"..." he was silent as he stared through the small slot in the metal door, his clouded dull eyes peering gently in. He looked at the dimly lit room, and at the one in the centre of it. A child. Sitting on a little stool, a shackle around one of their ankles, and a chain leading from it, attached to the wall, trapping her there. But she didn't seem to care. She just sat there. Blankly. As though she were waiting for something.

And it ate away at his insides. Made them feel like they were rolling around in a storm of heat and debris. He looked away and shook his head, his greyish silver hair contrasting against his unnaturally dark grey skin.

He then walked down the hallway, past another door, where he saw a man being treated... well... badly. So many people were using so many different weapons on him, and doing things that... weren't pleasant. It almost made his stomach turn, if not for the fact that he'd seen much worse during his time there. Still, this seemed to be worse than what he'd seen happen to the Fyrane boys so long ago... especially Lindsay.

He continued along his way, before cried and grunts of pain and agony were heard from yet another room, which caused him to flinch and bite his lip. He peered in to see a young woman with red and white hair strapped down to a table... trying extremely desperately to break free. So much so, he could see her restraints barely starting to cause her skin to break and bleed slightly, but she continued without any sign or hint of giving up, her cries boring into his very soul.

He looked away and continued onwards, picking up the pace and looking at the floor, which caused him to almost run into someone as they turned a corner. He managed to stop just as he bumped into her, causing her to take a few steps backwards, dropping one of the crystals she was carrying.

"Sorry, Ayla." he apologised. "Are you all right?" he asked.

The female wood elf said nothing in response. She didn't even seem to acknowledge that he said anything. She merely picked up the crystal she dropped, and continued on, a small limp in her step. He looked and saw that one of her ankles was severely bruised, probably from an earlier accident, but she didn't seem to care at all. She just walked forward like a puppet with a singular purpose.

His hands clenched into fists when he saw this, before he turned away from her and hastened his steps. He had to speak with the one in charge here. He had to speak his mind to her.

"...Mistress will surely have SOME kindness..." he said to himself. "There's no way Ayla should be treated this way, and that child... perhaps we've gone too far..." he said further. "She... she has to have SOME regard left for others. I mean... surely she doesn't like this... at least a little?" he asked himself, though it sounded like it was a weak attempt to convince himself of this.

He made his way to the door that lead to the office of the one in charge here, and stopped as he heard... sounds coming from behind it. Sounds that... he recognised. Sounds that, he wanted to deny were being emanated. His first 'instinct' was to turn and walk away, return later, but something else inside him caused that to be overridden, and he surged with the drive to actually open the door and step inside.

So he did.

And what he saw caused him to freeze in place in shock and horror.

The chairs were knocked down to the floor, and papers were strewn about everywhere. Papers that would normally be on the desk, but there was a reason they were on the floor, all about. Vanessa and Azari were both on said desk, arms wrapped around each other, their lips locked in a passionate embrace. Their hands were travelling and feeling up whatever they could, and it was very clear what this was a precursor to.

That had done it. As soon as he saw this, something inside of him snapped. He felt the power within the room surging inside him, which overrode the control that Vanessa had inside him, as his dull and clouded eyes started to glow a vibrant sky blue.

No sooner had her angry pejorative escaped her lip, Chris metaphorically exploded with mana. He yelled out in anger and frustration, tears streaming down his face, as both his eyes turned entirely sky blue for a moment, and the entire underground complex became encased in a type of field.

When he came down from the expulsion, he saw that Azari was frozen where he was... and so was Vanessa. They were trapped. Stuck. Frozen in time.

"...oh shit, oh shit, oh shit..." Chris mumbled in a bit of a panicked tone, seemingly JUST realising what he had done, before he then slapped his cheek to bring himself back to reality.

"...too late now." he said.

"Might as well do what my heart is telling me to." he sighed.

He then turned and started to run down the hallway, but slowed down considerably when he heard the young woman that was strapped down still struggling and crying out, though it was a little more subdued.

He made his way to the door and pushed it open, stepping in and looking at her.

