The Ghosts of Me

4

Alain hung low, the chain around his neck a collar, and the manacles around his feet weighing him down further. His body was lacking in all strength, and tears no longer came from his eyes. Having dried up long ago, with no water, and no food. Alain's body was shaving uncontrollably now, and had been for at least a day or so. He had been given nothing to sustain himself, and now that his body needed it it was even worse. It was one thing when food and water was not necessarily a necessity, but it was for him now. He had been here, maybe two or three days now? Alain could not remember, his head going fuzzy and pounding as it was.

"Brother dear," Alain flinched violently, scrambling back towards the wall as he heard the telltale steps of his brother, light, but commanding, walking down the stairwell in addition to his call. The doors opened and he whimpered, unable to stop the sound from carving its way through his throat. "I have brought you a gift, for handling your punishments so well up until now. I have to admit, I did not think you would manage it in this frail and pathetic excuse for a body." Alain hesitantly looked up and Adel had water and food. He felt his body shiver at the implication, but he knew better. There was a catch, there had to be.

"Your majesty, please I..."

"Shh, brother, here," Alain felt his fingers shake as Adel shoved the goblet of water into his fingers. The cup trembled in his hands. "Drink up," Obediently, Alain did so, the liquid falling against his tongue and cooling his dry and parched throat. The second the water touched his mouth he could not help it, fingers gripping the goblet even stronger and downing it so quickly it was shocking. Adel was laughing, he could hear it distantly. When the water was gone, and Alain had drank every last drop, the goblet fell from his fingers, clattering against the floor. "Such a good, obedient pet," mocked his brother, fingers curling through Alain's hair. A bowl of soup was placed in his hands next. "Go on," The order left Adel's lips, and the second it did so Alain was tilting the bowl into his mouth, desperately gobbling what little was there, aching and relieved at the same time. The food was gone almost as quickly as the water, and it clattered from his grip the moment it was gone as well.

Alain pulled himself up, limbs aching, and kowtowed to his brother once again. "T-Thank you Adel-Sama," Adel's lips held an amused quirk to them.

"You know, I thought your friends would have come to rescue you by now." Alain flinched, scrambling back once more as his brother walked towards him, towering over the cowering figure of himself. "I see that I was wrong. Perhaps your friends don't care for you as much as you thought." Tears began to cling to his eyeslashes once more and he saw his brother's smirk take a pleased edge to it. "Of course, perhaps they are still working a plan, but this is the third day of your capture. Interesting, truly," Alain felt his body tremble as Adel pulled the leather chord from his waist, letting the red robes flutter open from where they had been tied together. Alain shuddered.

"I-I th-thought I had b-been good." Alain whispered, the dread and distress clear in his voice as he saw Adel lift the leather. Adel laughed cruelly.

"Oh yes, my dear brother, you have. You certainly have." The next moment he was screaming, and Adel was laughing.

-

"You want me to try to open this sigil thingy?" Philip questioned gently.

"Adel took Alain, and the only way to get to Ganma is through this portal, but only royal families are able to activate it with no external aids. Besides you...when you activated it..." Philip shook his head.

"I get it," His lower lip caught between his teeth as he looked at this Makoto and Takeru. "Adel is abusive isn't he?" The question was blunt, and had shocked the both of them, but they merely nodded sagely. Makoto went further into explanation.

"Adel has always had a strange obsession with Alain. I did not notice it at first, but it soon became obvious. Even though I never knew exactly what went on, Adel would take Alain down to the dungeon for punishment almost once a week, and he would be gone for almost an entire day, sometimes two. When he came back he would be dead tired, and need the infirmary for another day, sometimes more. To some extent, I think it was worse once me and my sister came around. Alain liked us, and stood up for us, and I think Adel took a problem with that and so his punishments got worse. At least that was what I got from his sister. Nobody really knows what happens in the dungeons, and when we tried to bring it up to his father he sort of...brushed us off. Then Adel tried to kill Alain, except it did not work, and when Alain escaped Adel ordered him be captured and brought to him...alive. Now...I don't even want to think what is happening to him."

"It has been three days, how do you know he had not just killed him?" The words seemed to yank themselves out of Philip but Makoto just shook his head. 

"No, he would not kill him, torture him, abuse him, twist him around until he is nothing but a husk of his former self, but he would never kill him. He is too obsessed." 

"You said he tried to kill him before." 

"That was his other form, the humans on gamma have a secondary form that they primarily use instead of their first one, Alain's secondary form was destroyed. He could have another made, but that would take influence that he no longer has due to Adel being King."