The soft sensation of a feather duvet greeted [Y/n]; a mumble left the sleeping female as she snuggled into whatever warmth was by her side, though the sound of a chuckle caused her eyes to flick open. There was something in front of [Y/n]. She peered up to inspect what it was, before shuffling back as far as she could without falling off the bed.

"Good evening," Seishin hummed. Evening? But it felt like morning. Ah, fuck it, there's no windows— it could be anything! But never mind that.

"Why— why was? Why were you— why was I?" she couldn't quite word the question, but she pulled the duvet closer to herself embarrassedly.

"Why were you hugging me?" Seishin finished her question with an amused smile on his face. "Good question. Why were you hugging me?" [Y/n] crossed her arms over her chest and sent him a glare, which was returned with blue eyes brimming with entertainment. The young [h/c] haired female did not share Seishin's joy, however. When [Y/n] didn't give him any response, Seishin leaned his head back, his medium-length blonde hair seeming to have a light static effect against the wall. "Someone's worked out you're here," he frowned, staring at the door. Exactly on queue, three angry knocks sounded.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us you'd found her?" an angered voice yelled out; [Y/n] noted it was Draka's. She got up from her place in Seishin's bed as a) she didn't want to be there anyway and b) she really didn't want to see bloodshed over Draka getting the wrong idea or something. Seishin glanced over to her, amusement returning to his usually contemptuous gaze in response to her actions, before his expression neutralised. He stood up and walked over to his door, unlocking it. Draka stared at him for a long moment before his eyes clocked onto [Y/n] in the background.

"Seishin?" Draka began, his gaze dark. Seishin leaned back.

"Wha—" he hadn't been given the chance to finish his 'what' as Draka's balled up fist made a harsh collision with his lower jaw. The blonde staggered back, his eyes widening and filling with malignity. [Y/n] watched in shock. With Seishin cradling his jaw and wiping the blood off his bust lip, Draka brushed past him and made a beeline for [Y/n].

"What did he do to you?" he asked, his voice demanding but worried at the same time.

"Nothi—"

"Don't defend him, [Y/n]," Draka muttered, his voice harsher this time. His red eyes held a certain coldness and gravity to them that made [Y/n] shudder. He seriously looked ready to tear Seishin apart. Once Seishin had a chance to heal himself to the point where he could talk, a smirk ran across his features.

"Really? You think I'd inflict harm on—" he seemed to want to use a pet name, but the only nickname he'd given her was moth, and in the back of his mind he clocked on to the fact that [Y/n] probably wasn't overly flattered by it. He stopped and Draka gestured him to continue but he clearly wasn't going to. Even without the final part of his sentence, both of the other individuals in the room understood what he had meant.

"Yes, I do," Draka retorted darkly, "you've done shit before for no reason. And—" he paused, "and I heard about Erel from Jay, so I went to check... I feared you'd be doing something similar to [Y/n]," he confessed. At the mention of Erel, [Y/n] went tense. What sort of suffering was he going through just for having talked to her? At her thought, Seishin glanced down at her and smirked.

"You can see him if you'd like," he responded. Draka narrowed his eyes at Seishin's words. Though the brunet didn't agree with Seishin's sadistic way of dealing with the situation, he did agree that the person who wished [Y/n] good luck on her escape deserved to die. Though Draka certainly wouldn't have thrown him the fate of being shredded by starving dogs. To Seishin's surprise, [Y/n] didn't respond to his offer with outright objection.

She wanted to apologise. Seishin picked up on this and looked over at Draka.

"We'll discuss affairs after I've taken [Y/n] to see the consequences of her actions," he said shortly, now almost fully healed from the nasty punch he'd received. He'd fractured his jaw, but luckily that didn't take long to heal at all.

"I'm coming with you," Draka muttered insistently. Seishin rolled his eyes but ultimately nodded his head, figuring the individual before him wasn't going to take no for an answer. Seishin looked over at [Y/n], his gaze growing thoughtful for a second, before he walked over to his wardrobe. Inside the wardrobe were very few changes of clothes, however books piled upon books filled the space. From the far end of the wardrobe Seishin removed a long, black trench coat which [Y/n] didn't know he had and had never seen him wear before- the boys tended to stick to their usual clothes, very rarely displaying any change. He walked over to [Y/n] and passed it to her, causing the female to furrow her brows in confusion.

"It's cold in the dungeons," Seishin said shortly, before walking over to his door, not bothering to check if anyone was following. [Y/n] hurriedly threw the coat over herself, before following quickly after Seishin. She glanced back to see where Draka was, jumping in surprise when he revealed himself to be right behind her.

