'Ruby!'
When she heard that ever so familiar voice, Ruby's eyes - eye, actually - nearly filled with tears. She rushed forwards to meet her friends, forgetting all about Dyrroth, who was waiting behind her awkwardly.
Ruby was hit by a wave of recognition and relief when she saw Kagura's concerned face. Her unusually disheveled white hair had streaks of grime in it. Before they'd been kidnapped, Ruby would never, ever have seen Kagura in a state of such disarray. It simply wasn't like her.
In the next cage, Harley was blinking slowly as if in a daze. 'Ruby, is that really-'
'Who else could it be, you dummy?' Ruby blurted, still overcome by emotion.
'We missed you,' said Kagura in a small voice, extending her hand out of her cage. Ruby took it without a second's hesitation. 'I was so worried about you, Ruby. I kept thinking they would hurt you, and I wouldn't be there to help.'
Ruby shook her head. 'It's fine, Kagura. I had help.'
Her friend lifted an inquisitive eyebrow elegantly. 'From...?' For a moment, her pale blue eyes flickered towards Dyrroth. Ruby was glad to see that those eyes hadn't lost their lively gleam.
'Yeah, from me,' answered Dyrroth, before Ruby could. She turned away from her friends just enough to shoot him a look.
'Ah,' said Kagura. Ruby couldn't really tell what it was in her voice. Dismissal? 'I knew it.'
'For God's sake, Ruby, just marry him already,' muttered a voice from beside Kagura. Ruby almost jumped. She'd forgotten all about Harley. The amber-haired magician was curled up in his cell again, his back turned to the rest of the people in the room.
Ruby only registered what Harley had said after several seconds. 'Uh, excuse me, what did you say?' she asked belatedly, flushing.
Harley cocked his head to one side, appraising her slyly. There was a smirk on his face. 'Nothing,' he replied sweetly.
Ruby gritted her teeth. Damn you, Harley. She'd forgotten how much the young boy got on her nerves. 'You know, my life was more peaceful without you.'
'Don't worry, it's mutual,' he said.
Behind her, Dyrroth let out a scoff. 'How many boys do you talk to in one day?' he said scornfully.
With exaggerated slowness, Ruby rotated to face him, her face blank. 'No, I should be asking you, why are you getting jealous of a six-year-old?'
From the corner of her eye, she saw Harley freeze. 'Six-year-old?' he echoed. The look on his face practically screamed that he was about to give Ruby the most gruesome death ever.
Dyrroth stared from Ruby to Harley intently. 'He doesn't look six years old,' he said.
Right at that moment, Kagura decided to end their bickering. 'Okay, shut up everyone ,' she ordered. She looked at Ruby. 'So...Dyrroth let you come here?'
Kagura's nearly imperceptible pause before she voiced the word Dyrroth was not lost on Ruby, but she didn't comment on it. Again, before she could respond, Dyrroth answered a little impatiently, 'Who else?'
The white-haired girl's eyebrows lifted again, but thankfully she didn't say anything. The last thing Ruby wanted to do was listen to her two friends fight.
She got a sudden idea. 'Hey, Dyrroth, is it okay if you just leave the room for a short while?' she asked. 'There's...stuff I wanna talk about with my friends.'
The prince sniffed, wrinkling his nose in reluctance. 'Ah, fine,' he sighed. 'You're aware that I can't really stand outside the room without getting caught, right?'
Ruby smirked. 'Just think of something. Now get out.' She leaped to her feet so she could grab Dyrroth by the shoulders, nearly impaling her hands, and steer him out of the room. He let out an incoherent groan but didn't fight her.
Once she'd dealt with that, she re-entered the room and crouched down in front of her friends, who were gazing at her expectantly.
'So, um,' she began in a low voice, in case Dyrroth could overhear her, 'I've got some bad news.'
'Dyrroth has a girlfriend?' asked Harley, his green eyes wide and innocent.
Ruby nearly choked. She was so close to choking, in fact, that she doubled over for several seconds. Undignified, she cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure. 'Uh, no?' she coughed, blushing. Why, oh why did she have to be one of the unlucky people whose cheeks had a habit of expressing the individual's embarrassment as loudly as they could?
