Chloria and Arkas ran out of the danger zone and reached very far. Perhaps it was a race against the tears that hurried out of Chloria's eyes and wet the desert. For Icaris and Arkas were the only two that she could call hers— so she weapt as she left half her world to crumble.
After walking all night, they finally walked out of the desert. Watching his mother cry the whole time and not say anything, Arkas had realised in his heart that it was probably the final time he saw his father, however, he couldn't bring his heart to adapt to such a harsh fact.
After walking for no less than a week barefoot, they finally reached thier so called hometown — the place they had to leave for fear of being captured, the place that upon leave, marked the start of Arkas's suffering and the place where all the sweetnesses of Arkas's childhood were burried. Yet upon coming back to that place, the merry and happiness was now long gone, gluttoned by the darkness that lurked even then.
Mayhaps Arkas was deluded by his own Nostalgia that he failed to notice the darkness that was there, or perhaps he was so little that he couldn't notice the fear and worry her mother lived everyday with in the Cut city.
So upon coming back to that bittersweet place, it finally hit Arkas that his happiness was the result of his mother's anguished life and he felt a sickening hard feeling of outburst in his chest, perhaps it was the guilt of realising it too late and the hollowness it brought was so infinite that Arkas dwelled into a great despair and saw only gloom all around.
They walked through the tight alleys where once thier house was, both saddened and thier eyes were dull. Suddenly an old woman walking with a rough stick, in a sluggish attire came from across the street and upon seeing two familiar faces she stopped.
"Chloria? Is that you? My God! How gracious of God to let me meet you in this feeble state of mine"
That Old woman said in great delight as she walked towards Chloria and hugged her.
Chloria forced a smile on her face as the hug came and greeted her accordingly. That woman explained to them the contrast between the times of thier departure and of now. How the cruelties of Captain Stincer had changed the environment of there and the recent development of a gang that abducts children. The name of that gang was The Chained Dogs.
After hearing all the cruilties that had spread Arkas and Chloria finally made thier way back to thier sluggish home, from which the foul scent of blood was still anew as if just yesterday someone was murdered thier. The spiderwebs that spread all inside the house and the broken windows and the withering table, chairs and the futons in a gulp of dust—the house was falling apart. Yet thay had no other choice but to make that makeshift into thier home.
——————
Meanwhile, Icaris gained consciousness suspended in thick chains. Infront he saw bars of a prison from the little light that came from the spirit orb that was placed next to him to nullify his attribute powers. A foul stench of dead eradicated him of breath as he tried to break the shackles that binded him with the walls. He shouted and screamed but nothing; nobody came.
After a while, some executioners wearing masks to hide thier faces came who opened his cell freed him from the shackles that binded him and after telling him to be quiet guided him out of the underground prison. Icaris walked with confused expressions on his face silently agreeing to any help that he can get so that he could hurry back to his family; little did he know those masked executioners only freed him from there only to drag him out in the execution ground.
Icaris was still highly cuffed with chains so he couldn't do anything even after being confessed to of that revelations. They entered the Execution ground yet surprisingly the ground was empty as no one was there except two men standing in the middle.
The Executioner guards threw Icaris infront of those two men and left as they were ordered to. One of the men came forward, bent down on his knees he stared into Icaris's eyes with the snakey haze eyes of his and his wicked grin exposing his ill intentions of bringing him here.
Yet behind him stood the man that captured that beast and the one in whose presemce he couldn't but touch Icaris—Einer Alexiaris.
Icaris glared directly into Einer's eyes as if asking for something yet he stood in the back with his fixated on ground as if just there to control the smoothness of events taking place.
—————
After a while of moving back in the Cut city and being used to of gloomyness that spread there, one day at night, Arkas had gone to sleep and Chloria also sitting down on the chair with his head on the table crying as her usual routine; the door of thier house suddenly thud open and came inside the man Chloria had weeped her eyes out for so long. Chloria's half world — Icaris Lykaon.
With his still yet excited expressions he smiled as he glanced at the crying face of that one person that stole the his sleep in the nights for all the days that they were apart.
So Chloria didn't wait a second and got up from the chair and went ahead to hug her everything. They hugged eachother so tightly and Chloria clenched her fists onto his clothes as she hugged him with tears of relish constantly running wild from her eyes.
They enjoyed thier reunion as Icaris kept quite about the deal he had made to see his family and watched as Chloria talked so fondly and laughed with him.
He stared closely at her lomg brown hair that had grown rough of waiting, her eyes with now round huding the circles that had formed beneath due to her constant cries and her beautiful chin that upon shining from the moonlight appeared more brightly than ever. He longed for that moment but just how much could his two eyes capture so that he could be filled forever.
Thier loud talking woke the sleeping Arkas up. He woke up rubbing his eyes and suddenly got shocked upon seeing his fsther comeback. Icaris smiled as he looked at Arkas and got up to meet him.
Icaris hugged Arkas and pat him on his head as tears and snot just came out of Arkas's face.
"I.. I am sorry Dad! I am really Sorry!! I Will protect you now. I.. I will become strong. Stronger than everyone!!"
Said Arkas as tears ran down his face. Hearing those words Icaris laughed and pat him on his head even more.
The three shared thier final moments of relish and partied all night. In the morning before Arkas woke up, Icaris explained to Chloria about the deal he had to make to meet with them. The relish and joy left her face as she learned the about the deal and got back to crying again.
Six weeks spent that way and one morning, Arkas woke up to a loud scream of her mother coming from outside the house. He rushed outside the house and saw his mother crying as hard as she could slamming her tiny fists on the ground. As Arkas tried to calm her a drop blood from above dropped on his head, he looked upward to see his dead father covered in blood and slashes tied to a pole with chains. He got stunned as he saw that scene and the time when he reunited with his father just replayed in his mind. That tore his mind down from within. For he assured his father that he would protect them and the same tightness in his chest cameback and the thoughts in his mind just blamed himself for hus hanging dead father.
"It's my fault"
"Father?? Father is dead??"
"i told him, i would protect him. But?"
"Its my fault"
Arkas thought in his mind as he stood there just frozen and not even caring about the drama that unfolded on his back.
——————
Those replusive thoughts that blamed Arkas for the death of his father got an answer as Eiser said that he would take down the Chained Dogs. In a fit of fury, Arkas replusively proposed to join hands with Eiser to take down the Chained dogs.
"I will help you take down the Chained dogs".
He said as the feelings of avenging his father and consoling his widowed mother were the only two things he could think about besides for all the time that Arkas was relocated back to Cut city Chained dogs had caused quite a ruckus without the Police capturing even single member.
Everyone was scared and frightened of the Chained Dogs but seeing the determination in Eiser's eyes made him see a fraction of hope he required to rebel against the opressors.
*******
Tips:
Arkas snores in his sleep and prefers to sleep with his head on his mother's lap since he slept that way almost all his life.