Chapter 2 - Dream On

"Where are we going?"

That was my first question of the day as Ghirahim took me from my room. We didn't head to the dining hall as I'd expected, but we went to the sparring hall. It was completely empty at the moment. I was more than a little bit surprised when he tossed me a sword, from pretty much the opposite end of the room.

With a snap of his fingers, an ugly red troll thing appeared. I made a face, wrinkling my nose. It smelled bad.

"What are you waiting for? Attack!" Ghirahim ordered. The troll charged at me, and I blocked its attack easily, using this to my advantage by using my leg to swipe its out from beneath it. It fell to the floor, and I stayed stationary, shocked by my own quick reactions. Not for very long, as I drove the sword through the creature's throat. Its cries cut off with a choked gurgle, before it disappeared in a flash of Ghirahim's strange diamonds. It was satisfying.

"I have no idea how I did that." I blurted out. "I've never even used a sword before!"

"Never mind that, again!" With that, two troll things appeared in front of me. I gave the demon a pleading look. "Attack!" He was like the medieval drill sergeant from hell!

This was going to be a long training session.

"Where do you think you're going?"

It was several hours later, and Ghirahim hadn't let me rest for longer than a few seconds at a time. Now, I was sore, I was tired, and I was hungry.

"To my room!" I snapped. Tired and sore were at the top of the list, and I'd gone without food before. I needed sleep. "You've been pushing and pushing at me since the minute I woke up, you haven't let me eat, and I'm done!" I wasn't taking this shit anymore. Especially not from some damn fictional demon from a videogame.

The door that was my exit disappeared in a flash of diamonds. I spun on my heel to glare at Ghirahim, who was already approaching me angrily.

"You are done when I say you're done!" he said, his tone commanding. Without even thinking about it, my hand snapped forward, clenching into a fist. Ghirahim caught it in his icy grip and twisted my arm behind me painfully, shoving me into the wall. Bastard.

"Screw you!" I yelled angrily as he spun me around, releasing my arm and using his other hand to grip my throat. I was pinned to the wall now, and he was practically crushing the air out of my lungs. His eyes were cold and angry, and his grip tightened as my lungs screamed for oxygen and my eyes pricked with tears.

Without saying anything, he let go enough for me to breath, throwing me to the ground. I coughed hard, on my hands and knees as my lungs took in the air they were so desperate for. I glared at him, but the unspoken message was on his face; obey him or it got worse. But I didn't care if he beat me, I'd never give in without a fight.

"We will continue your training tomorrow." The door reappeared at the same time he disappeared, but I didn't move for a long few minutes. I didn't have the will to move.

It could have been minutes or hours later when I finally stood up. The sword I'd been using was still left, abandoned on the floor. I stared blankly for a few moments, before replacing it where it belonged.

Then I wasn't sure what to do. There was no chance of me getting to either the dining hall or my room without getting lost, and that wasn't a welcome concept in itself.

"Miss? Are you alright?"

I turned sharply at the voice, seeing one of the servants that I'd noticed in passing yesterday. She had skin as pale as death, contrasting with her black hair and almost glowing golden-red eyes. Even to me, she was beautiful.

"Yes, fine." I answered automatically. But then I stopped. "Actually, do you think you can direct me to my room? If I try to find it myself I'll get lost again." I explained sheepishly. She smiled knowingly, waving me over as she exited the room. I followed closely behind. We walked in silence for a minute or two, before it got too awkward.

"So...what's your name?" I asked conversationally, keeping my voice low.

"Alana. And you?" she answered easily, leading me through the dark corridors. I wondered if this was Demise's castle.

"Ki-" I cut myself off abruptly. I'd been about to say Kiatra. "Rae. I don't know why I said that." I mused, mostly to myself.

"Maybe you will find out some day. Here we are, miss." she said. I realized she was right, we were outside my door.

"Thank you." I said quietly, opening my door. She replied with a single nod of her head, before continuing down the hall. I shut the door behind me, turning the latch so that it locked. I was alone. I went into my bathroom and started running the water in the bath. I waited until there was enough for my liking, and began undressing. I looked away from my arms when I finished, disgusted by the thin, pale scars the adorned them. Not inflicted by Alex, but myself.

I was a cutter, as much as I hated myself for doing it. It had gone on for years, some scars criss-crossing each other and some deeper than others. I'd finally stopped, though, but the reminders were still there. I'd almost done it again when Ghirahim came. It would only have to be that little bit deeper, and it all would have ended.

'But it didn't, did it?' I thought bitterly.

I shook the thoughts from my head as I climbed into the tub, cleaning myself off from the sweat, dirt, and small amount of blood I'd accumulated during the training session. But, as adamant as I was to cease thinking, little sentences danced through my brain.

'What if you just listened to him? Maybe he'd lighten up a bit.'

'Are your parents worried? They probably are.'

'At least you're away from Alex, now.'

'Is Ghirahim any better?'

"Hah. Like they'd even care if I was gone... Dream on, Rae. Nobody's coming to save you." I muttered, pulling the plug and wrapping myself in a towel as I exited the bathroom. The clothes that had once sat, abandoned on the floor, were gone. In their place was a red nightgown, laid out on the bed. I dressed without question and crawled into my bed, too exhausted to do anything but. I continued my thoughts from earlier, as I relaxed. There was one, in particular, that I enjoyed.

'Obey him. Only until you're strong enough to beat him. Then, you can take him down when he least expects it.'

I let a grin slide onto my face as I considered this. I wasn't usually the type to backstab, but someone like Ghirahim deserved it.

'Enjoy compliance while you get it, Ghirahim. It definitely won't be there forever.' was my final thought as I drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Sooo...I made Rae even angstier. I'm sorry this took so long, I've sort of died. Inspiration-wise. England is seriously awesome, though! I don't own Legend of Zelda. Rae is mine.