"Ow," Gilan groaned as he rolled over. The cult had led him and the others to a clearing in the middle of the forest near the small trading town of La Rivage. They had thrown him and some other kids into a wooden building and locked them in.

Gilan sat up and rubbed his head as he took in his surroundings. There were around 20 kids, including himself, Elaine, Humphrey, and the other boy. The building was poorly built, and had many holes, but they were all too small to do anything with.

"You alright Gilan?" Elaine called to him as she brushed herself off.

"I'm fine," he replied as he stood up and marched to the door, which seemed to be the only well-built thing in the small shed.

"What about you, Humphrey?" Gilan heard Elaine ask while he was observing the door.

"Don't talk to me unless you're dying," Humphrey grumbled as he seated himself in a corner. "Which if you are, you shouldn't be talking to me because I can do nothing for you."

Gilan turned and looked at Humphrey, who was stubbornly looking away from Elaine, who was trying to talk sense into him. He then looked at the other kids, who had separated into groups and were talking quietly.

There was only one kid, who sat alone. The other boy on his ship; the one who realized that they were in Gallica.

Gilan decided to sit next to him. "Hi," he warmly greeted.

"H-hello," the boy answered. "Who are you?"

"Gilan." Gilan said as he slumped down. "You?"

"M-milo."

Gilan slowly nodded. He said nothing as he played around with his hands. After a while, the light coming from the cracks of the house faded, and Gilan sighed.

"Sitting here isn't going to do any good."

Gilan snapped his head around to face Milo in surprise. "I k-"

The door was suddenly flung open. Crow Man stood at the entrance with his arms crossed and a annoyed expression on his face.

"Alright cupcakes. We're going to go over some rules here," he sounded like a coach giving a pep talk as he spoke.

Gilan raised his hand, and Crow Man impatiently growled. "You again," he grumbled. "What do you want?"

"I'm hungry. Are we going to get cupcakes?"

Some of the other kids snickered causing Gilan to grin. Humphrey rolled his eyes, Milo covered his face, and Elaine looked as she was going to explode.

"No cupcakes," Crow Man snarled and looked around before continuing. "Rule number one. Obey us. Number two, no complaining."

"But I want a cupcake."

Crow Man growled and looked back. "Raphael!"

Another man, wearing a cloak identical to Crow Man came up.

"Take this kid," Crow Man pointed to Gilan. "And teach him a lesson. A good one."

Raphael bowed his head. "Yes sir." With that, he took Gilan by the arm and dragged him out into the woods.

>>>------------->

Gilan winced as he was thrown down onto the ground. He looked over at Raphael with an uneasy feeling.

"What are you going to do?" He cautiously asked.

The sound of a sword that was being unsheathed filled the air, and Gilan widened his eyes.

"What is your name boy?" Raphael's voice was barely higher than a whisper, which scared Gilan more than it would scare him if Raphael was speaking loudly.

"Gilan." Gilan tensed as he stood up.

"Well then Gilan," he continued in the same voice. "You have done wrong to my master." Raphael pointed his sword at Gilan's chest. "And you must pay."

The next few minute were the longest minutes of Gilan's life. The blows he took were slow and very much painful. It took much energy to keep a straight face, but he couldn't hold it forever before the screams came.

He started to fight back at Raphael, but his strength had failed him. Gilan fell onto his knees with a hand on his right arm.

"Is this good enough for you?" Gilan gasped after regaining his breath.

Raphael raised an eyebrow, causing Gilan more pain. He found that he missed Halt more that he thought.

"That is up for Master to decide," Raphael said as he grabbed Gilan's arm to drag him back.

As Gilan was tossed back onto the dirt floor of the small building, he flinched.

"Gilan!" A voice cried.

Gilan turned his head slightly to see Elaine run over.

"Shut up girl," Crow Man growled as Elaine glared at him.

With that, Crow Man slammed the door and marched away. Gilan breathed out, not even realizing that he was holding his breath.

Elaine turned back to Gilan, her eyes held a new light in them. "Gilan." She gritted her teeth. "You do realize how stupid that was, right?"

A hurt expression flashed in Gilan's eyes for a mere second before it went away. Elaine was too angry with concern to soften her voice. "Why did you do it?" She demanded.

Gilan looked away as he felt a part of him leaving. The pain was growing stronger, and he blocked out Elaine's voice. "I'm sorry," he choked on a cough.

"Sorry doesn't c-" Her voice trailed off, as a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked at Milo.

"S-sorry!" Milo retracted his hand.

"What?" Elaine softened her voice for him.

Milo bit his lip nervously. "Leave him," he murmured as Gilan slowly crawled to an unoccupied corner. "He needs to gather his thoughts."

Elaine turned back to look at Gilan, who was laying on his side, facing the wall. Her gaze softened a bit as she watched him. For the few hours she had known him, Elaine already knew that this was going to be a big change in Gilan's personality.

A big change.

A/N:

So... Uhh...

I'm guessing you aren't happy with me.

*nervously laughs*

Well then... See you next chapter!