Once Arinia had fallen asleep, Archie looked up at Mark, observing him for several moments before speaking again. The teen had his eyes on Arinia, and his gaze betrayed to Archie the love he had for the girl. At last, the Team Aqua leader asked, "Mark, you were with Arinia through most of her ordeal, is that correct?"
Startled, Mark looked up at Archie, and nodded. "Yes, I was," he
replied softly.
Archie nodded in return. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Sure. Well, I had led my group to go rescue her, when we were ambushed inside their base outside Arinia's cell. But before that, I was able to speak to Arinia and find out what had been done to her. She had said that Maxie had tried to starve her, and from how she looked through the bars of her cell, she looked really weak. It seemed like it was a miracle that she had enough strength to stand. However, she didn't have enough energy to stand up for very long, and when her energy gave out she fell to the floor and hit her head." Mark said.
"Ouch! Poor girl…… What happened next?" Archie questioned.
"I was dragged away from her cell with the rest of my teammates, and we were all put in different cells. Not too long after I had been put in mine, Maxie entered and he told me how Arinia was when I asked, and he took me to see her when I didn't believe him when he had said that he had 'only put Arinia back in her bed' when he had entered her cell while I was being dragged away from her. Maxie took me to her cell, and we both entered. I ran to Arinia to make sure that she was all right. She was fine, but she was still very weak and she was also unconscious." Mark replied.
Now Archie said, "Mark, I think I'm starting to see a pattern here…… Do you by any chance love Arinia?"
"Yes, I do love her. She's one of the few treasures I didn't know existed until I met her." Mark replied.
"I see, and does Arinia love you back?" Archie asked.
"She does. She clings to me when she's scared or frightened as you probably saw when you entered." Mark replied.
"Good, then treat her well. I'll probably be seeing a lot more of her now that I know that you love her." Archie remarked.
Now Mark said, "I will treat her well, there's no way in the world I would treat her otherwise. I love her too much to push her away by doing that."
Now Archie said, "We seem to have gotten a little bit off topic…… Let's continue what we were talking about. While Arinia was unconscious, what did you do?"
"I cradled her in my arms, and began looking after her as much as I could when Maxie had told me to look after her to make sure that she would survive. He wouldn't give her a doctor at that moment in time, but I did whatever I could to try to ease her suffering; since I had nothing other than my love for her to help her." Mark replied while trembling slightly. Mark still hadn't gotten over how close he had come to losing Arinia forever.
Arinia sighed in her sleep, and Archie looked at her while she slept and said, "The poor dear…… I swear that I won't let Maxie get away with this! No one deserves what Maxie put Arinia through……"
Now Steven asked, "You're going to help avenge my daughter's suffering?"
"Yes, Maxie has gone one step too far this time, and it's time that I put him in his place so that he can't harm others." Archie said.
"Thank you, if Maxie is ever caught I plan on pressing charges against him. First he went after Karania several years ago, and now he went after Arinia…… I can't have him thinking that he can harm my daughters and expect to get away with it." Steven said.
"Too true, if something happened to either one of our daughters, our world would be shattered." Rosella added.
At that Archie remarked, "Don't worry, I'll see to it that he's caught and that he gets what he deserves for what he's done."
Lance looked at Karania before he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug and said, "If something happened to you, darling, my world would be shattered too. People who would harm others at will must be caught, they can't continue to prey upon innocent people……"
Now Michael said, "I totally agree. Maxie harms others with no thought for them except for what he'll get out of the deal……."
Archie now asked, "Well anyway, what happened next to Arinia?"
"Arinia began to stir shortly after we returned to her cell, and as soon as she came to Maxie let me stay with her before he left. When she came to she said something about not feeling that great, but I tried to shush her so that she could save her strength." Mark said.
"I see, and how did Arinia react to that?" Archie questioned.
"I think she was surprised that I cared about her, but I can't read her mind so it's hard to know for sure." Mark replied.
Now Archie said, "You're probably right. What happened next?"
Karania took a step to walk over to Arinia's bedside, but her ankle gave way and she fell to the floor.
"Karania! Are you okay?" Steven asked.
"Yeah, darling, what happened?" Lance asked.
"I'm fine, I must've stepped funny or something……."
Now Archie remarked, "Let's hope that's what happened. I don't want to see you hurt like the last time……."
"I'm fine, really…….." Karania insisted.
"Well darling, if there's one thing I want you to do, it's to get your weight off your ankle for a bit." Lance said.
