Day after day we would sit in the dingy, foul smelling dark as a guard would come down once at some random time to give us a scrap of quality-questionable food and a rusty thimble of water. Sometimes they would take a child away, and sometimes it was kicking and screaming. Most didn't have the energy to fight back. I had also come to befriend the rest of the kids that remained down here. That being the little boy I talked with, Zastel, two little girls, Temi and Lei, and another little boy, Yen. None of them really talked all that much, so instead I decided to fill the crushing silence with soft singing, quiet enough to not alert the guards. It always seemed to aid the pains, hungers, and fatigues of the others, though I think it was more so that it helped distract them from it. During the unknown number of days that had already passed, my shoe remained unutilized since our food and water was always passed through a metal flap at the bottom of the door, and no guard had yet to come for me. Until today that is.

"Step back from the door girl."

I did as was told and awaited my ration, but instead of my meager piece of moldy meat and almost impossibly small sip of water, the whole door was opened and even though the little bit of illumination that came in was dim, it was enough to blind my light-deprived eyes. A meaty, calloused hand came in and reached me before I could even grab for my shoe. I was gripped and drug out from the cell, half blind and terrified what fate awaited me. The little bit of exercise I did in the cell still had zero effect against the large man hauling me off to gods know where. I decided to stop struggling and just try to memorize the halls we were going down.

Two right turns and a right door later, and I was met with the terrifying machine of none like I had ever seen before. There was a single raised slab of metal with a multitude of restraints made of the same material. Above and below it were sharp protrusions, wires, and tubes with unknown but guessably unpleasant purposes. On either side of the table, giant cylinders filled with unknown liquid or gas were pressurizing from the valves and gauges I could see attached to them. I shook from the sight as well as malnourishment. Gasping and turning my head sharply, the man replaced his hand on my upper arm and pulled me forward towards the apparatus.

I wanted so desperately to leave, to run as fast as I could and out the front door, but I could imagine being easily caught moments after the attempt and receiving a beating equivalent to the one Chrim got when trying to struggle away from being taken away from his cell. We never heard him or of him since so we obviously assumed the worst.

I didn't realize I had delved so deep into my thoughts until I heard and felt the click of the restraints around my wrists, ankles, and throat. I pulled lightly against them shaking and mute, testing the strength of them futilely. I heard a pair of heels clicking down the hall and I moved my gaze as best I could towards the only door. My neck clamp held tight and kept me from seeing even as the two people entered the room.

"Thank you, Peute, that will be all."

The heavy footfalls of my escort left the room at the command of the man I'd come to learn was called Master Gradelt.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk. Have you ever seen such a sorry state? Ohh, poor dear."

The sound of his heels against the stone floor came closer and he came into view over me with a pitying smile. He brought the back of his hand to my face and I flinched away as he caressed it against the side of my face, moving a lock of my nearly matted hair out of the way. He held up my phone with his other hand for me to see. Well, its mangled remains anyways.

"Despite our best efforts, we were unable to truly figure out how your little device worked. I've never seen anything like it before, and that impresses me as I have seen all manner of things. Would you care to explain its mechanics or your origin now? I think it is suffice to say that you aren't of this world with this type of technology in your possession."

I merely stared at him with a mixture of fear, anger at my destroyed phone, and trepidation at his quick and accurate conclusion of my otherworldly origins. I hadn't gotten to ask this guy about what he'd meant with 'communication lacrima', but I had ended up asking the other kids about magic as a safe question pertaining to the nature of the anime without seeming like a complete weirdo if I was wrong. I got my answer, and was completely bewildered as to how I had gone from dying on the asphalt of the street in my neighborhood to a meadow in one of the worlds of an anime I'd not even recently watched. Of all the anime, why Fairy Tail? Why not something more tame like Ouran or any other slice of life? I remember how many people died on an episodic basis in the show, and sure magic was cool, but I could have been sent somewhere like a magical girl anime if the universe wanted me to enjoy myself without such a huge danger level!

