At the end of the steps was a thick wooden door, barricaded and locked from the outside. Moving her consciousness through the door, she found herself in a dimly lit passage with barred rooms on both sides. This looked something like a dungeon prison!
With increasing wariness, she moved forward, glancing towards the dark and stinky rooms as she passed by. Some of those rooms held demonic beasts of mid-grade and high-grade, whilst some of them contained prisoners, tied and bound and thrown in corners. The stench could not cover the faint smell of blood lingering in the air.
From somewhere ahead, she could hear indistinct sounds of screaming and shrieking and growling....was there a torture chamber down here?...What or who was being tortured? It looked like there was much going on beneath the façade of the Chen Clan.....things she had not been able to discover during her short stay!
A long and low growl echoed through the stone walls of the passage. Though the sound was threatening, she could feel the hidden layers of pain and anger within the scattering noise. Rihanna moved cautiously, stopping at the corner where the passage turned to the left, and peeked out her head.
Up ahead, the passage broadened and opened into an underground chamber of sorts. There were two more passages leading out from the back wall of the chamber. And in front of the wall, a weird, dark, foggy lump was laying on the floor, groaning intermittently, and sometimes letting out a loud and ferocious growl. Heavy chains came down from the ceiling of the chamber, binding the black lump in place. The chains had four sharp pincer-like attachments at their ends, and these pincers had pierced through both shoulder blades and both back limbs of the lump, further pinning it down and making it immoveable!
'Is that...That...That's Phantasm!!'
Rihanna almost let out a scream. She couldn't move. Staring at the pathetic looking lump, bleeding from every place it had been pierced, groaning and lightly thrashing on the floor like it was on its last legs of life.....Rihanna stood frozen, shocked and aggrieved!
'Little....Little Purple....aren't nightmare demons based on something you have actually experienced in your life?.....then...Why is Phantasm like this?....why would they be so brutal and sadistic to their own clan beast?!'
Rihanna could feel the hairs on her body standing up as she was choking on the rising nausea and tears from within. Even her spirit sense was engulfed in the grief of the pitiful life this little hog must have lived in such a large and prestigious clan.
'I had checked his body once....though it is a Supreme Grade Demonic Beast, it actually has the Bloodline of the Ancient Mirage Pig...it is an Ancient Beast which is no longer alive, but its bloodline is pretty potent. Though this hog has not completely activated the bloodline. Moreover, I don't know why, but its level is currently down to upper Mid grade beast.'
'Did they torture her and pin her down so they could bring down her cultivation and then forcefully make her work for them?!'
'That should be the case. Supreme Grade Beasts are very finicky and proud, and no amount of torturing will make them bow down and accept a contract. So the only way is to bring down their cultivation so you can control them.'
'And she got caught this time also because her cultivation is low!....it is my fault.....i should not have allowed her to part from me!'
Rihanna closed her eyes, the painful sounds of Phantasm throbbing in every cell of her spirit body. Maybe it was the effect of the contract, but Rihanna could feel the pain, grief, anger, wrath, desperation and fear racking through Phantasm, and tears of sorrow and hatred started rising within her heart.
She was not a small kid...she was not naive and ignorant. She knew how much cruelty, ruthlessness, greed, lust for power and flesh existed in this world....but knowing and actually experiencing.....was vastly different.
'Why....why did Phantasm agree to make a contract with me? Even after going through so much, she never humbled her pride and never made a pact with anyone in the Chen Clan. And she and me were complete strangers then...why did she agree to making a contract with me?!'
'Perhaps.....she senses that you are different. Rihanna...there are people who believe in you. Be it Phantasm or Fluffy....or the two siblings...they have all chosen to follow you. Perhaps because they can all sense that you are different. In a moment of danger, when you can leave them and run, you still choose to take care of them first. And because they believe in you...they make you stronger. Phantasm is waiting for her master to come and end her agony and rescue her. I think she is waiting because she believes that you will come.'
Rihanna bit into her lips, feeling the weight of those words seep into her being, making her confused, anxious, scared...but also giving her a strange and new sense of strength and lightness. Hmmm.....no matter what.....she was going to rescue Phantasm.....she was going to show this cute little hog....that no matter what happened in the future, the Hog would always have a home with her. A place where she could be safe.
Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and walked towards the black lump groveling on the floor. She looked around and all over Phantasm's body, wondering what she was supposed to do to lighten the burden on her body.
'Forget that this is a nightmare. Do what your heart tells you to do.'
Rihanna listened to Little Purple, and fell into silent contemplation. 'What my heart tells me to do?'.........My heart tells me to remove all the bindings restraining Phantasm....and setting her completely free! That is what I want to do. I want to heal her injuries. I want to hold her and give her strength. I want to tell her that everything will be okay.....that I will be there as she recovers. I will be whenever she needs me. That she is a part of my family, and I need her to come back!
As soon as she thought it, she kneeled down and started removing the chains wrapping up the tiny body. Phantasm's body convulsed, then her eyes flew open, the whites of her eyes covered in innumerable red veins, giving her a bloodthirsty aura. As their eyes met, Rihanna let out a silent gasp, and her own eyes turned red as tears trickled down the corners, rolling down her cheeks, dripping onto the small body beneath her. She was not scared, looking deep into Phantasm's eyes. She would not be scared even if she bit her....she could feel her pain and suspicion and simmering anger.
Lifting the bloody figure onto her lap, she gently kept moving her hand, removing the chains one by one. Finally the last chain came undone. She lifted up the tiny form once more, cuddling it in her arm, using the free hand to softly run over her body. As she caressed her, she let a stream of her own energy into Phantasm's body. It could not heal the wounds, but it would stop the bleeding and half-heal the internal injuries. She bent her face and softly whispered into her ears, trying to coax her like a little child.
'Phantasm....it's me...your little stupid human friend...Phantasm....I've come...please come back! Please....listen to me...listen to my voice. I will be right here with you...so come back. We are all waiting for you. Your little cutie is also waiting for you. Phantasm...wake up...this is not real. All this is no longer your life. This is not who you are. I know this is a scary place...I can feel it...I can feel it because I am tied to you.
Wake up Phantasm....see....you now have a name. Do you remember this name? I gave you this name....and you were not very happy with it at first...and your little cutie was even more unhappy that your name was better than his...do you remember?....Come back Phantasm.....your family is waiting for you....we are all waiting.
This is no longer your life. This is not the value of your life. Your life is precious....and you have a long life ahead of you. So many friends, so much to see and do...if people do not understand your worth and cherish you, then you too don't need to think of them.....not even in your memory.
Come back Phantasm...this place is only a mirage....an illusion of your past which binds you and keeps you stuck in a single place. Don't let others use your memories to hurt you. No one has the right to hurt you, no one can bind you and control you. You are not alone.....we are all there with you. Break this illusion and come back....come back to us Phantasm.'
Rihanna kept murmuring in her ears, softly, gently, coaxing her over and over. Her fingers kept moving, slowly pulling out each pincer from Phantasm's body, and immediately soothing the wounds with her own energy. How long she sat, holding onto the small figure, rocking gently in the cuddle of her arms, sitting in the same position...she did not know and she did not care.
The only thing she could see was the blood-red eyes staring back at her, as the bulging veins first throbbed, then very slowly started fading. The whites of the eyes turned milky once more, the eyelids blinked under the drowsiness of sleep and fatigue, and then Phantasm drifted off to a deep sleep, her body relaxing in the comfort and security of the arms embracing her.
'Stupid girl!...........you came?'
Rihanna opened her eyes, startled and confused. She looked down at her arms....where was Phantasm. Feeling choked and scared, Rihanna scrambled to her feet, looking all around for her little beast.....wait!...where was she?
'Tsk! You are still as stupid as ever! How in the world did you get me to sign a contract with your stupidity?!'
Rihanna blinked, then turned around and stared in a daze....Phantasm! why is she inside a cage?....Oh! Isn't this the room inside the tunnel where Phantasm was being caged and controlled?.......but wasn't she inside Phantasm's nightmare right now??.....How did they both come out?!
'You....old beast inside her body!....Can't you see that our master has gone bonkers!! Say something before she loses some more of her brain-cells!'
Rihanna felt a twitch in her eyebrows, and looked at Phantasm with pursed lips. Yeah.....the skeptical, sarcastic, foul-mouthed pink pig was definitely back!