This is chapter thirty - nine. Thank you caitlinkeitorin, Draconet, explosivebagel, and Eddie Camp for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Thirty - Nine: Torture Chamber

Riun looked up at the cat-man beside him. "Mister Jish, I can't use any more magic," he informed him, worried. Did his magic disappear?

Jish, obviously noticing his young companion's fear, snorted with amusement. "Don't worry; it just needs some time to recharge, is all."

"Oh." Riun looked away, then looked back and asked, "Recharge?"

Jish nodded. "Put simply, magic takes up a certain amount of power. Once the type of power magic is used is depleted, it can't be used again until the power recharges itself."

"Ok…" Riun wasn't sure he understood the whole concept, but was afraid that he'd only get more confused by asking another question.

The cat-man snorted, a worried look suddenly appearing on his face. "Though it does cause some problems. Even if we can still draw enough guards away, running low on magic means we won't have much to defend ourselves."

Riun swallowed hard. Not for the first time since this had started, he wished he'd gone with Gillick and Mala. He knew both of them; he knew that Gillick would fight to protect him, and Mala would be able to find a way to get them out. That was what they were good at. But he didn't know much about his new teacher. His eyes didn't say anything bad about him…but it still wasn't the same.

He looked anxiously towards the stronghold. Come back, guys…

Silver, Gillick, and Mala walked silently through the halls of the Dark Army's stronghold/prison. Gillick's amber eyes flicked around the area. I wonder if anyone's watching us, he thought. It wouldn't surprise him.

Mala, of course, had her wary eyes flickering around even more than he did. She kept reaching twitching fingers up towards the bow on her back, then lowered them again before she could touch the weapon.

Even Silver, despite her earlier confidence, seemed wary. Gillick snorted. At least she seems to understand some of the danger here.

But everything about this little 'visit' was making him uneasy. First there was the unguarded side entrance; now there was no sign of any guards. In fact, there was no sign of any people anywhere. Even in his previous visits here with the Dark Army, there'd been a few people roaming the halls. Where is everyone? he wondered. What exactly is going on?

He caught Mala's eye. In her blue gaze he saw that she was feeling the same way.

Silver stopped abruptly. "Mala," she hissed. The thief hurried up to her, but didn't say anything, instead just throwing her a questioning look. "I want you to go ahead and look for anything unusual. Report back to me if you find anything."

Mala blinked, her eyes wide, and looked back at Gillick. He snorted. She may be good at what she does, but this place… He reached up and touched the hilt of his sword, giving her a small nod. She blinked slowly, then turned around and hurried silently up the corridor.

"And while she's gone," whispered Gillick, "what exactly will we be doing?"

"Examining the rooms we come across along the way," Silver whispered in response. She gestured to the door beside her. "Such as this one."

Don't tell me she's just going to open it, Gillick thought, stifling a groan. However, it appeared that Silver hadn't become leader of her warriors for nothing. She pulled a pebble out from a pocket in her pants, rolling it towards the door. It knocked against the wood quietly, but otherwise nothing happened. Satisfied with the outcome, Silver retrieved the pebble and slowly withdrew one of her swords. She drew it along the door and, when nothing else happened, she pressed her ear against the crack in the wood. Not hearing anything, she tried the knob. It opened with ease.

She looked back at Gillick when he hesitated. "Well? Come on."

"Thorough search," he commented, "but I doubt we'll find anything useful in here."

Silver glanced at him. "Why do you say that?"

"And here I was, giving you some credit," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "If they'd had something important to hide, they would have put barricades up around the door. Or at least locked it."

"Possibly," Silver conceded. "But they probably don't expect anyone but themselves to be able to get in."

Gillick felt a twinge of frustration that he tried to push aside. "You don't know that," he growled. You don't know these people. "Everything about this seems, I don't know, odd? You might want to lose some of your overconfidence."

"Overconfidence?" Silver scoffed. "I have just the right amount of confidence, thank you very much."

Gillick rolled his eyes. "Tell me that when we're all dead."

If she heard him, she chose to ignore it. Instead, she continued to search the room. Gillick watched for a few moments, then, growing bored and frustrated, helped half-heartedly. The result was as expected. "Nothing," Silver sighed.

"Like I said," Gillick commented.

"Not the time," Silver growled.

"Did you find anything?"

Both started at the sound of Mala's voice. They turned to look at her, with Silver saying, "Mala. I didn't hear you come back."

She shrugged. "That's part of being a thief; being quiet."

"And no, we didn't find anything," Gillick added, giving Silver a dark glare.

Said green - eyed woman was pointedly ignoring him. "Anything unusual?"

Mala suddenly went very pale, and Gillick had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what she'd found. "There were a few doors along the way, but I didn't notice anything strange about them, so I passed over them."

"Passed over them?" Silver growled.

"Keep going," Gillick told her. Maybe if Silver heard, it'd dissuade her.

