Chapter Text
"Fuck- Kai-" Alteia hisses, bumping into him.
"Shh! I'm trying to think!" Kai hisses back, trying to figure remember which floor the tunnel leada to.
"Kai!" Alteia yelps, her presence suddenly gone.
He whips around, just barely seeing a glimpse of fiery red hair disappearing into the tunnel wall.
"Alteia?!" He whispers frantically, scratching at the wall.
"Hello, little chick."
Kai freezes. He- He knows that voice. He *knows* that voice.
"Now, now," They say disapprovingly, "Is that any way to treat your *mother?"*
"You're *not-"* He twists around, snarling- "My mother! You are *cruel-"*
Something sucks him into the wall, cutting him off. He screams as he falls through *something,* landing harshly on a hard floor.
"No- No! Let him-" *Smack.*
Blinking dazedly, he looks up to see Alteia in a cell across from him. There's a man with her- not a guard? He's in a suit, glaring harshly at her.
She's lying on the floor, hand over her face.
"You cost me, Champion." The man growls, "And you will *repay it.* Understood?"
She spits blood out of her mouth, baring her bloodied teeth at the man.
"Let them go, and I will fight whatever battles you wish," She growls, "Let them *go."*
The man laughs, walking out of the cell.
He smirks at Kai.
"Whatever you do," He growls, "Keep her alive."
He stalks down the hallway as four men march into the cell. They grab Alteia, and she cries out as one if them sticks something in her neck.
They exit quickly, leaving a gasping, writhing Alteia on the ground.
Kai watches, wide eyed, as the ground swallows her yet again. She screams as she sinks further below, a blood-curdling shriek that makes him lurch backwards, away from her.
Then suddenly, there is silence. A deafening silence, seeming to drag on for hours.
Really, it ends in seconds at the clicking of a tongue and the tapping of heels.
Arch wakes to the sound of screaming.
Not completely unusual, given the circumstances. What *is* unusual, is that it isn't his raw, scratchy voice startling himself from his slumber.
But he doesn't recognize it.
He grumbles as it tapers off into sobbing, trying valiantly to ignore it.
"Please- please, phe'm sorry- Ma-vesa, i-" She screams again, more painful than the first time.
That's Alteia. He knows- What is she *doing* here?!
"Shut her up!" One of the guards roars, "What the fuck did you give her? Boss wants her to fight, dumbass."
"Ixion," Another guard laughs, "Should keep her compliant."
Arch blinks awake, hissing at the two conversing guards by his door. They flinch, taking hesitant steps away.
"Th' fuck's goin' on?" He rasps, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
One of them scoffs, "Just go back to sleep, kid. Ignore it."
Irked, Arch kicks his feet off his cot. He stalks over to his cell door, trying to get a peek at gus hurting friend.
"I had to-" She chokes out, screaming as *something* hurts her. He can't see her, and he doesn't like that.
"Interesting," One of the guards mumbles, "Is it an interrogation?"
"It would make sense," The other sighs, "Just make sure to remember what she says."
He turns to Arch's cell, pulling a ring if keys off his belt, "You're up, which means you get to win the big guys some money. You gonna bite me today?"
"You gonna tell me what's up with her?"
The guard barks a laugh, opening the cell and grabbing the chain of his collar, "That's above my pay grade, boy. Move it."
He tugs harshly and Arch stumbles forward, nearly slamming into the iron bars in front of him.
Kai glares at the woman, her red heels the only part of her that's visible from the shadows.
"She could have been great," Inu sighs, "Instead she got *weak.* I'll have to let Enhory know that we must get her through the programme."
Kai backs away slowly, feeling cornered as his back presses against the walls of this room.
"Now, chickling. You're behind on your training."
Inu- wearing her usual black suit, red heels, and heavy makeup- emerges from the shadows, twirling her riding crop in her hand.
