"Emir! Did sothing happen?" The man on the other end of the call asked with worry apparent in his voice.
"Nah. I'm fine; I'm just here to ask you to confirm sothing for ." Emir answered.
"Okay. Just tell what it is and consider it done."
"1036, check that ID for , see if that belongs to soone nad Elijah, and if you aren't able to access it, then it doesn't matter; this would only confirm it."
"An Elite?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah. Just send a yes or no ssage, and know that I'll visit you later today, so free up your ti for ." Emir confird.
"Understood."
Ending the call, he returned his attention to the Goldleaf's prize.
"We'll see if the ID you told is the right one."
Just as those words reached her, he sat on the ground again, cultivating like usual. "You!"
He heard Aria bellow in anger, but he ignored her and closed his eyes, continuing to morize the ability pathways.
"Stop ignoring !"
"You piece of shit!"
"Kidnapping ...."
The barrage of insults and verbal assaults fell on deaf ears as he remained focused on his task, not bothering to punish her.
His concentration only broke when a notification chid on his terminal-a ssage from Nathan.
He didn't need to swipe it open, as he saw a pop-up ssage stating a simple word:
{Yes.}
Standing up, he cast a look towards the girl who had been venting her anger at him for the past how many hours.
Her continuous tirade had ceased, replaced by peaceful slumber.
She was huddled up, her head nestled in her knees, and her hand acting as a makeshift pillow.
He got closer to her and began to shake her awake.
"Wake up, sleepy head!"
Startled, she jerked awake, her eyes darting around like a panicked animal until they landed on Emir standing over her.
Relief washed over her montarily, only to be replaced by a sense of dread as she registered his next words.
"I'll leave you in here for so ti, but don't worry, you'll have sothing to eat and drink until a search party is sent out for you."
Pointing at the exit of the cave, he continued:
"I'd recomnd not going there, it's a nest of monsters down here."
"W-WAIT!"
Emir heard her scream when he turned around to leave.
He picked up his rucksack without bothering to give her face, which caused her to scream out
once more.
"DON'T LEAVE HERE!"
Letting out a sigh, Emir turned around with annoyance apparent underneath his masked face.
'Did I treat her so well?' He silently wondered.
"What?" He asked plainly.
"You know that I kidnapped you here. I hurt you. And now you want to stay?"
Her face scrunched up in embarrassnt as she said:
"B-but you..."
Appearing to have gathered up her courage, she stood up and walked up to him while demanding:
"It's dark here, it's scary! You said you would protect , so don't go back on your promise!" 'Is she twisting my words? I guess even if she's a kid, an Elite is an Elite.' He scoffed inwardly. "I did say that I wouldn't hurt you, yes. But I didn't say that I'd protect you. Don't worry though, the monsters won't reach you here."
She stepped closer until only a few inches separated them and grabbed him by the cloak. "But you brought here! It's your fault if I get hurt! S-so stay!"
Emir's dark, black eyes looked at her blankly.
While they were mostly covered by the mask, it still had tiny slits for him to see through.
He stood there, unmoving, watching as the maiden in front of him began to sob, tears falling from her puffy eyes like a waterfall.
Her cheeks turned red from embarrassnt and confusion.
This sight would've made even the coldest hearts give in, but as Aria listened to her kidnapper's heart, all she heard were controlled beats, slow, unaffected by what was happening around him.
She realized that who she was clinging on to was a monster in human skin, slowly piecing together that everything he did since she woke up was an act, its only purpose was to expedite the information out of her faster.
Stepping back from him, she was about to scream in a fit of rage, but she shut herself up, knowing the consequences of what that action would entail.
Emir saw and understood all of that, as he could reach Aria's emotions like an open book, after all, she has always been described as an expressive character.
And while all that happened, he simply thought:
'Even though I've seen all of that, I didn't feel remorse, guilt, anything... Is this how I'll be now?'
'... Nah, I still think of Jake, Emma, and Kiera as friends. Mariane as well, maybe Evelyn too. I wouldn't do this to them...'
His thoughts were indeed true, as his mind now categorized people into two separate corners.
One would be allies, friends, and family, categorically.
The other would be strangers, potential foes, and confird enemies alike.
He had no room in his mind for the middle ground, as it was his mind's way of lessening the
strain on his conscience...
A conscience that was long gone.
"As I said, Aria, don't worry; you won't be hurt."
After emptying away all the supplies from his rucksack, he threw it over his shoulders and
continued:
"I'll co by every now and then to bring more supplies, so you'll be well fed during your ti here. Consider it a short vacation."
"And just know that your suffering might end shorter than expected. But, it all depends on
how the Elite react, so make of that what you will..."
With those words echoing behind him, he walked up to the place he had previously dropped
from.
'Should I conjure up so steps?'
'Nah, it'd be a waste of Aether, I'll just climb up...'
Looking behind him one last ti, he watched as the defeated Aria sat back on the ground, her
face showing utter loneliness.
"See you later!"
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