Barry stared at Astrid, confused. "I don't understand. How can this be? You died!" he stammered.
Her second in command reentered the room and stood by her side, noting that she had revealed who she really was to the entire room. His face was still and silent, wondering just what she had planned.
"Cisco, can you arrange for Mr Allen to be placed in a private cell? One of the interrogation rooms, please. You and I should speak with him alone." She said to her second. He, Sara and Eobard heeded her request.
Sara unlocked the cell and pointed her sword at Barry. They followed Cisco into another room, as Eobard locked the other prisoners back in their cell, and ensured that they couldn't escape from their bindings.
Astrid took a deep breath out of frustration, and followed Cisco, Barry and Sara into the interrogation cell, which was lined with an array of old fashioned-looking torture contraptions. On the other side of the room was a few chairs and a desk. The sight frightened Barry to the core, though he was relieved that Sara sat him on the chair, as per Astrid's request.
Sara left the room, so that it was only Cisco, Astrid and Barry alone.
"What happened to you Astrid? Why have you aligned yourself with Reverb and Thawne?" Barry asked her.
A slight menacing smile crossed over Cisco's face, though Astrid's face was expressionless.
"Reverb, huh?" Cisco chuckled to himself. Barry looked at him, and then back at Astrid.
"I suppose that I should tell you, Bar. This man beside me, is not Reverb. He is our Cisco. The Cisco that you and I both knew as our best friend. The love of my life, my second in command… and my husband. I mean, who else would I have to build all those contraptions that you see behind you." She said as she smiled at Cisco, who took her hand.
"I don't understand you guys… What is all this? Why would the two of you do all of this? Working with the Lords of Chaos? Killing people? Torturing people?" Barry asked, gesturing at the room around him, "How did the two of you survive the time reset, you especially, Astrid?"
"Oh, you heard about that?" Astrid said playfully, "yeah… your little time reset was supposed to kill me. I mean I had no idea that you going back through time and saving your mother… and not stopping a random car crash would kill me… I think that means that technically…technically you would have killed me… Barry. So, you see we're all killers here. Mordru saved me. Just as he brought back Cisco. It was my wish and he granted it! So why wouldn't I join the side that will win the war?"
"This isn't you, Astrid!" Barry argued, "Sara… she said that he controls emotions… he is doing that to you, can't you see it? You're the strongest person that I have ever met, and you are letting him do…"
"Shut up, Barry!" Cisco shot at him.
"Now, now Cisco. He has the right to believe as he chooses." Astrid said, as she held tight onto his hand.
"You guys… This isn't right!" Barry went on, "You're not evil. The two of you would rather risk your lives than do this… I mean even Oliver…"
"Ollie makes a brilliant soldier!" Astrid remarked, "… and his interrogation techniques are brilliant… but I really hope he doesn't need to use them on you… Even sweet little Felicity has really… I don't know… come out of her shell… Its great! Mordru let me choose all of my soldiers… my own team… and my powers are not wasted here, either. Cisco and I used to think that my powers were a curse… but with them, I have gathered such an army… Oh and Barry, it gets better! Do you remember our little trip to Smallville? Well, the meteor shower brought about a little boy named Clark and he has grown up to become such an amazing wonder... Such a man of steel on the front line! He is almost invincible! Kryptonians! They are a real wonder!"
"Astrid. You're on some sort of power trip! The only reason your brought me in here is to try and convert me because you know that you can't use your mind control on me! I will not align with you. With any of you! I will stop all of this and I will free you both! I mean it!" Barry said.
Astrid shook her head out of pity. "Barry, I brought you here because I would prefer not to kill you. Thawne begged me to let him kill you. You were one of my best friends. I have Caitlin, I have Cisco and we are not a team without you. Together, we can achieve greatness! You will be on the front line, fighting in the big war alongside us! But I can see that this conversation is going nowhere. Cisco, can you lock him up in a cell, by himself? We will work on his friends and then come back to him, later."
Cisco nodded and led Barry out of the room and into the hall, where Sara was still waiting. The two of them led Barry to an isolated cell.
Astrid returned back to the prison cell, that held Barry's friends. They would be easy to manipulate, they were all still bound and tied. Thawne was waiting by the door with the key in hand.
She gestured for him to give her the key, which he did, obediently. She unlocked and opened the door and focused on their minds individually. Keeping them all in a trance. She eyed the dopplegangers of Caitlin and Cisco first. "you all know who I am." She said, while using her mind control, "In fact, I have met a couple of you face to face. There is a war coming and we need soldiers on our side to fight. All of you have extraordinary gifts that will be amazing in the war to come. You will all give yourselves over to fight for Mordru and The Lords of Chaos, under my order. There will be no hesitations and there will be no regrets. You will need to train night and day and you will not submit. Nor will you stand for anyone to oppose you. You will fight to the death and there will be no turning back."
The group was still in a trance as she walked over to the opened door, where Thawne was still standing. "The three of them will be brilliant assets in the war." She commented.
"Three of them?" Thawne asked, puzzled. "There were four!" he looked back over at the prisoners. There was a girl missing. Astrid and Thawne had overlooked one of their prisoners. Gypsy could camouflage and she had made her escape.
"Find her!" Astrid demanded, "and alert everybody that we have an enemy at large." Eobard nodded and left immediately to find the girl.