Nero woke up without knowing whether it was night or day.
There was no light to guide him. No crack, no torch, no change in the air to mark the passage of time. The cell was the same motionless mass of stone and shadow. Minutes could have passed… or hours.
Or days.
He stayed still at first, listening.
Nothing.
Only his own breathing and the constant beating in his ears.
He didn't remember falling fully asleep. He had the feeling that his mind had never completely shut down, as if exhaustion had only pushed his thoughts into a corner, waiting for the moment to return.
First we went out to eat as a group like normal people do, then the shooting started and I hid Rose…
They caught us and now we're locked in hell…
But where exactly are we? According to Merlin, the Brotherhood works in the Wind Catacombs.
But there was still more context missing:
Why the catacombs? What are they going to do to us? What kind of "help" do they need from us?
By the gods, so many damn questions with no answers!
Nero squeezed his eyes shut.
It's not real… he thought, it can't be real…
But his body doubted.
He brought a hand to his arm and pinched himself hard.
The pain was immediate. Sharp. Undeniable.
He let out his breath slowly.
"This isn't a nightmare."
That didn't comfort him.
He slowly sat up, pressing his back against the cold wall. The stone was icy, rough, far too tangible to be a dream. He felt it scrape his skin, the dampness seeping through his clothes.
He thought of Lux, curled up in a corner, trying not to break.
Of Merlin, without his wand, reduced to pure vulnerability.
Of Kōri, forced to stay strong even when no one was watching.
Of Sunday, staying silent because speaking wouldn't change anything.
They're dismantling us piece by piece, he thought.
The Brotherhood of the Echo.
The name echoed in his mind like a dull blow. It didn't sound like a refuge. It sounded like something that spreads. Something you can't ignore even if you want to.
Reveli hadn't lied.
Not completely.
That was the worst part.
Nero rested his head against the wall and let his thoughts flow, connecting dots even though he didn't want to.
Reveli has the ability to manipulate the mind, and from what Lux saw, I suppose he also has the power to create illusions.
One by one, they began to wake up.
Not all at once. Not abruptly. It was as if exhaustion had released them reluctantly, dragging them back to consciousness without any mercy.
Sunday was the first after Nero. He opened his eyes slowly, without moving, as if he first needed to confirm he was still breathing. Then he slightly turned his head, recognizing the shadows.
Merlin woke with a restrained jolt. He brought a hand to his side almost by reflex… and froze as he remembered. The absence of his wand felt like a physical void.
Lux shifted in his corner, murmuring something unintelligible, before falling silent again—awake, but without the strength to sit up.
Kōri was the last.
At first it was just a slight tremor. Then her breathing became irregular. She sat up abruptly, bringing a hand to her head.
"No… no…" she murmured.
Her voice began to crack.
"This is a nightmare," she said louder. "It has to be."
She stood up unsteadily, shaking her head, as if the simple act could erase the walls, the darkness, the memory of the crowd.
"This can't be happening," she insisted. "It can't be real."
Her breathing quickened. Her eyes filled with tears that didn't take long to fall.
"Wake up… please," she whispered. "Wake up."
Nero stood up immediately.
He crossed the small space between them without saying anything and caught her before she lost her balance. Kōri tensed for a second… and then broke.
Her sobbing shook her completely.
Nero wrapped his arms around her, firm, anchoring her against his chest as if that alone could keep her in the real world.
"Hey," he said softly. "Breathe. I'm here."
Kōri shook her head against his shoulder.
"I don't want this," she sobbed. "Not like this… not this way."
"I know," Nero replied without letting go. "Neither do I."
He placed a hand on her back, pressing gently, setting a slow rhythm.
"One… two… with me," he murmured. "Just focus on that."
Little by little, the trembling eased. The crying didn't disappear, but it became quieter, more exhausted.
Sunday watched from his place, without interrupting.
Merlin lowered his gaze, lips pressed tight.
Lux turned his head slightly, making sure Kōri wasn't alone.
Nero rested his chin on top of her head.
"This isn't a nightmare," he said honestly. "But you're not alone in this either."
Kōri inhaled with difficulty.
"What if we don't get out?" she asked in a thin voice.
Nero closed his eyes for a moment.
"Then we endure," he replied. "Together."
The five of them gathered in one of the corners.
Merlin froze, thinking about an idea that terrified him.
"They stole it from me…"
"They stole what from you?" Nero replied.
"My artifact for creating illusions… that artifact is rank 8 of the Path of Cunning."
