One-Shots of My O.C.'s Lives

Caged

"And over here, ladies and gentlemen," the tour guide started saying, pointing to the statue. "This is a sculpture of King Arthur himself, according to the legends. It's said that he could not have made it to be the great king of Camelot that he was, had he not had his friend Merlin, who was a Wizard." One visitor glanced up from the shadows of his hoodie, rolling his eyes. 'They've got it wrong, he was actually a Sorcerer,' He thought disdainfully. 'Honestly, have humans any sense?'
"What's your name boy?" The person blinked when he realized that the tour guide was looking at him.
"Ah- Se-Seto sir." He stammered.
"Seto, is there any chance you can tell me anything more about Merlin? A fun fact perhaps?"
"Ah... Well..." He took a small quick breath before replying. "Well, many depict him as a wizard, a conjurer of magic, or... Perhaps a Sorcerer, and he was Arthur's advisor, and... Well, he was friends with the Lady of the Lake? I mean, he asked her to keep watch over Excalibur, right? With a sea serpent?" The tour guide nodded, smiling.
"I see you're a fan of the legends, Seto." He nodded timidly, and the tour guide called out, "This way ladies and gents!" Seto sighed quietly in relief, making sure his hoodie stayed over his face before he followed the small crowd."
"Brayden." A man suddenly stepped in front of the tour guide, excitement shining in his eyes. Brayden immediately stopped and smiled at him.
"Jonathan, what can I do for you?" He greeted.
"There's a new attraction that'll come out tomorrow, and it's going to explain the possibility of magic." Their voices instantly went to a whisper, leaving the group confused, but Seto could still hear them just as easily.
"What is it?" Brayden whispered. Jonathan dipped his head a little, glancing back at the crowd, seeming to stare intently at Seto, who carefully averted his gaze.
"It's the girl we found." He murmured. "The little one, she's being cared for, she's almost ready to be exhibited." Seto felt a chill run down his spine. Why would someone exhibit a person like an animal?
"Really?" Brayden whispered in awe. "Where is she, I'd like to see her after my tour is over."
"She's being kept under the museum." Then Brayden quickly straightened up and turned back to the anxious crowd.
"Ah, forgive me folks for keeping you waiting, there's a new exhibit to be expected, so perhaps tomorrow will make that up." He flashed them all a grin before beckoning them away to the next attraction, being watched under Seto's sharp gaze.
Something was definitely wrong.