Harley had his signature smirk plastered across his face. Gotcha, he seemed to be thinking.
Just then, Kagura rolled her eyes. 'Get on with it, Ruby.'
Fine. She had a point. Ruby cleared her throat once more, taking a deep breath, and said, 'The Abyssal Demons are going to storm the Moniyan Empire again.'
Sheer disbelief, and a hint of worry, flickered across Kagura's face. 'What?' she said, sounding dubious. 'Are they crazy?'
There was something dangerously close to genuine fear in Harley's face that scared Ruby a little. 'But why?' he asked, sounding desperate.
Ruby knew he was worried about Harith. 'They're ashamed that they were defeated the last time they invaded the empire. So they're going to initiate another war, and this time they'll be more prepared than before,' she explained, not really knowing whether half of the things she was saying were actually true.
They were all quiet for a moment, immersed in their own thoughts. Then, abruptly, Kagura broke the silence. 'We need to get out of here,' she announced with dead seriousness. There was a coldness in her voice that Ruby was somewhat relieved to hear. It meant Kagura hadn't lost her strictness although they were stuck in a sticky situation. 'To warn the Lightborn Squad. If the demons are really taking it seriously this time, the Moniyan Empire might not be able to hold out for a second time.'
'But how do we escape?' Harley wondered aloud.
Escaping from the Abyss - somehow - had crossed Ruby's mind before, but she hadn't thought it possible. Now that she was reunited with her friends, she thought otherwise. What was there that she couldn't do if she had Kagura and Harley with her? All they had to do was overcome their challenges together. Ruby wondered why she hadn't thought of that before.
'I think a distraction would do just fine,' said Ruby, gnawing absently at her nails. 'We don't have the power to create one at the moment, of course, but I've heard that they're planning to invade the smaller, less dominant lands to recruit more troops. That's what they did with my village - though, you know, they sort of just massacred everyone.' Ruby swallowed and forced herself to continue. 'Maybe when they're invading a land that's bigger, more powerful, they'll have to use more of their demons and we'll have less obstacles in our way when we try to escape.'
Kagura's brow creased as she thought hard. 'Yeah, that'll work,' she said slowly. 'Do you think you can try to find out stuff from Dyrroth? Or any demons that enter your cell? You seem to be having much more company than us.'
That was sort of true. Unwanted company, though. 'I'll try,' Ruby answered uncertainly.
'Whose idea was it to storm the land again? Dyrroth's?' questioned Kagura suddenly in a calm voice.
Ruby was slightly surprised by the unexpected question. She shook her head. 'It was him who made the final decision, of course, but the original idea came from the demons. Dyrroth was only doing what he was supposed to do and serving his people.'
Ruby nearly cursed aloud when she saw Harley smirking surreptitiously again. 'Defending your prince, huh?' he sneered.
She gritted her teeth and forced herself to calm her nerves. Ignore him. Ignore the insufferable little shit. He's just being annoying because he's agitated. And he was. She could tell he had been getting jittery listening to her and Kagura planning an escape. 'So, in conclusion, don't blame Dyrroth,' she continued, as if nothing had happened. 'He's a really good person, he didn't hurt me even once-'
'You're only saying that because you're in love with him!' Harley interrupted again, very deliberately.
Once more, Ruby inhaled deeply and counted to ten, doing anything she could to ignore him. 'What was I saying again? Oh yeah, you guys can trust Dyrroth no matter what. Just believe me.'
Kagura quirked an eyebrow in skepticism, very obviously unconvinced, but she didn't say anything.
For a minute, there was merely silence in the room. Then Ruby said suddenly, 'One last thing. Remember to act like you don't know about the oncoming war.'
'Why?' said Harley suspiciously.
Ruby remained silent for a while. And then, quietly, she said, 'I'm not supposed to tell you guys. By doing this, I'm betraying Dyrroth's trust. So...please don't tell him.'
What surprised her the most was Harley's responding snort of derision. 'Don't be an idiot, Ruby. We're not gonna tell him. After all, if we do, he probably won't like you anymore and I won't be able to see you two get married in the future.'
