The Winglies of Hellena

Chapter Eleven: Inside Hellena Once Again

Disclaimer: You know the Characters from LoD aren't mine, but all the others are. No stealy. .

"So what's the plan?" Dart asked Lily as they neared the prison.

"Let me do most of the talking. The story will be that I had come up with an idea - Lloyd hasn't had many takers, as unbelievable as it seems. He's simply too much for the people to handle. Plus the price on him is unbelievably high because of his reputation. I will tell the Boss that I had come up with an idea on how to finally sell Lloyd off. Who hates him so much that they'd want to buy him and finish him off once and for all? Why, Dart of course. His best friend died by Lloyd's hands, and he and his friends have suffered so much because of him. You'll be coming to inspect Lloyd to see if he's the real one. Now, I've taken a lot of money from the vaults," she explained as she handed him over several heavy bags of gold. "This will be enough to cover his purchase. We'll bail him out and figure out how to get the others out later."

Dart's eyes grew wide as he hefted the gold in his hands. "How much is in here?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

Lily smirked at him and replied, "Fifty-five million gold."

"Holy shit!" Dart yelped out in surprise. "No wonder he hasn't had many takers! That'd take a lifetime to save up!"

"Hush now, and put the gold away. We're almost there."

Dart nodded and put the gold in his bag. The gates rolled down as they approached, and the guards watched while they stepped inside. They didn't get far before the Boss came out, walking over to them. "Lily, I thought you were on sick leave? And who is this?"

"My little surprise to you, Boss," Lily smiled and clasped her hands in front of her. "This is Dart. I told him about Lloyd and he wants to buy him. He said he'd like nothing better than to finish off the Wingly that killed his friend and kidnapped his wife so long ago." Dart got a hard look on his face and nodded in agreement - this was only partly acting. He still hated Lloyd for killing Lavitz and kidnapping Shana, as well as doing all the other horrible things he'd done.

The Boss circled Dart, nodding slowly. "I see. The price for him is very high, but I understand you acquired a lot of gold on your adventure six months ago."

"I did," Dart replied stonily. "Lily informed me it was fifty-five million gold?"

"Yes, indeed," the Boss replied. "Are you able to pay?"

"I am," Dart replied. If Lily had had any doubts about Dart's acting skills, these were quickly dispelled. "But I want to see him first. I want to know if it's really him. You'll excuse me if I'm still a little skeptical about the idea of Lloyd being alive when I saw him die."

"Of course, of course," the Boss said understandingly. He turned around and called out, "Dominic! Go get Lloyd from the black room and bring him here."

Dart looked over and saw a Wingly in the corner, coming to the same realization that Lloyd had - His eyes are green like Melbu Frahma's! He shook off his shock and watched as the Wingly turned and headed into Hellena. He didn't have to wait too long. About ten minutes later Dominic re-emerged, shoving Lloyd ahead of him.

Lloyd, his wrists chained together again, fell to his knees and huddled there on the floor, his crimson eyes wide. The spells had been removed, as had the nose clamp, and his mind was reeling from the senses that came rushing back at him so quickly. Dart's eyes went wide at the sight of Lloyd. Oh Soa... He thought to himself in horror. He has so many scars... He's bloody, filthy, and starved too. My Goddess, what did they do to him? Any hate for Lloyd was dispelled suddenly as those wide scarlet eyes lifted slowly to see Dart. Those garnet orbs were hollow and blank - there was no life in them at all. They were completely devoid of hope and of any will to live.

"Is this the same Lloyd you know?" the Boss asked, his hands folded over his chest. "I apologize for his appearance. We usually clean up the slaves before they are presented to potential buyers, but he is fresh out of the torture chamber."

Remembering his acting, Dart shook his head and looked to the Boss. "Yes, that's him. I'll take him."

The Boss nodded, and grinned appreciatively as Dart handed over the bags of gold. He weighed the gold on a scale and was satisfied after opening each one and checking the quality of the gold pieces. "Good, very good. You can take him then."

"Would you take off the shackles?" Dart asked. At the startled look from the Boss, he explained, "I want to take him out fighting. I did it before, and I can do it again."

The Boss nodded and smirked as he motioned for Dominic to take off the shackles. Dominic did so - very reluctantly, and stepped back with the shackles in his hands. Lloyd didn't even appear to notice. "All right, you may take him and go now. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Dart."

Dart nodded and hefted Lloyd up by his arm. Although he felt like dirt doing so, he had to treat him roughly until they were out of sight of Hellena. He gave Lloyd a shove to start out the gates, and the tall Wingly stumbled once before plodding along slowly, his head down, wide blank eyes staring at the ground.

"I'm just going to make sure everything goes all right," Lily told the Boss before following Dart and Lloyd out. As the gates closed and they left Hellena, a profound sense of relief overcame both Dart and Lily. They had pulled it off without a hitch.

As soon as they were out of sight Lily walked around in front of Lloyd and lifted his head. "Lloyd, honey, look at me. Do you remember me?" Lloyd just stared at her blankly, and when her hand reached up to stroke back his platinum hair he cringed as if expecting her to strike him. "Lloyd, you're free. We rescued you. You won't be beaten anymore, do you understand?" Her expression grew very worried when Lloyd didn't seem to hear her. She looked to Dart. "He's in bad shape. I don't think he even realizes he's out of Hellena."

Dart walked around and looked Lloyd in the face. "Hey, you. Snap out of it, Lloyd." He got the same blank response. Dart shook his head slowly. "Do you think he'll recover?"

"I don't know," Lily replied quietly. "Let's just get him back to your house and get him washed up." She and Dart slipped their arms around Lloyd and helped him walk back to Seles slowly. In that entire time, Lloyd's blank and lifeless look never receded.