Arisa, Part 1:Dusk

-Chapter XI: Escape Artist-

Time seemed to go real slow to Keith, but he could not tell how much time had passed. All sense of it had gone away and had replaced itself with dread. The mood in the cells had not improved after the last conversation. Arisa had quietly shuffled into one of the corners and hadn’t moved or spoken since. It was like she had just surrendered, just like that. It was very frightening to Keith to see Arisa like this. Normally she was so strong. If even Arisa thought it was hopeless what could he do?! Keith got himself together. He was not allowed to think like this. It would not get him any further. But what could he possibly do? The cells were made out of concrete and steel bars. He had no hammer, no chisel, no saw, and no plan. ‘So… escape artist’ He addressed Arisa, but she didn't laugh. In fact she didn’t respond at all. Keith ignored her lack of response and continued his question; ‘…How did you manage to escape all those other times?’ Keith could not tell, but he felt Arisa’s gaze burn on him. He knew she didn’t liked talking about her past; even so he had to try in this case. Much to his surprise Arisa answered, not only that, she spilled her heart out. This was very unlike the Arisa Keith knew and it made him realise things might be worse than he could have anticipated; ‘I usually just got lucky, some guard not paying attention, turned with his back to me so I could grab his keys...’ Arisa admitted. ‘If I that didn't happen, I used my powers to free myself.’ Her voice faded ‘...If that failed too... someone ended up dead.’ Keith nodded silently. He had heard from this partially from Dimitri. ‘Lots of friends had died. First my parents, who send me out on the day of the fire, then Everet, who was sent to battle.’ Keith could hear Arisa sit on the floor. ‘That damned order and their principles.’ Keith wanted to ask, but Arisa already answered him. ‘Everet was the leader of a small group of soldiers stationed in Farnin. They were trained Paladins of The Holy Order who planned small range resistance attacks on Akuma and his reign. They all did this from a small cabin in the forest. Everet found me when I was dying.’ Keith silently listened to the story. ‘When I was alone in the woods I was chased by a bounty hunter, light creatures yield quite a lot of bounty as you now know.’ She added. ‘I fought the brute, but he soon knocked me unconscious. Everet and his men had heard the fight and found me. When I came to, Everet was taking care of me. He told me who he was and about the small family he and his men were. I could stay with them as long as I liked because it was dangerous for a eleven-year old girl to wander around alone like that’ Keith could hear Arisa laughing sarcastically. ‘He taught me to use my powers and how to fight with swords rather than burning your skin of with light. He taught me everything they had taught him at the light academy on Templar Rock. I was happy, but of course when everything is perfect the war between Lightcreatures and demons kicks in and ruins everything.’ What did she mean by that, 'the war'? As if he had asked Arisa explained further; ‘There is an official war between the demons and the light creatures. It's all there, politically correct waged on paper…’ She doubted ‘…over the heads of the innocents.’ She added solemnly. She looked up at Keith, almost forgetting what she was saying. ‘Lightcreatures are wanted by both the Order and the demons. Akuma hates us naturally. We are what he believes to stand in his way to power. The Order claims to be our ally, but in reality they don’t care how many of us die, as long as they win the war. Every death to the cause is a calculated casualty.’ She sighed deeply and shook her head. ‘That’s what happened to Everet and the others.’ She swallowed hard. ‘They were an official squad stationed in the woods. The fact they were soldiers was a way of living. The Order sustained them with food and cheap weapons. Everet believed the Order was helping them. They did what they thought was right and tried to survive.’ Keith shook his head. ‘You mean Everet was a Paladin?’ he asked. Keith had heard of these specially trained troops who had fought in the old Kings army, but the way Arisa made it sound it seemed as they were ordinary cannon fodder. ‘Yes’ Arisa replied. ‘One day we got a letter from The Order.’ She exhaled. ‘It gave Everet and the rest of the group the order to join a battle near Farnin. It was not really a battle, but more a carnage. The Paladins there were outnumbered by three to one. A band of fifteen soldiers would make no difference.’ Keith tried to catch a glimpse of Arisa’s eyes to see what was going through her, but it was too dark. ‘That is madness.’ Keith finally whispered. Arisa must have nodded. ‘It is…’ She sighed; ‘But they were soldiers of the order. They knew they could not refuse a direct command. That would have made everything even more complicated.' She started summing up the consequences '...Renegade troops, being hunted down for treason, getting caught in between a war that isn't about you etcetera...’ Arisa stopped ‘That’s when Everet saved my life a second time. Everyone was packing their stuff to die in a hopeless battle, me too. I was just as much part of that group as the others.’ Keith let her speak. Interruption would be rude. ‘Everet stopped me from going. He told me I didn’t had to go. I was only lived among the soldiers. I wasn’t actually a soldier myself. The Orders command was not aimed at me. Everet made sure I stayed behind. He made me vow an unbreakable promise that I wouldn't go after him once he had left. He gave me his coat. It was nearly winter and I had to manage on my own. With those words Everet left forever. I celebrated my twelfth birthday alone knowing they would soon kill the people I called my family.’ Arisa went silent. Keith couldn't grasp the impact that would have had on a twelve-year-old. ‘Why did the order send them in the first place?' Keith asked. 'They surely could not have expected that a small group could win the war for them?’ Keith asked stunned. ‘They were send as reinforcement. The Order had already acknowledged the battle in Farnin was lost, but the people fighting there had requested back up. Not sending in extra troops would be viewed as sacrificing soldiers. The public would have blamed the Order for ignoring their cries for help. so in the end, the Order gave in to the requests and send 'help'. This help was not enough to win the battle, but it was enough to stop the public from questioning the Orders tactics.' Keith froze. 'why didn't they just retreat if the battle was already lost?' He asked her in horror. Arisa scoffed. 'Retreat would be an even greater failure to the Order. They believe running away is a cowards tactics. All soldiers fleeing from battle were killed by their own troops.' Keith wanted to say something, but Arisa quickly carried on. ‘After Everet had left I tried to stay in the cottage. It was home. It was the only thing I knew, but the soldiers soon found it soon the soldiers had left. It was almost as if they had been waiting for it to be abandoned.’ She swallowed hard. ‘They also knew I was still inside and when they did what they do to every place that resided Lightcreatures....’ ‘They set it on fire’ Keith filled in. ‘Yeah’ Arisa softly replied. ‘They surrounded the building and set the whole place ablaze.’ Arisa smiled faintly. ‘I was too scared to go outside and the flames were closing me in. I was saved again, but this time by a miracle. Everything seemed on fire and there was no way out of the house anymore. I thought it was over and could not move. I slowly crawled into a hole in the floor that had been made by the destruction. It was not a safe place either. It was getting hotter and hotter by the minute and I thought I would suffocate. A large burning pillar fell down from the roof. It fell right on the place where I tried to hide .’ Arisa continued. ‘Because it had fallen over me but not on me, it protected me from falling bricks and debris. I breathed some smoke in, but not bad enough to die from.’ Keith slowly nodded. ‘I don’t know for how long I’ve stayed in that cottage, but at some point I guess I lost consciousness. When I came to the most of the building had been extinguished by a lucky storm. the pouring rain had put out the flames.’ She sighed. ‘As I had cast the pillar away from me and slowly gotten up I realised my home was completely destroyed. Once again I had nowhere to go. I tried to save as much from the wreckage as I could and moved on. I did what I knew was right and started traveling again.’ The last thing she whispered, almost in disbelieve: ‘I also remember that same demon sitting on a fence just like it did the night my parents died.’ She stopped talking and quietly sunk into thoughts, making out what was real and what not.
Keith pitied her. What could she possibly have done to deserve this kind of cruel fate? He had to act now. He had heard enough from Arisa to understand she waited for sudden release or death. Now it was his turn to do something! Just what? He cringed the shirt he was wearing in anger and frustration. It was Dimitri's shirt Keith reminded himself. What would have happened to him by now? Keith wondered. He smoothened the creases in the shirt thoughtfully. Suddenly his hands felt something hidden within the fabric the shirt. There was an odd irregularity in the bottom seam of the shirt, almost as if someone had sewn something into the shirt to hide it. Keith carefully plucked the thread that held the seam together. As soon as he had loosened the string, he could pull open the seam and took what was hidden in his hand. To his surprise Keith found himself holding several small pieces of a clay like material. It was pitch black in the cells and Keith had no idea what it was that he held in his hand, but it was obvious it was something Dimitri had sewn into his clothing himself. It was disguised well enough to go unnoticed, even is a person was searched thoroughly. Whatever it was, it must be important Keith reckoned. He brought the lump of stuff to his nose and immediately found himself oddly grinning at the stuff in his hand. His nose was filled with the sharp scent of gunpowder, Dimitri had made himself a small emergency bomb! Suddenly ideas and hope filled Keith. If he could just use the explosive charge to blast open the cell doors he would be out! He could go around to find the keys to get Arisa out as well! He took one of the packages out and carefully started unwrapping them. Dimitri had wrapped the small explosives up tight so they would not combust in his shirt. Keith reminded himself to be extremely careful. He had no clue what kind of explosive Dimitri had hidden and if he wasn't careful he would blow his own fingers off. Much to his disappointment the charge was only very small, by far not big enough for an explosion, but he had others! Maybe if he combined all the charges it would give him enough power to blast a small hole in the lock! After the lock was open the door would open on it's own. He carefully put the first charge down and started disassembling the other packages. When he had cleared out all charges he had piled up a neat stack of explosives and a set of flints used as detonator. The only question remaining was how much of this explosive to use? Keith knew he couldn't take any risk. He had to use all at once to make sure he wasn't using too few. If the lock didn't open at the first try, the guards would be alarmed by the sound of the blast. He piled the charges up by the lock and threw the last charge in its direction…

