Snake

"Where is he?" Star demanded impatiently from beside me.

I shrugged helplessly with Ariel. It's been over an hour since Siren told us to meet. We tried strategizing to get ahead, but our knowledge of this war was limited and in the hands of our Commander. The children of Chaos were off doing the things our Commander asked them to, so it was just us three.

Suddenly, frantic knocking sounded on our door. Star spun around and glared harshly at the barrier between us and the person on the outside. Before she could say anything though, the door burst open to reveal several people, all from our Captain's Quadrant's. I frowned, something was off.

"The Commander—" one of them began to gasp, before being cut off by Ariel who gripped my hand reassuringly.

"Show us." She ordered.

They all ran. We followed the group hastily, ignoring the confused expressions of Chaos' kids. My worry increased when we were led into a grove of trees that spread pretty far and wide. I glanced at Star unsurely when the soldiers trudged deeper into the woods. I didn't have a chance to protest as our Captain's and other deities joined us.

Star and Ariel pulled me along, everyone else following us. I looked around me warily, it was getting dark and I wasn't too fond of Erebus now. He was an awful visitor when I was their prisoner. Unexpectedly, I slammed into Ariel's body.

We fell forward, but she caught a tree branch and steadied us. Our lips were inches within each other, and I felt a blush light up my face, but she merely smiled softly at me and brought us to our feet. I pushed my scrambling thoughts of her to the back of my mind and turned towards what had stopped us in the first place. Concern exploded inside of me as I view the reason for our being in the woods.

On the ground on top of a couple leaves was Siren's signature mask. Ariel knelt down and gently picked it up. My frown deepened when she nodded in confirmation, and I did a quick circle around it, finding his spear at the bottom of a tree. I picked it up carefully, and when I looked at Star, she was holding Siren's sword. Most of his clothes were scattered around us in various places.

"Where is he?" Tartarus' deep voice rumbled.

Dawn gave a weak chuckle,"Maybe he's getting laid?"

Harmony immediately glared at him,"Never. Not after what I witnessed with Eros."

"Are you sure?" Nyx asked, raising an eyebrow.

Crest chimed in softly,"Yes. Our Commander is very against sex."

"Earthlings..." Ariel's voice drawled out.

She didn't finish, her back to us. Her purple hair was in a pony tail dangling down to her waist. I could see the tremble of her body as she looked in shock at her hands. Next to her shoe was Siren's mask, dropped in Ariel's disbelief.

Slowly the Zne turned around to face us. I felt my face pale in horror and a strangled sound escaped my lips. I barely felt it when my knees hit the ground as I stared at what was in her hands.

To my right, the sword had dropped out of Star's hands as her face became transparent. Harmony was leaning heavily against a tree with Ebony at her side doing the same with her body. Both looking unable to support themselves.

My two brother Captain's had turned to the side and dumped out the chyme in their stomach's. Tartarus and Nyx just stared unblinkingly at the evidence in Ariel's hands. There it was in her hands, dripping with the horrendous red that brought fear into everyone's heart. Ripped hazardously and anomalistically, sharp edges to its ends, and missing much of its usual cover, laid bare in Ariel's arms.

The wings of our Commander...

***

Erebus

I watched quietly in the corner of the room. I blended in with the darkness, as a sort of gas person. I chuckled inwardly, like a ghost the children these days feared. My brother was next to me, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Eros had his lips pursed and an expression of indifference planted on his face. Our uncle stood in front of the Commander of our father who knelt in front of him. His hands were chained on both sides of him, hanging from the chains connected to the ceiling. They were just long enough to let the boy kneel.

The Commander still had the large collar around his neck, but it also had a chain that hung from the ceiling, allowing him to keep his head up. Not that he did, his face turned towards the ground. Around his mouth was a tightly tied rope digging into his cheeks, and pushing his tongue into an uncomfortable position. His breathing was ragged, and his body shook in fatigue.

The boy's necklace was all that remained on his top half, and his belt was burnt in the corner. End's fire had ruined it, forcing it to come off, and all that remained on the Commander was his undergarments. The ball gag and strait jacket that Eros had placed on him was removed when we knocked him out.

Now it's been about two days in the time that Uncle had provided, but a few hours for the army of my father. All we've done so far is beat him a little to loosen him up. Today was the traditional day to start with the torture if he didn't break.