I was snapped back to the present when a hum came from the mouth of my kidnapper.

"Still not willing to talk, eh? Well, I'm sure my assistant and our machine here will help answer our questions for us~ Cel?"

"Sir."

I heard the second pair of boots walk over to the control panel I had only seen briefly on my way in. A button click was heard and the terrifying sound of a building charge was heard and rang through the air.

"Last chance."

I whimpered and shook my head back and forth, fear clouding my mind from answering if I even wanted to.

"No! No no no! Nononono! Please!"

From above me I saw little tendrils of electricity dancing across the surface of the spiked arms that were now pointed at me. The hairs raised on my arm before I was filled with a great needle like pain that overtook my whole body. Unable to control my body, the electricity took over and sent me into convulsions. The smell of burnt hair surrounded me and tears overtook my vision, but made the experience worse for my eyes as the electricity was drawn to the liquid.

It was probably only seconds, but it felt like an entire half-hour I was being zapped. My body dropped down heavily onto the table and I tasted copper. I heaved air in and out of my lungs, attempting to hopefully breathe out some of the pain in some way.

"Now, where did you come from my dear? Another world? Different dimension perhaps?"

Tears still clouded my eyes and from the pain I felt I almost wanted to answer him. If this really were the anime, I wondered silently if I would be perhaps gifted with a stronger body? How much could someone take here? If I were here, though, were the other main characters here? At what point in the timeline did I show up? Would I even live long enough or be able to escape to find out? What was this guy going to do with me if he found out where I was from and that I had no magic? I would probably be useless to him at that point.

I couldn't let him find out or I'd be killed for sure. I need to be alive to be able to come up with an escape plan.

"Sigh. Very well then. If that is how you wish to play."

My broken screams and the sound of charged air echoed repeatedly against the stone walls, filling the entire space with sounds of pain, terror, and electricity.

I had been moved out of the cells and into a room with a bed and several amenities that were made to make me feel more comfortable, but I knew the gilded nature of their being in here with me. My captors were moving onto another tactic of information extraction that I recognized. They were trying to get me to drop my guard into thinking that they could be trusted, but once they got what they wanted, or if I refused to give them that information, it would all be taken away once again. Then, hopefully I would be so desperate to get those little luxuries back that I would tell them anything they wanted to know.

Knowledge was power, and I wouldn't let this scum think they could get away with abusing and killing children. I would make them pay.

There was a lacrima placed in the corner of the room that resembled an eye slightly, and I figured it was meant to act as a surveillance camera. If I could take it out, I might have enough time to grab some sort of weapon to attempt an attack and escape. I also remember not seeing any in the dungeon, probably too dark to see anything through it. This guy didn't seem dumb though. Not with his overt understanding of psychological and physical torture. Looking around the room I took inventory. There was a simple bed with a metal frame, lumpy spring mattress, flat feather pillow, thin holey blanket, thick woven rug, bucket obviously meant to replace a toilet, and a lightbulb in the very center of the room ceiling.

Time to get to work.

Over several hours a day I spent time underneath the blanket given to me, appearing to be crying rather than pulling the many coils from a hole that was in the top part of the mattress. With every one of the half centimeter thick coils I pulled free, I took the time to straighten it and hide it back in the mattress in case the room were to get searched.

When I wasn't eating the slightly larger meal and drink of water I was given, I was taken back to the room and tested or tortured for information. I figured out that they would let me keep the room another day for every new piece of information I gave them about where I was from. Mostly it would be information about the technology and laws and flora and fauna and things like that. I made sure to stay away from anything that pertained to magic, but I would be zapped harshly for refusing to answer questions. It was a vicious cycle, but if I could escape and maybe contact an authority of some sort, like the soldiers of the Grand Magic Council. My end goal now was surviving in order to release the other kids and take out this awful Dark Guild.

The deafening clanging of a fist on my door had me scrambling to shove my mostly straightened coil back into the bed. I jumped off the bed after covering it with the blanket in a way that made it seem I just tossed it rather than meticulously cover the hole I'd been using. The door opened not a second later and I was walked out of the room and back to the torture chamber.

