When Wendy awoke, she found herself locked in a cage in the heart of a terrifying landscape. The dry, barren wasteland was strewn with jagged rocks and perpetually shrouded in a thick fog that cast ominous shadows. Skeletons of dead animals littered the ground, and her heart raced as she realized this was no nightmare.

"Where am I?" she thought, panic rising. "Hello! Is anyone there? Jellal! Romeo!"

"They're not here, child," came a cold, sinister voice.

From the shadows, a figure emerged—her uncle, Faust. Relief washed over her momentarily.

"Oh, Uncle Faust! Thank goodness!" she exclaimed. "Get me out of here! Quick!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the one who put you in there."

Her relief turned to shock. "What? What do you mean? Why would you do this?"

"Because I need you to stay missing for a few more hours. Then I'll kill you."

"Kill me?!" she gasped. "Uncle Faust, what are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about what's best for the tribe. Everyone knows I should continue leading, but they insist on following that ridiculous tradition where the firstborn child succeeds the chief. Tragically, that leaves only one option: you have to die."

Wendy felt as if she couldn't breathe. With each word her uncle spoke, it felt like a black mamba was tightening its grip around her.

"It's nothing personal," he said, his voice cold and detached. "I'm just doing what's necessary to maintain order in the tribe. You can't possibly be a suitable chieftess, and tradition won't allow you to simply hand over the position. Death is truly the only solution."

"But you're my uncle. We're family. You would kill me? Your own niece?"

He leaned closer to the cage bars, his eyes glinting with a chilling resolve.

"Why not? I killed my own brother."

"You what?!" she gasped, her voice barely a whisper.

"Yes. I killed him. I lured him on that hunt, separated him from the others, and then I stabbed him to death." His tone was devoid of emotion, as if recounting a mundane task. "I can still remember the look on his face when I struck. It was just like yours, and with his last breath, he begged me not to hurt you. It was pathetic."

A wave of horror, rage, and heartbreak surged within Wendy.

"Monster!" she screamed, clawing at her uncle's face, tears of fury streaming down her cheeks. "My father! Your own brother! How could you?!"

Faust recoiled in surprise, momentarily taken aback by her ferocity, but the madness in his eyes only deepened.

"My brother stole everything that should have been mind!" He snarled hatefully. "He stole the power, he stole the tribe, and he stole your mother!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You foolish girl! Did you really think your father became chief by birthright? I'm the eldest; it should have been mine! Your mother was the true heir, and I intended to marry her to claim the title. But then my little brother fell in love with her. He didn't even care about being chief, yet he still married her!"

"Because he loved her!"

"Love?! Anyone who values love is a deluded fool who deserves to suffer! And that's exactly what I did to your father! I never loved him! I hated him from the moment he was born, and I hate you too! You're just as stupid and pathetic as he was, and you deserve to die just like he did!"

"You're insane!" Wendy spat.

"Perhaps, but it will be Jellal who's labeled insane."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Wendy, Jellal never believed it was an accident that killed my brother. He always suspected I was involved, making him a greater threat to my plans than you. So who better to serve as the scapegoat when they find your body?"

"No one would ever believe he'd hurt me!"

With a sudden, violent motion, he tore off her wrap, leaving scratches and burn marks on her arms. Blood dripped, and Faust caught as many drops as he could on the fabric.

"They will when they find this in his hut. Just imagine it: Wendy's beloved bodyguard, always by her side, pretending to protect her. But when they discover he's actually a resentful deviant who raped and murdered you, they won't even give him a trial. He'll be executed on the spot and burned."

"You won't get away with this! The manticore won't allow it!"

"The manticore? Ha!" He laughed. "I've spent years hunting and killing for sport without facing any consequences! Why? Because I'm more powerful than the manticore, and that beast knows it! He fears me! They all fear me!"

"That explains how anyone could want you as chief," Wendy shot back. "A monster like you can only lead if everyone is too afraid to stop you! They'll never love or respect you like they did my father! Just because the manticore hasn't come for you yet doesn't mean he won't someday! Then you'll be sorry!"

But Faust dismissed his niece's warning, leaving to set the next part of his plan in motion.

...

Searching the grasslands at night was never easy. Even with a torch, the darkness enveloped them, and the night was when many predators chose to hunt. Jellal kept a firm grip on Romeo's shoulder as they walked through the savanna, ready to pull him close if a lion or jackal leaped from the grass. He hoped they wouldn't encounter hyenas; Romeo was terrified of them ever since one had bitten him hard on the arm when he was three. If a hyena appeared, the boy wouldn't run or scream—he would freeze, paralyzed with fear, unable to protect himself.

