Hope Falling

~Chapter Two~

When I woke up, I was in a tiny cage dangling from the ceiling of a circular room that looked oddly familiar. There was a chair at the side of the room, with strange burn marks on it, along with metal cuffs on the armrests and the two front legs, which I assumed were meant for restraining a prisoner while they tortured them either for information or for fun. I then realised that there was someone leaning against the wall, watching me.

"Finally awake? Good. Come with me." Simba said.

"Why is it always you who are watching me? I mean, it's kind of creepy, don't you think?" I replied. I then rolled onto my side, manifested my sword, and cut open the cage and flew down towards him.

"R-right. Anyway, right this way please." he stammered.

"Hold up. Aren't you going to, like, tie my hands up or something? Otherwise, I might just grab my sword and kill you." I replied, holding up my hand.

"Why would you tell me to do that?" He asked.

"Doesn't matter. I'm your prisoner, so you'd better make sure I don't escape, because then you might just be killed on my way out." I answered ominously, holding up my hands so he could tie them. "You might also want to take my sword." I suggested.

"Of course. Hand it over, please." he said expectantly. I gave him a 'seriously?' kind of look. "Right, can't do it with your hands tied, sorry. Quick question, will it hurt me?"

"It's a sword, of course it'll hurt you. Oh, you meant if the hilt will hurt you. No, not unless you have bad intentions. Then, it'll burn your hand so badly that you'll be wanting to get an ice pixie to bite it, which'll end up quite badly for that hand. My tip is to do it with a false hand, or with your mouth. That way you can still use your hands." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Or how about I just get you to take it out?" Simba countered, maneuvering my hands to the hilt of my sword, almost spraining my wrist in the process. Finally, when I felt almost as if my arm would pop out of its socket, we managed to get the sword out, and Simba tossed it to the side of the room, where it clattered to the floor.

Simba then roughly pushed me out the door, where an escort of six elves, three eklers, and a were-dragon surrounded us and led me down the long, twisting hallways, to a set of double doors surrounded with a few statues, three on one side, two on the other, appeared to be guarding it.

Another elf was waiting for us at the doors. She dismissed the escort, including Simba, and turned to me, smiling.

"Hello, Hope, can you please disarm, as this room is sacred, and does not allow weapons in it without making the weapon's holder go up in flames." she said, gesturing to where I kept my various daggers (two poisoned, seven enchanted, and three normal).

"Please, call me Mia-Lynn."

I held up my wrists so that she could undo the rope binding them. When she finished, I quickly disarmed myself. Then, she pushed open the doors, and led me into the giant room, where two places were set with all of the best foods imaginable. The person that was sitting at the spot furthest from the door looked up. He had ice-blue eyes, black hair with blue-green tips, and wore only black, unlike me. He had black wings with dark blue tips.

"Thank you Kella. I think I can take it from here." he said, gesturing for me to sit down.

"So. Hope, was it?" he asked me, after I sat down.

"No. My name is Mia-Lynn." I replied.

"But you very clearly said that your name was Hope!" he exclaimed, looking very confused.

"My name is Mia-Lynn, and I am Hope. Kind of like how you are an Illawara, but your name is Jason Kinas." I explained calmly.

"Alright then, Mia-Lynn, do you know why you are here?" he asked me, reaching for the water jug.

"Is it because of the legend?" I asked in return, grabbing a bread roll and slathering butter on it.

"Yes. How did you know about it?" he questioned me, looking surprised.

"I'm an avid reader." I replied simply, taking a bite out of my roll. "Can you please pass the water?"

"Sure." He answered, pouring me a glass and handing it to me. When he did so, a strange liquid fell into it, tinting the water a blueish colour.

When I drank, I felt different, somehow, sort of like the world had been reborn.

"How do you feel?" Jason asked me, looking concerned.

"Great. Now let's go kill that daughter of a demon." I replied. Jason looked taken aback.

"A-are you sure?" he questioned hesitantly.

"Quite sure." I said confidently, rising from my seat. "Let's go."

I hope you liked this chapter. I most likely will be posting new ones between 1-3 times this week. Please don't get mad at me if I don't post tomorrow as that day is my birthday. Have a great rest of day/night!