forum It's A Deal Then //Private with Chogiwae//Closed

Started April 07, 2020 by @gracehustle

tune

"I don't want to test the theory, but every other time two have been bound like this, it goes both ways. I die, you die. You die, I die." He said simply, stopping in front of the cell holding her brother and sighing, "Here's your brother, in all of his stubborn glory." Venali unlocked his cell door and stood casually to the side, waiting to see if she wanted to go in or not, "You have until dinner at the latest, but I'm really hoping you'll want to go back sooner than that. I don't want to stand here that long."

Her question about the Fae with the scythe popped back into his mind as he decided it was going to be a while and he thought it over. Why did she want to know about him? What was so important about that Fae? Venali wouldn't tell her anything, at least for now, but he did know who she was talking about. He was a Fae general, originally assigned to human shipments, but after the massacre she mentioned, he was promoted to general. Eldon had liked how merciless the Fae was.

Serena cursed under her breath at his statement. That meant she couldn’t kill him. So she really was bound to him, no matter what. But, she did it for Alec, so she’d bear it. She had to.

When he opened the door, Serena sneered at him, lifted her hands, and showed him her middle fingers.

“How incredibly sad,” she snarled as she stepped inside. “Be a good dog and wait patiently, hm?”

Just as she stepped inside, she was tackled in a hug. Smell of unwashed skin and hair reached her nose and she scrunched it, knowing she probably smelled just as dirty as that. Still, she sighed and patted her brother on the back.

“Raina! You’re okay,” Alec breathed as he pulled away, looking at her with big, wide eyes. “That asshole dragged me over to this cell, and wouldn’t tell me if you were all right.”

“I’m fine,” Serena said, eyes darting around the cell. It was the same as hers, so she looked satisfied. He didn’t seem injured, which was good, too, but quite surprising. “I’ll get us out of here, so don’t worry.”

Alec looked as if he was contemplating saying something, then he turned, ran back to the bed, and returned with her knife. Serena’s taut muscles relaxed considerably the second the knife was back in her hands.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, squeezing her bound wrist. “You’re the strongest woman I know, and I’m your brother. I’ll be fine.”

After a while, Serena hugged Alec again, holding him tightly, letting out emotions she’d once masked. She kissed the top of his head, then pressed the knife back in his hands, her own shaky. She might never see him again.

“You’ll need it more than I do,” was all she said. When she was done, she squeezed his hands, inhaled deeply, sealed her emotions, and turned back to Venali.

“We’re done,” she said sharply. “Take me back, and then fill me in about the tournament.”

"This asshole can hear you," Venali said, "Loud and clear you bastard." He wasn't a fan of Raina's brother, to put it lightly. He went silent as they talked and caught up with each other, busying himself with tracing the lines and patterns covering his right arm.

"Are you trying to boss me around?" He asked, flicking his eyebrow up as he looked down at her, "I can guarantee you that I will do no such thing if you don't ask nicely. No bossing me around." Venali opened the door again and grabbed the chain between her cuffs, closing the door behind her and locking it. That was as far as he got though, watching her with a look that said he was waiting for her to ask nicely. At least if she could not try to tell him what to do, he could settle with that.

(He said it so you could hear, Venali 🤣)

Serena sneered, contemplating wrapping the chain around his finger and twisting it.

So that’s exactly what she did when he hooked his finger around the chain. She crossed her wrists, wrapped the chain around his finger, and tightened it all the while glaring at him.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” she said sweetly, knowing he would most likely attack her for that. “Your funeral alongside mine, bastard.”

He grit his teeth as she wrapped the chain tightly around his finger, grabbing onto one of her wrists immediately, making sure it was hard enough that eventually, she would have to relent. Venali flicked up an effortless mask to hide the pain in the meantime though, rolling his eyes, "No, your brother is the bastard, I'm the asshole. Thought we had this figured out." He was trying very hard right now not to smack her, or grab her marked shoulder. That would make her think twice. He knew the pain from experience and told himself it was only to be used as a last resort.

"Don't forget your brother dies if I die, girl. Make sure I have daisies at my funeral, I'll make both of yours look pretty as well." He growled, not letting go of her wrist as he started back down the hall.

Serena let go of his finger, the expression on her face shifting to a simple look of hatred. She knew under normal circumstances, he would have killed her. Then Alec. She couldn’t lose Alec. To protect him, she needed to swallow her pride.

“He’s the only family I have left,” she ground out quietly, trying not to trip as he practically dragged her back to her cell. “So please, Venali. What is your uncle planning for the tournament?”

"Now you try to be nice? Really?" Venali scoffed, glaring at her, "It takes me losing my temper and threatening your brother to get you to actually do something other than jab insults at me?" He stopped in front of her cell, opening the door and keeping it to just gently pushing her past the door. His eyes didn't flick up as he turned her around and took off the cuffs, stepping outside in one fluid motion. The door closed behind him and he watched her through the bars, "Three days is when your first competition takes place. If you manage not to piss me off when I bring your dinner, I'll tell you more."

He turned on his heel and walked away as soon as the words left his mouth, the cuffs held tightly in his hand. The only reason he had to help her was because they were bound together, he repeated the words over and over in his head as he walked to his room on the top floor of the castle.

