"What's the bargain?" Fintan said. "Seems like you're no better than that cute foolish friend of yours."

"He's no longer my friend." Fitz replied in a deep, cold voice. With a loud snap, Keefe was pulled onto the ground with the red vines still tightly curled around him. "Good enough?"

"She'll be delighted." The girl who stood far behind spoke. Stalking forward, her pale fingers dragged over her brother's face, anger, betrayal, sadness, and fear.

Fitz tossed his Black Swan pendant to Fintan, who caught it swiftly.

"I brought him, what else do I need to earn the Neverseen's trust?" Fitz asked, trying to be polite to his two  new colleagues.

"If you behave and shut up, I might cover for you."

"He doesn't need your protection, Fintan. Mother likes whoever brings things she desire. And she desires my weakened brother the most, even more than the Moonlark." The girl called, tossing a crystal pendant to Fitz. "Can't stay too long. Can't say too much."

Fitz grabbed Keefe, who was unconscious, and leapt with the green crystal the girl gave him.

-----

"I've heard that you've fight your friends all on your own, is it true?" Gisela asked, sitting in her ruby-encrusted chair.

"Yes."

"All down?"

"Unable to move  but not dead."

"Why don't you kill them?"

"I hurt, not kill."

Gisela sighed. "Giselle, you can take the rest. I still have more crucial things to do other than taking newbies around."

To be honest, Fitz finally noticed how bad his idea was and how bad this place is. But bad places are for bad people, like me.

Giselle stopped in front of an empty room. "I guess you can stay here, the other rooms are already full." With her hood taken off, he can take a closer look at her appearance. Ice blue eyes, light blonde hair, a copy of a girl-version Keefe.

"What's your relationship with Keefe?" Fitz asked, Giselle stiffened.

"Twins." Giselle started. Fitz felt her anger being ignited. "But that idiotic father refused to have twins so here I am, pretending my brother's the only child."

"Do you have times when you feel every bad thing happens on you?" Fitz asked again.

"I still have an apprentice to train, Pretty Boy. We'll talk tomorrow, also, listen when the bell rings." Giselle said, swooning like those Foxfire girls, she can't press the edges of her lips down.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." Giselle's cheeks turned pale pink. Shutting the door behind her, she covered her face with her hand. What am I thinking? Giselle, stop, that's never going to happen...Is it?

-----

Keefe jolted awake in a cage, the cold, hard metal under his skin, dried blood on his face. He glared at the figure outside the cage. The hooded figure took off her hood. Lady Gisela.

"Your Moonlark's not going to save you this time. We've renewed our guards." Gisela said, kneeling down. "Look how weak she made you, Keefe."

The girl laughed from behind. "When can I do the executing? When will the torturing start?"

"We have to wait, Giselle."

"Fitz would be very happy to volunteer for the torturing job, mother. You'll enjoy his screams." Giselle said, licking her pale lips with her soft pink tongue.

"He can torture his friends when they come for this weakling. I don't mind if he kills one of the Moonlark's friends."

Sophie, Sophie, Sophie  Keefe called in his mind, hoping to hear her voice like a dying man in the desert, desperate for a tiny sip of water.

Sophie, Where are you?