Phoenix felt those eyes that flicked between their faces, never resting on one for too long, only darting back and forth and then to the sand under their feet. She could see it, they all knew something was wrong, they knew something had happened, but they didn't know what. Phoenix's hands went so tight on the stone bannister, her knees a little weak under her. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to stand in front of all them and have them watch her, but that was what he needed them to do. Belfire was still shaking beside her, his face scrunched up in a tight scowl as he watched the others below, nothing like the warm man he'd been before, nothing like that soft man who smiled and laughed, now he looked so much like someone else.
Phoenix heard the sound of skin scraping against stone below them, and then she saw Cassie standing there, her hands bound together by her bands, her shoulders shaking and her chest heaving. Phoenix watched her wince, her eyes darting around all those faces and then up to them on the balcony, and Phoenix heard that ruffle of fabric from behind them. They both turned to watch him at the doors, his face going blank and stiff as he buried Gabriel the man and stepped out as Gabriel the Master, and then she saw him, that man who whispered, that man who could bruise, that man who could dig a knife out of someone's chest. Tears ran down Cassie's face, tears that turned black from that paint still on her skin and tears that made her eyes red.
"Why are you here, Cassie?" the Master asked, his voice just barely above a whisper.
"I-!" Cassie gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-,"
"Why are you here?" he cut in.
"I made a mistake."
"You made more than just a mistake, Cassie, you'd better start being honest or things are going to get a lot worse."
"I-!" she shook her head. "I made you look bad, Master."
"You turned your back on my household," Master Gabriel said, those Implants flickering furiously. "This house stands together, you stand together, and you were going to let someone from this house die because it suited you. That's not how this works, that's not how any of this works, there are rules and I don't have time to waste on a slave who doesn't know that. Lyca, Boris, pick up your swords."
Cassie's eyes went wide, her cheeks so pale, her head shaking. "No, Master, I'm sorry, please, I-!"
"Pick up your sword, Cassie, this is your last Fight, you'd better make it a good one."
Phoenix watched Cassie tremble, her bands springing loose, her shoulders dropping, her hand shaking as it reached for her sword, her eyes flicking between the two circling her, her forehead lining in a crease. Boris lunged for her so quietly, nothing like those yelling, charging Fighters from the Tournament, but Cassie was quick, her hands going steady, her eyes then sharp and focused. Back and forth they went around the yard, the sounds of their blows echoing off of the walls and growing louder and louder, and then Cassie darted, rolling in the sand until she caught Bolt by the back of his shirt and pulled him in front of her. The Master went so stiff then, that light in his eyes never changing, but his hand reached for Phoenix's, gripping her so tightly his knuckles went white.
"I'm sorry," Cassie said, looking up at the balcony. "I mean it, Master, I am, I'm sorry, I won't-,"
"Put him down, Cassie," Lyca said then. "Let's go."
"Lyca, you-!"
"Let's go," Lyca cut in, and Cassie's face went so pale, her chest heaving, her head shaking side to side, but Lyca swung for her, and Cassie kicked Bolt towards her to buy herself some time to get away.
Lyca stepped to the side, her eyes fixed on Cassie, her boots light and easy, and then Cassie charged, her face scrunched up in a scowl, her sword raised high, only for her to go limp, her mouth hanging open, and she let out something like a gasp, something like a long wheeze. Lyca's sword was in Cassie's chest, blood spilling down her front and from her mouth and Phoenix knew that Cassie was gone forever as Belfire stood up straight, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck.
"This house stands together," Master Gabriel said. "And I don't keep slaves I can't trust, let that be a lesson to all of you. Back to training."
He stayed there for a moment, watching them scurry, watching them hide themselves away from him and those eyes that smouldered like hot coals, and then he turned to them, calling them inside with a nod of his head, his back so stiff, so tense when he pointed a finger to a door beside his bed.
"Your new rooms are there," he said. "You go to training like everyone else, but you come back here afterwards," he turned then, that hand falling, his eyes half-closing "You can spend your free time wherever you want, but… I would like to eat dinner together. I understand that there'll be days when you're needed downstairs, but I would like there to be some time just for us."
He looked so small, so small and unsure compared to the man who had just ordered another to die, his eyes flicking away, his forehead lining in a crease, and Phoenix almost wanted to reach for him, to hold him and tell him that she understood, but then Belfire said, "No."
She expected those Implants to flicker furiously, she expected those dark eyes to go cold and harsh, but those shoulders dropped and that crease turned into a wince.
