"Let me tell you a tale where justice does not prevail. About an ill-fated life, so very full of strife, where two wrongs do not make a right." - 'Such Horrible Things' - Creature Feature

Newt crashed to his knees as he and Grindelwald reapparated. They were now in a room that was constructed from dark stone and was coldly lit by blue-fire torches. He swayed a little; side-apparating was often an unpleasant experience but doing so against your will was twice so. Newt's stomach was flipping uncomfortably, knotting and cramping like mad as he tried to take deep, reassuring breaths to settle himself. He surveyed the room with some trepidation, from what he could see, there was only one door, which was situated to the left of him. If the symbols that were carved into the gleaming metal were anything to go by, it was heavily enchanted, it was highly unlikely that apparating out would be an option - not that he had really expected any less. There was a stale, dry smell to the place, the kind of smell that usually came with long disuse in an otherwise clinical environment.

Grindelwald released his grip on Newt's arm and moved over to the door, moving his wand in a twirling motion that resulted in a loud series of clicks and the engraved symbols glowed brightly before fading back to normal. Newt closed his eyes momentarily, this situation was just getting worse and worse – he was now bound, wandless and magically sealed in a room with a homicidal dark wizard whom he had personally scorned.

When had his life turned down such a dark path? He knew the answer to that, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself – Dumbledore. When he had made Newt aware of the trafficked Thunderbird and suggested he take it to America to release it in Arizona, the Magizoologist had known deep down that his former teacher had ulterior motives. He had heard of the issues the American Ministry had been having with an unknown magical force causing destruction in a pattern that was painfully familiar to Newt. After what he had experienced with the young girl in Sudan, he had recognised the signs of an Obscurial quickly from the reports.

He had prayed at the time that he was wrong, but once he reached New York he couldn't help himself being quickly dragged into poor Credence's plight even if he had tried. Pairing that with his instinct to prevent harm to all living creatures where he could, Newt couldn't really blame his current situation entirely upon Dumbledore – all his decisions had been his own. He just had had a significant nudge in a certain direction.

He was drawn back to said situation when Grindelwald spoke for the first time since they apparated. The word was a mere whisper, but the effect was no less devastating as the flash of red light illuminated the room. "Crucio."

Pure agony spread through Newt's skin like acid fire, his back arched violently, and he couldn't hold in a scream of utter anguish. It was by far the most excruciating experience of his life – and Newt was no stranger to pain - it felt like his skin, blood and organs were being incinerated, blended and frozen all at once. His mind felt as if it couldn't even register the sensation on a normal level, so simply shut off all coherent thought while his body was being destroyed.

When it finally stopped, Newt took several long moments to realise he was no longer on his knees but lying on his side, curled in on himself as tightly as he could with his arms still held behind his back. His face was flushed red and contorted with pain even once Grindelwald had stopped the curse, the feeling of brain numbness remained; it was as though his pain receptors had been overloaded but were still somehow horribly able to feel.

Newt looked up at Grindelwald through slightly watery eyes, forcing himself awkwardly up onto his knees once more, determined not to let him think he had broken him already. The dark wizard was looking down at him with an expression of unnerving captivation – a look that reminded Newt disturbingly enough of how he himself looked at a new magical creature. There was avid interest and a hint of wonder, but then also something else that he never felt – a cold, hard need for suffering.

"It took me longer than I had intended to abandon my charade as Abernathy, the Ministry insisted upon changing the date of my trial due to their paranoia. They were worried that even after I lost my tongue, I would be able to persuade my jailors to release me." Grindelwald smiled slightly, his mismatched eyes gleaming. "They were right of course, but it did make my escape that much more difficult to align with the rest of my plans."

"Then why w-waste your p-precious time coming a-after me?" Newt stuttered out the question, genuinely curious – as far as he was aware of Grindelwald's schemes, he couldn't imagine that he was at the top of the priority list. Not when Credence and Dumbledore were still out there. But did he even know about Credence's survival yet? There was no way to tell, so Newt decided to leave the question unasked.