Arisa was shuttered by a loud bang. Even though she was this tired she could feel the explosion sending a shockwave through her body and taste the dust in the air. It had come from the cell next to her! Keith! Arisa could now see guards rushing to the cell doors that hung on only one hinge. the light that shone through the now open door hurt her eyes, but she ignored the pain. She had to know what had happened to Keith. One of the guards slowly approached the door and opened it, it almost fell out. He looked once at his college and shook his head. ‘Whatever happened, this guy could not have survived such a blast’ He growled in a deep voice. The other now also entered. ‘Good god!’ He cursed. ‘This guy must be all over the place, there is nothing left of him!’ He laughed. ‘That’s one hell of a way to go. He must have tried to force his way out and blew himself up in the process’ the guard cursed again. ‘What a mess! Well, I’m glad I’m not the janitor here.’ The two left laughing, leaving Arisa behind in the darkness. Keith... was... dead? She could not believe it, but she felt the blow. It had been powerful enough and it did came from his cell. Arisa slowly shook her head. She didn't want to believe it, but there was no other alternative. She had to face the facts. She could not live in lies once more. Keith was gone forever. There was nothing she could do about that... Suddenly Arisa could feel her heart sinking. It was as if all the light left in her world had vanished. A pang of pain shot through her heart. She collapsed on the floor and cried with all strength she had left.

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Pfew! just one chapter left for part 1! This is a short epilogue leading ionto the next book which I'm currently (still) writing. The epilogue will be uploaded after the weekend, thank you for your patience with the series:)

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Have a good weekend!