The wind was always blowing in the Eyrie, bringing fluffy snow and biting breezes with it, yet Mai always kept her windows open. The wind was, after all, the only trace she had of the outside world, and she treasured it greatly. It was always the wind that kissed her good morning, and good night as well. When it touched her skin, it felt as if someone was by her side.
When she turned to look, however, in desperate hope, she found herself alone. Save for her jailer, who was not much company, she found herself all by herself in her prison without gates or bars. There was no need for that in the Eyrie: no prisoner could possibly descend the mountain, not alone, unprepared, not with this cold. Almost no Precures would be capable of such a feat.
And most certainly not a Precure who could not even transform on her own. Once, when she had Saki with her, Mai felt so strong, so safe, and together their magic was remarkable, one of the most powerful that the Precure had ever known. And yet, when they were apart, they were useless. Almost all the other Cures could at the very least transform when they were alone, even if they were not as strong as they could be with their partners, but not Bloom and Egret. That which made them so powerful was also their greatest weakness.
The wind blew cold from the darkness outside. Night had fallen quickly tonight, Mai noticed, or at least she thought so. It was hard to tell, nowadays. She had been trapped in the Eyrie for a week. Or was it two? Mai tried to count the sunrises and sunsets, at first, but then she quickly stopped. What was the point, when all days were exactly the same?
Well, not quite the same. On her first day, she at least had Choppy with her, before her captor took the fairy from her. Mai begged Namakelder to let Choppy stay with her, but he ignored her pleas.
He ignored most things, in truth. He ignored the loud, howling wind, he ignored the avalanches that shook the mountain, he even ignored Mai most of the time when she reached out to him. At most, he gave her an annoyed frown and a sigh as he went back to sleep.
He was lazing around tonight, as always. He was not awake, not truly, only between sleeps. At least that was what he called it when he actually had to eat or, in fact, do anything that wasn't merely sleep.
"Can't sleep?" He actually bothered to acknowledge her existence; it wasn't something he did very often. Mai had not yet decided if it was because he disliked her or because he just could not bother acknowledging anything at all.
"It's still too early."
"It's never too early to sleep, only too late," he grinned. "You're going to be here for a while, so you should sleep as long as you can."
"No," it seemed like such a miserable fate. Life in this cage was not something worth living. "I don't want to sleep."
"Odd," he said, pouring some coffee on his mug. How he could sleep with all that caffeine was still a mystery to Mai. "Well, I'm sorry you're so sad here, but I can't let you leave. Maybe if you'd like I could try and get you some books, in the next few months? Someone will have to come to bring supplies, after all, so I can make a request. To tell the truth, I rather like books. They're a good way to spend a lazy day, when you're not sleeping, so long you don't have to think too hard. Would you like some books, then?"
"That would be nice, but I don't plan on staying here that long," she said. Powerless as she was, it would do her no good to give up on hope.
"Don't you get tired of being so defiant?"
"Never," she said, and he laughed.