I was strapped down to the table once more for my interrogation, and I had to say I was sort of getting used to the electricity. Either I was building a tolerance, or my nerves were being permanently fried. Either way I made sure to scream just as loud every time I'm zapped to hopefully fool them into thinking otherwise. The clamps and cold metal never got any comfier though.

"Ah, my favorite pet! What new information will you be bestowing upon us this session, hm? I have to say, you've been doing quite well so far! For that I think you need another reward."

I grew nervous at the way he enunciated 'reward' but could only listen as the table was lowered for the first time since I came here, leveling my body with the ground, but still holding me up in the air at his hip's height. I glanced nervously up at him as he grinned joyfully down at me as if I were a new toy he was getting for Christmas. A metal cart with a small, cloth covered sphere was wheeled up next to us and my curiosity was piqued, but something in my brain screamed that this was something that most definitely shouldn't be labelled a gift.

"As I've said before, you have been quite the good interviewee. Your stories of self-driving cars and spaceships have intrigued me to no end. There is one question though that you repeatedly refuse to answer, and that's about the nature of magic in your world~!"

The breath I was taking stopped short in my throat, and I began to sweat nervously. Was I really too obvious about dancing around the topic? I thought I'd been doing a great job about it. I guess I should be thankful that he bought the lie that I was three years old like I appeared, but this new revelation left me so much more nervous about what was under that velvet curtain. He began stroking the top of it and gazed past the cloth, smiling affectionately down at it as if it were a beloved child.

"You are aware how magic works in this world right? The Ethernano particles that float around in all of us and all around us are just the building block for magic. But did you know that it's actually Ethernol that is the catalyst for a mage's utilization of the Ethernano in their magic containers. It's the hormone that helps produce the Ethernano precursors that help replenish your Ethernano."

Okay, cool to know. I always thought it was more magic than science in the world of Earthland, but I guess that's not so much the case. Where is he going with this though?

He quickly and dramatically snatched the cloth off the golf ball-sized sphere it was covering.

"I have quite a few interesting and expensive tools and magical devices at my disposal, but some of my favorite are lacrimas. They really are so versatile. Light, communication, surveillance. Did you know that there are lacrima that can give those it's implanted into the power of a dragon? They are not only incredibly expensive, but also almost unbelievably rare. Oh what I wouldn't give for one of those. No matter though, what I have here is something much more interesting."

He picked it up and I was mesmerized by the light blue hue it cast around it. It was like an orb version of those bioluminescent bacteria in the ocean. We kept staring at it as he explained further what purpose he had showing me this.

"You know, I always wondered something. What would happen if someone born without a magical container, and from another world altogether, were to be implanted with an Ethanol-infused lacrima?"

I pulled my eyes away and stared terrified at him and the implications behind this question.

"I wonder…Would it possibly jump-start the creation of a magic container for that individual? Would it poison them? Or could it possibly just immediately kill them? Oh the possibilities excite me~!"

I continued to stare at the manic face of the man in front of me, but pulled harshly against the metal straps holding me to the table.

"N-No! No no! Please don't! Please! Please! Please don't do it! I-I'll tell you more about where I'm from! I-I-I'll tell you about airplanes! Or the types of deadly flowers! Or anything! Just please!"

He caressed the top of my shaking head, and gained a soft expression he usually held when I answered one of his questions fully. He placed the orb back down on the table and while still staring at me with that cruelly soft smile, he opened his mouth and continued to use words that sent me reeling into a world of terror that I'd fallen into quite often in this god forsaken place.

"Because you have been such a good sport about sharing all of the other intricacies of your world, I'll grant you a final wish. Please don't waste it on something like being let go, however. I'll give you five minutes."

With that he walked out and left me alone while strapped to the machine. This could be my chance to escape if I play my cards right! The chance was small, but the fact that I had any at all was what kept my thoughts racing from one idea to the next. I can't just ask for anything either that would be too obvious.