"If you're good," She sighs, as if it's troubling for her to say this, "I won't bind your wings whilst you're in your cell. But *only,"* She emphasizes, sneering at him, "If you're *good.* Do you understand me, *boy?"*
He nods fearfully, whimpering slightly as she gets closer.
"Begin." She commands, whacking the crop against her thigh.
Kai lunges, and her teeth shine bright against the blood-red of her lips.
The guard practically drags him down the hallway. How he bites back the snarls and spells he wants to cast is beyond him- even more so when he catches sight of her.
She's filthy, covered in dirt and soaked in sweat. Her fiery red hair was matted from presumed thrashing due to whatever they did to her. Curled tightly into a ball, she has her back to him. Small sobs and whimpers escape her shivering form, cries for help- for forgiveness, for *someone-* fall from her lips.
*She isn't chained,* he notes distantly, *not like him. Not like anyone else here.*
He doesn't have much time to dwell on that- on why she's even here in the first place- before he's shoved into an elevator with two more beefy guards, ready to take him to the arena.
There's no conversation to be made anymore- he doesn't like these guards. At least the ones on his floor have the decency to show their hatred outwardly and without any faux sweetness.
These assholes just pretend to want to be his friend.
Finally, he's handed a sword. Not that he'll need it, but whatever.
The iron door slowly creaks up, into the walls of the arena. He steps forward, grinning as the crowd roars his name.
Rin says he'll be named Champion if he keeps it up. He doesn't know what exactly that entails, but he sure isn't looking forward to staying here long enough to find out.
He readies his weapon, holding back a grimace as he faces down another starving child.
He can't kill this one. Not this time.
He breaths heavily, copper on his tongue and pained tears in his eyes.
"Hm. Not quite ready," Inu sighs, wiping off her dagger. She clicks her heel once, twice.
A doctor enters the room, easily scooping him up and carrying him away from what he knows will be his life for the next however long Inu thinks he'll be useful.
She's good at keeping them desperate like that.
He just hopes she'd have the decency to make his execution less drawn out than Ana's.
The doctor sets him down on a cold metal table, flicking some sort of syringe with a clear, red liquid.
In a blink, the fluid's being injected into his arm and then everything *burns.*
Every nerve- every cell in his body is on *fire* as whatever the fuck this dude gave him heals the damage Inu caused.
He doesn't know how long he screams- it feels like it lasts for hours. By the time it fades away, his screaming's tapered off into whimpers and pleads to *Stop, please, he was good- He was **good-***
"Easy, bird," The doctor says gruffly, "Damn it, Inu, I *told* you, he wasn't prepared for Devil's Tongue. If you want it to survive, you need small doses at a time."
"I'm running out of time," She replies stiffly, "He was watching."
The last thing he knows before the darkness embraces him is a hand carding through his hair, calloused and not quite gentle. He can't hear the conversation happening around him- everything's foggy like he's underwater.
He blacks out and the pain leaves him, if only for a moment.
When he returns- bloody, singed, and fucking *exhausted-* to his floor, Alteia is gone. Her cell door is open, as if she may return, but she is nowhere to be found.
He says nothing, already knowing it would draw unnecessary attention to her.
To say he's surprised when the guard slips a small bottle into his cuffed hands is an understatement.
"Use it," The guard murmurs, "Use it well."
Arch doesn't react- doesn't even know if he can trust this person- just lets himself be manhandled out of the chains around his wrists and lies down on his cot.
A long while later- could be hours, could be a mere thirty minutes- two guards he hasn't seen enter the floor, dragging an unconscious Alteia behind them.
They open his cell door, drop her unceremoniously onto the floor, and leave.
He waits until he's sure they're gone before he chances a peek at her.
*Gods* she looks awful. She's bruised- mostly around her wrists and ankles, interesting- pale, and twitching.
Standing, Arch cautiously makes his way over to her. He crouches down beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder to try and shake her awake.
It doesn't take long before her eyes flutter open, dull and exhausted. Her brow furrows in confusion, and she blinks rapidly as if something's in her eyes.
