Author note:

Agh! I keep being late with my posting(this time REALLY late...)! Hopefully I can start getting back into my posting cycle, once a week. So sorry About that XD here's the next chapter anyhow...

Just a warning, there may be some intense torture scenes from here on out, I don't go that far into detail with them, so don't worry too much. :)

Chapter 8:

She walked over to them casually. "Mother," Wren said in a bitter, lifeless tone.

"Son." She mocked.

"Why are you holding us here Novica?" Darjal asked, his voice emotionless.

"Is it such a bad thing for a mother to see her children again?"

"You aren't my mother," Chester snarled.

"Closest thing you'll ever get to one."

"If you won't tell us why you are holding us here long term, at least tell us why you are here now," Whis said softly.

"To get you all nice and Red," The Queen chuckled, "I've got a job for my head torturer." Chester hung his head, burying his face in his hands.

"Which one?" Wren asked cooly.

"Oh all three of you," Novica's biting, metallic voice echoed eerily off of the dark stone walls. "Let's go."

Whis watched her unlock their cages, and take them off down a corridor. Good luck. He slumped back against the cold iron, head hung down low, utterly alone in the world.

~oOo~oOo~oOo~

It had been a week since the bracelet incident; the search team was now concentrated in the portion of the garden in which Caspani had found the bracelet originally. Nothing had turned up. Not a single clue. She seemed to have just vanished, into thin air.

"What is there for us to do now?" Jasmina asked him, as they lay in bed, very much awake. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"Don't worry. We will find her...eventually."

Jasmina scowled at the uncertain tone in his voice. "How long is eventually?"

"As long at it takes," he nestled his head against her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair. "It will all be okay."

"Eventually." Jasmina murmured bitterly.

~oOo~oOo~oOo~

Novica stopped at the bottom of a long, spiraling staircase.

"This place sure is familiar," Chester mumbled.

"Too familiar," Wren said. Darjal nodded grimly. Novica procured a black and red key from the bodice of her dress, holding it semi-awkwardly with her long nails. The door opened with a resounding click, revealing the large room. The extremely familiar room. All but one wall was covered with weapons. The left and right were knives, pliers, screwdrivers, hammers, nails, needles, along with scalpels and other medical instruments. The wall on which the door they entered through was covered with bottles of different poisons and acids. There were blowtorches and pill bottles. In the center of the room, there was an old leather chair, fitted with basic metal rings to tie your victims down with, the far wall was full of cages. Some of them were empty, others were littered with discarded bones, some still blotched with blood after all these years. Chester could hear faint breathing from one, and a scream ripped through the air as a tearing sound was heard. Feeding time.

It was the biggest torture room in the HoR. Chester looked around sadly, and closed his eyes as the memories came to him.

She sat in the chair. He stood over her, a basic toolbox in his hand.

"Why are you doing this?! CHESTER!" She screamed in agony as he shattered her shoulder with a hammer. "This isn't you...please, please stop."

"Oh this is only the beginning."

Three hours later, her beaten bloody corpse lay under his fingertips. She was covered with deep gashes, that marred her beautiful skin in an ugly red pattern, excepting the portions of her skin that were black with chemical and regular burns. The blood from them all pooled onto the floor, the crimson fingers reaching for his toes.

"Oh...my...god..." He collapsed to his knees, head in his hands, the blood finally reaching his head. "Alice...I..." He screamed with emotional pain, sobbing for the death he had caused, and the pain that she had been put through. Her soft hair was still intertwined with white flower blossoms, the hair that was still left anyways, she was half scalped.

That was the last time he had been here, he had been too afraid to show up ever since, fearing that the ghosts of the past would haunt him for his mistakes. He brushed a tear from his face casually, and stepped inside after The Queen.

Wren and Darjal were still silent, staring at the weapons and the cages. They both only came down here to become Red. Wren wasn't really a torturer, he was more of a politician; and though Darjal was in charge of emotional torture, he didn't really come down here often, other than to drop off a straggling prisoner (who by that time, was already begging for it). Novica pulled Chester over to the chair by his arm, her nails digging into him roughly.

"Please Novica..." She slapped him across the face, leaving deep red gashes.

"Your begging has no effect on me," She said coldly. He slumped his head in defeat. Of course she was right; she was the most calloused person in Underland, she had no problems torturing people, killing things was a favorite pastime of hers.

Chester felt the metal straps around his hands, and knew that there was no way out of this.

~oOo~oOo~oOo~

Ami entered the containment room, looking over at the man in the cage with slight sadness in her eyes. "Um, excuse me, sir?"

"Wh- what?" Whis started, looking over at her with a fearful expression on his face.

"Don't worry, I'm just here to give you some food."

"You aren't supposed to feed prisoners."

"I know," She handed him a loaf of bread, and a chunk of cheese through the bars. "I don't really expect you to tell on me, so I figure it's safe." She smiled brightly.