***************

Later that evening, Seto returned to the back of the museum, glancing around to make sure no one was around before murmuring, "Ανοιχτό". His eyes flashed purple, and the door opened. He quietly slipped through, wary of any other alarms. Nothing. 'Apparently they're stupid,' He scoffed quietly to himself, making his way carefully to the storage room.
He peeked through the window of it, seeing no one inside. He opened it again and quietly shut the door behind him, looking around.
"... Secret passage." He mumbled to himself, feeling the walls. He checked the shelves warily, searching for something to signify a concealed entrance. His hand suddenly felt a small thin vertical crevice, and he felt along it, managing to hook his fingertips under it before prying it open.
"Ah..." He murmured, pleased with himself as it gave away to a staircase. He glanced behind him to make sure there was no one around still before he slipped into the passageway, letting the door close behind him. He held his hand out and murmured, "Φωτιά", and a small flame formed in the center of his palm. He held it up in front of his vision, and carefully climbed down the stairs. The narrow passage veered to the right, still looking neat and almost unsuspicious, had it not been so carefully concealed.
He took a left before the narrow hall gave way to a room, lit with one florescent light right above a square shape, that was covered over by a thin cloth. He extinguished the purple flame that danced on his hand and carefully walked over to it, curious as to what it was. He took a deep breath before he gathered a small corner of it in his grip, then gingerly tugged it off. He immediately widened his eyes and stepped back.
It was a cage. And in the corner of the bottom of the cage lay a girl, a tiny girl. She was curled up, asleep, her breaths shallow and fast despite her unconsciousness. She was wearing torn clothing, and she had cuts and bruises over her pale skin, and her hair disheveled.
Seto stumbled back a few steps, not believing his eyes. This was how they were going to present a human? She was only an inch tall! She looked like she had been abused! What's more, she looked so thin...
He slowly approached the cage again, gently tapping the small bars to see her reaction. To his surprise, she instantly flinched awake, pressing herself as far away from the entrance of the cage as possibly, her eyes eyes wide with terror, and her chest heaving up and down with each small panicked breath. When her eyes made out his figure, her eyelids fluttered a little in confusion, still quivering in the darkness of the cage. Seto's gaze immediately softened in pity, gazing at the small girl with sympathy in his eyes.
Then the girl widened her eyes again and squeaked in terror, and he felt something cold and narrow press against his nape, which made him look up a little from the girl.
"Walk away from the cage. And face me, slowly." He took a deep breath before slowly standing up to his original height, then slowly turned around to see Jonathan holding a gun at him. Fortunately for Seto, the man could not see his face, since he was cleverly concealed in the shadow of his cloak.
"Who are you? How'd you get in here?" Jonathan demanded. Seto tilted his head a little, opening his eyes a little wider.
"... My name is Setosorcerer." Then he shouted, "Πλύση νου!" and a blast of purple light hit Jonathan and sent him flying back, smashing into the wall before falling to the ground, unconscious. He ran over to him and grabbed the gun, unloading it and crushing the bullets before tossing the gun away from the unconscious man. Then he slowly turned around to the girl.
She shrank back under his gaze, whimpering as tears trailed down her cheeks. He slowly walked over to her, unlocking the cage with a simple spell, and she widened her eyes in terror before hiding her face from him, shivering with stifled sobs.
"It's ok. You're safe now." He assured her. She shuddered at his voice at first, flinching at the volume of it, and he immediately lowered it to just above a whisper. "You're not going to become some... Exhibit." He murmured, feeling hatred churn in his gut at the thought of presenting a harmless girl like a trophy. Seto noticed the tiny girl peek up at him cautiously,and he corners of his mouth turned up in a soft reassuring smile.
"It'll be ok." He whispered softly, starting to reach in the dark cage. She whimpered, cowering back. He let his hand approach her before cautiously letting his pinky finger rest on her head, performing gentle stroking motions. She flinched under his touch at first, then shuddered and relaxed a little, but he still felt her slight quivers.
Seto perked up a little when he heard the door to the secret way open, and the girl flinched, obviously scared.
"I'm going to pick you up now." He murmured, moving his hand a little to flat on the cage floor, palm up. "I need to get you out of here." She stared up at him with fear in her eyes, and he stared back at her, silently pleading for her to comply. He held his breath as she slowly staggered to her feet, and managed to drag herself on to his palm. It felt weird, almost tickling his skin, but she was so light, even for her size.
He carefully lifted his hand up and carried the tiny girl out of the cage, glancing back at the hallway and seeing silhouettes moving before setting the girl in his cloak's pocket. He stiffened at first as he felt her shudder before shifting a little, then he quickly ran behind a partial wall, just before the other people ran into the room, seeing that the girl was gone.
As they shouted commands about, he let his hand creep over his pocket, shrinking farther back into the shadows as he waited for them to leave.
They shortly after ran off in different directions along the other passages, and then Seto carefully peeked about before he quickly went back the way he came. He quickly jogged up the stairs and ran through the museum, sprinting outside and into the woods. He kept running until he was far away from the building and the lights, and he slowed to a wheezy and stumbly halt, leaning against a tree for a few moments before he looked back to make sure he was not followed. He sighed in relief before glancing down to see if the girl was alright.
She was asleep, peacefully curled up at the bottom of his pocket.
He smiled a little before checking once more that no one was after him, then he started walking home.

***************

Seto let out a tired sigh as he closed his door, locking it behind him. He trekked across his floor and laid back on his couch, exhausted from the great escape. He closed his eyes and relaxed, beginning to doze for about an hour when he felt movement in his pocket.
He blinked forcefully to wake, and sat up before opening his pocket a little, to see the small girl sitting up a little with a small yawn. Then her eyes landed on his face, and she froze. He gave her a small disarming smile.
"You alright?" He murmured. She blinked at him a few times before nervously jerking her head up and down in a nodding manner. He stifled a yawn, laying his head back and mumbling, "Good..." He almost fell asleep again when he felt the girl suddenly move, and he peeked through his eyelids to see her climbing out of the folds of the cloth before settling down on his upper thorax, shivering a little.
So Seto rested his hand over the tiny girl's fragile figure to keep her warm, and she flinched at first before relaxing, curling up under his fingers. He couldn't help but smile at her innocence, glad that he had decided to see what seemed so suspicious at that awful museum. No doubt the staff weren't going to be too happy with him. Jonathan had seen him, and Brayden knew his name. But at least they didn't have his real name...