"What-" She croaks, cutting off into hacking coughs that leave him wincing in sympathy.
"The hell did they do to you?" He asks quietly, keeping his eyes on the two guards patrolling.
She shakes her head, rubbing her throat.
"Does it matter?" She croaks, flinching as she speaks.
When he wakes, it's to the soft humming of his- of Inu. He goes to sit up- to shout, to fight, to do *something-* but his hands are chained to the cot.
Again.
Inu looks up, quieting immediately. She raises an eyebrow, inspecting him.
"The healing had an adverse reaction to you," She says coolly, "Enhory wishes to do more testing."
He tenses, frowning when all she does is sigh.
"Lucky for you, Sir wishes for you to be stronger before then. It's less painful that way, trust me."
"Trust?" Kai hisses, "What trust? You fucking killed her you *witch-"*
Fuming, Inu stands and storms over to him. She smacks him, hard enough to leave a bruise, snarling.
"You watch your tongue!" She growls, "Tomorrow we train. I expect you to be more behaved then, yes?"
Kai says nothing, glaring at her. She huffs, walking out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her.
It isn't until she's gone he realizes-
Arch pulls the bottle out of his sleeve when he's sure they won't be seen or heard.
"Any idea what this is?" He asks, barely above a whisper. Alteia shrugs, holding the bottle delicately as if it could shatter at the smallest movement.
It looks to be a potion, in a minuscule bottle- barely enough in there for a swallow. The liquid inside is white and shimmery, swirling mesmerizingly every time it gets jostled.
"Wouldn't risk it," Alteia rasps, handing it back to him, "May be poison."
Arch nods, tucking it back into his sleeve securely, "One of them gave it to me."
She hums, considering, "Don't trust it."
"I wasn't going to."
She nods, wincing. Arch gestures to the cot for her to rest, but she shakes her head.
"Easier on the floor," She mumbles as an answer to his questioning look. He shrugs, yanking his ratty blanket off of the cot and handing it to her.
She nods in thanks, moving to lie against the wall as he lies back down.
As he drifts back into the land of nightmares, he realizes.
Her necklace is missing.
When she wakes, she's not even slightly surprised to find herself strapped to a cold, metal table.
Her mind is foggy- she must have been drugged.
"She would be suitable if we could get Hive completed."
Someone hums, "We have time. It's already beginning to work- We already have a male candidate ready."
She drifts, then. She can't discern what they're talking about- doesn't care to.
So she allows her mind to drift, barely paying attention to the phrases being whispered in her ear.
Soon enough, her mind flares back to life as pure agony fills her veins, ripping her apart from the inside out.
She screams- loud enough it rings in her own ears. She thrashes, trying desperately to rid herself of these bonds to scratch it out- get it out, get it out, *getitoutgetitout-*
"We saved you," A soothing voice thrums in her ears, "You owe us. We raised you- We gave you your lover. *You owe us."*
-His wings are free? What... Why?
*If you're good, I won't bind your wings whilst you're in the cell.*
Why... He wasn't good? He failed.
He *failed.*
So... Why is he still *here?* Wings free on an *actual* bed?
Somewhere that isn't a cell?
He... He doesn't know what the fuck's going on. Where's Alteia? Where's the rest of the party?
Where's Arch?
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he hesitantly stretches his wings out. Nothing... Immediately bad happens. Odd.
He glances back at the door. Was... Was Inu telling the truth?
He furrows his brows, thinking.
Why... Why was she humming that song?
Come to think of it, Alteia knows that song, too. He's heard her sing it when she thought no one was listening.
Was Inu her guardian? No- No, that's impossible. Alteia's nearly two hundred years old. Inu would have been killed by now if she was.
Right?
Arch stills as the door to his cell opens, tensing when there's a solid *thump* of a body hitting the floor. He doesn't turn around until he's sure whoever it was left- eyes widening when he sees her.
Her eyes are open, staring unseeing at the ceiling of their shared cell. Her breathing's shallow and quick, little puffs of what looks like fog leaving her lips.
