God. His head was pounding. He pushed himself to his hands and knees with a dry groan. Water. He needed water. He had never been so thirsty before in his life. Also his hair was loose, which irritated him. He gave a cough into his fist and crawled across the filthy ground, one leg not supporting him, dragging behind uselessly. He felt dizzy. There was a tap thing in the corner. He clamped his lips around the tap and drank greedily before he heard a shift in the darkness. He drank a little longer before breaking away and wiping his mouth, trying to peer through the darkness. His eye stung. One of his contacts was out of place. He turned away from whoever was out there and tried to fix it. Very few knew he was visually impaired. Not even Jayden did. Another thing Jayden didn't know was that Mortis still believed in the tooth fairy. That fairy would never come visit him in here. Once the contact was in place, he turned round and found himself face-to-face with someone oddly familiar and with very bad breath.
"Richard..." He mumbled, frowning. He was shirtless and shivering, bordering on hypothermic. His hair was longer and unkempt, he had lost a lot of weight. He reached out a shaking hand and touched Mortis' face.
"Mort..."
"You look sick..."
"Probably am..."
He shook his head and squirmed over to the bars. His leg was agony. Definitely dislocated. He clung onto the bars and took a breather, coughing a little. The tooth was gone from his throat, but it still felt funny. He didn't notice Ricky come any closer but felt him shift his bad leg. He let out a cry of pain. "Ricky, please!"
"Dislocated hip..." He muttered, continuing to twist the leg in his grip. "Normally people have painkillers when they get bones relocated."
"I...can see...why..."
Neither of them spoke while Ricky worked. Mortis broke the silence with his shouts. He was sure people were staring, but he really didn't care. He was in pain, and the more Ricky messed with his leg and hip, the worse it got. "Mortis, the least I can tell you is you won't be able to walk properly for a while." He shifted away with a sigh and Mort just lay there, groaning. "How're your eyes?" Ricky was the only one who knew about the impairment as far as he knew. "Look, I'm sorry I couldn't sedate you for that...I really am..."
He shook his head. "I hate you so much, Sloth..."
"Would you like a tissue? You're crying."
"What the hell do you expect?"
"I expected a hell of a lot more screaming." He replied honestly with a shrug. God, he was shivering. It was almost pitiful to watch. Mortis pushed away from the bars and gave him a hug.
"Thanks, Ricky..."
"You have any more injuries?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Of course I do. You're so cold..."
"Bloody Australian Garnet nicked my coat...and then I actually got mugged, can you believe it?"
"Bad luck for you."
Richard pushed him off. "What happened to you?"
"Serpine's daughter...Gar's old girlfriend." He shuddered. "Caught me unawares. Was distracted by Jayden."
Sloth shook his head, with a smirk. "Thought you'd be brought down someday. You're lucky I'm always there to help you out."
Mort smirked, patting his side. "Yeah, thanks for the liver."
"You're welcome. Feel sorry for the poor blighter we nicked it off of, though."
"I don't." He brought his good leg up to his chest, wincing slightly. His hip still hurt like hell. "How long have you been here?"
"Three months, maybe?"
"Oh..." He looked around, brushing his hair out of his face. "We have to get out of here..."
"I know that..."
"You need to see the light, Ricky. You're dying here. You're freezing to death..."
"Moderate Hypothermia, Mort, I know." He shrugged, still shivering. "Not to sound creepy, but you're warm, can you hug me again? It'll help..."
The murderous Necromancer just gave him a look, but finally opened his arms out. "As much as I don't exactly like you, I'm not letting you die. Especially since you just fixed my leg."
"Thanks, man...thought I was doomed when the hypothermia set in..."
"Hell no. You're not getting felled by cold." He heard the sound of feet on the cold, hard floor and couldn't suppress a shudder. He had to admit, he had never been in the prisoner's shoes, and it actually scared him. He tightened his hold on Ricky, which unfortunately had the healer picking up on his fear.
"Mort, don't worry..."
The footsteps stopped at their cell and it was unlocked. "Ricky..." He whimpered.
"What do you mean you won't help?" Jayden yelled, outraged. Franz ignored him and Ursa flipped him off. They both went inside and suddenly the Child of the Spider felt completely hopeless. Who actually liked Mortis? Well, there was Garnet, who was dead, and Ricky, who was sort of untraceable...perhaps the sanctuary could help, but realistically, Jayden had no clue what they wanted with his lover for. He sat down and tried to think, jumping when the front door opened, almost hitting him in the face. There stood Millie Firestone, the clairaudient girl.