"But Lance! I'm fine!" Karania insisted.
Now Michael said, "Karania, for all we know you might have sprained something. I think you should do as your husband says, at least for now anyway."
Karania gave up, "Okay, fine. I give up! I'll sit down for a while……"
Lance helped Karania over to a chair near the window, and once she was sitting down he said, "Take it easy now darling, if that ankle isn't better in a little while we might want to get a doctor to look at it."
Now Mark said, "I think she just put her weight on it funny, that's all. I don't think that any permanent damage was done."
Archie turned back to Mark, "Well anyway, after you saw Arinia's reaction what happened next?"
"Well, I suppose you could say that Arinia and I had a romantic moment, however Maxie came in during it and spoiled the moment. I wasn't too happy about it and I let him know about it, and he said something about getting rid of Arinia and I. Arinia was frightened and she tried to talk him out of it even though she was weak, but Maxie only laughed at her and threatened to kill her. Arinia then sat up and clung to me and started crying, I wrapped my arms around her and held her, and I told her that I wouldn't allow Maxie to harm her. However, Maxie wasn't too happy about this because he pried Arinia out of my arms and took her with him when he left. I begged him not to take her, but he took her anyway." Mark said.
"So what happened next?" Archie asked, hoping that Arinia had told Mark what had happened."
"I'm not entirely sure. Arinia said something about how Maxie had tied her up and took her to see a doctor, but I'm not sure what really happened……"
Just then, Arinia started to stir and woke up and yawned before she asked, "Mark?"
"I'm still here, Arinia." Mark replied.
Now Archie asked, "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did sleep well." Arinia replied.
Now Mark said, "While you were sleeping, I told Archie what happened to you. I've told up to the part where Maxie took you away from me. However, I need you to pick up the story from there since I wasn't with you when it happened during that part."
Arinia shuddered, "I was afraid that you were going to say that……"
Now Michael said, "Come on, Arinia, you can do it…… If it's one thing I've learned from experience, sharing what you've been through helps you recover and heal faster. I know it won't make the horror from your ordeal go away, but it can help lessen it. We want to help you, so would you please help us?"
Now Archie said, "That's right, we want to help you, but we can't help you if you won't let us. Please relive for us the story of what happened so that we can help you. I know it won't be easy for you, but we need you to……"
"Okay……. I'll tell you……" Arinia said reluctantly.
"That a girl! I knew you were brave!" Mark exclaimed.
Now Archie turned to Arinia and asked, "Arinia, when Maxie took you away from Mark what happened and where did he take you?"
"When Maxie took me away from Mark he took me up to his office where he tied me up, then he took me to see a doctor." Arinia replied.
"What happened next?" Archie questioned.
"Maxie made me sit on a chair while the doctor looked at me. The doctor took some of my blood then he left to go analyze it, and he returned with the results of it in a few minutes." Arinia replied.
Now Archie asked, "What did Maxie do about your head?"
"He left to go get an ice pack and when he returned with it he gave it to the doctor, and the doctor applied it to the bump on the back of my head." Arinia replied.
Now Archie asked, "What happened next?"
"I shivered and Maxie went to get a blanket, and when he returned with it he wrapped me in it." Arinia replied.
"Then what happened?" Archie asked.
"I don't know why, but Maxie asked me if I was comfortable. I said that I wasn't because who could be comfortable if they ropes digging into their skin…… Then Maxie unwrapped me from the blanket and untied me, then he wrapped me back in the blanket." Arinia replied.
"Strange…… Maxie must've gotten a little bit of a heart……" Archie remarked.
Then he asked, "What happened next?"
"The doctor told Maxie about my condition and said something about giving me some shots that would help me get better, and Maxie told him to go ahead and give them to me……" Arinia replied.
Now Archie remarked, "No doubt about it, Maxie is up to something……. Please continue."
"The doctor left the room and returned a few minutes with the shots. The doctor gave them to me, then he left and Maxie carried me back to my cell." Arinia replied while starting to get sleepy again.
Now Archie said, "Thanks for telling me, Arinia. Now go and get some more sleep."
Mark now pulled the covers up around Arinia and kissed her as he said, "Sleep well, Arinia."
Arinia fell asleep and Mark and Archie continued talking about what had happened to Arinia.
~*~
Author note: The recount isn't finished yet, it will continue in the next chapter. I have some good stuff planned for future chapters so stick around. I promise that you won't be sorry.