POV: Zayn
Suraken told me his story, leaving me speechless throughout. His tale was so terrible that even in my naivety, I grasped his thoughts. Despite everything, I couldn't help but admire his strength, not physical, but mental. If I were to learn of the death of any family member or comparable suffering, I would be shattered.
I contemplated Suraken, his eyes filled with pain, his face marked by suffering.
The silence stretched, enveloping our souls in a thick veil. Finally, my voice made its way through this heavy quietness, barely more than a whisper:
"Suraken, comment as-tu survécu à tout cela ? D'où puises-tu encore la force de continuer ?"
He slowly turned his head towards me. His eyes, filled with infinite sadness, seemed to contemplate a distant horizon as he replied in a barely audible voice:
"Je vivais heureux, insouciant du fait que ma vie puisse basculer ainsi. J'ai fini par comprendre que l'existence est imprévisible. Cette guerre semblait interminable, pourtant elle a pris fin quand personne ne s'y attendait. Désormais, je vis uniquement avec l'espoir que mes tourments s'achèvent un jour, m'en remettant au karma."
Despite our differences and the words used, whether he believed in karma or I in destiny, we were relying on what we couldn't control.
Consumed by worry, I felt the words leave my lips before I had even thought about them:
"Qu'est-il advenu de tes amis, des autres villageois, et surtout de ta petite sœur, Anaya ?"
Suraken briefly closed his eyes, as if gathering his memories. When he reopened them, his voice was soft, almost distant:
"J'imagine que la plupart des adultes survivants sont devenus esclaves. J'ai perdu tout contact avec eux, mais j'ai confiance en l'armure qui protège Anaya et cette fille. Selon les récits de ma mère, même si elles perdent la vie, la compétence perdure tant que vit son porteur. Je suis donc rassuré qu'elles ne puissent pas souffrir et suppose qu'elles sont devenues domestiques, ne pouvant être exploitées autrement."
I was somewhat relieved for them. I didn't ask about the others, because we both understood what they might have endured, just from hearing the echoes of slave life here.
However, a question was nagging at me. Having learned that the treaty had been signed by the six continents and that slavery was abolished, how had we ended up here? I asked Suraken this question, mainly seeking to understand how Kibara could have turned a blind eye to such an incident.
Suraken stared at me for a long time, his gaze seeming to weigh each word before he uttered them:
"Je ne peux que supposer, Zayn. Les informations que j'ai pu glaner sont fragmentaires et contradictoires. Mais je sais que l'attaque de notre village n'était pas un acte isolé. Des êtres haut placés, assez puissants, ont osé violer l'une des clauses du traité de paix. Quant à Kibara, notre Shahansha était dans une position délicate après la signature du traité et n'avait pas l'autorité nécessaire pour réagir."
I then realized that something was wrong. The Peacers should have intervened since the clause had not been respected. Should we expect their help soon? His answer was unexpected.
"Zayn, tu sembles être né et avoir grandi à Zafar. Comme tu l'as remarqué, la plupart des autres esclaves proviennent de continents encore plus éloignés que le nôtre. À ton avis, pourquoi ce pays semble-t-il briser toute loi ?"
Suraken's eyes darkened, his voice became more serious as he replied:
"La réponse est simple : le pays dans lequel nous nous trouvons est '[Censuré]'. C'est un territoire n'appartenant à aucun Shahansha, car celui qui l'acquiert gagne automatiquement la guerre."
Surprise made me stutter:
"Q-quoi ? Comment ça ? Qu'est-ce que ce territoire a de si spécial ?"
Suraken shrugged, his face betraying his own lack of understanding:
"Je n'en sais pas plus que toi. Je sais juste que le traité interdit à tout continent de revendiquer ce territoire pour cette raison. Puisqu'aucune autorité ne semble pouvoir y imposer sa loi, cet endroit est devenu une zone de non-droit, permettant aux pires ordures de l'humanité d'y trouver refuge et de s'adonner à leurs vices les plus infâmes, dont l'esclavage."
I looked at Suraken, but his eyes only reflected the harsh reality, a bitter truth that we had to accept.
After a moment of reflection, marked by the weight of the revelations, I felt the need to divert our minds from these overwhelming thoughts. "Have you ever heard of the Soulmaster legend?" I asked, trying to bring up a lighter subject.
Suraken looked at me curiously and shook his head. "No, I've never heard of it," he replied, his interest piqued.
"Then let me tell you this story before we fall asleep," I proposed, a shy smile lighting up my face. He settled comfortably, ready to dive into the tale my mother used to read to me.
I narrated every detail to him: the origin of this individual, the mysteries surrounding him, the fact that he launched our current calendar, and especially the message he left before extinguishing his flame: "I was not the last. A day will come when a being whose will is so strong that the world will bend to it. He will be the one who brings dawn to the darkness that will engulf our cosmos."
Seeing a glimmer of intrigue in his eyes, he asked me why I had chosen to tell him this particular story. I raised my eyes to the damp ceiling of our cell, my thoughts wandering to memories of a bygone era. "My mother often told me this story," I confided softly, my voice tinged with nostalgia. "It was my favorite story. I dreamed of becoming this exceptional being who would guide the world towards peace. But this hope faded when I realized that I might never have the abilities to achieve it."
"Nevertheless, I wanted to share it with you, Suraken, because I still believe that such a being could one day come into existence and repair all the ills that plague our world. Let's not lose hope. Who knows, maybe this being will be the one who saves us from this hell."
Suraken looked at me, his eyes reflecting a glimmer of hope mixed with sadness. "Thank you for telling me this story, Zayn," he said. "It gives me something to hold on to."
I offered him a tired but sincere smile. "Let's rest. Tomorrow will be another day, and we'll need all our strength to endure the horrors of our jailers."
The night ended as quickly as it had begun, giving way to the day.
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