"Oh, what did you mean when you said you found me? She's your sister, right? She would tell you," Tony said, pointing at Yamin.
"And who is this guy?" Muller added, pointing at the two. He motioned toward the guards to force Tony to kneel.
One of the soldiers advanced to poke Tony. Just then, as he approached, Yamin gave a command.
"Stop it. Don't harm him," she said with a tender, charming voice.
Muller turned to look at her, falling silent. His usual authority seemed to fade. With a subtle signal to the soldier, he stepped back to his post.
Jasmine remained quiet. She hadn't meant to hurt Yamin, yet she didn't ask any questions.
"Take them to the cell," Jasmine finally ordered.
The guards obeyed, leading them away. Yamin felt a deep, strange sensation. Her mind wandered back to the moment he had told her to stop crying as he touched her cheek, guilt glimmering in her expression.
Each prisoner was led to a separate cell.
"These guards sent them—each to their own," one guard muttered to Gabby as he opened her gate. She recoiled instinctively, resisting. But the guards were persistent. They pushed her in.
Tony entered his cell quietly, still confused. Jasmine had imprisoned him.
He remembered the girls the man had mentioned earlier. Maybe he missed something...
_____
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
The girls, recently arrived, all turned their eyes toward it.
Their eyes fixed on the door. Elsie, being the closest, stepped forward and opened it.
It was Nether.
"Your friend… he's been taken to the cell," she said, her voice trembling. She stammered, clearly shaken.
"Who could this be?" Skyler asked in confusion.
Nether looked uncertain but answered, "Tony. I've heard of him."
"Tony," Elsie echoed, her voice tense.
Without another word, Skyler grabbed her telescope—still hanging—and set it down.
"Let's go," she said.
They rushed out the door, feet tapping against the stone with hurried steps.
"Not to the judgment hall," Nether warned. "Let's pass here."
They detoured, bypassing the guillotine. It stood ominously in front of a building—silent, sharp, and terrifying. No one wanted to look directly at it.
Soon, they reached the guarded zone.
"This area is out of bounds," a guard announced. "Present your granting token."
The granting token was a small, flat piece of engraved metal issued by the council—only those with it were allowed near the prison cells.
"We don't have one," Skyler whispered.
Nether stepped ahead, raising her hands calmly.
"I'm with them," she said.
The guards narrowed their eyes. One leaned toward the other and whispered, "She's the handmaid, right?"
The other nodded.
"Let them in," he said.
Nether led them through the cell apartments. Just ahead, a young man was being brought into a cell.
"Give me the code," Nether requested from the cellkeeper.
"Yes, here it is," he replied, handing her a small metal token.
As he turned, he noticed Elsie and paused.
"It's like you've been here before," he said with a curious look.
"Yeah," she replied quietly, walking ahead. She wasn't here for sightseeing—she had someone to find. Someone important.
Her brother.
They followed Nether, weaving through dim the cell hallways, peering unto the code on the cell after cell.
"It's not here," Elsie said, eyes scanning anxiously.
"Then it must be downstairs, in the lower room," Nether suggested.
They descended carefully, the air growing colder with each step. Finally, they reached a quiet corridor—and found something.
But it was Gabby.
"Let's check around. He may still be close," Nether said, trying to reassure her.
It wasn't easy for Elsie. Her brother was in trouble. Somewhere behind these cold walls, he was waiting… scared… maybe even hurt.
She had to save him.
Let's wait to see what she'll do.