Escape Is Never Clean

The woman led Aria through the tangled underbrush, following a path that seemed more guesswork than certainty—until Aria noticed faint, white arrows marked on several tree trunks, pointing the way. She raised a brow.

"Your lover did this, huh?"

The woman nodded, eyes scanning ahead.

"We were… thorough."

"Thorough? Sure. Subtle? Not so much. Nothing says, 'come find me' like neon breadcrumbs."

The woman's mouth twitched, though her gaze stayed forward.

"When it's Kherosi soldiers on your heels, speed beats cleverness."

"Touché."

Aria scanned the woods behind them, one hand resting on the hilt of the baton.

"Just pray he's not the type who gets lost on the way to his own kitchen."

A small smile slipped through the woman's tension.

"He's better than that."

"Guess we'll see."

The path grew rougher, branches clawing at their clothes as they neared a jagged tunnel mouth, dark as the void. The woman stumbled, her breathing uneven, and Aria caught her arm before she hit the ground.

"Try not to faceplant before we even make it inside, yeah?"

She didn't wait for a response, her sharp eyes darting to the unnervingly still forest. Even the crickets seemed too afraid to chirp.

Then it came—a bone-rattling clang—rippled through the stillness, its echo bouncing off the hills. 

The woman froze, her face draining of color.

"That… that's the capital's warning bell. They know."

Aria didn't even pause, though her jaw tightened, and her grip on the woman's arm became iron.

"Brilliant deduction. Now move your feet before they decorate the forest with your head."

The woman stumbled but found her footing quickly, glancing over her shoulder at the trees as if expecting soldiers to materialize from the shadows. They didn't, but the bell's echo carried a promise: They were coming.

Reaching the entrance, the woman crouched near a boulder, yanking out a fire torch hidden beneath the moss. With trembling fingers, she held it out.

"Lighter."

Aria handed it over without a word, their fingers brushing. In one flick, flames danced to life. Shadows leaped and flickered, clawing at the jagged walls as they slipped into the tunnel. 

The woman glanced back, her heart thudding wildly.

"I owe you a debt. I really do. I'll never forget this."

"I'll start a tab. Maybe I'll collect someday… … Now, less talking, more moving."

Minutes passed, and for once, the weight of silence felt heavier than the walls pressing in. Aria's fingers twitched, her mind restless. Not for herself—fear wasn't her style—but for the baby. That tiny life, hidden in the woman's trembling body, somehow felt like her responsibility now.

Fantastic. Just what she needed.

Aria's gaze drifted, trying to focus on something else, catching strange symbols etched into the stone. They were barely visible until she held her lighter up—circles within circles, intersecting triangles, lines that spiraled outward like waves—and it all felt... familiar.

There was one, in particular, an interlocked triangle and crescent.

For a heartbeat, the torchlight seemed to bend, making the symbols glow faintly with a silvery sheen under her touch, spiraling outward, bursting into what looked like rays, spreading out like stars in a dark sky.

Her breath caught. 

What is it?

A memory?

NO—it felt... something buried in the recesses of her mind.

A memory she couldn't place or a dream she hadn't dreamed.

She blinked, and the sensation was gone in an instant, but her fingers lingered on the stone as she struggled to place the feeling.

The woman's voice pulled her back.

"Something wrong?"

Aria blinked, her hand dropping.

"No... nothing's wrong"

The woman didn't press, her steps quickening as the tunnel sloped downward.

Aria fell back in step, her eyes narrowing as the symbols disappeared into the tunnel's darkness. Whatever it was, she wasn't sticking around to figure it out. The soldiers wouldn't wait, and neither would she.

Soon, a cool breeze hit her skin as they reached the tunnel's end, emerging onto a quiet riverbank, where water lapped softly against the shore.

The woman beside her exhaled, her whole body sagging as if the weight of a mountain had just rolled off her shoulders.

