Chapter 12 - Emma [2/2]

On the other side of the door was a dimly lit room, shrouded in an eerie atmosphere that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves.  

It seems to have once been a study, as there was a desk with a chair moved against one of the walls, while another one of the walls was a library with several damaged and dusty books stored in it. 

The furniture was sparse, as what little there was, including the desk and chair, were worn and showed signs of neglect. The large windows were covered by heavy, moth-eaten curtains that allowed only a feeble amount of light to pass through. 

The room's centrepiece was an ominous-looking, large magic circle with a pillow in the middle. It seemed to pulse with dark energy, and Erik quickly recognized it as an aetherium infusion sigil, something he had seen many times on Söl. 

It was a little crude, but the fact Emily had managed to draw one was still a testament to her talent. Still, that didn't explain how she had gotten her hands on something like this.  

While much of an Arcanist's path to power was one of self-discovery as they explored their internal mystic glyphs, he highly doubted Emily had discovered this method of increasing aetherium gathering rates all by herself. 

But this was something he could discuss with Elora later, as his gaze and thoughts were pulled towards a corner of the room, where he heard some muffled sobs. 

What he saw shocked any remaining desire to rush off in pursuit of revenge straight out of him. 

It was a malnourished, terrified, and naked young girl chained to the wall. 

She lay on a bed in the corner with tears in her defeated, empty eyes that seemed to stare into nothing as a collar enveloped her neck with a chain that connected to an iron ring coming out of the wall next to the bed. 

But that wasn't all. Her hands and feet were bound together with rope, and a gag had been placed in her mouth, not allowing her to move, talk, or even wiggle away from the bed. 

Her mismatched eyes, one green and the other white, suddenly swivelled and looked at Erik. 

It seemed to take her a moment to come back to life as she began to realize a large, strange man was standing in the room. 

Erik looked quite dangerous and terrifying in his heavy black armour, broad build, large stature, and fierce amber eyes. 

Immediately, the girl's eyes became filled with terror as she frantically shook her head. She made panicked, muffled noises and tried to move as far away from Erik as the chain and ropes would allow her. 

Erik looked at the girl with astonishment, feeling a whirlwind of anger and pity well up inside him while thinking about Emily doing this to her own sister. After his own taste of betrayal seven years ago, he was particularly sensitive to such things. 

Despite his feelings, he had to admit that the girl was quite pretty, even in her current state. Her mismatched eyes were alluring and mysterious, while her long white hair distinguished her.  

She seemed to be somewhat short, and combined with her malnourished body, Erik had difficulty telling her age. She was certainly at least sixteen or seventeen but might as well be twenty. 

It took him a moment to realize he should probably do something, but he quickly fought the urge to just rush to the girl and free her as he realized that might scare her even more. 

What this girl needed right now was for him to remain calm and tell her exactly what he was going to do before he did it. 

Not only would this show her he could be trusted, but it would also make her feel like she had some control in this situation. 

After regaining his calm, he looked at the terrified young girl with a look he hoped was comforting and reassuring, "I'm going to approach you now." 

He had to remind himself to speak English instead of Sylvari, the language spoken on Söl. It had been quite a while, after all. Luckily, his parents did teach him several languages. 

The young girl, obviously Emma, was consumed by terror as she watched the scary man approach her.  

She didn't know who he was, how he got here, or what his intentions were, nor did she know what had happened to her sister. All she knew was that this was the first time since Emily had begun tying her up here that she had seen anyone else enter this room. 

Despite her terror, a small part of her strangely felt like she could trust this man, but she barely noticed this foreign feeling as her fear drowned it out. 

She even found herself hoping her sister would suddenly return, in spite of the way Emily had treated her in the last couple of years, because at least Emily was the devil she knew. 

However, despite her attempts at moving away from Erik, it was pointless. The chain attached to her collar was already strained to the limit. She couldn't even cover up her naked body due to her tied-up limbs. 

By the time Erik stood in front of her, her rapidly pounding heart, combined with her overwhelmed mind, threatened to make her faint. 

But then Erik slowly crouched down in front of her with a concerned expression. This expression made Emma calm down a little, as Erik didn't seem interested in harming her immediately. 

Still, she was hyperventilating through the gag in her mouth as her mind raced and tears continued to fall from her eyes. 

Erik wasn't sure what the best way to approach this situation was, but he decided to continue as he had been. 

He held up the clothes in his hand, which he now understood the purpose of, and said, "I'm just going to put this down here," before gently placing them down on the bed beside the girl he understood was Emma. 

After he was done, he looked the girl in the eye, making sure not to let his gaze wander over her naked body.  

While he certainly was interested and wasn't enough of a gentleman to ignore a naked woman's body when it was right in front of him, the current situation simply wasn't the right time. 

He realized this girl was feeling extremely vulnerable right now, and he needed to show her he wasn't here to rape her or enjoy her body in any other way. 

Continuing to look her in her eyes, he said, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll remove those ropes now, alright?" He didn't make a move as he waited for the girl's permission, which was another way to make her feel like she had some control over what happened to her. 

Emma was unsure what to feel about this situation, but she felt comforted by the fact this man didn't seem to be interested in her naked body as he continued to look her in the eyes with those fierce amber eyes that seemed to become more comforting by the moment. 

Realizing he had asked her a question and was actually waiting for her response, she initially felt confused, wondering if this was some kind of trap. But after a few moments of silence, she took the risk and nodded. 

Seeing her response, Erik continued to look into her eyes as he grabbed her hands and started undoing the ropes binding them. When he was done, Emma immediately covered her modest breasts while Erik moved onto her feet. 

After all her limbs were freed, she quickly pulled her legs against her chest and used her hands to remove the gag from her mouth. Then, she wrapped her arms around her legs protectively. 

However, she didn't use this opportunity to speak as she warily stared at Erik, wondering about his next move. While his actions so far had calmed her down a little, she was still far from feeling comfortable. 

Erik smiled at her, trying to be as comforting as he could, "My name is Erik, and you must be Emma." 

Seeing her nod but remaining silent, Erik continued, "That's alright, no need to say anything." He then produced the keyring that Emily had tossed to him and asked, "Do you know if the key to your collar is on this thing?" 

While he certainly had the strength to destroy that collar by force, it probably wouldn't help to make Emily more comfortable with him. 

A tiny sparkle of hope appeared in Emma's eyes as she quickly but meekly nodded. 

In response, Erik simply put the keyring next to her, assuming she would know which key would unlock it. 

Emma looked at the keyring. She felt a little dazed as her dreams of obtaining the key to her collar suddenly became a reality.  

She had been wearing this thing for years now, as Emily had one day put it on her and only ever hooked or unhooked the chain that linked her to the wall. 

Tears once again welled up in her eyes as various bottled-up emotions were starting to come out. She quickly looked up, intending to thank the perhaps not-so-scary man, but realised he had disappeared, the only proof of his visit being her freedom and the clothes on the bed. 

She just smiled. Suddenly, the future looked a little less bleak.