"If you're scared, you don't have to stay," he said quietly. [Y/n] paused before nodding her head. Though she tried to put on a brave front, she was terrified of what she'd see. Still, it was her fault that the man she'd met - Erel - was suffering and she needed to apologise. She couldn't live with herself if she was given the opportunity to but didn't take it up.

[Y/n] continued to follow Seishin down the hall, her heart rate quickening when he paused in front of the door to fish his keys out of his pocket. When he pulled them out, he turned to look at [Y/n] with an unnervingly empty gaze.

"If you try to run away, I'll lock you in with Erel," he said simply. The almost bored look on his face suggested he wasn't joking. It was weird to see him absent of his usual smugness— he looked colder without it. Less predictable. And, strangely, he looked much sadder. Though [Y/n] chose not to pay mind to Seishin's expression and instead focused on the threat. As much as she wanted to run, she knew Draka and Seishin would be on much higher alert than usual and she just couldn't risk it. Plus, she didn't want to spend an evening with ravenous dogs tearing at her flesh.

She was sure Erel didn't want to, either.

The door clicked open and Seishin went first, waiting momentarily at the other side for [Y/n], before setting off at his usual brisk pace when she'd exited. The trench coat was warm — for where they were currently, too warm — but [Y/n] decided wearing it was better than carrying it around awkwardly. Draka increased his pace slightly to walk beside [Y/n] instead of behind her. He glanced over, about to say something, though he quickly held his tongue.

As they walked, [Y/n] spotted that painting again. She froze in her tracks and stared over at Nyais' door. Seishin stopped walking and turned around to watch her — he didn't hurry her as she'd expected him to. Instead he just looked curious. [Y/n] looked down at the floor anterior to looking over at the painting again. So weirdly familiar...

"That's Asrin, Kori's father," Seishin explained, causing [Y/n]'s lips to part slightly in realisation. Yes, that made sense. They looked strikingly alike... how hadn't she seen it previously? She looked over at Seishin.

"Do you all know your fathers?" she asked. Seishin shook his head.

"Kori, Laion, Mitzu and I have met our fathers. Aytsa and Draka still don't know who theirs are," he shrugged, "but I remember Nyais alluding to the idea that all, or at least most, of our fathers are famous elites." He looked over at Draka with a partial growl. "I wouldn't be surprised if your father was a simple worker, though." The boy lifted his head sharply, his red eyes glowering into Seishin's. Seishin held his stare for a while, before looking away out of boredom and continuing to walk. [Y/n] continued after Seishin with a sigh, though she turned to look at Draka. Her eyes were filled with sympathy but only momentarily as he caught her gaze with a look of surprise, which caused [Y/n] to turn away and inwardly scold herself.

Seeing the look of commiseration in [Y/n]'s gaze brought a tiny smile to Draka's face, though he settled it quickly as to not seem overly sentimental.

The three continued down confusing corridors for a while before reaching the doors to the dungeons. The moment they arrived, the doors swung open and a rather annoyed man in a tailored red shirt and black tailored trousers exited. He brushed his long, silver hair behind him and glared back at the woman who was following behind him. He seemed as though he were about to yell something, though his eyes caught onto the trio who were about to ask the guards for entrance and he halted. The woman behind him, her short black hair messy and clinging to the slight sweat on her face, blinked in surprise at the girl her eyes rested on.

"The human girl Nyais was with..." she tailed off. [Y/n] took a moment to register who she was, her face strikingly familiar, before remembering the woman she'd bumped into when she first left the house with Nyais.

"Mira," [Y/n] dipped her head. She then turned to the man she was beside. Yet again, [Y/n] struggled to place a name to the man before her, but he'd seemed familiar too... and then she turned to notice Seishin and Draka with their heads bowed and their hands to their chests. Her eyes widened as she clocked onto just who this strange man was and she cursed herself for not recognising him sooner — was it the shirt? Maybe it'd been too long since their first and most recent encounter- her brain really didn't want to do her any services today. She quickly curtsied, not quite sure what to do. Glancing up at the king, he watched her with a curious gaze, before simply dipping his head and walking away.

[Y/n] wondered whether she should call out to him. Rayne's words echoed in her head again, but listening to that psycho was really one of the last things she wanted to do.

"Wait!" Mira called as she chased after him, her eyes narrowed and pace brisk, though Olli didn't do anything that suggested he would give her the time of day.

[Y/n] then glanced over to Draka, who seemed unsure and quite shocked. Seishin, too.