"Alright, five minutes are up! What have you decided, my pet?"

"I want to be allowed to see the other kids in the cells one last time. Without a guard present. If you'd like to lock me in one of the cells, so be it, but I want to be alone with them so that they won't be afraid to talk like when the guards are around."

"Hmm...Very well! You will be taken to the cells tomorrow and locked in for a half hour. I want to start the procedure as soon as possible! Hehe, it makes me so giddy to learn if my hypothesis is correct with you~! Now, let's begin our session once more, shall we?"

The session lasted much longer than any of the previous, and I blame that on the fact that I might be dead by tomorrow. I spent almost all of the night finishing the preparations for my escape. I had a small smile on my face the rest of the night as I dreamed of a successful escape. I had gotten a mere four hours of sleep, but that was better than none at all. I was awoken at the sound of the death bell tolling, or in reality, the familiar knock of knuckles against my steel door. I walked with my designated guard to the dingy dungeon where the remaining four kids left alive were kept. I was walked to my cell and locked in before the guard left without a word.

"Nicky? Is that you? How did you survive?! None of the others have ever come back once they're taken, I thought you were dead for sure!"

"Zast, shh, I'm fine now but I won't be for long. I need your help, I'm planning an escape!"

"What, are you crazy?! How do you expect me to help?"

I pulled the long twisted together pieces of coil from my dress where I had wrapped it around my body to conceal it. Thanks to the tattered nature of my dress, the long rope of coil was concealed with numerous wrinkles and small tears on the outermost layer. I bent off two pieces of the wire, one longer than the other, the old wire snapping quite easily after a few back and forth folds. I tucked the rest of my wire back in my dress. And got to work on using the two pieces to pick the lock to my cell.

"I only have thirty minutes with you guys, but you said you all had magic right?"

A shuffling could be heard before I got small yesses from them all.

"I can make weak barriers. They're able to withstand a single hit at most before they shatter. But I don't understand why you're even asking? With these magic sealing cuffs on I can't use it."

I grinned and took a deep breath as I heard the tell-tale click of the lock turning. I pushed the door open slowly, making sure to check the low lit hall for clearance before pushing it the rest of the way open. I raced over to Zast's cell to unlock his as well.

"Well, if I can pick their lock then you'll be able to use it right? I need you four to try and make a break for it as soon as you get the signal. Using your magic in any way you think you can to get past the guards."

"What are you going to do?"

I answered the usually quiet boy as I continued to pick the lock, taking a second to glance over my shoulder in worry.

"I'm going to try the same, Yen, but because I have some kind of immunity from death for the moment due to something Master Gradelt wants from me, I'm going to cover you all and cause as much damage as I can at the same time. What is your magic by the way? I want to try and come up with some sort of actual attack plan if we can. Temi and Lei, you too."

"I can grow mine and other people's body parts."

"Me and Lei learned the same plant magic. I can make thin vines come out from any surface. They aren't really strong but I want to help!"

"Mhm!"

"Lei agrees! Oh and she is a bit better than me at it, she can make thicker vines with spikes but she can't move them very fast."

I nodded in thought and successfully unlocked Zast's door and swung it open to get to him and his cuffs. I took in a sharp breath at the emaciated, dirty, and beaten form of the child before me. Small, angry tears pricking at my eyes at the mistreatment of my fellow cellmate. From prior conversation, I knew he was only marginally older than me, but as I took in his matted, dark hair and the dark eyes of a kid so young, I couldn't help but allow them to slip down my face. I had a job to do though, so I pushed past them and got to work on his cuffs. I only needed the one wire to pick him free, and I immediately hugged him when he was free.

"You're an angel, you know that? C'mon, let's get the others out. Any ideas on fighting strategies?"

I let go and helped him stand up before handing my two makeshift lockpicks. I bend myself two more before jogging over to the girl's cells and get to work on getting Temi out.

