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As Nix walked through the castle halls with Merid in his arms, he was greeted with Eztli. "Nix, what are we planning to do with Merid?" He asked, curious. "Well, I'll show them their parent's corpses, and give them something to cry about." Nix grinned, continuing his walk to his office.
Upon hearing this, Gemini grimaced. He knew he should do something, but what? He didn't want to get hurt, but he didn't want Merid to get hurt either.
But, why did he bring Merid here if he couldn't stand to see them hurt? Weren't they already hurt enough?
Gemini sighed, and kept walking. He brought this upon all of them, the war.
If he hadn't had killed Noe.. this all would've never happened.
Or at least that's what he told himself.
Both Gemini and Nix arrived at his office. "We're here. Gemini, would you mind going to your office?" Nix turned back, looking Gemini in the eye. "You know, where you used to work before the war started."
Gemini gulped, what did Nix plan to do with him there? "Yes sir, but do you mind me asking why?"
"I just need you to set up a chair we can keep Merid in, I'll meet you there soon. Now go." Nix bluntly answered, sending chills up Gemini's spine. He nodded, beginning his quick walk to his office.
When Gemini arrived, he dragged over a chair. He began looking for something to keep Merid down with. Rope? Tape? Rope sounded good, he thought.
Gemini had begun tying knots around the legs and arms of the chair, leaving some extra rope for when Merid had arrived. When he was finished, Gemini sat on a spare chair, waiting.
For what seemed like hours, Nix walked in. "Here, put them in the chair and wake them up." Upon being given Merid, Gemini quickly sat them in the chair and tied their limbs to it. Within a single snap of his fingers, Merid opened their eyes. "H...huh..?" They let out a yawn, seemingly in a trance due to how long they were asleep. "What..the.."
Looking up, Merid shrieked at the sight of both Gemini and Nix. "HUH? Nix, Gemini!?" And even though they tried to move, it wasn't worth the effort.
"Don't even try." Nix spoke, a sinister grin on his face. "It'll only make those ropes dig into you."
"Why am I here? What do you want from me?!" Merid cried out, desperate for an answer. "Well.. I have my reasons." Nix refused to give an answer, making Merid even more upset and confused.
"Tell me!" Merid shouted in anger.
Instead of yelling back, Nix shocked their stomach. Even without the force of full lightning, it still left a mark and caused Merid to whimper in pain. "Don't talk." Nix coldly ordered, walking out of the room with Gemini, leaving Merid all alone.
Alone in the cold, dark, basement of the castle, Merid blankly stared at the wall. They looked at their stomach, questioning if that strike was going to scar. Not like they could take care of it, they never had the time to take care of their own wounds now.
They sighed. Whatever Nix would do to them, they just wanted to survive and have it over with already.
Eventually, the darkness and silence of the room got the best of them, sending them back to sleep.
----
The silence of the room was broken by the creaking of the door. Merid's drowsy eyes were greeted with the sight of Gemini. Annoyed, Merid spoke up with slurred speech. "Whatt...do youu.. want…?"
"Ah, you seem like you're dehydrated.. I brought you a glass of water, do you want it?" Gemini calmly asked, only to be answered with Merid's yelling. "No!.. What if you..poisoned it or somethin-"
Being cut off, the water was basically shoved down Merid's throat. "Ack!-" They began coughing due to how quick and unexpected that was. "What was that for..?"
Gemini looked down to his shoes, disappointed in himself. "I was ordered to keep you alive.. for Nix.."
"Coward!" Merid shouted out. "Get me out of here!"
"Coward..?" Gemini seemed surprised, as if he was never called that before. "You think I'm a coward? Nix's family saved my life, it's only natural I'd follow their orders!"
In a fit of pure rage, Merid screamed out. "Shut up!! You're an adult and don't even have the courage to do something! You shouldn't be talking! In fact.. you shouldn't be alive!"
It felt like he was getting lectured by a teacher, like a knife was struck straight into his heart, filling him with anger. "You shouldn't be alive, yet somehow you are, and I don't know how! You've escaped every chance Nix had to get rid of you! But now..now we have you in our hands!" Gemini laughed, taking a breath in. "We..can finally kill you!"
"I'm sorry, but you think I'll let myself die by your hands?" Merid questioned, tilting their head. "Huh?" Gemini froze, both a look of surprise and confusion plastered on his face. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not letting myself die here, even after all I've been through." Merid clarified.
Before Gemini could say anything back, Nix slammed the door open, holding something.. someone. It took Merid's eyes a bit to focus, but once they did, they regretted looking. They felt sick to their stomach, but it's not like they've eaten anything, they didn't even need to after all. , as if anything was even in it.“What… the hell..?”
What Nix was holding were the mangled corpses of their parents, Irene and Joel. Irene, their mother, had her chest stabbed, and various cuts across her face and neck. Joel, their father, had his neck seemingly scratched up with a rough rope, causing his skin to go pale. Merid instantly became speechless, their jaw dropped open with no words coming from it. They didn’t expect this, they never have. And god, was it both disgusting and terrifying to see.
What was this? Some sick joke being played on them? They wished this would all go away.. They wished something would just.. Come out and hit Nix so hard he blacked out. Something, something.
But nothing happened. Instead of Nix being hit and killed right then, Nix dropped the mangled bodies of their parents right in front of them, leaving them for Merid to see. This was his way of torture, there’s no way it isn’t. Merid stared at the bodies in fear, wondering when this nightmare would end, or when the time would come for them to die.
