A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

It was late in the afternoon by the time Rina opened her eyes. However, there were no windows in her current whereabouts, so she had no way of knowing that. For all she knew, it could have been days since she's been awake, but all she could do was remain quiet and adjust to the darkness around her.

As she began to regain her consciousness, her surroundings came into view little by little. In the center of the room, she found herself strapped to a chair by ropes that seemed to glow yellow with some sort of enchantment. Her clothes were still intact, but her pockets seemed to have been emptied.

The room she was in stretched out pretty far considering the lack of light available. There was no furniture, or rather, nothing at all except the chair she was in, and a few torches hanging on the walls. There was a bucket in the corner, but it seemed to have nothing more than a gallon of water inside. She could hear voices approaching from the end of the room, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

Rina struggled against the ropes, quickly realizing that no matter how hard she tried to cast a spell or even turn her body into water, the ropes were preventing her from doing so.

"Struggle all you like." A deep voice finally made its entrance, "But those restraints are magic-proof, kittykat." A man appeared from the darkness, showing no signs of mercy or any clear intentions. He wasn't tall, nor was he muscular. He was more of a middle aged, bald, wrinkled bag of skin to say the least. He had a hunchback that was pretty unpleasant to look at, but his teeth were quite clear despite his appearance. He wore a nice leather jacket, but it was filthy and reaked a stench that was hard to explain.

"What do you want." Rina questioned in her strong, brave voice of no fear.

"I don't want anything." The man pulled up a chair, and sat in it facing the backrest. "I'm just here to watch, ye."

Rina gulped, still angry, but starting to feel her heartbeat accelerate with fear.

Another man walked into view, unfortunately, the same one from the stand that Rina walked up to earlier. This time however, he also wore nice clothes, but far too little to count. All he wore was a copper-infused tank top, and a pair of bright trousers going down to slightly above his knees.

Rina locked eyes with him, giving him a glare of pure filth and disgust.

The man from the stand glared back at Rina, "You might fool the rest of the helpless idiots of this town. But you ain't foolin me with a face that pretty." He grabbed the bucket of water from the corner, and drenched Rina from head to toe, making sure the face paint came off her cheeks.

Rina coughed as the cold water went down her throat in an unexpected amount. Luckily, it was clean to drink. However, since she couldn't use her magic, the ice-cold water sent goosebumps up her spine, making her shiver against the wooden chair she was strapped too. "C-coward." She stuttered, sounding weak rather than brave.

The man laughed, "Don't worry. It only takes me 20 minutes or so. Then, I'll sell you for a price I can buy an entire farm with!" Both the men laughed.

The man in the trousers walked over to Rina, ripping off her buttoned shirt with a swift motion of his right hand. She tried to headbutt him, but missed and nearly knocked herself over.

"You piece of -"

The man slapped her across the face, leaving a bright red mark on her right cheek. "Shut up." The man cut her off.

The man in the chair began to wiggle with excitement. "Oh boy you got him angry! You got him angry! You got him-"

"Shut up." The man cut the other off as well, turning back to Rina with an aggressive demeanor in his expression. He then took his shirt off, left with nothing but a pair of trousers and the boots he was wearing from before. He reached out his hand to the man with the hunchback, who gave him a piece of tape from his jacket pocket.

The man put the tape around Rina's mouth despite the resistance she gave. "I don't like squeelers." He said with the same, rusty voice.

He stared down her body, seeing nothing but pants, and the small top Rina was initially wearing underneath her buttoned shirt.

"Lets see… The legs, or the c.h.e.s.t first."

Those words struck Rina like a fire in a matchbox. Her heart was beating so fast her mind couldn't think of a single thing to do. Her bravery suddenly vanished as she continued struggling against the ropes with no signs of anything going her way. The look she had on her face was of pure terror, and the man just stared her down like she was nothing more than a doll.

She didn't want to, she tried her best to resist, but the tears finally broke through Rina's barrier of honor. The tears flowed down her cheeks like water from a broken dam, and the muffled noises of her screams and struggles underneath the tape echoed through the room like whispers in a cave.

