(WARNING!!! This chapter contains major end of S3 spoilers!!! If you've not watched or read that far I don't recommend reading any of the chapters after this one!!)
We slowly sneak out the gate, behind the guards. We run ahead into the land outside the internment zone, following the road.
I giggle and spin around, basking myself in fresh air. "Ah, it's so nice to be out here." I smile. I turn to Grisha and Faye. "What do you think?"
Grisha and Faye look at me with a sheepish look. "Y-Yea, it's nice out here. Thank's for taking us out here, Arielle." Faye smiles nervously.
"No problemo!" I beam, spinning round on my heel and leading the way. I glance over my shoulder to look at Grisha. "So, you wanted to see the Blimp?" I ask.
His eyes widen and pink dusts his cheeks. "U-Uh- Yeah, I do. I though Faye might've wanted to see it too."
I take in a big breath of pure air. "That's alright." I peer at them out of the corner of my eye again. They're nervous. But, they don't need to be. "What's up, Grisha, Faye?"
Grisha lowers his face and his eyes dart around. "N-Nothing." He says a bit too quickly. I sigh and turn to face them, walking backwards.
"Look. If it's because you're worried about the Marleyans hurting you, they can't. Not with me around. I'm part of the Tyber family, people superior to them. And if they do hurt us, I can report them to Uncle Xavi. Okay?" I raise an eyebrow to them.
Grisha sighs and smiles softly. "Okay. What would we do without you, Ari?"
I scoff and roll my eyes. "You wouldn't be able to do anything, stupid." I turn back round, still looking at them. "Anyways, relax for now. Nothing's gonna happen. I promise." I pet my red armband that was on my left arm, just above my elbow.
Something hard collides with my right side. "Move it, vermin." A man says as I fall to the ground.
"What, more devil-bloods?" Another scoffs.
"Damn Eldians crawling around as they please." The man that knocked me over walks away with the other one.
I sit up and rub my side. "That's gonna leave a bruise." I hiss, standing up.
"Grisha." Faye stammers.
"It's all right. Aren't we used to it?" He reply's, walking over to me. "What happened to, 'Relax for now. Nothing's gonna happen. I promise.', Arielle?" Grisha smirks, flicking my forehead.
I scowl at him and storm off. "C'mon if you wanna see the Blimp." I say angrily although I wasn't even close to it. I'm just annoyed at his smugness.
We walk down the road, towards the airdock. I had asked Grisha the day prior if he wanted to come see a Blimp that my Uncle Xavi owns but it's outside the internment zone. I also wanted Grisha to get a taste of outside air that is fresh and pure, no smells of gas or diesel.
I had grown up in luxury as I'm part of the Tyber family that's called the Harper's. The Harper's and Tyber's joined hands when my mother and father got married and had me ten years ago, but also because the had a hold of the most powerful Titans, the War Hammer Titan and the Bloom Titan.
But, during The Great Titan war the Harper's lost the Bloom Titan and it's nowhere to be see. But the Tyber's managed to keep hold of the War Hammer and still have for decades.
I reach the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the bank and I turn round to look at Grisha and Faye. "Just over this bank is the airdock!" I smile. Grisha and his little sisters eyes light up in joy.
We start running up the stairs full speed. Once we reached the top, we walked over the path and stopped just before the grass. And I couldn't believe my eyes.
A massive plains spread out before us, a small pond not far from where we stood. The grass was lush and had multiple flowers covering it in small patches. The smell of freshness kicking in. The sky was a great blue with a fair amount of fluffy clouds in it.
It was beautiful.
To the left of the plains you could see the airdock with the Blimp sticking out of it.
"It's so big...!" Faye smiles, a sense of euphoria in her tone. I look down at her. Her eyes had a sparkle in them, reflecting her happiness.
"Have you come to see the airship, too?" A masculine voice asks out of nowhere. I jump out of my skin as I see three officers sitting down on the grass. One was a lady with ebony hair with sharp blue eyes that look like the ocean. There was no whisp of emotion in them, making it seem like you could drown in them. Her skin was ivory with light freckles over her cheeks and forearms.
Another was a man with dirty blonde hair and lightly tanned skin. His eyes blue like the lady's but not as dead.
"Huh? Uh, yes..." Grisha stammers, taking a step back as Faye grabs his arm. I stand my ground.
"You from the Liberio Internment Zone? Let's see your exit permit." A lady asks, standing up and putting her cap on. I go into my blazer pocket searching for my permit I got from Uncle Xavi. My breath catches in my throat. It wasn't there.
I glance over to Grisha who was also searching for his permit frantically. But he also freezes when he takes out his hand.
"I don't have one." I stutter. "B-But, I'm an Honorary Marleyan!" I grip my armband in my hand. The lady walks up to me and bends down, taking the band in her hand.
