A massive town ca into view, with tall black walls that separated it from the outside forest, which was extrely massive.
This forest completely surrounded the Blade family town. It was a forest that no one could enter or leave however they liked and had to follow a certain path, else death would co for them.
The lady that kidnapped Athena stepped outside the forest, with a knocked-out Athena on her shoulder. She paused, looking at the gates of her ho. She drew a deep breath and walked toward them.
Her entire behavior changed, as though she had entered sowhere where smiling and being free were no longer allowed. The gates depicted the crest of the family, a sword stabbed behind a shield.
She took a few seconds looking at the crest, and then the gates slowly opened on their own. She took another deep breath and then walked in.
Behind the gates stood two figures in armor on either side, spears in their hands. They were called the Gate Guardians. They didn’t move, nor did they even turn to greet her. They only scanned her in silence, their presence oppressive, like a massive weight pressing against her, yet she kept her head forward.
Right after the gate, what ca next were tons of houses built of wood. One could easily tell that they were pretty old houses, but they still stood strong. Then there were the stairs that led to the top of the town. The house of the patriarch was set at the very top, separated from those who were here at the bottom.
She looked around and could see kids playing. So had vibrant red hair, while so had darker red hair and even black hair. She looked at these children, her heart aching at the sight of them, knowing that what awaited them was pain.
As a Royal Family, they sohow could bring their children from the real world into the domain, even before they awakened. This was sothing that only families like theirs knew how to do and was a very well-hidden secret. The public had no idea kids could enter, and it was ant to remain that way.
She stepped onto the stairs and began walking. The kids looked at her as she passed, awed to see soone that had reached the main house walking there.
The higher she got, the better the houses beca and the better the living conditions were. It was clear that there was a demarcation in status. At one point, she stopped and looked at a certain group of houses with a strange sense of rembrance.
"June?" Suddenly a voice reached her ears. She turned imdiately and looked at who was standing there, a young man with red hair like hers, a frail body, and pale skin. He was dressed in a simple grey shirt and black pants, with a basket of broken swords on his back.
She looked at him, the mory of who he was flooding back into her mind. "Peter," she muttered.
He smiled when he heard her call him, stepping closer to her. "June, it’s been so long." He said.
She looked at him closely, as if trying to teach her mind his face again. "Peter, the last ti we saw each other was after our trials ended." She said.
"Yes, after the main house selected you to join their ranks. That was the last ti we saw each other." He said.
"Yeah, I guess that was it." She replied.
He glanced at the person on her shoulder and a curious look ford on his face. "Let guess, a mission?" He asked.
"Yeah." She replied and then turned. "Sorry, I have to go." She said and kept walking. Instantly, a sad look ford on his face, but he wiped it away and called out.
"I now work in the academy, you should swing by soti."
When the words academy reached her ears, she shivered slightly. The thought of that place scared her. She turned and looked at him. "Sorry, I can’t go there." She replied and kept walking.
Peter looked at her go. He understood why she was terrified of the academy. Even he, who worked there, still suffered terrible nights of horror due to the mories of that place. He took a deep breath and turned to keep walking.
Their paths had changed long ago, and now what they had was no more. She could barely even recall who he was. Her mind was no longer wired for the pleasures of life, but was Blade.
June kept climbing until she was almost there. The houses were much better, the lives of the people so much better.
She looked in the distance, and there was a massive well-built building that could easily hold hundreds to a thousand people, built like so sort of church. That was the academy. Her skin crawled even just looking at it.
She tightened her grip on Athena. "You got to live a life without knowing the horrors of being a Blade, and now you want to co and beco the center of all attention. I hate you for that." June said and kept walking.
At that mont, Athena’s eyes flickered open as she regained consciousness. She looked up slowly, the blur in her eyes fading.
’Where am I?’ she wondered, the mories slowly returning, how she was captured and all. She looked down and saw that she was being carried, and instantly she tried to attack again, but the collar was still on her and imdiately stopped it.
"Seems you are awake." June said.
"Let go of ." Athena said.
"Forget it, this is your fate now." June said.
"What do you want with ?" Athena asked.
" personally? I want you dead. Sadly, the main house needs you alive, so I’m taking you to them. When you get there, you can ask what they want with you.
For now, just shut up and don’t stress out, or I’ll knock you out again."
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