She said nothing. Standing still was another obstacle of a hundred she faced that day.

“Should I take this as a no? If that’s the case…”

Putting his hands behind his back, he kept his eyes shut. With one step, he closed into her covered face, and with the next one, he turned around.

“What’s done is done! Let’s carry on, my friend!”

“Stop this.”

“Hm,” he turned around, tilting his head, “Stop what-”

“This!”

Shaking the vambrace around her arm, blue flames sparked away from her hands. The blaze emerged just as she grabbed the knight’s neck, pushing him against the wall.

“Stop messing with me!”

The knight only seemed surprised, despite the fact that his life was in her hands now.

“I apologize if this seems rude of me, but may I ask what I’ve done to have frustrated you like this?”

“What have you done?” she yelled. “Are you people so up on your own heads that-that guy said we should leave people to die! To. Die! And when he’s gone you suddenly go ‘actually I’ll help the prisoners,” then a few seconds later you-ugh!”

Too frustrated to continue her sentence, she just dropped her head down below.

“Oh,” he clapped his hands, “Oh, this is quite humorous.”

“Excuse me, what is?”

“May I assume that you have thoughts that I was going to the prisoner’s cells just to push you into one and call it a day?”

She became more and more frustrated as he chuckled.

“Oh, of course, this is a joke to you. Oh look, isn’t it funny how I can imprison some random girl? Isn’t it funny how innocent people get stuck here for years on end, never gaining any contact with their families whatsoever? Isn’t it funny how people get freaking whipped because they were too exhausted to continue working in mines? Isn’t it funny how thousands of people, whether innocent or guilty, were left to die because some animal abuser thought it’d be too inconvenient to do so!”

The knight hadn't responded with anything. He had just looked at her, as her rage turned into ashes and all what’s left was a tired out silence.

“Heh, why’d you stop laughing?” she let’s go off him. “If it's because of pity, you can just spare me of that!”

She sat on the ground, her head against her knees. She wasn’t crying, no matter how much she wanted to.

“Miss.”

The knight put his hand on her shoulder, she immediately brushed it off. “What is it? Do you want to rat me out faster? Go on some long speech about how you, the imperial vase or whatever, found an intruder while a ton of fire barks out behind you!”

“The idea sounds glamorous, but no.”

“Huh?”

“Listen to me if you want to, but there’s something I want to clarify. I want to help.#

“What are you-”

He crouched down, tightly holding her hands. “I am going to help the prisoners!”

He was unable to see her face frowning as he said that

“I know that you l have yet to do anything to earn your trust, but there’s one thing I want to make sure you know about. I will never, and I mean never, let anyone behind to die. As a knight, that’s my duty, for which I’ll breathe and suffocate.”

“And?” she laughed at his attempt at a speech, “Say that you actually mean every single thing you’ve just said. It’s not like you have the keys to the cell or anything.”

“Actually I do.”

“What.”

She opens her eyes to see him joyfully hand carrying a ring of keys on his palms.

“...What?!”

“Ta-dah!”

“When? How?”

“Now all we need is weapons. May I take this?”

“Uh,” she looks down to see the sword in her scabbard, “I guess. I don’t use swords, anyway.”

“What do you use then?”

“Well, I used to train with a wooden staff when I was a kid.”

“Aha,” he clapped his hands, “Just a moment, Miss!”

He approaches one of the unconscious knights. He took someone’s spear, removing its sharp point. “This should work, right?”

“...You didn’t have to-”

“No, we've got everything we need! Let’s carry on and rescue the prisoners! Unless… you want to escape alone.”

He looked her over. “That might be the less risky option."

She swallowed before giving an answer. “No, I couldn’t just leave them like that!”

He smiled at her. “Perfect. Just one more thing to do.”

“Which is?”

“Them.”

He points towards the unconscious guards and maids behind them.

“Hm. I doubt the dragon is going to find these people here, so they should be safe for a while. I should probably make them more comfortable, though, considering this is all my fault in a way.”

“Make them comfortable? How-”

He begins to pull out the different bodies on the ground. Slowly making them lie on their back, their hands crossed on their stomachs. He did that to every single one, even giving them all a good-night head-pats.

Yeah, there’s something wrong with him.

She was too confused to say anything, so she just walked onward.

“Wait for me, miss!”

They walked next to each other, him staring at her with an unnecessarily big smile on his face. She walked away from him, but he followed.

“Personal space please.”

“Ah, my apologies,” he backed off with the same expression intact, “I just think you’re really interesting.”

