Author's note: This is chapter 2 of 4. Sorry it's so late; I've got a bit of a cold, I haven't been up for much today. Enjoy!
Chapter two
Zhalia went to collect Sophie early the next morning. She hadn't slept and her head felt heavy, eyes gritty.
The lights in Sophie's cell were never turned off, but Zhalia flicked them a couple of times before unlocking the door. "Time to get up, Princess."
"Why?"
Zhalia stared at Sophie until she dropped her gaze, hands fisting silently. Satisfied, Zhalia turned to Cherit. "You can stay here, but Sophie might be gone a while. Or you can get in this…" She held up a plastic pet carrier, "and I'll take you to Lok."
"Where are we going?" Sophie asked. When Zhalia looked over, the girl's eyes were locked firmly on the floor.
"Klaus wants to see you. You really shouldn't have started talking again, Princess. Dumb's the best defence."
"Then where's Lok?"
"I'm not a tour guide," Zhalia snapped. "Decision, Cherit, I'm not standing around here all day."
"Go on, Cherit," Sophie said quietly. "No point you sitting around here."
"Aye. I suppose that's true."
Zhalia opened the tiny door in the carrier; Cherit squeezed through, and she latched it again. "Come on, Princess. First thing you should know about Klaus; he doesn't like being kept waiting."
She delivered Sophie to Klaus' lab; he wasn't there yet, and she called a couple of Suits in from the hall to watch the girl. "Don't let her touch anything," she told them. "But don't touch her apart from that. Klaus wants her unhurt."
She left them, hoping Sophie wouldn't annoy them too much before Klaus got there. The Suit outside Lok's door straightened up when he saw her, glancing curiously at the carry case in her hand.
"Anything?" she asked, pressing her thumb against the lock.
"All quiet."
"Good. You're dismissed."
He saluted, heading away. Zhalia let herself in, closing the door behind her. Cathy was up on her elbows on the bed, staring at her; Lok turned away from the window, moving to stand between them.
"Brought you something." Zhalia swung the carry case onto the bed, ignoring Cathy's gasp.
"Cherit!" Lok scrabbled at the lock on the little door. "Aw, it's so good to see you, buddy!"
Cherit climbed awkwardly out of the case, stretching his wings briefly before jumping to Lok's shoulder. "Likewise, Lok! Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Where's our mother?" Cathy asked abruptly.
"She'll be here soon," Zhalia told them, lifting the carry case off the bed again.
"Where's Sophie?" Lok said suddenly. "Why is Cherit here?"
"Zhalia took her to Klaus' lab," Cherit said quietly.
"Zhalia, you have to…"
"Enough, Lok! You can't bring me back." She glared at him; Lok's eyes were wide and frightened. "I'm not her anymore, understand? I'm not your friend or your teammate. She's gone." Lok didn't answer, still staring at her, and she grimaced. "Your mother will be here soon. Cherit can stay here until Klaus is finished with Sophie. Just remember the rules."
"I know the rules," he said softly, dropping his gaze.
"Good." She let herself out, closing the door quietly behind her.
"Lok?" Cathy whispered. "What are the rules?"
"The rules are I do what they say," Lok said flatly. "Or Sophie pays for it."
"Lok, do you have your powers?" Cherit asked.
"No. I'm…Klaus' bug…" he gestured vaguely.
"Lok," Cathy said again, a different tone in her voice this time. Lok glanced up, catching the look she was giving Cherit.
"Sorry. Cherit, you remember Cathy. Cath, this is my friend Cherit."
"Charmed," Cherit told her.
"You're a Titan."
"Yes."
She looked at Lok. "I thought they couldn't talk."
"They can't. Just Cherit. He lost his amulet a long time ago, so long he doesn't remember it, and he taught himself to speak so he could understand people."
"Does he have a Seeker?"
"Sort of me, I guess. And he can hear you."
She flushed, smiling apologetically at Cherit. "Sorry. I'm not…I'm kind of new at this."
"It's alright. Lok, what's been happening to you?"
"Zhalia hasn't been telling you?"
"No. She doesn't tell us anything, really."
"She told Sophie about Santiago. I watched her do it."
"Aye, she did. But we don't hear about you. Only that sometimes you refuse an order."
"You did?" Cathy asked.
"Only once," Lok said grimly. "Klaus wanted me to bond with one of his Titans. It was…it felt wrong. It was a bad Titan. I refused."
