Voyage Of The Villainess

Darkness. That was the first thing Dorris saw when she opened her eyes for the first time in a long time. The bed she was laying in creaked when she took a seat.

"Oops!" Dorris covered her mouth. \'I should have been more careful or I\'ll wake up Milady.\' At the thought of her ladyship, memories suddenly flooded Dorris\' mind.

"Wait!" Her eyes widened with horror. As she looked around all she could see was darkness even if her eyes already adjusted to it. "Where am I?!"

\'Milady!? That\'s right, someone attacked us!\' 

\'I must see to it that Milady is alright!\' 

She stood up and as her sight finally got accustomed to the dark. She run to the door she saw but before she could reach it...

*Boogsh!*

She stumbled on the ground with a loud thud. Specks of dust flew around that made her almost cough. She winced as she glanced at her left foot. There was a chain binding it. 

"Agh," Dorris took hold of the chain and tried to remove it but it was impossible for her. The metal was too hard to break. There was a huge keyhole on it, indicating that was the only way to remove it.

"Hah. Don\'t think that this mere chain could stop someone like me." Dorris tried activating her teleportation spell. But then a sudden burst of electricity charged up from the chain completely electrifying her.

"Ahh!" She screamed.

"Nesha!" The door suddenly opened wide. From the light reflecting outside, it showed the young man who kidnapped her. Worry laced his ashen greyed eyes when he saw Dorris lumped on the ground. Smoke was blowing out from her.

"You shouldn\'t have activated your magic, Nesha!" The young man said as he carried back Dorris to the bed. "The chain has an anti-magic spell. The electricity won\'t kill you but you will still get hurt." He said as he caressed her head. "But don\'t worry, the pain you are feeling right now will disappear after some time, you just need to behave yourself for now."

Dorris cast a quick glance towards the man who was speaking. His voice was unfamiliar yet at the same time not. It was just like, it sounded some sort of Deja Vu to her. But that was not the problem right now, her vision blurred due to that electricity and her body too were in extreme pain. It was like she was just stabbed by millions of needles. Nonetheless...

"Do-don\'t touch me!" She managed to say as she yanked the hands of the kidnapper.

But instead of letting her go, the young man grasped her hands firmer. "You don\'t remember me, Nesha? It\'s me, Callan!" He then held both Dorris\' shoulders as he inched his face closer to Dorris. "Nesha looked at my face closer."

Dorris winced more when this unknown guy held her shoulders. 

"It\'s me, Callan! We are the Best Street Rats back then!" The guy, whom he introduced himself as Callan, held Dorris\' shoulders firmer.

"Please...After all this time..." His voice held despair. 

*Pang!* Dorris\' heart felt heavier as suddenly blurred images crossed her mind.

"Those kids were always covered with mud and dirt."

"Those street rats...Don\'t ever get near to them, or you\'ll get some sort of illness, they have."

"Hahaha, the people always called us rats."

"Just don\'t mind them. When the time comes we will be the best street rats they would ever see!"

"I\'m not Nesha!" Dorris gritted her teeth. "The only thing I remember is how you have taken me away from Milady!" Dorris said as she pushed Callan with all the force that remained to her. Callan stumbled on the ground.

"Don\'t come any closer, or I\'ll kill myself!" Dorris said as she touched her neck with both her hands, intending to strangle herself if Callan made any move.

Seeing this, Callan\'s ashen eyes glinted with fear.

"Don\'t!" He screamed in fright as he stood up. He reached his trembling hands towards her but stop midair. "Please don\'t hurt yourself! I will stop now."

"Callan, that\'s enough!" Both of them turned towards the person in front. 

"G-gramps." 

The old man glanced towards Callan who was trembling and Dorris who looked warily at him. "It seems you\'re right, she doesn\'t remember anything. Leave, for now, Callan. I\'ll talk to her."

"But..." Callan bit his lower lip as he noticed his grandfather\'s solemn expression. He gave Dorris a pained glance before walking out of the room with his shoulders down. He didn\'t say anything and proceeded silently.

When the old man shut the door, a little fire erupted from his fingertip. The little ball fire then soared up and split into several small ball fires that surrounded the room. It eventually illuminated the entire room. Dorris took in her surroundings right away, but the only way out aside from the door was through the window, which was covered with slabs of wood. Apart from the bed, there was just one wooden table and chair beside her.

"I apologize if Callan frightened you. He was just a bit overwhelmed seeing you again. Among us, he was the one who suffered when we lost you."

Dorris tensed up hearing the old man\'s voice. 

"Don\'t be frightened, we won\'t hurt you. What\'s your name? You could simply call me Gramps or Roc." 

"Let me out of this place," Dorris exclaimed as she glared at the old man. 

"I apologize but we can\'t let you go now especially in your condition."

"I\'m all fine! Until that crazy guy kidnaps me away from Milady!" Dorris hissed. "What do you need from me?! Is it money? I could give you all of that if you let go of me!" 

"You really lost your memories." The old man Roc glanced at the girl glaring at her. "It\'s alright. You could take your time, recuperating here until all your memories return and get better."

He brought out a handkerchief from his pocket then unfolded it. It revealed some sort of a powder and whisked it towards Dorris\' direction. Seeing the familiar blue powder, Dorris immediately covered her nose. But despite this, she still felt sleepy.

"That sleeping powder could still work even without inhaling." The old man\'s voice resounded like an echo to Dorris as she lumped down on her bed. "You should rest more, Nesha. Soon father would also be here, and he would surely be glad to see you."

"Mi...lady," Dorris whispered before she lost consciousness once again.

---⚓⚓⚓---

"Hurry! This carp is for sale now!"

"Buy this carpet from the west. It is one of a kind!"

"Young sir, look at this sword! It would surely go well with you." Rein shook his head as he moved forward.

Malaya kept glancing around, ignoring every merchant trying to sell things on them. "Dorris!" She kept looking around but all she could see was an endless sea of people.

\'This couldn\'t go on.\' Malaya halted. \'I wouldn\'t be able to find Dorris like this.\'

"Rein," She pulled Rein\'s wrist away from the sea of people. "You told me once before that you have been to Aravan right? Lead me to the Adventurer\'s Guild."

Rein understanding what Malaya intended to do replied, "it\'s in this direction." He reversed the hold and pulled Malaya along with him.

\'What is going on with me?\' " Rein tightened his fist as they passed through the crowd. \'I felt like I wasn\'t my usual self; all of this happened because of my moment of carelessness; if I had been more conscious, all of this might have been avoided.\'

They didn\'t realize that someone was observing them from one of the rooftops of the stores in the vicinity as they walked.

"For them to be here." Iris continued to munch the apple she was eating. "So my memory is right. That girl was really her maid."

"U-u-ah-ah!" *Crunch!* "Hey that\'s mine!" Iris hit the white monkey but it evaded her hands swiftly. "Tsk. You already finished all those cherries and you still take my only lunch and dinner." 

*Growl.* Iris picked up her pouch and shook it in her hands. Only one more copper coin dropped into her hands. "I\'m seriously broke now." She sighed. \'

"What if I just make you some skewer into you. I wonder what a lump of monkey meat would taste like?" Hearing her, the monkey moved a few meters away from her.

"Tsk," Iris rose up and stuffed her arms into her pockets.. She cast a glance at the two people who were still walking away in a specific direction. "Now, I wonder what should I do?"