"Why haven't we found Wendy yet?" Romeo asked, his voice tinged with worry. "We should have found her by now, shouldn't we?"

"Just have faith, Romeo," Jellal replied, trying to sound reassuring. "Have faith."

After an hour of fruitless searching, Jellal noticed his brother growing sleepy. Romeo's steps were slowing, his arms drooping, and his eyelids heavy. He could barely keep going. Deciding it was best for Romeo to rest, Jellal scooped him onto his back and headed toward their hut.

To his surprise, they found the sub-chiefs and other warriors gathered outside, speaking with their father.

"There must be some kind of mistake!" Macao exclaimed, his face pale with horror. "There has to be! There's no way Jellal did this!"

"The evidence we found says otherwise," Ajeel replied coldly.

"To hell with your evidence!" Macao snapped. "My boy did not commit this... this evil! He's not capable of it!"

"What's going on here?" Jellal asked as he walked into the scene.

"Seize him!" Ajeel commanded, and suddenly the warriors roughly restrained Jellal while Romeo was torn away from him.

"Hey! Get your hands off my brother! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Jellal," Jura said, approaching with a calm demeanor that belied the fury in his eyes. "You have been accused of abducting, raping, and murdering the future chieftess."

"What?!" Jellal cried, disbelief flooding his voice. "Is this some kind of joke?!"

"You see anyone laughing?"

"You can't honestly believe I would ever hurt Wendy! I love her!"

"Love?" Jura's expression twisted in disgust. "You call that love? She's a child!"

"I know that! I would never touch her like that! I love her like I love my brother! I consider her family! Not like that!"

"Then what was this in your bed?!" Jura shouted, throwing a bloodied wrap at Jellal's feet.

"That's Wendy's!" Romeo nearly screamed upon seeing the blood.

"Dimaria found this in your bed when we searched the hut."

"I didn't put that there! This is a setup!"

"That's absurd," Dimaria replied. "No one could have framed you. Your father told us he was in the hut all night. He would have seen someone plant it."

"That doesn't mean it couldn't have happened! Besides, I couldn't have taken Wendy! I was saving Romeo from drowning when she was taken!"

"It's true!" Romeo confirmed.

"The boy could easily be lying to protect his brother," Dimaria shot back.

"My boys don't lie!" Macao insisted.

"Well, blood doesn't lie either," Dimaria retorted.

As Dimaria moved closer, Jellal noticed a mark on her face—a cut, like one from a knife. Her hair looked damp, as if she had just emerged from the water.

"Blood doesn't lie, but you certainly do!" Jellal accused.

"What do you mean by that?" Dimaria asked, her voice rising. "Are you calling me a liar? Do you have any idea how you're speaking to me, young man?"

"Was that your plan? Distract me by trying to drown my brother so your accomplice could grab Wendy? And then, when you searched my hut, you planted her wrap in my bed!"

"Jellal, you're out of line!" Jura interjected.

"Where is she?! What did you do with her?! Who else is involved?!"

"He's crazy!" Dimaria exclaimed.

"Her uncle is part of this too, isn't he? I bet he masterminded the whole thing, the bloody demon! Where is Wendy?!"

"Get him out of here!" Ajeel ordered. "We'll burn him in the morning!"

But Macao wouldn't let one of his children die. He understood the risk and the penalty; he knew he might be burned in Jellal's place. But to a father, no risk was too great for his child. He quickly punched one of the warriors holding Jellal, and the younger man took out the other.

"Go, Jellal!" Macao urged, grabbing his spear. "Take Romeo and run!"

Normally, Jellal would have stayed to help his father fight, but Romeo's safety was paramount. He scooped up Romeo and reluctantly fled into the dark night.

"Father, no!" Romeo cried, struggling to break free from Jellal's grip. "Let me go! We have to help him!"

"There's nothing we can do. There are three of us and ten of them," Jellal said.

"But Father—"

"The best thing we can do for him now is to avoid capture and find Wendy! They think I killed her, and we both know that's not true, but there's no way to prove it until we find her!"

Tears brimmed in the little boy's eyes.

"What if she's dead?!" he sobbed. "There was blood on her wrap, Jellal!"

"That doesn't necessarily mean she's dead."

"But it doesn't mean she's alive either!"

"Listen, Romeo, I know you're scared and confused. So am I, but I'm going to fix this. I promise."

"What if you can't fix it?"

"You just have to trust me. Can you do that?"

"Yes. I can."

Jellal hugged Romeo tightly, as if he were still a small child needing constant protection.

"It'll be okay," Jellal assured him. "I don't know how, but everything is going to turn out alright."