VI. Goldy

Two weeks after Nev left, Gwynn hadn't heard a single human utter her name once. Jen was back to his usual self. It was as if she had never existed to him at all. As they were silent about her, so too was he. He would rather not remind Jen of anyone who escaped their grasp. Gwynn received a message from Robin that Nev had made it safely to the island. He likely would never see Nev again. Much as it pained him, he was glad. He was certain he would die no freer than the day she left. It was best they never met again. He was glad to have freed her, but without her there, he felt more hopeless than before. He ate as little as possible and slept when Jen didn't want him. Morning had come upon him yet again. Gwynn stared out the window beside his bed. A dark grey sky, rolling thunder, distant lights; a storm was approaching them. He sensed Robin's magic in the wind. A gift to calm his sadness, if only briefly. Gwynn smiled. He opened the window and let the humid air fill the room. He could sense the storm would last until late into the night. The energy in the storm filled him. As he had been given life from half a snowflake, he gained strength during storms and cold weather. A blizzard could heal his wounds without him performing any magic. Though this storm was warm, the rain and lightning still had an effect on him. Robin was not as skilled at wintry magic as Gwynn. Rainstorms were the specialty of Robin and his vulpine husband. He appreciated the gift, as futile as it was. He would be just as drained by tomorrow morning. Gwynn got out of bed. Jen would be expecting him in his bedroom soon for his morning treatment. Jen and Jennifer's bedroom was not far from Gwynn's. To limit the ability of Gwynn's actual current master having access to him, Jen had arranged for Gwynn's room to be directly beside his own. He had considered at some point forcing Gwynn to live in the same room with them, but Jennifer objected. As usual, Jennifer was the first one he greeted in the morning. She was always ready for the day before Jen, who tended to linger in front of the bathroom mirror. Jennifer was in a bad mood today. She didn't return his greeting, too busy rushing toward the door. Gwynn could feel why without touching her. He stopped her. "Would you like your monthly treatment? I can tell the pain is very bad today." Gwynn said. Jennifer nodded. She looked away from him. Gwynn put his hand over her abdomen. He concentrated on her reproductive system to dull her cramps. He did this treatment for Jennifer every month. His power was more effective than any medication humans had made. As he focused on her pain, he noticed something that shouldn't be there. He looked her in the eyes. "Jennifer...ah, have you noticed anything unusual lately? I sense..." "Just get rid of it, whatever it is." She snapped at him. "Yes, ma'am." Gwynn healed the infection within her. "Do you know how you might have gotten..." "I have no interest in knowing." Her eyes were filled with rage and tears. "Is it gone, Fairy?" "Yes. I've gotten rid of it." "I'll be going on to the lab now. You can tell Jen. I've denied him this morning. He'll expect you to satisfy him." Jennifer said no more to him. She left the room, slamming the door. Gwynn entered the bathroom. Jen was in front of the mirror, washing his face. Gwynn announced himself. "Hello, Jen. I was wondering if you would allow me to wash off?" "Mm...not yet. Wait till after we have sex. If you shower now, you'll need to do it again right after." Jen turned off the water and dried his face. "Do you want your treatment now?" Gwynn asked. He said nothing in response to what Jen said to him. He expected it. He wasn't angry or sad anymore about this sort of thing. Gwynn was already disassociating. "Yes." Gwynn put his hands on Jen. He worked on trying to heal a little of Jen's wound. He also healed the infection he knew he would find. "I've healed it, but you seem to have gotten an infection from someone. Jennifer had it too." "Well, I suppose that's what I get for sleeping with cheap whores." Jen laughed. Gwynn asked, "Why are you paying for prostitutes? You're married." "I was out all day and Jennifer was back here. There's no need to wait to satisfy the urge." Jen shrugged. "She's mad at me about it. Foolish woman, worried over things that don't concern her." Gwynn had a lot he wanted to say to Jen about that, but his mind was elsewhere. He wanted to wash. Jen's voice sounded far off. "I don't see how she thinks she's entitled to any rage at all. You know, she's been rejecting me lately. I allow it, but how absurd is that? She's my wife. She serves no other purpose than to please me and give me children. She can't do one of those. That only leaves the sex left." Jen ranted on. "I swear, we should've outlawed women being able to read. Eventually, they'll all end up thinking like that. Disgusting." Gwynn said nothing. Jen noticed Gwynn's empty eyes. His heart stopped. "Someone hasn't given you an order by name, have they? Answer truthfully." Gwynn shook his head. "Ah, no. I'm not feeling well." "You're not going to try to deny me too, are you? You certainly cannot