The cold

Loki

Damien was frustrated , it's been two days since Neil went missing and they still had no clue where he was, He even sneaked into the unseelie court, blending into the shadows, hoping to catch some sort of clue, a snippet of a conversation, anything, but in vain. He just hoped the boy was still alive, he didn't even want to think about what he was going through now.He just wanted him back. He decided to go to his brothers room, surprisingly enough, his brother was actually making an effort to help him, despite their differences. They had hated each other from the day they were born, no, his brother had hated him from the very beginning, his hate for his brother steadily grew over time. He entered his brothers room only to find out that his brother was elsewhere. Hissana was there of course, sitting in his usual corner, staring quietly at him. He'd never heard Hissana actually speak till date, he wondered if Hissana was mute. He decided to wait for his brother,it wouldn't hurt him at this point, with Nerezza trying her luck at the unseelie court ,considering the fact that she was much more familiar with it.

After waiting for an hour or so, Abaddon walked in, he didn't come alone, no, he was followed by a very meek looking woodsprite. Damien cringed in his head, so his brother was playing a cruel joke after all , how in the world can a tree spirit help? Damien got his answer soon enough, the woodsprite was there . Based on the woodsprites explanation,what had taken the boy had to be a veila, a vile fey that uses its voice to influence people. These veilas weren't very powerful without their voice, he should've made the boy put a guard spell, but how was he to know that the boy would be targeted. And iron was definitely used, Damien winced at that, he remembered how painful it was the one time it was used on him, if the handcuffs were still in place then this whole thing would be an excruciatingly painful affair for Neil. He knew it wasn't the woodsprites fault but he couldn't help but feel angry at it for not coming forward with the information sooner, he couldn't help but hate the fact that the woodsprite just watched the whole thing unfold like a movie. 

Abbadon noticed Damien's expression and sighed, he dismissed the tree spirit before Damien took out his anger on it. The information wasn't much to work on but it was something. Salazar was great at sniffing out people who wanted to stay hidden, and had already agreed to help. Not that he had much of a choice, Salazar owed him a favor and he decided to call it. If the boy was still alive he would be back home in no time.

*******

Neil was scared, he had been here for two days , getting the same treatment over and over again. Whenever the man walked in, he would taunt Neil with something sharp, give him a bruise or two, then knock him about till he felt like he couldn't take the pain anymore, giving an evil laugh here and there, it had almost become a routine, and Neil knew by now that the man didn't really intend to kill him. Occasionally the man would come and tear the sticky tape off,shove some food into Neil's mouth, a piece of stale bread , perhaps a  burnt piece of chicken and then promptly place the tape back on. He had even come and poured a glass full of water without warning into Neil's mouth , laughing as he choked. Neil was starting to give up hope, if there was an actual chance for him,wouldn't Damien or Nerezza have found him by now, were they even searching for him or did they not care , they were probably still dancing in that festival, how long was it anyway? He hadn't asked. 

He felt a smooth hand caress his cheek and held his breath,  it was not that man, that was for sure, his hands were rough and blistered , perhaps it was another one of his captors, another hand that would beat him up. He flinched slightly , trying to move his face as far away from the hand as he could. He felt the hand slowly remove his handcuffs and then help him remove the blindfold and the sticky tape. It took his eyes a second or two to adjust to the sudden assault of light, it took him a second or two to take in the owner of the hand. 

It was a very lithe man, in a bright green robe, his long black hair falling to his waist. His green eyes had a wicked smile to it , his lips pulled into a smirk. In his pale hand he held Neil's pendant , fastening it to Neil's neck. "You shouldn't let strangers take me away from you " the man said, his voice full of amusement, rather odd at the given moment , a pout on his face. Neil stared at the odd man, having no idea what the man was talking about.The man chuckled lightly seeing the bewildered look on the boys face.  Neil cleared his throat , he found it a little hard to speak, his throat dry, perhaps due to two days of no use. "Can you get me out?" Neil asked , his voice rough. The man helped Neil sit up , and then helped heal Neil's injuries, which made Neil sigh in relief, he had no idea who the man was but at least his chest no longer hurt him when he breathed. "I'm afraid I can't little one, they have a seal that prevents me from busting us out, but what I can do is prevent them from coming in, we'll just have to wait till some kind soul busts us out. You're rather cute by the way, but in a dire need of a good bath I'm afraid" the man said in an overly cheerful voice, pretending to sniff the air like a dog. "Oh my , where are my manners , consider yourself lucky muffin for I am Loki, one of the lords of the obyss, right at your service" exclaimed the man, adding a curtsy to boot.