She blinks, shuddering before falling limp once again. Her breaths even out, somewhat soothing his worries.
Why the fuck would her breath be foggy? It's not that cold down here.
He's woken by a stinging slap to his side.
"*Up,* chickling. You must train."
He quickly blinks the sleep out of his eyes, scrambling to get off the bed. He forces his wings tightly to his back, tilting his head in confusion when Inu clicks her tongue disapprovingly.
"None of that. Learn to use them to your advantage, yes?"
He squints at her, cautiously letting them relax back into a more comfortable position. She says nothing, only studying him for a moment.
"Begin," She says, slapping the crop against her thigh once again.
This time, Kai waits for her to attack. She nods once, something like approval in her gaze before lunging, crop aiming straight for his head.
He grabs her arm, twisting under her and delivering a quick blow to her stomach. He lets go, quickly getting behind her to kick her in the back.
She stumbles, twisting around and kicking him in the side.
He flaps his wings, flying backwards just out of reach of her. Her face morphs into a vicious grin, and she lunges once again, grabbing his arm and flipping him over. He lands hard, the breath getting knocked out of him.
He gasps, only registering the crop pointing at his neck when it's too late.
He grits his teeth, slapping the cement twice in defeat.
Inu steps back, crop falling to her side.
"Your form is sloppy. We must start from the beginning once more."
He tilts his head, pursing his lips. A silent question.
She sighs, "We wish to utilize Fighters, chickling. Use them for more than just *entertainment.* By the time you are ready, you will match your friends in physical ability, if not power. I expect the best, child."
Kai nods, falling into his neutral stance. Seemingly relaxed, yet ready for anything someone might throw at him.
She wakes up groggily, shivering profusely under the thin blanket.
"-uo see she's *freezing?"* A loud voice demands, "We need more blankets-"
"Easy, kid," A frighteningly familiar voice attempts to soothe, "Gen is getting some now. Arthur, go inform Enhory of these developments. It seems he was misinformed."
Arthur scurries off, leaving Alteia wondering just what the fuck is going on.
"What the fuck did you people do to her?!" The voice- Arch's, she realizes slowly- hisses, as someone starts frantically rubbing at her hands to try and warm them up.
"That is above my station, child. Whatever they do to her is none of your concern."
"They allowed two, madam," Someone says gruffly, and soon a heavy blanket is placed on top of her.
It does little to soothe her shivering form, but she'd appreciate it if she was coherent enough to.
Someone comes running down the hallway, and the cell door slams open.
"This wasn't supposed to happen- Inu, report." Whoever it is injects her with something- it stings enough to make her whimper, but she sighs with relief as whatever it is warms her.
"The new Champion woke up to her shivering, with frost coating the cell. Arthur ran to fetch me, thinking it was miss Faecaryn's magic acting up. I told him to fetch you when I saw what was happening."
"Yes, well- you know what she was before, Inu. Something interfered with it. I think she's changed."
Inu hums, and Alteia blinks her eyes open, squinting at the man hovering above her.
"Ah, good," He smiles, "The problem herself has awoken."
He moves away from her as she sits up, shuddering.
"Wha' th' f'ck?" She asks, voice hoarse and cracking. She tastes blood, spitting it onto the ground and gagging.
"You must have gained magic, Olaphyra. Tell me how." Inu demands, voice icy.
Alteia sneers, "Made a deal."
"With whom?" The man asks.
Alteia grins, "You'd love to know, wouldn't you?"
"Olaphyra," Inu reprimands, "Thus information will help us with the programme. We do not wish to kill such a prized fighter."
She huffs, "Doesn't fuckin matter, does it? They can't do nothin."
The man purses his lips, "Take her. I must keep an eye on her vitals. The cold may have caused internal injuries."
One of the guards licks her up, not bothering to drag her. She lies limply, barely able to twitch her hand. She used all her energy already, talking to these pricks.