Seventh chapter in my ongoing story. I am ready to type, type, type! Whoo! I'm getting too hyper here! You might wanna read on before I go crazy. (Although it may be too late...) Enjooooooy!

By the way, thanks for the support! I know, I'm not good with battle scenes. I would rather watch them than write about 'em. But I am... I dunno. I'm boring you people here so please go on.

Chapter VII: Imprisoned

The human soldiers had dragged them to a secret location that would have taken forever for the others to find. It was a small fort and when they went inside the walls, they saw it was also a prison. Several guards patrolled the area searching for any victims that had the misfortune of walking in on this place.

Inside the building sitting in the middle of it all, it was freezing cold despite the fact that it wasn't underground. The soldiers threw each of them in separate cells and locked the metal bar doors tight. Fayt was right across from Albel's cell but Peppita was imprisoned many cells away out of reach.

The one carrying Albel threw him onto the floor carelessly. He landed on his stomach and lost his breath for a second. He slowly lifted himself up just enough to sit. Albel was in pain. The wound from the dagger continued to ache and it was bleeding heavily. Not only that, the poison was working its black magic.

Albel sat on the cold floor feeling like he was going to vomit any second. He forced himself not to.

"Albel?"

Fayt was calling to him from his dungeon cell. Albel didn't respond.

"Are you alright? Hold on, I'll find a way to get us out. It may take a while. They took my sword."

Albel collapsed onto the floor. He was too weak to sit up. All he could do now was lay on his left side and wait. He didn't know what he was waiting for. The thoughts of rescue and death flashed in his mind.

"No!" said Fayt. "Please, hold on Albel! You can't die now! I'll get us out but you have to hang on. Stay strong!"

Hang on? That was what he was barely doing. He could feel himself drifting away as if he was flying. Maybe death was around the corner for him. Maybe later today, tomorrow, or even a minute from now he would die here. He didn't know what to think. All that came were mixed emotions.

Murmurs came from down the hallway.

"Interrogate the Black Brigade captain? What's to interrogate?"

"He doesn't need to know anything from him. He just wants someone to torture and possibly kill him."

"For the fun of it?"

"Apparently, that's all the boss wants. Suffering and victory."

"Pretty low even for me."

"The boss doesn't let you live to think. He lets you live to kill people. Go get Al-whatever and do your job."

"Fine, fine."

Soon, someone lifted Albel and he found himself hanging on a shoulder again. He was taken into a small room and cuffed to shackles hanging from wooden posts as tall as the ceiling. His feet only slightly touched the ground. Through his blurred eyes, he saw a small wooden table. Several unusual tools and blades lay upon it. Then he knew where he was. This was the torture chamber.

Nel lead the group through the wastleland. It was filled with dead enemies and allies alike. Everyone tried to look away from them but it was no use. The only good thing here was the fact that the remaining humanoids had left and were nowhere to be seen.

Nel suddenly stopped. She bent down and picked up a bloodstained sword.

"Is that...?" Sophia inquired.

"It's the Crimson Scourge, Albel's sword," said Nel standing up. "We have to hurry. There's no telling what happened or what will be happening to them."

"Lets see what we can do to you," said the interrogator. "What should we use first? What do you think?"

Albel stayed silent too weak to say anything. The interrogator sauntered up to him.

"Gonna be this way, huh?"

The interrogator lightly punched Albel's face making him groan.

"If you can't take a punch, you can say you won't last a day in here. Well, lets make your last day a painful one, eh? Ooh, I forgot I had this whip."

Albel heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Next thing he knew, he felt the lashing pangs of the whip hitting his skin over and over. He would have screamed but didn't have the energy to. Instead he groaned and even that took effort.

The lashing seemed to last forever. It seemed the whip was a favorite weapon as he didn't look bored of using it. It eventually stopped when the interrogator was relieved of duty for the day.

"Enjoy your night because it will be your last," he had said before leaving.

That night was the worst night Albel ever had to live through. It was below freezing and the whip had left him throbbing. The pain from the dagger wound had ceased and so had the bleeding. The sick feeling had not gone away, however, and he felt hot from the fever he had now claimed. Albel was forced to fall asleep hanging from the shackles. To make matters worse, another nightmare found its way to his mind.

It had been a few days since his father had died. The funeral had happened two days before. It was a horrible day. Even some of the men had let a tear slide down their faces. The one who had cried most was Albel's mother. Albel himself stayed away from the whole thing. He couldn't bear to go to the funeral he had caused. It was too painful deep inside his heart and soul.

All he could think about now were the words of Duke Vox. 'You're a failure. That claw is your scar. He died because you failed to take your place.' They kept playing again and again. Then there was the claw. He could not look at it without becoming outraged. He never believed he could hate something with every fiber of his being, but the claw made that belief disappear.

Albel, who was on the watchtower, sat on the edge. He didn't care that he was twenty feet or more above the ground. He was kind of hoping he would fall on accident and die. This world was too cruel for him. Albel wanted to leave it even if he had to go through the sharpest pain to reach what was beyond.

The grey clouds started to sprinkle snow upon the earth. He went inside to escape the cold. As he walked around the castle, he wondered how his mother was doing. Ever since the day of Glou's death, she just seemed to sit around in her room by the window. She would always stare out as if pondering something. It made him worry a little bit.

