Thank you all for the reviews. Here is the next chapter. Standard disclaimer applies.
Chapter 12
Trance woke up and forced her eyes to focus. It was hard to see very much in the dark room with no windows. The purple girl sat up cautiously and felt a slight wave of nausea pass over her. The nausea quickly went away so Trance felt well enough to study the room she was in.
Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room she could see no furniture other than the cot on which she was sitting. The damp room had no windows. The purple alien slowly stood up and waited to see if another wave of nausea would come.
Seeing a door on the other side of the room, Trance walked over and tried the latch. The latch remained secure, telling Trance that the door was locked. Trance shrugged her shoulders and sat back down on the cot. She cold wait a little while longer before trying to pick the lock.
Trance wasn't panicking but she was starting to become concerned for her safety. Waking up in a dark empty room with no windows couldn't be good, the purple girl reasoned.
The purple pixie sighed as she sat and waited for somebody to come to open the door. She knew eventually whoever was keeping her locked in this room would return. Trance's mind mulled over the possible reasons for her being imprisoned in this room and none of them were good.
Trance suddenly began having visions of possible futures. In one vision Harper came to rescue her and found his purple pixie. They were leaving the place where she was being held when the encountered her captor. Trance couldn't make out the image of her captor, as she stood there in a corridor unable to keep the captor from killing Harper.
Tears streamed ran down Trance's lavender cheeks at the thought of losing her friend. Even though this was only one of the possible futures she saw, this one was the clearest. Trance determined that she would not let this awful possible future come to pass.
A sound on the other side of the door brought the purple alien out of her melancholy. Trance scooted back on her bunk and pressed herself against the hard stonewall, waiting for whoever was on the other side to enter.
Moments later tall blonde Nietzschean entered the room. It was the same Nietzschean trance had seen with Siegfried. It didn't take a genius to guess that Siegfried was behind her imprisonment.
"Come with me girlie," Blondie ordered gruffly as he grabbed Trance's left arm.
Trance briefly thought about putting up a fight but decided to play along to see why Siegfried had captured her. He couldn't have known she was out to punish the Nietzschean for being responsible for Harper's injuries. An arrogant Nietzschean would most likely enjoy boasting about his plans for a unique purple pixie.
"Are you going to let me go now? I was getting a little bored just sitting here in this small room," Trance questioned with mock innocence.
Blondie leered down at Trance, sending a chill down her spine. "I'm taking you to my boss, Siegfried. He wants to have a little talk with you."
Trance hid her trepidation from the Nietzschean. "Oh really? I'd love to chat. I haven't had anybody to talk to for some time now."
"Good because Siegfried is quite a conversationalist. When you're done talking to him how about you and I have a talk?" Blondie suggested with a lecherous smile as the two walked down the hallway.
"No thank you, I don't think I'd like the subject of conversation at all," Trance replied matter of factly.
Trance and Blondie walked in silence while the lavender girl could help taking in her surroundings. Trance guessed that this place had once been a castle, judging by the architecture, which consisted of marble. The purple girl marveled at the antique paintings of knights and High Guard heroes.
When they arrived at an ornate wood door a big guard stepped aside for Blondie. Blondie knocked lightly on the door. A voice on the other side of the door instructed them to enter. Blondie opened the door and motioned for Trance to enter. The lavender alien tentatively stepped inside the grand room while Blondie closed the door behind her.
Siegfried sat at the head of a long dining table with vast varieties of food spread out in front of him. Siegfried waved a napkin towards a seat at his right. "Sit down my dear purple girl."
"Why thank you Siegfried. I am rather hungry, would you mind if I joined you?" Trance asked politely.
"By all means eat hearty," Siegfried encouraged. "You must be wondering why I have brought you here."
"Your associate said you wanted to talk to me," Trance replied casually as she spooned some vegetables onto her plate.
Siegfried let out a low hearty chuckle. "Your naiveté is amusing, and somewhat charming."