"In such a short time, I can really only come up with you girl's utilizing your magic to trip any of the guards that get too close. As for Yen, I can imagine enlarging people's noses to cover their eyes would work well. And Zast your shields would be really important in protecting us all from the onslaught of magic attacks that are sure to be headed our way."

I unlocked and opened Temi's door, immediately getting to work on her cuffs.

"Sounds good to me, where should we go after we escape? I don't really know the area."

Zast answered for me at the same time he was able to get Yen's door open.

"There's a small village a few miles to the south of us that are constantly terrorized by this guild. I'm sure they'll be more than willing to hide us from them until we can come up with a better direction to go."

I nodded and hugged Temi as I got her out of her cuffs. She held much tighter than Zast had, and I had to peel her off of me to get to Lei. After she was freed and hugged, I pulled out the rest of my wire and broke it off into five equal pieces. I began to bend each in half and twist it from the bottom, creating a stronger wire with two sharp ends and a Macgyvered knife. I handed it to Zast before getting to work on the rest. I was unsure of how much more time we had left unsupervised, so I worked as quickly as I could with my little hands.

They were raw and slightly cut up by the time I was finally done, but just as I made the last poker, we all heard the heavy footsteps of a guard approaching. I turned to the two girls and nodded, silently asking them to get ready to trip him. I also quickly turned to Yen and whispered quickly.

"Instead of just his nose, enlarge his lips as well so that he can't yell out and alert more guards!"

He nodded and we all stood in one form of a ready stance or another as the door opened to a grumbling guard. All at once, vines both thick and thin wrapped around his ankles and his nose and lips began to quickly inflate. Given no time to catch himself, he fell down the short set of stairs that stood at the entrance of the dungeon. A thick, wet crunch was heard and the man made no additional movement or noise.

A silent pause before soft keening from Lei could be heard. Still in shock but very much cognizant of the fact that we needed to move, I grabbed her hand and rushed us all forward before anyone could fall into a true, debilitating state of shock that would keep them from advancing to freedom.

"Oh hell! We just killed a man!"

More whimpers were heard from Lei, and a gag came from directly behind me where I knew Temi was. I shushed Yen, not entirely out of being a heartless bitch, but because I knew this would probably be these kid's only chance at getting out of here alive.

I was surprised by Zast's silence, but I guess I really shouldn't have been since he was the oldest of us all. Physically anyways. I looked behind at him quickly, and was relieved that he really was just being silent. I kept running forward, leading the group. Good thing too as another guard made an appearance around a corner and in our direction.

He paused mid step and was about to yell either at us or for more guards, but a thin vine shot out from the wall and quickly wrapped repeatedly around his head and mouth, silencing him. I was aware of the absence of Lei's vines, and I had to concede that she was probably shocked out of using her magic. I made a mental note of this as I released her and rushed the blinded and muffled man, pushing him backwards as I kept my foot behind his, tripping him backwards. Unlike the other guy, this one hit his head on the wall before dropping to the floor. The lack of a crunch led me to believe he was still alive, and I lifted my head in the direction of the hallway he'd just come from.

The others followed silently behind me save for Zast who was matching my pace step for step to I assume help minimize the collective sound of our bare feet slapping against the stone. We came to another intersection and I looked back and forth down each hall quickly. The sound of disgruntled men and women echoed down the right hall, so I made the executive decision to head down the left.

I prayed silently over and over in my head that there would be some other exit than the dark guild's main entrance. There had to be though, right? Most large places like this had back doors! Another cross section of hallways came up, but down one of them we could hear the boisterous laughter of what could be guessed to be the guild's main area. I backed up from the T-section and looked to the group.

"If we go that way, the front doors will be right there. We can try to bull rush for the doors, potentially gaining the attention of every person in the guild, or we could look for another exit. What do we think?"

I first looked to Zast since he seemed to be the most level-headed of us other than myself, though I was quickly losing my bravery at the thought of rushing head into that room. He furrowed his brows and looked back the way we came before nodding his head in the direction of the large mass of people.

