"They are keeping her like some animal here…"
Midas remarked with a flat tone, looking down onto her pale fingers as they clutched more tightly onto the thick fabric of his uniform. Her tired expression was revealed by the candles as her head nearly pressed against the bars of the cage.
Hearing squeaking noises from above, Partiq raised his head upwards to the ceiling of the basement, tapping Midas's shoulder to warn him in time. Eventually having to drag him away without giving him answers to his perplexity, Partiq forced him to crouch down beside the set of stairs with him.
Steps on top of stone stairs eventually toned down the set of stairs, judging by their frequency—whoever came down here was by their own. Their backs pressed tightly against the stone wall, their eyes were set to glance forward into the direction of the cages—Midas's eyes eventually growing alarmed at the sight of who approached Skye.
Not looking behind his back as he climbed down the last step, the student with combed-back, brown hair directly headed for the cage, crouching down to muster her with tired eyes.
Midas was forced to listen to the low-voiced words the foreign student spoke in the Water Kingdom tongue, broadly crouching down to his prisoner—completely unknowing about their presence.
Midas's surprise quickly faded; the explanation Ivyda gave him on the way to the ruin quickly came to his mind—his upper lip already raised automatically at the thought of the scarf-wearing general. The foreign student right in front of them seems to have some connection to the club of knights, most likely due to his father being a general—either making him a respected person by its members or having encouraged him to join the club on his own. Either way, he used this room to hide Skye from anyone that might try to free her—clearly not willing to risk anything.
Hiding in the shadows of the unlit corner right beside the set of stairs that lead into the room, the two of them watched as the student pulled a set of keys from his back pants pocket. Holding a bronze key in his hand, they heard a low clicking noise escape the metal cage—opening up the front for him to reach Skye through. Midas narrowed his eyes as he heard faint noises voiced from her as she was grabbed by her hair, immediately being pulled out of her cage as she was guided forcefully to go upstairs.
Midas and Patriq had no other choice but to follow, crouching slightly as they stepped up the stairs behind them. The two of them kept close to the wall of the building as they watched Skye being dragged out of the building. The youth's expression grimmed at the fact he was able to hear cheering from outside, most likely belonging to the guards who remained on the training ground.
Slowly stepping out of the door, as they tried to portray a casual manner, Midas and Patriq followed to step out of the storage building after them, watching silently as the brown-haired student vanished into the main building without being able to follow him right away since that would most likely garner the attention of the already cautious guards.
"Midas! There you are..."
Trying to hide his growing stress, Midas turned towards the grass plain that was shone onto by the sun. Emerging from the tiny group of guards, Khud waved his hand out at him, clearly having trained just a moment ago. Reluctantly stepping out from under the shade of the wooden roof that shielded the tiled path, Midas met him halfway as Patriq followed him.
"What's with that face of yours...? Already tired, or what?"
"No, I'm fine. Was that all of what I'm supposed to be doing as a punishment...?"
His brows furrowed at the sunlight that shone down on them, his voice sounding more urgent than he had hoped for, unable to believe how unphased the group of students were regarding what just played out right in front of them. His eyes followed the hand of Khud, feeling it placed on his unbandaged left as he mustered his shaded face—still covered by the metal helmet, despite the fact he had exercised.
"Yeah, at least until I feel like needing you for something else again... Why don't you two join us for a while and train your bodies? The warmest days of the third of growth are just around the corner, after all, and I'm sure you two want to get some ladies on the eastern coast, am I right...?"
Laughing broadly against them as he tapped Midas's shoulder in amusement, Khuds's energetic behavior was met with an unchanged expression, the fact Skye was being dragged through the hallways of the university not leaving his mind.
"I still need to attend my clubs, so I fear I have to delay that for another time."
The laughing that halled from his helmet quickly dimmed down. Khud watched Midas's face for a moment before retrieving his hand again to hold onto his hips as he caught a breather. Eventually nodding approvingly at the youth, finally letting him go.
"Come here tomorrow morning if you do plan on training with us...! I will be waiting!"
Forced to voice his offer across the training ground as Midas and Patriq already had sprinted down the paved path towards the main building's door, Khud watched intently at the sight of Midas pressing himself against it to open up the entrance—somewhat surprised by his sudden eagerness to go somewhere.
The chat he had with Khud was enough for the two of them to miss out on the chance of catching up to them, already having turned around a corner as they sprinted down one of the main building's wings to end up in front of the open cafeteria doors again. Midas panted, bowing down to place his hands on his knees to catch a breather. Patriq, having slightly more stamina, turned his head in all directions with a plain expression, only being met by curious glances from passing-by students.
"Guys...!"
Hearing a shout hall to their direction, Midas straightened his back, watching as Jakal sprinted towards them from out of the dining hall, matching their stress as his eyes darted between the two of them.
"What happened...? Did you two run from that knight guy...?"