"And what happened?" Cathy breathed.
Lok shook his head, turning away, and it was Cherit who answered. "They put something in Sophie's food. She hurt herself."
"Something in her food?"
Lok turned back. "They won't do that to you. I won't let them."
"What did they put in her food, Lok?"
He shook his head irritably. "Something to make her hallucinate. I don't know; I didn't ask. She spent three hours trying to rip out her own hair, she threw Cherit into a wall, and they made me watch it all."
Cathy blinked hard, scrambling across the bed to wrap an arm around him. "Lok," she murmured. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah." He dug the heel of his hand into his eye. "It won't happen to you."
***
Sophie had gotten very good at waiting patiently over the last few months, but this was getting ridiculous. It was almost lunch time and there was still no sign of Klaus. Even the two guards were getting bored, murmuring together and mostly ignoring her.
Even without her powers, Sophie was sure she could take out the two Suits. But then what? This was the first time she'd been out of her cell in months; she had no idea where in the castle she was, where Lok might be, or how to get out. And if she tried and failed, or succeeded without Lok, he'd be punished. That had been made very clear.
Just as she was getting bored enough to consider trying it anyway – Lok would forgive her if she made it out – the door opened and Klaus came in. Deep in a report, he didn't seem to notice her at first; when he did, he gestured vaguely. "Get up."
She rose slowly to her feet, watching him. He went back to his report, ignoring her.
Zhalia came in, leaning against the wall and folding her arms. Sophie scowled, but she didn't speak.
"Can I help you with something, Zhalia?" Klaus asked without looking up.
She shrugged. "I was bored. Figured I'm come see what the Princess was doing."
"Oh?" He lowered his report. "I was told you'd gone to rest. Busy night."
"Couldn't sleep. I'll go if I'm interrupting."
"No. In fact, you may be able to help." He gestured towards Sophie. "Fight her."
"Excuse me?" Sophie protested.
"Sophie, shut up," Zhalia warned her. "You want me to fight her?"
"Yes. I want to know what she can do. And you were her teammate. You know her moves."
"I didn't usually pay much attention to her," Zhalia drawled, pushing off the wall. "I'll take her down to the gym, we can record the fight there."
"Good," Klaus agreed, going back to his report. Zhalia gestured Sophie out, dismissing the guards and hurrying her down the corridor.
"Zhalia," Sophie said quietly.
"Sssh, Princess," Zhalia said absently.
Sophie dug her heels in, jerking them both to a halt. "I'm still a Casterwill," she hissed.
"You're nothing." Zhalia waved away the Suits who'd been coming to help her. "The name Casterwill means nothing anymore. The only name you have to worry about is Lambert."
"Lok would rather I…"
"Not Lok. Cathy. If you refuse an order, she'll be punished."
"But Cathy's not a Seeker," Sophie protested.
"Everyone keeps saying that." She jerked Sophie back into motion, moving faster this time. "As though it means anything. Cathy is a Lambert. And power like Eathon's doesn't vanish."
She pulled Sophie into the gym, shoving her against the wall and snarling a quick "Get out" to the Suits training there.
"Life's all about power," Sophie said bitterly, watching them file out.
Zhalia glared, letting go of her to cross to the control panel. "Rassimov wants you dead."
"Why?"
"Beats me. But he really hates you, Princess. As soon as Klaus decides you're not useful anymore…" She shrugged, lifting a light wooden pole from a rack by the door. "Can you use this?"
Sophie held out a hand and she tossed the weapon over. It was about as long as she was tall. "A bo?"
"We can start with swords."
"No." Sophie whirled the bo around her head, whipping it into a ready position. "This will do."
"Good."
Zhalia attacked her.
***
"Is this all you do all day, Lok?" Cathy asked, turning away from the window.
"I don't usually spend a lot of time in here. And they don't really care if I'm bored or not."
Cathy sat carefully on the side of the bed, watching Sandra. She'd fallen asleep soon after Zhalia had brought her back to join them. "Is she ok?"
"Yeah. There's…they have this thing, a little machine, that blocks powers. It makes you really tired, at first, until your body adjusts. But it doesn't hurt unless someone tries to take it off."
"Where…" Cathy studied her mother, frowning.
"Here." Lok turned his back to them, lifting his shirt so she could see the bug nestled at the base of his spine.
