Prince of Porcelain

Chapter 5: Enchanted

I woke up back in my prison on the rickety bed. Every single part of my body either ached, burned, or just plain hurt. I couldn't move any part of my body without a throbbing pain shooting through me. Only barely lifting my head, I looked down at my body and froze.
My shirt was now completely off, revealing my pale, injured torso. Large, red slash marks were printed onto me, showing where Marcus had whipped me. New and unknown bruises were scattered across my body, also probably from Marcus. My pants were a little torn on my hips, and my arms were heavily bruised, too.
I turned my head lightly to see that my shirt was on the floor near my bed, torn and ripped. With all the strength I could, a shooting pain coursing through me, and a scream of agony, I grabbed my torn top off the floor and held it to my chest. I also noticed that my cape was almost ripped to shreds on the floor as well.
   Then I heard some one speak, sounding almost identical to me yet echoing, although no one was around me. You're weak, it said. Marcus can help you. Obey him and you will be alright. He is your master.
   The voice was in my head. Maybe Marcus did this to me. "No!" I screamed. "Stop!" My real voice came out extremely weak and cracked horribly. Give in to Marcus. He will heal you. Tears fell from my tired eyes as I tried to scream for it to stop.
   I couldn't scream anymore because my lungs were too tired. My voice couldn't take it. I curled up, clutching my head in pain, and cried. Every cry, gasp, and breath hurt viciously.
   After a few minutes of hearing this awful voice in my head, someone burst through my prison door. Joshua. He looked at my pitiful and broken state, frozen. "H-h-help... m-me... p-please," I sobbed. "H-h-help..."
   Joshua rushed to me as I continued to cry. His strong arms held me up in his lap and I winced at his touch. "Is this from Marcus?" he asked gently. I nodded, laying my head on his shoulder, too weak to hold it up.
   I felt different around this man. I felt genuine emotions, quite rare for me mostly. I can tell he actually cares, because I can feel it.
   Joshua bit his lip, as if trying to think of a solution for my sadness. He then pulled his mouth into a small smile and laid me down on the bed. "Let me get something for you," Joshua said as he stood up and walked to the table across the room.
   Although I mostly trusted the real Joshua, but I'm not sure if I can trust anyone anymore. Joshua returned to me with a small, wide, cylinder-like object with a clear orb at the top. With the object in his fingers, he gently grasped my wrist and pulled it towards him. As he was about to place the object in the palm of my hand, he stopped, probably because of the unsureness and fear in my eyes.
   "W-w-what a-are y-you going t-to d-do t-t-to m-me?" I was able to choke out of my lungs. "It won't hurt. You'll be ok," Joshua said, resting the foreign metal object in the palm of my hand. "You may like it."
   The man pressed on the orb on the object and said, "Just hold your hand here." He held the top of my hand with my palm facing upward. Suddenly, the orb glowed an aqua blue and illuminated the veins from within my hand. Then, the glow faded, leaving Joshua and I in the dark room.
   My mouth was open in awe and shock as I tried to find words to ask what just happened to me. Joshua calmed me and said, "It's ok. Nothing happened. The Visiream just scanned you."
   "W-what i-is t-that?" I stammer, voice still very weak. "It shows your... good thoughts," Joshua said, grinning. "And makes them visible." Then, the orb opened and something magical happened.
   Streams and strings of aqua blue light flowed out of the Visiream. They flew into the air and turned and twisted into different shapes, beginning to form something.
   The final product was a beautiful bird, with flowing, graceful wings and feathers. Its eyes were thin and also blue, and talons were sharp under its body. Then, the bird began to fly. It swooped down and did all kinds of tricks, flipping and spreading its large, hypnotizing wings.
   I was utterly enchanted by this creation, unable to fathom how this was possible. I looked to Joshua, and he was simply smiling at my reaction to this visual wonder.
   Suddenly, the light bird twirled in the air and began to change. Its colors faded from blue to the color of fire; red, orange, and yellow with blue at the tips. As the bird spread its large wings, sparks of lights flew from its feathers.
   A phoenix. These were creatures of children's stories and mythical legends. The story of the phoenix was my favorite as a young boy. I used to sketch pictures of the fantastic beast and pretend to be the man that saved the bird from a steel cage.
   The phoenix landed on the side of my bed, only about a door away from my face. I didn't dare move, not wanting to disturb this creature of light. As a child, I had longed to touch the bird of fire, but I knew I'd get burned doing so.
   "You can touch it if you want," Joshua said, smiling at me. "R-really?" I said, not believing what he just said. Joshua nodded as I turned back to the light phoenix. It remained next to me on the bed, turning its head in curiosity at me.
   With the strength I had left, I reached out to the bird and ran my hand over its feathers of light. They felt smooth and comforting, as though they were real. The bird's body felt warm, probably caused by the light. Sadly, this was only an illusion, but I didn't care.
   Then, the phoenix shook my hand off of it and let out a cry of what I thought was freedom. It swooped off of the bedside and stopped suddenly in mid-air. The smile faded from my face as the bird began to change shape. The bright, flame colors faded into blood red and sky blue. Two figures formed from the light, one of blue, and one of red.
Oddly, I knew immediately that I was the blue figure, on the ground and cowering in fear. I knew, Marcus was the red figure, with a blood red whip in hand. It cracked the light whip on the blue figure, a bright flash of purple light almost blinding my tired eyes.
Once the light faded, a violet scar was left on the blue figure's back. Then, the red figure turned into a mass of red smoke and enclosed the blue figure in itself. The blue figure let out a heart-shattering shriek as purple smoke dissolved in the air and back into the Visiream.
I hadn't realized that my hand holding the Visiream was trembling horribly. Now I finally felt the tears welling in my eyes. Did Joshua lie to me?
I turned to him, and he was in just as much shock as I was. Joshua quickly took the Visiream from my hand and I thought I saw tears in his eyes. "I... I'm sorry... I...," he stuttered, shaking slightly. "I didn't know this thing showed... bad thoughts." He's telling the truth. I can feel it.
A tear falling down my cheek, I said, "I guess I have more bad thoughts than good thoughts nowadays." I put a fake smile on my face, as if I was back home with my father and his courtiers.
Joshua wasn't fooled, though. He stared at me with sad and pitiful eyes as he held my hand. Although no cuts or bruises were there, I still felt pain. "I will do everything in my power to keep Marcus away from you," Joshua said. "You don't deserve to be here just because of a grudge."
"What grudge?" I asked, confused. As Joshua opened his mouth to answer, his face faded into an emotionless mask yet again. "No, no, Joshua," I pleaded, trying to reach the people that were controlling him. "Please, don't leave me, please."
The mind-controlled man simply went to the door and was about to leave and lock it. Before he did, I quickly sat up, wanting to run to him, but a sharp, shooting pain hit my body. I groaned as I laid back down and Joshua locked the door.
Saddened by Joshua's farewell, I decided to sleep, feeling extremely tired and in pain. My eyelids closed over my eyes, and I almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.