refuse." Jen calmed back down. He smirked. "I won't resist." Gwynn turned around. He left the bathroom and got in the bed, tossing his clothes onto the floor. He used magic to hide away his wings, as he knew he would be on his back. Jen entered the room, half undressed. He was naked by the time he reached the bed. Jen got on top of him, forcing a kiss. Gwynn wished Jen would order him to do this. If it was an order, he wouldn't remember it. He wouldn't have to force himself through this. Gwynn knew he wouldn't be able to get hard right now on his own. He used magic to force it and more magic to make himself unable to feel anything. Jen was grinning as he played with Gwynn's limp body. Gwynn was somewhere else in his mind, recalling another day years ago. Jen was young then. He held the boy close to him as Jen cried. He always cried after another night of those disturbing parties of adults and children. When it was over, the little ones would crowd around Gwynn, as Gwynn was the only adult who did not participate. The fairy wasn't allowed to see what went on behind those doors, but he knew. He knew from the way the children were when they came out of that awful room. Jennifer would curl up againt him in the fetal position, rocking, sucking her thumb, and unable to speak. Virgil wouldn't be able to stop shaking. Thomas would cling to Jen. Jen would hold tightly to Gwynn, silently crying. They were always covered in filth, bruises, and blood. Gwynn wanted so badly to protect those little children. That little boy he wanted to protect had grown into the same kind of demon. When Gwynn looked up at Jen, he only saw a monster devouring him. To Jen, what he was doing to Gwynn wasn't a punishment. Whenever he intended to use sex as an act of violence, Jen was always the one penetrating. When it was merely for Jen's pleasure, he preferred to be penetrated, though still on top of Gwynn. Jen would never be beneath him. The position didn't matter to Gwynn. It was all violence. When he knew Jen was close to climaxing, Gwynn used magic to force himself to ejaculate. Jen wouldn't leave him be until he did. Afterwards, Jen quickly got off of him. He caressed Gwynn's face. "You look quite beautiful this morning. Your eyes, they look like glass. Like a doll's eyes. There's no light. It's strange, but very alluring. Perhaps I'll have you satisfy me again later." "Did you need anything else from me right now?" Gwynn asked. "Not at the moment." Jen picked up his clothes off the floor. "I'll be in the lab. You may bathe and eat, but nothing else." "Yes, sir." Gwynn sat up. "Jen. Um..." "What is it, Fairy?" Jen dressed himself. "I have things to do today." Gwynn had words he wanted to ask, but they wouldn't come out. He shook his head. "I don't know. I'm sorry." "You're strange today." Jen leaned down and kissed him. Gwynn froze. "But I think I might prefer this. Yes, much more so than your usual demeanor. Stay like this for me. I'll come visit you later. Go bathe. I've made quite a mess on you." Gwynn said nothing. He waited for Jen to leave before getting in the shower. He made the water hot. The shower was the only thing he liked in Jen's room. Showers were a new addition to the main house. He much preferred them over the bathtub. He used to bathed in flowing water when he was free. But today, the shower didn't bring him any comfort. Gwynn brought back out his wings to let the water wash over them. The color was duller than yesterday, he noticed. He scrubbed his skin raw. The shackles on him felt heavier today. He wanted to cut his hands off to remove them. For the collar around his neck, he wished to have his head chopped off. It would be no use. His body would heal from both injuries. He would need to fully destroy his head to die immediately. He had witnessed that first hand. Memories of his wife and his first daughter's death flashed in his mind. He couldn't forget the way their bodies went limp at the moment immediately after death. The three of them had survived so many other horrid things. Gwynn himself didn't know there were ways to kill immortal beings at the time. Fully destroying the head, he came to learn, was the easiest way to do it. There were other ways specific to the being's species. Cutting off a unicorn's horn was fatal. For fairies, he learned from Robin much later through their secret messages, there was another way unique to them. A slow method, a wasting away of the body that could only occur under very specific circumstances. That death he found much crueller than the others. It took too long. He wanted to die now. Gwynn couldn't stop thinking about the deaths of his family. He clawed at his own face. He wanted to scream, but Jen wouldn't allow him such a luxury. Jen would surely punish him for such behavior. He recalled what his father had told him long ago when he was innocent of the world's cruelties, when he was first gifted clothes. The first years of his life, Gwynn didn't wear anything. He felt no shame. When Osán thought he was ready to begin helping humans, he dressed Gwynn. 