Puzzle shivered, holed up in a corner. His eyes were glowing, slightly lighting up the dark area around him. He was huddled up, shaking violently as he hugged himself in a desperate attempt to preserve some body warmth.

He shut his eyes, trying to reassure himself. He wasn't being tortured right now. But even so, he could still hear the cracking of the whip as it came down upon his body. The flash of pain he felt whenever it hit his skin. The black spots that danced in his vision, the flash of red behind his closed eyelids.

He tried to forget.

He tried to focus on something else - anything. He wasn't being tortured right now, yes, but he could still feel the pain. No matter what he let his mind drift off to, the pain in his body only brought him back. He cried. He tried to escape. He couldn't. He can't escape his reality. He's going to keep suffering like this.

It had been like this for a long time. Even when he actually managed to escape, he was only taken again. It wouldn't end. He escaped his last captors, only to be captured again. Everywhere he tried to go, everywhere he went, they were all the same. His Trait. His power. They wanted it. They needed it. They forced it. His freedom was taken, chains were constantly wrapped securely around him, trapping him. He wasn't allowed to dream. Dreaming was hard when the cold brutality of his reality kept crashing down on him. Even his dreams. Sleep did nothing for him. His mind a constant mess and mumble of past torture, waking up in a frenzy, hoping, praying, that it was all a nightmare - only for them to be right in front of him. Only for the whip to come crashing down on him again. It was a cycle, an endless one. One he couldn't escape. It was painful.

Eventually, he gained a visitor. A guilt filled visitor that wanted to help, but didn't know what to do. They couldn't just release him - the poor kid would hardly get far with his injuries and Eldwyn would send people after him immediately after his escape. If he was captured again, the punishment would be severe. The risk was too much for the man to bare. So instead, he brought him food. He was frequently starved for days, just an addition to make his pain worse. To make his emotions of suffering greater. But this man brought him food whenever he could. Stopped the starving. It was one less thing to worry about. One less thing to suffer from.

He was grateful.

Puzzle knew that this man was powerful. His Trait was strong, Puzzle had found out. He became curious about this man that helped him, he wanted to know more about who he was and why he was helping.

It wasn't long before his Trait activated, telling him all he needed to know. It was the first time he had used his Trait for himself. At least, it was the first time in a very long time. He used it on accident, but used it regardless and for once, he found what he was looking for. He had genuinely wanted to know and as a result, he had found out exactly what he wanted. It had been precise. The information needed was exactly what he got. He had got the result he wanted.

His Trait worked so much better when he genuinely wanted to know something and he wasn't being forced.

Puzzle honestly didn't know how long it had been since this man had started to help him, but as the man stood up to leave, Puzzle spoke up;

"Thank you, Daniel," Puzzle whispered. Daniel stopped, turning back to face  him. Puzzle wasn't sure what he was expecting when Daniel stared at him with a raised eyebrow, but he decided to wait it out.

"You used your Trait to find out my name?" He asked. Puzzle nodded, the chains clinked at the movement. The chains around his neck has always been a bit more painful and Puzzle was sure that one day, if the chains were ever removed, Puzzle would be met with deep bruising.
 
Daniel frowned at him. "You shouldn't use your Trait," he stated. Puzzle blinked, and slowly, frowned himself.

"If I had the choice, I'd never use it again," he murmured. Daniel sighed and raised his hand. Immediately, Puzzle flinched, back hitting the wall. His back stung in pain. A second later, he felt Daniel's hand rest on his head, moving slowly. For a second, Puzzle was confused. It took him several more moments to realize it was a movement of "affection" as people may call it. Puzzle opened his eyes, blinked. He was confused. Puzzle believed the term was "ruffling someone's hair".

"I know kid, I know," Daniel muttered and pulled his hand back. He gave Puzzle a serious look.

"One day, I'll find a way out of here for you. A way where you don't have to worry about being captured again," Daniel promised. Puzzle stared at him on bewilderment.

"...Why are you helping me?" He finally asked. It was a question that had been in head for a while now. Everyone always wanted his Trait. They always wanted the knowledge that Puzzle could obtain and they'd go through any means to get it. He recalls on the time where it wasn't always like that - where he had been loved, where he had an amazing life. Where he had been free, free to do whatever he wished, the days where he had hung out with Glitch, both so happy and content with their lives. It was a distant dream. His back flared in pain, snapping him back to reality.

"Because I don't agree with this," Daniel informed him. "I don't agree with any of this. You never did anything to us to deserve this," At this, Daniel sighed. "But Eldwyn is... No one can deny him. Technically, we have the right to vote him out of power if that's what the people want, but everyone's scared. Eldwyn... Isn't always a bad leader. He makes good choices and keeps the village safe. He's also very powerful. I don't agree with what he's doing, especially with what he's doing to you, but no one has the power to stand up to him. Not everyone knows about what he does either."

