Ephemeral Dream

V: Price of Power

My eyes snapped open and I sat up bolt right, immediately noticing several things upon doing so.

Firstly, I was in a dark room. Pitch black, I could barely see anything in front of my face.

Second, I was in some kind of cage, I could faintly see the outlines of the bars around me.

Third, my hands were tied firmly behind by back by rope.

Fourth, however, was the screen floating in front of me.

[Quest: Bonds – The Great Escape]

Objective: Escape your kidnappers

Reward: 500 EXP, 500 EXP for each other person you free, 15 Stat Points

Failure: You are sold as a slave.

Time Limit: 1 Day

Do you want to accept this quest?
Yes

The option to say no was greyed out, for obvious reasons, and I had little choice but to accept.

The fifth thing I noticed was that I wasn't in the cage alone.

Looking to my right, I could see in the very faint light of the room a young girl. She had long, black hair that reached half way down her back, dressed in torn up black and white clothes. She looked a bit thin, giving me the feeling that she'd been here for a while.

What mostly caught my attention, however, were the two cat ears on top of her head.

"Seems like you're awake," she said to me quietly once she noticed I was up.

"Who... Are you?" I asked her. "Where am I- we?"

"Blake," she told him. "Blake Belladonna."

My eye widened in shock.

Blake Belladonna was the daughter of Ghira Belladonna, who was essentially the King of all faunus, if only in spirit. His family had been considered all but royalty ever since they managed to win the faunus rights revolution, and obtain true equality for faunus. All Kingdoms had laws against racism purely thanks to the great efforts of the Belladonna family.

"As for where we are," she continued. "I have no idea..." She looked down. "All I know for sure is that we've been kidnapped... I was just sleeping in my bed one day. Next thing I know, I'm waking up here. I know this is some kind of slave ring though. They find attractive people, anywhere from ages thirteen to eighteen, and kidnap them, and then sell them to the highest bidder..."

"... No offence, how come you haven't sold?" I asked quietly. "You're Ghira Belladonna's daughter, surely you'd fetch a high price?"

"They're keeping me for some big event coming up," she told me. "The 'highest quality' slaves to be sold off all at once, for an absolute huge sum of profit. All of us in here are being kept for that purpose."

I gulped. "... Well, nice to meet you, though these are shit circumstances," I grunted. "I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."

Her eyes widened and she backed away from me. "A- Arc?"

I grimaced lightly... I should have expected that response.

A few years after the Great War was the Faunus rights revolution. My Great-Great-Grandfather fought in that war, not because he was racist, but because he was ordered to by his superiors. He slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands, of faunus with Crocea Mors at his side. That was how Crocea Mors obtained its name of 'Yellow Death.'

"I understand you're afraid of me," I told her. "But we're not a position to be afraid... I might be able to get us out of here, but I'm going to need your help."