John's POV:
I awoke in the bed I had been in last time.
Sitting up, I found my wings were still out, so I quickly willed them away, before a wave of dizziness overcame me, making me lie back down again.
A hand was lain on my forehead, and I looked up to see Ayako.
"Hey." I smiled, and she shook her head at me.
"You shouldn't be moving about yet, you certainly succeeded at what you wanted, but now you've made the hole bigger, and I had to put in stitches." she scolded, before wrinkling her nose. "I hate stitching."
"Ah, sorry." I replied, dropping the smile at her discomfort.
"Well, it's made the other side happier, but Gene's sentence is to spend one night in the Cells while Naru's got two days in them." Ayako sighed. "So that did account for something…"
I turned my head as I sensed two familiar people approach.
"Hello, Yi." I smiled, before looking at who was beside her, and my heart skipped a beat. "Hello, Mai?"
"Hello! We were sort of spying on you during the Court case, sorry…" Mai smiled, embarrassed.
"We were invited, though." Yi mused. "I just didn't want to watch another pointless Court meeting – officially, at least."
"But we were wondering…" Mai continued. "They scorned and mocked you and your friends, so, why aid them in healing? Even at the chance of your own health…"
I gave them a small smile.
"I may have been put under pressure by them, and I may have been treated badly, but I forgive them, as I pity them…" I replied. "From what Lin and Cho have told me, what is happening now has happened for many years, so what has happened by the parents has been found acceptable by the children…"
"Meaning we are too lenient on the angel-winged and too harsh on the demon-winged. Had they not you for a friend, I fear Eugene would be spending three days, and Oliver a week." Yi shrugged.
"That comforts me a bit." I confessed, "Staying here is like staying underwater – yet being able to breathe."
"I can feel that, too; there's so much negative energy building up, and so much positive energy pulsing through it, it's like you can feel the unwanted energy pressing into every nook and cranny of your skin." Yi agreed.
I looked at Mai again, and I pointed at her mask.
"It suits you, although I feel seeing your eyes is slightly better. However, it is your choice." I mused, and she immediately reached to the mask, blushing.
"I keep it on so my eyes can't be judged, that is all I wish – to not be judged by what I am or how I look." she replied, and she took hold of Yi's chèuhngsāam sleeve as a shy child would a mother's.
I felt a flicker of unease at this, and I looked up at the ceiling so they wouldn't see the worry in my eyes…
···
Lin's POV:
I was silent as the guards inspected the areas of the entrance where I had burnt away the metal, and after a while, one of the men entered with an armful of chains, a pair of gloves on the top, along with a blindfold, all of it black with carvings on.
Behind him, Fu entered, leading the two twins.
"I see I'm in trouble for revealing my items." I mused, as Fu locked the pair in their cell, and entered mine.
"We hear about how you've been darting around the village with your powers, so we had to try and suppress that." Fu explained. "It's just for the greater good of the village."
"The Greater Goo~d." Eugene echoed in a creepy tone, before grinning. "Makes me think of Hot Fuzz."
"That wasn't a particularly good film – the effects were weak." Naru replied.
"But those guys dressed in robes going about and murdering people – it was awesome! I didn't expect all those high-up villagers to be baddies!" Gene grinned.
"Can you please be quiet?" Fu asked, grabbing the gloves as I was grabbed by four of the other guards, one at either shoulder and the other two holding my hands out straight as I sensed danger.
I began trying to pull back as the gloves were moved towards me, and slid on.
I grunted as I felt the usual amount of flame warming my hands was shoved under my skin, and tried using my abilities on the men at my shoulders.
"Sorry, but the gloves they have act similar to the ones on your hands." Fu muttered as I was held in place.
"Just for letting my powers go for a walk?!" I grunted, swapping to my shiki, but something was holding them back.
I noticed the carvings on the chains, and I gave a low growl as one of the other guards quickly slipped the blindfold on, lifting my hair.
I heard the snap of the chains after, and I hissed as I felt my abilities getting shoved inwards as there was the cold of the chains on my throat, wrists and ankles.
"You're hurting him." Naru growled, and I heard him grabbing the bars.
"Unfortunately, that's the effect of power-restraining. It shoved all his power inwards instead of out." Fu mused.
"[It's like thousands of needles and knives in my skin.]" I found myself saying aloud in the village's version of Chinese. "[You're as bad as Demons]"
A fistful of my hair was grabbed, and my head tilted.
"[Don't say that to Fu Ya, Half-Archdemon.]" the guard growled in my ear, and I smirked.
"[I didn't mean just him.]" I replied, leaning forwards as far as the chain on my neck would allow.
I heard the sound of skin grabbing fabric.
"[He's trying to goad you, don't let him]" Fu ordered.
"[I'm a Half-Archangel, with an electromagnetic-seeing eye. What do you think my sight does? Turn everything sparkly?]" I asked.
"Be glad you don't have your wings out, else we would have had to chain them as well." Fu warned, and I heard the clang and chink as they closed and locked my cell…