Chapter 2 - Their Names
While it is described as the most beautiful and renowned empire in the world, the secret under its surface has slaves escaping from its darkest corner.
As if time itself has skipped ahead after a tragedy, the young child finds herself running along with the rest of the slaves, seemingly fleeing from the scene of a crime.
What happened within only a few hours? Where's their destination? What are their goals in escaping slavery? And most importantly, who has dealt the final blow to their abusers?
"..." The young child was fazed with speechlessness.
Even when it occurred like a flash of lightning, it felt as though it was a timeless moment. Memories of that one scene were trying to be locked away by the young child's subconsciousness.
To protect her from the crack of reality; to linger on the last bit of her innocence; all to ensure the child's sanity, the child is actively betraying what she sees, setting aside the truth and deluding herself in falsehood.
"..I didn't do it."
Her decision to take the initiative is leading her to this current circumstance where the child is sprinting with everything she has got, regardless of her stamina. And the source behind why the slaves are following the young child is acting as each and every one of her guilt.
"..I.."
As red as it can ever be, the transparency of the blood on her hands is constantly tormenting her with immense guilt.
"Hey! What are you doing standing there?!"
All of a sudden, a bawl to the child's ears shook her back to the surface, resting her jolted glance upon the person ahead of her.
The person who has run straight toward freedom and has led those in slavery to flee from purgatory, has piled up unnecessary sacrifices upon his hands…
He's an older slave as well as the murderer of a human, and the young child is no different from him.
"Don't tell me you're feeling guilty after that!?!"
Scoffing at the weak-mindedness of the young child, the older slave pats the former on the shoulder as if to comfort her in her toughest time.
It was his way of delivering his gratitude for her assistance during that final moment. After all, a chance at freedom wouldn't have come if the young child hadn't taken action into her own hands.
Even though the young child understood the measures it takes to free everyone from misery, the thought of it marks a scar on her and the reminder of it sends a shiver down her spine.
'Scream…'
An hour is a very long time for some, and more so to the young child who had lived her life in a slave settlement. But it felt longer than ever when all of those atrocities happened a few hours ago.
"AGHHHHH!!!"
The echoing scream that carries a psychological reminder to her mentality, blemishes her with a bloodstained and unforgettable memory. When the gore and shock in her face are the clear sign of her first act of bloodshed, the clarity of the situation became all the more memorable.
Within that circumstance, the vividness of her hands clasping onto a broken chair's wooden stick, the clear sight of her focus toward the slave guard's waist, and the sharpness of her stab into a human's flesh, it was outright too detailed to be forgotten.
When the scream of the guard resounded, the child could distinctly hear it to its fullest as the sound of agony was all there was to it.
'No..'
'Forget it..'
Numbed by the current reality, the young child trembles in an erratic way where her lowered gaze was on the blood-soaked hands of hers. Just the near sight of it terrified her greatly, prompting her to dirty her ragged clothes further by wiping the blood off.
"Oi! Can you hear me?! HEY!" The older slave snaps after being ignored by a slave younger than him.
"Y-Yes.."
"Finally! At least, you're talking! Now everyone! Gather around! We ain't gonna survive in this damn forest if we don't get together right here! Right now!"
At the end of his words, the young child finally had her eyes on the number of slaves around her. Not long before she was overcome with guilt and started to escape, the majority of the slaves, as the child remembered, were supposed to have a great quantity of them.
Yet, at this moment, how come there are only a few children instead of a dozen? Why is that? What caused the decrease in the slaves?
Even without those questions being answered, the young child already had a grasp of the situation. For these children to leave the slave settlement after the tumultuous screams of slave guards, it's natural for the slave traders to chase after the children.
"Helpppp!"
"Don't leave me!!"
"Come back! Please!!"
"I don't wanna go back..!!!!"
One by one, the children who yearned for freedom, were captured and taken away to their miserable doom. And the few fortunate slaves who managed to be unscathed after entering a forest, were the only ones left of the rest.
One, two, three.. There were a measly five children, including the older slave. Because of this outcome, one of these slaves was foaming with rage toward another.
"You.." Someone bawls.
"How could you..!"
"You pushed them aside as if they were nothing! Why did you have to do that!!!?"
Making haste, the boy walks up to the older slave and attempts to grab hold of the latter with every strength he had. However, someone had to put a stop to this insufferable circumstance before it got too out of hand.
"..Stop." The young child came forward to prevent the enraged slave from confronting the older slave.
"Don't.."
After seeing the expression on her face, the enraged slave slowly but surely calmed himself down while the meaning behind her expression was as clear as day.
"Why don't we.." Seemingly to avoid the atmosphere, the young child changed the topic.
"Give ourselves a name..?"
Lowering the animosity of the slaves, the young child catches their attention with something rather interesting and quite necessary.
'Forget the past.'
'Right now is.. important!'
Even as the situation was dire, her mindset was set to the future and for the sake of everyone's survival around her. Not only was she able to settle the ambience, she managed to bring up a topic worth looking into.
"A name?" The once irked slave repeats.
"Yes. A name for calling each other."
"..."
"..."
"..Fine."
A pause within a conversation, it was a moment where the two of them had an eye-to-eye interaction with one another.
As if to understand the meaning behind their glances; as if to communicate on a deeper level, it was their way of conversing without the older slave's understanding.
"But.. I don't know how to name myself."
Out of the blue, a whisper-like voice came from a young girl who was standing behind a boy slave, hiding to save her life from murderers ahead of her.
