Out of the Sky, Into the City

Chapter 9: Asterope

After the interrogation, Asterope found themselves being taken back to their room. The effects of the truth potion had worn off by then, so they were free to remain as quiet as they could. A knock on the door startled the Skyling assassin and they looked to their right to see a tray of food being pushed through the gap in the floor. Asterope quickly picked up the tray and took it to the counter, where they were surprised to see two cephalopods standing in front of the glass panel. They remembered the two as part of the seven that had captured them.

"Ah, hello, Asterope." the white-and-black-striped cephalopod said. "We're here to ask you a few questions. I'm Hurricane, and this is Blake. We're heroes from Inkopolis, and we're hoping you know more." Asterope blinked, picking up the spoon that was on the tray and preparing to dig it into the vegetables there.
"I'm no longer under the truth potion." they answered. "Anything about me that makes you think I won't lie to protect my people?"
"They're certainly passionate." Blake said. "Is passion their trait, perhaps?" His unnerving blue eyes didn't waver as they stared into Asterope. The Skyling felt as if their soul was being searched, and that it would be no use lying to this guy. And what the heck was a 'trait'? Like a personality trait? If Asterope had one, they were sure it would be 'not being a morning person', not some cloud fluff like 'passion' that they probably had. They never even show up on time for training!

Eating the vegetables and rice on their plate to stop themselves from arguing like they had done so during the interrogation, Asterope stared back at the two heroes until Hurricane produced a tablet from behind her back and turned it until it faced the Skyling. On the screen of the tablet was a map. And not just any map. A map of the way towards the Skyling Kingdom. Apicem Caelo. It was clearly written there, translated into the Inkling language.

"I found this map whilst reading on the history of Inkopolis and time around the Great Turf War. It was surprisingly easy to find, but most of the residents of Inkoplis don't bother with these things except a select few, and even they didn't do too much research." Hurricane explained. "Your home has to be this way, judging from the directions the Skylings flew in when you raided our homes. It would be logical to take the shortest way to Inkopolis, after all, when every Skyling in the army sent was wearing armour."
"So?"
"The path towards your kingdom is rather dangerous, and this map happens to be outdated, but a well-trained group of heroes at any second could traverse it and appear in your home. What do you think would happen then?"

Asterope realised what the two heroes were doing. So they simply told their truth. Why? No idea. All they knew was that there was a voice in their head telling them not to, and another voice, that they felt more compelled to listen to, telling them to fight for the right side. Wasn't that... the Skylings? Or was it the heroes?
"The place is well-protected, so anyone trying to sneak in would be unable to unless all the guards were off duty, and when a person is captured, we take them to the Queen which only happened about three times during the reign of the Queen. Then, she personally judges them to see if they wish to serve our kingdom with loyalty. If they don't, well, I don't know what happens next. As for a group of people, well, the guards to the throne room say that a group did once come, and they were all immediately taken away to a place called the 'Fixing Chamber', and every one of them came out loyal to the Queen. Don't know what happens there, no one but the Queen is allowed to know. Not even high-ranking assassins and guards now. We just know that it 'fixes' people, and that it's awful, because anyone who disobeys the queen has been put in there, and they always come out horrified."

(A/N: Yes, it's been about three days and I did indeed write all this to make up for that long break. Hopefully the next chapter also comes out shortly because I'm in a writing mood.)