Strong themes of torture in the first section of this chapter. Read at your own risk.

How unusual. He'd been in this room many times — to have it used against him in this way was quite the surprise. Nyais was chained up in his own basement, his own interrogatory devices lined up before him, but in the hands of another.

"Do you even know how to use those, Aytsa?" Nyais laughed bitterly. Aytsa picked one of them up - it was a small black box-looking thing.

"This exudes an electrical current, doesn't it?" Aytsa questioned, waving it about a bit, before placing it down and picking up something else - a thin blade attached to two handles. "This is for peeling off skin... wow Nyais, you have quite a collection of strange items. I wonder who you've used them on," he giggled. Nyais grimaced. "What, are you ashamed?" No answer greeted him. He rolled his eyes, before picking up a scoop-like object and sniggering once more.

"Is this what you used on Rayne? For his eyes, I mean..." he smirked. Nyais shook his head. Aytsa frowned and placed it down. "Did you always torture the people you liked?" he questioned. Nyais narrowed his eyes.

"I hate him."

"Course ya do," Aytsa rolled his eyes, his lips still upturned, "so... you ever thought about using any of these on [Y/n]?" he mumbled. Nyais rolled his eyes at the statement, not wanting to show weakness of emotion in front of Aytsa despite how much he wanted to scream at him for even thinking such a thing.

"Don't confuse me for Rayne," Nyais laughed plainly. "I'm nothing like him."

"I wonder how your pain tolerances compare?" Aytsa smiled. "Rayne says he didn't even scream when you removed his eyes." Nyais couldn't stop the goosebumps that quickly spread across his skin at the mention of the incident. Through everything that Nyais had done to him, Rayne hadn't cried or screamed once. He'd stayed silent the whole time. The guilt now ate away at Nyais for what he'd done — in a way, he realised how much he deserved what was happening to him now. But why now of all times? Why not when [Y/n] was safe...?

"You'll be happy to know that mine is much lower than Rayne's," Nyais laughed dully, though the laugh turned into a small cough. Aytsa raised a brow.

"I find it funny how people cough when they're scared. Have you ever noticed it?" he asked. Nyais shook his head. "I guess that makes sense... you're not very smart for King Regent, are you?"

"Now that you boys know what King Regent means, you can't seem to stop throwing it about in every other sentence," Nyais rolled his eyes.

"Well it's an interesting fact!" Aytsa grinned. "I mean, if you're King Regent, then the King can't be all that great and mighty, can he?" Aytsa smiled. "After all; I wouldn't say you're particularly strong."

"You haven't fought me," Nyais shrugged. "And if you're really using that as a way of determining how strong the king is, don't. If I tried to fight Olli, I'd be dead within a second. He's on a different level entirely," Nyais shrugged.

"What a shame," Aytsa pouted, shaking his head, before his eyes gleamed. "Oh! I just remembered something. I found this when you were unconscious," he hummed, picking up a bucket. "Look at it! Isn't it cool? When I first found it I was so confused... I thought 'I wonder what those spikes on the rim are for' and 'how come there's blood inside the bucket but not outside?' Oh! And why does it smell so weird?" Aytsa placed the bucket down in front of him. "Anyway, I took the bucket to Rayne because I was curious, and he told me that you put rats in it!"

He picked up a cage of rats and placed them next to the bucket. He giggled as he watched Nyais go slightly paler than usual.

"It's a good job the dungeons are infested with these lovely little critters," Aytsa smiled, placing his hand in the cage to rub the head of one of the rats, though he quickly drew his hand away when the rat nipped at him. "Hmm... this one's a little feisty," he shrugged, before closing the cage again and smiling over at Nyais. "So, Rayne told me that once you put the rats in the bucket," he began, nonchalantly pouring the rats into the bucket, "these little spikes are there to attach the bucket to you," he grinned, picking up the bucket of rats and walking over to Nyais, kneeling in front of him and - with one swift movement - impaling the spikes on the rim of the bucket into Nyais' chest. Nyais let out an agonised groan, though not quite a scream. Aytsa then picked up some rope, tying the bucket in place as the spikes that impaled Nyais threatened to simply tear through him.

"But the bit that I found most interesting," Aytsa smiled, walking to the other side of the basement behind Nyais, "was what happens to the bucket after it's attached." The sound of something hot behind him caused Nyais to gulp sharply. "The burnt metal on the bottom of the bucket made me wonder," he smiled, walking back over with a red hot poker.

"If I place this on the bottom of the bucket, what do you think might happen?" Aytsa questioned, taking a step closer, before allowing the metal rod to touch the bottom of the bucket. Immediately did the rats begin to attempt their escape; right through Nyais' chest.

* * *

The room was silent. Seishin had carried Laion to Rayne's apartment after the incident, leaving [Y/n] with Draka (despite not wanting to). Rayne had seemed surprised to see Laion in the state he was in, though he didn't say a word. Now they were in his medical office and Rayne had just finished patching Laion up. Finally did Rayne make a noise; his silence had really set Seishin on edge.

"Whoever stabbed him definitely didn't know how to hold a knife," Rayne said finally, "if they'd been trying to kill him, their aim was terrible." He paused. "Was it [Y/n]?" Seishin nodded. "What did he do?"

"Pretty sure he drugged her water and she stabbed him just after realising," Seishin muttered, his voice quieter than usual as he glanced over at the unconscious boy on Rayne's table. He was scared of Rayne. Anyone in their right mind was scared of Rayne. Sometimes even Rayne was scared of Rayne.

A smirk formed on the raven haired man's face as he read Seishin like a book. "What do you think of Laion?" he asked.

"He's annoying," Seishin responded instinctively, "but useful."

