NAOKI, BOUND AND GAGGED. Naoki, alone, all on her own. 

Naoki, raging. 

The gag around her lips did nothing to silence her wrath, with a gaze as roiling dark as the Queen of Shadows herself. The Damia avoided her, unused to such unpleasant company that neither cowered nor grovelled. 

Instead, she fumed, she boiled, she screamed. 

Her fury was not quiet nor tame. She yelled every chance she got, she refused to move when they transported her, and forced them to carry her full dead weight. She would not let them feed her, and instead glared at them with sunken eyes, her stomach screaming its equal savagery at them. 

They had made a horrible mistake, taking Naoki Mae as prisoner. 

For a week she had been their ward, and for a week she ran on nothing but pure seething passion. She drank their water to keep her head, but the gnawing hunger in her belly kept her lean and mean. The anger was amplified by her starving stomach, and she would not let her rage die. 

If it did, she would have nothing left. 

Instead she thought of Illias. Of Dexter and Paris. Of Theo and Xandra. Of Kiernan and the Keepers. Of her mothers, Mima and Mum. Of her brothers, Jem, Atticus and Laurie. Of everybody that the Queen of Shadows dare try to rip her away from. Of everybody that the Queen thought would lose everything for her. 

The Damia brought her into a new room, not massive storage container they had repurposed into a cell, but a room that smelled of plastic and fabricated material. The fluorescent lights had been smashed, glass shattering the cold grey room like bits of broken hearts. 

Their mangled hands brushed her skin as they set her down, and Naoki did not repress a repulsed shudder. She snarled at the Damia, and they drew back. All but one, who reached forward with needle-like fingers, and shredded her gag. 

"They won't come," she said confidently, the first words she'd spoken in weeks, her voice raw and raspy and true. "Nobody will come for me. They'll blow this place to hell first." 

The room rumbled, and the temperature dropped. 

Suddenly, the Damia were gone, whispers of smoke that blew away in the breeze. The temperature dropped. Naoki's breath made white puffed clouds in the dingy room, dissolving into the air, frightened. She pressed her back to the wall as the floor shook, glass rattling and lights swaying. 

The shadows around the room seemed to meld, pooling and rushing into the centre of the room like water down a drain, swirling and congealing into a shifting mass. 

The Queen of Shadows herself. 

The figure's long legs stepped forward, and with every gained foot, the shadows parted to reveal creamy legs, soft skin, and big black eyes. She was beautiful, the way death and graveyards were pretty. She stopped before Naoki, with pink nails gently scratching her own scalp. 

"Naoki Mae." The world seemed to reverberate as she spoke, the rumbling of the world shaking with every syllable. 

"Queen Bitch," Naoki said pleasantly. "Good to see you in the flesh for once, as opposed to you hiding behind your shadows like a cowardly little boy." 

"Flesh, no," the Queen smiled, though her eyes remained frozen, and reached out to Naoki. She flinched back, but the Queen's hand only passed through her, rippling like the surface of a pond. "But coward, perhaps. It's all in the perspective, isn't it?" 

Naoki eyed her warily. "I already told you. They're not coming for me." 

The Queen laughed, like thousands of bat wings beating at the air. "Oh darling, I never wanted you for them. I wanted you... for you." 

Naoki laughed. "Funny. Whatever mind tactics you're trying to play? It won't work. I'm just a foot solider, your Highness." 

"To the contrary, angel," the Queen smiled fondly. "You're more than that. You're special." 

"'Specially fucked, yeah." 

"Such an attitude," the Queen laughed. 

"Got it from a friend." 

"It's cute, I like it," she mused. "You'll need it, where you're going. Leaders aren't made from the spineless." 

Leaders? Naoki bit her tongue. 

The Queen gave her a teasing, cloying look. "C'mon, you know you want to ask. Curiosity is a powerful thing." 

"It tends to kill cats." 

"Good thing you're a queen," she grinned waspishly, teeth bared, and for the first time, her smile touched her eyes. 

Naoki hesitated. "What do you mean?" 

"You have a purpose, little angel fish," the Queen cooed, coming close, pretending to cup Naoki's cheek. "Oh, everybody does, but yours is quite special." 

Naoki refused to ask what. She'd played enough into the Queen's hands already. 

The Queen pouted. "Not talking? No matter, I'll tell you anyway.

"You're my little chosen one. I've watched you, Naoki, I've kept my eye on you. You found your way here at the age of six. The youngest person to ever enter the Mirage, I'll tell you. Most of your age wander halfway, to the Oasis." 

"The Oasis?" 

"A discussion for later, if you agree to my terms," she waved it away, like a pesky fly. "Nonetheless,  you were born to live here. It's quite evident in the nature of your life. You thrive here, Naoki. You could've risen easily to the rank of General, maybe even Queen of the Keepers." 

"I don't want power," Naoki said steadily. "It corrupts and corrodes. I'd rather have my friends and--" 

"And what, your boyfriend?" The Queen gave her such a soft look of pity, Naoki almost felt tears at her own eyes. "Ex boyfriend? The one who isn't coming for you? Naoki, as much as you paint yourself the martyr, we all want to be saved. We all want someone to rely on us, and we all want to rely on someone." 

Naoki turned her head, clenching her jaw. 

"Here is my tip to you, for free," the Queen said sweetly. "Learn to rely on only yourself. The rest of the world will disappoint. Only you know your limits, and so you shall never be disappointed by your own shortcomings. You can only expand. That's what I did, and look where I am now." 

She spread her arms, shadows peeling from her limbs in a draping gown. 

Naoki glared at her. "A tyrant and a monster who murders and controls innocent people?" 