"I think we should take the chance. Since we have the element of surprise, we should be able to at least cross halfway through the room before anyone can think quick enough to stop us. I can put up a sphere of multiple smaller shields for any attacks that come at us."

I nodded and we both looked down at the three others. Yen nodded his head with uncertainty while the two girls clung to each other in fear, appearing as though they might not have even heard either of us.

"I trust Zast to get us through. We can do this! We have to. It's either this or we die from some other awful way like Chrissy and the others…"

All of us lowered our heads at the name brought up. She was incredibly brave and will be missed as long as we live. These monsters have taken so many children away from this world, and I can't stand it! We will be getting out of here, and we will be getting out of here together!

I looked to the girls pointedly, awaiting their answer, and was relieved when both had angry expressions to the tears in their eyes. Good, anger is better than fear in this moment. We can't afford to be consumed by either though, so we need to move quickly before we can think too much about it.

"Alright, everyone surround Zast so that he can cover us better. We move on his signal. And for the love of the gods, please watch your feet out there to avoid tripping."

Nods and assembly around the boy in question, I stood ahead of him while the girls wrapped an arm around his side each, and Yen took the back. In position, we all looked up to see a bunch of green circular shields layering over us like scales. Once all of them were in place, it almost appeared like we were in the belly of a dragon. I marveled at the concentration it must take to hold them all like that. I looked behind me and smiled to show how impressed I was. He smiled back, slightly strained, but nodded back and whispered to the rest of us.

"Alright, on my mark."

We got down into a sprinter's start and tensed our thinned out muscles.

"Get set."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, clearing my mind of anything other than running and slamming those doors open.

"Go!"

We all took off as a unit, rushing down the hall and out into the main area from the open arch that led into the open room. Blurs of tables filled with people and of those just standing around streaked past us as we zeroed on our target. We got about as far as Zast had guessed before shouts of 'Hey' and 'Stop those kids' were heard from the vile adults around us.

A loud shatter was heard as one of Zast's shields protected us from a magical projectile coming from behind us. I flinched, but refused to let it trip me as we got closer to the doors. Unfortunately, a particularly large explosion collided with shields on our left side, sending us all flying and blasting away our cover.

I collided harshly with the floor, hurting for sure, but I latched onto the handle of my self-made knife and leapt off the ground jumping onto the back of a scraggly-haired man that looked like he did far too many drugs. He was reaching out for a downed Lei and I got to work as the distraction. Adrenaline, self-preservation, and protective fueled vigor filled me and guided my two-pronged knife into the jugular of the man I'd jumped.

Straightening immediately, I was thrown from his back and I watched as he grabbed at his hemorrhaging neck while gasping and spitting blood. I ripped my gaze from him for my next target. A girl with a long braid and horribly drawn eyebrows was dragging Yen back by the ankles while holding her own knife in the air. Her attention was still on her bleeding friend as I charged her, ducking out of the way of a magical shot aimed for my head. I kicked the knife from her grasp by kicking the top of my foot against her lowered wrist. The knife handle ended up also connecting with my foot, which hurt quite a bit, but I continued my motion onto her, stabbing her in the same area as I'd done the druggy. I was thankful that she was already so close to my friend or that would never have worked with my tiny stature.

Because she saw me coming though, she was able to move her head out of the way and punch me in the ribs and off of her. I heard and felt a small snap and it didn't take a doctor to know she'd just broken one of my ribs, if not multiple. I screamed out and held my free hand to my chest where it hurt. I growled through gritted teeth but halted my revenge attack when I heard the large doors open.

Looking up, a battered Zast, Lei, and Temi had made it to the doors and were escaping. I heard another scream from the woman I was jumping and I watched as her nose was enlarging to the point it covered her eyes and upper face. It was quite the comical yet disturbing scene and I had trouble looking away. Hearing Yen scream though, I looked over quickly enough to see a worried look on his face before he stumbled towards me. I caught him by the shoulders, grunting at the weight of his limp body falling into mine.

"Yen, what's wrong?!"

