Sévir Is A Pariah!

A knock could be heard from across the door, Ardell heard it and walked towards it. Who could it be?

The knob clicked and rotated then pulled back. By the door was a girl slightly taller than Ardell (–to put in contrast; Ardell is as tall as Sévir, who is about half a head taller than Minerva)–her black hair reached down to the bottom of the collar and her eyes was as green as taiga leaves. She wore a Stepan uniform like the rest with an extra jewelry wrapped around her neck–gold with the tips colored green, its design like that of a snake.

"Venice? What are you doing here?" asked Ardell, who didn't expect her to drop by.

Venice clasped her hands behind. "I dropped by to talk to you about something, then I heard a bang from inside," she tried to peek above Ardell's shoulders, "what happened?"

Ardell shook her head in dismissal and gestured to her to enter. "Come in, let's talk in my office."

Venice entered, closing and locking the door as Ardell walked up the stairs.

By less than a minute, they settled themselves in her office, facing each other across her table. "What is it you want to talk about? Your performance last trimester?"

Venice shook her head, smiling with confidence. "I know I did amazing last trimester. What I wanted to talk about was.." she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Acheron–Minerva's opponent from two days ago."

Ardell raised a brow. However, instead of asking why on the get-go, she just shook her head. "I don't know a lot about him besides what we've seen in the arena since three years ago."

"I see."

"Why? Do you have something going on with him?"

Venice shook her head again. "Not really, I just held my breath the whole time he showed dominance over Minerva, so I wanted to know if you know anything that warranted such an outstanding performance."

"That's not really what it's about, right?" asked Ardell, as if she could see right through her words with ease.

The latter frowned a little, sighing after. "Can I be honest with you, Ms. Ardell?"

The former nodded.

"I wanted Minerva to win," she tightened her grip, "not because I support her, but because I don't want her to lose to anyone.. But me."

"I know," said Ardell, "I saw it coming from a mile away the moment you mentioned Acheron. But Venice, you're already a seventh year–let go of your hatred for your junior.

"But–"

"It is only a senior's duty to serve as an example to the juniors–holding grudges isn't one of them." Trust me, I know a certain someone exactly like that.

"So you're telling me to just invalidate my feelings..?" asked Venice, who tried her best to hide the edge in her voice.

"That's–"

"Then you're no different from all of them." she glared at Ardell with some sort of newfound hatred. Her green iris glowed brighter, revealing pupils as sharp and narrow as a viper.

With a restrained slam on the table, she stood up and walked away from the office without uttering another word.

…

There stood a long-haired brunette wearing glasses, leaning by the wall and hugging a red book against her chest as Venice stepped out of the place and looked right. "Mazekeine? Didn't I tell you to go ahead? I said I'd catch up once my talk was done."

Mazekeine took off the wall and pushed her glasses up. "Forgive me Ms. Venice, I had nowhere to go anyways so I thought I'd stay and wait for you."

Venice shrugged. "Well then, let's go."

The two walked off side by side, their mouths moving as much as their legs.

.

With no obstacles in front, he stared down, watching the white, snow-filled leaves change patterns every meter he moved forward. Besides that, snow fell slowly from the sky, with some padding his shoulders.

Yet, none of that mattered to him, for he was caught up in his own thoughts.

I don't know a single thing about that underground Magiaville, Minerva's got a head start and probably figured out some things.

But could my suspicion be true? Are the Trystas pulling the strings, or is it someone, or something else?

As he wondered to himself, he accelerated faster. I want to get there immediately.

.

The tour continued for about an hour, ending with Minerva and Nell walking back to his bar.

He took off his dirty coat and tossed it to the counter. "Keep the places I showed you in your head, Rio. It's easy to get lost here."

Right. her thoughts came across a memory from earlier.

…

The two stopped in front of a plain-looking stone fountain surrounded by a sea of people. "Welcome to the center of The Forbidden." said Nelle.

Minerva stared at the fountain in disbelief. "Things really are different here."

"Of course. If there are five fountains in the surface, there's only one here," he looked up, "Though, it's safe to say The Forbidden is much bigger."

She scratched her head, confused. "Do you know why this place is named 'The Forbidden'?"