"Lok, it's bleeding!" Cherit protested.
"Is it? Klaus kept taking it off and putting it back on. It never really settles."
"Sophie's hasn't bled in weeks." Cherit picked up a pillow, pressing it gently against Lok's back.
"Ow," Lok murmured.
"Sophie has one of these?" Cathy asked.
"Yeah. Klaus has our amulets, so we can't use our powers, but we might be able to snatch one from a Suit…or Cherit could help us. He doesn't have an amulet, but he can temporarily bond with a Seeker who's already bonded with other Titans. Blocking our magic is safer…he just unblocks it when he needs it for the experiments."
The lock on the door beeped; Lok shook his mother's shoulder, gesturing her to silence when she sat up.
Zhalia pushed the door open, glancing briefly at them before turning to put her tray onto the dresser. "That's all you get today," she told Lok.
"What happened?" Lok gestured vaguely towards his nose.
Zhalia automatically mirrored him; her nose was swollen and bloodstained and looked very painful. "Sophie had her fight test today."
Lok laughed softly. "She hit you?"
"Santiago trained her well, I'll give him that." She pulled a book from her pocket, pitching it at Cathy, who just barely managed to catch it before it would have hit her in the face. "No helping," she told Lok.
"Is that an order?" Lok glanced at Cathy, who lifted the book for him to see; a collection of crossword puzzles.
"I heard how you met Sophie." For the first time since Vlad's castle she sounded like the Zhalia he'd known. "That book won't last long if you get your hands on it." She tossed him a pen, letting herself out before he could answer.
"Lok," Sandra said carefully, "is she on our side?"
"No. She just doesn't want trouble. More hassle for her." He passed the pen to Cathy, crossing to sit on the windowsill. "She's not on our side."
***
Zhalia had never bothered much with healing spells. She could set a bone or stop bleeding, and she'd done both of those already; but she couldn't do anything about the swelling and bruising. She wouldn't trust any Suit in the building to touch her, Klaus wouldn't notice, and Rassimov wouldn't care. She'd just have to put up with the Suits sniggering behind her back.
At least none of them would dare laugh to her face.
Out of habit, she checked the monitors outside the lab. Klaus was working at his computer, but none of the monitoring equipment was on; only a single medical scanner recorded Sophie's heart beat and blood pressure, both a little on the high side.
Zhalia knocked anyway, just to be sure.
Sophie was standing against one wall, as far from Klaus as she could get without actually leaving the lab. She looked up when Zhalia came in; there was a bruise blossoming on her cheek, a bruise Zhalia was pretty sure she hadn't inflicted. The wrist she'd broken in retaliation for her nose was still hanging limply, swollen now.
"I have to leave the compound," she told Klaus. "I came to see if you need anything."
"Where are you going?"
"I have some errands." She glanced over her shoulder at Sophie. "Want me to put the Princess back in her box before I go?"
"Yes, yes." Klaus waved her off.
Zhalia smirked, turning to Sophie and gesturing her out. "Let's go, Princess."
Sophie followed her docilely, not questioning the altered route. Zhalia led her quickly through the corridors, finally pausing to order "Back to the wall, Princess, and don't move."
Sophie leaned against the wall – probably grateful for the support; she'd been looking shakier and shakier the longer they walked – and Zhalia turned to the lock on the door.
"Time to go, Cherit," she announced, pushing it open.
"What, no cage this time?" Lok demanded, coming towards the door with Cherit on his shoulder. "You actually trust him to…Sophie!" He plunged forward.
"Lok!" Zhalia snapped. He stopped so suddenly Cherit nearly fell off. "Don't. Cherit, come here."
"Sophie, are you ok?" Lok called. He was shaking with the effort of standing still.
"I'm fine, Lok," she said quickly. "Are you?"
"We're all fine."
"Lok, go back inside," Zhalia said quietly. "I'm leaving the compound for the night. Don't give the Suits any ideas."
Lok swallowed hard, reaching up to nudge Cherit off his shoulder. "Sophie?"
"Yes?"
"If you get the chance, you run, understand?"
"They'll hurt Cathy."
Lok turned to glare at Zhalia, but before he could speak Cathy called from inside the room, "Cathy'll get over it! Run, Sophie."
"In, Lok," Zhalia said again. He took a step back, clearing the door so she could close it.
