CASPIAN THE SLAVE

"Diane."

Deven muttered as she walked up to the hovering abomination. The thing was repulsive in every sense of the word but Deven gazed upon it with so much love it was mind-boggling. 

The abomination meanwhile seemed to care very little. Its eyes were white and beady, focused solely on its small palms which were stuck in a way that could only suggest some invisible ball was held within.

The lanky black hair that hovered around the grotesque infant was a sore sight but Deven didn't seem bothered.

Makima seeing this turned to the nurse as she said;

"How do we… bring her back?"

The nurse chuckled for a bit. Her laugh was loud and exaggerated. 

"You mean to de-monsterise her? Well let's see the boy you promised then we'll talk."

She turned away immediately after. Heading for the other side of the room. 

Makima first glanced back at Deven as she stared at her sister with wet eyes, before turning her attention back to the nurse. 

"What do you mean?

She asked hastening her steps so she could catch up with the nurse.

"I mean just that."

"And how do I trust you'll keep your word when I bring the boy?"

Makima asked her purple eyes glistening like amethyst gems. 

"You don't. That's the only option you have."

Her words were arrogant and smug but Makima could not refute them. After all the nurse was right… they really were desperate and they couldn't hide it. 

The situation her clan– and by association her person, we're currently in was depressing. To the point that she had reason to believe that one wrong move and her whole clan would crumble, which would honestly hurt the rest of the world more than it thinks. 

'Humanity losing one of its most renowned pillars– The ivory clan, to something as petty as– whatever the government probably tries to paint this whole thing as, would be truly depressing.'

Makima thought to herself. 

"And what if I walk?"

Makima asked, yes her clan was in no position to make demands or threats. With the sort of hold these people had over them they couldn't act out. But that didn't mean Makima would just sit there and take it lying down.

Given the circumstances, she held an advantage. They were currently in the base with their mission objective– Diane. So they already had all they needed. 

Caspian as much as they would've loved to get their hands on, belonged to the nurse and her unknown associate. 

She had first been tasked to use her power to try and overthrow the boy's mind but after the threat and letter, Makima and her clan had no choice but to comply.

But at the end of the day, she was still in control of his mind, although she was still struggling for absolute control over it. She knew the more time passed the more powerful her ability would become. When the crown forms completely Caspian's mind would be hers.

'So really what if I walked.'

Makima thought as she glanced at the nurse and the smirk she had plastered on her face. She was gorgeous, with red lips and enthralling eyes. 

She soon said;

"Well, you can certainly try. But I'll rip you to shreds before you even get five feet from me. And even if you by some miracle make it past me, the horrors slumbering throughout the tunnel would certainly finish up from where I left off."

Makima held her gaze, seemingly unmoved by the obvious threat. After a bit, the nurse's smile only grew wider as she turned and walked away leaving Makima to stand on her own.

The young prodigy had a stern look on her face as she considered her options. 

She couldn't deny that she and Deven were cornered from every direction. But in the end, she was still in control of a Red Calamity. The thing every single clan including the government was fighting for absolute control over.

All she needed to do was stall for a bit. 

"What do we do now?"

Deven asked as she walked in from behind. 

"Caspian."

Makima answered.

"What do you mean?"

Makima didn't answer instead she continued walking around the metal-plated base, gesturing for Deven to follow. 

"We do as she says, my clan would be glad as long as Diane is back in their home, where she'll be safe."

"But what of Caspian, are we really going to just leave him here?"

Deven asked with a whisper, she wanted her sister at all costs but it was easy for her to question the morality of all this.

'She was still a child after all… much like me.'

"Listen the boy has been a weapon, lab rat and slave his whole life maybe he does need a change of ownership."

"Ownership? His not some slave."

Deven refuted.

But as harsh as Makima's words may seem, she wasn't far from the truth. After all, she had watched him since her arrival at the orphanage. Tried to kill him twice and after all this it was safe to say she knew what he needed most. 

"He wasn't a slave he had the same privileges as the rest of us, more even."

Deven whispered as she followed behind her dark-haired friend. 

"So you want him to remain in the hands of the government?"

Makima asked.

"Is that so bad? I mean you are refusing to cooperate with the government and their specialist no matter what even after seeing how competent they were. We could've easily worked with them and then both sides get what they want."

Deven said a bit louder, the nurse wasn't in the room so she had the liberty to do so, and even if the nurse was here it wouldn't change much. Deven can be hot-headed like that. 

But still, Makima couldn't dispute her words, the boy had been living a deceptively mundane life to hide what they truly used him for. 

Just then Makima halted her steps and looked to the side. A metal door stood by her left several inches thick with just a palm-sized window serving as the window.

The door looked heavy even in Knights standards. It was thick and seemed unmovable which made Deven wonder what exactly had moved the door, pulling it right off its hinges. 

Before she could ask Makima spoke again. 

"The government only cares about one thing. Power. And who gets how much of it? Of course, they have to horde the most of it." 

Deven was a bit confused, when she looked inside the cell a dark sensation suddenly overcame her.

The cell was very small, too small. Disturbingly small enough for a child to barely stand and sit. 

Laying seemed impossible.

It was obviously used but now it lay completely void with only what looked to have been a white lamb sitting on the cold metal floor, with black broken chains lying around it.

"Did they?"

Deven asked and Makima slowly nodded. 

"He was barely seven. I wasn't yet tasked with protecting Diane, so I wasn't here for it. But when I came the boy seemed like only half himself and he remained that way for a while at least until the coma. And it's understandable since he spent two years of his life chained and locked in this giant metal crate."

Deven's grip on the metal wall tightened. 

"He seemed to have gained a bit of himself back after the coma though. My guess is it would probably disappear if he is left with the government."

Makima continued.

"But isn't that just taking him from one oppressor to the other?"

Deven pressed. 

"So what do you think? that the Ivory clan is any different… I was asked to break him and drag him to our clan every single month till I finally pushed him off the roof."

Devens's gaze fell for a bit before she turned to gaze at her hovering sister.

"These people had every opportunity to kidnap Caspian by force for quite some time but they seemed reluctant to use force. Their methods of obtaining Caspian might seem crude but my guess is he'll be treated way better than both the government and my clan would ever treat him. I'm tired of having to make tough calls but this is for the best."

She was honestly tired, between getting asked to kill a boy and actually doing it, Makima was tired and all she wanted now was to complete her mission and go home.

How they treated Caspian wasn't really her business, he was still a Calamity with an immeasurable body count. But she wasn't wrong that these people are much more likely to treat him better than her clan and the government.

What she needed right now was to complete her mission.

'Which means making sure I leave here with both Deven and Diane intact.'

If she wanted that then she needed absolute control over Caspian's mind and body. So with a quiet frown, she Willed further trying to suppress the mind of the young boy.

"So if your clan feels that way about Caspian, how can I trust what they think about Dia–"

"…Makima are you good?"

Deven asked with a bit of concern. Makima raised her brows at that. Deven meanwhile kept her eyes on Makima's face with her brows furrowed. Then she raised her thumb and whipped off the blood that was slowly trickling down Makima's nose. 

They both stared at the bloody thumb for a while before Makima clutched her head and let out a deafening shriek as she fell to the floor.