"... THAT MEANS, BACK AT THE FOREST, YOU WERE HOLDING BACK ON ME, WEREN'T YOU?!"
"H-Huh?"
That was all his mind could process to reply. He had considered several possibilities and anticipated many different ways this was going to go, but out from her mouth came something he couldn't have expected.
Holding his shoulders, she started rocking him back and forth.
"Gahhhhh.... I've always wanted to fight a disaster class and you blew it! C'mon dude, what the hell?!"
"H-Huh? Wait, Wait... That's all your mad about?"
"What do you mean "that's all"? This is a pretty big deal, from the moment we met...."
Arc watched another expression form on her face— pouting Rei, so adorable!
"... Was I really so weak an opponent that you didn't even bother to take the fight seriously?"
"N-No, it's not like that at all"
"Then what is it like?!"
She retorted, quickly leaning forward
"Too close"
"Oh, sorry. Got carried away for a second"
She moved back a bit. He managed not to get lost in her eyes as he gathered his words
"What I'm saying is.... I kept a big secret from you, aren't you mad?"
"Huh? Why will I be mad about that? Everyone has a secret or two they'll rather not talk about and if you ask me, discovering those secrets are part of what makes social relationships so fun"
"Wow.... You almost sounded smart for a second there"
"Hey! I'm plenty smart"
Her response and insight into his issue shocked him a little, still, his face sank
"Still, I bet you now think I'm some kind of freak"
"Huh? We're you ever not a freak?"
"You're not helping!"
"Hahaha.... To onis, I bet every human seems a little freaky. Still though, you're the kind of freak who gets into fistfights with guys twice your size just to help a former enemy, a freak who's kind and considerate to everyone around him, always trying carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, a freak who won't hesitate to put himself on the line for his friends....."
"R-Rei..... Stop, you're embarrassing me"
She smiled softly, her beautiful azure eyes drawing him in, her radiant smile captivating him, her expression surpassing any artform as her lips moved to utter her next words.
"Hihi.... I guess I'm kinda freaky myself"
His face instantly turned beet red, with tiny fumes emanating.
"Huh? Do you have a fever? You're really red"
"I-I-I'm fine, I'm alright"
She placed her forehead on his, closing her eyes as she checked his temperature.
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you"
She whispered in that moment...
"H-Huh? Are these....."
Tears. Dripping from his eyes. Rei noticed it immediately and pulled back, panicking a little
"Hey? Are you okay? I said something weird, didn't I? S-Sorry, please don't cry"
"I'm fine...these aren't sad tears"
He replied, wiping his tears to the best of his ability.
"Guess I'll tell you"
"You don't have to force yourself"
"It's fine.... Besides, you told me about yourself, it's only fair i do so too. It's a long story though, are you ready?"
She nodded softly
"Alright then, where to start..."
He told her everything— about the cradle and his life there, his deportation and unlocking the overlord system, Even Ragnarok and what they were like, as well as their intention to use him to reform the world, everything leading up to this moment
"..... And there you have it, to sum up my life... I guess you could say I'm just a tool with no place to call home—thrown away by the ones I admired while the ones I was taught to hate wants to use, and after meeting them, they didn't seem like bad people, after coming here, the people I dreamed to be seemed darker than I ever believed..... I honestly don't know what to think anymore"
"*sniff...sniff..."
"This is my first time telling someone else so I might've bored you with the details, sorry about that, haha. I don't blame you if you don't believe me, if I was in your shoes I won't believe me eithe— Huh?"
As he turned to look at her, he saw her desperately trying to hold back her tears, though to no avail.
"H-Huh? W-Why are you crying? It's not that big of a dea—"
Before he could finish, she embraced him tightly
"You're a person, not some tool! A living, breathing person and you're free to make your own choices! You don't have to be bound by them, you can make your own path, away from Ragnarok or the Cradle..."
"R-Re—"
"—And don't say you have no place to call home! We're all here for you—me, Yuki, Shu, Tetsuro....even Alfred and Melissa. No matter what you decide, remember I'll always be on your side, I'll always be here for you...."
"Yeah..."
"Also.."
"There's more?"
"You don't have to walk on eggshells around us or bear your burdens alone. You're still a kid, so you're allowed to be selfish and rely on others from time to time..... and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here...."
She smiled softly, still hugging tightly as she said
".....It's been hard, hasn't it?"
Arc's eyes widened upon hearing that and in that moments of everything he's been through flashed through his mind in an instant— All the emotions he had bottled up all his life rushed out with the uncontrollable tears gushing out his eyes
"UWAAAHHHHHHHHH....."
There's a popular saying "A hero saves anyone in trouble, but who will save the hero?"
Arc Stollen had experienced many trials in his short life— from being abandoned by his parent and later by the only family he had left, to experiencing betrayal from the organization that raised him, his comrades in arms and even a girl he went out of his way to save..... And through all that he's always managed to force a smile, bottling up his pain while acting as moral support and a beacon of positivity for others in pain— Ash, Amy, Katie, Selene and others.
However, he's not invincible, he's just a 12 year old kid, Ofcourse he feels pain, ofcourse he gets hurt.... But he was always the one others cried to and had never had someone to cry on..... Until now.
The two of them were alone in the dining hall, no one to see his pathetic state as he cried himself to sleep in the arms of Rei Izanagi.
"My, you really cried a lot, huh? There there....."
Rei watched the little boy sleep for a few minutes before carrying him piggyback en-route to their cell.
The moment she stepped out of the dining hall, however....
