Struggles at the Square

"Grandfather? Grandmother?" Elric said in a loud whisper as he opened the door leaking the moonlight inside, revealing the living room which was a mess.

The furniture was all tossed and turned to the side with broken glass on the floor.

This sent shivers down his spine and raised the hairs on his arms. His bright smile was now long gone from his face and was now replaced with worry.

'A struggle happened in this room.' That was what Elric thought as he investigated his surroundings as his thoughts became sharper and more focused.

A crimson scarf came into view as the moonlight shone brighter as the door opened wider from the cold breeze that blew inside the house.

Elric walked slowly towards his scarf and picked it up.

He wore it once more around his neck which reminded him of his sweet grandmother's smile.

The usual thoughts of 'Who?' or 'Why?' did not plague Elric's mind in the moment but rather a rational one.

'Whoever did this could still be here.' Elric was already on his guard the moment he saw the messy room.

His senses were heightened to alarm him from any sudden movement or noise.

*CREEAAAK*

"AAAAAAGGGH!!!"

A man with an axe came rushing towards Elric from the darkness and swung at him.

Elric dodged the attacks by a hair's breadth with controlled movements which shocked both Elric and the attacker.

It was like his body moved on its own and with pure instinct.

He could see the direction of the swings and dodged them without any unnecessary movements.

After several swings, the man grew tired and was panting heavily.

Elric saw this chance and quickly struck the man's hand, disarming him. He kicked the attacker's abdomen and sent him across the room.

Elric ran towards him and turned him to his back grabbing his arm and twisted it until he cried out and buckled from the pain.

Elric then pushed the man's head to the ground. He moved his face to reveal his attacker.

"Head Miner!?" Elric gasped from the surprise of the attacker's identity but he brushed it off and chose to move to more pressing matters.

"Where are they? Where are my grandparents? Answer me or I'll break every limb in your body." He asked him in a calm and cold voice.

This sent shiver's down Robin's spine.

'How can a Classless twelve-year-old boy have this kind of overwhelming strength and presence.' Robin thought to himself.

He felt that if he didn't answer the boy's questions or if he lied, he would really break his arm.

"Th-they took them to the town square!" Robin quickly answered with bullets of sweat dripping from his face.

"Who asked you to do this?" Elric asked.

His eyes glowed with anger and from the moonlight that seeped inside the room.

"I don't know what you're tal—"

*CRACK!*

Elric pulled the man's arm to its limit and dislocated it with a loud crack of the bones sending the man into extreme pain.

"AAAAAAGGHH!!!"

"I'll ask again. You better answer me honestly or the next thing I'll break will be your neck. Who sent you?" Paying no attention to the man's screams he asked once more.

"The guards! The guards asked me to stay here and check if we left somebody. I didn't touch the old people, I swear!" The Head Miner groaned in pain.

Elric stood up with his eyes filled with fear and rage.

*THUD!*

He stomped on Robin's face with the heels of his boots breaking his jaw, making him unconscious.

Elric bolted through the door and headed straight to the town square with speed and caution. Hiding in the shadows of the village houses and small buildings.

The village was littered with guards that had yellow and green eyes that indicated they were Amplifiers and Casters.

Elric climbed one of the houses to get a clear view of the town square and what he saw made him freeze.

All the Classless villagers were tied up and huddled in the center where a small army of guards circled around them, wearing full armor with weapons pointed at the throats of the helpless civilians.

Elric's confidence vanished and fear crippled his ability to think. Seeing the number of guards was enough to snap him back to reality.

The reality that he was still weak.

The guard who seemed to be the leader was shouting something to them but he couldn't hear from where he was, so he scanned his area for a closer spot to hide in and saw two figures hiding in the shadows.

It was his friends. Alice and Klein were hiding in some hedge that separated the village houses from the farms.

Elric decided to come down and join the two.

As he crept in behind them, he quickly grabbed and covered their mouths to stifle the screams of his friends that were startled by his sudden appearance.

"Don't scream. It's me, Elric." He quickly whispered to reassure them.