"Why?" Grindelwald asked incredulously, pale eyebrows raised at him. "You are by far one of the most intriguing individuals I have come across in quite some time, Mr Scamander." He began to circle Newt slowly, the younger man kept his gaze downward once more, breathing heavily. "A man with a seemingly strict moral code of not involving himself in the affairs of others unless his collection of magical creatures is at risk… yet has repeatedly seemed to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He finished his predatory pacing, standing directly in front of Newt one more, his gaze indiscernible. "Albus Dumbledore shows favour for you and sent you above many more talented witches or wizards to do his bidding. It was only you who figured out my true identity. Even Credence seemed to see something within you worthy of trusting over me, after only a few minutes of meeting you…" Grindelwald's eyes turned darker as he spoke of Credence and Dumbledore – clearly touchy subjects for the notoriously silver-tongued wizard. "Not to mention that with your aptitude for taming dangerous creatures, you could become an incredibly powerful individual should you choose to… yet here you are…. Doing research for a book and playing nursemaid for a magical menagerie."

Grindelwald crouched down to be on eye level with Newt, the younger wizard begrudgingly meeting his gaze. "You are an enigma, Mr Scamander. One that I intend to unravel."

Newt swallowed, shifting uncomfortably under the intense stare, before Grindelwald stood abruptly, withdrawing his wand once more, twirling it almost experimentally and sending a flurry of white sparks through the air.

"I'm not n-not all t-that mysterious really." Newt murmured, twitching the corner of his mouth up in a crooked smile. "I c-care about life…just n-not those who w-wish to extinguish it."

"That's where you're mistaken, Mr Scamander." Grindelwald spoke with an earnest tone to his voice now, as if he was willing Newt to understand something. "I care about the lives of others far more than your so-called friends at the Ministry have ever done. I am the one fighting for the betterment of our world - not only for the lives of those who hold the gift of magical blood, but for the Muggles as well. Without our intervention, the Muggles will bring destruction to this world like we have never before witnessed. I have seen it. I am merely attempting to restore the natural order of things. The wizarding community are far better equipped to handle the fate of all."

Newt felt outrage bubble up in his chest at Grindelwald's words, his sea-blue eyes burning as he met Grindelwald's gaze head on. "You don't care about life at all. You're merely using these misguided arguments about the 'natural order of things' to justify maiming and killing anyone who opposes you!"

"How young and naïve you are to believe everything that the Ministry tells you." Grindelwald's voice was chastising and condescending as he regarded Newt. "Or was it Dumbledore who has been dripping these lies in your ear? He always did have a way of convincing those around him to believe as he does, whilst making them believe it's of their own volition. A true manipulator through and through."

"Or maybe he was just the first person to realise what you were." Newt's voice was calm and quiet, but his eyes matched Grindelwald's own in their intensity. "Maybe he saw the darkness and the madness in you…" Newt's lowered his gaze and his voice dropped into a throaty, almost shamed whisper at the admittance of horrifying knowledge. "After what you did to his sister…"

Grindelwald's face morphed into a mask of fury and an uncomfortable twist of other emotions that Newt couldn't begin to identify. A moment later Newt was on his back, writhing in agony as Grindelwald performed the Cruciatus curse upon him once more. The white-out sensation in his brain was absent this time however - it was just pure, agonising torment assaulting every single inch of his being with no reprieve.

Newt's screams echoed off the black stone walls as his body spasmed uncontrollably, his arms jerking in their restraints to no avail, his frame doing anything it could to escape the torment. The curse went on for an indiscernible amount of time, he couldn't register anything other than the suffering, before it suddenly stopped again. Newt gasped for breath, his face red and tears leaking from the corners of his scrunched closed eyes. The pain remained, though in a lessened form, his body twitched occasionally in the aftershocks of the curse. He opened his eyes just as Grindelwald flicked his wand at him once more, he flinched in anticipation of another assault, but the spell instead pulled him from the floor and threw him against a nearby wall.

Any hard-won air he had managed to drag into his lungs was knocked out of him as he collided with the stone, he felt the chains slither down to wrap only around his wrists, pulling his arms above his head and then melting into the wall behind him. Newt was now stood before Grindelwald, armed separated and locked to the stone above him, the bonds tightened to the point that his hands nearly felt numbed by the pressure.

