Crimson Chapter Two

By Harmony283

A/N: Well I suddenly had a burst of inspiration for this fanfic (or at least I finally had time to sit down and type up the chapter) so here it is! Basically in this chapter you figure out (or you can guess at) what happens to Jay. And he has yet another interesting conversation with Ruby. And of course thank you Cheea5, LittleLinor, & ReveredMage for reviewing!

A series of soft sobs could be heard from inside a scarcely lit room, hidden behind a rather large bookcase. Inside this room was a lone table made of steel with chains trailing down onto the floor. A small boy lay in the center of the table, his clothes, or rather what was left on him, were torn and soiled.

The boy himself was shaking, whether from cold or fear, one couldn't tell. His hair, a shade of midnight black, lay loose around his shoulders, half covering his young face. His eyes were shut tightly as invisible tears raced down his face. His wrists were bruised as well as his stomach and chest—bite marks littered his neck and small scars ran down his stomach and hips.

Suddenly the door to this room opened and a shadow of another boy appeared. The boy sat up immediately, but then relaxed, "Wh-who…?"

The boy walked forward and smiled, "Are you okay Jay?" he asked, his voice gentle. Jay gulped and looked away, "D-do I…l-look okay?"

The boy chuckled, "No you don't Jay. Do you want me to get rid of the pain?" Jay's eyes widened as he heard this, and he quickly nodded his head. The other boy grinned, "I see. Then you'll have to trust me, understand? You will have to completely and totally trust me, m'kay?"

Jay nodded his head, "O-okay…but…but what if Master sees you in here?" He asked, looking past the boy towards the open doorway, "A-and how did you know about the door…? Or did M-Master send you?"

The other boy shook his head, pushing a stray strand of grey hair away from his eyes, "Don't worry your Master didn't send me. But it looks like you need help. I came because you called for me."

Jay blinked, "Wha-what? I didn't…call…I didn't say…anything." He wrapped his arms around his stomach protectively, "who…are you…?"

The boy sighed and walked over so that he was standing next to the table. He reached out and touched Jay's nearest leg, "You're hurting aren't you?"

Jay shifted to move away, but found he couldn't. His eyes widened when the boy's fingertips started sinking into his own skin, "What are you doing?!" his voice held restrained panic, but the other boy just smiled.

Then, in one quick movement, the other boy was straddling Jay's lap, pushing his hands away from his stomach, "You're hurt everywhere. Solon did this to you, didn't he?" he questioned, his grey-blue eyes meeting Jay's own.

"I-I…of course he did. Who else do you th-think could do this to me and g-get away with it." Jay tried to laugh, but it came out strangled, "You obviously have never heard of me. I'm the b-best."

The boy sat back and shook his head, "I know you. I know you well, Jay."

Jay tried to laugh again, "really? Then h-how come I don't know you? M-Master says that if s-someone knows you but then you don't know them then it's bad."

The other boy shook his head, "Well I'm not bad—me knowing you isn't bad at all. In fact," He leaned forward and kissed Jay on the forehead, "knowing me will help you. It will help you deal with this pain." Jay flinched as the boy's free hand made grabbed his wrist, "Solon is a sick man. Using you like this."

"But! I-I he said I deserve it." Jay looked away, "He says I deserve it."

"Do you deserve it?" the boy asked, tilting his head to the side, "do you deserve a pain for something you haven't done?"

"He wants me…to kill more people." Jay looked down at his lap, "And I don't think I can do it. R-Ruby looked so scared…I don't want to hurt her. Or get her hurt, so I have to do it. But I'm scared."

The boy let out another sigh, "I understand. Ruby doesn't deserve any of this does she?"

Jay shook his head, "No she doesn't."

"She just followed you on accident. And you forgot to kill her." Jay flinched and the boy sighed again, "You do realize you've killed followers before. Why is she different?"

Jay gulped, "because she was unarmed."

"So you showed sympathy for her. You like things being fair don't you? Well was this," He waved his free arm around the room, "fair? I don't think so. And do you honestly think Ruby will get away unscathed even if you do as Solon wishes? I can tell you one thing," the boy's eyes narrowed and he leaned in closer to Jay, "she might get off much worse than you. You might have even done her a favor by killing her."

Jay shook his head and brought his only free hand up. He placed it on the other boys chest only to gasp and pull it away immediately, "Wh-what?!" He met the boy's eyes with his own, "Who are you? What are you? Are you a ghost? Are you someone else M-Master did this to?"

the boy laughed, "Right. Like I'd live through him doing this to me. No he hasn't done this," he again emphasized his meaning by waving his arm around the room, "to me. Though then I guess it depends on what you mean by that. He hasn't done it to me but he's done it to a part of me."

Jay's eyes widened even more than they already had, "Wh-what do you mean…? You can't mean that y-you're…?" he trailed off as the other boy nodded his head, "You mean you're a part of m-me?"

the boy nodded his head again, "Yes Jay, I am."

"then how can I see you? You're supposed to be inside of me!"

