I Am The Truth II

Chapter XXXIII: Part III: One-Way Path

Two hours after midnight, Ria stumbled out of Paxis' cave. She hadn't bothered to fetch her cloak, nor did she ever intent on getting it back. Her legs were weak, giving out multiple times as she made her way back onto the path.

"I will be seeing you tomorrow," Paxis whispered into her ear before returning to his cave.

Along with the mud and algae stains from the previous day, her dress now sported a growing crimson stain slightly below her waist. The pain was horrible, so much so that her eyes teared up immensely, blurring her vision. She was humiliated in ways that broke her confidence, the one thing that kept her strong otherwise.

The sky was thick with black clouds rolling overhead, the rain thundering in torrents. In a way, it masked her slow return back to her cave. The moment she entered, she gave out, falling to the floor with a thud.

This is what happened for the next three weeks. Every day muted into nothing but dread from the moment Ria woke up. She gradually spoke less and less until, by the end of the first week, she stopped talking altogether unless spoken to by an elder. The fights that she had become so famous for were now avoided altogether wordlessly, much to the surprise of her supporters and opponents alike. For Neptunus, he couldn't help but feel smug seeing his sister suddenly appear so defeated before him.

Indicumon had no way of understanding the sudden change brought upon Ria. She seldom came to meet him anymore, instead tending in the fields in silence or sitting by the post office near the outskirts of the village, waiting for Tiana's return. When he tried meeting at her cave, he found she was hardly ever there anymore. In fact, it was like she was deliberately avoiding everyone else in her fear that others would find out what kind of horror took place in their own village, and to the daughter of their own chieftain; there was no chance to report to anyone, for Paxis' reputation had all but grown over those three weeks, for he had worked his way into Osivian's favour through his manipulative words and actions.

And then night would come, and so too would her time to head back to Paxis' cave for yet another dose of living hell. It would last an eternity, with Paxis violating her body in his ever-growing hunger for more. Every part of her was defiled by the end of it all. And when she returned home, her body would be in excruciating pain, so much so that even to get herself into bed, she would sob silently until her heart would give out, plunging her right into a sleep riddled with endless nightmares.

In short, Paxis achieved in a mere three weeks what Neptunus had desired for more than five years: to break Ria beyond repair.

The irony of this was, her torment transformed her to appear superficially like the diligent and obedient girl Osivian had wanted all along since the beginning. The sudden change was hard to get used to at first, but he was soon satisfied with her more submissive attitude, glad that she was not causing chaos about the village or doing things that weren't becoming of a girl ripe for marriage in only a few years.

"I do not know what happened to you," He said three weeks later as Ria stood there, her head cast forward silently. "But this is what I expect from now on. It would seem Paxis did a good job indeed."

She looked up, her eyes teary in shock. Had her father orchestrated this?

"He told me that he had taken to helping you overcome your uncontrollable nature," Osivian continued. "And it seems his efforts have borne fruitful results. I encourage that you keep meeting him daily from now on."

Her father had no idea whatsoever what kind of 'help' that bastard Paxis was giving her, but Ria was so overcome with emotion that she could only nod before briskly turning away and disappearing into the night.