"I see that Dumbledore has seen fit to trust you with an exceedingly revised version of the truth about how we came to oppose one another." Grindelwald said in a forcedly calm voice, slicking a hand back through his white-blonde hair, but Newt could see the fury causing his jaw to tense and his hands to shake ever so slightly. Clearly, he had struck a very tender nerve indeed. He hadn't meant to infuriate his captor quite so strongly, but the injustice of what Dumbledore had once told him about the fate of his younger sister, had compelled him to challenge the self-righteous wizard.

"And I'm supposed to b-believe that your version w-will be any m-more reliable?" Newt scoffed with a bitter slight chuckle. His natural nervousness often prompted him to attempt to find dry humour in situations; even if there was little or none to be found. It was an unfortunate coping mechanism of Newt's that was a part of the reason why he tended to rub people up the wrong way.

That same flicker of a smile flitted across Grindelwald's face for a moment before he replied with a subdued kind of sadness lacing his tone. "Ariana was killed during a duel between Albus, Aberforth and myself, but the blame cannot be placed upon my shoulders alone…. I was not the one who was aiming to kill – the only one throwing about lethal curses was Aberforth. Albus and I never really intended to harm one other. She lost control of herself and got in the way of her elder brother's foolishness." His hand went seemingly unconsciously to brush against something silver on his waistcoat before he readjusted the garment and looked back down at Newt with a frown.

Newt felt a cold chill go through him as he realised the truth that was in Grindelwald's words – it made sense. Though Dumbledore had made his opposition for Grindelwald's plans quite clear, he often spoke with a wistful tone that hinted at a much deeper regret. As much as he hated to believe anything that Grindelwald said, he could sense that the man at least believed his own words. It didn't make Newt trust him anymore, or Dumbledore any less, as his former teacher had never implied that Grindelwald had been the only one at fault.

"Why do you care what I believe?" Newt ventured, voicing his inner thoughts in a timid manner, lest he be Cruciated again for accidentally provoking him. "I thought you wanted revenge - I don't imagine that will involve me living to ever tell anybody about any of this. This confession likely won't reach the ears of your fanatics, Mr Grindelwald."

Grindelwald actually released a chuckle at Newt's brazenness, twirling his wand delicately through fingers in an absentminded fashion. Newt eyed it warily for a few moments before looking back up to Grindelwald, eyes tracing upon his left ear.

"I thought I'd made it quite clear to you, Mr Scamander that I find you interesting… I will admit my initial intentions were more inclined to simply making you suffer for your part in my capture - no matter how temporary it may have been. Setting an example of sorts" Newt shuddered slightly at the casual tone of the dark wizard's voice as he spoke of torture. "But now… well, if you were feeling so inclined to turn your talents to assisting the greater cause, I would be more than willing to ensure a place in the new world where your creatures could roam free."

Newt knew better than to be tempted by the silver-tongued snake's offer - no matter how appealing the concept of a world that could accept his magical creature friends for what they are - might be. The freedom of his creatures was not worth the subjugation and abuse of the rest of the world… no matter how much he wanted it.

"No." Newt murmured, averting his gaze from Grindelwald's own, he heard the other wizard sigh.

"That is very…disappointing. I shall leave you alone for a while to consider my offer further." There was a sharp swishing sound as Grindelwald flicked his wand in an angular pattern before pointing it at Newt.

The younger wizard let out a howl of pain that was soon muffled by the series of metal bands that fixed themselves to his face. One was secured tightly around his mouth, effectively gagging him, another was wrapped around the back of his head and the last one strapped painfully across his nose and connected at the top of his head with the others. The final result was a metal muzzle that cut deep into his skin with harsh metal edges, the metal seemed to heat up the longer it was on. Newt pulled frantically at the chains on his wrists in a vain attempt to reach the device and rid himself of it.

Newt looked up at Grindelwald with confused terror, questioning with his sea-blue eyes what he couldn't ask with words. Grindelwald looked at him impassively, his mouth held in his customary tight line before turning to the door and tapping it with his wand to release the locks. Just before he left the room, he glanced back and spoke in a sickeningly placating tone.

"I'm sure you know better than most, Mr Scamander, that if you wish to gain the trust of a creature, you must first break it's stubborn will."

The door slammed, leaving Newt alone in the dark as the blue torches flickered out.