(Dottie's POV)
As the Shadow Knights dragged us into the Nether, I could only think about what Ein had just said.
"72 hours from now, meet me at the Nether fortress." I thought.
This made me tremble with fear and worry. What if they torture us? Or worse? Throw us in Jail?! We approached the Nether fortress. Shad must be waiting.
The gates opened and we were forced to walk through. We approached the massive halls of the Nether fortress. We came to a stop at a hall with a giant window at the very end. The Shadow Knights made us fall to our knees.
"Is this...?" Kim asked.
"The Nether." Kawaii~Chan answered.
"We're screwed." Maria said with fear.
I saw Aphmau.
"This place hasn't changed one bit." Aphmau said.
"Yeah." Lucinda added.
"True." Melissa said.
"I know. When we first came here, Evil Zane showed us this place. Showed us where Laurence was at, how we came across Ein. I.... dreamt of.... fighting the evil here." I said.
"And now we will. Except..." Melissa said.
She got cut off by some evil laughter that was too familiar to me. It was Shad. He teleported into the room. He slowly approached us.
"Welcome heroines." Shad said lowly.
We all growled. I tried to use my ice magic but Shad used his telekinesis to hold me in a strong grip.
"I'm not allowing that." Shad said.
A red light glows from his hand and it zaps me and Lucinda. A symbol appears on my hand that represents a staff that's under a no entry sign. The same symbol appeared on Lucinda's hand. That's when I realized that he used a spell to prevent me and Lucinda from using magic. I gasped in fear.
"NO!!!" Lucinda exclaimed.
Me and the gang all felt weak.
"That's more like it." Shad said.
He looked at Melissa, Kawaii~Chan, Kim, and Maria.
"I have no use for the four of you. Yet." He said.
Maria, Kim, Kawaii~Chan, and Melissa looked up to Shad in fear. Ein, Gene, Laurence, and Zenix grabbed ahold of them and looked at Shad.
"Take them to the torture chamber." Shad demanded.
My eyes widened with fear.
"NOO!!! MARIA!!" I exclaimed.
"OH NO!! MELISSA!! KAWAII~CHAN!" Lucinda said fearfully.
"KIM!!!!" Aphmau exclaimed.
We could only hear the screams of our friends getting weaker as Ein, Gene, Laurence, and Zenix dragged them away.
Aphmau whined. She tried to get free of her bindings but it wasn't any use. Shad walked up to her and he took a knee. Aphmau got scared.
"Ah.... Irene.... I hope you'll enjoy your stay here." Shad said.
He laughed. The Shadow Knights behind us grabbed ahold of us and the looked at Shad.
"Take them to the dungeons." Shad commanded.
The Shadow Knights dragged us away from Shad. I was now more scared than ever. We got to the dungeons and the Shadow Knights threw us into our own cells. They locked us in. Lucinda was across from me and Aphmau was next to me.
I felt so hopeless and helpless. All we can do now is just sit and wait for everyone else on the other side to come. I just hope they've all got a plan.
~~10 Hours Later...~~
It's now 7 at night. 10 hours since we've gotten captured at 9 o'clock this morning. Melissa, Maria, Kawaii~Chan, and Kim still haven't came back from the torture chamber and I'm worried that something terrible must've happened to them. But they've only been feeding us water and chicken.
Lucinda looked sad. She must be worried about Melissa. I see Aphmau and she's softly crying. I bet she misses Aaron badly.
We heard footsteps. It was Shad. He walked over to Aphmau's cell and unlocked it. He held her in some sort of grip and walked off. That's when a Shadow Knight unlocked my cell, got me in his grip, and we walked off to follow Shad.
We went to the hall where the giant window was at. I was just 8 feet away from Aphmau. The Shadow Knight still had me in his grip and Aphmau was struggling to get out of Shad's grip.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!?!" Aphmau yelled.
"Surely you'd know Irene." Said Shad.
He released her from his grasp but Shadow Knights guarded the door, blocking it. That way we couldn't escape.
"The other shards to my relic." Shad said.
That made me realize that Aaron has the other shards to Shad's relic.
"Call your lover and make him give them to me." Shad demanded.
Aphmau growled.
"You want me to give you the ONE thing that would let you take over the Overworld for good??" Aphmau asked.
She then looked away.
"Ohh... don't do it Alpha!" I thought.
"Hmm.. wow. Lemme think about it. Uhhh, NO!" Aphmau said as she turned back around at Shad.
"Irene, I am not asking you..." Shad said.
He walked closer to Aphmau and stopped just an inch in front of her.
"I am ORDERING YOU!!" He shouts at her and raises his fist.
This made her flinch and raise an arm to shield herself. She stopped flinching and growled at Shad, giving him a stubborn look.
"Now, we can do this the easy way or—" Shad says but he gets cut off.
"NEVER!" Aphmau shouted.
Silence was in the air for a sec.
"The hard way then." Said Shad.
He walked off and I growled. He makes a small ball of white light from mid air.
"Observe: The place you've lived for most of your life." Shad said.
Aphmau walks closer to it. The ball of light projects images of the past. Images of Aphmau and Aaron at A-Con, images of them at Love~Love Paradise, images of them when they first moved into Lovers Lane, and Images of them at Starlight Wonderland.
"Why do you care so much about the Overworld, when THAT is your true home?" Shad asked her.
Aphmau begins to hesitate, looks down, and closes her eyes.
"Look how wonderful you've had it." Said Shad.
Aphmau breathes heavily and stops hesitating.
"I'm. Not. Giving you ANYTHING!!!" Aphmau yelled as she looked back up at Shad.
"But you haven't heard my offer yet." Said Shad.
He walks up to her.
"Make him give me the shards, and I will allow you to return to your dimension and live out your life in peace." Said Shad.
She looked at the orb.
"I'll even throw in a bonus." Shad said.
He touched the orb and now it shows an image of the gang all sorting out a plan back in Phoenix Drop. I gasped as I saw what was being shown in he orb.
"I'll allow your friends to go back with you." Said Shad.
Aphmau gaped at the image but looked at Shad with anger.
"You're lying." Said Aphmau.
"And your making this more HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE!!!" Shad yelled.
I heard Melissa's screams down the halls. Me and Aphmau gasped.
"Now, I'm going to ask you again Irene." Said Shad putting his hands up and making fists.
I could only imagine what's going on in the torture chamber right now.
"GIVE, me the shards, or your precious friends in the torture chamber will become nothing but mindless slaves." Shad said.
His puts his hands to down. This only made Aphmau cry harder than ever.
"I'll give you some time to think it over. 48 hours from now, you'll make up your mind, Irene." Shad said.
The Shadow Knight behind me forced me to walk even though he had me in his grip. He got Aphmau in his grip and he looked at Shad.
"Take Irene and the useless wolf back to their prisons." Shad commanded.
Aphmau continued to cry as we walked off and we got thrown back into our prisons. We're prisoners of Shad. But sweet Irene, I hope Melissa is alright...