RE:volt Chapter 12: Phase 2
Gasping for air, Ark lay curled up in the fetal position, his body bruised, bloody, and broken in places it shouldn't be.
"Get up six to six!" Knight Bruno commanded, the man kicking Ark in the stomach to roll him over.
With a grunt, Ark opened his eyes and slowly lifted himself up, his bruised arms quivering but following through with the orders sent from his mind to push his body away from the earth.
"Tough little shit." Bruno said as he retracted his baton. "It would be a shame to just kill you. Get up, faster!"
Ark stood to attention, his eyes downcast and staring at the hand that held the metal baton beneath his chin.
Bruno lifted Ark's head up, eyeing the damaged collar. "What caused this? You better not lie."
"I…I tripped and hit a metal rod at the bathrooms." Ark said, referring to the metal rods used to denote saltpeter piles.
The man clenched his teeth, narrowing his eyes as he tried to think if it was possible for such damage to occur to a collar.
A moment passed, then another.
"Everyone! Look at what six to six made me do!" Bruno bellowed, drawing the slave's eyes to the bruised and bloodied boy.
"This!" Bruno yelled, grabbing Ark by the scruff of his neck. "Is what happens when you disrespect Lord Constantine's property! The master feeds you. He clothes you. He gives you food that you shit out of your undeserving suits of meat. The least you can DO-!"
Bruno punched Ark in the stomach, dropping the boy to one knee and forcing him to cough.
"-is take care of the jewelry he bestows on your pathetic bodies!"
Bruno spun, facing the crowd of terrified children. "Do you understand maggots?!"
""Yes sir!"" the crowd of children yelled in unison, creating a smile on Bruno's face as the man reveled at the sight and sound of playing commander.
"House Maid!" Bruno called out, summoning Ninety-Nine.
The red-sashed trustee quickly made his way across the field, his eyes widening for a moment upon spotting the bloodied Ark but said nothing and kept his mouth shut.
"Bring this fucker to the smith and tell him to refit and double check the collar." The knight ordered, "Let him know its HIS ass if the craftsmanship is shoddy and I want it done before we get back."
'Yes sir. Will do sir. Right away sir." Ninety-Nine cotowed quickly, helping Ark along who could barely stand.
Walking, Ninety-Nine guided Ark away to the direction of the smith as Bruno ordered the other kids to continue their march. The children's obedience reinforced by the brutal display of Ark's beating.
Still, the plan had work. And to Ark, that was all that mattered.
"Hey! Hey kid!" Ninety-Nine barked, the man suddenly standing over him.
Without realizing it Ark had gone from hobbling on his feet, to laying down in the dirt, the young boy unaware that he had blacked out.
"Help me up." Ark said with the trustee guiding Ark to his feet. "How long was I out?"
"You just fell. You ok? Jeez kid. Hold on while I get the apothecary-"
"No!" Ark spat, reaching out and grabbing the man's tunic. "No. I have to see the smith. Now. We can't waste time."
Ninety-Nine grimaced at the boy glaring up at him through his swollen black eyes.
"Alright kid. Not that the apothecary would be useful anyway." Ninety-Nine said before ushering Ark along.
The pair made their way across the Constantine grounds, garnering looks and stares from various slaves they passed by.
Still, no one spoke up. None came to his aid, instead they busied themselves in their work, the image of the small bloodied child reminding them that it could easily be them. That no one was safe, not even children.
Finally, Ark and Ninety-Nine made it to a brick shack billowing black smoke, the hovel that served as the smithing grounds for all the tools needed by the slaves.
Leaning on the open doorway lined with rotting wood, Ark could feel the heat emanating from within the workshop, the warmth tickling his skin and helping to sooth away some of the pain he felt.
"Last chance kid, you sure you don't want me to call the apothecary?" Ninety-Nine asked.
"I'm fine." Ark said despite his open wounds.
"Fine. Suit yourself. Cid!" Ninety-Nine called out, looking for the smith. Soon the familiar gray-haired elder appeared, the collared blacksmith in charge of forging tools for the Constantine estate, the same man who had forged Ark's collar and branded him.
"What?!" The smith spat with a rough and coarse voice, scowling as he emerged from within his dark workshop and glanced down at the bloodied child.
"Knight Bruno needs this one's collar repaired." Ninety-Nine said, pointing at Ark and his damaged shackle.
Cid narrowed his eyes, reaching down and lifting Ark's chin with rough hands to eye the shackle. "You sure? The brat looks like he's about to croak."
"I'm just following orders." Ninety-Nine replied.
"The hell happened here?" Cid demanded, eyeing his ruined handiwork with narrow eyes, more specifically the pattern of the crack.
"I fell." Ark lied.
"Fell? Ha! Bull-" Cid began, but his words died as Ark's piercing blue glare settled on him. "Fell huh…"
"Yes." Ark affirmed, but all people present knew the child was lying.
"Right. Put him in the hold. Its gon take a few hours." Cid said, pointing to a room within his workshop that served as a prison for new slaves that needed to be detained until they could be fitted with shackles.
Ninety-Nine looked down at the kid who nodded lightly.
With a sigh, the trustee guided Ark into the holding cell, where he and Cid immediately went to work cuffing Ark's wrists and ankles, binding him to thick black chains that were embedded in the walls.
When it was done, Ninety-Nine took one last look at Ark from the threshold of the cell before he narrowed his eyes and turned away, closing the heavy wooden door as Cid went to work crafting a new collar for the slave known as Six-Two-Six