Spoiler/trigger warning: kidnapping, medieval torture (referenced only), needles, medical torture, dehumanization, unsafe medical practices (explained in more detail at the end of the chapter), referenced death. If you would like to skip the torture scene/unsafe medical practices, skip the second scene; the end of chapter notes will have a brief recap of the scene with any plot-important stuff in there.
"Hey, hey, Aja, it's gonna be okay," Steve said to her over the phone. "I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he just went for a walk this morning as well?"
Aja sniffled. "He doesn't like it outside, though. He doesn't like trees."
"But he went outside yesterday, right? When you were on the phone with me? Maybe he came back and then went for another walk?"
"I mean, I guess, but I don't think so. Zadra's been on the alert all morning."
"Could he have snuck out when she was asleep?"
"Zadra is a taylon; they're trained to need very little sleep. Plus, I think I saw her making coffee using one of the energy drinks Stuart dropped off for her as a welcome-to-Earth gift." Aja laughed a little at that, thankful for the distraction from her missing brother, and then she frowned.
She shouldn't have been distracting herself from the fact that Krel was missing.
"Does anyone else know that Krel's missing? If we get a big enough group searching for him –"
"No, we can't. Maybe if he were human, sure, but if anything, people are going to see him as the enemy! If we get a big enough group, he'll be dead!" Steve made a concerned noise; she had scared him. "I'm sorry for yelling; I'm just worried."
"I know, I get it. But you weren't around for all of yesterday's battle; the people of Arcadia Oaks don't mind the trolls. They gave them shelter from the sun."
"But trolls were seen helping humans. Akiridions weren't. Even if there are humans who would help us, how could we be sure no one would sell us out to bounty hunters, especially when Krel's hurt? Or what if they did the same to Varvatos, for that matter?"
"Okay, I won't push you if you aren't ready. But do you have any other options – people who already know and you trust – than just me and Zadra? Because more people looking for Krel means more people that might find him and bring him back safe."
Douxie was strapped down to a metal table by his arms and legs. He was cold, because his only clothing was a thin hospital gown, and the table was a cold metal. His head hurt from where he had been hit. He was hungry because he didn't know when the last time he had eaten was. It had been a long time since he hadn't known if he'd be getting a meal any time soon, but unlike back then he wasn't sure if he would be able to eat even if food was offered. He felt too nauseous with dread.
He was going to be tortured. Even the knights wouldn't have tortured Douxie. He was a wizard, yes, but he had been a child living on the streets. He wouldn't have been any use in finding the few covens and independent wizards living in Camelot in defiance of King Arthur's laws. They wouldn't have tortured him for information; they would have just given him a swift death by the sword. They nearly had, until Merlin had saved him.
Douxie suspected that Merlin wasn't going to save him from this Area 49-D (or whatever the four-armed alien had called it) place. Yes, his master was going to come back for him, despite all the sympathetic looks that Archie, Zoe, and Tatik Margarid gave him when they thought he wasn't looking. But Merlin had said to wait in Arcadia. And despite Douxie's efforts, he wasn't following them. Hopefully Merlin wouldn't be too disappointed in Douxie, despite how he always was. A better apprentice wouldn't have been caught by humans with tasers who were about to…
Honestly, Douxie wasn't quite sure what they were going to do to him. He remembered hearing about how people would be hung by their thumbs and have fires lit under their feet. Neither of those made sense with being strapped down.
An elastic band was tightly tied around his lower arm, and one of the orange suited technicians jabbed a needle into one of the veins in his hand.
Douxie whimpered as the blood began to flow out from his hand into the vial. It hurt so much.
"Hey, how many vials do we need for testing right now?" asked one of the two technicians.
"I think the tests are being done in pairs, right?"
"Yeah, that makes sense." They switched to a second vial. "So, how many extra should we take?"
"We don't want it to die on us too early."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, we can always jab it more later." The room was silent aside from the pained noises escaping Douxie's throat. They finished filling the second vial.
"Okay, time for the second pair."
"Wha-" Douxie started, but he felt an odd jolt run through his system as one of the technicians took a remote and turned a dial. The lights on his cuffs dimmed slightly. He still felt cold, sore, nauseous, hungry, and scared, but he felt more normal than he had ever since the Battle of the Bands.
"Do y'think its blood samples will be any different from that other freak we captured?" asked one of the technicians.
"Eh, that's our job to find out. Plus, we've gotten more funding since that other magical freak died."
Douxie tried very hard not to hyperventilate. They had captured another wizard and probably tortured them to death. They would probably do the same to him.
