"𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦," softly uttered the doctor.
The diagnosis is clear; Alessia had lost the ability to utter a single word for nearly a month. Her parents, initially unconcerned, grew tense upon hearing the news, overcome by a blend of emotions that the...
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•━━ ❦ ━━☠━━ ❦ ━━•
The journey was going to be long.
At least, that's what Alessia thought as she watched her uncle and his apprentice grab oil lamps.
The walls of the cave they were moving through were strangely smooth, as if human hands had carved and flattened them. The little girl couldn't help but think that it couldn't be the work of an ordinary human.
Maybe a Devil Fruit, she assumed.
Still snuggled up in Lance's arms, the little girl's eyes focused on her uncle, who was a few steps ahead of them, the handle of his lamp trapped between his fingers.
He was built like a tank and while Reina and Soren had defined him as a rude and incapable man, Alessia dismissed the idea because she had never encountered someone who exuded such presence in her entire life.
Faidan was far from what they had described.
A strange buzzing filled the silence of the long tunnel, and Alessia shivered as the sound seemed to come from all around her. Behind the mechanical sound, she could hear footsteps, heavy and weary, filled with such despair and weariness that it took her breath away.
What was this noise?
She looked at Lance, wanting to ask him with her eyes, but the young man seemed unconcerned. In fact, he turned to her, smiling as if nothing was wrong.
The little girl tried to return his smile, but when she heard a thud from above the cave, as if a body had collapsed on the ground, she froze.
"So, you can hear it too"
Alessia looked at her uncle, who had stopped to gaze at her. They exchanged a glance before Faidan broke the contact first and raised his eyes to the cave ceiling.
"What you hear is the slaves of Marie-Joie," he said.
The little girl was left speechless as Lance tightened his hold around her.