Trance blushed a brighter shade of lavender as she sipped at the broth she had just ladled into a small china bowl. She was grateful for her ability to control her heart rate and body temperature, giving the Nietzschean a false impression of her mood. Inside she was seething with anger towards this man but on the outside she was the embodiment of cool and collected. Trance forced herself to calm down. She realized she must be having another mood swing. "I'm glad you find me charming. I'm hoping my charm will make you see that it would be best for you to let me leave here."
Siegfried chuckled with amusement and set his spoon down. "My you are a most amusing purple one. I am not about to let you leave here until I am quite ready. I didn't go to all the trouble to have Jason spike your drink only to let you walk out of here this soon."
Trance kept her surprise from showing but it was rather difficult. So it was Jason who drugged her, Trance mused. She made a not to deal with the young man later.
After the main course was finished the blonde Nietzschean entered the room carrying a potted plant. Trance's brown eyes brightened at the sight of the blue flower with yellow leaves. The purple girl was familiar with the plant. It came from a cold planet in the Scorpius System. The plant was delicate, yet hearty enough to withstand harsh environments.
Blondie set the plant on the table in front of Siegfried. Siegfried reached out and cupped the flower in his hand before he pulled it out of the pot by the roots. His keen Nietzschean senses told him that the purple girl sitting across from him jumped ever so slightly when he had pulled the flower.
Siegfried looked over at Trance with a cold expression. "Such a lovely flower, it's almost a shame it had to be uprooted like this."
"Then why did you pull that poor flower from its pot? It did nothing to you," Trance questioned sadly as her eyes welled up with tears. She still made at attempt to understand the Sabra Jaguar.
"Because the flower is symbolic my purple one. It has been uprooted just as I and the rest of my pride has been uprooted by the Drago Kazov pride.
Trance's face showed her confusion. She was trying to get a better understanding of what made Siegfried tick. "But I still don't see why you had to hurt the poor flower like that. You could have just told me you felt alone and uprooted. If you will give me the flower I may be able to save it."
Siegfried let the flower dangle loosely in his left hand. "Why should I let you try to save it? It would be a waste of time. It's a flower and I can get more of them."
"But you can't get more of this particular flower. This flower was unique, as living things," Trance argued. The purple alien watched helplessly as the life drained out of the flower.
"You concern for all living things is irrational and detrimental to your survival. Why do you care so much for a flower?" Siegfried questioned with curiosity.
"I enjoy plants. Plants are beneficial and many, like that flower are pretty to look at. It won't hurt anything for me to try to save that beautiful flower and I may just succeed and you will have your flower back as good as new," Trance continued to press.
Siegfried nonchalantly handed over the blue and yellow flower to the purple alien. "Very well. Let's see what you can do. But it can wait until we have dessert."
Trance reached for the pot and pulled it closer to her. "I'll pass on dessert if you don't mind. The sooner I get the flower back into the pot and tend to it the better its chances of survival." She then began to carefully replant the flower back into its pot.
"Very well, if you'd rather worry about a flower than eat do so," Siegfried
grumbled, reluctantly giving in. He had seen how much the flower meant to the
Trance, which gave him valuable insight into how to deal with her in the
future. In addition, the purple pixie would be kept busy with the flower,
taking her mind off of trying to escape or cause other trouble.
As Siegfried had expected, Trance was so preoccupied with the flower that she barely noticed the blonde Nietzschean enter the room. Blondie stood behind the purple girl and waited for instructions from his leader. Siegfried signaled with a wave of his hand to take Trance back to her room.
"Come on girlie," Blondie announced as he put a hand on her shoulder.
Trance looked up with mild surprise. "Oh, I didn't see you come in Blondie." Then, turning to Siegfried noted, "I guess our dinner conversation is over now."
Siegfried wiped a drop of custard from the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "Yes, Marco will take you back to your room where you can care for your flower."
"Horatio will need some more water. You kept his soil much too dry, poor thing," Trance informed as she picked up her glass of water from the table.
Siegfried leaned back in his chair with a smug grin on his face. Everything was going according to plan. However, he would make sure not to underestimate the purple pixie. Trance may appear to be naïve and gentle but that didn't mean she couldn't prove to be a threat.