4 chapter 4

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iv.

I SEE YOU

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"Hmm... I rarely do this, but you can do whatever you want with him. And when I say whatever, I mean whatever you want with him."

Harley watched as the group of men shot excited grins to each other. He lowered his head, and his eyes landed onto his bandaged arms. The bandages were already loose and were slowly peeling off from his skin. But he knew that he was going to get new ones as soon as these men were done with him, so there was no use worrying about it. After they deliever him some pain, he could change into new ones.

He was used to all the pain already.

"Thank you so much, Boss!" the men said in sync.

Harley watched as his master left the room, and he fidgeted at the thought of them beating him up soon. It was always like that. If they were happy, they would hurt him a little. If they were mad, he would get one hell of a beating. It became a routine to him, and he didn't care about the pain anymore. There were only a few times where they would leave him alone and give him some food to eat. But, of course, that was only because they didn't want him to end up dying out of hunger.

"Let's see... what should we do with him?" One of the men said, stepping forward. Harley could feel himself tensing, but he forced himself to stay put. The man then looked at his friends. "The Boss said whatever we want, right?"

Another man nodded his head, before a sinister smile grew on his lips. "When he said whatever, I'm pretty sure he meant anything."

"Man, I've always wanted to do anything to him," the man said, looking back at Harley. His eyes narrowed a little, and he, too, had a mischievous grin on his face. "Boys, you up for something fun?"

"Fun? Oh, we're always up for fun."

The man chuckled before moving closer towards Harley. All of a sudden, Harley felt like he wanted to keep his distance from him. Something about the way the man spoke made him anxious, and he didn't like one bit how the man said that they were going to do something fun with him. Were they going to hurt him worse than they always did? What were they planning to do?

The man was now standing in front of him, and Harley watched as he scanned him from head to toe. There was a nod of approval, before the man said, "Strip."

Harley stiffened.

He didn't really mean that... right?

"Don't make me repeat it twice, kid," the man said, sneering. Behind him, his friends chuckled. "Do it, or we'll do it for you."

Harley could endure getting beaten up for hours or not being fed for days, but he could not let them do what they were planning to do. His mind was already raising a red flag; telling him that what they were about to do to him will never be forgotten. Without him realising, he shook his head, and he slowly backed away.

"No?" the man said, his brows raised. Then, his lips curled into a devillish smile. "Sorry, but you have no right to refuse. Didn't your master tell you that? And, right now, he has given us the permission to do anything to you."

"Please don't," Harley said, his voice barely audible. He had completely forgotten about the rule to never utter a word. "You can do anything to me, just... not that."

He could hear them chuckling, and, all of a sudden, his vision start to dim.

I can't.

Their voices soon became muffled.

I feel like I'm going to betray someone.

Everything was black when he squeezed his eyes shut.

I'm sorry.

The moment Harley felt their hands grabbing him, he immediately screamed, and he suddenly heard the men crying out in pain. Though, he didn't dare open his eyes. He had no idea what was going on, but the only thing he was aware now was that he was in a crouching position with his hands over his head. He could feel the air swirling with magic, but he didn't want to find out who it was from. He just wanted them to stop. He would let them do anything to him but that. That was the one thing he couldn't let them do.

Only after a few minutes was when Harley decided to open his eyes. His eyes widened when half of the men were lying in front of him—all of them dead. There was blood everywhere, but none of them got splattered onto him.

Meanwhile, the other half of the group kept a good amount of distance from him, their faces terrified. Harley had no idea who killed these people or why those men looked afraid, but he was glad that they weren't touching him anymore.

The door of the room flew open, and his master entered the room with a frown across his face. His eyes looked around the place, and he turned his head to face his henchmen. "What happened here?"

"T-That kid!" One of the men answered, pointing towards him. "We were just trying to have some fun, but then he started summoning his cards and–"

The frown on his master's face only deepened. "He used his magic?"

"Y-Yes, Boss," the man said, before he shot a dirty look towards Harley's direction. "Not only that, but he even spoke!"