Even without voicing a word and with the fear in the girl's eyes as if she was staring at the killers ahead of her, the young child understood it within a glimpse.
How could she not? The young child had also witnessed a murderous scene, and this girl was staring at the former as though she was a murderer as well.
'..I..' The young child falters once more.
"It's just a name! Just get on with it!"
Hearing the older slave's talk, the young child averts her eyes elsewhere, toward the one who painted a ghastly scene into the child's subconsciousness and is unclouded of any appalling emotions.
"My name will be.. hm.. Victor! Because I won!"
"..Really?"
Utterly surprised by the lack of naming sense he has, the young child can't believe this bigger kid is incapable of giving himself a sensible name.
'I was scared of him?' The child ponders.
'I trembled because of him?'
'The reason why I killed..?'
'To protect him?!'
How is it possible for someone like him to strike fear into her very being? Was the traumatic experience received and ingrained into the young child's psyche all for naught?
'No.. It's fine..' The child ignores it.
'What about the rest?'
Despite her negligence, a person who can't put much thought into their own personal name is getting onto the child's nerves.
'Is he really the one who caused me to see that traumatic experience?'
'I wanted a name for myself my whole life..'
'At least..!'
"What?" Victor asked, not questioning his own method of naming.
"A name is something very important!" The young child cries out.
Her favoritism toward names is quite transparent, and the source of it all is her desire to receive a fitting name for her life.
A name represents a human, and thus, to the young child with once an innocent mind, she wishes to have and bestow a name worthy of a human like her.
Hence, the near sight of someone like Victor who named themselves without a thought, puzzles and bothers the young child.
Whilst her frustration is rising, the child finally musters up the courage to have a word with him.
"Put some thoughts into it!"
"Yeah, that's right. I named myself Victor. So what? I like it, and that's that!"
"..."
—Thud!!
Failing to notice, the young child perceived a clutch upon her arm before her eyesight was shifting farther and farther away from the slave now named Victor.
"Wha—?"
The one who lays their hands on the young child has pulled her away toward where the rest of the slaves were, saving her from Victor's nonsense.
"Don't mind him. It's better to not waste your time on him like you wanted to tell me through your eyes." This slave spoke.
This was the person who was furious at Victor's horrible acts. Not only that, to have an understanding of the atmosphere and rescue the young child before anything could ever occur, he truly was quite observant.
—-------
After the period of the sufferable ambience vanishes, the young child glances around her surroundings to find three slaves beside her.
Far from their original spot, they had already journeyed through the river and forest. As the deeper their steps took, they advanced without a halt.
Be that as it may, Victor is ahead of the four slaves, acting as the self-proclaimed leader he foretold. Yet, the four slaves were rather unwilling to comply with Victor's words, falling behind a little to ensure their own safety.
During their time together, it sprouts their first friendship, allowing them to grow closer to one another. And the one who connected them all, was none other than the young child.
'I don't want to be left alone.' The child desperately thought.
In fact, she was trying to get these slaves to open to her, a murderer. Seemingly and selfishly to give her a standing in this group of slaves, she wanted these people to understand her and befriend her.
"Like I said, I don't know how to name myself, so.." The observant slave spoke to the young child.
"I can help you." She happily responds.
"Really? Then.. Can you name us all?"
"..Huh? Are you sure?"
Without any expectations, the young child was shaken by the random request and acceptance of her newfound friends. To be fair, how can one let a murderer give them a name? It was what the child thought.
But to the child's surprise, she suddenly spotted the two children behind the observant slave who had been cautious of the former ever since. They were nodding!
After they overheard the unforeseen request, they were all the more willing to be named by someone they had only known as a murderer through their innocent eyes. And in spite of this crucial fact, they chose to place their trust in this child to bestow them a name.
'...' The young child is astonished.
The weight of responsibility that is as heavy as boulders upon her thin shoulder, seems very nerve-racking in her head. Even so, to have their trust within the palm of her hands, she had to uphold their request and face the responsibility head on.
"Your name will be Hypnos." Quickly, she spoke.
The second the young child utters a name, she sways her hurried gaze onto the observant slave. As if in search of approval or a denial, she kept her eyes peeled for his expression and his response to his new name.
By having a full glimpse of him, the young child observes him as his sapphire eyes shine brighter than his hair of ashen gray.
But to delay the rest of the other's names is too rude, and that's why the young child sets her eyes elsewhere and speaks of the next name.
"And you.. You shall be named Thanatos."
Standing in front of a young girl, the boy slave appears to bear a close friendship with Hypnos and the girl from behind, yet he has charcoal gray hair with illuminative amber eyes.
"And lastly.." The young child tilts her head to have a closer inspection of the girl behind Thanatos.
"Nemesis. Nemesis is your name."
Once the young girl behind Thanatos hears of her name, she makes haste and pokes her head out of her hiding, staring with gratitude toward the young child.
And with that, the young child manages to catch a full glimpse of what Nemesis looks like.
Her hair was short, but will soon grow in the near future to unveil its alluring nightfall dark color. Moreover, the sensation the young child felt when she met eyes with Nemesis' deep garnet irises was surreal.
Truly worthy of the name Nemesis. However, are the names notable enough to what they had expected? Is it lacking in any ways? What if there's a chance they might not desire such names as those?
Questions flooded the young child's mind, clouding her judgment little by little to a point where she finally found herself without a name of her own.
"What should be my name?" The child mumbled.