Imprisoned

The feelings Nero felt on that fateful day so many moons ago were hard to describe. Many things went through his mind at that moment, when he saw his mother burn, but primarily it was pain, but also anger. Raging brutal anger. Anger at the priest, at the guards, and also at all the village idiots who were responsible for this.

The ceremony went on and everyone seemed to be happy. Eliza, his sister, had closed her eyes and lowered her head, tears running down her cheeks. Nero, on the other hand, did not avert his gaze. He memorized the face of every single person who was here and swore revenge on them all. He looked up at the priest and his gaze met his. Briefly, the priest's pupils contracted as he looked into the burning eyes of this little boy and they stared directly at him full of hatred and anger.

-He's just a boy, what can he do?- thought the priest and relaxed again.

Now the priest turned back to the villagers with a friendly smile,

"Quiet!"

Immediately the cheers and shouts of joy died down and everyone looked expectantly at the priest,

"Now that we finally have the culprit for this eternal and miserable winter, things will finally start to look up for this beautiful village. Soon it will be warmer again and the animals will return to the forest, the meadows will become green again and the fields will grow and prosper. But we must show God our repentance for tolerating such a witch for so long and not risk his wrath again. Tomorrow at the noon service, an offering will be made to the great Lord in Heaven. You should all bring an offering and donation!"

The priest remained quiet for a moment and let the information sink in,

"What about the witch's spawn?" someone asked and pointing to Nero and his sister,

"We'll take them to our church and raise them properly there." responded the priest with a friendly smile.

"NO, BURN THEM!"

"YES EXECUTE THEM OR WE WILL ANGER THE LORD AGAIN!"

Immediately, pandemonium broke out and the crowd became angry again,

"The children are not guilty of anything, so we will not punish them." Said the priest firmly, nodding to one of the priestly guards.

He was a handsome and tall man, with big steely muscles. The man understood immediately and went over to the two children. Nero stared at him in anger, but the man didn't even flinch and grabbed Eliza by the arm. She did not move, but Nero hissed angrily and squirmed in his bonds. The man lifted Eliza, who now also bitterly tried to resist, but the man didn't seem to care. He went to Nero and also threw him over his shoulder like a sack and then walked away. Nero heard the priest preach some more and took one last long look at the pyre where his mother had been a short time ago and a sharp pain pierced him.

The children were dragged in the direction of the church. Slowly and surely, the loud shouts of the crowd behind them disappeared until they finally fell silent. They were carried along the great main street where the church resided. And soon they could see it towering in the distance as well.

But when they arrived at the church, the guard simply walked past it and further down the big street.

-Where is he taking us?-

Only after half an hour did they finally reach their destination. And Nero immediately recognized where they were. This was the chamber of the Inquisition, where the dungeon was.

Eliza had also realized it and started to squirm in the restraints again, but the man didn't even seem to notice. He went to the door and knocked 9 times in three successive tones on the metal door. A small sliding window opened and a couple of eyes peered out of it,

"Who there!" the latter asked curtly.

"Sir Leonard." said the priest guard, "I bring the children of the witch."

"Very well," the man opened the door and looked at the two children, "take them to the third chamber in the basement," he ordered Sir Leonard.

The latter nodded silently and walked past him into a corridor dimly lit by torches.

Again and again, steel doors appeared on the sides, but Leonard simply walked past them. Only at the eighth door did Leonard finally stop and open it. A spiral staircase now stretched out in front of the children, leading down into the deep darkness. Eliza and Nero had given up trying to fight back since there was no point anyway. The guard didn't even seem to be out of breath, despite the fact that he had already carried them for more than a kilometer.

The man went down the spiral staircase and at the bottom he opened a thick metal door with a small barred window inside. Behind the door was a large but dirty room. In the corners of the room were two straw beds resting on an iron frame. The man set the two little ones down, surprisingly gently, and cut their bonds. He looked at them with pity in his eyes and then left the cell, locking the door behind him. Eliza threw her arms around Nero's neck and hugged him tightly, but Nero did not return the embrace, just lay limp in her arms. Eliza detached herself and looked gently and lovingly into his eyes,

"Everything will be fine Nero," she told him encouragingly, but Nero didn't know if she was saying that to him, or herself.

Nero shook his head, "Eliza, our mother..."

"Yes Nero...but we can do this. We're going to escape from this cell and then we're going to get back at all these idiots. We're going to burn them, torture them, and destroy their beautiful little town. We'll kill their mothers and their fathers and murder their children and grandchildren. And that priest..."

Nero was shocked by the hateful words of his normally so gentle sister. Startled, he stared at her, and when she noticed his gaze, this enormous anger disappeared from her eyes and she smiled softly,

"But first we have to make it out of here."

When Nero thought back on it now, he could only marvel at his sister's emotional control. Even years later, Nero had not managed to control his emotions as well and suppress them on command as his so young sister.

The two spent the next two weeks in these cells without anyone talking to them or anything happening. The only contact the two had was with the same guard who had brought them to the cell. Twice a day he brought them a very meager and dry meal and something to drink.

Their cell slowly began to stink quite badly and the two were also by now covered in a rather large layer of dust and dirt. But the two had already gotten over the initial shock and were already working on their escape plan.

The guards had not searched their pockets, hands, or pants, and had simply thrown them into the cell. Unfortunately, Nero lost the backpack he had brought with him on their hunt because there were knives, ropes, and many other useful tools inside.

The only thing they had was a small knife, which Eliza had on her belt, a coin, and a small metal chain. Sadly, the knife was the only useful one, and this one was already old, rusty, and dull.

Still, it was pretty good, and it gave Eliza and Nero hope. With a well-aimed thrust, even this little thing could do a lot of damage. The two were still waiting for the right opportunity. At night Eliza tried to pick the lock on the door with the chain and the knives, but unfortunately without success.

And even if they should succeed, they did not know how to get past the many guards unnoticed.

Eliza, however, did not give up hope and practiced every evening for hours with the knife on the door. She quickly noticed that the hinges of the door were on her side. This design flaw was incredibly good for the two of them because in an emergency they could simply unscrew the door and then lift it off its hinges with their bed, but this was a loud and dangerous undertaking, and they saved it as a last option in case nothing else worked.

After about 13 days, Nero believed, he sat in a corner and tried to sleep a little. He didn't know if it was day or night because there were no windows in the room and no sunlight shining in anywhere. The only way to know when a day was over was by the point of exact meal times they got, but Nero couldn't estimate how long it had been since the last one. It could either be half an hour, or it could have been 7 hours, Nero didn't know.

Eliza lay in bed, breathing softly as she slept. Nero was listening to her deep breaths when suddenly footsteps were heard outside the door. Immediately Nero got up.

"Eliza!" he said loudly. Eliza was just sitting up sleepily when the metal door was unlocked and the guard came rushing in. Before either of them could react properly, he grabbed Eliza and dragged her out. Nero finally woke up from his shock and screamed and ran towards the guard, but he closed the door behind him and blocked Nero's view, but he could still clearly hear Eliza's screams and insults as they got quieter and quieter, until they fell silent.

Nero: "..."