The boy laughed, "You used to not be able to see me because I wasn't created yet. I'm the part of you that hates Solon."

Jay shook his head, "I can't hate Master! He saved me when I was a baby! I almost died—I could have died—if he hadn't been there to save me!"

The boy rolled his eyes, "Right…well, I'm not going to convince you otherwise. All I'll say is I'm here to help you deal with this pain. Okay?"

Jay glared at him, "How can you say that right after you said you hated Solon!"

The other boy smirked, "See you said his name."

Jay's glare only intensified, "So? I-I can say his name…sometimes. He just likes it more when I call him Master." He shook his head, "Besides that. What…if you're a part of me…then don't you have the same name as me?"

The boy shook his head, "No I don't. My name is Alden. Call me Den if you want. No one else but you can see me."

"Oh…? That's…um…"

"And I'll only come out when you need me."

Jay flinched, "I-I see. But what happens…what do you mean by that?"

Den grinned, "You'll see."

Then he disappeared, leaving Jay alone in the dim room. But he wasn't alone for very long. Almost a minute later another shadow appeared in the doorway. This time it was a very familiar shadow, and Jay couldn't help but suppress a shudder.

"Ah, Jay you're awake." An all too familiar voice stated, "I was afraid my dear apprentice would stay asleep for another day."

Jay's eyes widened, "A-A day?"

Solon flicked on a nearby light switch, "Hnn yes. I was getting worried that I had been too rough on you."

Jay flushed at this, "R-Rough…? M-Master I'm…I'll be fine…"

Solon turned to face him and, for a split second a wave of kindness flashed through his eyes, "I see. That's good. Here," He walked over to Jay, handing him some clothes, "these should do for a while." He kissed his forehead gently, "now get changed. Or do you want help?"

Jay nearly sighed in relief at the sight of the clothes, "Ah…o-okay…" it wasn't like he could stand to put them on anyway.

"Good." Jay tried not to flinch whenever Solon's hands touched his bare skin, but getting his clothes on was much easier that way. Only a few seconds later and Jay was following Solon out of the dim room and into his office.

Once the door to the secret room was shut Solon immediately turned to face Jay, the friendliness in his eyes was gone, "Now Jay. You remember what I said you had to do? Will you do it?"

Jay nodded his head.

"Good. Now I'm sure you would like to see how your dear friend Ruby is doing. I had Valcav put her in a room not too far away from here. It's the room right next to your own. I'm sure she'd love to see you—and I'm sure you could convince her to eat our food."

Jay's eyes widened, but he just nodded his head, deciding to stay mute for the moment. Solon then turned away, "Well then, you may go."

Jay nodded his head again and turned to leave. But not before the door to the office opened, revealing a worn out woman Ninja. She quickly bowed to Jay, her eyes showing admiration, before walking over to Solon, "She's still not eating sir. It's been almost two days since she ate. And I'm sure she's hungry."

Solon laughed, "I'm sure she is. Don't worry, Jay will take care of it."

The woman nodded her head and, after a deep bow to Solon, disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Solon looked back over at where Jay had been, only to see that he was gone, "Hmm, that boy…" he let out a sigh, shaking his head, "he gets to be more like you everyday."

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(A few minutes later, in Ruby's room)

"You have to eat."

Ruby scowled, "But I don't want to eat. What if…what if it's poisoned!" she pushed the plate of food away from herself in disgust, "how can you eat in this place without know you'll be poisoned?"

Jay scowled, "Because I'm Master's apprentice. He wouldn't kill me no matter how mad he gets."

Ruby's eyes widened and she immediately looked away, "Oh…right. I-I forgot."

Jay sighed, "How could you forget? It's only been a day since you've been here. From what Master told me, you need to eat. And you haven't eaten for two days."

Ruby flinched, "And I keep saying what if someone's poisoned it?"

Jay tried hard not to roll his eyes, "Would it help if I cooked your meal for you? I have no intentions of poisoning you."

Ruby shook her head, "But what if you Master tells you to poison it."

Now it was Jay's turn to flinch, "He wouldn't ask me to do that…I don't think."

"You don't think!" Ruby pushed her chair back from the small table, nearly making it topple over, "now I'm definitely not going to eat it!"

She stood up quickly and made her way towards the bathroom that adjoined to her room, "I'd rather eat soap than eat something poisoned!"

She almost reached the door, but Jay appeared in front of her with a spoon full of the soup she had been given. Before Ruby could say anything else he slipped the spoon into her mouth, a confident smirk appearing on his face as she swallowed.

"Oh for the love of—you made me eat that!" she slapped Jay, who didn't even flinch, and then she slapped him again, and again he didn't flinch, "At least act like you're hurt!" she then shouted at him.

Only to find herself pinned to the wall, "I won't act like I'm hurt when it doesn't hurt. And besides, if you can slap me then it's obvious that at least the soup isn't poisoned." Ruby opened her mouth to say something but Jay continued speaking, "that and I assure you I would know if soup was poisoned. It's easy to tell. Or at least it is for me."