A yellow light appeared in the distance—it was fire, pulsing like a heart, warping every shadow and making the darkness twist.
"Trash, your food," said a male voice, his face illuminated by the torch.
In his right hand he carried the torch, while in his left he held a tray with five plates on it.
He crouched down and slid the tray through a slit in the cell, then tossed the torch into the middle.
"I'll be back in 20 minutes."
Without saying anything else, he left the place.
Nero carefully examined the five plates.
"Is that fried rat meat?" he said. "Are they seriously going to make us eat that…?"
Sunday stretched out an arm and grabbed one of the plates.
"Eat or die," he said, shoving a handful of meat into his mouth.
He almost vomited, but ended up swallowing.
Kōri vomited when she tried to eat the meat. Nero and Lux barely reacted when tasting it, while Merlin didn't react at all.
After eating, the traumatized group was taken into the corridor by the same guard who had brought them the food.
They walked through the catacombs, seeing skeletal corpses piled in heaps that inhabited that suffocating place.
They arrived at a huge area that looked more like an agricultural field.
This place had a jungle of food and crops.
There were about 30 people working as farmers, plowing thick, mossy soil, pouring cold water onto the plants and harvesting them.
The lazier people or those who stopped for even a moment were flogged by the guards.
How could a place like this exist in the catacombs?
"You," said the guard beside Nero, "must work harvesting this fertile land."
Kōri looked that guard in the eyes.
"W-What would happen if we do the work badly or don't want to work?"
"Reveli will act…" he lowered his voice, "even we are afraid of him."
The group descended down a damp stone ramp that opened like a wound into the interior of the field.
The air changed immediately.
It no longer smelled only of mold and death, but of turned soil, of vegetation forced to grow where it shouldn't. A living smell… unnatural. The light came from crystals embedded in the walls and from tall torches—enough to see, not enough to feel safe.
Nero noticed it immediately.
Too much light for a place that didn't want to be seen.
Around them, the "farmers" worked in silence. Hunched backs. Cracked hands. Empty stares. No one spoke. No one stopped.
And then he saw it.
At the far end of the field, several guards were laughing softly. They weren't working. They weren't watching.
They were choosing.
Two of them grabbed a young girl by the arm, maybe around Kōri's age. She tried to resist for a second. Just one. It was enough for another guard to grip her jaw hard, forcing her to walk.
Her eyes searched for help.
She didn't find it.
Another girl was shoved behind them. Then another.
The laughter was soft. Complicit. Disgustingly calm.
Kōri stopped dead.
Lux clenched his fists.
Merlin lowered his head, rigid, as if looking were participating.
Sunday took a step forward by reflex… and the tip of a spear blocked his way.
"Don't look," murmured the guard without emotion. "Work."
Nero felt something cold settle in his stomach.
It wasn't surprise.
It was confirmation.
This wasn't just slavery. It was a system.
The guards pushed them toward the center of the field.
"You," one said, pointing at Nero, Lux, Sunday, and a group of other men. "Expand the land. Remove stones. Open furrows."
Then he looked at Kōri and the other women in the group.
"Plant. Water. Don't stop."
Kōri opened her mouth to protest.
Nero barely shook his head.
Not now.
Not here.
She clenched her teeth and obeyed.
The tools were rudimentary. Heavy, worn shovels with splintered handles. The soil was thick, damp, as if it resisted being moved. Each strike demanded more strength than their exhausted bodies could give.
Lux was gasping by the second attempt.
Sunday worked in silence, measuring every movement to avoid wasting unnecessary energy.
Nero drove the shovel into the earth.
His arms hurt instantly.
He wasn't made for this.
He knew it.
But while he dug, he observed.
He counted steps. Guards. Routes. Shifts. Who was watching and who was only pretending to.
The girls worked a few meters away, planting black seeds, watering with icy water that numbed their hands. Kōri trembled, but she didn't stop. Every time she lifted her gaze, she made sure none of the guards came near again.
One of them passed behind her.
Too close.
Nero tensed his back.
The guard stopped for a second, looked her up and down… and kept walking.
For now.
Nero plunged the shovel again.
The metal struck something hard.
A stone.
Or something else.
He didn't lift the tool immediately.
He kept digging around it, carefully.
A bone.
Human.
Old.
Whitened by moisture.
It wasn't an accident.
Nero covered it again with dirt, without saying anything.
This place didn't just grow food.
It buried people.