This moment, this split moment of Rina's fear ruptured her heart's seal on everything she's ever known. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted to see her mother and father. She wanted to hear the voices of her amazing friends she's made at the Academy. She wanted to hear Cartuja's dumb jokes and fight it out with Paris once more. She wanted to do another report for Zelle, she wanted to listen to Calvin's boring stories from the past. She wanted to finally release all her feelings, to everyone, and to anyone listening. She wanted… To see Atlas.

It was all from the silent moments of sleeping in the lounge. The friendly fights they had over the summer. The rivalries from high school. The jokes they told. The meals they shared. The lives they risked for one another, and the moments they spent together.

There was a feeling in her heart that always separated itself from the rest whenever she was with him. She never understood it, nor did she bother to uncover what it meant. However, after everything Henrietta has told her, and the cage around her heart finally giving out, her heart began to flourish, opening the pathways to emotions that were nothing more than a mystery to her.

She closed her eyes, continuing her gentle stream of tears.

The man in the chair started laughing again, "Oh boy here comes the best part!"

The half-n.a.k.e.d man placed his hand on Rina's shoulder, ready to fling off her last piece of clothing covering the upper portion of her body.

Rina felt the man's cold touch upon her skin like a sudden cube of ice was placed upon her. Her tears reached her chin, but the man's hand never moved.

Slowly, afraid and alone, Rina managed to muster enough strength to open her eyes. However, she was expecting to greet a face of evil, anger, and no regrets, but the man's face lacked any expression. His face was blank, stripped of all life and human characteristics.

The hunchback in the chair quickly caught on, realizing something wasn't right. "Tinka! What ye doing?"

The man with his hand on Rina's shoulder suddenly fell to the ground with a slight blue flame escaping his head like a whisp in the night. That same whisp entered the hunchback, causing him to lose his excitement and turn it into nothingness.

The chair he was sitting on shifted with his bodyweight, and they both fell over onto the cold, wet ground beneath him.

Rina looked confused, even more scared as she saw a silhouette of a man appear in the distance. The man had sorching eyes of blue flames, growing marks on his neck and c.h.e.s.t, and the footsteps of a giant.

As the man approached, the flames on his eyes died down, and the marks on his neck quickly vanished under the dim light next to Rina. His face came into view, and Rina's tears finally turned into tears of happiness. After hours of searching, Calvin had finally found his companion.

Calvin rushed over to Rina, placing his hand on the ropes to unleash some sort of blue essence into them, releasing the enchantment within them. He untied the ropes, and gently peeled off the tape around Rina's cheek.

Without saying a word, she instantly jumped into his arms like a daughter to her father. She buried her face into his c.h.e.s.t, and continued her sobs, crying until her heart had had enough.

They stood together for what seemed like hours. Calvin held her gently, looking into the empty wall of the room with anger and relief filling his heart of stone. Rina continued her sobs into the outer layer of his robes until they seemed to be too wet to cling onto.

Rina let go, wiping the tears off her eyes with her palms. Calvin took off his robes, placing them on Rina in a careful manner.

"Love." Rina whispered in a shallow voice, "What do you think love is."

Calvin didn't look at her, thinking about Violet and the time they spent together at the Academy. "I might not be the best person to ask, but…" He paused, continuing in a strong, calming voice. "It's the feeling you get when you're with someone... Or without them. You want nothing more but to see them first out of anyone else, because you know they'll comfort you. You know they'll be there for you when others won't. You can't help but think about them day and night, and even when you're with them. Love is only acquired through feelings you need to unlock with a key. And that key is a mystery to everyone."

Rina hugged the robes tightly around her wet body, "In my mind, I could see everyone. Paris, Leo, even Cartuja. My family… But when I saw Atlas, it felt different. I don't know how to explain it, but I wanted to see him the most. I wanted him to be here. I want to be there with him…"

Calvin smiled, put his hand around her shoulder to prevent the robes from falling, and began to walk alongside her. "Let's go, right now, your safety is more important."

Rina nodded, feeling the warmth return to her body like a candle being lit for the first time.

The two of them ended up walking out of a large, abandoned house on the outskirts of Los Angelenos. There were initially more men down the room they were in, but Calvin took care of them. They returned to 'The Broken Ship' just as the sun began to set, grabbing a couple cups of tea, and staring down the brilliant colors of the sunset peeking through the windows of the bar.