"A leader who does what she must, and takes what she wants, because the world will never give it to people like her," the Queen said viciously. "We will never be given anything, we will never be loved for being ourselves. We will always have to work for the approval of others. But why have approval, when you can have fear? And control? They don't need to love you, only to respect you. And nothing breeds respect better than fear." 

"Fear creates resentment," Naoki countered. "Regimes fall, empires crumble. What makes you so different?" 

The Queen smiled, eyes flattened like a happy cat's. "Why, darling, I have you." 

Naoki's heart dropped. 

"My darling spy, the key to this turning, churning mechanism," the Queen sang. "You'll be my little wrench in their gears, the kingpin to the stack. You have power beyond your belief, darling. If only you would let me unlock it." 

Naoki sneered, her temper returning. "I'd never trust you. You hurt innocent people." 

"Innocence is fake," the Queen spat. "Nobody is innocent, nobody ever will be. We all have a hand in the destruction of the world." 

"So what, you take control of the world, and then what? You rule as pretty little princess on the hill?" Naoki taunted. "People like you always want more." 

"I want nothing more than that," the Queen said lightly. "I want to show people peace. Harmony. Coexisting with Damia and Phantoms and Keepers alike. I want to heal the rips in Mirage, to seal up those black holes that eat away at our world. I want to restore the buildings and make them beautiful again. I want healing, Naoki. What do you want?" 

"I want to bash you in the face with my elbow," she replied. 

The Queen sighed. "Darling, this tough girl act is getting old." 

She waved her hand, and smoke congealed. When it cleared, Illias was in her grasp, grunting through a gag and trying to wrench away. 

Naoki jolted up. "Illias!" 

He screamed at her, shaking his head, eyes wide. 

She struggled towards him. "Illias! Illias what happened, are you okay--" 

Her fingers closed on empty air. The phantom image of Illias, gone. 

Naoki whirled, a tear streaking down her cheek. "What did you do to him?" 

"Nothing. Yet," the Queen leered, curling a bit of smoke around her fingers. "Here's my little secret, Naoki. Lean in close." 

Naoki shook, clenching her fists. 

"I have all the power. I have the resources. I could decimate your Keeper army. Mutual destruction is assured, of course. My Damia would not survive a fight like that. But you are enough to tip the scales, to save a thousand lives. With you at my side, we would win with the least amount of deaths possible," she soothed. "The humane way." 

"How, exactly, will you do that? The power of love and friendship?" she scathed. 

"The power of blood and sacrifice," the Queen corrected. "But close enough. Now, here's your ultimatum. You work with me, and you save your friends. You save Illias, precious boy that he is. I approve of that one, you know." 

"Or?" Naoki ignored her, glaring. 

"Or you don't work with me. I kill your friends one by one until you agree to do so," the Queen shrugged, kicking a pebble with her shoe. "Either way, I win. In only one scenario do you lose. So what will it be, Naoki? Your pride, or your people?" 

HE ALWAYS TOLD HER SHE HAD TOO MUCH PRIDE. When Naoki refused to admit she'd lost in a debate over math to a seventh grader, Illias had laughed so hard he needed a glass of water to speak. At first, it had been charming. His stubborn beautiful girl who was always right, even when she wasn't. 

Their first fight had been about her pride. 

"I already apologised! What more do you want from me?" Naoki demanded, pulse rushing. 

"You did not! You said you felt bad that I was hurting, that's not an apology!" Illias yelled, banging his fist on the wall. "God, Naoki, you're so prideful. Just admit you did something wrong!" 

"Oh, and you didn't?" 

"I did, goddamnit, but I already said so! I know I'm an asshole to you, I'm trying not to be! But you can't even apologise for abandoning me at the mall! I walked three hours home, Naoki. Three hours. My feet bled!" he cried. 

"Next time, don't fuck with me," she seethed. "Don't brush me off like I'm some plaything that you can ignore when you want." 

"I said I was sorry, Jesus!" 

"Clearly you're not anymore!" 

"You never were in the first place!" 

"Fuck this." 

"You can't just walk away-- Naoki--" Illias chased after her, but the door was already slamming in his face. 

"I HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT," Naoki concluded reluctantly, sinking back against the wall. 

"Oh, take your time love. Well, not all the time. About three days. Three's a lovely number," the Queen hummed. "Just know who's fault it is if your friends start to scream, their fingers chopped off, their eyeballs ripped out..." 

Naoki gritted her teeth. "Okay. Got it." 

The Queen waved her hand, and her legs began melting into black, the shadows reclaiming her. She smiled encouragingly. "Think about it, darling. I trust you'll make the right decision." 

"Am I still your prisoner? Or your princess?" Naoki called after her. 

The Queen smiled, teeth black. "Aren't they a bit of the same thing?" 

"You're going to keep me here?" Naoki gestured to the shattered glass, the strewn about racks and knocked over shelves. 

The Queen paused in her dissolving. "You make a fair point. Fine. Fifth floor, the Camp store. They've got a cute little slide that would do nicely as a bed." 

Naoki watched the Queen sink up to her stomach. "I have free reign over the mall, then? No creepy Damia touching me?" 

The Queen smiled, her neck lapping with black. "That's right." 

Naoki turned, thinking, her mind churning. She could escape, she could get away. Now was her chance. 

"Oh, but darling?" The Queen called, and Naoki turned, tensed. 

"Don't forget, I'm quite the deadly woman. So if you even think about leaving? Then your precious Illias is a dead man." 

She sank through the ground, and Naoki could still hear her laughter, scraping through her eardrums. 

author's note! 

i love naoki. baby o' mine <3 

happy three chapters in a row!