Fallen Haven [Baneful] Book 1

Breaking Point

Nyx watched as the guards closed in, making her feel a bit uneasy. She never told anyone, but after being in a confined space for years, she easily became claustrophobic. The guards shoved her forward, wanting her to move. She glares at them, not appreciating being shoved, but moves forward anyway. She senses a familiar feeling with her scythe. The other weapon was in its wielder's hands, and she could sense it. She needs to act cooperatively for now and then make an escape, at least temporarily.

She promised Nicolette that she would see Ein again, even if it was only for five minutes, and she intended to keep that promise. Guessing by the faintness of the connection, Ein was nowhere nearby with the staff, and she would have to endure William's antics temporarily. She looks back at the guards, wondering just what kind of torture William would try on her. She hasn't been tortured in at least 2000 years, and technology has advanced alot since then. She walks through the city with the guards close behind her. People were suffering on the streets and starving or homeless.

The sight was sickening and reminded her of how royalty used to treat its citizens back in the day. As she's walking, she notices a child nearby holding a flower basket. Knowing what it meant, she sneaks a wallet from one of the guard's pockets and turns shadowlike, not allowing the guards to grab her. She approaches the child, picks up the money, and holds it out to them. "Go ahead and take it." the child hesitates for a moment, and she gives them a reassuring look. The child smiles and hands her the basket of flowers in exchange for the money.

Nyx watches as the child runs off with the money, and Nyx carries the basket of flowers with her, planting them in any fertile soil she can find to bring some color and life back to the city. The guards shove her occasionally when she stops to plant one of the flowers, which is starting to irritate her. She wondered if when Ein showed up in Moscow if he could lighten this place back up and bring it back to life. Being the descendant of life, he should be able to use the flowers she planted to grow more plant life and let it flourish just a little. Her scythes carvings show a hint of white, signaling that Ein was using the staff.

"I doubt he's gotten the hang out of it," she chuckles to herself. "That staff always did like to cause a bit of trouble for past descendants." She gets led into a building that smells of mildew and death. The smell made her nauseous, and she recognized it immediately as being similar to a medieval prison. As she walked by the cells, she noticed the people inside were dirty and starving, and most had nasty infections and even bugs eating away at them. She covers her mouth, holding back the urge to puke. She'd seen all kinds of torture over the years, but this was a bit much even for her.

"Nyx?" Nicolette says from within their mind. She can see everything Nyx sees, and it disturbs her.

"Don't look, Nicolette. This isn't a sight I want you to see." Nyx says.

"This is so awful... all those people and what grandpa is putting them through..." her tone was full of sorrow and sympathy.

"Do not consider that man your grandfather," Nyx says, and the guards look at each other, confused about who she's talking to.

"Right, I shouldn't, but he is still biologically related to me, so whether I like it or not, he is my father-" their body starts to feel weird, and suddenly Nicolette finds herself taking Nyx's place. "Nyx!?" She couldn't hear her any longer and touches her neck, finding a weird wire-like collar on her neck. William is standing a few feet away from her. "What did you do!?"

"What? You thought i was going to torture Nyx? Nyx has been through torture before and won't break even if I torture her for months on end. You on the other hand are easy to manipulate and break. You're naive, and if you're anything like your mother, you have a low pain threshold." Nicolette was beginning to panic and tugged at the collar on her neck. "I wouldn't bother. I had Darren make it with both you and Nyx in mind. It works to subdue Nyx and make it so that even if she fights, she won't be able to do anything against it." He says with a smug look.