"Useful... yes, that's how I'd put it too," Rayne muttered, the smirk now leaving his face as he walked over to Laion. "He does the things you need him to do without much question. Even if he has his own motives, he's always discrete about them. Clean, in a way," Rayne continued. "Which makes him all the more... pathetic. He doesn't show any drive or ambition. He's happy staying how he is."

"I disagree," Seishin responded. Rayne raised a brow. "Laion is ambitious, but he saves all his ambition for [Y/n]." Seishin's eyes narrowed. "It's annoying."

"To you, I suppose it would be," Rayne shrugged. He brushed his lab coat, frowning at the blood stains that covered it yet again. Always so messy. He loved the mess, but when it was on him it felt... misplaced.

"Why did you ask?" Seishin questioned.

"Because I'm thinking about killing him," Rayne admitted, cracking his neck. Seishin's eyes widened. "Your reaction suggests that you don't want me to do that," Rayne laughed dryly, pulling his scalpel from his pocket. Seishin tensed, though he couldn't hide his surprise when Rayne extended the handle towards him. Hesitantly, he took it. "It's up to you. Decide whether you need him or not; if you don't, you can kill him for me. I have enough blood on me as it is," Rayne grimaced. Seishin hesitated before walking over to Laion.

He stood there for a long while, his mind racing. He lowered the scalpel. His eyes went from their usual bright blue hues to dull shells of their former selves. He pulled the scalpel back a little, before—

"Don't." Rayne's voice interrupted Seishin as he held the scalpel to Laion's throat. "Don't move an inch," Rayne added. Out of the corner of Seishin's eye, he could tell that Rayne was pointing something at him. "I didn't think you'd actually try..." he tailed off, before a light laugh escaped him. "Turn around." Seishin did so, his facial expression suddenly turning pale. He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Was Rayne going to kill him for making the 'wrong decision'?

"You really are cold," Rayne giggled, taking a step closer to Seishin, placing the barrel of the gun against Seishin's head. "You know what this is?" Seishin nodded slowly. "And you know that if I shoot you right now, you'll die?" Seishin nodded again. "Good. Now pass the scalpel to me," he commanded, and Seishin did so without question. Rayne removed the gun from Seishin's head, before placing it in his jacket. "I never took you for someone who'd kill someone in their sleep," Rayne laughed.

"That was one big experiment to you, wasn't it?" Seishin growled out. Rayne shrugged.

"I wouldn't say a big experiment. I just wanted to prove a little hypothesis of mine, though you gave me surprising results. I thought you only came across as cutthroat though truly had alliances with the other boys, but it seems you really do only care about [Y/n]. You were going to kill him so he wouldn't be an obstacle anymore, weren't you?" Rayne smirked. Seishin shrugged.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," he muttered.

"That attitude will surely get you killed, Seishin," Rayne shrugged, patting where he'd placed his gun, "especially if the other person has a gun." Seishin rolled his eyes, before seating himself next to Laion. "Do you really think you deserve to sit there after what you just pulled?" Seishin shrugged.

"When he wakes up I want to tell him that I nearly killed him," Seishin said plainly, "so that he can be grateful for the fact that he's still alive."

"Mercenary, but I understand," Rayne shook his head. "Well I guess now that I know you want to kill my apprentice, I can't leave this room, so why don't you help me with something?" Rayne questioned. Seishin raised a brow. "It's not another test, don't worry," he laughed, walking over to an area hidden behind a curtain, pulling the curtain back to reveal a hospital bed. Another unconscious patient resided there. Seishin grimaced at the state he was in. He was completely scorched, his skin peeling off.

"What on earth did that to him?" Seishin questioned.

"Dragons," Rayne responded, "nasty little things. Have you seen one yet?" he questioned. Seishin shook his head. "Lucky. They're not what they're made out to be, though, so people don't realise it's a dragon until it's too late. They look like scaled ponies, and are about the size of them too," Rayne explained, "but get too close and they'll incinerate you. This guy's unlucky. He's gonna look like a walking pizza slice for the rest of his life," Rayne laughed, beckoning Seishin forwards. "Ever bandaged a wound?" Seishin shook his head. "Right. Maybe it'd be better for you to just put some salve on him, then," he hummed.

"You don't think I can bandage a wound?" Seishin rolled his eyes.

"You're too impatient to do it well," Rayne returned. Seishin clenched his fist, spinning around to face Rayne.

"You can't call me impatient!" Seishin snapped, snatching the salve from Rayne's hand. Rayne looked down at his empty hand, then at the salve, as though saying 'oh really?' Seishin bit back another insult, instead removing the lid of the jar of salve and beginning to work on the wounds. It was clear to Rayne that Seishin was only doing this out of fear, though it made his job easier so he didn't really care.

After about ten minutes of working salve into the random person who's life Seishin couldn't give less of a shit about, a small snigger sounded from behind them. Seishin turned around to see Laion sitting up (wincing in pain as he did so), watching Seishin with an amused look on his face. "Rayne, how'd you get Seishin to slave after you?" he asked. Seishin shot Laion a glare.

"Not sure. I don't think Sei likes guns," Rayne laughed. Seishin then turned to point his glare at Rayne for thinking he'd just accept a nickname, but Rayne sent him a warning look in return that made Seishin avert his gaze.

"You threatened him with a gun?" Laion questioned, seeming a little surprised, "I thought you reserved that for Aytsa?" he laughed, though it sounded slightly nervous. On closer inspection, Seishin noticed that Laion seemed to have the same fear in his eyes as he did, though he was just more natural around Rayne and, subsequently, better at not showing it.

"I wasn't the only one who got threatened," Rayne hummed, going back to his patient as he paved the way for Seishin to confess to what he'd been willing to do.

"Y-yeah," Seishin stuttered. It turns out he'd changed his mind. He didn't want to confess, after all.