Idea

"W-why are you here?" Berg asked him.

Frei turned his head, and upon seeing Berg still alive. All that bitterness resided within him quietly subsided and he cracked a soft smile at him.

Frei mustered up all the energy still left within him and exclaimed joyfully "Y-you're alive!"

Berg, after seeing Frei's enthusiasm, smiled back. Before dropping his smile and asked, "You okay kid? Feeling like you might die?" 

"N-No… I feel very tired though." Frei responded. "But I don't…exactly know what dying feels like."

"Death feels cold and eerie to those who fear it, but those who accept it find it to be very warm and comfortable. Or you simply don't feel anything." Berg remarked.

"I feel tired, does that mean I won't die?" 

Berg chuckled, "Not yet. Death comes for us all. Yet despite all those who fear and accept it, there are also those who desperately wish for death. Be it for themselves or others. Personally, I don't think I have ever wished for death, though I don't think I have ever wished to live either." He paused for a short moment then his eyes started to glitter. "Well, maybe now and then I wish to live, for something, for someone." 

"S…Sarah?" Frei replied, after noticing Berg's sudden shift in mood. 

Berg smirked at Frei. "I wish to see her again. Groveling on the ground and telling her how sorry I am. Apologize for all the things I have done to her and mistreatment. All the things I didn't want to do to you, Frei. That's why I came here. An opportunity of redemption… I thought." Berg said with a noticeable regret in his tonality. "So why are you here?"

"I…I was trying to find you. I didn't see you the whole morning and my heart got heavy."

"... I see." Berg said after he felt a small warmth within him coming from Frei's words and concern. Somehow that made him feel better of his current circumstance yet at the same time he felt a little regretful. "You see, I was trying to keep you out of this. Beating up a noble is not a joke and they don't treat it like one. That's why there's bound to be heavy punishment for them and some of them are inhumane. I didn't want a kid to experience it. Especially not one as young as you"

""Why? He was the one that attacked me first? Why wasn't he punished? Why must you be punished? Why did you find him? I wasn't the one who beated him, so I wouldn't be punished right?" Frei said as a mixture of multiple emotions rushed over him.

"He wouldn't have let you go, not after he failed to reach you, his target. His pride simply wouldn't allow it. It is as big as a mountain, fragile like glass, even if you did nothing, EVEN if you were the one being attacked, he'd still see it as disobeying orders, and Wall? Well, he doesn't care about justice, much less about slaves like us. I find him because I thought maybe that I could reason with him and- Well I was just naive."

"What do we do now?" Frei said worriedly.

"Nothing we could do now. Except wait and hope that we get to see the sun tomorrow." Berg said, as he coughed up blood. 

"..." 

Frei observed Berg's body, the countless cuts and bruises embedded on his body impacted Frei more than he thought. As he felt a mixture of regret and pity for his friend, the torment Berg went through was nothing compared to what he had endured a few minutes before. He began to wonder that within the 25 years that Berg has resided in this place, how many times had he faced a situation like this, how many times had he swung the hoe onto the ground. Then, he had a damning thought, that he may never see the outside world described in books, the world he saw in his dreams, that he may never experience it.

"I...I'm sorry." Frei said regretfully.

"What are you sorry for?"

"That you had to be treated this way for 25 years"

"Don't worry about it. I've gotten used to it" Berg said nonchalantly, shrugging Frei's pity off.

"W…Will I too be treated the same way? For 25 years?"

"..." Berg stayed silent. He didn't really know how to respond to Frei. Whether he should sugarcoat it or tell him the harsh truth, both he knew, would have great consequences for Frei. Either telling him, he won't and later be beaten, treated the same way as he did for 25 years would simply make Frei feel betrayed or tell him that he'd be beaten and torn apart like some ravaged animals which in the end will simply bring him agony and despair as each day passes by. Neither will change anything, both bringing in the same terrible results. But again, staying silent wouldn't change anything either, because the reality would simply dwell on him someday, and as each day passed by, his radiant hope would only dim, eventually extinguished. 

"Well. Depends. If…" Berg hesitated before continuing. "If you run away, escape from this place, like what Arthur suggested, you won't be treated like some animal. I do not know what the outside currently looks like, but… is the only way. Get outta here Frei, whether you sneaked through the front gate being chased by the guards or climbed the big high wall keeping us here. Get outta here before you realize you may have been stuck here for the rest of your life." He said with a little to no faith in his words, but that's what his instincts told him to say, and so he did. "Even…. Even if it may kill you."

"I see…"

Then the sound of the heavy iron door being opened yet again echoed. This time albeit was subtly softer than last time. No more did the thunderous clang shake the entire basement and staircase. After that, another soft clang echoed, the sound of the heavy iron door banging with the marble wall. Then comes the sounds of light steps that only come from loafer shoes. When it stoped, the door to the basement was open and to Frei's delight the one that entered the room was "Gloria" 

She came, balancing a tray that was bearing two bowls of rich veggie soup, a cup of water and two spoons. "Sorry, this is all I can get for you right now. You two must be hungry." She said gently, as she put down the tray onto the brick floor, avoiding the blood stains on the ground.

"God… Are you two okay?" She asked, concerned for their health. "Nevermind, that was a pointless question. Quick drink." She holds one of the bowl right up into Frei's face, spoon feeding him. 

Frei drank and immediately asked, "Why are you here? You should get back fast! They will do something bad to you!" He said frantically.

"I don't want you two to be hungry! Especially you Frei. And don't worry, I'll be fine as long as they don't spot me. Just drink and I will be gone!" She said while continuing to feed Frei of the soup she brought. "I thought that you two would be hungry, especially what happened in the cage. Sorry, I… couldn't do anything then."

"Y-You should go "Gloria" I don't want you to end up like us." Frei said.

"I will, only after you two are fed and hydrated!"