That’s all they wanted right now. They wanted to die beside their parents when they still had the chance. Irene and Joel were here now, so why not just die here? They’d be with their parents at long, long, long, long, last.. That’s all they’ve ever wanted..
Nix knew exactly what they were thinking from that sad, mentally broken grin. Sure, he wanted them dead, but not if they wanted to die. There was nothing in it for him. “I’m not killing you, Merid. And no one will kill you here.”
“Why not? You want me dead, so why don’t you do it!? I know you want it! Everybody does!” Merid laughed, before choking out a pained sob. “Why.. why are you doing this to me?! Why, why, why, why, why, why, WHY!!!”
Gemini stepped back, as Nix stepped closer to Merid. "Oh, you don't know.. do you?" He grinned, looking down at Merid's terrified expression. "Merid. If something ever happened to my family, and I was gone.. you would become royalty and screw up the lineage!"
"Wha..? No one ever.." Merid looked like they were in a trance. "And of course THEY DIDN'T!" Nix slammed his fist into the nearby wall, before taking a deep breath and regaining his composure. "You know.. If I end this planet's life right now, I wouldn't have to bear seeing your goddamn face!...Gemini. Get the Alamandra District Magistrate, as soon as possible."
"Yes..yes sir." Gemini stuttered, walking out of the cold basement. "And make it quick!" Nix yelled out, hearing Gemini's footsteps quicken their pace.
"Nix…" Merid looked at him with dreadful eyes. "Why did you do any of this? Were you just power hungry?"
"POWER HUNGRY?!" Nix grabbed Merid by the collar of the shirt, causing the rope around their wrists and legs to become more painful. "You better keep your mouth shut or I'll make sure you end up like Andromeda. Killing yourself with a fucking rock."
Merid wanted to make sure they heard him right, so they asked. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"You heard what I said." Nix dropped Merid back onto the seat, turning away and taking a few steps forward. "Gemini should be back with them any minute."
And soon after finishing that sentence, the door opened. A blue haired man with goggles in his hair walked in, revealing his outfit. A white jacket, white waistcoat, and a black button-up.
Followed after the man was a brown haired lady, with purple and pink heterochromia, and glasses. Two others giggling with eachother also let themselves in. One, a girl with purple and pink hair, red eyes, and small electric hair pins. Two, a short male with brown hair, green and blue heterochromia, and a sword that seemed even larger than him hung over his back.
"Well, I guess we just let ourselves in, huh?" The blue haired man, who was the tallest of the group, chuckled. "You're that Merid boss keeps talking about, hm? Guess I should introduce myself. I'm Soroz!"
"Um.. yes, I'm Merid.." Merid nodded, looking at the brown haired lady, who was dressed as a doctor. She realized that Merid was looking at her, quickly clearing her throat. "Calina, you can just call me Cal, though."
"Polaria!" The one with red eyes spoke, dressed up as if she was a model. "Leo." The tiny one spoke, looking like a soldier.
"Enough with introductions. Cal, you know what to do." Nix turned, looking at Calina. "Yes sir." Calina walked towards Merid, pulling out a syringe. "This won't hurt all too much, okay?"
"Um..? What's that..?" Merid asked, looking at their arm while Calina cleaned it, and started preparing the needle. "It's nothing, don't worry about it.." Calina answered sweetly, injecting whatever was in the syringe into Merid's arm. She got up, and walked backwards to the others, smiling warmly.
"Um..?" Merid looked at the five with confusion, asking once more. "What was in that syringe? Tell me."
"You'll see.." Nix answered, breaking out a small, sinister, chuckle. "Oh, you'll see."
Leo, despite being shorter than everyone in the room measured at five feet, had a deeper voice than Merid had expected. "Why don't we tell them? It's better to tell them now than to keep them waiting."
Polaria immediately smiled, and hugged Leo. "Yeah!! You always have the best ideas!"
Merid looked at the two, smiling as they watched Leo blush and slightly push Polaria away. Polaria giggled, knowing she had won.
"Well then!" Soroz smiled, taking the lollipop out of his mouth. "Merid, that's what we use to track you. It may seem impractical, but think of it as.. some chip or something."
"Huh? Track me? How?" Merid raised an eyebrow, clueless. "Tracking your location, vitals, where you're injured, things along those lines." Calina nodded her head.
Calina's voice.. no, everything about her. It reminded Merid of their own mother, even down to the profession that she chose. Merid looked down and their parent's mangled bodies once more, starting to cry.
That's really all they could do, anyways. They couldn't move, they could only cry.
Until..
Nix came over, and untied the knots on Merid's arms and legs, finally letting them get up. Merid stood, making sure not to step on their parents.
They stretched, popping a few joints. "Um, thank you?" They thanked Nix, hesitantly, of course.
"..." Nix didn't reply, just a cold, cold sigh.
"It was my idea to let you go, Merid." Gemini finally walked in, crossing his arms. "They aren't leaving this castle." Nix ordered. "Lock all of the doors and barricade them. They are not leaving."
Soroz nodded, beginning to walk out of the room with Gemini and Leo. Leaving Merid, Nix, Calina, and Polaria in the basement.
"Now.. while they're boarding up the doors, follow me Merid." Nix ordered once more, as Merid followed closely behind.
The two walked into Nix's office, a throne, a normal chair, and a large amount of see-through red displays, all 'decorated' the room.
"Sit down. Not on the throne." Nix said, continuing on. "We have a lot more to do with you."
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