Welcome to Gaia! ::

While he was waiting for his agent, Goh had grown a bit bored. So he'd returned to the dungeon and had worked his boredom out on Cynthia for hours before leaving again. She'd nearly bled out by now and was deathly pale, her body a mess. She was in so much pain that she couldn't pass out or scream anymore. Silent tears rolled down the sides of her face.

She knew now, without any doubt, that when Goh returned to her, she'd probably die this time. She simply didn't have the strength to fight anymore. Her only thoughts now were of Lareth; wishing she'd seen him one last time, that she'd been able to kiss him one last time, tell him that she loved him one last time.

She finally felt the darkness closing in around her vision, her eyes starting to close as she neared passing out...

Goh raged, seethed around his dungeon, looking for a prisoner that had yet to give their last drop of pain to him. He had lost something, someone, he had treasured, but he could not remember how, why or when. His own pain at such a bond being broken shattered his thoughts, his short term memory ran rampant into his past and he could not discern the day, hour or even the minute. He raged and raged in circles, for moments or hours, he did not know.

His seething pain and turmoil flared and ebbed, until he found something he wanted. A young were-woman his servants had brought here sometime ago was nestled away in one of the Dungeon's corners. Her flesh held no cuts or bruises, she was fresh and ready for his table. Grabbing her from the cage, Goh dragged her to his table and fastened only the wrist and ankle restraints. How he loved to see his victims squirm when he cut them.

Considering his own torment at Ilea's betrayal, Goh took his time with this victim. He first unrobed her, letting her fear leak out. He looked down at her, but for an instant he saw Ilea and all his pain came welling to a crescendo of anguish. He saw red and lashed the woman with his Hexed Chains, drawing rivers of blood. He could not stop and the chains acted as if of their own free will and wrapped themselves around the woman and the table, constricting and crushing both flesh and stone till there was little but rubble and lumps of flesh left. Goh then let loose a roar of pain, anguish and frustration that shook the entire castle and echoed through the surrounding area.

Ilea followed the Hunter Golems into the dungeon and motioned two off, "Release any prisoners still alive," she ordered then continued on through the one part of the castle that she knew better than she knew herself. She ordered every room opened and searched. When they did find someone still alive, she had to assess whether or not they should be killed or patched up. Most of the time, it was kinder to kill them.

She knew Goh's rage had been bad, but this level of it was enough to leave her shaking and more than glad that he was now gone for good.

As she approached one particular room, she hesitated.

The skeletal guards were still there. These were creations of Goh. They should have fallen into dust with his death but they were still standing and staring with a crimson light deep int heir eye sockets. She hesitated because she wasn't sure if the Hunters could kill these. But she still ordered them taken down anyway.

Thankfully it was fast and without incident.

Then she opened the door and stepped inside.

Here, she froze completely. This was the room where she was 'born'; where she'd spent so much time with Goh, learning and thinking she was being loved. She'd been bound to that table with it's golden chains, felt the touch of every instrument displayed on the side table. Her blood had stained the table and the floor under it. She'd even been chained to the wall and felt the touch of each lash and whip so carefully displayed on the opposite wall.

She finally moved further into the room with slow steps and stopped at the table, her fingers hovering over the wood as they ghosted along. Her gaze was a mix of emotions that she couldn't seem to be able to control right now: confusion, fear, hatred, anger, love, and sadness. All a confusing mix that compounded everything she knew she should feel and everything she remembered feeling.

The rest of the golems moved through the castle, rounding up the human guards and servants in the great hall then guarding them until she could get up there to see to them. One remained to stand guard outside this room to protect her.

But it couldn't protect her from her own memories...

The moment he touched her, Ilea turned into him and put her arms around his waist, tucking her face into his chest. She wasn't crying, didn't even feel the need to. It was simply that this room held so many memories for her that it was a bit overwhelming at the moment.

He was the only thing that grounded her and let her push the memories back enough to be able to focus again. His touch had snapped her out of the emotional rollercoaster she'd been on. His touch alone helped her back to herself and reminded her that she wasn't alone anymore.

After a moment, she pulled back and turned to look at the room again, this time with a clearer mind. Her first reaction was to raze the room to ash. But she finally decided to simply seal it for now and revisit it with Shade when they had more time.

"I'm sorry about that... I shouldn't have allowed it to overwhelm me like that..." she said softly, "The room simply holds alot of memories for me. But we should head upstairs to the great hall now. The golems should have everyone gathered there by now. Everyone human, that is. The only ones that are left would be the servants I've personally created. Less smart than your golems, basically good for nothing but simple tasks," she explained, knowing that they should get on with the business of taking over the castle completely.

Yet her feet still held her in place beside the table. The wood was worn smooth after centuries of use and was a dark red only because it was stained with blood instead of varnish. Most of the blood that had stained this particular table had been her own. While it was a place of torture, it had also been a place of pleasure and learning for her. She'd come to love pain on this table, to embrace it to a surprising extent that she was able to handle Lareth's torture without going insane from it. The golden chains attached to the table were the only physical item that could hold her, specially created and enchanted to do so for her alone.

Her memories of this room were almost all good memories. Only a few were purely punishment. And yet, all of those memories involved a person she'd thought she loved who never returned the sentiment. That last was probably the larger betrayal to her: that Goh had never loved her in any way, that she'd only been a possession to him and nothing more. Maybe that was why this room disturbed her so much...

She finally shook her head slightly and took Shale's hand to lead him from the room and closed the door behind her without a backwards glance. Outside the room, she paused to take in a slow deep breath, half afraid of what Shale would say about that particular room. So she didn't ask him anything.

Instead, she looked in the direction of the dungeon's exit, just at the end of the hallway, "We should finish this..." she finally said softly and looked up at him briefly then gave a small nod and headed in the direction of the exit without a backward glance.