Lost

Chapter 16 : King Vesuvius

"Nggh...." 

Louise silently muttered as he tried his best to get over the dizzy and drunk feeling. He doesn't want to be unconscious, he wants to be awake. Luckily, his strong will to stay awake managed to force his eyelids up for a fairly long enough time to see what's going on. Though a bit blurry, there's no doubt about it, he's trapped in cage. Not too big but not too small either. The cage is rusty and smells a bit weird too. The cage's not alone, two more flanked it, one on either side. The cages are not out in the plains either. But in a rectangular chamber of dark brown and dimly lit by the fading candelabra. At the very center is a massive pool of water that lay still and dormant, pure and untouched. Before Louise can even ask himself what's going on or where he is, a pair of steel doors opened with a loud bang and a fiery, red haired woman dragged a limp looking teen behind her and literally tossed her into one of the cages beside Louise's. After feeling confident with the locks, she glanced at the cage nearby and two bloodshot eyes met his.

"Well, well. Looks like the human's awake. For now." She laughed maniacally. "At noon my big guy will come here and finish y'all before you can even say 'Vesuvius.'"

"Hey, you!" The limp one who - in Louise's horror - turned out to be Lycia bellowed over a bloody lip. "Don't you dare mention my father's name."

"So what? You know the rules, princess. Whoever smuggles humans on board pay the price. As the kingdom's  Royal Assassin who lived for this exact purpose, I see no reason to spare you from the execution." And before Lycia can complain any longer, the attacker left the room with a flick of her massive locks and shut the doors with another loud bang.

"Lycia are you alright?!" Louise hastily edged towards the side of the cage and peeked through the bars to see if her friend's okay.

"I'm alright just...beaten up and am in a bad shape. Like...really bad. Gosh how do you stop this damn blood from flowing." Lycia grumbled as she struggled to block several blood fountain sources at once.

Louise tore some of his attire's fabric and handed it to her. "You can use this. It might help."

"Thanks, Louise." Lycia pasted a cold smile as she snatch away from him. "'Kay now let's get serious. Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why are you incapable to complete that promise you've made earlier?"

"What promise?"

Lycia raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms impatiently. "Need I explain?"

"Oh...right. You mean that promise where I promised you that I'll stay out of harm's way until you came back? Well can I just say that there are some...complications?"

"What complications?"

"She caught me off guard! I was just doing some writing when a handkerchief is clamped to my mouth. And before I can get rid of it the chloroform has done it's job and I passed out. Alright there's my explanation now where's yours?"

"For what?"

"For getting beaten up like that!"

"Uh...isn't it obvious dummy? I got attacked by that Solis. Whoever she is."

"She said something about being a Royal Assassin. I thought you knew her."

"Uhh...I do not know all of the royal personnel."

"Noted. And man does she hate you now come here. There's a cut on your cheek."

"Really?!" Lycia gasped before slowly edging towards Louise.

"Yep. But don't worry it's not too deep." Being nearest to the massive pool in the center, Louise edged closer to it, dipped one of his hands in it and returned to Lycia with his hand still wet and gently caressed her cheek to clean the wound. "There, that's better."