"How does it feel? To be so... tame?" the woman questions, her impassive face mere inches from mine. If I wasn't paralyzed completely, I'd shiver ten times over. The hollowness in her eyes is haunting, as vacant as the bodies of the victims.

How did she paralyze us? We didn't eat or drink anything, we had just sat down when- oh. I see. It was the dust. It has to be the dust she blew on us. Nothing else makes sense.

Did she know we were coming? We followed Mike here, is he a part of this? Or have they caught him as well? Is this a chemical attack or a magical one? Who is this woman?

Calm down. There is a way out of this mess, I just have to find it.

"Who are you?" Ethan asks, his voice coming out strained and guttural. How can he already speak?!

I try to force my lips to move but to no avail. I've no choice but to be still and watch.

The woman furrows her eyebrows as she roughly claws at his jaw. "You're better trained than we thought. I was expecting another 10 minutes."

From somewhere in the room, a loud clap thunders, echoing off the drywall of this cage. Then, the deep baritone of a man. "Which means we should get ready, right dearest Gen?"

Intense burning prickles the back of my throat and I'm unable to breathe. The heaviness continues to build, my mind spinning from the lack of air. Like the cork popping out of a bottle, all the pressure floods out instantly. I gasp, choking on the overwhelming influx of air.

My vision blurs and I find myself blinking desperately, clinging to what bit I can see. Slowly, everything comes into shape, crisp as ever as a vague mist settles in.

Despite my efforts, my body seizes, recoiling as I take in the silhouette of a man.

"Ah, I'm guessing she's your doing as well? Right, Sage?"

Only my head can move to my will, but it's enough to allow me a decent glimpse of the man, who is now lounging on the wooden table in front of us, his electric blue eyes trained on Ethan.

"Who are you?" Ethan repeats, ignoring the man's question.

The man matches Ethan's glare but lacks the burning fire behind his gaze. This raven-haired mystery is just as vacant as his accomplice.

Instead of answering, he leans to the left, reaching for the basket of stale fruits. With his index finger, he taps an apple once. Within seconds, the entire basket is coated in a harsh blanket of ice.

We watch as the fruits trapped inside rot and decay, resembling ones that have been neglected for decades.

The message is loud and clear. We are not in a position to negotiate.

"I'm sure you're aware, ice tends to melt," Ethan states nonchalantly. I slowly swivel my head in his direction, wondering what in the world he's plotting.

"Surely you didn't take me for a one trick pony, Sage" the man replies, his index finger now resting pointedly on Ethan's knee.

No. No, no, no. Not Ethan.

I don't care how strong a guardian's healing is, I doubt we can regrow entire limbs.

"Come on, leave him alone. Isn't there a purpose to this? What do you want?" I growl.

The man glances at me and raises an eyebrow, considering his answer. He smirks and says, "ideally, information."

He pulls aside the collar of Ethan's t-shirt, revealing the scar I've wondered about for weeks. The scar starting behind Ethan's left ear, from the tip, and running all the way down his neck. Now I see where it stops- right on the left shoulder joint.

"But, Sage here is well acquainted with the Red Ribbons. I'm not getting anything out of him. I know that. I also know that you don't know enough."

If they're not expecting information, then what do they want?

He continues speaking, "perhaps a change of pace is needed? Yes, I think so, that would be nice. It's getting so heavy in here." He casually lifts his finger from Ethan and rests it on my knee instead.

My gaze instantly flees to Ethan. He shoulders are trembling slightly and I've never seen his jaw pulled so tight.

The notion of life without mobility frightens me, it plunges a nail deep into my core.

"Ethan, there's nothing he can do to me that you need to worry about. Listen-"

My words catch in my throat as the man erupts into a fit of laughter. He clutches his stomach and mockingly pretends to wipe away a tear. The sheer mania in his cackle is off-putting.

"You've a flair for the dramatics, I see. Ah, but you're right, Ethan doesn't need to worry about me turning you into ashes. No, that would be too easy."

The woman yawns and sarcastically drawls, "and what a horrible thing easy is, Grim."

The man, Grim, hops up from his seat in front of us, standing on top of the table now. He grins wide, giving us a mock salute as the ends of his silver coat swish weightlessly. His flailing coattails resemble soaked pixie wings in the fashion with which they dance behind him.

"Genny dear, did you clear this place of all water? Our Victoria tends to be unstable, you see."

The woman nods. She's still standing in the same spot, her arms folded.

"Sorry precious, no water for you to play with," Grim says to me, winking playfully.

I bite down the anger flaring in me and try to keep my voice even despite the quivering. "The human body is mostly water, no?" I say, making a point to stare at the both of them.

He smiles wide, amusement dancing on his large features.

"That would be problematic- if we were human."

As if a switch was triggered, Ethan leaps forward with inhuman speed, his fist cutting through the air, torpedoing towards Grim's jaw.

Grim barely staggers back in time, then grabs Ethan's wrist and pulls him forward, a wicked laugh hanging in the air.

In the ensuing chaos, I faintly hear the woman yell, "Grim, Pandora banned us from killing them!"

Why am I still unable to move?! I need to get up, I need to do something! I'm a sitting duck like this.

Ethan steps back, positioning himself directly in front of me.

"You two are the twins, aren't you? The ones created in Bilo's lab? Genesis and Grim. Artificial beings with half an essence injected in each," Ethan declares as he adjusts his coal black gloves. His fists become engulfed in crackling flames as he takes an offensive stance.

"How do you-" Genesis begins, but Ethan cuts her off. "I read. But the lab was seized, I thought-"

This time Grim interrupts Ethan. "That we died? Taken down by the Council's lapdogs? Those Mages are pathetic on their best days. The Council lied to settle the dust, extinguish the flames. Shocking, isn't it?"

I'm beginning to feel prickling in my legs. Before I can make a move, Ethan erects a scorching wall of fire between us and the twins.

"How is it not spreading?" I gasp, bewildered in a way I've never been before. Fire maintaining form is... surreal.

"I'm not letting it. Can you move?"

I answer by pushing myself off the couch and standing beside him.

Ethan rattles on at lightning speed, "good. You're not trained in combat so stay hidden. I'll try my best with them but..."

"And I'll try my best as well. If something happens regardless, it wasn't in our hands to begin with. Okay?"

He takes a deep breath, licking his lips. "Okay. I can't fight completely in here, I'll try to lure them out."

"And Ethan? I know how to play to my strength," I assure him. At this, he offers a small smile and nods.

Then the wall of fire comes crashing down with the finality of a cracked shield. The gates of hell slam open.

/\/\/\*/\/\/\

I'm really sorry it took so long to post (and its a shorter chapter to boot) but what follows is a primarily action based chapter and so I had to make sure it was done right.

Also, I tried my best to include lots of hints/clues in this (and the next one) that will connect and 'click' in future chapters when certain things are revealed :)

Sooo, let me know what you think!

Thoughts on Grim? Genesis? I'd love to hear them

Please remember to vote if you enjoyed this chapter, thank you!

Chp pic: the full, uncropped version of last chapter's pic. This one shows both Grim and Genesis

Disclaimer: Chapter is unedited so is likely to change and also my art is not that great so bear with me :D