Chapter 121 - A Masked Man And A Pixie

"Please, let me go," Ileana begged in a sobbing voice. Her face had turned disgusting enough with all the tears, snot, and blood, but the man appeared as if he did not listen to her.

Ileana screams never stopped even though her throat was sore, facial muscles were throbbing in agony. Her scream could only manage to bring a frown or two from the one that was taking her. Surprisingly, he did not do anything like lay a hand on her to make her silent, but by the way, he was taking her; she was becoming restless with each moment. He had not laid a hand on her, as of yet, but it won't be far away. 

In those vacant eyes of her captive, she could see no emotion; only coldness and pain as he led her downwards where not many were present. She already got a shock from the collar a couple of times as she tried to resist the man from taking her. Alas! All went in vain. It seemed like her destiny as a slave was sealed, and perhaps soothing more tormenting will happen next.

"Please," she screamed, clinging towards the leg of the man. "Let me go. I'll do anything . . . anything but that . . . please. I will do as you say, please . . . Please . . ."

The man stopped in his strides and looked at her clinging to his foot. A sorrowful expression appeared in his eyes, but Ileana was in too bad of a condition to notice that through the helmet and mask he wore.

"Fine," the slaver said. "You will do as I say." He continued to walk again, pulling her by how she was clinging to the foot.

"Please . . ." Ileana continued to cry as if she did not hear a word of the suited slaver.

The slaver walked, ignoring her cries on the staircase. A couple of workers came and looked at them with peculiar expressions, but with one empty gaze from the man, they laughed off on their way.

Ileana heard nothing in her cries. Her mind was already on the path of breaking.

The man finally stopped coming down the stairs. He sighed, looking at the condition of the girl before crouching down near her. His gloved palm caught her chin as his empty eyes stared at her eyes.

"You will do as I say, and I will let you go from here," he said in a clear, crisp voice. "Nod or blink if you can."

Ileana looked at his eyes, the weird mask for a time, before doing both of them blinking or nodding, heavily.

"Good," the man said, "come with me."

Even though he said that, he pulled her up by the shoulder, taking her towards a near glass window.

"Can you see anything?" he asked.

Ileana stared four times. "Water," she said blankly. "Ocean."

"Anything in the water?" she heard him say.                               

Ileana looked and tried to frown, though she stopped midway as it hurt. In the ocean, she could see some tiny beads like light, but that could be her misinterpretation as well. As her mind was almost on the verge of breaking and coupling with all the fatigue and beatings, she was in no condition to have any analysis thoughts.

"Did you see any island?" she heard him say again. Ileana looked very carefully through the small glass window before shaking her head.

"Perhaps I should have brought a binocular," the man whispered. "Either way, there is islands on the sea, and what I want off you is to get to the island as quickly as you can."

Ileana did not understand and looked at him blankly.

"You said you will do as I say," the man repeated. "I want you to go to that island for now."

"But—"

Her voice was cut off as soon she found a palm on her forehead as a surge of energy rushed at her head. She had a sudden urge to struggle away, but her body gave in paralysing on the spot.

"Arrive at the island as soon as you can. That is your first task." The voices echoed in her head. "Trust no one." And then she passed out.

The masked man sighed again and this time rather more compassionately before taking Ileana carefully on his back.

He was about to leave there when a ripple of light appeared before him as soon a small figure manifested, hovering in the air with an odd expression on her face. Yes, the figure was feminine and appeared as a little pixie with light white wings behind her.

"Honesty, I'll never understand humans," she said, hovering past him towards the face of the girl on his back. She checked her face and body, with her hands on her chin for a moment, saying, "She does have a pretty face, but I have seen many far prettier women than her. Her talent is commendable, but nothing otherworldly as well, and yet you wasted such a chance for her."

"What's there to understand?" the male said, taking in large strides. "Humans are creatures of emotions. Even though I came here with an iron will, there are things I can't let happen with my eyes."

"That's alright," the pixie replied. "But are you really going to throw her into the water?"

"Yes," the male answered. "Not directly, of course. I'll give her a boat."

"A boat? A freaking boat? I guess that solves everything." The little pixie hovered past him before his eyes and continued in a loud voice, not fearing others might hear her. "You wasted such an opportunity to do this thing, and now thinking of giving up after doing all this. Don't you know the water is far more dangerous than inside the ship? Are you certain you are not one of them? The ones with corrupted minds?"

"I know," the man said, coming before a hall room. The door was locked, and he looked at the pixie for once as she gestured with her palm to open it. "But what she will get from the ship will be far more dangerous for her fragile mind. I am certain she will give in within a couple of days on the ship."

"And not in the sea?"

"The sea challenges in some other area," the man said. "Slavery, for even a day, does bad things for one. She was only like this for a few hours and looked at her. She had already forgotten to use her brain. I know being young had to do with it, and how mercilessly she was beaten. Still, this ship will be the hardest test for her. A test that would most likely break her. Perhaps the outside is far more dangerous, but it is where she can use her brain properly.

"Perhaps she will succeed or perhaps she will fail. Either way, I can't see her breaking. I don't want her to become even a little like me."

The pixie turned silent, hovering still in the air. "Why don't you help her all the way, then?"

The man did not answer for some time and looked around the hall to find a usable boat. There were dozens of them, smaller ones that could only take two to the ones that could hold a dozen. He looked at one with medium size, easily holding six men. "That one," he said to the pixie, walking towards it, the girl on his shoulder.

"And what about the others?" the pixie asked another question.

"They have to find their own way, for now, I guess," the man said, lunging into the deck of the boat. The boat was in the best condition, all new probably never been sailed. He checked it with his mana senses for a couple of minutes before dropping her on the deck.

"You could have saved them all," the pixie said slowly. "It might be a little hard, but if you work efficiently, you could have saved most of them, at least with my help. Why are you leaving them and only saving this one girl?"

"If I save them all, assuming I can actually save all of them, then what will be the point of all this? "

Something clicked inside the little pixie as glitter appeared in her eyes.

"Now please help me with this boat," the man said. "I actually forgot to bring another suit for her. Looks like I have to give mine. Well, not that I need one." 

He jumped off the boat immediately, leaving the pixie and unconscious girl towards another small board. He checked it carefully before pulling it towards the bigger one. 

Just then, he felt disturbance from the outside. Someone must have found out his doings. 

"It's time," he said and brought the boat over to the bigger one. "Let's go."

The entrance of the hall shook before blasting away. And then appeared the sight of dozen men, charging.

"My lady, are you ready?" he asked the pixie again. 

"How about we make a bet again?" the pixie asked, ignoring the dozen men charging at them. They had their weapons prepared, already charging with their violent moves. The ones that came first were the slaves where the superiors were testing the water behind.

The marked man frowned and looked at the group. He turned toward the little pixie. "Sure," he said, similarly ignoring the crowd of violent slaves as well as their masters. "But what do you want to bet against me?" 

The pixie clasped her palm together as rays of darklight surrounded the boat.. The violent charges were just a moment away from arriving at the boat, before it disappeared as if it were never been there before.