She glances up at the other two officers. "She's telling the truth. But, it doesn't seem like the other two are related to her though." She stands up and walks over to a man with dirty blonde hair.
"So the other two entered the city without permission? You know what that means, right?" The blonde man walks over to Grisha and kneels down. "Labor or punishment. Which is it?"
Grisha gulps and looks the man in the eyes. "Punishment." My eyes widen.
"Grisha!" Faye cry's out. The man looks surprised.
"Oh? You don't want to trouble you parents?" He asks, sounding amused
"Yes. I forced my sister to come with me! Please give her punishment to me, too!" Grisha shouts sheepishly. I start shaking my head.
No, no, no! I forced you to come with me! I should be getting the-" Grisha turns round and looks me in the eye. He looked confident and his expression told me 'I'll be alright. Let me do this'.
"Very well." The blonde man stands up and grabs Grisha's collar and knee's him in the stomach.
"Grisha!" I cry out. The black haired lady wraps her arm round my shoulders to stop me from stopping him.
"Man, go easy on him, Kruger" A short, fat man chuckles walking past them. He sits a hand on Faye's shoulder and guides her down the stairs. "Come on, let's get you on your way home."
I claw at the lady's arm as I watch Grisha get another blow to the stomach. "Grisha!" I wail, tears pricking the edge of my eyes. "Please let me go!"
The lady lifts me up in the air and I kick my legs. "Please calm down." She says sternly. The man stops and lets Grisha go. The lady does the same and I sprint over to Grisha who was clutching his stomach.
I reach my friend and I sit my hand on his back. "Are you alright?!" I question. I start rubbing his back, trying to sooth the pain. He slowly lifts his head to face me and a brave smile is painted over his lips.
"I'm okay." He smiles, his voice was strained. My eyebrows knit together as I didn't believe him.
The pretty lady and the man that was called 'Kruger', sit side-by-side on the grass.
"It was smart not to take off your armbands. Eldians without one are sent to Paradise, even if they're kids." The lady says, taking a long puff of a cigar.
"We'll go home." I take Grisha's hand in mine and pull him up onto his feet.
"Wait." The Kruger man stops us. "Didn't you two come to see the blimp? Might as well see it." I glance over at Grisha who nods. I sigh and take a seat on the grass, a meters length away from the officers. I done that on purpose though. They hurt Grisha.
"So, little girl. What's your name?" The lady asks looking over in my direction.
"Arielle. Arielle Harper, from the noble family." I reply, keeping up my brave act although I was quaking on the inside. I notice the officers stiffen.
"Excuse me. What?" Kruger asks, clearly shaken. His actions give me fuel to keep up my act.
"Yep. I'm Arielle Harper, I'm Xavi Tyber's niece." I say almost smugly. The female officer looks my way with a surprised look on her features.
"Shouldn't you start going home then? I heard they were having a family meeting about who's gonna inherit the War Hammer next." She asks, quirking one of her eyebrows.
I freeze. That's right, I need to hurry home. I remember mother telling me to come home before dinner time in the strictest tone ever. "What time is it?" I ask, sitting up. The lady reaches into her jacket and pulls out a pocketwatch. She flicks it open and looks at the time.
"It's twenty past four." She flips it back into her pocket. "You should get going, Miss Harper."
I nod and stand up, offering a hand to Grisha. He takes it and I pull him to his feet. "I shall. Now, goodbye." I reply, not letting go of Grisha's hand as I was too scared to let go. I didn't want them to try anything again. Crap. I hope Faye is alright.
I walk down the steps, still clinging to Grisha as if it was a choice between life or death. Grisha and Faye have been my good friends since I bumped into them on my way to school. I had fortuitously knocked Faye over as I was walking and felt horrible immediately after and as a result I offered that I could make it up to them by being their friend. That happened four months ago, not long ago but it feels as if I've known them my whole life.
Grisha suddenly freezes and I lose my grip on him. I turn round to face him and a look of panic is evident over his features. "Arielle. Where's Faye?" He asks with a look of sheer terror.
I swallow a lump in my throat. "The third officer offered to take her home." I reply, reaching forward to grab his hand with mine again. He lets me take it and softens a bit, but not enough to hide his worry.
"I hope he actually took her home." Grisha utters under his breath. A knot forms in my stomach, a bad feeling kicking in.
So do I, Grisha.
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OMG, I've not spoke of this yet but- This book has over 2.5k reads?! That's like almost five thousand eyeballs reading this book!
I would like to thank you all for reading his book as you've kept my urge to continue writing this book. I had writers block until I got a heart-warming comment from one of my readers that cleared my clouded thoughts and helped me finish this chapter. So, a massive thank you to, Blessing244603 as you've aided me big time. I was even thinking of not continuing this book. But, again thank you and have a good day/night and I hope to see you again soon in the next chapter, 'Malice'
Sayonara