A really sad chapter.. Because the cartoon made 'prison' seem like a haven - no one was sick, and no one was even thin. I always thought they shoulda made it for teens rather than kids (though nowadays kids are watching SAW, so idk why a little sadness is bad)

"Everybody this way. We don't have much time." Caleb frowned as the few people who'd managed to stumble from their cells only stared at him with bleak; unconcerned eyes. None of them would know what year it was, or who he was, and he doubted they'd live long even if he managed to get them out. But he couldn't just leave them. Will was wrong, but he didn't care. He'd rather die than see her cry again, and that's how he'd left her, on the verge of tears. "We are going to save you."

Blue eyes stared up at him; a man not in his forties, but wrinkles cloaked his body because nearly everything inside him had deteriorated. Caleb wondered if the man had dragged himself from his cell, because this man surely didn't look like he could walk, and Caleb thought of Will as he picked the basically dead man up. He'd never allowed himself to look; not until he was safely behind closed doors from any audience; not until there had been no Julian; no Aketon; he hadn't looked back into the dark Prince's mind, because no one had ever been people. Everyone was an enemy or an allie. But Will only saw people. No allies. No enemies. Everyone was the same. And now he was too tempted to please her not to clean up her mess and she'd never live on the battlefield. She'd kill herself first.

"I said: WE ARE GOING TO SAVE YOU!" He'd never been good with discarding temptations.

...

"Everybody, there is a portal to safety, just one floor up! Help anyone who needs it!" Taranee frowned at her own words. They didn't even look like they believed her, though Caleb's words had echoed down around the walls of this nightmare. Everybody here needed help, and Taranee wasn't stupid. She'd seen the look on Will's face, and she'd hated the grim one on Caleb's. Because they weren't going to make it this time.

She looked, as the few men who could walk, seemed to be leaning together, and she half expected them to turn to dust where they stood. Half of them weren't even distinguishable; they all looked the same. No fat, no muscle, thinning hair, sad, slightly bulging eyes and no hope.

And there was a child. She couldn't believe her eyes. A baby that couldn't be more than three or four.. People had been living here. They'd been living in a prison. How long had they been here? Years? Two? Ten?

The mother held the little kid close - Taranee couldn't even tell whether it was a boy or a girl until she stepped forward. The child; nude, was a girl after all.. With green triangles of skin on her face, and big eyes that matched a head that seemed too big for her body..

Taranee held her arms out, "Here, you can lean on me and I'll-"

But the mother held the child close and backed towards the cell, and Taranee felt her throat go dry. They'd rather stay, than trust her. So little faith in good ran through these spirits; only a fraction of the standing few were actually walking in the direction she'd pointed.

"Please, if you just listen! Please!"

...

"C'mon, go! Go! Faster!" Hay Lin pushed the back of a woman, but her hand shrank away when she felt bone. She didn't know it would be like this, and she'd never really thought that people could be so..

And she jumped away; wounded, by the idea that she'd caused a man further ahead to fall to the ground, because she was pushing them too fast, and she felt tears pricking her eyes. One of the men had just looked at her. She'd told him he was saved and he'd just stared, without anything, and then he'd put a cross on her collar and he'd walked back to his cell.

Efcharistoúme. He'd breathed it and left her; he'd gone back to die. Didn't he understand? They were going to save him! THey were going to save everyone! "C'mon! We have to go!"