[HK Zap] Nagi Alone, Redux

[hemiketal_nagi]

Waking came gradually this time, and peacefully. Nagi opened his eyes to find himself lying on the cot, curled under the thin blanket and back inside the cell. A perfectly intact cell--the same as the one he'd tried to escape from, near as he could tell. For a moment he luxuriated in the ability to see and hear again, to lie there without

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[hemiketal_nagi]

//As you say.// Nagi's agreement was mere superficial politeness, nothing more. Pushing aside the cards, he focused in on the tray. Thankful that at least he had food, he began to eat, though a bit more politely than he did the previous day. //Where's Schuldig? What have you done with him?//

[dormouse_in_tea]

Dagmar laughed. The telepath is elsewhere. If you wish to care about his fate. . . for now he is relatively intact. Now it sounded as though she whispered in Nagi's ear. You know what you can do to help keep him so, my little pet. . .

[hemiketal_nagi]

Nagi snorted. //You'll have to try harder than that if you want to use us against each other, Dagmar-san. We're the hostage-takers. Not the bleeding heart 'white knights' who try to save them.//

[dormouse_in_tea]

White Knights? Curious about the emotional residue she tasted off that thought, Dagmar indulged the diversion. Tell me about them, she ordered, alert to the nuances that would help her break these two. For now they were contained, and she had time for games. But they'd already cost her resources, and she would have greater value in trade from them if she had to strip it from their hides.

[hemiketal_nagi]

Shrugging, Nagi replied mentally, //Why? You're dealing with us, not them. Though I'm sure they'd be easier to manipulate.// He ate another mouthful, chewing thoughtfully. //Or am I to play Scheherazade now? A thousand and one tales for your pleasure?//

[dormouse_in_tea]

Literate as well as useful! Yes, pet. Work is so dreadfully dull today, tell me a tale to keep the boredom at bay. Something. . . Frowning thoughtfully, Dagmar teased at the edges of one of Nagi's memories, one rising to the surface as he thought about these 'White Knights' of his. There was something oddly familiar there. . .

[hemiketal_nagi]

//Once upon a time, there was a telekinetic, who was imprisoned by an evil witch...// Nagi began, chewing on a tasteless apple. //Who apparently was really bored. Anyway, the witch eventually let down her guard, and the telekinetic killed her in her sleep. The end.// He stared thoughtfully at his spoon, wondering if there was even a point in trying to fashion a weapon out of it.

[dormouse_in_tea]

Between one heartbeat and the next, everything was gone. Vison, hearing, smell. . . if Nagi had thought the apple tasteless before, now he had a much better grasp of the concept.

The only thing left to him was touch. The telekinetic barely had time to register that he could still feel the chair he sat on, his fingers still tracing the slightly waxy fruit skin, when the agony began. This time it was worse than any jolt he'd yet been given, and there was absolutely nothing to distract him from it.

[hemiketal_nagi]

Nagi screamed. He couldn't help it--the agony was unexpected and sudden, and even though he couldn't hear himself screaming, he knew he was. Arching backward off the chair, he fell to the floor hacking and retching as new waves of agony rippled over his skin. Every nerve was hypersensitive, and on fire--Nagi lashed out blindly, thrashing with his telekinesis as he hit the wall, the button, the door--anything that might make it STOP. The button shattered, as did the lights. Nagi couldn't see it and didn't care. He didn't even have the breath to scream anymore, but could only pant and whimper and curl in tighter each time the pain intensified, writhing on the floor for an eternity.

--until it was over. The pain gone, leaving him lying there with tear tracks down his face and a throat worn hoarse from screaming.

[dormouse_in_tea]

Tell me a story, pet, Dagmar said lightly, laughter lurking underneath. I'm in need of entertainment. Tell me a story, or. . . The threat trailed off, plain enough even through her almost girlish attitude.

[hemiketal_nagi]

Nagi closed his eyes in resignation. //What kind of story do you want?//

[dormouse_in_tea]

Don't ever make me repeat myself, child. I find it very. . . boring. Her voice was colder now, and Nagi couldn't tell if the flashes of pain spiking along his nerves were normal residual, or something being done to him as a reminder.

[hemiketal_nagi]

Pulling himself upwards, Nagi sighed as he leaned against the wall. "'White hunters'....are a group of killers. Assassins, who style themselves as vigilantes, out to protect innocents from 'dark beasts'. Or so their former leader called them. Those dark beasts being the ones who killed *without* his say-so, I presume. He also suffered from an excessive amount of chivalry, not to mention a mild obsession with cat breeds. He eventually died of it."

[dormouse_in_tea]

The chivalry? Or the obsession? The query was absent-minded, and gave the impression that Dagmar wasn't really paying attention to Nagi.

She was, though less to his words and more to his memories. Not wanting to dig too deeply at this point, when it was still possible to turn the child to her of his own will, the telepath hesistated to simply pull out what she wanted.