Calytrix's Journey

Part XXIV: Reyaeth Kingdom III

The curly blonde hair girl was broken. Completely broken. She was probably a normal girl before she came to do dungeon. Outside one can travel, find friends and enemies, laugh at the things that make one happy and cry about sad things, but in here time stopped. There was nothing here but torture.

The dim light atmosphere made this place even worse. There was no sunlight here. Only light from candlewax. Who know how much time the other girl spent here? A person wasn't created only to feel sadness. We need other emotions too and they must have manifested in this girl by being happy at the things she shouldn't be.

"Go prepare Caly for what happens next," Rheya ordered."The two of you will spend a lot of time here together so it's important that you became friendly fast."

I felt a rush of coldness in my face. Long time? Becoming friendly? Every minute I spend here is too much. I tried to wiggle my hands out of the ropes again, but it didn't make any difference. At this rate my hands will be engraved with rope marks on them.

"Come on, Caly don't make such a difficult face. I can call you Caly, right?" the girl said with a slight smile."I'm Buttefly."

I was creeped out by people calling me by my nickname in a dungeon but I knew that protesting about it wouldn't lead me anywhere.

"Butterfly?" I said with strong displeasure."Don't you have a proper name?"

"A name, huh?" the girl thought about it."I had a name a long time ago, but I...I can't remember it." I glanced at Rheya who was busy with polishing her equipment and for the time being ignored us. "Whatever Rheya calls me is perfect by me. I hope one day she'll give me a real name. But I'm very happy by being just Butterfly too. It was a nickname she picked out for me personally."

"No small chat, we're preparing Calytrix," Rheya said without looking at us.

"Right, let me prepare you," Buttefly said."You are in the wrong position." The girl started to untie the ropes on my right hand. I was pleasantly surprised by the sudden development but I kept quiet.

"What are you doing?" Rheya yelled."If you untie her she'll run away immediately. She isn't disciplined enough to wait for us to tie her up in a different way. "

The girl stopped all movements and slowly, lightly tied the rope back. She didn't untie me completely, but the way she tied it up again wasn't as tight as before.

"I am sorry," she apologized.

"Sorry isn't enough!"Rheya's eyes burned in an angry red."What if she escaped? How would you repent? And here I thought you could finally make yourself useful."

Rheya marched up to her and grabbed her violently. She threw the poor girl on the floor and stepped on her. "Letting a prisoner escape by neglect is one of the worst crimes you can do here."

I averted my gaze from them. It was too much for me. The girl let out sounds of pain but Rheya didn't stop kicking with her black boots. I wanted to save the girl and myself, but the girl was too much under Rheya's influence. Even if I tried to help her it would only backfire because despite all the things Rheya does she is completely faithful.

I could only focus on saving myself for now. The ropes on my right hand were loose and when I wiggled my right hand I managed to free myself. One of my hands was completely free but that was only the first step. I must free all of my limbs.

Rheya continued her madness of kicking the girl and didn't pay attention to me. This was the perfect chance to escape. If I don't make use of this opportunity who knows when a next one will present itself. I looked at the rope holding my left hand. A left and a right string caught my attention. If I pull the correct one the rope will untie by itself.

The right or the left one? I wasn't sure which one was correct. Rheya was still torturing the girl but it won't last forever. I need to decide fast. Right or left? If I choose the wrong one I might be out of time to retry with the correct one.

Rheya was putting more and more pauses between her kicks. She could be tired and give up on the punishment. There was no time to lose. I chose to pull the right one. The closest string to me. It worked. What a magnificent stroke of luck in this dreadful situation. The rope loosened and I freed my left hand too.

"Rheya, it hurts...please stop," Butterfly started crying. It was a terrible spectacle one shouldn't see, hear or participate.

I felt an urge to kick Rheya and give her a test of her own methods, but getting out was my first priority. With both of my hands freed I could untie the ropes on my legs and run out of the dungeon. I crouched down to untie my left leg but somehow I lost my balance and fell face down the cold stone floor. My hands hurt badly and now my face hurt. I couldn't stop my tears but I cried silently.

If only there was somebody to help me. I didn't want to go through all of this pain alone. At the moment I was ready to accept anyone's hand. Even if it was a suspicious guy like Akios.

The girls didn't notice my movements and I got myself up. I quickly untied my right leg and the left one. Leaving Butterfly alone with Rheya felt terrible. But since my magic was unavailable at the moment the best thing was to run away. If Rheya overpowers me I'll get tied up again and powerless to do anything. There was no other way. I might return later to help her.

I quietly made my way out of the place but as I was at the exit Rheya noticed me.

"Calytrix!" she yelled.

I dashed outside quickly. A large stone spiral staircase leading upwards was the only path ahead. I jumped across the steps in order to go faster. Sunlight was illuminating the footsteps and somehow it helped me ease my pain. Sunshine meant that I was returning back to normal. Rheya was yelling at me behind but I didn't let myself get distracted. I was fast at running and was at the top of the staircase while she was still down at the bottom.

I stood in front of a single dark wood door. The only exit out of the dungeon. I didn't have the time to think where it lead. As long as it's a way out it didn't matter where I found myself. If I am free I could go anywhere.

I quickly opened the door and closed it behindme. The new scenery that greeted me was a castle hallway. I was deep in Rheya's territory. If a guard catches me Rheya will have her fun with me again. Luckily there was nobody walking around and I opened the first door on my left. 

It seemed to be a study room with lots of books. There was a big bed on the left, near a giant window.  I quickly hid under it. There was just enough space for me to crawl underneath. I was in too much pain to run far away. Once I recover and get rid of the exhaustion I'll plan my next steps.