He prowled through the halls, his mind coursing and body tense from what it had endured in the training room. Far worse had happened to Alias, he was accustomed to pain, and so that was not what bothered him. It was that damn girl and her concern. He had heard her desperately pleading for his release above the pain, had been distantly aware of her frantic need to save him. He had felt an eerily similar urge to save her when she had first tied them, as the pain had become too much for her to bear.

Shaking his head, he stormed through the dark and narrow corridors. No light lit the path he followed. His eyes wouldn't adjust to the dark. He assumed that was one of the elder's bidding. Their bodies had evolved to survive life in dark, dangerous places. Their bodies had strengthened and sharpened when they had been in the pits, their only edge in the constant arena. But for some it still hadn't been enough for them to survive.

He stopped himself before he slammed into a wall, sensing it before his face crashed into it. Sliding his hands across the ruff surface, he angled his body around the turn, fumbling through the blinding darkness. If he was banned from seeing what lied in these halls, then he probably wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, but he marched on, too fuming to care.

Voices carried in the distance. Tuning his sensitive ears, he easily listened in.

"How do you not see the threat she presents? She has power, power which rivals ours. You are saying that is not a concern?" Elder Amit demanded.

"I never said that she wasn't dangerous," Elder Edmund replied. "I simply noted that I think it would be more beneficial if we studied her further before jumping to any conclusions. What is your verdict, Raygen?"

There was a momentous silence, and then, "I think we should appraise her with the highest caution. We have concealed her into the house, so she poses no threat to Community, but we cannot keep her trapped inside the walls forever, nor can we eradicate her. She is too tied to the boy that destroying her would destroy him too. Their bond is highly empathic, but not psychic. Perhaps over time we can learn to at least numb it, but to undo it proves impossible."

"Why not throw her into the cellar? Surely she would not be an issue there." Elder Amit suggested.

"That would terrify the girl, and in return it would torment the boy. We cannot hurt one of our own. For now we have to treat them with equal treatment, show her the same accommodations we would for him." Elder Edmund chided.

"What do you make of the boy, Alias?" Elder Raygen wondered aloud. "Is he truly innocuous in the situation?"

Elder Edmund sighed. "I believe so. The person who found her was destined to fall into the same fate, no matter who that might've been. Besides, you know of his story. He is as loyal and fierce as we could hope one to be. I do not doubt him."

Alias' heart began to thump heavily. He began to see glimpses of a terrified little blonde, her hands outstretched as she tried to reach him, and he could hear the screams, hers and his own as they never stood a chance at saving the other.

"I am not familiar with Alias." Elder Amit said; trouble clear in his tone.

Elder Edmund elaborated. "He was one of the last to enter the mouth of hell with us, but he was one of the first to remerge. He entered with a younger sister, called Alana. They were thick as thieves, and he would've killed himself in a heartbeat if it meant her safety, but in the pits, fate took a nasty turn. When one of the Greats attacked his sect..."

Alias gasped, clutching his chest as pain flashed through him. Flashes of Alana danced across his vision. He could see her twisting and turning, the blood bubbling out of her mouth, and he felt the blade in his own chest as it went through hers. Knowing it was a hallucination, one of the fits he slipped into, he fought.

"You are not real," he yelled. "You are not real!"

But the scene flickered over and over again and the pain flared to life, fiercer then he had ever felt before. Groaning, he remained pin to the ground, his body writhing and sweat breaking out across his skin.

Faces swam above him, their voices muddled.

"Why is he here?" Elder Amit demanded.

"That is not important!" Elder Edmund snapped. "Look at him! The bond is choking him."

"Where is the girl?" Elder Raygen yelled. "Find the girl!"

The agony rose to a fever pitch and an Alana with black pits for eyes grinned down at him. She waved at him as he was casted away into a world blacker than the caves.

***

Alias' body shouted in warning as he began to sit up. The light scorched his eyes, and despite his body's protesting, his arm shoot up to shield his face. He collapsed back onto the nice, gentle material beneath him. Groaning, he stretched his aching limbs and attempted once more to face the world.

White light drowned the room, causing the black flecks on the stone walls to shine and sparkle in a quality that Alias had never seen before. For once the maddening red stones that surrounded him every moment of the day didn't threaten to drive him mad, but held a beauty that was beyond his comprehension, something so sweet that it reminded him of the world he'd once lived in where a stunning glowing orb would rise across the sky.

