In the dungeon, Minx was not sleeping. There were screams echoing off the walls. Her legs were jelly as memories of the past came back to her. The screams were louder here. And more numerous. He called this place heaven. It sounds like Hell. She breathed deeply then started listening to see if she could hear breathing.
Invisible man was still here, she knew it. Then she wanted to slap herself but, to give herself credit, she did take two blows to the head. She didn't have her bag with her and the ground here was not dirt. She could do something but refused to do that with witnesses. She didn't know if there were cameras down here or not.
She closed her eyes and breathed for a few minutes, trying to settle her mind. The task was not easy as the screams continued. She then opened her eyes and saw the aura approaching her from the front with a knife in his hand. She guessed he had picked it up while her eyes were closed.
She threw out her climbing rose whip with more force than she ever had. Her fear and desperation overcame her. The vine wrapped around his neck with such force it threw him against the bars of a cell she assumed was meant for her, before Tucker decided he was going to start her torture early. The white energy in her vine was greater than she had ever seen it. She pulled the vine to bring him closer so she could kick him. Instead, the vine sliced his head off as it returned to her. She let out an ear-slitting scream.
"THAT FUCKING HURTS!"
She started blinking as though somehow her eyes were related to her hearing. Calm down Minx. They will find you and let you out. Calm down. Breathe. She slowly took a few steps in the direction she thought the voice came from. She couldn't see anyone who was awake. Many lay on their beds in their cells. They were either sleeping or their eyes looked empty.
"Peter, was that you?" she whispered
"Yeah. Who am I talking to?" he said firmly. He sounded like someone who had accepted his fate.
"Minx," she said as she rounded a corner, "I found you!"
"I thought that was you. My guards are in shift change so I can't talk long but if you get out of here, let Quinn know I'm okay so far. Truedream is an arsehole." He didn't even sound excited to see her as though escape was impossible. He seemed defeated.
She gasped at the mention of the name, "I … I will."
"Why are you here?"
"Duke wants to appease Truedream by offering him my ability. He was also going to allow these two the pleasure of beating me. I'll let Duke keep their corpses."
"You killed them?"
"Yeah… I… I've never done that before," her voice hitched as tears wanted to form and fall.
"Sounds like they earned it."
While they talked, she was examining the locks on the door. "We have to get you out of here. We can escape together!" She started to cry in frustration
"Don't you do that. Save those tears for someone who deserves them."
She bit back on the tears. "I'm frustrated and ….Thank you." She heard the sound of footsteps and knew his guards were returning.
Before she could move, "you there! Get away from that prisoner!"
Minx turned to run but they were too fast. They grabbed her and threw her into a cell, hitting the back wall. She moaned in pain. She crawled to the back corner of the cell and made herself as small as possible. She turned her back to the bars and grew a plant in her palm. Before long she healed her wounds and her brain was less foggy.
That didn't take away the torturous sounds this place seemed to consider music. Minx tried desperately to block out the haunting tune currently playing behind her but her efforts were all in vain. She didn't sleep a wink. Instead, she kept pressing her hands against the wall and calling out to her tree.
She didn't know where she was or how far down she was but it was the only thing she could think of. She placed her hand flat on the wall sending out her Qi energy while thinking of the only thing she knew that was in the dirt, that could hear her call. Each time she did, she pushed herself to exhaustion. She did this four times throughout the night. Each time she said the same thing, getting more and more desperate each time.
"I don't know if there's anything you can do. Trapped in the dungeon. Get help, please help me!"
She still had her armor on and she could feel Caser moving around once in a while as he woke to eat and went back to sleep. She wanted to reach in there and pet him, but she was afraid to drop her armor. She was getting ready to send out her energy once more when defeat started creeping in.
'Damnit Minx, pull yourself together. You have people who need you. Midas. Raven. Revlis. Aqua. Dufus. Sil…' At the thought of his name, the memory of his arms around her flooded into her head. 'There's no way in hell I'm dying down here!' She placed her hands on the wall once more and began sending out her energy and her plea.
She was disrupted when she heard the entry door open again. She didn't know if it was change of guard again, someone coming to release her or something else. The footsteps were slow and deliberate. That didn't sound like a friend. She cowered into the corner she had been in all night. She could hear three sets of footsteps.
She held her breath as the steps drew near. Then a face appeared she had only learned recently. It wore a vile smile. The two other sets of footsteps were those that accompanied him to the assembly that day. It was the man who caused her nightmares. It was Jack Truedream.
"Good morning beautiful." He looked around as he approached the cell. "Looks like there was a party in here last night. Did you kill these people?"
She stared at him praying it was a dream or an illusion brought on by the terror of being in this place. It's just a nightmare.
"Are you going to answer me?" One of his guards opened her cell door and he entered but didn't get too close. First Kevin needed to do his job. His ability enabled him to put people to sleep.
Minx felt something falling on her head. Small particles, perhaps.
Kevin took one step toward her and she screamed.
At that exact moment the ceiling above her exploded diagonally. Chuncks of rock went flying toward Truedream, his guards, and the cell bars. Roots reached down and grabbed a very startled Minx. She instinctively wrapped herself in a ball, tucking her head and holding her knees. She closed her eyes tightly.
She heard, "She's getting way!" and "Stop her!" She smelled dirt, moist and fertile. She felt closed in. The air was thick and it was hard to breathe. It felt like humans were not meant to be here. The energy from the roots felt familiar. She felt comforted and loved. She relaxed and didn't fight what these roots were doing. Eventually she felt the air was cleaner and she could breathe better. Then she passed out.