Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

25 ~ hope

I stay in the cell for a long time. Unable to even feel the faintest flicker of my power, however, I feel Ruin's heartbeat within my chest still. It is hard for me to concentrate, hard to breathe. Whatever they are doing to me, it is making it hard for me to even focus.

My heartbeat is slow, and my mind is like molasses. So when they come in and drag me out into the hall, I have no strength to fight back. I try to move my wings, but they are too weak to even lift up. Too heavy.

Time kneels before me, smirking. His red eyes seem to mock me with the sheer delight in them. "You enjoying feeling like the mortal you are?"

I remain silent. He slaps me, and Erasmus shouts. "Stop it. Just because we are interrogating her does not mean you get to slap her around."

"I do what I want, boy," snarls Time. "You had best remember your place. I have lived a thousand of your lifetimes, and you are nothing compared to my eons of life. So, Erasmus, you'd best back off."

Erasmus shakes his head, and steps back. Time turns to me again. "Where is your sister?"

"You're stupid if you think I'm gonna tell you where she is," I reply.

"No, what's stupid is that I am assigned to work with you, the foolish girl who abandoned her friend when he needed her most because her feelings were hurt. Well, guess what, Mortal-Heart?! It is your fault that Ruin is trapped. Your fault that we were able to so easily kill nearly everyone within his Court. You lead us right to them, girl."

"Get off me, you freak!" I hiss, turning my head to glare at the man who is holding me down. One of Erasmus's men, a guy with dark brown skin, gray eyes like a stormy sky, and black dreadlocks that hang in his face. He laughs. The demon guy unfolds two large, bat-like wings, and brings the apex of said wings up to my throat. Because there, on the tip of his wings, is a large, curved claw. He presses it to my throat.

"My suggestion is you talking, telling us where your sister is."

"I don't know where she is!" I shout.

"That is a lie," snaps Time. "You are lying to us."

"Why would I bring you straight to Farrin? The last thing I want is for her to get hurt again, because of this fucked up demon family that all belongs in counseling!"

"We are not looking for Farrin," says Erasmus.

"Then you're still shit out of luck, because Farrin is the only sister I have that's still alive," I hiss.

Erasmus kneels before me. "No, she isn't. True, your village was destroyed in the early years of this war by Pain. But that does not mean every single sister of yours is dead."

"Who's still alive?" I ask, my heart fluttering.

"We are looking for Mirage."

"Why?" I ask.

"That is not your concern."

"Um, what part of her being my sister makes it not my concern?" I ask, scoffing.

The stormy-eyed demon suddenly lets go of me, and I look up as he draws a sword, and slashes it at Time's chest. The necklace he wears clatters on the floor, and I catch it. Erasmus rushes at me, kicking me in the stomach as I am hunched over to retrieve the necklace.

A loud battle cry fills the corridor, and then, Death herself swoops down and kicks Time, and he stumbles into the far wall. She surges forward, and brings her dagger to her brother's throat.

"You betrayed us," she snarls.

Fear saunters into the room, hands in his pockets. He looks up as Erasmus shoves the stormy-eyed demon off him, and Fear shakes his head. He raises a bony hand. And Erasmus staggers, sinking to his knees on the floor, tears pouring down his face. He sobs.

"Come with me," says Fear, holding his hand out to me. "Do not think. Just go."

Obeying, I take his hand. And in a burst of dark red energy, we appear in a new place. Several people run up to us, and Fear hands me off to a plump woman with coppery, corkscrew hair.

Stormy-eyed demon appears next, and then Death. The woman sits me down on a cot, and begins to check me for any wounds. The stormy-eyed demon tells her what had been done to me, and the woman nods all along with it.

I then see that I'm holding Ruin's prison, the diamond that Time kept him trapped in.

"Ruin," I whisper, my eyes filling with tears. "They're after my sister, but not Farrin, like I thought. They're after Mirage, but I thought she was dead."

"We are watching over Farrin," says Death as she walks up to me. Her gaze lands on the diamond. "And I assume that my brother, Ruin, is trapped in there?"

I can only nod. My throat is tight, my chest is aching. I swallow hard, but the lump in my throat remains. Death turns, facing the demon who helped them save me. His gray eyes lock on her, and he smiles. She returns the smile, but then speaks.

"Castor, go get Rhiannon," she says. "I'm certain that she can help us with this."

"But can we save Ruin?" I ask, anxiety crawling up my throat.

"Rhiannon Cursecleaver is able to help," says Castor. He smiles and nods, before vanishing in a blink.

"You are Elorha, right?" Death asks.

"Yeah," I murmur.  "I'm just the one who betrayed my friend. The one who left him when he needed me most."

Death sighs.  "I'm sorry, but do not blame yourself for the war, Elorha."

"I'll just blame myself for everything else."

"No," snaps Death.  "Do not dare. You are not at fault for this, Elorha."

"Alright, we ought to let her rest," says the woman who has been working to heal me and bandage me up.

I look at Death, and she nods.  "Do you mind if we take the diamond?"

I look down at the necklace in my hand. "I .... " Sighing, I hand it over. Death smiles at me, and she thanks me. "I need to sleep. If that's okay with you."

"Of course," she says. She turns to a girl I don't know and hadn't noticed before.  "Ydara, please bring Elorha to the sleeping area. We will wake you if we need something."

Nodding, I move after Ydara, my movements stiff and numb. I sit down on the cot she leads me to, and promptly fall into a deep, deep sleep.