"You fear him too, don't you?" Puzzle asked carefully.

"I-." Daniel sighed. "It's complicated. Eldwyn has a way of being able to twist people's hearts, to mess with their minds. He's good at manipulating. I'm not sure if I fear him or what he can do - what he can others do. I have things I need to protect myself and going against him would make me lose everything," Daniel looked at him, a sad look in his eyes. "I know that what I'm doing right now isn't much, but I will find a way to help you, without Eldwyn knowing about it. I'm... sorry that its taking this long and that you have to go through this."

Puzzle smiled. It felt weird. He couldn't remember the last time he had smiled. Oh wait, he could. It had been when he had escaped. When he was free again. Of course, that happiness didn't last - it never did, but it had happened, regardless of how long it had lasted.

"Thank you," he stated. "It's been a long time since someone was this nice." Daniel gave him a sad smile.

"I need to go, but I'll be back," Daniel informed. Puzzle nodded. Quickly, Dan stood up and made his way out of the room. Before he left, he sent one last smile to Puzzle, before disappearing through the door.

Puzzle tilted his head up to the ceiling. There was a small torch on the other side of the room, which was the only source of light he ever had. Puzzle blinked, feeling a dampness in his eyes before something warm trickled down his face. After a few seconds, he realized what it was. He was crying.

The last time someone had been so nice to him, had been the time he spent with Glitch. Before this all started. Before this mess all began. Sometimes, he liked to think that Glitch was out there, looking for him. At first, they may have been the case. He may have searched for a while, but after a few months, he must have given up. Everyone must have given up on him by now.

But still, Puzzle liked to imagine. That there was a chance, that Glitch was out there, still searching for him. Not having given up on him. Still thinking about him.

The thought made Puzzle cry. Oh god, how he wished. But Puzzle wasn't a fool. He wasn't allowed a wish. He wasn't allowed to dream. Of course, he still did it anyways. It was something he wanted. It was the only thing he could do. Something that didn't physically hurt him. Emotionally, yes. Emotionally, it hurt so much. It hurt so much because all he could ever do was dream. Dream things that would never happen. He would never be freed. His family and friends had probably given up on him a long time ago. No one was looking for him right now, were they?

But still, he wished. He continued to wish, to dream, to hope. Because that was something that they hadn't taken away from him yet. He couldn't let them have his dreams. They had already filled him with nightmares, at least let him continue to dream whenever he could.

They couldn't take his hope, Puzzle wouldn't let them. Besides, Daniel was nice to him. Daniel had said he would help. Even if it turned out to be a false hope, Puzzle would continue to hope, to dream, to wish. Because that was all that he could do.

---

Glitch collapsed on to his bed. For a few minutes, he remained there, not moving a single muscle. His mind was blank as he just lied there, sulking. Eventually, the numbness faded away, left with hurt.

Once again, nothing. They had found a small lead a while back and although it had been small, it had been something big to Glitch. The problem was, the lead they had found was from a long time ago. Following up on it had been hard and even after gathering all the information needed, it had lead to a dead end. But regardless of the dead end, it still meant something. It was useful. It had given them enough information on what was happening to Puzzle, but it was dated to five years ago.

Five years ago, Puzzle had been sold to them. They had deduced that Puzzle was sold around frequently for different reasons, but who actually kept Puzzle was the biggest mystery yet. It wasn't hard to find the files - to find out what they had wanted and what they had done. They had forced him to his Trait and when he at first refused, they tortured him. It took 10 days to get him to find the correct information they were looking for. After that, he was sent back to wherever they had brought him from. They had tried to follow it, to trace it, but they had gotten nowhere.

They had arrested the buyer and interrogated him. Eventually, they had been able to use someone's Trait to find who the buyer was. They were unable to find the buyer, or his actual identity and when they had tracked it down to where the trade had taken place, there was nothing to find.

Whoever had Puzzle at that time was smart and they knew how to cover their tracks. It didn't help that the lead they had was years old, mostly useless on where to find Puzzle.

But for Glitch, it was more than enough. Of course, he was furious that his best friend was being tortured, forced to use his Trait against his will, but unless Glitch found him, there was nothing he could do. This information also meant something else. Puzzle hadn't been killed. Even now, there was a possibility that he was still alive, though still being tortured and forced to use his Trait. But he could be alive regardless and Glitch would not stop searching for him. He had to. He had to keep on searching for his best friend. He couldn't give up.

Glitch stiffened, breaking  from his thoughts as he heard a knock on his door. He had out a loud groan, and whoever was on the other side of the door decided to take that as an invitation.