From the little time she’d known him, Serena hadn’t seem him act like this. He wasn’t this rough or—Serena shook her head. She was getting over her head. Venali was a Fae. He was a sick asshole who deserved to die, but couldn’t because it meant her death, too. His kind deserved to perish for what it did to hers.

But he was refusing to look at her, and she couldn’t being herself to speak, either. She just let him unlock the cuffs, walk out the door, shut it behind himself, and leave. Serena sighed and dragged her heavy feet to the bed and sat down, burying her face in her hands.

Three days. Her first challenge was in three days. She had to pass, otherwise… she didn’t want to think about the otherwise. She could do this, though. She wasn’t as weak as the humans thought she was.

So she ate lunch, emptied her bladder, and exercised her muscles.

Three days. She’d show them.

Venali was back a few hours later, looking much calmer as he carried three plates of food. He had lost his temper earlier, and even if she was human, he didn't think anyone deserved to see that side of him. "Bring this to Alaric, and have one of the servants get him to a bath as well as get him a clean change of clothes after he eats," He said, his voice calm but holding an air of power that made the guard he was talking to nod.

"Dinner is here." The words were simple and straight to the point as Venali opened her door and set the food inside. He made sure to shut it before sitting outside her door, holding his own plate in his lap as he looked into her cell, "Are you willing to talk to me, without the insults?"

Serena had been laying on the bed on her side after a bit of muscle training, tired. Her eyes were closed, but she couldn’t really get the peace she desired. Because she was in a Fae facility, every time she closed her eyes, she heard the restless screams of her family. Them screaming at the Fae to stop. The Fae not stopping until their screams had died down.

And then left their bodies for little Serena to find. Right before the images flashed in her mind, the door opened. Her bubble flashed and her breathing returned to normal. She pushed herself into a sitting position just in time for Venali’s voice to reach her ears.

“That depends on whether you deserve them or not,” she said, but her voice was quiet. “But sure.”

"I know I deserve the insults, but pissing off the only Fae in this building that wants to help you is probably not a good idea," Venali said, rolling his eyes and digging into his food. It was the same as hers, chicken and rice covered in some sort of sauce and a heaping serving of veggies. "Do you want me to explain this competition now? Or after we're done eating?"

This was one of the few meals Venali actually liked, and one of the only perks of being royalty..besides knowing what was going to happen in the tournaments that is.

“You only want to help me because my life is tied with yours,” Serena said quietly, eyeing the spoon held awkwardly in her hand. She’d tried eating with it once, the first time she ate here, and had ended up with curry on her already too-dirty cargo pants. So she tossed it to the bed, tore up the chicken with her hands, and ate the rice with her hands.

She opened her mouth to eat when something… green… caught her eye. It was a tiny green ball? She’d never had that before. But carrots, she once stole carrots from a group of humans, and also raided an unlucky Fae’s storehouse. She’d seen potatoes, too, and had lettuce when she and Alec were with other humans first. Before they went rogue. Serena quickly stuffed the rice and chicken in her mouth, licked her fingers clean, and then held one ball in between her index finger and her thumb.

“What is… what is this?” she asked in between her bite, slowly squeezing it and widening her eyes when it squashed under the slightest of strength. It was so soft. “This little green thing, what is it?”

Venali watched her with a look of both confusion and amazement. The way she tossed the spoon to the side meant that she had probably never used silverware. He would have to teach her how to use them sometime, if she survived the first competition that was. That thought made him snap out of his calm manner slightly, but he pushed it away, focusing on his food.

While Raina took the route of just using her hands, Venali ate with his silverware. He had been raised royalty after all and having manners when around other people had been engraved into his mind. "It's a pea, a type of vegetable," He said, a tiny hint of a smile flicking onto his face at her curiosity, "Try it. I think they're really good." The remainder of his food was polished off in a matter of moments, his plate set down at his side. As much as he didn't want to talk about more pressing and serious issues, they had to. It was Raina's only chance at an edge in a competiton.

Serena slowly put the pea in her mouth and bit down on it, chewing softly. He was right. They were good. How much had she never tried? How many foods were there that she didn’t know about? How much had the Faeries stolen from them, really? The thought made the sweet-tasting vegetable bitter in her mouth.

She began to eat, careful to avoid making a mess, and then washed her hands from the water in the bucket.

“Okay, explain it to me,” she finally said, her voice back to being detached. “How many trials? What do I have to do?”

"For now it sounds like four, but knowing Eldon, that could change at any moment," Venali started, messing with the hem of his cream-colored shirt, "I came to get into specifics about this first trial." He glanced up and watched her through the door of her cell, opening his mouth to say something but decided not to before any sound came out. "This first trial is fairly basic, but that doesn't mean it's easy in any way. In this one, you're just trying to survive for the longest by whatever means necessary…do you want me to stop at that? I can get more specific otherwise."

Serena simply fumbled with her dirty shirt while he talked, feeling his eyes on her but not returning the eye-contact. She listened to him talk, her mind already thinking of certain scenarios until he stopped talking.

