Mon. cont.
"Ryland, why don't we just get this over with? Draining him isn't going to do any good and I'm bored!" Nimue sighs, looking at Ryland as he stands over Takeshi who laid on the floor of the cave. The side of his face is bleeding from where the bullet had grazed his cheek.
"I've always wanted to make him suffer. Ever since we were kids. Our parents always favored him. He was their little prodigy. Their successor. Their, heir. Maiman was their second favorite. I was always last. Last to be picked up. Last to be hugged. Last to be kissed. Last to be loved," Ryland growls.
"You know that's not true," Takeshi's voice is quiet and unstable.
"Shut up!" Ryland shoots Takeshi again, this time in his shoulder. Takeshi lets out a small cry as his body tenses in pain.
"You wouldn't know! You never paid any attention to me! You never cared!" Ryland growls.
"I did care, I still do," Takeshi nearly whimpers as he tries to bring one of his hands to his face.
"Liar! You piece of human-loving filth! All you ever cared about was The Church and those stupid humans! All you ever did was protect them! No matter what, you stood by their side! It didn't matter what they did to you! It didn't matter that they used you. You were still there! And yet you never stood by me! You never backed me up! You never helped me! You never cared about me!" Ryland nearly screams.
"Ryland…" Takeshi mumbles.
"No. Now it's all up to me. It's all up to me whether or not you live! It's all up to me! How does that feel? To not be the one in control? How does it feel to know that I have your stupid little worthless life in your hands?" Ryland hisses as he shoots Takeshi in his leg, forcing him to let out a painful groan.
"Ryland, please," Takeshi whimpers.
"What? What was that? Are you begging me?" Ryland nearly laughs, leaning down to hear his brother.
"Please," Takeshi repeats.
"You are! You are begging me! How hilarious! The all mighty Takeshi is begging his little brother! Oh how I never thought this day would come!" Ryland cries in laughter. "I never want this to end,"
"Ryland, let's just end this, please! I'm bored!" Nimue whines roughly a half an hour later.
"Nimue shut it! I'm not done!" Ryland quickly turns and growls at her.
"Why're you yelling at a girl?" Takeshi weakly mumbles.
"It's none of your business," Ryland quickly turns and kicks Takeshi in the face. Nimue stays quiet as she leans against the wall. Ryland lets out a low growl before walking over to a large leather bag that leaned against the wall nearby. He digs through the bag for a few minutes before pulling out a propane torch and a branding iron. Takeshi's heart begins to race as soon as he notices what the brand is. It was the symbol for "monster" that everyone in the kingdom knew.
"Ryland…" Takeshi tries to move but he can barely do anything. Ryland approaches him, lighting the torch and starting to heat up the iron.
"Now they won't be able to not see it. Now they'll know," Ryland smirks as he crouches down next to his brother.
"I thought you were going to kill him," Nimue studies them in confusion.
"I was but, I came up with another idea. One that'll make him suffer even more," Ryland moves some of Takeshi's hair away from his neck before taking the branding iron and pressing it to his brother's neck. Takeshi lets out a pain-filled scream as the iron burns his skin. Ryland pulls the iron away after a few seconds, revealing the brand to have worked. It was burned into his skin. The area was a dark red as Takeshi laid there, a few tears slowly falling from his face. Ryland stands up and puts the things back before walking over to Nimue and kissing her cheek.
"Let's go," he smiles at her.
"What about him?" She motions at Takeshi.
"We'll leave him here. I'm sure my sister isn't that far behind his trail," he kisses her cheek again and takes one of her hands in his.
"Ok, let's go," she smirks and nods. The two grab their things and start to leave the cave. Ryland stops and walks back over to Takeshi.
"Have fun brother. Oh, and tell our sister I said hello and that I'll be seeing you two soon," Ryland laughs before kicking him in the face and walking off. The two leave and Takeshi just lays there, slowly going in and out of consciousness.
"Brother!" Maiman's voice fills his ears, forcing him to slowly open his eyes.
"Mai…" he starts and tries to lift his head but struggles.
"Stay still Takeshi, stay there," Ember's voice came from nearby.
"Oh my… what did they do to you?" Eclipse's voice comes from near where Ember's voice came from. Takeshi feels the chains begin to be removed as he tries to look around.
"Maiman…" his eyes land on Maiman who was in her human form, working on taking the chains and cuffs off of his wrists.
"Save your energy Takeshi, you're going to need it," Ember's voice makes him slowly move his head to look at Ember who was working on taking a chain off of one of his ankles while Eclipse worked on the other.
"Ren… she was here…" he starts.
"I'm ok, I'm here," a soft hand lays on his cheek. He turns his head to see Ren kneeling by him, her hand against his face and her face red from crying.
"Ren," he tries to have a small smile cross his face but he's in too much pain.
"We need to get him to the Church, right away," Ember looks at Maiman as they finish getting the chains off of him.
"Eclipse, you help grab his legs," Maiman looks at Eclipse before turning and looking at Ren. "Help me get his top half," she sighs.
"Everything is going to be ok Takeshi," Ren leans over and carefully kisses his forehead before moving to help lift him.
They get him back to the church where he's immediately rushed to the infirmary. Ren starts to follow after them but Eclipse grabs her arm to stop her.
"Ren, you go with these nurses. They'll check you out to make sure you're ok," Ember walks over to Ren who turns to look back at her.
"But, what about…" Ren starts but Ember cuts her off.
"He'll be ok. Go with them," Ember motions towards a few nurses who are walking over to them.
"Ember…" Ren starts again.
"No. Go with them," Ember shakes her head as Eclipse lets go of her arm. Ren lets out a sigh before walking over to the nurses and walking to an infirmary room with them. Maiman and Eclipse both look at each other before looking at Ember.
"Eclipse, go try to relax ok? I need to talk with Maiman," Ember's voice was strong but a hint of worry pokes through her voice.
"Ok mom," Eclipse nods before walking off after giving Maiman a hug. Once she's gone, Ember turns to Maiman.
"Is he going to be ok?" Maiman asks.
"I hope so. We have the best doctors around so, I'm sure he'll be ok," Ember nods with a long sigh.
"Thank you. Thank you for helping," Maiman looks at Ember, a tear falling down her face.
"Maiman. You two are like kids to me. I've known you since you were born. I would do anything for you two, I really would. So don't thank me. You don't need to thank me," Ember walks over and wraps her arms around Maiman, pulling her into a hug. Maiman lets out a small whimper before starting to cry harder.