His eyes fell from the ceiling and walls, to Acacia and her reverent beauty. She glowed brightly in the light, almost blinding him. The white light throughout the room seemed to emanate from within her, stretching out in rays that threatened to engulf him. Her silky hair, so blonde that it easily could've been identified as white, glistened and framed her soft face. Her wide, light eyes beckoned him to respond, to reach out and touch her, to test how real she was.

Her pink lips curved into a gentle, warm smile and he craved the comfort that one expression held, a kind of respite that he had not been able to grasp for quite some time.

She leaned over him, her luminous eyes searching him and he sensed her need to assure herself that he was fine, that the darkness had been casted away and that he could finally be settled. She yearned to protect and help him, and her shocking compassion rattled him. His heart hadn't felt such tenderness since the sky had gone black, since Alana had perished.

"How do you feel?" She murmured, voice softly echoing through the room.

Alias' eyes never wandered from her as he sat up and adjusted himself, suddenly realizing that he was perched on his cot, within his room and their quarters. His gaze drifted from her and to the figure that stood silently behind Acacia, examining their exchange.

"Elder Edmund," he announced.

Elder Edmund offered him a wry, tight curve of the lips. "Alias," he said. "I am afraid to inform you that due to your adventure through the house, you strained the bond. If the distance put between the two of you proves to be too great, it snaps in a sense, striking Acacia and you. We found you quite quickly, strangely outside of our conference room. Acacia was not so lucky and it took us quite a while to locate her in the halls. She had wandered off herself it seems. Would either of you care to explain why we found the two of you in such conditions?"

"I was trying to find my way back to our room." Acacia explained.

Elder Edmund turned to Alias, his eyes picking him apart as he waited for an answer.

"I was going for a stroll," Alias said slowly. "I heard voices and followed them. I am sorry that I eavesdropped on your conversation. It will not happen again."

Elder Edmund stared at the two of them for a long time, scrutinizing them before he finally began once more. "We have made the necessary decision that the two of you will not be separated under any circumstances. There is no other choice with the strength of the bond until we figure out how Acacia can unravel it. Furthermore, you will not travel anywhere throughout the house without the supervision of one of us or of someone we deem trustworthy. You will be permitted to be alone only in designated places we deem safe. I will be taking over your tests from now on, and will be your overseer. Tests will begin once more tomorrow afternoon. I will see the two of you then." He began to exit, but paused for a brief moment. "Do not try to leave your room tonight. You will find yourselves locked in."

Alias subdued himself until Elder Edmund had left, and with his departure came waves of anger and defiance through Alias. The small sliver of space he had left had been restricted. He barely had enough room to breathe with the new rules set in place. He turned to Acacia, searching for any sense of anger or panic, but she remained calm and impassive, looking down to her hands.

The light had begun to fade from her, the room slightly less illuminated. Her hair swayed as she shifted her weight, consumed by her thoughts as she bit her bottom lip and ran her hands over her leather clad legs. Her pale skin and silvery hair was striking against the contrast of the black clothes she wore. Still a bit entranced by her appearance, and blaming his lack of rational thought on the flare of the bond, he struggled to find words.

"You learned how to form light?" Alias asked.

Acacia frowned and then her mouth fell open as she gasped, "Oh." Her eyes began to glitter. "Yes, Edmund showed me."

There was a long lull between the two of them, Acacia's eyes trailing over his features, trying to read his face as he distracted himself with his hands, creating a flame of his own that flickered back and forth in his cupped palms.

"Alias..." She tried, stopped, thought.

He looked up at the enchantress, felt his revolt beginning to churn in his stomach. "What?"

"Why is it that you detest me?"

He fought back the shock that gripped him. The timid, ignorant creature before him had been more direct with him then most of his kind would. Usually issues of unpleasantness were shoved away unless they presented a real issue. She had the audacity to confront and question him, and her sudden flare of strength unsettled him.

"I do not..." He would not lie. Dishonesty was shameful in his culture, only the lowest life forms did it. He would not stoop to that level for the girl. "You make me uncomfortable. You are so different than me and my people. On top of that, you have involuntarily bound me to you. If you were in my position, how would you view your captor?"

Acacia's eyes seared his. "But that was never my intent. I will apologize a million times if it will satisfy you, but know that I never wanted to tie you to me."

"I have lost my freedom, a good section of my free will. You cannot expect me to be fond of you after what you have cost me."

She sighed, humbly accepting his brutal words, and again she stunned him. "No, I cannot, but I will do whatever it takes to free you. You have my word."

Alias cackled. "If you had seen what I have, you would know that one's word is never enough."