Inverse System - Chapter 149

“Someones here..?” The wistful and battered prince of Orthlys perked up from his wistful rest on his prison cell floor, walking his tattered royal clothes to the iron bars that held him in isolation, peeking out to the glowing cavern.

His eyes widened as he saw his half-sister out there, fighting the 2 guards that were posted at his cell. However, the shock did not stop. In the same cavern, fighting side by side to her was a familiar white-haired boy, the sight of him making the zephyr prince lose breath for a brief moment.

“No… Way… That’s…” He uttered, suddenly hearing a metal-sounding tap emerge from his ceiling,  making him turn around and look up at the vent that was set up there.

Suddenly, the vent opened, and a green-haired girl dropping down in a dusty fit, coughing as she landed on the cell floor.

“*cough* *cough*. Oww… I probably should’ve Sprung that one…” She rubbed the back of her head as she stood up, Zane staring at her in confusion.

“A little girl..?” Zane raised his chain-bound hands to his head and scratched it in confusion. “What are you doing here?” He posed to the girl, who was tapping the dust away from her attire.

The girl raised her head up to see the prince, then smiled arrogantly.

“I’m the one who’s gonna save you!” She laughed, pointing to herself with pride.

“You’re gonna… Save me?” He uttered in shock.

“Sure am!” She exclaimed, assured. “Let me see those cuffs. I’ll get them off in no time,” she put her hand out and extended her arm to the prince, who placed his wrist bindings in her palm.

She pulled out 2 thin rods of metal and began fiddling with them, hoisting them into the keyhole between his handcuffs.

She extended her tongue out of her mouth in diligence as she worked on the lock, fiddling with them intently as the prince continued looking at her with a sense of confusion.

“Eh, these are more complicated than I thought! This may take some time,” she apologized.

“???” Zane kept a bewildered expression as she continued struggling with the lock on his cuffs.

Eventually, she broke away from the lock picks and let out a huge sigh, unsuccessful in removing the bindings.

“Ugh, what idiot made these locks! They make no sense!” She complained as she leaned backward in defeat.

“If you couldn’t unlock them, wouldn’t that make them good locks?” Zane interjected.

“I guess you’re right… But hey, could you not just blow them off with some epic wind blast or something!” She suggested with fire in her eyes.

“If I could’ve done that, I wouldn’t be stuck here,” he replied, unamused.

“Whaaaat?! I thought Chloe said you were stronger than her. I guess that was just her being modest,” the girl thought out loud.

“So you know my sister then,” Zane remarked.

“Oh yeah. But you 2 look nothing alike. I like your hair color though! Green, just like me!” She held her hair out in twin tails, showing it off.

Suddenly, Zane’s eyes grew in realization, recalling the time he appeared in the academy stadium at the end of the Ranger academy entrance tournament.

“Wait… Are you that girl from back then..? The one that was sitting in the stands..?” Zane asked, his eyes still widened in shock.

“Hm? Oh yeah, you were staring at me for some reason. I always thought you were just a creep,” she laughed, Zane instantly springing up and looking at her closely.

“Your name, what is your name?!” He whispers screamed at her.

“Huh? It’s Emria, why?” She informed, her words instantly making his eyes water, overflowing with tears.

“Wow! You’re crying now? There there, I’ll get those cuffs off,” Emria patted him on the back as he wept, making him shake his head.

“I knew you were alive…” He said, making her stop rubbing his back.

“What?” Emria asked coldly.

“That day… When I didn’t see your body in that pile of corpses… I knew you had survived…” His shivering voice claimed, his words making all expression wash away from Emria’s face, leaving an emotionless face staring at the crying prince.

“So then it’s like I thought. You are my brother, aren’t you?” Emria dropped in an ice-cold voice, sending shivers down Zane’s spine.

His expression and body stood frozen for a brief moment, then took a trembling breath as they resumed, nodding his head affirmatively.

“Your name is Emria Yaku… Isn’t it? My mother… She often told me that if she had a girl, she would’ve named her Emria…” Zane explained through his tears.

“I see. So then, my mother was the queen of Orthlys before Chloe’s mother. She was banished after she had an ‘affair’ with one of the royal guards, and as a result, the royal guard was also banished,” Emria recounted in a monotone voice, her previously perky, enthusiastic nature disappearing.

“No… That’s wrong,” Zane claimed.

“I know. My— no… Our mother would never do that,” Emria reiterated as Zane wiped his tears away.

“She didn’t have an affair with anybody, and definitely not with an earthen royal guard… She was… Raped by an unknown nobleman…” Zane exclaimed, Emria not giving a reaction to his words.

“So that’s it… Ever since I’ve started piecing together mine and mother’s past, I’ve found that to be the most plausible thing that happened. And that same man, my ‘father’, if I can even call him that, is still at large,” Emria stated, a fit of unseen anger welling up in her’s and Zane’s eyes.

“Yes… He framed Lieutenant Wallace, a high-ranking member of the royal guard, and nobody suspected a thing,” Zane grit his teeth. “Except for me… I saw him… In the act…” He claimed, his fists clenched to the extreme.

“I’m so sorry… I tried speaking out, but nobody believed me. I didn’t see his face, so I couldn’t give any proof… But it definitely was not Wallace. I know that for a fact.”