Moonshade (Formerly Eclipse)

Chapter Seventeen: Bound

"Where could she be? We've searched the castle, the forest, the camp, the Night..." Destiny let her voice trail off as she kept thinking.

"Wait." Ivy warned, and Destiny could almost see her thinking. "I can think of one more place we could try..." Her voice trembled, and she shuddered.

"What is it? Where? You know I'll do anything--"

"That's the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll do anything. I think...I think that's what Mother wants."

"Me?"

"No!" Ivy grinned, and as she looked up, Destiny saw for once how tired she was. They'd been searching for more than a week, never getting more than a few hours sleep before the patrol came around and began searching.

"Then what do they want? You said they needed my mom for the darkness, my sister for the light, what could I give? Biscuits?" Destiny huffed, and ran her hand through her short hair. 

"Not exactly. And after the incident at the dungeon, I think I was wrong about that."

"You sounded pretty sure before."

"I know, but think: if my mother truly wanted to perform that spell, she would have kept them in the dungeon. She can keep an eye on them, but they won't be hurt much. Neither of them were there. If she wanted, I suppose Mother could have moved them to...oh no!" Ivy began to cry a little.

"What is it?" Destiny demanded. "I can't read your mind!"

"They were moved to the Twilight Prison! I know it now! I'm so sorry, Destiny! I'm so sorry!" She sobbed, and her tears looked like liquid moon.

"It's alright, Ivy! We'll just break in there, and-" Destiny had no idea how to comfort the girl, and rather awkwardly put her arm around her as she would her little sister.

"You don't know about the Twilight, do you?" She cried, and Destiny shook her head.
"No."

"There are two prisons, the Cave and the Cage. The Cave is in complete darkness,and sometimes Mother leaves the thief or whoever in there until he goes mad! Those who make it out and remain alive say that you hear things, and it's the fear that drives them insane!" Ivy began to cry a little louder.

"Ssh!" Destiny pleaded. The patrol would be coming soon."It's alright! ssh!"

"The Cage is worse for some. It has magic bars that zap you if you touch them, and it's an enormous cage on the roof. You can see everything, and that's your punishment. Seeing everything, but never coming close to getting out. Don't you see? It's impenetrable!" Her voice had shrunk to a hoarse whisper, as she dried her silent tears.

"And now, Fayte's in there."

"Wake up!" Some one said harshly, and Fayte woke up.

"What do you want?" She hissed at the soldier before her. He held nothing but his sword, and his black armor had the typical moon insignia of a low ranking soldier. She could barely make it out in the darkness, and Fayte grimaced.

"The queen wants to see you."

"Yeah, figured." She rolled her eyes, and recognized the soldier. It was the same boy that she had seen when she'd first met Destiny. She could tell by the dent in the shoulder armor.

"Hey!" She called as he walked away. He didn't stop, and Fayte growled softly.,

"Well, at least you're more awake." Jade smiled smugly as she descended the steps. She held in her hand a small ball of fire, and at first Fayte thought she was going to throw it at her. Instead, she extinguished it.

"What do you want, Highness?" She loathed talking to that sorceress, but she didn't have  a choice.

"You know what I want." Jade said in a bored tone.

"I know you want to be a hero." Fayte offered, refusing to give in.

"Oh yes, well, you weren't supposed to remember that." She waved her hand over Fayte's forehead, and for a second, Fayte just stared at the queen. She had completely forgotten her little chat with Jade, remembering only the pain. Sure, that's what she'd decided to keep.

"What do you want, Highness?" She repeated, though she didn't know it.

"You know what I want," The queen rolled her eyes. Sometimes, it wasn't worth the effort.

"No idea what you're talking about." Fayte lied, her eyes shining, even without the lights. Again, the queen transported herself inside the cave.

"Where did you put it?" Jade grew another chain from the ground, and it darted back in forth, like a snake. Fayte didn't flinch, and she didn't move.

"Put what, Highness?" The snake began to wrap around her, and she groaned. It squeezed tighter and tighter.

"Where did you put it, Fayte?" She repeated, her own eyes glowing with a mixture of pride and anger.

"Somewhere you'll never find it." Fayte consented. She gasped as the chain squeezed again, and her legs were now completely bound.

"Where is it?!" Jade was getting more and more upset, and the chain was getting close to her lungs now. Much as she had been struggling, the queen knew exactly how to trap her. Oh, and she was definitely trapped.

"I need that ring! Where did you put it!?" She cried, finally saying what object she needed. Fayte did her best to grin.

"Try asking your men. It's gone, Highness. And there's nothing you can do about it." Her breathing had gotten shallower, but her voice remained as piercing and dangerous as ever. Jade undid the snake, but grew two more which darted from the wall, wrapping around the captain, and dragging her against the stone wall.

"I've no idea how you did it, Fayte Moonshade, but you will pay for your error. For your treason. And I will get that ring, I promise! And you know what?" Jade asked, her tone as dark as the cave, as menacing as poison. Then, quoting her prisoner, she said, "There is nothing you can do about it."

"No!" Destiny exclaimed that night as they hid once more in the forest. "There has to be a way!"

"Yeah, well people have been trying to get in and out for centuries. None have succeeded!" Ivy retorted.

"What about magic?" Destiny's voice had become desperate.

"A witch tried to get into Twilight to save her husband last year. She used dark magic, light magic and bribery, but nothing worked. I'm telling you, it's penetrable!"

"Nothing is perfect, Ivy. Everything has a weakness."

"Yes, every person is like that. But buildings? No."

"Maybe the note I found can tell us!" Destiny leaped from her spot, shoveling through their makeshift bag of supplies they'd salvaged from the cabin. Finally, she found what she was looking for.

"Where'd you find that?" Ivy asked with genuine surprise.

"In one of the cells. It was the one next to Fayte's," she explained, unfolding the paper. On it was a small series of words, but Destiny no longer cared about what it said.

"That's my mother's handwriting," she murmured. "She could still be alive!"

"Possibly. But look what it says!" Ivy took the note and read aloud,

"SAVE US. gpf19ola28ids37nbt00-- wse144crp441etl990jpa722ssa000yge377.NG"

Ivy was silent for a moment. "What does it mean?" Destiny smiled.

"It means we can save them both."