"Maybe now we could see if there's any changes in its blood when we turn down the magic suppressors." The technician grabbed the remote and turned the dial again. Once more, he felt better.
Douxie's eyes widened. Magic, of course! That's what the cuffs were doing to him. Gritting his teeth, Douxie reached out to his magic. It was barely there, but his hands started glowing. Maybe he could force the needle out of his hand. His eyebrows drew together in concentration, and his hands began to glow.
A fist connected with his jaw. Tears formed in Douxie's eyes as he lost his concentration.
"Don't even think about it," the technician who had punched Douxie said to him. "I'd be more than happy to beat you up, you fucking freak, so go ahead and fight back. There's more where that came from."
Douxie lost track of the time until they finally finished collecting his blood. Before they undid the restraints they took his magic from him once more. He was lightheaded when they finally threw him back in his cage. He gazed at his reflection. There were multiple bruises forming on his face. He looked beyond the glass and frowned, then winced because that made the bruises hurt more. The four-armed alien was gone. Douxie hoped he would come back. He could use a friend.
His face hurt. He was cold, because the glass cage and thin gown didn't keep the chill from his bones. He was nauseous and hungry at the same time. Once more, he couldn't feel his magic.
The technicians hadn't even given him a bandage for the bleeding.
Hex Tech didn't open until nine AM, but Zoe always got there at half an hour 'til eight. She had to as manager and matriarch. Well, mainly as matriarch, because her business skills caused her to constantly be working the front desk in longer shifts than the state of California considered legal. It didn't help that, as much as Zoe tried to keep up to speed with the modern era, wizards born after the industrial revolution were a little more proficient with picking up new things. Like how to play nice with the witches running corporate.
Zoe stretched and yawned. Her coven would have to have a meeting soon about how much they would reveal. The youngest members of the coven wanted to reveal themselves since the whole town knew about trolls. Older members of the coven were concerned, whether it be about the town potentially turning on them, or about the potential that revealing that their franchise was a coven would put all the other Hex Tech-affiliated covens in danger, since presumably they didn't have to deal with trollish invasions. And, of course, since the majority of her coven had been born after Killahead, every single wizard who refused to learn more than an extremely basic monsterology was demanding answers on why lumps of rock had attacked the town.
Well, at least most of the rubble was gone, probably eaten. Most of it, except for a broken red-and-white guitar laying in front of the door to Hex Tech. Great. Just great. She hadn't seen much rubble on her way her way to work and here it was. She knelt down to grab it and then she saw a stray black cat curled up next to the guitar.
No.
Not a stray.
No stray cat had a pair of glasses on his face.
"Archie? What're you doing here? And is that Douxie's guitar?" As forgetful as Douxie could be, he had always been rather responsible. Zoe knew she had gone soft when she caught herself thinking he was too responsible, not when his childhood was far more similar to her own than that of the children of this century. Douxie knew the value of craftsmanship and the fear of shortages, and he wouldn't just leave his guitar on the sidewalk with his just-waking familiar.
Archie looked up at her. The fur around his eyes was stained by tears. "I need your help. I can't sense Douxie anymore."
Zoe staggered to the door, trying to keep her breathing steady. She fished in her pocket for her keys with one hand and made a fist with the other, digging her nails into her palm to ground herself. She was the coven matriarch; she couldn't break down even though she wanted to right now. As far as she could recall, the only thing that could break a familiar bond was death. No. No. She was used to outliving people she cared about, but the last few centuries had made her go soft. Douxie was only a kid; he shouldn't be dead.
"Let's go inside," Zoe said, voice shaking.
Sorry about the lack of Krel in this one; I promise he'll be here next chapter! Also, Douxie's backstory is a bit different from show canon, mainly because I'm changing up the Wizards lore in such a way that time travel isn't needed because I'm not a time travel fan.
Torture scene recap: Douxie is strapped down and has his blood taken from him. He learns that the cuffs are blocking his magic, but can be adjusted so that he can have access to it. Area 49-B is attempting to learn if the amount of magic he has access to can be detected in his blood. He also learns Area 49-B captured another wizard previously, but that wizard is dead now. Douxie attempts to use his magic only to be punched for fighting back.
On the unsafe medical practices found in this chapter: hand-based blood draws suck; I've had them and they've always hurt. However, they can be safely done, and work especially well if you're too dehydrated for the nurses to find the veins in your elbows. The personnel are only doing it in the hand because it hurts, though. In addition, they chose not to sterilize the injection site, even though this could lead to Douxie getting an infection. In addition, Douxie not receiving a bandage contributes to both blood loss and risk of infection. Torture ≠ sound science.