After dinner was finished, Athena walked down the stone staircase with Kassach at her heels. She took a deep breath as she stepped off the last step and turned towards the cells. She walked quickly past them until she came to the cells where her friends were kept in. She looked into Celso's cell and saw him curled on the floor asleep. She smiled and turned to the cell across. Coleen was sitting down on the ground leaning against the wall. Athena stopped in front of the cell and caught her eye.

"It's good to see you're being taken care of, Athena," Coleen smiled. 

Athena gave her a small smile. "I feel guilty for wearing all of this."

Coleen stood up and walked closer to her. She grabbed her hand through the bars and gave it a slight squeeze. "Don't. We need you, Athena. Don't feel guilty about any of this."

Athena smiled at her. "Where's Derek's cell?"

"Two cells down mine," Coleen nodded in the direction of Derek's cell. 

"Thanks." She squeezed Coleen's hand and walked away. Finally, she reached the cell that Coleen told her Derek would be at and her breath caught in her throat. Derek wasn't there. She turned to Kassach. "Where's my brother?"

Kassach shrugged his shoulders. "I've been with you the whole time. I don't know where he is."

"Take me to King Buledal," she ordered him. She shoved past him and walked in the direction of the stairs when she heard a horrible shriek. She stopped in her tracks and turned around. She ran in the direction that she thought she heard the shriek from and stopped in front of a door. The shriek came again and Athena cringed at the sound. She looked behind her at Kassach and opened the door. She screamed when she saw who the demons were standing over with the same spoon they used to torture her.

"Derek!" 

The demons looked up at her surprised. "You're not supposed to be in here!" one of the demons growled at her. "Kassach, take her away!"

Her hands were clenched by her sides. She turned to look at Kassach as he stepped towards her. "I wouldn't come any closer than you are right now, Kassach," she threatened. He stepped back and left her alone. She turned back towards the demons standing over her brother and held her hands out in front of her. Her hands shook as a white light came out of her hands and the demons flying backward, hitting the walls. 

She swayed as her hands fell to her sides. She started to fall backward when arms caught her. She looked up to see Kassach talking to his fellow guards. He was talking in their language and from what she could see, he didn't look very happy. Looking forward, she saw one of the demons get up and walk towards Derek. She growled and held out one of her hands.

"I told him to take your brother back to his cell," Kassach whispered in her ear. 

Athena looked up at him confused. She felt him pick her up and walk out of the room. They walked past the many cells and up the staircase. Eventually, she felt herself be placed on a bed. She turned her head to see Kassach leaving the room. 

"Kassach," she called to him. "Why?"

He turned back around to face her. "Why what?"

"Why did you help me and my brother?" she asked.

Kassach sighed and pulled up a chair. He sat down. "I know that what they were doing to him wasn't ordered by King Buledal. They could get in trouble for what they were doing."

"They should," Athena grumbled. 

Kassach chuckled. "Yes, they should, but I'm not turning them in."

"Why not?"

"Because," he started. "You took care of their punishment for King Buledal. What you did back there was just enough to scare them. You do have amazing power." 

Athena held up her hands and turned them over while examining them. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Kassach hesitated before answering. "I believe that you could be the one to destroy the King."

Athena sat up slowly and looked at him. "You want that to happen? You want your King to perish?"

Kassach nodded. "Yes. I know it sounds crazy, but I do! That's why I learned to gain King Buledal's trust and requested to look after you. He immediately granted me my request and here I am taking care of you." He paused. "I need you to trust me. I'm not going to hurt you or your friends. I'm going to make sure that King Buledal knows about your power, but that it drains you. He needs to understand that he needs to be careful with your training. He can't overwork you." He placed one of his hands on Athena's. "I promise, you're not going to get hurt while I'm here."

Athena smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Kassach. I really appreciate it." 

Kassach smiled at her and nodded his head. He stood up and walked towards the door. "Rest," he told her. "I'll be back later when the King wants to see you."

Athena nodded and watched him leave. Her smiled faltered when doubts grew in her mind. Could she really trust this demon? He seemed like he was telling the truth, but every demon she met always hurt her. How could she trust him? She needed to learn their language fast so she could understand what they were really saying. She couldn't just take Kassach's word for what he might have said or not. She needed to make sure. 

Athena slowly swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She walked around the room looking for any place that could hold books. There wasn't a bookcase in the room for her to go through. She assumed there would be a library in the castle, but she didn't think that she would be able to leave the room without being caught by Kassach or another demon. 

She checked every drawer in the room and found nothing. She thought of the last place she could look for a book. Walking over to the bed, she knelt down and looked underneath it. There was something underneath the bed. She reached out and grabbed onto the object. Pulling it towards her, she noticed that it was a book. Smiling, she wiped the dust off and traced the figures on the cover. 

Taking a deep breath, she placed the book on top of the bed and sat next to it. Opening the first page, she skimmed over the figures on the yellowing pages. She tried to remember what Professor Samson had told her about reading the demon figures, but couldn't remember what he had told her. 

Athena sighed and shook her head. That's what she gets for getting kidnapped after having one lesson with him. She closed her eyes and closed the book. Why did she think that she could do this? She couldn't even remember one lesson how was she going to learn a language from a book that she can't even read. 

She laid down on the bed and ran her hands through her hair. She thought of herself as pathetic. Did she really think that she could learn a language from a book that didn't have any English written in it? She sighed when she heard a knock sounding at the door.

Standing up, she walked over to the door and opened it up. Kassach appeared in the doorway. She placed her hands on her hips and asked him, "Does the King want to see me now?"

Kassach shook his head. "No. I thought that you would want to see your brother. Only if you're up to it."

Athena smiled wide and nodded her head. She ignored the slight pain shooting through her head and pushed passed Kassach. She heard the door shut and the sound of footsteps behind her. She raced down the staircase and towards the cell that Derek would be in. She sighed with relief when she saw him laying down on his back with his eyes closed. 

Kassach unlocked the cell door and opened it up. "I'll be walking the hallway if you need anything," he told her.

"Thanks, Kassach." She walked through the opening and crouched down next to Derek. She shook her head as she caught sight of the burns on his stomach. It made her remember the burns they gave her. She placed a hand on her stomach and cringed and hissed at the slight pain the burns still gave her. 

Derek's eyes shot open from the sound of Athena being close to him and sat up too quickly. He cried out in pain and slowly laid back down. 

Athena placed her hands on each side of his face and wiped away the painful tears that threatened to escape. "Shhhh, it's alright," she tried to encourage him. "Let it pass."

"Did they do this to you?" he asked through clenched teeth. 

Athena nodded sadly. "The morning you came."

Derek grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think that we would be caught, but Celso started to chase another demon and we fell into a trap."

Athena smoothed down his hair and shushed him. "It's alright. You're here," Athena's voice cracked a little. "That's all that matters."

Derek smiled at her before getting a good look at her clothing. "Where are you staying?"

"In a room up the stairs," she answered slowly. 

"Athena, you didn't say-"

"Yes!" she interrupted him. "I agreed, but I did it to save you! To save all of you!"

Derek slowly sat up. "Save us? How could you save us by working for him?"

"Gain the King's trust then betray him," she answered his question quieter. "Just trust me. I know what I'm going to do."

Derek sighed. "I have no choice, Athena, but I do trust you."