No More

Chapter 99: Retain

Years ago, during the first year of the Triple Devastation...

Jesse and his wife ducked inside an abandoned house, slamming the heavy wooden behind them shut. The heavy rain roared thunder as footsteps of armed soldiers from the Kingdom of the Sand ran pass them.

They barked and swore at each other before moving on to the rest of the destroyed village, finding more people to capture as slaves.

"Do you think we caused a good distraction?" Jesse asked.

Lisa shrugged, her breath visible as she exhaled into the cold house. "I just hope the others escaped with the supplies."

Jesse nodded. "I just hope they didn't get caught-"

KA-TINK-!

Something rattled behind them. Both of them turned around and pulled out their iron swords on instinct, scanning around to see nothing in this dirty, empty house.

"Hi!" A frail voice greeted them as Jesse and Lisa looked down to see pale, malnourished girl looking curiously at them.

"Um, hi...?" Jesse replied hesitantly, surprised there was still anyone at this abandoned village since it was destroyed in a battle between the Kingdoms of the Forest and Ocean.

The girl took a step back, fear in her blood-red eyes as she looked at the swords. "Are you going to hurt me too?"

"What? No, no we're not!" Jesse said as he and Lisa quickly put away their weapons. "But, uh, what are you doing here?"

"This is my home." The replied simply as she hugged herself, trying to keep warm as the heavy rain outside makes it colder than ever; only having bloodstained socks to wear on her bruised feet.

"What happened to you?" Lisa got onto her knee to properly look at the naked child before her as she has many scars and scabs. Clearly infected, as she is so malnourished that her ribs are visible through her pale skin. "Why are you even here-?"

The footsteps and shouting of military soldiers could be heard approaching.

"Shoot," Jesse ran up to the window, wiping away the foggy glass to see uniformed silhouettes outside in the rain. "I think they're coming back!

"We can hide in my room," The girl tugged on Jesse's pants. "They never found me there when they came in here before!"

"Not like we have a choice," The footsteps were getting louder. Lisa nodded at the little girl. "Lead the way, kid."

The little girl started limping towards the fireplace in the living room. "In here!" She crawled down a hole in the structure while Jesse and Lisa followed.

Jesse and Lisa had to try their best to not let go of the moldy, wooden ladder as it leaked sludge every time it were gripped by their hands, or the pressure of their foot. Darkness greeted them as the sound of a button being pushed can be heard. A block of stone pushed by a piston a second later, closed the hole they climbed down.

The barking of orders from the soldiers upstairs could be heard as it slowly faded away.

"Looks like we're going to be here for a while." Jesse stated as Lisa pulled out a torch and placed it on the mossy, stone walls.

Jesse could see the illumination revealing a bundle of cloths in a corner of the underground room. The little girl limped over to it as she sat down in relief as she hugged herself to keep warm.

"Don't you..." Lisa kneeled down by the girl again, found it heartbreaking to see her like this. "Have anything to wear?"

"I did," The girl replied as she looked down at the worn-out fabric under her, stained with dried blood and vomit. "But, they broke and got dirty; I use it for my bed now."