Bright lights, a pounding headache, and ropes tied around her wrists made for a rather unpleasant wake up.

Aubrey leaned back against the scratchy wooden chair, doing her best to blink the crust from her eyes because she couldn't use her hands. The room was small and circular, made of polished marble more elegant than anything she'd ever seen. Across the room, a pair of Wardens spoke in tones too low for her to hear anything.

"Why am I here?" Aubrey asked weakly, flinching at the hoarse sound of her voice.

One of the Wardens glanced at her. He was tall and leaned built, with a chiseled jaw and a widow's peak. Aubrey had to admit to herself that he was handsome, as much as it irked her.

"You're here because you killed three people, Ms. Delacourt," he replied without missing a beat.

"That didn't—I wasn't—" Aubrey sucked in a breath, head spinning. It was true. It was true, and she hated it. "They were attacking me!" She protested.

"Murder's still murder," the other Warden replied—a full-figured woman with elegant braided hair and sharp amber eyes. "No matter the reason."

Aubrey slouched. It was murder, sure. She'd still killed people. But at the same time, didn't her reasons sort of justify her actions? It wasn't like she'd gone off on some crazy murdering spree or something. And she'd seen Wardens kill people with even less of a reason than she did.

"What are you going to do to me, then?" Aubrey asked.

The male Warden grinned. "Well, that depends on you, now doesn't it?"

Aubrey frowned. "Does it?" She didn't know how being held prisoner worked.

His smile faltered. "I mean, it—I—"

"We have questions, Ms. Delacourt," the other Warden cut in, shooting the man a pointed glare. "Relating to your powers, specifically. Magic like yours... well, we haven't seen anything like it. Ever. And I don't believe you're a bad person, even if you've done bad things." Her gaze softened somewhat as it shifted back to Aubrey. "We could help you."

"I don't know..." Aubrey trailed off. She couldn't think. She couldn't focus. "I don't know anything."

"Oh, but that can't be true," he replied. "Surely you know something. Now, we'll start with your mother. Did she have any kind of magic?'

Aubrey did her best to gather her thoughts. "I don't think so?" She said reluctantly. "Not that I know of."

"What about your father?"

Aubrey laughed bitterly. "Oh, I wouldn't know," she replied, tone harshly flippant. "He's long gone."

The two Wardens looked at each other, clearly less than amused. "Do you know who he was?" The one with the braid asked.

"No," Aubrey said.

"Perfect," the male one muttered under his breath, rubbing his temples. "She's fucking explosive and she's clueless."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm clueless," Aubrey said with a wide smile, swaying slightly in her seat. "I know a lot of things. I know about rocks! I know a lot about rocks. All the rocks back home. And the pretty caves, and the crystals that sparkle in the sunlight, and..."

The ground started to flicker. Some moments it was smooth, polished marble. Other times it was streaked with grayish water and patches of bright sand. Aubrey's nose burned with the almost overpowering scent of saltwater.

"And I know about trees!" Aubrey continued, dimly aware of the words she was saying. A piercing headache started to split her skull. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the world, but still the words tumbled out of her. "Their roots are thick and coiled and endless, and they keep on going, Wardens. They just keep on going. One day—" Aubrey giggled. "One day they'll choke the entire earth."

The female Warden's eyes widened as she spoke. "We're losing her," she hissed, glancing at her partner.

"I know!" He snapped frantically.

But neither of the Wardens did anything. They just watched Aubrey, too scared to approach her.

"Oak trees are the worst," Aubrey declared, voice childlike and lilting. "They'll choke the earth before any other kind of tree. They're poisonous."

"Aubrey..." The Warden with the braid began slowly.

At the sound of her name—her name, not just Ms. Delacourt—Aubrey managed to regain a moment of clarity. "Yes?" She asked sweetly.

"Do you know what's happening to you?" The Warden asked. Her voice was surprisingly gentle.

"I..." Aubrey trailed off. The headache pounded, splitting and scattering and smashing her thoughts to pieces. "No," she whispered.

The Warden shot her a sympathetic look. "That's alright," she said. And then, softer, "Jericho, put her under."

The male Warden nodded. He stood up and walked out of the room, marble walls sliding open and then shut again to accommodate for his departure.

The momentary focus slipped from Aubrey's grasp like water falling through her fingers. "Put me under?" She asked, straining loosely against her restraints. "Under what? Under an umbrella? Underground? Under the..." Aubrey gasped joyfully. "Under the sky!" She smiled. "We're under the sky. And I know about the sky, too. I know that it's big, and blue, and massive, and one day it will swallow us all..."

Aubrey's eyelashes fluttered weakly as she looked at the Warden with the braid, meeting that wicked amber gaze. "I don't know what's happening to me," she said weakly. Her breath hitched. The ropes burned her skin and being tied to the chair really hurt and really she just wanted to go back home but she couldn't go back home, she couldn't—

"I know," the female Warden said softly.

With a sound almost like someone twisting open a cookie jar, the marble wall slid back open, revealing Jericho with a small, dark bottle in one hand and a crisp white cloth in the other. "She secure?" He asked.

"Yeah," the other Warden replied.

Aubrey watched the exchange with wide eyes. She didn't quite understand what was going on—at least, until Jericho uncapped the small bottle and started to douse the cloth with whatever liquid was inside. Aubrey recoiled at the pungent, acrid smell of the clear liquid. Jericho stepped towards her, cloth raised.

Aubrey squirmed in the seat, inching away from him as much as she could. Her eyelids fluttered weakly. "What are you..."

"Just relax," Jericho said, eyes gleaming slightly wickedly. "It will be so much easier if you relax."

"I don't want to—"

And then Jericho pressed the cloth against her mouth and nose, cutting off her air supply until Aubrey had no choice but to inhale whatever was coating the cloth. The fumes burned. Her eyes watered. Aubrey could feel her body going limp slowly, slowly...

"Did you have to be so harsh?" The female Warden asked. Her voice sounded detached, distant and otherworldly.

"She's going, see?" Jericho asked.

Aubrey tried to pull away. She tried to say something, but her words were swallowed by the cloth. The taste hit her tongue. Sickly sweet and disgustingly sour, like hard candies and curdled milk.

"She doesn't seem to be," the female Warden noted, inspecting her.

Jericho rolled her eyes. "Just wait..."

It only took a few seconds more before Aubrey found herself lapsing into unconsciousness.