The master hummed, and he glanced around to see the scattered dead bodies. Harley could feel his blood run cold when the man gestured for him to come closer, and his legs were trembling underneath him as he approached him.

"Look at me," he heard the man say.

Slowly, Harley looked up, only to receive a harsh slap across his face.

"You've been very disobedient, boy," the man said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the room. "I told you to never, ever say a word, and what did you do?"

Harley used his free hand to press his now burning cheek. He could only imagine how red it was right now. But it was only a minor pain. They've done worse to him, and, when he entered the room his master had led him to, he realised that maybe they were going to give him their worst.

There was nothing but a chair in the middle of the room. There were a few wires here and there, but Harley didn't know where they were connected to. He threw a glance to the side to see what his master wanted him to do, only to find his master's face close to his ear.

"You see that pretty little chair over there?" the man whispered, and Harley could feel the anxiety building inside of him. "That chair will remind you why you should never speak again."

— ❅ —

Harith couldn't sleep.

The whole time, he had been thinking what Harley had told him. Okay, more like what he had wrote to him. It took the mage a while to explain everything through his notebook, but, when he was done, Harith couldn't believe that they would actually electrocute him. He could only imagine what kind of hell they put him through, and it was a miracle that Harley was still able to survive despite all that.

Harith tilted his head to look at Harley, and he frowned when he found the mage all curled up. After staring at him for a while, Harith couldn't help but blame himself again for not following Harley. If only he had thought of the dangers Harley would encounter when going alone, this wouldn't have happened to him. Why did he let Harley go alone anyway? He was a mage, not a fighter. He should've gone with a tank.

"I'm sorry," Harith whispered, even though he knew that Harley was asleep. Without him realising, his ears had drooped. "If only I had followed you back then, this wouldn't have happened to you."

Harley seemed to shift a little, but, other than that, there were no signs that he was awake. Harith continued to stare at him while he sleeps, and he couldn't help but stroke some of his hair. He was about to close his eyes, when Harley twitched a little before waking up with a start.

"Harley?" Harith called. Harley's eyes were widened, and it worried Harith that the mage was now breathing heavily. "What's wrong?"

Harley blinked a few times, his eyes examining his surroundings, before letting out a sigh of relief. He shook his head and gave Harith a small wave of his hand to show that it was nothing. Harith didn't believe him though. He had known Harley long enough to know when Harley is troubled.

"Were you having nightmares?" Harith decided to ask.

Harley opened his mouth, before he closed it again. There was a look of contemplation on his face, and he reached out for his notebook on the bedside table to start writing.

And something else.

Harith's brows were raised when he look at the mage. "Something else?"

Harley tapped his pen a few times against his notebook before writing again.

I don't know what it is. Maybe it was just a dream.

Harith's eyes widened at the words written. Could it be that Harley was slowly regaining his memories? He could feel his heart beating faster at the thought of Harley remembering, but he forced himself to calm down. Harley wasn't sure what it was, so it might just be a dream too. He needed more details to confirm his assumptions.

"Can you remember anything?" Harith asked. When Harley gave him a confused look, he added, "Anything from your dream."

Harley looked at his notebook blankly for a while. Then, he slowly shook his head. There was an apologetic look on his face, and Harith couldn't help but feel disappointed that he would never know whether it was a dream or a memory that Harley had seen.

"Nevermind," Harith said, putting the notebook and pen back on the bedside table. He laid back down and shifted himself into a more comfortable position. "Sorry for asking you too many questions when you're supposed to be sleeping. Goodnight."

Harley just gazed at him for a while before looking away. Harith noticed how the mage was fidgeting nervously, and he wondered whether something was bothering him. But it surprised him when Harley suddenly opened his mouth, and Harith expected for him to finally say something.

However, no voice came out.

Harley had a frustrated look on his face, and, again, he opened his mouth. But, before he could even utter a sound, Harith had placed a hand over his shoulder, and it caused Harley to look at him in bewilderment.