He looked to his right upon hearing the voices of the crowd growing louder and seeing their heads moving away from the center of the road. "Let me give you a lecture after they pass by."

"They?–" before she could continue, he pulled her away from the fountain as everyone around them squeezed to the sides. "Hey, what's happening?"

Silence grew within their voices, and the only thing they could hear were the constant clicks like and neighs of a horse. Whatever it was, stopped right by the fountain with a herd behind it that pulled carriages.

The two looked up, observing the horse as white as sugar and a figure sitting on the saddle strapped around it–the figure wore a full blown dark grey armor as did the riders behind, while the one on the fountain had the figure of a woman–a bright brown leash by her waist.

"I've heard of a crook–ah right, you're all crooks–I've heard of an animal stealing valuable items from our post." said the woman in armor, she grabbed her leash and lashed it down the road with a loud snap. "Come forth, then your punishment will be light!" she raised her voice, calling out to whoever could have done it.

The silence was as dreadful as a funeral, not one person daring to step forward.

"Believe us when we say we have eyes everywhere–if you don't come out now, then we will find you and make your punishment unbearable!" she warned, observing the crowd around her.

After a few more seconds of silence, a man stepped out–he wore a red tunic with brown and baggy pants, his black leather shoes ruined with holes left and right–his skin was as stuck as can be to the bone as if he was suffering from malnutrition.

"So you're the scumbag who stole from us?"

He nodded with hesitance.

She came down her horse, revealing a flagrum by her right thigh. It had a brown handle with a black leather thong, with its ends holding small shards of bones and small balls of metal. "Turn around." she said as she walked towards him–the very sight of her walking as she held the flagrum sent shivers to the onlookers.

The man stepped back, his eyes widening and his body shivering in horror. "N–No–"

"I said, turn around."

"Please don't–"

"I said, TURN AROUND!" she yelled as she swung the flagrum to his right thigh, dropping him to the floor as she pulled it with gruelling force that let a blood-curdling scream out his mouth.

"You dare steal from the post of The Forbidden!?" she swung it to his right flank. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" she pulled it again with even more force, much to everyone's disgust and his cries.

Minerva grabbed the hilt of her cutlass and drew it inch by inch, only for Nell to push it back down. "Don't." her sympathetic gaze met his–from the mere sight, he could tell Minerva was compelled to help the man.

"I.. I only did it because I n–needed food! The prices have gone up and m–my pay isn't enough!" he exclaimed in hopes of gaining the woman's mercy.

"..You're not just justifying your actions, but complaining..?"

He shook his head in urgency as he whimpered. "N–No–"

His attempt to soothe the situation only gave him even more whips–stronger upon impact, and upon pulling–if it was commonplace to pull it off exactly from one place, she pulled it sideways intentionally to tear more of his skin.

Minerva looked away, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist. I.. I–What can I do..!? even her knees trembled.

"Let's leave." said Nell, who nudged others off for space as he walked away. As much as Minerva looked back and forth between him and the man.. She let go of the hilt. ..I'm sorry, Mister. she followed Nell away from the center.

…

"Those guys," Nell spoke up, "they're the rulers of this place..–The Forbidden–the actual."

"I heard from that woman. They named the place after them.."

He nodded. "They're always seen in knight armor–they're even worse than the worst crooks here." he looked down, his eyes narrowed with a face of bitterness. "When they caught wind of a group of crooks doing a crime against them, they burned down their place and the houses nearby."

"..What?"

"I saw it, they had not a single drop of remorse." he sighed, flushing out the emotions. "When at the post, they engage in something we don't know, and when they're out of the post, they push their presence and exercise their dominance, snatching goods from the sellers at swordpoint and gruesomely beating up anyone who disrupts their mood–even if slightly."

A bunch of jerks, huh? No, they're worse than jerks.

"The woman–that's their leader–the one scourging that skeleton man earlier." he yawned and scratched his chin. "Let's head back."

Minerva nodded, silent as she digested the information he gave.

…

"Oi, Rio."

Minerva blinked a few times then looked at him.

He pointed up, holding hammers and a bag on his hands and planks on his shoulders. "Time to fix the roof."

"Ah, right." she walked towards him, cracking her knuckles.