The City of Ionia

“C’mon, c’mon, hurry up,” I whispered as my eager legs were ready to bolt at any second. Raphtalia ignored me as her hands trembled, struggling to pick the lock with the slim, curvy metal object she found. Her other hand held the lock itself, which separated us from the freedom we sought.

A soft growl escaped her mouth. She released her grip, dropped onto her rear, and placed the pick on the ground. She repeatedly opened and closed her hands.

She agitatedly moaned, “I can’t do it.” Her palms covered her disappointment as she collapsed onto her back. She mumbled those words a few more times.

I offered the mumbling Raphtalia a hand up. Her eyes peeked through the gaps of her fingers. She reached out and grabbed my hand, her palms bathed in sweat. It tempted me to mention how sweaty they were as a joke, but it wasn’t the time. She was already irritated with herself.

I grabbed the pick off the ground, asking, “Do you want me to try?”

“Do as you wish…” she grumbled while avoiding eye contact. Her failure weighed her down.

I grabbed onto the back of the lock, slowly inserting the pick and swirling it around. A quick chill zoomed down my spine, causing my body to shiver. Was I really that nervous?

After what felt like hours, the lock emitted a click. My breath shook while my face slowly formed a smile. I separated the shackle from its body. My sweaty palms instantly separated the lock from the door, placing it on the ground without a noise.

Out of nowhere, my body jerked forward. “We’re so close.”

The warmth of her two arms wrapped around me felt out of this world. She squeezed my torso harder than usual, and the relief I felt was absorbed into my body. It was something I couldn’t get from anyone else.

We sat on the ground and reviewed the plan once more.

“We take a right from this cell, not a left. Once we’re at the end, the hallway splits into two. Since they gave out dinner a few hours ago, we can safely assume no guards will be there. From the end, we take a left and go down that hall. From there, we take another—Raphtalia, are you even listening?”

No response. Her eyes were stuck on the floor. I snapped my fingers in front of her spaced-out face, causing her head to jump as if her soul reentered her body.

“What—I’m listening.”

My arms crossed. “What did I just say?”

She didn’t respond. She looked around as if the room had the answer. We didn’t have the time for this. We needed to take this chance and bolt out. I let out an exaggerated sigh and headed to the door.

“Jill,” muttered Raphtalia. Hearing my name, I turned around. "We should… we should help the others. What if it's their dream to escape and head to Ionia as well? We could and should help them.”

What was she talking about? Why should we help them? We had a perfect chance to escape, so why would she want to risk it for strangers?

I grabbed onto her wrist and looked dead straight into her eyes. “We shouldn’t blow this chance. We have an opportunity right now, so just take it while it's on the table.”

Her head tilted towards the concrete floor. Her blood-colored hair covered her face. I sensed she wasn’t happy with my words. I didn’t want her to feel this way. It was something I would beat myself up for. But we couldn’t stand here bickering about what to do. I was going to do the right thing for both of us.

I’m sorry, Raphtalia. But maybe one day, we can come back and save them all.

She casually pushed the door just for us to squeeze. The bottom of the door was a few inches off the ground. Its rusty hinges made the door creak. Thankfully, it wasn’t loud. The noise didn’t bounce off the wall like it usually would. My back turned into a wall as I inched my way out the door.

I was doing this. We were doing this.

Raphtalia’s tongue stuck out while slipping out of the cell.

We were both freely out of our cages.

While standing in the vacant hallway, my blood woke up my brain. No, it didn’t wake me up; it made me feel alive. My smile grew accordingly with each step we took away from our cell. I was waiting for this moment. My temptation to triumphantly yell was buried. We had to escape with no flaws.

The hall was straight with no windows. The only light source was the dim candles hooked onto the walls, out of our reach. The flames were still like rocks, not swaying at all.

We walked shoulder to shoulder, constantly looking behind in case someone was there. The only thing we saw, however, was our shadows. My shadow abandoned me in the darkest times. But right now, it followed me, blending with Raphtalias’. Perhaps it knew today would shine a light and hadn’t left because of that.

We might as well have been levitating since our bare feet made no noise on the concrete. Not a word was peeped from us. We didn’t want to risk our voices being heard. I felt some sort of déjà vu. I recalled the times when we were dragged out of our cells against our will. The screams, blood, tears, everything I’d faced led up to this day.

There was no need to lie, but my heart felt like it would burst into blood. My throat was dry, shallowing the negative memories away. As I nibbled on my finger, I glanced over to Raphtalia, who instantly looked away.

Now thinking about it, our eyes hadn’t met since I told her not to risk saving the others. Was she really this upset?

My hands stroked the walls. I felt not a single bump. The smoothness almost put me at ease. I hoped I never got to touch these walls ever again.

We approached the wall's end and the split pathways' beginning. We turned the corner towards the left. The hall was identical to the first one. The dim candles hung off the hooks, the texture of the walls was the same, and our shadows followed us. Everything was the same except for its length. This hall was exceptionally shorter than the other. In a quick minute, we reached a point where we had no option but to turn right.

We peeked around the corner and saw a bigger cell than ours. A singular torch was lit directly across from it, but there was no room for light to shine.

There was a small noise coming from the cell.

A noise pleading for help.

It sounded of muffled whimpers, begging, praying for someone to guide those tears away.

I grabbed Raphtalia’s arm, “Don’t even think about it.”

But she only knocked my hand away, snarling, “I’ll do what I please.” She then went on ahead of me.

I wanted to catch up to her, but judging by her mood, it wouldn’t be the best idea. We rarely fought, always getting along. Sure, there were a few scuffles here and there, but nothing too serious. This was the one time everything had to go perfectly, but her stubbornness blinded her from that.

We should be fine after tonight. Everything will return to normal once she smells the trees filled with birdsong and the meadowlands vibrant with flowers.

Rapthalia comfortably said, “Hello?”

It wasn’t a whisper, but her voice wasn’t normal. It was somewhere in between. I shook my head at her, hoping she would acknowledge it. She bluntly ignored me, focusing on the person behind the bars.