He peered inside her room. There she was in her usual spot by the window. Albel approached her.

"Mother?" he asked.

"Yes, Albel?"

He couldn't think of a conversation so he just asked a question.

"How are you?"

"The same as I always am nowadays."

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know anymore. Ever since he died, I have this empty feeling I can't seem to fill."

"Mother... I'm sorry... This is all my fault."

"No, Albel. Don't say that. It's not your fault he's gone. It is destiny and fate. You can't change what is destined to happen no matter how horrible it sounds."

Albel stood in silence. He looked at his mother's face. Once it had been filled with light and joy. But now it seemed to be empty. There was no life on it anymore.

The day went by and night fell upon Airyglyph. In the middle of the night as he slept, frantic voices outside his room woke him.

"She did what?"

"I don't know for sure. Just come and see."

Albel was intrigued. He followed the people that had been talking. They were heading in a familiar direction. Finally, they turned into a room, his mother's room. He became worried and summoned his courage. Through the small opening in the door, he saw something so terrifying, he couldn't describe how horrible it was.

A few soldiers were crowded around a woman lying on the ground lifeless. In her hand was a knife covered in blood. Her chest was bloodstained. The most horrible part of all of this was that this woman was his own mother.

He was silenced. He couldn't take his eyes off her. What had she done? By the look of things, she had killed herself. Either that, or someone had murdered her and left this scene to hide the crime. But didn't she know what she had left behind?

A maid came up behind him and slowly guided Albel back to his room. She gave him a little hug and said, "I'm sorry." Sorry? A hug? These things weren't going to change anything. He was now an orphan left alone in this world. His father, dead from death by dragon fire. His mother, dead from suicide. Why was this happening to him? Was he going to be next?

As Albel covered himself in the thick blanket on his bed, he realized something. His mother was so miserable because of Glou's death. Her heart felt empty. She had chose to fill the empty space with the cold blade of a knife and now she was with his father in the beyond. Now he felt much more guilty than ever before. He felt responsible for the death of his mother. He had killed both of his own parents.

"Wake up, you!"

The whip found its way to his body again jerking Albel awake. He immediately felt the soreness of yesterday's lashing. The fever had not gone away either. He was starving and dehydrated. The only good thing was that the temperature went up so it was no longer below freezing.

"We have other prisoners to interrogate here so you're gonna have to die today," said the interrogator. "Seems you survived the night. But I know one thing that will ensure your death."

The interrogator grabbed a small knife. He walked up to Albel's good hand, moved the shackle to one side, and using the knife, slit his wrist.

"Yep, bleeding will kill you. Nobody is going to save you now. You'll just keep bleeding and bleeding until you finally die. Since your death is imminent, I'll let you in on a secret. Greeton has been neutral for centuries. To tell you the truth, if the demons hadn't come along, this wimpy continent would've continued to shut itself off from the world. Yeah, I said demons. The demons of the Daemonium are fed up with being confined to that one universe. So, they decided to come to the Milky Way and have a little fun. Elicoor II was an easy target so the demons are possessing the stronger, more advanced continent and using it to destroy this world. I was one of the few people who were lucky enough to keep control of my own soul. To keep my soul, I must kill anyone from Gaitt who stumbles here. Gotta go get the next prisoner. Have a happy afterlife."

Demons? This didn't make sense. Since when did demons come to the Milky Way to destroy worlds? Well, it didn't matter now. He believed he going to die. Albel's wrist continued to bleed heavily. The blood ran down his arm and dripped onto the floor. Was this how he was to die?

Suddenly, the sounds of blades and magic rang outside the door. There were voices he recognized.

"Lightning Chain!"

"Fists of Fury!"

"Flying Torpedo!"

"Aiming Device!"

The others? The door to the chamber broke down revealing Nel, Maria, Mirage, and Fayt.

"Albel!" cried Fayt.

Fayt must have been freed. Did that mean Peppita had been too? They were here to save him. Nel cut the chains hanging him in the air. Albel was far too weak to land on his feet. He fell to the ground like a lifeless doll.

Cliff, Roger, Sophia, and Peppita walked into the room.

"Eww, he's all bloody!" said Roger flinching. "And you call me nasty!"

"What happened to him?" asked Sophia.

"I don't know but we have to get him to Aquios fast. By the look of things, he isn't going to last much longer," said Nel.

"Couldn't you just use healing magic?" Cliff asked.

"Breaking in here took a lot of effort. I'm a bit tired," said Nel.

"I'm beat too," Sophia said.

"Cliff, you'll have to carry him. He can't walk himself. None of us can carry him either."

"Whatever you say, Nel. But this is going to be awkward."

They ran outside running as fast as they could for Aquios. Plus, they didn't want to be here any longer.

"Man, they slit his wrist. Looks like he's been whipped too," said Cliff. "What's with the gash on his side? His face is red and flushed. Too many injuries to count."

"He was stabbed with a poisoned dagger before we were captured. I saw him in his cell and he didn't look like he was feeling too well," Fayt explained.

"All we can do now is hope," said Sophia.

Done! Poor Albel, I'm sorry I had do this to you! It's all part of the story. Well, please leave a review and I'll update with Chapter VIII soon. Hope you are enjoying this story so far!