"... claustrophobic?" she finished her question, tilting her head a bit. Her blue eyes were full of concern.

Eclipse winked, not noticing they have stopped at the crossroad. He looked at her puzzled before noting, "Come again?" He had never heard such a word before.

She smiled, explaining, "It means being scared of small space, like in the caves or here. Some people can't enter such places cause it makes them anxious."

The demon felt a huge burden fell from his shoulders. She interpreted his nervousness the wrong way. He tried to provide a quick answer, but he ended up babbling, "Ah... no... that's... not really... It's just the stench is killing my nose." He wasn't exactly lying.

"Tell me about it," she agreed. "And my nose is ten times weaker than yours."

"Enough of the chit-chat," growled Silver. This wasn't a school trip to the museum. He glanced Amy's face and thought, 'How would she react if I told her what Eclipse have done?' He played with this idea for a few seconds, before tossing it aside. 'She would just find some stupid reason to tick me off.' It would be the best to let her little, cute, pet demon break her pink-colored vision.

He looked at the middle entrance, and his eyes glanced the third one too. They both looked the same way, and nobody walked through them for a long time as the floor was covered by dust. There was no reason to think too hard about what path to choose next. He was about to head that way when his body froze, and he took a fighting stance. His sensitive ears picked disturbing noise coming from the second hallway.

Eclipse went on all fours, readying himself for the fight. Amy reached behind her back to pull her mace, a trusted weapon she had gotten from her master as it suited her the most. She held her breath expecting a danger to jump at them from any side, but nothing happened.

The silver psychic glanced at her, gesturing with his eyes something was in the corridor. She nodded and shot a quick glance at Eclipse who nodded too. They waited for a few seconds before Silver entered the hall. The rest silently and slowly followed him. The demon got in front of him, using his nose to pick any strange smell.

Soon they reached rough stairs, and the corridor got colder. Amy touched the walls, as the light was even dimmer. If it wasn't for her training, where Master Tikal made her live in a dark cave for two months, she would definitely proceed really slowly. Now she was able to make one step after another like there was normal light.

After a couple of long minutes, they reached the last step, and the corridor full of cells was sporadically lit. It was like nobody bothered to check on the light lamp as many seemed to be broken. That resulted in places that were barely lit to ones in complete darkness. However, that wasn't the worst thing as the air was full of a stench of decay. It was sickening.

Even Eclipse felt his stomach was disagreeing with this rotten meat, and it wasn't the first time he tasted older corpse. That especially happened at the beginning of his hunting career once Sirius allowed him to leave the Hell. He was ready to be an active part of the demonic race and to be honest, he bugged and begged his older brother to let him join his older peers. However, smelling and tasting a few days old corpses and who knows how long old one was like comparing heaven and earth.

Curiously, only Silver seemed not to mind it. His face was expressionless, at most he looked irritated or bored. His eyes scanned sides of the corridor. It was full of prison rooms. He picked the one on his left side and stopped in front of the bars. He leaned forward, looking inside, noting, "There is something there."

Amy quickly stood next to him, checking the big, unmoving pile. Her face darkened as her eyebrows knitted. He grip over her weapon strengthened. With a dry throat, she asked, "Is it a corpse?" There was strong disgust in her voice.

"Yeah, that settles what happened to villagers," stated Silver without any hint of emotions in his voice. This was like an everyday event for him. He saw countless corpses. However, something wasn't right with this one, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Since they entered this corridor, no this place, he smelled something funny.

He would try to think about it a bit more, but Amy's loud voice disturbed him, "We don't know that for sure! There may still be survivors!" He growled in his mind as she continued, "Let's find them!" She turned away with balled fists and checked the cell on the other side.

Silver's amber eyes glanced Eclipse who followed her. The psychic snorted. What a pointless enthusiasms. There was no way they would find any survivors. All the people here were at the mad scientists' mercy, and he was sure it was non-existent.

He shrugged his shoulders, walking through the corridor. He needed only a few glances here and there to see more corpses. Some cells had only one body, some two or three and quite a number of them was empty. All in all, he counted over thirty bodies which made around one-quarter of the original population.

'Where is the rest?' Silver asked in his mind. He wasn't doubting some bodies were burned or disposed of in another way. He personally worked on numerous cases where many bodies were never found. His eyes trailed to Eclipse who got ahead of him.

"There is one still breathing!" the young demon shouted at his companions.

"Great job!" Amy happily shrieked, rushing to him.

Silver lifted his shoulders and let them sank with a deep sight. It must have been a lucky person indeed. He rather joined them.

The pink hedgehog was trying to pull the bars out as there was no lock or any energy panel. "We have to get him out!"

Silver stood next to her, listening to the heavy breathing of the pile. It was wheezing, and it managed to turn its head to them. The amber eyes slightly twitched as their eyes met. He frowned, lifted his hand, and his psionic power traveled to that person.

Amy let go of the bars. At first, she was surprised by his gentle reaction. She was sure he would have nothing but sarcastic notes about her attempt to save this person's life. A small smile appeared on her face. Now she was sure Silver was a gentle person, he just disliked to openly show it. She opened her mouth to express her gratitude for his help when he snapped his fingers, and a sound of breaking bones filled the room.

Her blue eyes widen as her brain slowly processed that sound. A cold sweat covered her body, and her head jerked toward the bars. The pile seemed the same way like before. There was just one detail. It was no longer breathing. Amy bit her lip and tears rushed out, soaking her cheeks.

"What have you done!" she shouted. "That person was still alive!" She hit his chest with her tightened fists, letting her anger out. The blows might have some power behind them, but it wasn't enough to beat Silver to a pulp. It just made him irritated. He strongly pushed her away, not caring if she would get hurt. Her body landed in Eclipse's arms. He helped her to stand, slightly holding her arms.

"Are you a fool!" the psychic barked at her. "Just look! Or are you blind?" Above his hand appeared a small ball of light he sent inside the cell. It illuminated the place, revealing the real form of the dead person.

Amy covered her mouth, surpassing a strong urge to puke. That person... wasn't a person. Its body was black and red, with visible muscles, twisted limbs, big blisters on its back and head. Amy averted her eyes, but Eclipse explored the body a bit more. It had legs that were hardly capable of walking as there was five or more of them and with different length. Horns or exposed ribs were growing from its body.

There was no doubt this living being couldn't live for long with or without support. The demon's red eyes traveled to its face. For a strange reason, there was no pain in its twisted features. It found peace in the death.

"I did it a favor by killing it painlessly, ending its suffering," Silver continued, but this time in a calm manner.

"It may... It may have been reversed," she mumbled unable to look at it. She let her hands down, nodding at Eclipse she felt better.

"No," he said dryly, "And you know it. You are just letting your naivety get in the way of your brain!" He strictly looked at her. "What life it would get? In some lab of The Order, enduring more experiments for an uncertain way to transform it back?" He gestured with his hand, and the light slowly died out.

"Even if that would succeed, its mind would be damaged for the rest of its life. There is no way such transformation was painless." He looked into her eyes. "Get used to it," he added at the end, heading to the exit in front of them. He didn't care if this would have any impact on her mental health, or if it would hunt her in her dreams. He slightly snorted.

The moment that thing looked at him, he no longer could just stand there and do nothing. If it would keep laying, if it would just keep wheezing, he would let it be. However, that one eye it still had was full of sorrow, and it begged for release. He slightly shook his head, getting that image out of his head.