9. Lost

The cracking of a whip echoed in the hall, harmonizing the yowls of pain coming from Sven's vocal chords. The Divine Healer was tied to a pillar, shirtless as Briana delivered a thirty-third lashing to the blond healer's back, blood dripping from the wounds and down the pale skin. Some older wounds even reopened in the process of this torture.

"You skipped the festival for the sake of finding this 'Cassandra Gladstone?' It's a sad excuse." The Apothecary's voice echoed above the gasps of pain and the sounds of the whip.

"At least he saved the vast majority of the villagers from those Cimmerians! If I hadn't, they would all die!" Sven snapped back, before getting another lashing. He let out cough as the Apothecary continued.

"Don't you talk back to me, fool." The Apothecary hissed as Sven was finally released from his bonds. Briana spun him around to face the Apothecary, who was now walking towards him. "Give me the key to Cain Hargreaves' cell. I'll be looking over him."

Right after that, Sven let out a chuckle, his bloodied lips turning upwards into a grin.

"Why are you laughing?" Briana snapped, pulling Sven roughly by his hair. Sven let out a quick gasp of pain before continuing to grin.

"...I gave him the key. He's probably gone by now, I bet. Probably gone to find one of his...allies." He spoke after a moment of silence. "You're too late."


"Sven? Are you going to be okay?" Maryweather asked, concern in her voice as Adrian tied bandages about Sven's bare torso and back. Before she got over to this place where Cassandra and Riff were living at, she remembered seeing Sven stumble into the room where he'd been letting Leroy and Maryweather stay in and telling them to pack up as many things as they could and get ready to go. The older man was weak, and injured, and Leroy had to help him stay upright as they traveled to the house.

"Y-yes, Maryweather...I'll be fine." Sven responded quietly, before turning to Loanna who spoke next.

"...Would a cookie make you feel better?" Loanna asked, looking equally concerned. "Carina said that people should eat otherwise they're not going to end up very well health-wise..."

"Yes, Loanna. Thank you." Sven responded quietly. Loanna quickly ran out of the room, obviously going to retrieve said cookie. Riley rushed into the room, and as soon as he saw Sven, he sat down beside him.

"I can't believe you skipped the festival..." Riley trailed off as he inspected Sven's bandaged upper half.

"I had to talk with Cassandra." Sven responded quietly, looking downwards. "How is...His condition, currently?"

"He's a bit better now. Still in pain, but at least the wounds are closed up. It might be a while before he can go outside again; he was burned and scratched up quite a bit..." Riley paused before making eye contact with Sven. "But I didn't think it was possible...That he was able to summon the twin blades they talk about in those legends."

"Legends?" Maryweather asked. "Twin blades? Can you explain?"

Riley glanced at Maryweather, before nodding. Just as he was about to start, Riff and Carina stepped into the room.

"Cassandra told us to leave so he could speak with Leroy in private." Riff explained immediately as he stood by Maryweather. Carina, on the other hand, took a seat across from Riley as he started to speak in reply.

"I see...Well then, I should get on with explaining the legend that I was asked about just now." Riley responded, taking a deep breath before starting. "Legend has it that a warrior, unable to see physically, will destroy the evil in this world. He summons blades that look exactly alike and are exactly alike, and his movements in battle are almost...as if he was a dancer, if I'm correct. Cassandra has fit those things entirely so far. Could it be possible that he might be the one?"

"It could be, if you take those points into account." Sven responded quietly as he crossed his arms. "But does a hero cause a massacre in the past?"

"You heard about the Crimone Gardens incident?" Riff asked, confused. "Who told you?"

"...Cain Hargreaves. He was being kept prisoner by the Apothecary for trespassing." Sven finally admitted after a brief moment of hesitation. "I gave him the key prior to me going to meet Cassandra; I wanted him to escape. It's one of the reasons why I'm in this injured state. Cain told me all about Cassandra and what he's done. It's a terrible thing, I know, as well as abusing Leroy, but he really seems to regret those things, now..."

Everyone went silent for a moment, until Loanna came back with a tray of cookies. "I thought all of us might need something to eat..." She trailed off awkwardly, putting the tray on a nearby table before turning towards Sven and handing a cookie from the tray to him.

Sven smiled a bit, before patting the girl's head gently with one hand and receiving the cookie. "Thank you for bringing all of these for us, Loanna. You're very kind to take all of us into consideration." He responded softly, before taking a bite out of the cookie.

Before anyone else could speak, everyone heard a rapping sound at the back door. "I'll get it." Adrian muttered, before heading into the hallway. The sound of a door opening was heard, before a thump and a sound of someone shouting 'Dang it!' immediately drew Riff's attention. Before anyone else could do a thing, the silver-haired butler ran into the hallway after Adrian, and saw-

Cain, holding Jizabel who had just collapsed into his arms. He and the doctor's much shorter and younger-looking assistant was trying to carry the unconscious doctor, and Adrian eventually helped them get the doctor into a somewhat upright position so that it would be easier to carry him.

"Lord Cain..." Riff trailed off. The three looked up, and Cain made immediate eye contact with him.

"Riff. We have to get my half-brother healed, now." Cain spoke, the golden-green eyes alert with worry. "He got hurt in the midst of my escape."


Cain rushed down the hallway, and turned to the left, only to run into a uniformed soldier. "Crap." Cain muttered under his breath as the soldier took out his sword, ready to stab Cain in the face-

Only to suddenly get his throat slit, the soldier's eyes widening as he fell to the ground and bled to death. A familiar, tall doctor with silver hair stood beside the new corpse, along with his short, youthful-looking assistant.

"I'm sorry, but only I have the authority to take my brother's eyes for my own." Jizabel spoke quietly, before looking up at Cain, the bluish-grey irises giving a sincere look.

"Can we call it a truce for now?" Cain spoke up. "There's guards after me, and we can't stick around here."

"I'm aware of that. I overheard the so-called Grand Apothecary and one of his assistants yelling at the guards to go and kill you." Jizabel responded, before turning to continue down the hallway. "All we have to do is keep running. Otherwise you will be dead."


Author note: ...Ehhh...Not my best chapter. I was hoping to have some more one-on-one conversations here, but at least you can kind of see here that this takes place while Cassandra and Leroy are talking with each other. All sections in this fic that are completely italics are flashbacks, if you didn't understand why they are that way. Hopefully next chapter will be better, and thank you to you readers for reading and reviewing!