The two blue-eyed friends quickly turned to face their friend. They were happy to see him but were extremely terrified by the situation their village was in.

"What happened?" Elric asked.

"They rounded up all the Classless, tied them up, and dragged them at the square." Alice explained as she held back tears.

"Why are the both of you outside then?" Elric wondered.

"Both of our parents were infuriated with how the classless villagers were being treated so they're trying to confront the captain of the guards. They told us to hide and observe because they felt something bad is about to happen." Klein explained.

As he explained the situation to Elric, a loud voice was heard.

"Why are you doing this!? Isn't this a bit too excessive for an inspection? Why do you have to tie them up and drag them all the way here? Who issued this order?"

The fearless miner confronted the golden-eyed Captain. He was backed by his wife and the Cornflowers so all four of them stood their ground for their fellow villagers.

"A reliable source tipped us off that someone dared to steal from the great Stratos Mine, owned by the Majesty himself!!!" The captain of the guards yelled for all to hear.

"Then why not conduct a regular inspection instead of this excessive violence!?" Klaus protested.

This statement unusually triggered the captain which sent him into a rage and swung a fist that landed on Klaus with such force pummeling him into the ground.

Everyone was surprised by the sudden assault, especially his wife. Klein, who was hiding from a distance, tried to run to his father but he was stopped by Elric and Alice.

"How dare you question my authority you filth! Learn to know your place!" He snarled at the beaten Klaus and to all who saw.

"Tie them up and put them with the rest of these garbage." The captain ordered.

At once, a few soldiers forcibly tied up Alice and Klein's parents and were placed coincidentally beside Rose and Edward, Elric's grandparents.

All of them couldn't hold back and was in tears. Fear that the worst might come.

"You low life Transmuters better stay in your houses or you will suffer the same fate as trash." He continued to rant.

The three were in shock with what was happening in front of their eyes, they were frozen in fear. Not moving an inch from where they hid.

"Since none of you have confessed or pointed out the culprit responsible for this crime, all of you are to be executed! And to these lowlifes who think that they can question an order from the Kingdom shall be charged with treason and shall be executed as well!" Another soldier with bright green eyes came up and started to yell out.

Everyone cried as soon as they heard the soldier's words. They were all sentenced to death and had no idea why they deserved to die like animals.

All of them knew in their hearts that they did not commit any crime and was only living the best that they could.

"Please! At least spare the children! I beg you!" A mother from the tied-up Classless villagers yelled out as the children were crying beside their parents not knowing what's going to happen to them.

The other parents pleaded for their children to be spared as well.

Screaming collectively to be merciful even just for the young ones but they were ignored. They were even punched or hit by the blunt end of the spears to make them shut up and stay on the ground.

The three hoped that maybe the Transmuter villagers would come out of their homes and start to defend them, but no one came.

Elric couldn't do anything either, he could not think of anything to save everyone, not even his grandparents.

He looked at all the people that numbered close to a hundred. As his eyes roamed around the people, he saw his grandparents together with Klein and Alice's parents.

The three couples huddled together.

Unbeknownst to the guards, Rowan had already turned his hand to stone and to cut Klaus's rope and freed him.

Once Klaus was free, he did the same and freed Rowan first and their wives, as well as Elric's grandparents.

"What now Klaus?" Rowan asked in a whisper.

"You're not planning on taking a small army of Amplifiers and Casters are you?"

"Of course not, I have a plan. You just have to follow my lead." Klaus replied.

"Rose and Edward, you both stay on the ground. Carol and Mary will protect you both. After Rowan distracts the guards, I'm going straight for their captain and taking him hostage." Klaus explained.

"What!? Are you crazy? Did you see the captain's eyes? It was golden! He's on another level." Carol, Klaus's wife, pointed out.

"Well do you have a better idea? This is the best option. We have to do this or else... everybody will die."

"Okay, Let's do this." Rowan said with eyes brimming like the ocean.

"HEEEY!" A guard yelled out as he noticed Rowan free from his shackles.

"NOW KLAUS!!!"