Glitch didn't look up at the door opened, instead remaining face down on his bed, still not moving a muscle.

“Stop sulking,” The person ordered.

“Fuck off, Vex,” Glitch said, voice muffled. He could practically feel Vex rolling his eyes at him.

“Whatever. Anyways, Pari told me that you need to be at dinner tonight. You’re not allowed to skip again,” Vex informed. Glitch lifted his head up to stare at Vex, who was leaning on his doorframe.

“I’m not hungry,” Glitch stated. Vex narrowed his eyes at him.

“Then that sucks. Like I said, Pari said you have to be. You’re not allowed to skip,” He repeated. Glitch stared at him for another few moments, before plumping his head back onto his bed, deciding to ignore Vex’s presence. He wasn’t hungry, so he wasn’t going to dinner. It was as simple as that.

“So, you’re coming?” Vex asked for confirmation.

“No,” Glitch replied dully.

“For fucksake, can you just-.” Vex suddenly stopped, sighing. He was silent for a few minutes before he spoke up. “Look, Glitch, you need to take a break,” he began walking in, closing the door behind him. “We’ll find him, but we won’t be able to progress if you don’t take care of yourself. If anything, you need to open more. Saying ‘I’ll find him for sure’ then walking off isn’t exactly the best way to express your emotions. You can’t keep bottling it up,” It was rare for Vex to be encouraging, let alone supportive, so Vex’s behaviour was extremely confusing. Glitch turned his head to the side to face him. It was at that moment that Glitch realised that Vex was genuinely worried about him, if the concerned look on his face twas anything to go by.

“He’s probably be tortured right now, you know,” Glitch murmured, looking down, tears prickling at his eyes. Vex blinked, surprised that Glitch had actually spoke to him. “Seven years, he was taken and for the past seven years, he’s probably been tortured. That’s pretty much a fact since we know that five years ago, he was being tortured. He must be going through so much and I… I’m just here, living freely, while he’s probably suffering right now, hoping for someone to save hima and I… I just,” Glitch’s voice trailed off, voice having raised and gone up several octaves. Vex frowned.

“But we’ll find him. Even when we gave up, you didn’t and you managed to find something about him. We thought he had just been killed or something within the first two years of his disappearance and that’s why we couldn’t find him. Then you went ahead and found proof that he wasn’t killed. We know now why he was taken, it was because of his Trait and because of his Trait, they won’t kill him. There’s still a chance for him to be found and if it wasn’t for you, everyone would have just given up on him,” Vex felt weird, being supportive but it was necessary. The two had never really bonded before, but they had know each other enough to know how to help one another when necessary and right now, it was clearly necessary.

Glitch sniffed, the tears finally falling. “But when we find him-” Glitch started. Vex smiled. When. So he still had hope for Puzzle. “-he’ll still be so hurt. It’s been so long since he was taken and he was probably tortured that entire time. It’s obvious he won’t be the same, but seven years, Vex. Seven years of immense suffering. That’ll never leave him, he’ll never fully get over it. That’s going to be such an emotional and mental scar - heck, physical too, I won’t even be able to do anything about it,” Glitch explained, tears endlessly leaking from his eyes, voice raw with emotion. Vex had an urge to punch him in the face and tell him to snap out of it and man up, but that’s pretty much what he had been doing until Vex told him to stop doing that.

“You can’t change it. All you can focus on is finding him. If you can’t even take care of yourself, how do you expect to take care of him when you get him back? But don’t worry though, I’ll help you kill whoever has him right now and when we find the main guy, we’ll kill him!” Vex grinned, but froze as Glitch’s face suddenly turned to something akin to fury, but it looked far worse than that.

“When I find them,” He started slowly, voice cold as he began to pull himself up to a sitting position.  “I ’ l l  k i l l  e a c h  a n d  e v e r y o n e  o f  t h e m  m y s e l f,” Glitch hisses, venom dripping from his voice. Vex froze, before forcing himself to give a nervous laugh.

“So, you don’t need my help then?” Vex asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“No.”

“Heh,” So this is what Pari meant. He really did tend to have a personality change when it came to Puzzle. Glitch blinked, the rage seemingly vanishing, though Vex could still see the traces. He had calmed down quickly, at least.

“But, uh. You can help too, I suppose?” He muttered unsurely. Vex beamed.

“Thanks! But anyways, make sure you’re at dinner, or Pari will get mad,” Vex reminded. Glitch nodded, sighing.

“Alright,” He confirmed. Smiling, Vex turned around, but just as he opened the door, Glitch called out to him.

“Hey, Vex?”

Vex turned around. “Yeah?”

“...Thanks,” Glitch muttered. Vex nodded, grinning.

“Anytime.”

-------

Word count: 3073