:-TsavKAnz-: ..... Sorry lol, here's another. Did not proofread so it might be bad :(

“Why don’t you stay the night, Ares?” Ryner said. “It’s rather late and trouble brews in the night.” He jutted his head towards the small window, noticing it was already dark outside. Ares didn’t know so much time had passed since he began his operation on Effari, but he wouldn’t let that deter him from his goal.

“No, I must get going.” Ares raising his hand before Ryner tried to convince him otherwise. “My father is still waiting for me.” Ares said with a childish grin, scratching his chin.

“Can I accompany you?” Effari said already attempting to get out of bed. Rachel jumped onto her and crashed her back onto it so hard it repelled them and bounced once before settling. Rachel looked at her with rosy puffed cheeks and her small eyebrows narrowed on her huge forehead. Ryner let out a sigh before speaking.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Ryner said, his arms still crossed from before.

Effari looked expectantly at Ares, only to see him agree with Ares.

“He’s right.” Ares said with a hint of seriousness in his voice. “This is something I have to do on my own.” His blush from before was gone and Effari relented.

“Do you wish to borrow my wagon, Ares?” Ryner said nonchalantly with a slight smile. Ares gaped momentarily at the trust Ryner showed him and his eyebrows rose in shock, but regained his composure soon after and declined.

“No, it is fine. It should be close to here.” Ares said with a comforting smile. “I’ll get there eventually after I wander around for a bit.” And with that Ares made his way downstairs after retracing the path Rachel had lead him. At the base of the stairs, he saw a few of the staff sleeping on the ground and many resting their heads on the table. ‘Are they waiting for Effari?’ He thought.

He heard the bartender whisper Effari’s name in his sleep. It annoyed him a bit, though he didn’t know why. He took a giant leap from the stairs to the entrance of the Bumbling Bee. The coat that laid on his shoulders and his empty sleeve flew to the rhythm of the wind’s resistance.

As he landed softly, he turned back, sure he did not wake anybody as he blew out a few candles strewn across the wall as he leapt. A few them wriggled as if a chilly wind passed their cheek, but they nodded it off.

Ares opened the door slowly, and the creaking that sounded made it seem like an eternity had passed before he was able to slip through. His eyes narrowed and sweat dripped on his temple as if it was the hardest battle of his life.

The door slammed heavily as it left Ares’s hand. It shook the entire inn. He heard footsteps quickly rush the stairs. ‘It was definitely that bartender…’ Ares thought with a hint of irritation. He didn’t know why he felt this way. He had no reason to hate him. The only things he’s seen of him was the way he whispered Effari’s name sweetly and rushed to her aid right after he woke up. Ares’s face donned a casual expression and shrugged off these strange feelings. He looked at the night sky before taking in the town around him.

The town had a darker edge that didn’t match the beauty of the sky above it. Suspicious figures went in and out of shadows and the few candle lights in the street provided a small light that faded as it reached the darkness.

He heard chatters and saw brighter lights in the distance. He could only assume them to be the brothels active at night. His father had blushed when he told them what happened their truthfully at his young age. His wife hit him ruthlessly in the back of the head afterwards. Ares giggled at the memory, especially remembering his father later telling him that he would take him there once he got older, which got him a harder blow from the back as he thought his wife wasn’t listening.

Ares’s curiosity was piqued but he pushed it to the side. Brothels would always be here and he wasn’t sure he would even want to go. It didn’t seem right to him.

He decided to keep the fact he was Gillius’s son to himself in case somebody recognized him. He was a hero of the town and he wasn’t sure that the townspeople would be so forgetting of such a wrong done to him, as well as the prince. Ares knew the charges, he just didn’t know the prince would get away with it and the charges would be put on him in his stead unknowingly. He could even be thought of as a bastard child which could possibly hurt Gillius’s reputation.

He promised himself he would kill the prince if he ever saw him again. For tearing him away from his father, and a place he called home.