In the distance, a tall figure stood with a torch raised high, the firelight catching on a modest wooden boat bobbing by the shore. He didn't move; his silhouette framed by the flickering flame.

The woman turned to Aria, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"Thank you... for everything. I… I don't even know where to begin. You didn't have to help me, but—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a saint. But don't get too attached. The halo doesn't suit me."

The woman laughed softly, despite herself, then reached up to unclasp a delicate silver chain. The translucent blue stone at its center glimmered faintly, almost as if it was alive. She pressed it into Aria's hand, her grip firm, her expression even firmer. 

"This... is a Kherosi stone. If you're ever in danger—the kind of danger even you can't punch your way out of—it'll help you."

Aria arched a skeptical brow, holding up the pendant as if it might bite her.

"Help me? What, does it summon a rescue squad or just burst into a puff of glittery optimism?"

"Just trust it."

Her hands trembled as they left Aria's.

"If nothing else… let it remind you of my gratitude."

Aria sighed, slipping the pendant into her bra.

"Fine. I'll keep it."

The woman smiled, glancing back at the man waiting by the boat. But her gaze lingered on Aria.

"I didn't even get your name. I'm—"

"Don't. Names make things messy. Trust me, you're better off not knowing. Safer that way."

The woman's smile faded, but she nodded in understanding. Her hand drifted to her stomach, unconsciously protective.

"If… If this child is a girl, I wanted to name her after you. She should have your courage."

Aria's sharp gaze flicked to her stomach, then softened.

"Nah. Call her Terra. Or Terrance, if it's a boy. No kid needs my kind of luck."

The woman chuckled, tears slipping freely now. She lunged forward, wrapping Aria in a tight hug.

"May the fates protect you."

Aria patted her back awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah. And may the fates keep your little one from inheriting your penchant for dramatic goodbyes."

With one last watery smile, the woman hurried to the boat. The man helped her aboard, wrapping her in a protective embrace as the torchlight faded into the river's shadows.

Aria waited as they kicked off, their torchlight growing smaller across the water. Only when they vanished into the darkness did she turn back, letting out a slow breath, slipping into the tunnel to retrace her steps with the sure-footed weariness of someone who knew trouble was never far behind.

And trouble didn't wait long.

At the tunnel's other end, a wall of torchlight flared to life, illuminating the steely face of a battle-scarred Kherosi commander. Flanking him, a row of soldiers stood like statues, their gazes cutting through the dark like knives.

"1107. We've had a complaint. The noble has reported his paramour missing—and we have reason to believe you assisted in the escape."

Aria tilted her head, a sardonic smile twitching at her lips.

"Wow. Miss me that much already?"

The commander's jaw twitched. 

"Hands out."

She held his gaze, jaw set as she raised her arms.

A soldier moved in, slapping cold-white advanced compression-lock cuffs around her wrists. The cuffs hissed, adjusting to her pulse, snapping so tight they left no seam or keyhole. A faint, tingling hum vibrated from them, a constant reminder of her complete loss of control right now.

She tugged experimentally, feeling the technology respond by clamping down further.

The soldier securing her sneered.

"Try anything funny, and you'll regret it."

Aria's smile didn't falter. It was the kind that said, 'I'm not laughing with you, I'm laughing at you.'

"Oh, honey, regret and I go way back. But thanks for the concern."

Her gaze then fell on the commander.

"Fancy. What's next? A monologue about your superiority complex?"

His lip curled.

"Save your wit for the Trinity. They'll decide how much of you remains intact."

Without waiting for a response, he barked an order, and the soldiers closed in, marching her down into the city. 

As the towering spires of the capital loomed ahead, Aria straightened, her face slipping into the practiced stoicism of a survivor. Yet, beneath the surface, her mind raced.

Would Darius use this as an excuse to crush her completely? Would Azneil step in, or had she finally burned too many bridges?

For the first time in years, a faint chill crept into her chest.

She'd gambled big this time—and it looked like the house had won.

Crap!