girl would know this much about me. Or about any of this.”
“I said I’m a village girl,” Lidya replied calmly. “I didn’t say that’s everything I am. Let’s just say I met someone. Someone who changed my path. Someone who knew about the Garden and about the missing pregnant Flowers. That’s why I was sent here.”
At those words, a familiar face surfaced in Ana’s mind. “Did that person send you here too?”
“Who do you mean?” Lidya asked, clearly amused. So far, Ana had kept certain details vague, including the organization she worked for and who had given her the mission.
“I doubt it’s the same person,” Lidya continued. “You’ve never met them, and trust me, you don’t want to. Their goal is different from yours. But let’s just say that goal was achieved. Twice.”
Ana frowned. “What goal?”
“Like yours, it doesn’t involve anyone rescuing us,” Lidya replied. “So yes, if we want to survive this, we’ll have to rely on ourselves.”
Realizing Lidya would only reveal what she wanted, Ana asked, “Do you have any suggestions? Since you seem to know everything.”
“Well, I do have one.”
“Really?!”
“Yes. Though I’ll admit it’s a very questionable one.”
“What is it?”
Ignoring Ana’s question, Lidya asked instead, “If we freed you from those cuffs, could you fight?”
Ana frowned, unsure if she was being mocked. But Lidya sounded serious.
“Yes.”
“Good. Then I have one more question for everyone here.” Her tone sharpened. “How badly do you girls want to escape? Ana, would you do everything I say to make that happen?”
“What—”
“Just answer.”
Ana exhaled. “Yes. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“You gave your word, Oathbound.”
Ana stiffened. How does she know that title? But she said nothing.
“And you, Charmy?”
“I’ll do anything!”
“Heh. Fast answer. I like it,” Lidya said. “All I want from you is silence.”
She took a breath, then turned her attention to the girl in her own cell.
“Now, Uta. Your turn. How much are you willing to sacrifice to get us out of here alive?”
Ana felt it then, even from her cell. The weight in Lidya’s voice had changed. It was no longer playful. It was serious. Dangerously so.
Before Uta could answer, Lidya added quietly, “Let me rephrase. Are you willing to forget this pregnancy… and everything that came with it?”
“What?!”
“You know what, never mind. It’s easier if I don’t ask.”
“Wait, Lidya, what… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! AAH!” Uta screamed.
“Lidya?!”
“What are you doing?!” Ana shouted. There was no response. Only silence.
Then the noise came.
WHUD! KRANG!
Metal screamed as it was assaulted by overwhelming strength. Ana saw it through the barred window, something slamming against the door from the inside.
THWAAANG! CLAAANG! SKRA-KRA-KRUNGSHHH!!
With one final, violent blow, the door blasted outward,and slammed against Ana’s own cell door hard enough to make her recoil. When she crawled her way back up to the window, someone was standing where the metallic door was.
It was Lidya.
She walked up to Ana’s cell and casually opened the door. She looked the same, but not quite. Her hair, once black with silver only at the base, was now nearly one quarter silver. Even her presence felt different, heavier, sharper.
She extended a hand. “Your cuffs.”
Ana held out her wrists. Lidya destroyed the metal like one would rotten wood, then did the same to the cuffs around her ankles. Ana could only stare, unable to find words.
“You said you’d be ready to fight once freed,” Lidya reminded her.
Ana nodded. She had not lied.
In that moment, Ana deactivated the ability she had kept running beneath the surface. Hidden Spark. It had been suppressing the draining effects of the cuffs. The instant it vanished, her true form surged outward, no longer restrained.
---
Name: Ana?s
Level: 10
Race: Highbreed
Class: Wizard
Title: Oathbound
[Status]
HP: 38 / 38
MP: 287 / 412
SP: 31 / 31
Fatigue Percentage: 63%
Defense: 32
Offense: 182
---
Her HP leapt from its suppressed state to its full value. Bones that were on the verge of breaking hardened and healed. Her body stabilized, reforged in a flash.
“Feels better, doesn’t it?” Lidya grinned.
Ana ignored the girl’s comment and appraised the girl, this time without a moment of hesitation.
---
Name: Lee
Race: ?P?e?????o????n??????/??????e????l??????v?????e?????
[Status]
HP: 19 / 19
MP: 1 / 1
SP: 41 / 41
Defense: 22
Offense: 32
---
To the invasion, the girl threw Ana a sharp glance but said nothing. Ana chose to do the same. She did not comment on the suspicious stats and instead rushed straight to Uta’s cell.
Uta lay unconscious but unharmed.
“Uta,” Ana whispered, gently shaking her.
“Don’t wake her yet,” Lidya warned.
Ana turned sharply. “What did you do?!”
“Nothing worse than what they would have done,” Lidya replied flatly. “More importantly, Ana, she has to forget this pregnancy.”
“What?”
“I know your power. I know you can erase memories. Use it. Let her forget this ever happened. Give her that mercy.”
At those words, understanding dawned, or at least suspicion hardened into shape. From the moment Lidya mentioned being sent by someone else, the pieces had begun to fall into place. The convenient timing. The easier treatment of their Petal group. The unusually kind trainer. Meeting the owner on the very first day. None of it had been luck. It had all been deliberate. Just like the timing of Uta’s pregnancy.
“You,” Ana growled, grabbing Lidya by the collar. “What have you people done?”
“You can blame me if you want. But I told you. I was just a village girl, not for very long. This was planned months ago. Uta was a pawn in a game far bigger than either of us.” Lidya’s voice did not waver. “You know that kind of game. You know how helpless it feels. I tell you, the only mercy you can give Uta right now is making her forget. Forget she was ever pregnant.”
Ana stared into Lidya’s eyes and saw sincerity there. To her, this truly was mercy.
Ana released her grip.
She looked back at Uta. Thought of their conversations. Thought of Lidya’s words. Slowly, she came to a decision.
“I’m not making that choice for her,” Ana said at last. “She’ll decide for herself.”