Ruby nearly choked to death for the second time today. Excuse me? What the fuck? her mind screamed. She'd been intending to say those words out loud, but strangely the connection between her brain and her mouth seemed to have been severed.
Kagura rolled her eyes, a grudging smile pulling at her lips. 'For God's sake, Harley, stop it already. Can't you see you're killing her?'
'Good,' responded Harley with a huge grin.
Ruby clenched her teeth so hard, she was sure they could practically hear her molars grinding. Take a deeeeep breath, Ruby. Count to twenty. Don't lose your shit over Harley.
Once she'd finally regained her composure, she pursed her lips and marched over to the door, pulling it open carelessly. 'Dyrroth?' she whispered loudly, poking her head out. 'You can come in.'
When her words were met with complete silence, she realised with a start there was no one in the corridor at all. Mild panic bubbled through her veins. 'Dyrroth?' she called again, a little nervously.
Several seconds later, Dyrroth turned up, and judging by the look on his face, he was just about to die of boredom. Dragging his feet on the ground, he grumbled moodily, 'What were you and your friends talking about for so long? I almost fell asleep.'
Ruby frowned. 'We didn't talk for that long,' she said indignantly.
He gave her a pointed stare, eyebrows raised. 'Well, yes, but really no.'
She drew in a breath through her teeth. Why did everyone seem to enjoy getting on her nerves today? 'For your information, we can go back now.'
He glanced idly in the direction of her friends. 'Oh. Yay.'
'Yay?' Ruby frowned. 'Why?'
The prince stared at her dubiously for a few seconds. Then he drawled, 'Um, in case you couldn't tell, I was sorta dying of boredom waiting for you guys to finish talking.'
Ruby rolled her eyes. She peeked into the dimly lit room. Kagura and Harley were talking in hushed voices. 'Guys?' she interrupted, getting their attention. 'We're gonna go now.'
Disappointment flickered across Kagura's face. 'Already? That's sad.' Her gaze briefly swept between Ruby and Dyrroth, stopping on the prince. 'Can I trust you with Ruby's safety?'
Ruby could've sworn the prince had rolled his eyes. 'Of course. Tell them how many times I've saved your life, Ruby.'
'Not even once.' She grinned sweetly.
He blinked. 'Pardon?'
Ruby suppressed a snicker and bounded down the corridor, hardly caring to be subtle. She hadn't felt lighter in days. Things seemed to be looking up, now that she knew her friends were doing fine. And that they were going to get out of here eventually.
Well, eventually. But they would.
---
'Dyrroth snuck the girl out again. To see her friends.'
Selena didn't really know how to feel anymore. She knew she'd seen Dyrroth set Ruby free with her very own eyes. All her jealousy and envy in the past had made her go numb, and now she couldn't comprehend what she was feeling. She couldn't even tell if she was hurting or not. A part of her was, but the other part ceased to care.
She wrapped her arms around herself stiffly, glancing at the purple-haired demon next to her. In the near-darkness with only a dim streak of moonlight illuminating her surroundings, Moskov's sharp facial features almost looked serene. Funny how moonlight always managed to give the situation a more romantic feel, even when Selena was feeling anything but romantic at the moment.
The demon didn't look at her. 'Again?' he asked, softly. 'He's got some nerve.'
Selena tucked several strands of pink hair behind her ear. There was an emptiness in her heart, a feeling of vacancy, that scared her. 'Indeed,' she responded, hating the hurt in her voice. 'He broke his own rules for that girl. A second time.'
For a while, they were both silent, absorbed in their own thoughts. Selena was just beginning to wonder if she should've come to Moskov in the first place when he said quietly, 'Does it bother you?'
She drew in a breath through her teeth. 'Yes. Yes, it does.'
Moskov almost looked sympathetic. Almost. It was highly unlike him. 'He doesn't deserve you, Selena,' he sighed, his voice nearly inaudible, as if the words were only his thoughts and not something he wanted to say aloud. 'Maybe you should just leave him be.'
Selena knew that, of course. But what the people around her didn't understand was how difficult it was to be in her shoes. To be in love with someone, while knowing deep down that there wasn't an ounce of love on the other side.