'There is nothing impure about your body, but you should wear clothes when dealing with humans. They carry much shame inside themselves. It will be easier to approach them like this.' Osán had said. 'But do not forget, my child, you were born pure and nothing joyous you do with your body can ever be impure. I gave you a body. Enjoy it as you wish.' "As I wish?" Gwynn wiped the tears from his face. "I wish I could." Gwynn turned the water off. He returned to his room and hid under the blanket. The sound of thunder echoed in his room. Lightning lit it up sky. Rain and wind hit against his window. Gwynn slowly pulled the blanket back and looked out the window. He wanted to see Robin. He wanted to see Osán. He wanted to see Nev. He couldn't have any of his wants. Gwynn opened the window and let the rain wash over his face. The electric energy flowing into him from the storm couldn't counterbalance the deep sorrow within his mind, but his body felt healed. He rested his head down and listened to the storm. Everything he loved was beyond that window, in sight and out of reach. He looked over his shoulder at the black marks on his wings. "Perhaps, in the realm of dreams, when I am free of this form, I can see you all again." The rain disguised Gwynn's tears. He rested there at the window until late in the afternoon when Jen came to see him. By that time, Gwynn had stopped crying. He couldn't cry anymore, much as his heart wanted it. "What on earth are you doing?" Jen raised an eyebrow. "Nevermind. I don't really care. I want you to come down to the lab. I need your assistance." "Yes, sir." Gwynn forced himself to leave the window. He followed Jen into the hall. "What is it you need?" "Oh, I need many things, Fairy. Many things you cannot give me." Jen laughed. He seemed in a good mood. Fear began to build up in Gwynn's body. Jen unlocked the door of one of the smallest labs in the house. "We acquired a couple of interesting items earlier today, a very rare pair of creatures. And these ones are mine. I did the binding ritual myself." Gwynn's eyes widened. His face went pale white. "Who have you done this to?" "Look for yourself." Jen opened the door. Gwynn cautiously walked into the lab. He saw a cage placed in one corner of the room. Two people were huddled together in the spot farthest from the door, shivering in each other's arms. Their shackles looked identical to Gwynn's, but the pair were not fairies. Jen had captured himself a set of elves. From their appearance, he had caught fraternal twins. They looked young. He suspected they were likely under fifty, perhaps not even thirty years of age. Though they finished physical development at a similar rate to humans and fairies, much like fairies, they were not considered fully adults until some decades after that. As he understood it, most elves were only considered proper adults at three hundred years of age. Jen was right to call them rare. Many did not wish to interact with humans anymore. Those who were considered foolish enough to still regularly walk among humans were primary from five species; the mermaid, the selkie, the fairy, the fox spirit, and the unicorn. All others avoided humans, only a few individuals occasionally venturing out. Among the immortal beings, no group was more weary of humans than elves. They typically kept themselves isolated in their mechanical cities with their own dubious dealings. Outside of humans, elves were the only other beings to ever have slaves or money, having in the past enslaved dragons to utilize their magic. Dragons themselves had also in the past owned, bred, and traded humans as pets and food as they didn't believe humans had higher consciousness. The dragons ceased their behavior when a fairy taught dragons how to understand human words, but the elves went to war with the dragons and the fairies who had sided with the dragons over wanting to keep them as slaves. Despite their magical mechanical advancements, as some of the most ancient ones had chosen to side with the dragons, they were defeated and came to make pacts with dragons instead. After the war, elves isolated themselves even more from the rest of the world. To see one outside of their cities at all was a once in a century event for many. For not one, but two elves to be wandering amongst humans and for them to be captured by humans, Jen had to have been the luckiest man on earth that day. Such a chance would never present itself again. Gwynn held back his tears. "What have you done..." "A male and female. Tell me, Fairy, what sort of effects does incest have on elves? How would the children come out?" Jen asked. "I've heard elves are highly intelligent. How much would the child lose from such a union?" The fairy looked over at the young twins. "Jen, please, please, if you have any mercy in you...do not make them have children together. You know it is wrong." Jen sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Wrong? Oh, spare me. I'd had sex with all of my siblings and both of my parents before I was ten. You don't see me crying about it." "You should. You shouldn't have been made to do that either." A tear fell from Gwynn's face. "Please, Jen..." Jen grabbed Gwynn's wrist. "First Jennifer, now you. Is everyone