"Don't force yourself, Harley," Harith said, giving the mage a small smile. "You should take your time. You can talk when you're really ready."

Harley looked at his face for a while before nodding.

Harith's smile grew just a little wider before he closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Harley."

He felt Harley trace against his palm.

Goodnight.

— ❅ —

Harley stared into the distance, his eyes only focusing onto one particular figure. He couldn't help but feel amazed with the way Harith moves around. He had seen Harith dashing here and there before, but, now that he was completely focused onto him, he realised that Harith was much faster than he thought he was. One moment he was at one place, the next he was already behind his target. His speed was just outstanding.

"He's good, right?"

Harley was startled when he heard a voice coming next to him. It sounded familiar. Slowly, he turned around to look at the person, only to find a guy with a gun and a monkey next to him. The both of them were currently eating a bag of chips, their hands digging into the bag nonstop. Harley took a moment to observe the guy's face, and he realised that it was one of Harith's friends.

"Hm?" The guy noticed that he was staring at him, and Harley quickly averted his gaze. The guy chuckled before throwing some chips into his mouth. "We've met before, but the name's Claude if you can't remember."

Claude.

Why does that name sound familiar?

"Anyway, Harith is one of the greatest mages in the academy. I mean, you already know this but—just wanted to remind you," Claude said, his words muffled since he was talking while eating. He let his monkey take some of his chips before he started feeding himself again. "High mobility, high burst damage, and can provide his own shield... Damn, no wonder he's S-Class." He chewed his chips before adding, "Pfft, as if I'm not S-Class for the marksman category."

Harley just listened to whatever Claude was rambling about. Halfway through his speech, however, he felt like he needed to go to the restroom. He looked around to see if there was a restroom nearby, but he couldn't spot any. Maybe he should just hold it in until Harith was done training. It was only another two hours after all.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Claude asked. He had finished his bag of chips, and he was now sending his monkey to throw it in the bin. "You all right?"

Harley opened his mouth to tell him, but, again, he just couldn't do it. His master's words kept echoing in his head, and he was afraid to be brought back into that room again—even though he was out of that place now.

So, he decided to grab his pen and write down onto his notebook.

Toilet?

"Ah." Claude patted his shoulder, and Harley's brows furrowed at the odd gesture. The marksman then said, "A man's got to finish his business when he has one. Come on, I'll take you there."

Harley stood up to follow Claude, but he paused for a moment to look at Harith. Will it be okay if he leaves for a while?

Noticing his puzzled expression, Claude gave him a reassuring grin. "Hey, don't need to be so worried. I'll accompany you. That way, Harith won't be able to kill me for not keeping an eye out on you." All of a sudden, the marksman leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "That guy has a habit of scolding anyone who has last seen you. Trust me, whenever you disappear, no one wants to be the last person to see you. Or else, they're going to hear a never-ending lecture of why they didn't see where you have went off."

Harley gave him a slight nod, and he started following Claude when the marksman gestured for him to follow him. After what Claude had said, was it true that Harith would do that? Does Harith really care whenever he disappears? He tried his best to remember anything about Harith before he arrived back at that place, but nothing came up. He inwardly sighed. He really wished he could remember by now.

They both entered the restroom—which was on the ground floor—and Harley quickly entered a stall. He could hear Claude whistling from outside as he does his 'business', but he forced himself to ignore it. He should quickly head back to the training room. Who knows, maybe Harith might actually scold him if he disappears?

After he was done, he quickly flushed the toilet and exited the stall. He washed his hands, and he was surprised to find Claude gone. He looked around for the marksman, and he noticed something at the furthest stall. Carefully, he approached the stall, and his eyes widened in horror when he found Claude lying on the floor, unconscious.

He slowly backed away, and he found himself bumping into someone behind him. All of a sudden, he felt someone breathing next to his ear, and his whole body froze when he heard a woman whispering, "The master wishes to retrieve his little pet again."

And everything went black.