Her lip quivered. 'I'm trying, Moskov.'
Silence again. Eventually, it became too much to bear, with all her emotions welling up in her. So she asked, 'Do you get what he sees in the girl?'
'You're asking me?' Moskov sounded taken aback.
Selena allowed herself to roll her eyes at that. 'Duh, who else?'
Moskov lowered his gaze to the ground as he thought, crossing his arms. 'She's... kinda pretty, I guess. And feisty. The kind of girl you wouldn't wanna cross.'
Something in Selena turned sour. 'Well, that's funny, since I don't think she's all that pretty or intriguing. She seems perfectly ordinary to me,' she snapped.
Moskov didn't comment on her nastiness. He chose to ignore it instead, which sort of helped but sort of didn't either. 'Tell me,' Selena continued harshly, 'between me and her, who would you choose?'
The purple haired demon shot her a look of incredulity. 'What kind of question is that, Selena? Of course I'd choose you.'
That made her feel slightly reassured. Only slightly, but it was better than nothing anyway. 'You better mean it,' she muttered under her breath.
He shrugged. 'Why wouldn't I?' he asked, all but nonchalant.
Selena wondered if the warm feeling in her heart was gratitude. It wasn't a very familiar feeling. She let a fleeting smile cross her face for several seconds. Again, neither of them said anything for a minute or two. Then, abruptly, Moskov asked, 'What is it that you see in His Majesty, though?' His voice was without inflection, as if he didn't really care about getting an answer.
Selena bit her lip, unsure of how to respond. 'I guess...' she said uncertainly, 'Dyrroth's just a really...admirable person. He knows how to deal with things, or even people, that get in his way. And despite that you'd think he doesn't really care about what his people want, he does. That's the thing I like most about him.'
Moskov's face was impassive. 'Fine, you have a point,' he said grudgingly. However, when he jerked his head towards Selena, he was wearing a slightly judgmental look. 'But you're sorta forgetting he doesn't like you. Whoever doesn't like you is crazy. And they have insanely bad tatse.'
The demon girl's eyebrows shot up of their own accord. Her lips curved involuntarily into a lopsided smile. 'Is that a compliment or something?' she asked, jokingly nudging Moskov with her elbow.
He returned the smile, although a bit reluctantly, and Selena's heart gave an embarrassing flutter. 'Maybe, maybe not,' he answered cheerily.
His cheerfulness was so uncharacteristic and baffling that Selena merely blinked for several seconds. Since when did he ever smile? 'Man, I was just starting to think you were incapable of smiling. You're so old.'
Moskov looked affronted. 'Old? Me? Naaaah.'
Seeing Moskov openly offended was also new to Selena. Usually he was like a statue, cold and inscrutable. He never expressed any humour or anger. 'So, what are you going to do about Dyrroth and the girl? You're not gonna just let them do whatever they want, right?' asked Moskov with a knowing look.
When Selena let the tiniest of smiles creep across her face surreptitiously, he smirked in amusement. 'I knew it.' He leaned against the wall, looking at her expectantly. 'What're you planning this time?'
She was just about to answer when she realised she didn't know. Usually her response to a question like this would come instantly without her having to even think about it, but for once she was lost for words. After thinking for a while, she said, 'You know...maybe I will let Dyrroth go.'
The look that flickered across Moskov's face was almost that of astonishment. 'Seriously? What's wrong with you today, Selena?' he asked, gaping.
'I'm not finished, dummy,' drawled Selena, rolling her eyes. Dully she continued, 'I'll let him go...but not the girl.'
A sly smile played across his lips. 'Ah, now you're acting like yourself.' He folded his arms. 'Go on. What're you gonna do?'
A sudden idea crossed Selena's mind that made her perk up immediately. She could barely suppress the malicious grin on her face. It was a brilliant idea. 'Oh,' she said, letting out a small but sinister laugh, 'you'll know soon. Because I've only just realised-' she tilted her head to one side with a sickeningly sweet smile- 'There's still one very, very important thing Dyrroth's been keeping from her all this time. But don't worry. She's about to find out.'