Sixteen

Two nights later

Silla's fingers twitch slightly as she starts to wake, but everything seems...strange.

There are muffled voices that she can't seem to understand and her entire body feels like it's floating...

It's hard to even conjure thoughts as she wills herself to wake up. But she's just so...tired.

Her eyelids feel heavy and even though she feels like she's floating she can't seem to get her body to obey her. Silla could feel her arms and legs twitch but turning seems impossible in whatever bed she's in. It's not because she was being held down though. Nothing is restraining her, she just has no sense of leverage, like she's floating in zero gravity...

Finally she manages to force her eyes to crack open. At first her vision was blurry like some kind of blue filter was covering her eyes. She did her best to focus but her energy was quickly slipping away.

She could make out a figure standing before her, they were dressed in white attire, and she couldn't make out their face. But what caught her attention the most was how they were looking up at her through a glass window. She was in some sort of room. Most of her surroundings were made of some kind of smooth metal with a few pipes or wires in places.

Only then did she realize why everything felt so strange, why it felt like she's floating. There was no filter over her eyes. She was actually floating in a tank of liquid, much like a fish in a bowl.

She said liquid because if it was water she would probably be dead...right?

Squeezing her eyes shut she fought against the sleep that was trying to claim her once more. She didn't want to go back...not yet.

She focused on what she could feel to try and anchor herself to reality.

But besides the mask over her face she couldn't really feel anything.

Muffled voices spoke again and she cracked her eyes open to look at the figure beyond the glass. They were talking to someone. After a moment they stepped back almost out of her view, and another much darker figure stepped forward. The liquid around her made it hard to see who exactly was standing there but they seemed.. familiar?

A large hand reached forward, placing itself on the glass in front of her gently. She eyed it carefully.

Part of her wanted to reach out and touch it... she wanted to feel its warmth and come out of this dream-like state.

Her fingers brushed against the glass, disappointing her greatly when she couldn't feel the person on the other side. Silla said mind slowly became more muddled as her resistance to the sleepiness started to dwindle.

Her hand fell away from the glass and her eyes became even blurrier than before as she focused on the figure the hand belonged to.

Green eyes stared at her from beyond the glass as she fell back into the nothingness of her dreams.

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"Why isn't she a'vake yet?" The snow blonde haired man asked sharply to the new sophisticate that would help heal her. She needed to be strong in order to travel to the upper ring.

The girl in the tank was deathly pale unlike her natural skin tone and her breath became slowly uneven. She had been like this for days. Her body was so weak and yet wouldn't stay still. Tossing and turning as if in a bad dream. The physician cowered and replied, "It appears that she is exhausted and her body is taking longer to heal the internal damage."

The healer woman bowed even deeper and spoke up, "I'm afraid I haven't been with her long, I don't know her body's condition very well. Right now she shouldn't travel long distances or move around too much. But do not worry, her life is not in any danger as of right now. Though she is malnourished and in a weakened state."

Before he unleashed his rage upon the physician, one of his trusted guards came in and added carefully. "Your excellency, she is one of the best healers in the capital. Losing her would be a great loss to us all." The guard knew what the man would say, and that was why he interrupted him. Or else he knew the healer would've suffered the same fate as the maids who took Silla to her room earlier. "If something happens to her, you v'ill he executed, but if you can heal her and she v'akes up v'ithin two days, you v'ill receive a much lighter punishment."

"Thank you, your excellency." The physician bowed to him once again and left the room.

Silla floated in the shimmering water as if she was dead. It had already been two nights and it was the afternoon of the third day. She still hadn't opened her blue eyes, and he was a wreck. He didn't know what to do or where to go. It felt like he was burning from the inside out. He wasn't used to this kind of emotion. The last time he had felt something similar was when he was separated from her long ago. At the moment, he was willing to give up anything to have her open her eyes.

She was nothing like anyone he had ever seen. A treasure that out stood even among the most precious things. In the cut throat City of Bones most wouldn't think twice about sacrificing their own children in return for having their desires achieved. But Silla always sacrificed herself for those she cared about. She was otherworldly, her values and morals were unlike any he had ever seen. Her unbelievable way of thinking and selflessness. He had never seen anything like it.

What kind of life did she have that made her the way she was? He couldn't even imagine.

The first time he saw her was exactly eight years ago. It was about the time he ran away from home due being an outcast. Among his siblings he was considered the weakest link and thus he would be extinguished from the bloodline. His mother was a mere mistress and due to her dying of disease there was no one to protect him. It was do or die. He imagined it wasn't much different for her. So he ran away from home, traveled to the lower ring through a secret tunnel known as the underground.

