Aria's eyes shot open and took a moment to adjust to her abrupt awakening. Sweat smothered her as it soaked through her skin, her pillow, and her bedsheets. She raised her body, only to be stopped by her stomach churning from being laid on for far too long. Using her arm, she wiped her forehead, feeling the damp liquid cling to her.

A groan emitted from her the moment she arched her back. Blinking a few times, she cleared her tired eyes. Aria dropped her head and looked down to notice that her top half was completely bare. The only thing that covered her sense of decency was white bandages that went over her chest and around her back.

Moving off of the unfamiliar bed, she placed her arm over each other and raised them above her head. Perching one of her legs on the edge of the bed, she bent her knees while moving her body forward. Her muscles were tense, but after a few movements, she felt fluid again.

As she continued to press at her legs, her eyes trailed around the room. Dark walls with wooden panels, four beds each with a table next to them, and one cabinet. Other than a few simplistic wall decorations, the room was mostly bare. Aria gave a puzzled look, pressing her hand against her lip while her eyes looked down at her moving feet.

A loud snore came from her left and broke her from her thoughts. Looking over, she saw a large figure lying in one of the beds. Its sides slowly rose and fell.

She spotted her green shirt from earlier laying at the end of the bed. However, dried blood peeled from the shirt the moment she touched it. Brushing off the flakes from her hand, she began to make her way towards the small window.

The sounds of voices grew louder as she got closer. Aria pushed open the wooden panel slightly and looked out to the bare streets aside from a few people talking from the building across the street.

"Aria?" Leo called out.

She turned to him, walking away from the window and too his side. Plopping on his bed, she took his hand into hers. Aria gave him a small smile while brushing away his brown hair away from his good eye. Warmth seeped into her skin the moment her finger touched him, telling her that he still had a fever from the wound. Aria couldn't recall what the word they used, but she knew the signs.

"Why don't you have a shirt?" he asked as he quickly glanced her up and down. "What happened to your back?"

"Long story," she replied, "I'll tell it to you another time. Anyway, how do you feel? I know it must be...different."

Leo lifted his hand and placed it over her eye. His lips curved as he laughed at her confused stare. Aria pushed his hand, and slowly began to undo the bandages that covered his eye. His bronzed skin had a layer of sweat, which she could feel when her fingers brushed by. Looking at his eye, her fingers covered her lips as a small gasp came from her.

The socket was a deep red. With the eye already removed, it was an empty hole without a purpose. Scars had already begun to form along with the three claw marks along the side of his face. However, there were parts covered with green puss. It emitted a horrible stench of gore. Poking the puss, it clung to her like slime. Aria looked away. She struggled to swallow the bubble that had formed in her throat, and quickly she wiped her finger on the bed. He gripped her wrist and spoke with his thick accent.

"Aria, where are we?" She looked back at him, faced with the sight she had just turned away from. She slid her tongue over her dry lips, as she looked away from him again. Rising to her feet, she pulled away from his grip. What do I do? They were the words that swarmed in her head.

"I don't know," she said out loud.

Aria picked up her belt and proceeded to wrap it around her waist. Leo lifted himself to where his back rested against the frame of the bed, watching she slid into a beige tunic too big for her frame.

"How did we get here?"

"I don't know."

She placed a band between her teeth, while her fingers combined through her tangled deep red hair. With a few quick jolts and movements, she tied it back into a ponytail. Her feet began to slip into a pair of sturdy boots, the same ones the Underhill brothers gave her.

"We wake up in some random room that you don't even know how we got to," Leo said. "Where are you going?"

"Leo, it's not going to help us by you asking me a bunch of questions," Aria spoke as she gritted her teeth. She tucked the shirt under her pants, a way for her to control its large size. "I'm going to see if I can find out where we are and what to do about your eye. Stay here. There's bandages in the bag on that bed, be sure to rewrap your eye."

She opened the door, her green eyes scanned up and down the long, narrow walkway. Walking down the hall, she took a turn and followed down the hallway. A single window rested at the end of the hall, which she pushed open and peered outside.