"I'm not ordering you to," Master Gabriel said, his voice so soft and quiet.
"I've had enough of your games, Gabriel," Belfire snapped. "You promised you'd protect her!"
Master Gabriel took a step back, that wince growing deeper, his eyes almost closing, and Phoenix knew what he was feeling, she knew that pain, she knew that guilt and she shook her head.
"Stop it," she whispered. "Leave him alone, Belfire, everything's fine."
"No, it's not," Belfire rounded on her. "You think you can trust him to find Iris if he can't even keep you safe? You're right in front of him!"
She stared at him a moment, her eyes wide and bright, something that somehow burned both hot and cold in the pit of her stomach, and she didn't like the way he spoke or the way he looked at her now, his face so tight and angry, his eyes blazing and deadly.
"How long does it take someone to bleed out? she asked. "I don't know how good Willow got me, but she knew what she was doing… Would've been one or two minutes tops. You think he didn't notice?" she asked, her finger pointing at his screen.
"You weren't awake, Phoenix, you don't know what happened. I got to you first, not him."
"Who opened the door for you?" Master Gabriel asked, his voice so quiet, and Belfire turned, glaring at the Master, his hands clenching into tight fists.
"No one," he said, but she saw those eyes flicking between Master Gabriel's face and the screens behind him. It was a long moment before he spoke again and when he did his voice was strained and tight. "It wasn't your house."
"I bypassed his security a long time ago… when I was looking for Iris."
"You can't expect me to-!"
"Enough…" Phoenix sighed. "I'm tired. Can't we just leave it?" she asked, but she didn't expect for those shoulders to drop so quickly, for Belfire's hands to come reaching for her and his face to scrunch up in a wince.
"Are you alright?" Belfire whispered. "Go sit down, Phe, are you alright? Are you dizzy?"
Master Gabriel bowed his head, looking down at the floor and asking, "Why don't you go see your new room?"
"We're not staying, Gab-,"
"Stop it, Belfire," she gasped. "Enough, can't you see what this all means?" she asked, but Belfire stared at her a moment, his eyes narrowing into slits.
"Too little, too late," he said.
"You're the only one who thinks that," she shook her head and those eyes grew colder and darker as he glared at her.
"You stay then, Phoenix," Belfire spoke through gritted teeth. "I'll go back down to the corridors where all the other slaves are."
She did feel dizzy then, her head spinning, her knees giving out from under her, but Belfire caught her, holding her to him, his whole body shaking with that strange hum. She couldn't fight him, not today, not now when she was so tired and her skin was lighter just from him holding her like that, and then she heard a hiss, the door beside them sliding to the side.
"Just go have a look," the Master said.
Belfire went so stiff, holding her tighter, that humming growing louder, but then she whispered, "I want to."
And then she was standing there, leaning against him as they stepped through that door. It was more like a small house than a room, a small kitchen with a table, a big bed right in front of them and lined with the same shining fabric of her robe and those new clothes that were lined on the rack beside it.
"I won't come in unless you ask me to," Master Gabriel said, leaning against the side of the door with his arms folded across his chest. "There's an office for you through there, Belfire, with a terminal with all the information I have on my slaves. Then there's a workshop for you down there, Phe. You have some supplies to make and improve on your old gear, but there's also a computer… It's not as big as mine, but it has everything I've collected on slave purchases and trades since you were sold… and I'll add to it if I find more."
She felt her head spinning again, only Belfire's arm around her waist keeping her standing as she waited a moment, a moment before she reached out, catching onto that white robe and burying herself in his chest.
"Thank you," Phoenix whispered.
She'd almost died, she'd almost lost everything, but somehow she'd gained so much. She turned to Belfire then, seeing him standing there in that room that was just for them, in the space that they could truly call their own and she smiled, his shoulders sinking as he reached a hand up to scratch at the back of his head and looked away. He wouldn't ask her to leave now, not when she had a way to search for her sister all on her own, not when she could make a difference, but for a moment she worried that he wouldn't stay, for a moment she worried that he would still fight her, but then she felt his fingers slide between hers and she watched him nod.
She stood there, looking at each hand held in her own. These were the two hands that had helped her, that still helped her and kept not her memory but her safe. These were the two hands that worked for her, that struggled with her to find Iris and to build a good life for her here for when they did. These were the two hands she trusted just as much as her own and with them at her side, she knew that there was no one that could stop them.