"Was that your first time seeing him?" one of the guards asked amusedly, grabbing a huge set of keys from his pocket to lock the door after the trio used the door. Draka and Seishin slowly dipped their heads in affirmation and the guard then turned to look at [Y/n]. He didn't say anything to her. It hadn't taken long for the rumour to spread about the boys' overprotectiveness of this human, and — thanks to their prestigious heritage — no one really fancied getting on their bad side. It was perhaps one of the first times a group of individuals had earned a reputation so fast. The other guard pushed open one of the doors again, holding it open to allow them entrance.

Seishin dipped his head to the guard and took [Y/n]'s hand, pulling her along behind him. The action surprised her a little and she tensed up, though Seishin didn't slow his pace to give her a chance to think about it. [Y/n] also didn't have a chance to turn around and look at Draka, but the boy's footsteps had gotten a little heavier so she assumed he wasn't too happy with what Seishin was doing.

There were stairs. A huge spiral of stairs. Torches lit the walls, though it was dim.

"If there are too many stairs for you, I can carry you down," Draka offered. [Y/n] turned to look at him; he wore a small smile on his face, though his eyes didn't have that light they used to hold when he was younger. [Y/n] glanced over at Seishin who let go of her hand. He was glaring at Draka, though no words left him. [Y/n] had picked up on a clear difference in temperature after the door had shut behind them. She pulled the trench coat a little closer to her, letting out a small exhale. Though she couldn't see her breath, it was chilly. Unbeknownst to her, it would only get colder as they descended.

Seishin once again led them down the stairs, his stride confident yet notably careful. They walked down the stairs for ages, and at one point Seishin's pace seemed to falter as though he was remembering something, though he pushed whatever it had been away and continued. Draka seemed to have noticed this as his brow quirked curiously. He stayed close by [Y/n]'s side, his peripheral vision fixed on her to make sure she didn't fall. And if she did, to make sure he was there to catch her.

Ten minutes, maybe longer, of walking passed. Finally they were at the bottom of the stairs and now [Y/n] watched her breath swirl in a silvery cloud before her. There was a long corridor, many doors stemming from it. [Y/n] looked at Seishin and Draka in confusion. Seishin glanced back at her before making his way down the corridor and stopping at the fifth door in, taking the key off the hook beside it and unlocking the door. He stepped inside and beckoned for Draka and [Y/n] to follow.

It was then that [Y/n] heard the sobbing— or should I say choking, for the sound was guttural and it appeared as though he were drowning. She froze before walking through the door, though not for long

The smell. She placed her hand over her mouth and staggered back a few paces into the hallway again. Rotting. Like three year old eggs after being cracked against a wall, but worse. Like the week-old, infected, decaying carcass of a dead animal after being mauled by a carrion crow, but worse. [Y/n] could only describe the smell as pure misery and suffering. Draka stared over at her before looking back at Seishin. His eyes narrowed.

"I knew this was a bad idea," he muttered, noting the deathly paleness of [Y/n]'s face. Seishin didn't speak, however. He watched [Y/n] and raised an eyebrow.

"You wanted to see Erel, did you not?" he questioned. [Y/n] looked down, taking a deep breath, before dipping her head. She tried to push through the barrier of scent and sound. It was like walking through a thick, viscous swamp of mud. Though the mud was in her mind, it didn't make getting through it any less difficult.

Finally she stepped through the door for the second time and glanced over to the first cell. Five dogs laid in the back of the cell. They seemed to be sleeping. Her eyes drifted over to a figure tied to a chair, coated in blood, sobbing and shaking; the man who'd done nothing more than wish her luck. [Y/n]'s lips parted so she could speak the apology she'd so desperately wanted to offer, though no sounds left her other than a sharp gasp for air. That was enough for Erel's gaze to snap up to the new presence in the room. His eyes widened, though he didn't speak. Seishin raised a brow at [Y/n].

"Are you just going to stare at him?" he questioned. She looked down, before slowly turning her gaze up to him.

"Let me go in there—"

"No fucking way!" Draka cut in, his eyes wide as he stared over at Seishin, who didn't seem nearly as opposed to the idea. [Y/n]'s eyes met Erel's. They looked dull now, not bright like they had been. Less than a sliver of their former beauty. He seemed to look pleading, though he didn't dare voice it.

"Go ahead," Seishin contradicted, taking a key from a key-safe and unlocking the cell door. He gestured for her to go over to it but Draka grabbed her arm before she could.

"No. Come on [Y/n], we're leaving," he hissed over his shoulder at Seishin. [Y/n] snatched her hand back, however, and — much to Draka's dismay — she walked over to the cell and pushed open the door. The dogs all raised their heads at her and she gulped, though carefully she shut the door behind her. She took soft, quiet steps over to Erel.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He hung his head and didn't respond. She waited for a little bit, but after understanding he wouldn't say anything, she dipped her head and turned her attention to the dogs. She began to walk over to them. One raised its hackles, the others watched warily. She eventually sat down before them, before slowly and shakily extending her hand for the closest one to sniff.