"No need," she said, running a hand through her hair and removing her headband. Truthfully, she'd never really known what she looked like. Her family used to describe her appearance for her, but they always made it sound like she was pretty, even when all she was, was a sack of bones and blood. She knew she had red hair and brown eyes, as well as slightly tanned skin, but that was it. She didn't feel sad about the realization, either. Looks were just looks. What mattered the most to her was survival.

She shook her head, snapping herself out of her thoughts when she realized she hadn't elaborated or said something to further the conversation. "Who's the hunter in the first trial? A Fae, or a monster?"

(The monster I'm thinking of having in the trial is a modified manticore of sort, I'll get specifics in my next response)

"No need."

Venali had just nodded at her words, slowly standing to leave since she didn't want any further explanation or detail. He stopped when he heard her next words though, his response short and sweet, "Monster. Thankfully only one too." Neither option was good, but at least monsters were released to hunt in the trials on their own accord. Fae in the arena were usually bribed on who to kill or were bound by deals to hunt only specific competitors. Monsters were something Venali could help with. He could find out more about them, how they hunted, what to look out for. Fae were unpredictable.

(All right!)

A monster, just as she thought. She didn't question her survival skills, and Venali claimed she could survive through any means necessary. A little, mocking smile covered her lips. No matter what monster it would be, Serena knew it would end up being her prey. She'd had her fair share of kills, and she was well-educated in traps.

"Okay," she hummed, fumbling with her headband in her hands. "Sounds good. Anything else, Venali?"

"I want to warn you Raina, don't hunt this monster during the trial. You won't survive." Venali said, resting against the door of her cell and sighing, "It's the only one of its kind, there's nothing similar that you could ever compare it to. It's a killing machine, it loves to make a game out of hunting down prey." He stopped there, remembering the last time his uncle had decided to let this monster loose. It had been a blood bath, only three survivors out of all the humans that had been competing.

Quickly he shook the memory out of his head, "I'll tell you more tomorrow." A tiny mock smile flashed over his face and Venali shrugged as he opened her door, "The faster you give me your plate and silverware, the faster I can leave. Someone will come get you in a little bit to show you to a bath, if you want one."

"So it's like you Faeries," Serena couldn't help but make that comment, mimicking his mocking smile. What he described the monster was something she could totally relate to. After all, she'd spent her entire life running away from monsters who wanted to hunt her down for their own petty amusement. There was no way she couldn't, wouldn't, relate that monster to the Fae.

Then he was opening her door and she was handing him her plate and the unused spoon. At his last words, she blinked, eyed her dirty attire and body, and tilted her head to the side.

"I would prefer a bath, yes," she nodded, knowing she really did need a bath. "I haven't had a proper one in… well, never."

He simply snorted at her comment, rolling his eyes, "I'm Half-Fae, so thank you for not directing that comment fully at me." Venali took her plate and spoon then shot back a comment of his own, "The lack of a bath was quite clear. You stink to high heavens." With that he slipped out of her cell, locking the door behind him and winking at her, "See you tomorrow Raina."

Even meant as an insult, the similarities were seeable in her comparison. He knew he wouldn't be able to get the point across of how dangerous this monster was, and she would always see his kind as the same, so he let the subject drop.

Serena growled at his comment. She knew she didn't smell good–of course, she didn't, but that didn't mean he had the right to mock her for it. It was the fault of his and his kind that the humans suffered like this. They barely had any food, freedom, nor any rights. One day, she'd see the day the Fae were reduced to ants to their feet. One day, she'd love to see karma bite their asses and give them what they deserve; misery.

His little wink and the disregard of her insult towards him further increased her anger, but before she could lunge at him, he was gone, the door locked behind him.

Next time, Serena swore to herself. Next time she'd rip out his tongue and make him swallow it. That'd make him think twice before speaking.

True to his word, a few minutes later a guard came, accompanied by a girl who looked no older than she did. "Bath?" The girl asked gently, smiling at Serena and then glancing up at the guard, "For safety reasons, you need to be cuffed until we get to the baths if you don't mind." While most fae had an air of..magic almost around them, this girl seemed normal. Human.

Serena looked up the second she heard footsteps and the door opening. Venali hadn't been tricking her when he said there would be a bath. Then again, he couldn't really lie. Her eyes trailed over the girl, finding no such power a Fae let out. She kept her mouth shut, though. Whether she was a human or not mattered little to her.

Instead of speaking, Serena simply held out her wrists for them to cuff. She really wanted that bath and proper, fresh clothes. Even though this outfit meant a lot to her. Maybe if she asked, they'd return them to her after they were cleaned. She'd do it herself if she had to.

The guard opened the door and quickly fastened the cuffs around her wrists, leading her out of the cell and down the hall after the girl. While the guard hadn't said a word yet, the girl was almost chattery in comparison. She dropped back to walk alongside Serena, as she talked, "I'm Arya, what's your name? Venali assigned me to be your helper, starting with bringing you to a bath." Ayra smiled lightly at her, "When you are finished bathing, do you have any preference in what type of clothing I bring back for you?"
(If you're curious, her name is pronounced: Ar-yuh)