out to test me today? You don't want to answer me? Oh, but you will. If you want me to force it out of you, then so be it. Gwynn, tell me, what would the results of that union be?" Gwynn lost consciousness. He answered, eyes empty. "The dullest of elves are smarter than most humans. A child born to siblings would likely still be more intelligent than the average human, but they might have many unexpected physical issues." "I don't give a damn about that. They're only good for their brains, right? They can't do magic as good as you can, right?" Jen asked. "That is correct. Elves enhance their magic through machines. All I need to outperform them at what I have been trained in is the blood flowing in my veins and a beating heart." Gwynn answered. "As I thought. So, I would still need you to heal me until I can acquire a better healer." Jen crossed his arms. "What about sex? Are they as good at it as you are?" "I can't judge that." Jen reached into the cage. He touched the girl's face, grinning. "I suppose I can find out for myself." The young male elf, holding tightly to his sister with both his arms, bit Jen's wrist. "That's adorable." With his free hand, Jen picked up a rod escribed with ancient symbols off the top of the cage. He pressed it onto the male elf's forehead. "By my might and power, may you burn from your own fury." The elf screamed in agony. "We're quite alike, you and I. We both like magical tools. It's best you learn to get along with me or I'll treat you the way I treat that worthless fairy over there." Jen grinned from ear to ear. "You know, I've lost count at this point how many times I've dismembered him and had him put himself back together again. But I don't think you're capable of doing that so easily. You'll have to hope I'm in the mood to have the fairy do it for you. Do you understand?" The elves both nodded as they cried. "Good. I'll leave you for now. Tomorrow, I'll have you working. If you impress me, I'll get you a proper, small room to share. I do have one question for you before I leave. Answer me honestly. I can force the fairy to tell me whatever he knows." Jen lowered his voice. "Can you revive the dead?" The brother answered. "We can't do anything like that. Cloning maybe, but to revive the dead...only a few beings on earth could do such a thing." "Cloning? Can you do that from a dead body?" Jen's interest was piqued. The sister spoke this time. "It's possible, but it depends on what remains are available and the conditions of the remains." "What about from bone?" The girl nodded. "It's possible. I would need to examine the bones myself to know for sure." "That's good to know. I'll need to think on that." Jen started to walk away. The female elf added. "The clone will not be the same person. They will not have their soul nor memories. Only the body will look the same." "That's even better. That leaves them for me to mold into perfection." Jen put his hand on Gwynn's waist and pulled him close. "Come, Fairy, we have one more to visit." Jen locked the small lab back up. He took Gwynn down to the basement where they kept all their captured beasts for experimentation. He needed more meat from the firebird. The bird's condition had worsened since Nev left. Without her visits, the bird had gone into a deeper depression than before. In the first week, the bird asked for Jenny every day. By the start of the second week, the bird stopped and instead spoke of Virgil. Jen would find the bird on the floor of the large cage muttering sorrowful words about the past. The bird hadn't eaten once in those two weeks. "Firebird, I have interesting news for you." Jen sat Gwynn down in a chair. The bird didn't respond. Goldy no longer feared Jen as the firebird now only wished for death. Nothing else mattered. "Bears...bears...I turned into a bear too..." "Silly bird. You cannot transform into anything." Jen carved a chunk of meat out of the bird's flesh. He ate it raw. "I captured two elves today and they told me something wonderful. They can recreate people. Just imagine if we remade my dear Thomas and your precious Virgil. But this time, they would be perfect. You wouldn't need to worry about eating this Virgil." The bird raised its head. "Virgil? You can bring back Virgil?" "We might be able to. Isn't that wonderful?" Jen kicked a corpse sitting up against the bars. "Now, don't you think you should eat something? You want to see Virgil again, don't you?" The firebird gobbled up the dead body. "No more bears. Virgil will stay with me and be happy. I don't need Thomas. Only Virgil." "That's good, as I don't need Virgil for anything. I only want Thomas." Jen patted the bird on the head. "Let's remake them. No more bad bears, right?" "No more bad bears. Bad bears get cooked." The bird let out a loud call. "Virgil! Virgil's coming back for Goldy!" The firebird was so excited it tried to flap its wings and stand up, but the cage was too small and Goldy was too weak. The bird fell back down. "Virgil...When will Virgil come?" "It may take a while. Eat your dinner until then so you can be healthy when he comes back." Jen left with Gwynn after that. After Jen left, the