I shook my head in boredom. This routine was getting old. First the General, now the Commander, why didn't they just give in. It was so easy, just speak! I heard a faint sound and peeked around the bound Commander. On his back, the small pieces of wing that remained fluttered in anxiousness, straining to raise the boy's body off the ground.

Next to me, Eros sighed loudly,"Try taking the gag off the specimen, Uncle. It might help."

End glared at my brother. His hand snapped up to grip the rope from the side of the Commander's head. Uncle's fingers dug into Siren's cheek, and slowly, he pulled the rope towards him. Time passed, and with the amount of strength in his pull, the rope snapped off the Commander's face, letting his head painstakingly move back to its original spot.

The next thing I knew, the Commander had spat blood on End's shoes in revenge. I heard Eros chuckle, and just shrugged my shoulders when End turned back to us. My Uncle growled, and his hand shot forward to grab the Commander's face in his hand.

His face was turned up to look at End's, his mouth imprinted by the rope. Uncle's fingers pressed into the boy's cheeks, ignoring the cold glare of the Commander. With his other hand, Uncle brought out the sharp blade in his belt and lightly tapped each eye, each nipple, and the crotch of the Commander.

"I'll start from the bottom up. Don't answer, it goes." End warned the Commander dangerously.

The Commander's expression didn't change at all. My Uncle's lips curled into a snarl. I could feel the darkness in him rise more and more with the defiance of the Commander. His previous lover, his wife, defied him in this matter, so this reminder fueled the madness in my Uncle as he searched for his love but is unable to find. I furrowed my eyebrows, creeping forward to help my Uncle regain his sane self. All that needed to be done is reveal the identity of the boy, and all would be right.

"What is your connection to Earth?" Uncle questioned.

When no response was put forth, my Uncle used his foot to push down the Commander's undergarments. I thought this was a bit extreme, but the recent fact of End's Commander betraying him for this Commander might've fed into the cruelty of this torture. I was not going to step in the way of Uncle now, he was too unsteady, so I silently pitied the boy who was about to lose himself.

"Wait, Uncle." Eros interrupted hastily,"Lets try a different tactic first."

End rolled his eyes,"You're just saying that because you want to experiment with him later."

Eros shrugged shamelessly,"Should I not get a reward for bringing him to you?"

Uncle barred his teeth,"No! My wife is plastered all over his aura. Either she is in him or she was some important part of his life as a lover or something. Whatever it be, you will not touch what is mine!"

Eros rolled his eyes, and conjured up a photo in his hand. I leaned to the side to look at it and saw the wife of Uncle nestled in the arms of End contentedly. Eros flipped the photo around, and put the picture in view of the Commander's face that continued to be held in Uncle's grip.

"Who is this to you?" Eros asked, not expecting a response.

Surprisingly, the Commander's eyes widened in shock and if his jaw wasn't clasped in an iron grip, I'm sure it would've fallen. His face paled dramatically, and he just knelt in silence. His whole figure frozen in time as he assessed the person in the picture.

"You know her! Who is she to you?" End demanded.

Uncle roughly jerked the Commander's head towards him, but there was no change. The boy just stared at nothing, his breathing quiet, a glassy look in his eyes as if he was seeing something else. Uncle roared furious, and for hours on end, Uncle tortured the Commander.

Still, he did not react. When End gave up for the day, he left the Commander in the room alone. I vanished into darkness, reappearing in the corner of the room, unable to be seen by anyone but my wife. The Commander was laying on his side in a puddle of his blood.

After an hour, the still conscious boy reached forward slowly, his fingers lightly touching the picture that had fallen to the ground. With a small command from me, the photo was pushed slightly in the Commander's direction, allowing him to reach it.

I watched as his fingers curled around the picture, slowly bringing it closer to his face. His other hand, both released from their chains, caressed the woman's face in the photo gently. The Commander tried to roll onto his forearms to see the picture better, but the collar held him down. My eyes widened considerably when his mouth opened and he croaked out a sound.

I strained my ears as he repeated the sound multiple times, each time more cleared after the next. Tears ran down his face from his eyes, falling to the floor and mixing with his blood. Then his voice got louder as it was used more, and I finally heard what he was saying.

"Mom..."

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