Watching innocent children flock around the street with bare feet, was enough for her to be aware that they never left Lukosea. Which is what she believed to begin with, so she shut the window paneling. Turning on her heels, she went back down the hall and made her way through the paths until she finally came across a set of stairs.

Below, she could hear the sounds of unfamiliar voices. Step after step, she descended down the stairs, turning her head to see the source of the voices. One of the men was behind the counter handling a wooden tankard as he filled it with a bronze liquid. The man was clearly not human, with the arms of his dark skin caked with a layer of grey rocks. It wasn't just his arms but the sides of his head and eyes as well.

His yellow eyes lifted to see her walking down the stairs. Big lips formed into a beady grin as he handed the tankard over to the man across the counter. He wiped his hands across his dirty apron before reaching one out towards Aria.

"My names Samuel, but you can call me Sam. How are you feeling? You had a nasty fever last night if I recall correctly."

Aria hesitated, before finally taking his hand into her own. His grip was stronger than she anticipated, with the sharp edges of his skin burying into her palm. He retracted and bent down behind the counter. The sounds of glass bottles clinking against each other soon followed.

"Um, about last night," Aria began before Sam rose to his feet. Her jaw shut the moment he slammed a bottle down next to her hand.

"It's common courtesy to introduce oneself after someone took the time to introduce themselves. It only makes sense, after all now you know my name, I should know yours as well." He reached behind his back, pulling out a dagger. Placing the dagger on the side of the cork, he gave it one big jerk and pulled the cork off of the bottle.

"Ar-Aria."

"Good. Nice to meet you Aria," Sam said with a chipper tone. He gave her another smile, showing the obvious wrinkles that coated the corner of his eyes and mouth. "Now, go ahead and take a seat."

"I prefer to stand."

Sam shrugged as he poured two tankards and handed one to Aria. He reached into a jar and pulled out a long, dark wrapping of a herb which he proceeded to place in his mouth and chew.

A horrid smell came from it, a scent that made her want to plug her nose. The visual wasn't better, as the man chewed, his teeth became coated with a black juicy liquid that dyed the inner edges of his lips. Curling her lips, she bit down on her lower lip and proceeded to place her hands around the tankard.

"I...can you please tell me how I got here?" she asked, causing Sam to turn his head her way. Resting his arm on the counter, he began to wave the wrapping around as he spoke.

"How much do you remember?" he asked with an accent.

Her eyes drifted to the upper left. Only bits came into her mind about that day, such as Asher and the camp as well as getting Leo out of the cells. However, after that, the images in her mind grew hazy. She could remember the feeling of rain and paste, including a tart taste in her mouth followed by a murmuring voice.

"Not much," she said. Lifting her head, while her eyes returned to his. Scratching his bald head, he reached below and pulled out a black bottle.

"Last night," he began as his rocky finger tapped the top of the bottle, "we gave you this to numb your pain. It's strong, but it's effective. A friend of mine found you out in the alleyway, You weren't exactly in the best shape, so he brought you and your friend here. The problem was, he's not exactly the best with his hands and you were also in a lot of pain. In order to stop you from suffering, we gave you some of this."

"Thank you." Aria lowered her head, backing away from the counter in the process. Her hands reached her hips, as she began to stare down at her boot which she tapped. Thoughts filled her, swimming around as each tried to grab her attention. Until one eventual did. "Wait, Sam, about the cost of the rooms..."

"No need," he interrupted, "my friend paid for your expensive for tonight and the rest of the week. Granted he only paid for the room and two meals a day. When I asked him about it, he said in his usual snarky voice, 'I'm repaying a debt.'"

"Repaying a debt," Aria mumbled to herself. She then turned back to Sam, clearing her throat to get his attention. "Who is your friend?"

"William Underhill."

Aria opened her mouth to speak once again but was startled by the sound of a loud bang. Both Sam and her turned their heads to the source of the noise. A scraggly man had slammed his tankard onto the table, as he glared at both Sam and Aria. Smacking his lips, he pounded the cup against the counter a couple of times before pointing at it. Finally, he spoke with a hoarse voice.