Cherit was hovering by Sophie, afraid to touch her. "Sophie…"
"Come on." Zhalia wrapped a hand around her good arm, heading to another wing of the castle and letting Cherit fly along with them.
"Where are we going?" Sophie asked.
"You're a subject now, not a hostage. You get a room." She pushed open the door, stepping aside to let her in. "Show me your wrist."
"Why? Want to break it in another place?"
"Sophie," she snapped. Sophie grimaced, holding out her wrist; Zhalia frowned, turning it lightly from side to side. "Sit down."
"Zhalia?"
"I can't help with the bruising, but I can set the bone for you. Sit down."
Sophie sat on the edge of the bed, wrist still held out. "Why?"
"Tomorrow's going to be a lot rougher than today, Princess, and if you're not fit I get blamed. Now hold still."
Sophie vaguely recognised the spell Zhalia murmured; it wasn't the one she'd learned, but it seemed to work. She still couldn't move her wrist without pain, but at least she could move her wrist.
"That looks much better, Sophie!" Cherit said happily.
"It is. Thank you," she murmured, and then, because she was Sophie facing Zhalia, she added, "There are better spells, you know."
"It's not about better, Princess, it's about success. This spell works quickly enough to use under fire and it doesn't drain too much power." She pushed to her feet. "I can't do anything about the swelling, but I'll get some bandages sent in. Do you want painkillers?"
"Not from you."
"Alright." Zhalia let herself out, locking the door again behind her.
Now all she had to do was make it out of the building without being stopped.
***
"Lok, you're pacing," Sandra murmured.
"I know I'm pacing. I don't have anything else to do."
At the window Cathy ducked her head, focusing on the crossword in her hands. Cherit, curled beside her, tucked his head in tighter.
Lok had been getting more and more frustrated for days, locked in the room with his mother and sister and nothing to do. He wasn't built for sitting around, never had been, and his temper was growing shorter and shorter.
Zhalia brought Cherit every morning and took him away every evening, but she hadn't let Sophie anywhere near them since that first day. Sophie wouldn't tell Cherit what was happening to her each day; all he could tell Lok was that she came back bruised and bloody each night. Zhalia took care of the broken bones and bleeding, but that was all she did.
She'd stopped talking. Cherit said she'd even stopped threatening people. It had unnerved Sophie so badly that she'd stopped fighting, quietly following Zhalia from her room to the lab and back.
The lock beeped. Lok glanced at the window in surprise; it was only mid-afternoon, early for Zhalia to collect Cherit. Cherit sat up, peering towards the door as it opened.
"You're early," Sandra noted.
"Timing." Zhalia sounded absolutely exhausted, and she didn't look much better. "Not yet, Cherit," she added as he flew towards her.
"Then why are you here?" Cherit asked in surprise. Lok had been about to ask the same thing, but he was glad Cherit had; he could get away with things none of the rest of them could.
"I'll be coming to get you tonight," she told Lok. "All of you. Stay awake until I come."
"Why?"
"Better for your health."
"No, why take us?"
"Because it's our turn," Sandra said quietly. "Klaus is bored with Sophie. Now he wants to see what makes the Lamberts tick."
"Something like that," Zhalia agreed. "Be awake when I come, all of you."
"Where's Sophie?" Cherit asked suddenly.
"You'll see her tonight, if you're awake." She was gone before they could answer, lock beeping shut again behind her.
"That was…weird," Lok decided. "That wasn't like her, right?"
"It was unusual," Cherit agreed. Lok dropped onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Does Zhalia lie to you?" Sandra asked.
"You mean apart from pretending she was on our side?" he said bitterly.
"No," Cherit said. "She doesn't lie."
"Then maybe we should stay awake."
"Yeah. We wouldn't want Klaus to get mad at her, after all." Lok sat up again, folding himself into a corner of the bed and glaring into space.
Sandra quietly left him and went to sit with Cathy, letting him stew in silence.
***
***
Phoenix: I told you this one was dark. Pretty much all our heroes' support structure is gone; their world has changed a lot, and they've had to change along with it...
Kali: Glad you enjoyed! I PM'd you about your fic.
Aria: Long time no see! Glad you like it, hope it lives up to your expectations...
HunterSeeker116: Thanks so much. I'm really glad you're enjoying. If it helps, I almost always update on a Wednesday...usually early, I'm running late today.
Bellatricks: Thanks! I hope this one satisfies...