"But you're a ninja! You kill people by stabbing them, so how do you know how to…." She stopped speaking when she saw the look in Jay's eyes.

"I know all methods of killing people. I could kill you in an instant with my bare hands if I wanted to."

Ruby shivered, "Y-You wouldn't."

Jay sighed, "Yeah I wouldn't. I have my orders. And they are to make sure that you eat. So finish your soup." He backed away from the red-eyed Ferines and led her by the hand back to her chair. He waited until she started eating to start thinking, 'Well at least she's eating now. I suppose I should leave soon. But what if she wants me to stay? And I really don't want to go back to Master so soon. Then again, all I know about my next mission is that it's for a former ninja—for Valcav, and that I have to kill many people.'

"Are you okay?"

Jay jumped and looked over at Ruby, "What?"

Ruby shook her head, "You just sighed, and you look annoyed. And worried. What's wrong?"

Jay rolled his eyes, "Why do you care? But if you must know I'm thinking about my next mission. I know nothing about it."

Ruby shuddered and placed her spoon back in the now mostly empty bowl of soup, "You're still going to do it? I-I mean, yes I know you've killed a lot of people before…but…it's wrong."

Jay nodded his head, "I'd be worried if you thought any differently."

Ruby flinched, "But it's still wrong! Killing people isn't the answer!"

Jay's eyes narrowed, "Do you honestly think I can do anything else at the moment."

Ruby flinched again, "Well my friend…she says there's always a second option! And I don't think she's lying!"

Jay groaned, "Your friend, hmm? What would she know?"

"She knows a whole lot! Especially cuz she's…" Ruby trailed off, "She's been…such a great friend. Even though I know she has problems of her own. I-I mean, she's the only friend I have and…she's awesome, and so is her sister…"

"You miss them."

Ruby nodded her head, "Yeah. My friend, she's like my sister. She's a year younger than me, but she's so much wiser than I am. A little more hot-headed but," she giggled, "both her and her sister are that way."

Jay's eyes narrowed, "Well that's interesting. You said you were twelve correct?"

"Uh-huh."

"So she's my age."

Ruby nodded her head again, "Yup! If I ever get out of here I'm so going to tell her about this."

Jay shook his head, "You mean if you do get out of here. I hope you realize that it won't be that easy."

Ruby looked down at her lap, "I kinda figured that out. I'm not even allowed to leave my room unless someone's watching me. And something tells me you ninja's are good at watching."

Jay shrugged, "more like stalking but that's close enough."

Ruby giggled, "I guess yeah. You know…"

Jay looked over at her, "Hmm?"

"You aren't half bad for a Ninja." Then she started laughing, "I never thought I'd say that. I just always thought Ninja's were emotionless killing machines. That's what everyone says."

Jay's nearly froze at this, "That's because we are emotionless. And we are killing machines."

Ruby shivered at the icy tone of his voice, "I-I know you're that way when you're…on missions…and stuff. But right now you seem just like a normal eleven year old. Actually, you seem like a slightly colder—and boy—version of my friend. Except for she's probably a little…uh…brighter than you." Then her eyes widened, "ooh you should meet her!"

Jay scowled and turned to leave, "You don't get it do you? If I ever do meet your friend, I'd have to kill her."

"But you didn't kill me!" she immediately shot up from her chair and latched onto Jay's arm.

"And I probably should have."

Ruby flinched again, "But why? I…didn't mean…to follow you. I just saw you and…I'm sorry."

Jay's eyes widened, "So you did follow me. Why would you follow me."

"I just…I was interested. I kinda figured you were a ninja and all…with the way you were running through the trees and stuff, and I know I shouldn't've followed you but I did. I don't like it here, and I can tell you probably don't because of whatever your Master did to you yesterday," Jay tensed and Ruby dropped her voice, "What did he do to you?"

"You mean you can't guess?" Jay grated the words out, suddenly feeling nervous, "besides it doesn't matter anymore. I need to ask him more about my mission."

Ruby let go of his arm slowly, "But what if…he…does it to you again?"

Jay sighed, "he won't. He won't until I get back at least."

Ruby bit her lip, "He's sick."

"keep your comments about him to yourself."

Ruby looked up at him in shock, "But—"

"He is my Master. I am his Apprentice and I will be until I take over his position, he dies, or I somehow get out of here." Jay whispered, "and until then, don't say anything bad about him around me."

Then, just like that he 'poofed' out of the room, leaving Ruby standing in front of her door with a shocked expression on her face. Slowly she made her way back to the table she had been sitting at, and she sat down, "He…he's so…" she leaned her head against the table, "different. I wonder…what would you think of him?"

she let out a sigh and closed her eyes, 'Yeah…what would you think of this…?'

Ta-dah! And here's Chapter two It's not very long, but I doubt any of my fanfic chapters (that I write any time soon) will be very long –bows head- so yeah. Oh and can anyone guess who Ruby's friend is? If you do you get a cookie! Oh and if you review you get one too. -nods head- so yeah, R&R but please no flames!