"No, it's not about him—listen... Have you seen two older students, one with pink hair and the other with combed-back brown hair...? He dragged her somewhere..."
"What...? No, I haven't."
Clutching his teeth in frustration, Midas turned away from the soft expression that formed on Jakal's face in confusion. Continuing to sprint down the building's wing again, he heard Jakal's pleas to wait up on him—now having also joined them in their search. Turning a corner on the greater hallway that spanned the entire building and connected the middle part to the wings on each side with each other, Midas's hand rested on the wall, his stomach aching due to suddenly sprinting through the building.
Scanning the middle part briefly, his eyes eventually met the crimson red hair of Avalon—glancing up from his crouched position to quickly step towards the man as he climbed down the stairs. The three of them closely avoided bumping into any of the students that headed for their classes as they caught up to Midas.
"Midas. Why haven't you attended the club today... is everything alright?"
"Have you seen Skye? The pink-haired girl... the one that also attends the club..."
"I did... she had company though. They headed through the hallway in the direction of the left wing... Are you three searching for her?"
"Thank you, Avalon... don't worry. It's nothing serious..."
Midas faintly ensued, stepping away from him with gaping lips as he caught his breath. Turning around to run down the hall again, the three of them turned another corner as they seemingly now had entered the left wing of the building. Being met with surprised faces and widened lids of students that stepped into the opposite direction of them, they quickly ended up between two double doors—one heading outside, the other into the room that sat at the end of the wing.
"This side is filled with older students."
Jakal's remark flew past Midas's head, his stern eyes already set on the handles of the double door. Grasping them to open up the entrance to the room that lay at the end of the hallway, their eyes widened at the sight in front of them—the room in front of them was filled with seats, arching to their left and right, rows of them lining up and growing shorter towards the center of the room as an orchestra played on the other side of it.
Bronze instruments were played by students, played for no one to hear, as all of the seats they laid eyes on were completely empty. The music that toned down the room reached to them until Midas was forced to shut the massive wooden doors again, being pulled on his blazer by Patriq as they faced the windows. Their sights set on the front entrance grounds of the university, Midas watched as the student with combed-back hair dragged Skye towards a parked ride—a kidnapping that happened in broad daylight.
"Quick, through here…!"
Having already opened the side entrance for the other two, Jakal voiced to them urgently—making them sprint outside to directly face the older student that dragged Skye towards the car. Seeing her struggle in his firm grasp, Midas already raised his hand to grasp the sickle that was strapped under his blazer.
"Oh? Are you sure you want to do that...?"
The fact the foreign student spoke in desert tongue again made Midas send a shiver down his spine. Clutching his teeth, he—aided by Jakal and Patriq—stepped in their way, standing in between the ride and the two of them.
"Let her go... She clearly doesn't want to go with you; do you not see that...?"
Jakal spoke before Midas could, his eyes set sternly onto the older student as he spoke before Midas could form a sentence. Taking the advantage in their initiative, Jakal nodded at Midas—his stern eyes mustering him approvingly through his roughed-up hair.
"What. Who do you think you are, huh...? Do you honestly think I am stupid enough to let that happen...?"
From the carriage behind them, older students equipped with wooden swords and other dull weapons for training stepped out of the car, their facial features cast in a shade under the light of the sun. Making Midas turn to a group of five students that now stood in front of them, their eyes glued on the three as the student with combed-back hair threw Skye to the side, making her sit on the ground to watch.
"Do you really think you are the first one to try and take away what belongs to me? Get them, dammit...!"
Widening his stance in front of the three as he stepped closer to look down on them derogatively, he was met with the expression of Midas and Jakal turning in shock as they watched five older students sprint at them with wooden weapons. Not spreading out, they went directly for Midas, directly swinging at his raised right arm, as Midas wasn't able to fully focus given the stress he felt.
Exhaling sharply at the pain he felt as one of the five hit his arm and another his shoulder, Midas was forced to crouch down and ball up on the floor, being kicked in his stomach while being pummeled by wooden weapons that hit his forearms as he tried his best to shield his face. Seeing his friend getting beaten, Jakal headed directly into the crowd that formed around Midas—only to catch a stray hit directly against his face.
Patriq froze as his dim pupils looked down at what played out right in front of them, only glancing up at the foreign student approaching him. Not drawing his stick from his back, he already felt the knuckles of the student dig deep into his stomach, making him crouch down in front of them before being kicked in the face to ensure he stayed down.
Forced to look at Jakal as he was beaten down by the group of five, Midas neck forcefully turned as the student with combed-back hair pressed his face into the ground with his palm, Midas's eyes were set on his friend's hair being pulled while his body was beaten down by wooden tools.
"Never raise your weapon against me, do you hear me...?"
Midas pupil turned to look up at the student, only able to hear Jakal screaming and Skye's dim whining as she tried to open one of the blocked side entrances to flee. His wide eye ignored the flashing light of the sun above them to only look directly onto the student before flinching as he felt his spit hit his face.