bird's excitement faded and returned to sadness. "Virgil's coming back...Virgil never wanted to be here. If he stays here, he'll become a bear again. I'll have to eat him again. We can't leave here. Virgil, don't come back." The bird began to pull out its feathers and bite at the exposed skin. "All bad...all sad...I want to see Virgil..." The bird looked out at the lab through its dismembered eyes in the jar on the far table. It couldn't see it's own body anymore. It wished the eyes would rotate a little in the jar so it could create an illusion on itself. The iron bars of its giant cage prevented the bird from using its fire. Trying to escape made the cage grow smaller. Jen had engraved an incantation on the bottom of the cage to make sure the bird stayed put. The firebird sang a lonesome, quiet song as it rested its head on the cold, metal floor. Jen took Gwynn back to the fairy's room. He was filled with excitement and wanted to talk to someone about his plans. Jennifer hadn't spoken to him since this morning outside of dinner, when she informed him she would be sleeping in a guest room tonight. The other people in the mansion wouldn't understand his excitement. Thomas had died before many of the people in the house had been born. The only person other than Jennifer and the firebird who had known Thomas and Virgil well was Gwynn. Gwynn hadn't regained consciousness yet. Jen had an idea. He had Gwynn sit down on the bed, then joined him. "Gwynn, I order you to regain your normal consciousness." Jen said. The light returned to Gwynn's eyes. He looked around, disoriented. Slowly, he realized he must have been ordered to do something. Jen wrapped his arms around Gwynn's neck. He whispered. "I have wonderful news, Fairy. You'll get to see Thomas and Gil again." "What? What do you mean?" Gwynn asked, confused. "The elves told me something very interesting. They can recreate the bodies of the dead. Perfect replications of the flesh with a blank slate of a mind ripe for sculpting." Jen pressed his cheek against Gwynn's, nuzzling against his face. "Imagine. I can make Thomas as he was and better. Everything can be right again. And Gil won't get in my way, because I'll have remade him into the perfect, doting, obedient little brother." Gwynn held back tears. He didn't say anything to Jen. "You don't look excited. Virgil was always your favorite. You and Thomas always had that in common." Jen looked Gwynn in the eyes, disappointed to be greeted with wet eyes and pale skin. Jen put his hand to the lower left side of Gwynn's face, then pinched hard. "What's your complaint now?" Gwynn put his hand over Jen's and brought it over to his lips. He kissed the back of Jen's hand. The bite mark on Jen's wrist vanished. Jen pulled his hand away. "You truly are strange today. What's wrong with you?" "I..." Gwynn couldn't get himself to say what he wanted to tell Jen. "I think I'm sick." "Sick? Sick with what? You can't get human diseases." Jen said. The fairy carefully considered how to answer. "I feel weak. My body's not healing as quickly as it usually does. But I...feel strangely calm." "Calm?" "It's...I know I shouldn't feel calm right now, but I do. It feels as if something is broken somewhere inside me. Something in my chest and I want to rip it out, but I'm not afraid of the pain." Gwynn looked away. "I'm sorry. I don't think I'm making any sense." "You're not." Jen ran his thumb over Gwynn's lips. "So tell me, what illness is this? What's the treatment? Why aren't you healing yourself from it?" "I don't have the power to, I don't think." Gwynn lowered his voice. He changed the subject. "Jen...I don't think you should have them create a new Thomas for you. If you make him exactly as he was when you loved him, how could he be happy here?" "Oh, quit it. I'll fix that part of him. Besides..." Jen looked down at where his wound was beneath his shirt. "The firebird is growing weak. The promise of seeing Virgil again has renewed the beast's energy. I need it alive to consume it until I can find another way to extend my life. After that, I can get rid of Virgil again, if you wish it so. Is that what you desire?" Gwynn shook his head. Water welled in his eyes. He looked away. "Does this bring you happiness?" "Does what?" "Do you enjoy hurting others?" Gwynn asked. Jen laughed, shaking his head. He got up from the bed. Jen kept his back to the fairy. "You have no idea. I don't just enjoy it. It fills me with desire. The deeper the sorrow, the harder it makes me. I noticed it when I was sixteen, but I was ashamed of it then. I don't care to deny it now. Are you disturbed, Fairy? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Gwynn said nothing for a moment. Shocked by Jen's words, he had to regain his composure. He couldn't look Jen's way. He faced the window instead. "Is that really true or are you saying that to rile me up?" "What do you believe?" Jen asked, looking back to see Gwynn's reaction. He hoped to see the fairy staring at him with eyes full of despair and rage. Gwynn's gaze remained on the storm outside. "I don't know. Perhaps, it is the truth. I suppose it doesn't matter." Jen turned around and grabbed Gwynn by the hair. He pulled hard. Gwynn forced his body to not fight back. "Doesn't matter? This hurts, doesn't it? Let me tell you something. I haven't just been sleeping with whores. I've been killing them too. The bitch that gave me that disease, I gutted her, chopped her into bits, and fed her to one of the beasts we keep. You don't know how much pleasure I felt when I saw the light leave her eyes. What do you think of that? Does it not matter? I love no one and nothing. Does it matter, Fairy?" Gwynn looked Jen in the eyes. "If love does not exist in you, what do you need Thomas for?" Jen's eyes widened. Red rose in his cheeks as he slapped Gwynn hard against the fairy's face. The stinging red blooming on Gwynn's face matched the depth of Jen's shade. A little blood dripped from the fairy's lower lip. Gwynn wiped the blood away. Jen rubbed one hand with the other, the palm of his hand aching from how much of his strength he put into the slap. "Shut your mouth, Beast." The fairy had a small smile on his face. "Oh, am I a beast now?" "Don't smile at me. You, look at you. You're bound in iron, you have no freedom, you cry every day. Look where the love in your heart has brought you. Here you are, an immortal being, worthless at the feet of humans and unable to do anything about it. What good has love done you?" "You're right that it has not served to free my body nor my mind. My heart broke long ago. But I am unable to stop loving." The fairy offered Jen both of his hands. "I say this not because I am seeking my freedom, but yours from this prison you've locked us in. If you freed me, I could take you somewhere they cannot follow where you could have that immortality you seek. I cannot bound as I am. Even if you wish to keep me bound, you could run away. If you ran away, I might be able to convince someone to give you that gift anyway. Jen, what binds you to this place? You could run away with Jennifer and..." "Stop it." Jen was growing more enraged. "Stop whatever this is." "Do you not love your wife? She loves you, no matter how much you hurt her." "Shut up!" Jen pushed Gwynn down against the bed. He held the fairy down at the wrists. "I don't need anything from you. I'll gain what I desire on my own and I'll keep you here beneath me. I don't want to be equals with you. I will conquer what I want." "Is your own shadow that terrifying to you, Jen?" The fairy asked. "You don't understand. You can't understand anything." Jen raised his hand to hit Gwynn again. He stopped himself and got back off the bed. Jen left the room. He went not to his own room, but to somewhere far more personal, his private lab. It was the one space in the mansion no one was allowed to enter, aside from Gwynn and Jennifer. He sat down at his old, wooden desk that he had owned since he was a child. The lower left edge had names etched into it. He felt over a name starting with a T as he looked up at the two skulls on display above the desk. Jen took one of the skulls down. He looked past the bone to see what was once there, the beautiful eyes he used to gaze into on quiet nights long ago. He kissed the skull. "You'd hate me too, if you saw me right now, wouldn't you? If I remake you, will I have to kill you?" His eyes moved to stare at the other skull. "You just had to run off outside of here where I couldn't protect you. You were always a fool, Gil. You were just like that fairy. Tell me, Brother, how much do I disappoint you? How much does it disappoint you I have survived while your dreams came to nothing? You both should have stayed still and quiet. But I'll fix it this time. I'll make it so you won't run, no matter what I have to kill in you." Jen recounted the words he said to Gwynn. He laughed at himself, then took out a knife and cut deep into his arm. He watched the blood drip onto the floor and the skull. The pain distracted him from another building up inside him. He denied its existence again and forced forward thoughts to remind himself of his own monstrous nature. Jen held the skull close against his chest and whispered to it words he could never say to its owner when the man had been alive. The skull was placed back on the shelf. He got up from the desk and looked out the window at the storm. "I am disgusting." Gwynn rested by the window again, listening to the rain. He felt over the iron on his left wrist. "Jen...oh, Jen, you can't undo the pain by inflicting it on others. It will never become right what they did to you no matter how many people you hurt. I wish I could get you to see that. You already have the keys to free your heart, but you are walking, running forward toward the destruction of your soul." The fairy looked up at the dark sky. "If there is anyone listening, anyone with power greater than mine, please tell me...what can I do? Is there anything I can do to end this cycle of suffering within these walls?" No voice answered him, but someone was watching. Within the mists building beyond his window, a white fox watched him. "Did you hear me?" The fairy asked. The fox sat still for a moment, then turned around, vanishing as the mist turned into fog. VII. Shin