He lifted his gaze for a moment.
The guards were still there.
The girls too.
And the laughter in the background hadn't disappeared.
Nero clenched his teeth.
We are not prisoners, he thought.
We are resources.
And that certainty, more than exhaustion or fear, silently promised him something:
This was not going to end like this.
One of the guards noticed Kōri and smiled with lust.
He approached her and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her, causing her to fall to the ground.
Kōri barely understood the situation.
She backed away a little from the guard and said in a terrified tone:
"What do you want to do to me?"
The guard licked his lips and looked at her with unrestrained desire in his eyes.
"I want to break you… you and your body," he said, yanking her again.
The workers froze, watching the scene.
Lux blinked in disbelief, as if trying to erase what he was seeing.
Sunday clenched his jaw and his shovel.
Merlin could only lower his gaze.
And Nero did what he loved most in the world… think.
After an almost eternal second, he said in a voice of total contempt and indifference:
"I wouldn't recommend it."
The guard turned toward him, gripping his spear as if about to throw it.
"Huh…?"
He said, looking Nero up and down.
Nero smiled maliciously while looking at Kōri.
I'm sorry for what I'm about to say… he thought, taking a deep breath.
"That bitch has a sexually transmitted disease. I know because when a friend of mine tried to rape her, he warned me about it."
The guard jerked away from Kōri, as if her mere existence were a deadly virus.
He spat in her face and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying toward where the other girls were.
Kōri cried falsely, something no one noticed.
Thank you, Nero… Kōri thought, playing the role of a fragile woman.
…
After ten hours, the body stopped hurting in specific places.
Everything hurt equally.
They were taken out of the field when there was no strength left even to hate. The tools were ripped from their hands and the shoves set the rhythm of departure. No one spoke. No one protested. Silence was safer than any word.
They walked through wider corridors, where the echo of other footsteps mixed with muffled moans and broken breathing. Exhaustion had equalized everyone. Men, women, young, old… all dragged their feet with the same resigned slowness.
The cell they were taken to wasn't a cell.
It was a container.
A rectangular stone room, with thick bars and a high ceiling covered in dampness. Inside, there were already people. Too many. At least fifty bodies crammed together, sitting against the walls or lying on the floor, sharing stale air that smelled of old sweat and hopelessness.
The guards opened the gate and shoved them inside without care.
The metal closed behind them with a sharp sound.
Clang.
That sound was worse than any scream.
Lux immediately collapsed against the wall, breathing with difficulty, his arms trembling uncontrollably.
Sunday sat down slowly, back straight, as if refusing to hunch over were the last gesture of dignity he had left.
Merlin remained standing for a few seconds, staring at the floor, until his legs gave out and he ended up sitting without saying a word.
Nero remained standing.
Observing.
The women who had been taken by the guards were there.
He recognized them effortlessly.
Not by their faces, but by the way they hugged themselves, by the vacant look, by the involuntary trembling that didn't leave even when the body was still. Some had visible marks. Others didn't. That meant nothing.
Kōri was sitting a few steps away, curled up, one hand pressed against her abdomen. When she looked up and saw Nero, her eyes filled with restrained tears.
She approached him in silence.
"I didn't have a plan," she whispered, her voice broken. "But… thank you."
Nero barely nodded.
"He didn't touch you," he replied quietly. "That's all that matters."
Kōri shook her head.
"You saved me," she insisted. "Even if it was like that."
Nero didn't answer. Not because he didn't want to, but because he knew that any word could shatter the fragile balance keeping her upright.
They sat together, back to back, sharing what little warmth remained.
Around them, murmurs began to rise.
"We're dead."
"We won't get out of here."
"This is worse than a mine."
"Reveli will use us until there's nothing left."
Each sentence fell like another slab on the chest.
Nero closed his eyes for a second.
Not to rest.
To organize.
Then someone approached.
A man, around thirty years old, with sunken eyes and hands full of old calluses. He moved carefully, as if every step were a dangerous decision.
"You're new," he said quietly, with a tired half-smile. "It shows."
Sunday looked at him suspiciously.
"And who are you?"
"Someone who's still alive," he replied. "That's already something down here."
The man sat down in front of them, crossing his legs.
"Listen," he continued, lowering his voice even more. "Tomorrow will be the same. And the day after too. If you only do that—work and keep quiet—you won't last."
Lux barely raised his head.
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
The man looked around, making sure no guard was nearby.
Then he locked eyes with Nero.
"I have an idea."