A/N

Better late than never? hee...hee...sorry. -_-'

Chapter 9: Queen of the Squids

I floated. At least, it felt like I was floating. My eyes were opened, watching the swirling colors and the beacon tearing through the shadowing sky. I was dream again, wasn't I? Falling or floating, I couldn't move in any other way. I wasn't even sure I was breathing. The beacon became the only light as darkness surrounded me. Soon, the darkness began swarming the light, consuming it. I hit something. It reached up, wrapping around me. Dragging me down, I wanted to scream but the black substance flooded into me.

I sat up suddenly, gasping for air. The dank room stunk of fish and wet dog. Water dripped from the ceiling, making a constant clink noise that echoed throughout the confined room. My panting pounded in my ears or was that my heart beat? I shook, feeling a chill of the room. Eventually, someone wrapped an arm around me. I wanted to cry. They pulled me in closer.

"You're okay, you're okay," Mitch repeated, rubbing my back.

"Wha…what happened? Where are we?" I gasped.

"We're in a cell," grumbled Ty, revealing himself to be leaned against the far wall, arms folded and eyes narrowed. "We've been in a cell for hours!"

"Don't yell!" shouted Sky in response.

"I hate water…" grumbled Jerome in the corner, huddled together. His fur was drenched, sticking to his suit. He was no doubt to source of the wet dog scent.

"Are you okay?" Mitch whispered.

"F…fine," I replied but I shook like a leaf. Was I cold or scared?

"We got dunked," hissed Jerome. "They bent me in a way people should not be bent."

"They stabbed Jane," countered Mitch.

"They stabbed me too where's my hugs?" chuckled Quentin, holding his side.

"Jane was having a nightmare. You were not," replied Seto, who sat in another corner.

"Dream really threw you, huh?" Sky chuckled, looking over at me.

"Yeah…" I sighed.

"Have them often?" Seto commented.

His look was less than comforting than Sky, brow perked as if he already knew the answer. I hardly doubted his knowledge. Seto always had an odd way of knowing things. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew about my nightmares or what they meant and yet I didn't ask. I didn't even want to.

The metal doors opened suddenly, grinding against metal hinges. Everyone got to their feet as squid-man guards entered. They looked human aside from the slips in their skin where blue scales were revealed. Their eyes were soulless, dark abysses that watched us. Wielding strange staffs, they motioned for us to follow. Sky took front.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Come."

The voice was like slime, slowly leaking out of the creature's mouth and into the soiled air. The moved their weapons toward us, growing closer. Hands up, we were led away. The halls were strange. It appeared that the place we were in held air but the path ahead was filled with water yet as we continued to move forward, the air followed with us. Our footsteps slopped along wet stone. Eventually, we reached two large, cyan doors that towered above us.

"What's going on?" Ty hissed, staring at the guard.

"You will meet the Queen," replied the guard. "She had requested your presence."

The doors opened to a grand throne room. The path was lined with glowing bricks leading to a blackened throne. The rest of the room was built upon blue stone, as if forged from the sea itself. Several guards lined the walls, four on either side of the throne. Beyond them was a drape of what appeared to be seaweed, covering who I assumed was the Queen in a green laced shadow.

We were pushed to the center of the room, forced onto our knees. Lined beside each other, we looked up at the throne. The guards stepped apart, two on either side of the throne pulling aside the curtain. The Queen was a unique looking woman. Her hair was different colors, split right down the middle. A golden necklace lined her collar bone. She was dressed in a lavished blue dress, thrown to one side as to reveal thigh. Sky got to his feet.

"Dawn?"

Half of us looked at him and the other half looked at her. The guards pointed their weapons at Sky, but he didn't move. His chest moved up and down rapidly. His heart must've been racing. Dawn. This was Dawn…The woman who made all of this possible. She was the first loss. The one who set all of this into motion. The Sky Army would be nothing without the loss of Dawn, but her loss was now…fake?

"Dawn!" Sky screamed, voice cracking as he spoke.

She smiled, waving a hand at one of the guards near us. The left guard used his staff to jab at Sky's knee, forcing him down. He snarled, remaining on one knee. His eyes refused to move. His breath was shallow, heart beating in his chest. I could almost hear his anxiety, his fear, his excitement. He must've been so confused and happy. I wouldn't know how to respond either.

"Say something!" cried Sky, finally breaking down. "Please…"

The Queen- Dawn- stood up, allowing her dress to form around her smoothly. Stepping down the throne's stairs, passing the guards as they bowed to her, she stopped directly in front of Sky. They were close. She put her hands on his shoulders. I could hear the slight gasp. His jaw quivered. I could only imagine the thoughts racing through his mind.

"Almost identical in every way," she whispered, stepping back. "Are the rest of them finished?"

"Yes, my Queen."

In walked a set of clones. Each one was identical to those kneeling beside me and yet the way they walked and grinned at us was wrong. They weren't like my friends. They were wrong. Wrong. All I could think of was wrong. I could hear the shuddered breath of my friends. I wasn't in the lineup. Was I supposed to be happy or insulted?

"Aren't they wonderful?" she hummed, running her hand along them, ruffling their hair. "So hard to reproduce using such limited samples, you know. Some easier than others. Plenty of samples from the games, naturally. Peterson was helpful but a coward. Mr. Hammerston provided great knowledge but betrayed me. Can't find good help these days."

"Who are?" Ty spoke up. "What do you want?"

"I'm their queen and what I want is to control the surface world as if was promised to me."

"Who promised you?" Seto asked.

Dawn glanced over at him. Her smile twitched. Another wave of the hand, and the guards forced us to our feet. We were ushered out of the throne room. Sky put up a fight, struggling against the three guards trying to remove him. He screamed. Eventually, he swore. I had never seen this side of Sky. I felt like everything that I had known had been turned on its head.