Mala swallowed hard. "But then…I heard screaming." She shuddered. "I didn't follow it to its source, but…I could hear it well enough. Whoever it was kept saying they didn't know anything…and then they'd scream in pain."

Silver inhaled deeply. "A torture chamber."

"Do you see what a bad idea this was now?" Gillick hissed.

"No," Silver replied calmly, surprising him. "This is better."

Gillick wasn't sure he'd heard right. "I'm sorry, did you just say this was 'better'?"

"Yes," Silver answered quietly. "Don't you see? We can cause them even more problems than I thought?"

Gillick's amber eyes narrowed into a furious glare. "Don't you even care about those people? Is fighting the Keybladers all you think about?"

"Of course I care about the people," Silver retorted, "but defeating the Keybladers is more important."

Gillick couldn't help feeling as if he were staring into a mirror. His eyes darkened as he heard some of his own opinions echoed and saw some of his own faults reflected back at him. "Just remember that the end doesn't always justify the means," he growled in warning.

Silver frowned at him, then walked past him without another word. Gillick watched her go, then said quietly, "Mala?"

The thief girl hesitated at the doorway. "Yeah?"

"…Is that how I look?"

Mala snorted, a small smile tugging on her lips. "Well, no, of course you're not a girl."

Gillick's eyes narrowed into a glare. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Mala's smile fell, and she looked away from him without a sound. That was answer enough for him. He shut his amber eyes tightly. What am I becoming? he wondered silently. Am I turning into the very monster I left the armies to avoid becoming?

He'd brushed past Mala and begun heading after Silver when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Mala looking at him with clear blue eyes. "You were that way," she whispered. "But I think you've changed."

He felt a pulse of surprise at the answer, then allowed himself a small smile. Not a smirk, not a self-satisfied grin, just…a smile. "Thanks…Mala."

Silver was pressed near the wall when Gillick and Mala caught up to her. The sounds of screaming echoed through the area. Gillick winced. Not a place I missed, he thought grimly.

Silver glanced back at them. "What kept you?" she hissed at them.

"Nothing important," Gillick answered immediately.

Silver snorted, returning her gaze to the area in front of her. "Well, this torture chamber must be just up ahead; shall we go?"

He knew she wouldn't accept an answer of 'no', so he didn't answer, and he and Mala followed in silence.

As they drew closer to their destination, they began to hear the quieter voice of the tormentor. At first, everything was indistinct; then, as they drew closer, the words became clearer. "Stop," Silver hissed, using her arm to bar the way.

Gillick snorted. Because an arm is so intimidating. But he obeyed anyways, knowing what would be in that room.

There was a sound of a woman's voice first. "I told you, I don't know what you want!"

Gillick stiffened, and glanced at Mala. She nodded, signaling she recognized the voice, too. "The assassin," she mouthed.

Then a second voice came. "I'm not so sure of that."

"Why the hell would I have kept it from you this long?" the assassin spluttered. "I wouldn't purposefully put myself through this!"

"You would if you owed allegiance to the Light Army."

"But I don't."

"You accepted a job from them, didn't you?"

"I accept jobs from anyone who's offering."

Gillick couldn't help but feel impressed; the assassin still sounded strong, regardless of what tortures she'd been through since arriving here.

"Tell me what you know about the X-blade."

The words snapped Gillick back into reality. He frowned. Keyblade…? He felt a hand tap his shoulder, and looked over to see Mala looking at him with the same questions in her eyes. "Why would he need to know about the Keyblade?" she whispered. "Isn't he a Keyblader?"

"You're expecting me to know the answer?" Gillick retorted. "I'm as clueless as you are."

"It's not Keyblade," Silver hissed to them. "It's X-blade."

"It sounds the same to me," Gillick responded. The look on Silver's face, though, indicated it wasn't. "What's so important about this 'X-blade'?"

Silver looked pale and her eyes were wide; she didn't seem to be listening to him. "How could…they know about that?"

"Silver," Gillick growled, hoping to get a response out of her.

All three froze at the sound of a voice. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

The man in the cloak looked down into the murky waters in his cave filled with light. He kept expecting to see something - hoping for it, dreading it - but no image appeared. "What is happening out there?"

He sighed, walking a few paces away. At least before, he could keep track of things through the sword he'd given the boy with the amber eyes, two years ago. He'd even been able to help out a bit, where help was needed. But now…everything was hidden. And he couldn't understand why.

"When was the last time I received something?" he murmured, eyes narrowing in thought. The image of a battle against a woman with short blond hair and green eyes came to mind instantly. "Ah, yes…that was it." He frowned, closing his eyes. "Something about her has caused everything to go awry. But what?"

An answer hit him like a rock. His eyes snapped open, a wild, fearful light in them. "But…no, it couldn't be…" He whirled back around to look at the empty pool. "I must find the boy, and quickly. Great trouble may arise…if I reach him too late."

That's the end of chapter thirty - nine. Please review?