Phanes hated the shallow, trivial things his father sought after. His entire family considered him the youngest son to be insane.

From a young age, he had always held a strange ability, but no matter how much he insisted on it, no one ever believed him. Even his own mother. Eventually, he'd given up on trying to convince anyone else, but it did little to alleviate his condition. He long suspected this ability was due to him being evolutionarily different; a trans-human. His senses that were beyond those of normal humans. His sight and smell the most powerful of his senses, could somehow pick up on this. While normal humans could not.

It was less of a power and more of a curse. Ever since he was a child, he could make out a strange sort of smog that clung to other people. It manifested as a dark gray smoke, and it was far more pronounced in certain individuals. There was also a thick pungent odor that clung to it. People with smoke absolutely reeked. It was worse than rotting flesh. They smelled of decomposing food and burnt soil. Simply getting close to these people was enough to make him feel sick.

It had taken him quite a bit of time to fully understand what was going on. After all, even his own family was covered in smoke, and it was relatively thick. The smoke around his father being the most pronounced. He couldn't make sense of it at all when he was young, but now that he was older, and he'd spent much of his life as an observer, it was much clearer.

The smoke was a mental affliction that presented itself physically in ways that only he could see. It plagued those with greed and shallow ambitions. It was essentially present in all city residents, to varying degrees. The only ones that seemed absolutely devoid of it were young children, because they had yet to develop a hunger for wealth and power. This affliction was like a sinister disease, one that was almost impossible to run away from. Everyone was greedy, everyone determined to fake their intentions in order to obtain money, social acclaim, and reputation.

Everyone but her.

He could still remember it clearly, the day he was watching the traffickers. Five minutes into them capturing a new shipment of slaves he felt himself growing bored. With people huddled together, the entire warehouse was practically a cesspool teeming with filth. Smoke filled the air, clogging up his lungs.

No one would ever understand even if he told them. He just wanted all of it to be over, so he could go back into his hiding in peace. It just so happened, though, just as he was lurking in the shadows he noticed someone far across the room. One of the newly captured slaves, by the looks of it a young girl with dirty black hair. For whatever reason, that girl was untouched by smoke. Not a single wisp or tendril clung to her body, even with all the filthy infected people gathered around her.

He immediately sat up straighter. It couldn't be. He had never once come across anyone other than babies that weren't plagued by selfish, arrogant desires. He must not have seen correctly. There was so much filth in the room that it was becoming difficult to even tell.

Still, he couldn't help but get closer.

The boy couldn't keep his eyes off her. It must've been the fact that she was free of that disgusting smoke, but she suddenly looked like the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. How was it possible that she was immune to this affliction that seemed to plague the entire population? Was it really possible that she wasn't looking to take advantage of others like everyone else?

He yearned to go over there, to speak to her, to see for himself, but he feared that if he got too close the illusion would shatter. He would realize that she was selfish, vain, manipulative, and shallow, just like every other person in this city. At least from a distance, he could pretend that there was another kindred soul left in this world. Someone who just wanted to live for the sake of living, and not to satiate their bottomless greed.

He was going to just leave her to her own fate. She had gotten herself into her situation all on her own. That was until... There was and escape attempt among the slaves. Of course she was blamed for the incident despite having nothing to do with it and sadly was punished rather brutally. Thankfully, she was too valuable to be whipped, and she wouldn't have to worry about bleeding out. Instead, they left her beaten and tied to a metal poll.

Perhaps it was his cowardice that caused him to bring her to his hideout. He had to figure out how she was tricking him, and he was going to do whatever it took to get her to confess. He would even kill her if it came to it. Silla was just like the rest of them; he knew it. She had to be, right?

Over the year they spent together he had found her to be just as pure as he had first saw her. From their in his chest emotions he had never felt before blossomed into love. Deep love, he was utterly besotted and obsessed.

However, it didn't last.

She was violently ripped away from him.

A physically and mentally wounded Phanes searched far and wide. He blamed himself for being so careless and falling asleep and leaving her vulnerable. She could be dead because of him, and he never was able to get more than an hour of sleep when his anxiety shot up.