Craning its long, boney neck forwards, the mongrel began to sniff at her hand. It got to its feet and walked closer to her, sniffing her arms, stomach, face, back and hair. Seishin and Draka watched in surprise and amazement - in Draka's case, also in relief. The dog sat before her and [Y/n] reached out her hand to touch its head, her movements slow so the dog could see she was no threat. The dog flinched at the contact, but as [Y/n] softly rubbed its head and calmed it down, it seemed not to be as tense. Then it's tail began to wag back and forth and it's tongue began to loll.

She got to her feet, the dog now pressing itself close to her, and walked over to Erel. She furrowed her brow.

"Did you not... um, turn into a bat? T-to get out of the chair?" she questioned. He slowly turned his gaze up to her before shaking his head. She hesitantly nodded hers, before looking over at Seishin and Draka. Neither made a move to stop her when she untied him from the chair or his bounds. They knew he was too weak to kill the dogs and frankly they didn't really care. Whatever [Y/n] thought she was going to achieve, it was pointless in their eyes.

"Dogs are very loyal," [Y/n] began quietly as she looked over to Erel. She got to her knees and extended her hand to the dog she'd just been with and watched as it plodded over to her and began to lick her arm. Erel furrowed his brow in shock at how the dog wasn't biting her, and strangely now it didn't seem to want to bite him either. "When I was younger, we used to have a dog," she smiled sadly, "a Rottweiler. They're big and lots of people are scared of them... on top of that, we adopted him from a shelter. Apparently he'd been a fighting dog but they'd managed to rescue him. And of course, with that history, all he wanted to do was tear people to shreds." Erel listened carefully, and as did Seishin and Draka.

"What of it...?" Erel questioned, staring down at the dog with fear in his eyes.

"These dogs were once domesticated, I'm sure of it," [Y/n] whispered, "but now they're scared and hungry. Though dogs are loyal, as I said, and if you learn to not fear them and bond with them then they won't hurt you." Erel clearly didn't believe a word of what she was saying. Bond with a dog? A beast like that? It was impossible. Though notably the girl didn't shake like she did when she first entered the room. She seemed calmer. Then, she whistled. The other dogs in the room all shot to attention and a small smile formed on her lips. A couple walked over to join the dog that was still licking her arm. They sniffed her, before settling beside her calmly. The one who had raised its hackles before now watched from the shadows with relative indifference, having dismissed her as a threat. She beckoned for Erel to sit beside her, which hesitantly he did.

"Put out your hand like this," she whispered, holding out her hand in front of one of the dogs. He followed suit and [Y/n] retracted her hand, watching as the dog turned to smell Erel. He clearly tensed up, though relaxed when he still had his fingers. [Y/n] realised there were deep scars all over him. It looked like he'd lost all his limbs, only for his healing ability to cause them to grow back so he could lose them again. She almost shuddered at the thought, but she didn't want Erel to think she was scared. After the dog had sniffed him for a while, [Y/n] reached her hand out to pat the animal's head. Her affection was received with great happiness. The dog panted and pressed into her— though it reeked of blood and decay, [Y/n] pushed down the bile that rose in her throat and continued to shower the animal with affection. Erel watched in awe.

"They must've been treated really badly before being let in here... dogs like this aren't killing machines. They're warm and affectionate... I knew the moment that I saw them." She paused. This could've been very different if she'd been wrong in her assumption about them having previously been domesticated, though thankfully she was still in one piece.

She was jolted back to attention by the sound of clapping from outside the cell. Both she and Erel stared over at Seishin with a degree of fear in their eyes.

"That was excellent," Seishin praised, "I hadn't any idea dogs could be won over so easily. You're truly a natural with animals, [Y/n]," he smirked. "Though sadly, thanks to this turn of events, Erel will have to move on to his next stage of reprisal earlier than expected." Draka furrowed his brow, not quite understanding what Seishin was talking about. [Y/n] looked at Erel with the same level of confusion; he turned to face her with a sad smile on his lips.

"He means he's going to kill me," he explained plainly, looking down.

"Kill... you?" [Y/n] echoed, before turning around and looking at Seishin with a dark expression. "No! No, you can't!" she yelled out, taking a step closer to Erel. "I won't let you!"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, moth," he smirked. There was a sharp pain in [Y/n]'s arm followed by an intense wave of dizziness. The girl fell to her knees, a couple of the dogs running over to her in confusion. Then, everything faded to black.