Whis smiled back, surprised at the genuine kindness in her voice and face. What's a nice girl like her doing in the HoR? She was wearing a traditional maid's uniform, which consisted of a red and black checkered petticoat, over which a lacy black dress with slightly puffed sleeves was settled. She was beautiful, a dark curtain of black shiny hair hung from her scalp to her waist, and her red eyes gleamed with courage and friendliness. "Thank you, for this," he took a bite, resting back against the bars again.

"I'd best be on my way, I'm supposed to take the prisoners back here after their-er- session," she looked almost sad as she said it, "I'm so sorry for our Queen's behavior. She shouldn't treat her children like this..." Whis nodded sadly. "I don't mean to- er- pry, but if you wouldn't mind, I would like to know about how...or more, why, the Queen has you locked up down here too..."

"Ah...the answer to that I do not know. It might just be because I happened to be in their company when they were captured, or maybe there is a power struggle and I am a pawn; but I do know that I am neutral. Completely neutral, so neutral that I don't even have a Red or White side." She nodded curtly.

"We shall continue this conversation later, I'm late," She left the room in a swirl of black ruffled skirts, and an endearing smile.

Whis almost smiled back.

~oOo~oOo~oOo~

Whystaire stood at one end of the large arena. She was dressed in a heavy suit of armour, that left only her neck and head exposed.

"Will you be able to demonstrate your skills for us now?" The Queen asked from atop her soft white marble throne at the opposite end of the clearing. Whystaire nodded. Even though she didn't prefer to use armour when she trained or fought, she had been taught how to move and work inside of it at Flower Academy. "A sample of each element, please." The Queen relaxed back against the downy swan feathers that cushioned the inside of the throne, her eyes fixed on the young Flower in front of her, cold and analytical as a machine; ready to evaluate. Whystaire's mind quickly sifted through each of the elements, trying to decide upon some sort of order to present them in. Air, aether, death, earth, life, power, water, cold, pain, and force. She stood a little straighter as she decided upon her first one. I should go in increasing order, the element I'm worst at first... She flexed her muscles, and stood, placing her hands together.

The Queen almost didn't notice anything at first, the champion's fingers had started to glow lightly, and she could see small ripples of power running across the floor. Her face grew taught with concentration as she willed the ripples into a shape, a large dome shape. The Queen smiled. A very low level spell, she doesn't even seem to be trying.

That's power. On to pain... She closed her eyes, and willed them to burn with the familiar power that ran throughout her veins. When she opened them again, they were completely red. She looked towards The Queen, and sent waves of pain through her body. The Queen didn't even flinch. Whystaire cursed under her breath. The armour is holding me back... She thought as she formed a ball of water in her palm. She kept it simple for the most part, moving some boulders around for earth, forming a small tornado for air, choking a small rabbit to death, freezing the ground in front of her, breaking the floor in front of her, bringing the rabbit back to life, and finally; after all other talents had been demonstrated, she stood, tall, breathing deeply. Without a word, she cut her arm shallowly (finding an exposed chink in the armour) just deep enough to draw blood. Breathe Whystaire, you can do this, you've done it before; you've done it countless times, countless times. She opened her eyes as a drop splashed to the floor.

The Queen's eyes widened as she watched. This kind of power was only rumored to exist. The dark metal shield in front of The Champion seemed solid enough, as though it were made of actual metal. A figure emerged from behind it, her figure. The Queen clapped lightly as the girl stared at the ceiling, her head tilted back. Say hello to Uplandia's newest champion. She thought to herself as she admired the girl's handiwork. We may just have a fighting sort-of chance after all.

~oOo~oOo~oOo~

Kyma didn't know what she had expected to see when she was escorted through the doors to the first session, torture chambers, a solitary confinement room, both were almost the exact opposite of the scene in front of her. It was a comfortable looking room, with soft, red cushioned chairs that were plush and soft to the touch, and books, tons and tons of books. She also didn't expect to see a familiar face in here, someone she recognized.

"Hello Kyma." If he didn't look exactly like Darjal, she would have said she didn't recognize the cruel, lifeless tone. "Take a seat." Ami left Kyma with him, shutting the door quietly.

"Darjal?"

"Sit." He said forcibly. Kyma obeyed. "Do you know what you are here for?" He tapped his fingers on the glass of the small table in front of him, that stood between them.

"Umm...To become an immortal princess?" Darjal smiled, pulling his hands from the table and instead resting his chin on his fingertips.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Sort of..." He laughed bitterly, and Kyma noticed that the light shone onto the reddish coloration under his fingernails. The blood that he had tried to scrub away, but wouldn't come free.

"Well. Let us get started." He leaned towards her, across the coffee table, and moved his hands towards her face. Kyma flinched away reflexively. Something was wrong. Something was...off. She could see it in his eyes. "Don't be scared child." His eyes were dark, almost fully red, his skin was slightly flushed with it too.

His fingers brushed her temples.

Seconds later, Kyma started screaming.