"Who would've thought you had a sweet side, wouldn't have guessed it looking at you"
"T-Tetsuro?! How long have you been here?"
"That's Mr Tetsuro to you kid, haha"
Outside the dining hall was Tetsuro, eavesdropping with Yuki.
"You two.... If you repeat anything you heard to someone else, I'll kill you myself!"
"Geez, has she always been this scary, kid?"
Tetsuro asked Yuki
"Pretty much. She's also impulsive and gets mad for the silliest reasons"
"Hey?!"
"You got mad at the human because he held back in your fight, but you yourself held back a considerable amount"
"....."
"Ofcourse, in your case, it was simply careless bravado that ended up costing you the fight"
"Hey! I was fighting a kid, it's natural to hold back. Unlike you who got clapped despite jumping him"
"WHAT?! Everything went as I planned and I had him right where I wanted. It was your lightning that did me in. Besides, even if two of you fight for real, the human will still kick your ass"
"EXCUSE ME?! Some childhood friend you are!"
"RIGHT BACK AT YOU?! Who the hell launches that much lightning at a childhood friend?!"
"Calm down, you two.... Your lovers spat might wake the kid"
"THIS ISN'T A LOVER'S SPAT!"
They retorted at the same time. They proceeded to growl at each other while Tetsuro tried to break them up.
This..... lighthearted moment lasted for a couple more minutes before Rei headed back to her cell with Arc.
"Now that the little lady's gone...."
The air in the room changed with Tetsuro and Yuki assuming cool, serious expressions.
".... Let's have that talk, boy"
"Yeah"
*********************
The next day
A bunch of onis along with Melissa and Alfred were gathered, to discuss the escape plan.
"It's rare to see you two together"
Shu said, as Arc and Yuki entered the room. Noticing this, Rei also chimmed in
"I agree with Shu, what were you two doing?"
"Well.... We were—"
"—Now that everyone's here, let's begin the meeting"
Yuki said, cutting him off. They gathered around and Yuki began addressing them.
"As many of you have already heard, our escape plan has been compromised"
"Huh?" Arc said. Shu who sat beside him was glad to fill him in since he hadn't heard the original escape plan before.
"First, you know that there's a scheduled maintenance in three days, right?"
"I....did not know that"
"Really? Well, we only found out due to everyone's hard work so.... the prison holds a scheduled maintenance every month during which the barrier is down for a bit. During that time, we wanted to sneak in one of our guys on the outside through the labyrinth to—"
"Wait Wait Wait.... By labyrinth, you mean the one we explored?"
"Yeah" Rei said "It was actually one of our clan's secret passageways. Too bad the guards found it"
"Ahem" Shu cleared his throat, calling back Arc's attention
"....Once our comrade got in, he was supposed to deactivate our collars and then we move to the second stage of our break out plan. But..."
They both turned to listen to Yuki's speech
"The guards found out about that passage and even worse, we've lost contact with our comrade on the outside so the plan's a bust"
Those "comrades" wre among the onis killed by Craig and the other hunters
There were mixed murmurs from the audience but Yuki continued nonetheless
"Which is why.... We're moving up the escape to three days from now!"
"What?! How?"
Otto scowled.
"During the maintenance, aside from the barrier, there's something else that won't be functional"
He tapped on the collars
"The bombs!" Junpei said
"Correct"
"But... The maintenance time won't be enough to remove even one collar, not to talk of all them"
"We won't be working on the collars during maintenance time"
Otto and Junpei were confused. Yuki continued
"During the time, we'll send a small group past the barrier before maintenance is over. Once they're out, they can tinker with the collars, maintenance or not"
"I see...."
"You'll be on that team"
"What?!"
"As an engineer, your expertise in indispensable in this plan, Mr Otto. Once you've gotten the collars off I'll need you work with Shu on a few modifications to the collars"
"That brat?!"
He felt Rei's cold glare from behind and fixed his attitude.
"Ahem.... What do you need"
"We'll be using the prison's ygg link against them. The collars are all co-linked to enable the guard to kill us at any time. I want you to modify that linking function to connect all the collars with Shu who'll—"
"—Deactivate all the collars simultaneously, brilliant"
Yuki nodded and asked if there were any objections.
None.
The expedition team were selected soon after— Shu, Otto, Junpei, Melissa and Rei who'll act as their bodyguard.
Arc and Tetsuro were required to serve with their main fighting force once the collars are undone.
Time passed, each second inching them closer to their prison break as everyone made preparations in their own way. As for Arc, he tried multiple times to apologise to Alfred who avoided him at every turn....up until a few hours before the escape when he agreed to listen to Arc.
"Want some tea, kid?"
"Thanks"
Arc replied, taking the cup. He took a sip while gathering his thoughts.
There was about two minutes of awkward silence between them before Arc finally spoke
"Listen, Mr Stark.... I'm sorry for keeping my abilities secret"
"...."
"Well, the truth is—"
*Keuk
Arc... coughed up blood?
"Geez.... I wondered how long it'll take to kick in, you really are something, kid"
"Mr Stark.....why?"
He fell on the floor before Alfred, unconscious.
"You there, Rose?"
"Yes sir"
The warden stepped out of the shadows and walked towards Alfred.
"Thank you for your hardwork, sir"
"Quit being so uptight, Rose. Besides, if we let a bunch of ingredients escape, it'll reflect poorly on our princess"
Alfred said while trying to get Rose to stop bowing. Although, in her defense, she couldn't help but bow to her superior
Alfred Stark, the true warden of the mines, Master 5 hunter and One of Princess Selene's personal knights.