Ares anger reached a boil and his killing intent leaked out, causing a few shadowy figures to run from the pressure. Noticing this, he breathed slowly, calming himself.

Before he began walking towards the nearest candle light on the road, he heard cries of joy from above. He looked towards the dim light emitting from the window on the second floor. He saw Rachel resting her chin as if pulling herself up to see if Ares had gone. She gave him toothful smile as her wide forehead rubbed against the cold glass. He gave her a slight wave and started running at full speed before anybody else noticed him, especially Effari. Once he saw a shadow rushing towards the window pane after Rachel turned back and spoke a few words pointing at him, that was his cue.

As soon as he got out of distance from the Bumbling Bee, he began walking leisurely, taking in the good and bad of Helgathor.

He noticed some moans here and there from the homes, which made him blush. He quickened his pace and eventually walked into a dark alley, a place he was eerily familiar with. It was where he spent most of his life, where Ryner occasionally slept and Gillius finally found him.

He traced him hands across the familiar jagged and dirty texture of the walls. His steel boots repelled the gunk laced across the formless ground and food scraps were scattered near the entrances as if used for public trash disposal.

Ares heard a girl’s voice and a slap in another alleyway quite the distance away. He sped across only to tilt his head upwards. ‘Rain.’ He thought. He remembered a day he almost froze to death afterwards during the fall season. He shuddered at the memory and kept moving, the rain getting slightly heavier each step.

*****

“I’m off duty right now, you pig!” The girl struggled as hard as she could, trying to wriggle herself from the man’s grip. “Get the fuck off me!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, only for her face to meet the back of his hand with great force. She grit her teeth and glared at him with eyes of defiance. He slapped her again, seemingly aroused.

“Hehe.” The man snickered before binding her arms in one hand and slamming her to the wall. She looked straight into his eyes with disdain and disgust. “Don’t act like this is your first time, sweetheart. We’ve already have a good time once.” He said, licking between her breasts to her ear.

The girl tried to muster as much strength as she could and tried to kick his crotch. Failing, the man pushed his hips against her, not allowing her to move to her legs any longer. “Bad Silver.” He slapped her again like a dog and the bulge from his pants nudged against her navel. “I don’t remember you being so short.” He said. “Then again, you were on your knees last time we met. Kekeke.” He raised her body a tad bit and tried to unbuckle his belt with one hand.

The girl refused to resign herself physically. This wouldn’t the first time she was raped. She had gotten raped plenty of times when she was first sold as a slave to a brothel. But this was the first time it happened outside in the open, for anybody to see. She was ashamed, but happy the rain covered her tears. She wouldn’t dare let him know he had broken her. Her amber eyes didn’t lose their fire.

Even in this situation, she didn’t scream for help. She had survived this far on her own and she would continue to. As she looked away from the man’s lecherous gaze, she saw a pair of blue eyes pierce the darkness, not staring at her, but the scumbag who finally unbuckled his pants.

Lightning struck at that very moment. Her eyes blinded by the light, but by the time she opened them, the murderous blue eyes stared down at her and blood painted his face. But she wasn’t afraid. She gave him the same murderous glare and returned it two-fold. She would never be afraid of a man. Ever.

Without saying a word, the man retreated back into the darkness after throwing his coat over her head. She was surprised to see he had one arm, but that didn’t deter her rage from being directed at him.

“I will be back for it.” The man said.

“I didn’t need your help!” The girl screamed. Being aided by a man didn’t make her any happier nor would she be grateful for it. But the figure continued to step away before completely disappearing, ignoring her outburst.

“...” She gave him an annoyed glance before stalking back to the brothel, spitting blood on the motionless two halves of the man that tried to rape her at her side. Unfazed, she clutched the coat in her hands, snatching it from her head, as she walked back.

She would never wear it and drops of rain pelted her body harder than before as if punishing her for it. But she couldn’t forget the last words he spoke to her.