"Stop yapping your mouth and come here and fill me up again. I don't pay you to chat and waste my time." Sam grabbed the bottle from behind him, tugging at the cork as he made his way over to the bitter old man. Aria cocked her head, pursing her lip as the man continued to glare at her. "What are you staring at? If you're not going to drink, leave! You halflings are touched in the head."

Aria rolled her eyes, and with the click of her tongue, she pushed open the front doors. Stepping down the stairs, she did a quick glance around. To her left, two children played with a ball, while a baby ran out naked with his mother closely ran behind him with a cloth to wrap him in. She shouted at her children, who all quickly bolted inside the house. The mother glanced at Aria for a brief second before frowning and moving inside.

Shifting her feet, she moved up the walkway, in search of the town square. Looking around, she saw people throwing bowel out of the windows and onto the payment. Surprisingly, Aria believed it to be cleaner than what Venom used to do, though it still wasn't pleasant to see. Moving to the side, Aria picked up her pace. In the distance, a man could be heard shouting at the top of his lungs. It was hard to make out, but she could tell a few words apart.

As she grew closer, the shouting grew louder. The voices weren't soft nor did they sound chipper, they sounded aggressive, loud, and furious. A crowd cheered after the man's every word. However, the words were still hard for Aria to make out.

"Halflings!"

"Our work!"

"Our worth!"

The word halfling continued to ring inside her head. It was a disdainful word, one that humans, elves, petraiums, and others alike loved to throw around to those who were "mixed breeds" Aria herself was one, a product of love between a human and an elf, or so that's what people have assumed. She didn't really know, after all, she didn't know her parents.

Aria made her way to the town square. A fountain was the centerpiece, with a man riding a horse as a pool of water rested below the statue. Aria walked up to the edge of the fountain, her eyes peered at the crest on the shield. It was the same one on the war table as well as the banners scattered in the city. The crest with the fox and roses.

Snapping out of her trance, Aria spotted the crowd that she heard on her way to the square. The man stood on top of a stand, walking back and forth as he screamed his words to the people before him. The people below responded with cheers, raising their arms into the air as they continued to grow more aroused.

Aria spotted the guards gathering behind the crowd. Which the group of people didn't respond well to, as they continued to shout at the men. Some even resorted to throwing items, such as rotten tomatoes and vegetables. The man on top of the stand pointed at the guards and began to shout as well.

"Do you see? These men are already gathering their forces, ready to attack us and stop our voices from being heard. These men know as well as we do, these halflings are becoming a problem! They are ruining our bloodlines!" Aria felt her heartache as he began to say his words, however, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. "They are impure! Do you want your children to see them? Do you want them growing up in a world where this goes unpunished? Have we forgotten the ones who have killed those who we know? Those we have loved!"

Aria was pushed closer to the crowd. Citizens were attracted to the protest like bees with flowers. They swarmed around the protestor, while they continued to buzz with arousal. Men pushed Aria around within the crowd as they made their way there. Forced to flow with the crowd, Aria found herself within the protest.

Quickly, she pulled her hair down and positioned it to cover her ears. She attempted to push out of the crowd, but a man pushed her back in. A woman pulled at her hair the moment she was pushed back. Another person gripped at her shoulders, throwing her to the ground. The tip of a shoe dug into her stomach, a heel rammed into her back, hands yanked at her hair. They chanted insults at her while the others grew riled up by the man.

Stinging pain surged through her. She felt it everywhere. From the fist that pushed against her side, to the forceful yanks of her hair, and the weight of bodies stepping on her. She curled her body, attempting to block some of their aggression. But, the people grabbed at her arms and knees, holding her down. A canvas for them to paint in any way they see fit.

And then, a shrieking cry pierced the air. Aria jerked her head, searching for the source. The people have stopped, and all of them stared in the same general direction. In a split second, their faces morphed to horror. They turned and ran. Some stepping on Aria in the process, leaving her there on the ground. Rolling over, she looked towards the town square. The chill of fear rolled down her spine the moment she saw it.

Hey guys! Finally released a chapter that I'm actually semi-proud of. I'll be going back this week and editing the past chapters to make some minor changes to them, but it's nothing major that you'll need to reread to understand the story. Thanks for taking the time to read my story, and have an amazing day!