Sparks came as pickaxes hit against the shining ores under a dim fire. Sweat poured down the faces of the men working in the ore-rich mines. It had come days prior, an order of collectivism. The resources of Wien were to be harvested and collected and industrialization was the goal.
The country was bound to be exploited, either by Fukviyu or the Luvian Empire. But Erich would have rather worked together with the Luvian Empire. Their monarch was more respectable than Fukviyu's. Erich sat by Selina's side watching her chest rise up and down. She had been unconscious for over a week now. He started to wonder if she would ever wake up. Erika had told him that she would need to change the bandages later before leaving to buy some groceries.
Erich's hands reached out and began unwrapping the bandages around her. He thought that it would save his sister some time later. His hands suddenly stopped and turned into fists that started to shake from anger. Branded on Selina's cheek was the royal family's crest. He immediately covered it after seeing it before quickly wrapping new bandages around her burn marks. It was a grotesque sight. From her chest down was a massive surgical scar that was red with stitches. Across her entire body were severe third degree burns.
Erika arrived back home and put down her bag full of food before entering her office.
"Checking up on your dear little lieutenant again?"
Erich stayed quiet and continued to watch Selina diligently.
To break the ice Erika asked how they met and why he was so attached to her. Erich explained how he first met Selina while planning an attack on a Königsteuer unit.
"She had come out of nowhere, declaring that she was from Nautilus and the Fivindus family.
I thought she was some crazy nuthead who thought war was nothing but a game. But after revising my strategy she proposed an idea that I had never even considered. She helped to preserve the lives of hundreds of Umstürzlers, and I made her into my lieutenant."
"I wonder what they are feeding these people from the Fivindus family," Erika asked jokingly.
"I guess they aren't considered the strongest noble family in Fukviyu without a reason."
Erika poked her brother asking him if he was able to use loxes yet.
"Just a little bit, but not enough to be utilized as a weapon."
Now curious, his sister asked him what affiliation he had, which he responded with that he didn't know. He just knew he was able to use them because he was able to fill lox stones with them back in school.
Trying to continue the conversation, Erika inquired about what he thinks the fate of Wien will be.
Without hesitation Erich responded that the royal family would most likely squeeze every drop of resources out of Wien and use the industries to produce weapons of war to wage against the Luvian Empire.
The both of them knew what it meant. The country of Wien would be caught in the crossfire between the two superpowers.
In the underground depths of Nautilus, careful steps came from the still numb Rei. The woman in the scarf watched in silence as the surface person absorbed the sights of the underground.
Gripping the metal balcony fence Rei quietly asked the woman if everything had just been a lie.
"I wouldn't know that, only you can decide if it was a lie or not. It's only you who can determine what the truth is."
The woman in the purple scarf glanced up and down Rei's body. She nodded before saying that Rei was healed up now. She opened the door and said it might be best for Rei to come and see what was actually going on underground.
Rei didn't leave the balcony and just stood there leaning against the rails.
"Aren't you scared I might take revenge? I'm your enemy after all. Nursing me up and showing me around your headquarters, I can kill you and escape at any time."
"We aren't scared of someone who was blindly following orders without thinking. And just so you know."
The woman drew her sword.
"If Zyo managed to subdue you without killing you, then I have bad news to break, I'm stronger than her. If you want to try killing me, try, but you will gain nothing from it."
There were no signs of deceit or hesitation in her words. Rei's head fell onto the hard cold metal and she closed her eyes. This justice and rigid ideology of hers that she had upheld for years… why did it have to come crumbling like a withering mountain? There was nothing for her on the surface, she had abandoned both her title and name in pursuit of something deeper than knighthood. But when she saw the expressions of the people she had protected for years she didn't know what to believe anymore. Maybe what Lilith had told her was correct.
Rei looked over her shoulder and the woman was still waiting for her by the door. She took a deep breath. She squinted her eyes as blinding lights filled the corridor. Her eyes began to acclimate to the light difference as she followed the woman down the corridor.
Chatter and laughter grew louder as they approached a doorway.
"HEYY! FELICIA! YOU CAN'T JUST SKIP IN LINE!"
"Shut it, you are the retard for not using your turn properly."
"Who are you calling a retard? You damn narcissistic bitch!"
"Hey don't you think this drink tastes a bit weird?"
"Well, didn't you mix in a bunch of weird ingredients into it?"
Rei and the woman entered the lounge and saw a dozen people entertaining themselves in all sorts of manners. Some were chatting, some were stacking cards, some were drawing, some were playing board games together but all of them stopped and turned their heads towards Rei.
The scarf woman coughed to get everybody's attention.
"Boss told me to take care of this surface dweller, and I'm here to introduce her to you. This is…"
She stopped and everyone looked at her confused.
"What was your name again?"
Rei rubbed her arm and turned her face away from the crowd before introducing herself as just Rei.
The whole room was quiet and just continued staring.
"So, yeah. Take good care of her will ya?"
"Mizuhara! Question! Question!" One of the girls put up her hand.
"Go ahead."
"Did she really fight Captain?"
"I believe so, that's what boss told me at least."
All of the girls approached Rei and started to scan her from head to toe. The boys sat huddled up having an emergency meeting.
"She is really cute!"
"Totally agree with you, this face is definitely a heartbreaker."
"Now now girls, take care of her, I need to go get some stuff done." Mizuhara, the scarf lady, then left.
Rei was now in a room surrounded by people she didn't know and being swarmed by girls who wanted to ask her questions.
They invited her to sit down and poured her a cup of water. But Rei only sat there counting the dotted patterns on the floor.
They asked her about the surface and about miscellaneous stuff.
Rei couldn't understand why they were acting so friendly to her. She couldn't hold it in anymore and asked if they didn't hate her.
The whole room went quiet and the boys looked over at the girls.
A boy stood up with both of his arms crossed.
"We hate you," he shouted.
"Shin!" A girl called out.
Rei clutched her fists on her thighs and closed her eyes.
"Your people locked us down underground, never to see the surface again. You made it seem like we were nothing but a nuisance for you. Like we were livestock."
"That's enough, Shin." Two of his friends called out.
"You know it too," the boy pointed at Rei.
"You and your people are pigs."
"ENOUGH!" His friend shoved him away into a different room.
There were 179 dots on the blue carpet floor. The girls apologized on behalf of their friend.
"No, he is right," Rei calmly said.
"You guys are only stuck here underground because of us above."
The room once again grew quiet. But that's when footsteps from the corridor were heard and Zyo entered.
Her eyes scrutinized the room and saw the gloomy expressions of everyone.
"Rei, come with me," Zyo waved her finger, signaling for Rei to follow.
As they were walking in the corridor Zyo said that it was normal for the underground people to hate the surface. Because the hate was deeply rooted, being passed down for generations. The stories of their forefathers being imprisoned and sent to this place, everyone has their own story and their reason to hate.
Rei bit her lips but Zyo reassured her that the underground people weren't seeking revenge for the mistreatment. They simply wanted to breathe the same air as the rest of the world. Enjoy the sunset and rise from the horizon.
Zyo stopped and turned around to smile at Rei. That's why the revolutionary army of Nautilus exists.
"We will create a city where all of us can live together," Zyo proclaimed proudly.
"What has happened cannot be undone, but living only in the past won't fix our situation will it? If crying and prayers actually worked then there wouldn't be a need for revolution."
"I brought you here to the underground for you to see for yourself, that we too are people worthy of rights and freedom."