Unravel(6)

Matthias stirred, a low groan escaping his lips. The morning light was peeking through his window. He blinked, trying to focus on the familiar shapes of his room. A strange, tingling sensation danced on his skin, a feeling he couldn't quite place. He sat up, and he suddenly recalled what had happened the night before.

"Oh shit! I have to tell mom and dad," he muttered.

He quickly got out of his bed and started dressing up, but just before he got out of his room he noticed something odd.

My leg's not hurting anymore.

He quickly checked his calf and lo and behold, his wound was healed. Not only was it just healed, not even a scar was left in his previously injured leg. He was bamboozled. He shouted at the top of his voice as he was starting to panic.

"MOM! MOM! Come quick! You need to see this!!"

Rebek was sprinting towards him, and when she was in front of Matthias she noticed that her son was looking at his calf. She quickly checked his leg, and also to her surprise, she saw the wound was gone.

"Matthy, darling, what happened?" She asked, her tone gentle but there was a slight tremor in her voice.

"A cat, no, a Nolte came to visit me last night and linked with me and right after that I got dizzy and passed out and when I woke up the wound was gone," Matthias was speaking so fast that he didn't even take a breath.

"Okay, okay, I understand. I'm going to call your father and we will talk about this before breakfast. Izana is still sleeping so we still have a bit of time left to talk about this. While I look for your father, darling, why don't you go back to your room and wait for us?"

"Okay." Matthias got back to his room.

He sat on his bed and thought about the ability he now possessed.

If it can also heal wounds, isn't that quite useful? He mused. Not to mention I can make Emis protect me even if I get into trouble. This is like finding a treasure chest.

Not long after, his parents entered his room. They were all sitting on his bed, and both his parents were looking at him like they were expecting him to explain the situation from the start to end, and so he did.

When he finished telling them everything that had happened the night before, his father started clearing his throat.

"So its name is Emis? If your wound had healed just from you linking to him, then its divinity must be healing," he voiced his mind.

"I also thought the same. But usually there needs to be some kind of compensation for favors like this. What did it ask for in return?" his mother asked.

"I don't think it asked me anything. Just after we finished linking, I was out cold," Matthias answered.

"That is quite strange," Rebek muttered.

"But what kind of compensation are you talking about, mom?"

"Sometimes Noltes ask for things that we humans use for our day to day life. My Nolte often asked me for herbs that are of high quality. Some Noltes demand for gold, while there are also some that demand our life. It can be different from one Nolte to another," his mother explained.

"If the Nolte ever make a demand to you, let us know okay?" His father asked.

"Okay," Matthias answered.

———————————

When it was time for breakfast, Rebek went and woke Izana from his sleep. When the little boy saw his older brother sitting on their dining chair, he quickly jumped on Matthias' arms.

"Matthy! Is your leg still hurting?" His tiny face was looking so worried for his older brother.

"Of course not, the pain is all gone now," Matthias said, trying to calm his little heart.

"B-but you were sleeping all day yesterday and mommy and daddy said you were still in pain." The little boy was so worried.

"I'm not in pain now, look!" Matthias showed Izana his healed leg, and only after checking his brother's leg that Izana was willing to let the subject go.

His mother brought them breakfast, and after seeing the different kinds of treat his mother was making, Matthias' mouth watered. He had not eaten anything for two whole days so as soon as food was on his plate, he gobbled them up like a ravenous animal.

When he almost finished his breakfast, a little voice suddenly spoke in his head.

"What?!" Matthias suddenly shouted and startled his family.

"What is it, Matthy?" His father asked him.

Matthias quickly recovered from his shock, as he now knew it could have been no other than Emis.

"It's nothing. I thought I saw a spider," he lied. He did not want to let his parents know what he just heard from Emis, since he was afraid it would throw them into a state of panic.

He quickly finished his remaining breakfast and headed to his room. Inside, he opened the window and since it was only on the second floor he swiftly jumped outside, careful not to make any noise.

He quickly headed towards the portside where he knew his friends were going to be since it was the day of recruitment. He was running towards there like there's no tomorrow, and he was also trying to communicate to Emis.

"Tell me what happened," he said to Emis and the cat promptly answered him.

Matthias hurried towards the port and when he arrived he looked around everywhere. But since it was his first time being on the portside, he was having a hard time searching for them.

"Emis, where exactly are they?" He asked.

Matthias looked towards the dock and there he saw a ship. A plume of black smoke billowed from the ship's funnel as the engines roared to life, a chorus of power announcing the ship's imminent departure.

Matthias ran towards the ship like his life depended on it, not even thinking about the huge numbers of consequences his action could have. Right now he was only thinking about his friends.

I hope they are okay. If anything bad happens, I can ask Emis to help us.

As he climbed onto the ship, a burly man with a robust build stopped him in his tracks.

"Boy, where do you think you're going?" The man asked, his breath reeked of booze. Matthias scrunched his nose. He never liked the putrid smell of alcohol.

"My friends, they are in there," he answered, almost shouting.

"This little shit," the man muttered and looked towards his crewmate who was standing just behind them. "Shall we toss him in too?"

"Don't see the problem," the crewmate replied who looked like he was battling a bad case of hangover.

"Now then boy lets go and look for those friends of yours yeah?" The burly man guffawed while carrying Matthias from his shirt's collar.

Matthias stayed silent while the big man carried him inside the ship. They passed several rooms on the upper floor and Matthias was looking closely around. The big man carried him further down and towards the lowest floor of the ship where several boxes were kept. It was dark and putrid and Matthias could hear the squeaking sounds of rats.

"Now that we're here, you can start looking for your friends."

The man tossed him on the floor. Matthias hissed from the pain but he quickly got up. There were small lanterns on the walls just enough to keep the floor lit. The room was a hazy, smoky tableau, the air thick and heavy with the scent of burning tobacco.

Matthias looked around and he could faintly see bodies of children? Or are they teenagers like himself? He couldn't see properly as his vision was getting cloudy.

"Emis…"

Unable to form a sentence, Matthias plopped on the floor.