I collapsed us both to our knees as I heard the screams of Lei and Temi just outside the doors. I didn't have time to think about what was going on with them, conceding in trusting Zast with them. Yen coughed, spattering blood all over the front of my chest and dress.

"Knife. Back."

I heard his whispered, wet words and I panicked as I looked behind him to see a dagger hilt-deep in the middle of his back. His heart. I felt my face pale as I watched his do the same but for a much more morbid reason. He was internally bleeding and there was nothing I could do. I was no doctor! Tears pricked at my eyes as I repeated 'no' over and over. Tears flowed freely from his eyes before he smiled and handed me his dagger that I made him.

"Go."

I shook my head, knowing full well that we were surrounded by laughing, sadistic freaks. I was about to protest before I watched with abhorred shock as a magic shot went through one temple and out the other. The lights left his eyes immediately and he slumped completely forward onto me. I could only hold his body in shock as I looked up at the Master looking down at me with a calm smile.

"An eye for an eye, pet."

The screams of Temi and Lei were heard once more before they were cut off abruptly. Zast's raw scream came seconds after, followed by that of an adult female's. I was terrified as both grew silent shortly after. I held my breath, waiting for something. Anything. A sign one of them was alive, hopefully in favor of Zast.

Seconds ticked by before a limping, angry woman came up to the door and leaned on it.

"Son of a bitch was a good fighter. Got me good."

I released a shaky breath at the conclusion. She smirked and fell forward, none of her guildmates even attempting to catch her body. Her fallen frame revealed a battered and bloodied boy holding one of my makeshift knives in one hand and clutching his side with the other. Panting he glared with tears down at the woman, spitting on her body as he came back through the doors.

Silence filled the guild hall as Master Gradelt and Zast stared each other down. Zast's breathy pants and the gurgling of the man I'd stabbed the only noise that filled the large space. How he wasn't already dead I had no understanding of.

Everyone else was still and holding their breath to see who would make the first move. It was surprisingly Master Gradelt. He slowly clapped both hands together. The cloth covering each one muffling the gesture.

"Well done. Miahn isn't a pushover in any sense of the word and is quite the skilled little missus among my ranks. Well...I suppose the correct word would be was in this case."

The silence stayed and he went on.

"I believe it would be in everyone's best interest if you were to stay as her replacement. After all, I am now down two guild members thanks to the both of you. Oh, and don't worry yourself about saying no."

He made his way over to me, shoving Yen's dead body off of me remorselessly, and picked me up bridal style. I was too shocked about Yen's brutal execution that I was unable to think of fighting back. I was so close to his throat now, I could so easily plunge Yen's dagger I made him into it. Yet, I was unable to move even my eyelids to blink.

"My pet here is someone you cherish, yes? Then I'll make you a deal. Stay as her protector and bodyguard. I'll even give you all the training you need to do so efficiently! Or...you could leave now and I kill her slowly and meticulously. Your choice!"

Zast and I stared at one another. I shook my head, indicating I wanted him to leave. I'd most likely die from the operation that he wants to do on me anyways. He'd be stuck here forever with these horrible people all by himself. I wouldn't wish that on any child or even any decent human being for that matter.

"Zast, please go."

I could only whisper the words, and even then it felt almost like I wasn't the one to say them. I felt so out of body that I couldn't be sure whether we were even still there in that room.

I watched Zast's face melt farther and farther from hatred the longer he looked at me in Master Gradelt's arms. I wanted to scream at him to turn away, to stop looking at me and just run. I could see that for whatever reason, he had gotten so attached to me that he was about to risk his freedom to save my life. An incredibly dumb decision considering his freedom was just outside those doors.

I couldn't blame him though. I would do the same for him without an inch of doubt.

The twisted piece of metal dropped from his grip and clattered against the stone loudly. He smiled up at me weakly and we both leaked tears of understanding. A weak smile of my own projected down at him from the arms of the devil himself and I did my best to tune out the heartless cheers and whistles broadcasted around us.