“So are you.”

“Aw, thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” she whispered to herself.

“By the way, I think I am correct to assume that you’re a girl, yes?”

“Yeah…”

“Amazing! May I know your name too?”

“No,” she stepped away from him.

“Why is that?”

“Simply put, I am only working alongside you because of the keys, after that I'll leave this place as fast as possible. And two, I have know you for like an hour or so. You could easily stab in the back with some hidden knives or something.”

“Oh, I’ve forgotten to put my pocket behind my skirts, so don’t worry about that.”

“This guy,” she clenched her fists, “My point still stands-”

“Nexus.”

“Huh?”

She turns around to see him bow down, 

“I am Nexus, the knight of miracles, the traveling vassal. You shall refer to me in whatever means you wish.”

“Why did you…”

“I don't find enjoyment in being referred to as 'this guy', plus, now that you know my name, I could know yours!”

She looks away, “As if.”

“Alrighty then. Miss it is”

For the next several hours, they had just traversed through the tunnels. They were pretty wide, surprisingly enough. As the walls and ceiling still show signs of it all being dug through, the ground itself was actually easy to traverse through, for only a few giant rocks would become obstacles in their way.

However, with only a few flickers of light appearing every so often, and the knight only looking at her as they pass through, the place felt more claustrophobic than it was. She was still trapped, even when freedom was only a fly away from her.

“If I may suggest. why don't you use it?”

“Use what?”

“Your blue flames, or is blue purity a more appropriate term?”

She struggled to answer for whatever reason, “I can’t. What if someone sees them and immediately realizes who I am?”

“Hm, that’s true, though they’ll probably question our companionship first.”

“We aren’t-”

“And besides, we walked through this path for hours and we haven’t encountered anyone, and we’ll most likely leave before any of the guards and maids wake up. So, go ahead.”

He tilted his head, a smile on his face, “Light them up.”

She hesitated at first, looking at her shaking hands. She took out her gloves, her brown hands surrounding a small blue spark, light rays flowing between her fingers, forming sparkle-like shapes on the walls.

Nexus had looked over those sparkled, his jaw dropping and steps jumping. Alice, on the other hand, had just looked over the small flame, recalling how hard it was for her to control them at first when her parents took them. Now, even after many years, she was able to change them in size and shape.

It was so long she felt like this. Looking at the flame, then staring at the path ahead, it finally clicked for her. Only a few moments away, she’s going to be free. Never again is she going to be here. Never again is anyone going to take away her powers. Things will be normal again.

“Flames of the mind,” Nexus said, looking at her flame. “Many scholars described it like that in the books I’ve read. Is it true?”

“Pretty much,” her arms movement made the fire fly through different directions. “They can’t burn wood or roast meat, but they can easily affect people psychologically. It can make people unconscious, as you saw earlier.”

“My, and I see it’s not without physical attributes either!”

“Yeah, it can amplify our strength if a person’s body is strong enough to handle that, and it gives people the ability to float too.”

“What about flight?”

“Same thing.”

“My goodness,” he repeatedly clapped his hands, like giving kudos to the actors and the end of their performance, “It’s better than actual fire in the end. And may I ask one more question?”

“Go on ahead. It’s not like it could make things worse.”

“Is it true that blue purity can erase people’s memories?”

She stopped in her steps.

“Many books mention such events. A mage of blue purity used her flames to get inside a person's mind and mess with their perception of what had actually happened!”

“Oh that,” she answered, “Well, we do have that kind of spell, but also not really.”

“It’s called a dawn of memories. For it you need a large amount of concentration and a mastery of the flames. You look into the person’s eyes, as both yours and theirs shine in a blue color, and then their souls can basically watch the person’s past like a nonexistent audience if you get the gist of it.”

Nexus put his hands to his face. “That’s absolutely astonishing.”

“Even memories that were once forgotten can be rekindled once the party traverses well enough into the person’s ‘hall of mind’ as we call it, and it can take hours to weeks for certain memories to be found again. For example, if I were to cast the spell on you, it would take around a month to find the memory of how you were born.”

He was absolutely speechless. He had only stared at her with widened eyes, which annoyed her quickly.

“Or I mean, so I’ve heard. I never learned how to cast that spell for obvious reasons! And we can't really erase memories either.”

“It’s still remarkable! You could do so much with that kind of spell. Help little kids find their toys, find how you got lost in a giant city, and that’s not even mentioning the demented! You must love being born in such a family.”

“Well, actually I’m-”

“Argh!”