Due to their separation he slowly started to feel like their time together was purely a fantasy, a delusion from the loneliness. Day after day he would dream of the day he'd laid eyes on her, how perfect, and pure she'd been. It was better off as a dream; he decided. It was better than facing reality. He thought about her nonstop and whenever times got difficult he would turn to that memory. And if there really was someone like her, unsullied by their desires, then it was possible he might one day encounter another person like that as well.

Of course, that never happened. The older he became, the more painful being around others was. It was driving him insane. Each person he met was somehow worst than the last. They were the epitome of diseased, heavily shrouded by that pungent dark smoke. They were filthy. They were ill. They were everything he loathed in this world.

No one could ever hope to understand. They would never get how so much was twisted within this world, that people didn't care about anyone other than themselves. That everything was a falsehood, a fabrication. A lie.

He hated all of it. He hated feeling so alone, knowing that he was the only one suffering this way. He hated the judgmental looks he would get when he refused to make physical contact with anyone, including his own people.

He just wanted it to end.

In that moment, as his mind was spiraling more and more, he remembered that day eight years ago. He remembers her shocked face and the feeling of her lips on his. He remembered the girl who had become his salvation, his safe place to turn to whenever things became too horrible. He'd been so desperate to cling to the image of her, afraid that she would turn out to be completely different from the way he imagined, but he couldn't hold out any longer. She was the only person he could find comfort in anymore.

"I will find her."

Every moment felt like daggers prodding at his skin without her. What if she was dead? How could he ever recover knowing that there was no one left around him that he could share a life with?  What if he never found her? He had searched since her disappearance but to no avail.

There were countless fears that plagued him, but he pushed through them. He would look- just one last time.

During the grand ball for the opening of his newest building, a transport hub between the lower and upper ring, he found himself drawn to the crowd. There in the crowd a single woman stood out. Instantly he had her brought before him when he cornered her down a dark hall. So when her face was revealed, his heart nearly burst out of his chest.

Her friend that was previously next to her were just like the others. Nice on the outside, but driven by nothing more than greed. The smoke that clung to his body was average, but still enough to make him scrunch up his nose in disgust.

But her...

She was perfect just the way he'd remembered. It was the first time being so close to her in so long, and he could say it without a doubt now- there was not trace of impurity anywhere near her. He wanted to cry for having waited so long. Now caught within his hands Silla was so adorably scared, he could tell that much based on her expression. She was beautiful, like a fresh breath of air. She glowed without any help from jewelry or expensive clothes. It came from deep inside her. She wasn't greedy and didn't find her happiness from material things like so many others he had met before her.

The more he thought about it, she was nothing short of magnificent. Her stunning world dropping midnight blue orbs, her flowing long silken raven hair, even the few imperfections she had were perfect in his eyes. He'd remembered even in the face of pure fear and death she had presented him with true wisdom and cunning.

He knew she would never change. No matter what he did or said to her, she would remain who she was. Silla was a finished product, and he knew her soul was beyond his reach. It was such a dilemma for him as he wanted nothing but for her to be his, mind, body, and soul.

Silla may be dependent on him and legally she was already his. But her heart wasn't. He couldn't control how she felt. He knew she would never look at him lovingly because he was her husband. This would never happen, and he felt terribly disappointed. In this world, women were often married to men who they were sold to or were chosen for them by their families. Even if a woman loves another man, she would give up quickly and learn to love her husband.

Would Silla do the same? Would she learn to love him because he was her husband?

He knew the answer was no. Even if she did fall in love with him, would she become his completely? Again, the answer was no.

He felt like he was going crazy.

She would never love him and even if she did, she would never give herself up to him completely. He knew that Silla was her own individual and it was wrong for him to want to own her completely but he was a selfish man. For now, she was going to bring light into his world, a light that had been closed off for as long as she had been gone. She was going to be his sun.

In the time it had taken him to find her, the city had delt it's damage to her body and mind. He stroked her palid face lovingly. "My Silla... It breaks my heart to know z'at you no longer love me... Nor remember me, z'is city has taken you away from me and made you forget me."

He looked down at the girl, saddened that he had missed so much of her life. It was a shock to him seeing his flower that had already bloomed.

"Your excellency..." The doctor cleared his throat before looking over the tablet in his hands. "Her injuries have healed but she is suffering from malnourishment and mild brain damage. I'll prescribe some medication and for now she should get an injection for basic vitamins, and a dietary supplement to take daily."

"Send z'em to my chambers each morning and I'll take care of it..."

"-Of course... As for the other test, once the results are in I'll have them sent to you." Phanes nodded and crossed his arms over his chest once more.

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to be continued...