"Thought I heard your voice...your friend wants to have a word with you."
Jay arched an eyebrow. "Garnet?"
"Yeah, him."
He crossed his arms and Millie gave a grunt, making a face like she was in pain. Her voice changed and her accent deepened. "Woah..." She muttered, her voice now that of a man. "Am I actually in control of this thing? Oh, Jayden! Hey!"
Jayden made a face. "Garnet?"
"Uh, yeah...this is confusing...where's Mort?"
"B-J got him..."
Millie, or Garnet, frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Her and some fat guy kidnapped him. I think Maleficent's changed sides."
"Bullshit, man." Garnet snapped. The voice wasn't even coming from Firestone's throat. It was coming from her amulet. The body just spoke along. He could hear Millie's voice very faintly beneath.
"Dude, he was screaming. They beat him up. He did not go quietly. I don't even know if they took him to Mevolent's stinky castle or what."
-----
Austin liked the room he was given. He had a sneaking suspicion it was Belle's room, and sometimes got a little disturbed by the idea of his dead sister. Even so, it was comfy, the colour scheme was nice, and there was this one night. It was dark, the heating was on full blast and Austin couldn't sleep. He was sat upright, playing with the flintlock pistol. His curtains were drawn, he wore only his underwear, but had a pink blanket tied round his neck like he was wearing a cape. He let out a slight gasp when someone knocked at his door. The door opened and there stood Daemon. "Are you awake?"
"Well, I'm sitting up..."
She came over and sat beside him in the darkness. "Look, it's about-"
"The kiss? You claiming to be my girlfriend?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Don't worry, I get it, it meant nothing."
"No, Ozzy, listen. There was this awful moment when I thought I was going to lose you. You had septicaemia...you were dying and I just thought I'd been nasty to you our whole time being around each other..."
"Don't." He said firmly.
"And I had to admit, you've got a lot going for you, you're a wonderful person, and really hot..."
He laughed. "That's what you think, is it?"
"It might well be."
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I'm worried this could be seen as my rebound."
"You've had plenty of time to get over Katharine."
"True..."
"And besides, it's not like I told you to sleep with me."
"I'm sort-of beginning to wish you had..."
-----
Mortis sat calmly on the chair and let them strap him in. Inside he was having a slight panic. Even so, half that panic wasn't for his own wellbeing. He was so stupid. How could he have even let himself get beaten? Beside him, another man was strapped to a chair, shouting furiously in Czech. He was struggling against his bonds, whereas Mortis just sat there calmly. "Vrestreni, isn't it?"
The Czech elder stopped shouting and stared at him. "Do I know you?"
"I killed Dexter Vex."
"Oh...I think I recognise you now..."
He chuckled. "I think B-J hates me...I could go for a B-J"
"Didn't need to know that."
The door swung open and a skinny, pathetic redhead stumbled in. B-J and Ass Bandit followed behind and the men tied to the chairs shut up. A-B had chocolate in his hand. The only one without some kind of weapon. He felt a shudder go down his back as Maleficent and the redhead approached, and almost instinctively bared his teeth in a snarl. Anxiety was twisting his chest, but at least outwardly he seemed unfazed, furious and fearsome. A smirk curled on the woman's face.
"Bet you're both wondering what I want with you." She began innocently. Judging by her tone of voice, she had finally lost her sanity.
"Pretty much. Also who would win in a fight between you and the tooth fairy."
She gave him an odd look. "Right..." She took out a large pot and placed it below Mortis' wrist. Another shudder coursed through him and she took out a knife. It was his knife. Wilbur. She held the blade to his wrist and made a deep cut, drawing it out and wiggling the blade, doing her best to cause the pain that forced a moan from his throat. Rasputin jerked away, trying to break his bonds. Mort was sure the crazy girl had cut all the way to his bone and watched in dismay as his blood leaked down into the pot. She moved to the Czech ex-elder and clamped her lips over his.
"Listen, Ras, they want you dead, but I can offer you a path out. It won't be pleasant, but it will be worth it in the long run."
"And that man?"
"He's a murderer, has killed millions, a psychopath. He deserves it."
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