"...I figured you'd still be able to move." he mumbled.

"Yeah, don't think so." Chris responded.

"Listen, we don't have much... uh, well, time." he said.

"If I were to get you out of here, would you be able to find someone or somewhere that you could go and get help for what Mist... Vanessa has done to you?" he asked, catching himself on the word 'Mistress'.

She was no longer his Mistress. Not anymore. Not even if he wanted her to still be, which he didn't.

"And... would you be able to get some help for the little girl that's here?" he asked further. "And a friend of mine?" he then inquired.

"And-" he then started to say, before shaking his head. "Nevermind." he muttered.

"Regardless, can you keep it together to help me save a couple of people here?"

"...." Chris was silent, before sighing.

"I get the feeling that's as good as I'm going to get out of you, and I'll take what I can get, under the circumstances." he muttered.

He then proceeded to undo the harsh leather straps that they were using to keep her down, and got all of them undone, allowing her to finally get up and properly move her body around... for whatever that was worth.

"Come on." he said.

"And don't mind that everyone will be completely frozen." he told her.

"That's... well... yeah. Hm." he muttered.

The two of them then left the room and raced down the hallway, stopping at the room that Olivia was in... which Chris discovered that Ayla was in as well, and had been in the process of surrounding the child with the crystals.

"Damn it." he cursed, making his way over.

"...I might be able to roll the control that Vanessa has over them back a little." he told the woman.

Chris looked at the woman as she said what she did, and then started to make her way to Liv. He was silent, before shaking his head slightly.

"I don't think you'll be able to break that chain and shackle. It's super strong." he told her. "You'll need the... key..." he went on, trailing off at the end, before snapping his fingers.

"I know where they are!" he exclaimed.

Then, before she could say anything, he was gone from the room. She heard his footsteps disappear hurriedly, and about a minute later, she heard them returning. He ran back into the room, with a ring of about 8 different keys on it.

"I don't know which one it is. Try them until one works." he muttered, tossing the keys over to her. "When you free her, I'll do the same for Vanessa's control." he informed her further.

He then walked towards Ayla, and bit his lip.

"...I hope I can bring you back to who you used to be... even if a little..." he said to her, though she couldn't hear him, or wouldn't even answer if she could.

His palm then started to glow the same blue as his eyes, and he placed it upon the wood elf's chest, pouring as much mana into her as he could... or, rather, as much mana as would be effective.

Chris finished up with Ayla... though it was clear that a lot of Vanessa's influence remained. Vanessa had been working on her slowly and steadily ever since she had arrived, and he knew more help would be needed. Help that he couldn't give without hurting her immensely. And he did not want to do that. For now, he just had to do what he could, and deal with whatever came later.

"Now what?" Chris asked in response, before making his way over to Olivia.

"Now I see if I can reverse what's been done to this child, and then we leave this place." he told her. "I know where the quick emergency exit is, it should be close to here, and we'll be at the surface within seconds." he informed her.

This confirmed something to her, even though she had suspected it already; they were underground.

Chris then charged his hand with the same mana he'd used on Ayla, and pressed his hand against her chest. However, he only kept it there for about 7 seconds or so, before violently withdrawing it.

"Woah!" he exclaimed.

"Right, the fae mana in her must be screwing with this, or Vanessa used some seriously potent stuff." he said. "She'll no longer be a doll or puppet or whatever, and she'll be... herself... but the influence will still be there. She'll need outside help to get rid of it, fully." he informed her.

He then made his way to Ayla, and hefted her onto his back.

"Grab the girl." he told her.

"I'll get us to the surface, just follow me." he said, starting to walk towards the door that led out of the hollow and sad room.

Chris paused and looked over towards her, before making his way back and looking inside the room. It was... a very spartan room, to say the least. There was a cot in it, with a few sheets and a very thin blanket, a chair to sit in, and a small desk. That was really it. It was better than what most people got, but it was still nothing. Bare minimum in terms of comfort, essentially. At least one wasn't sleeping on the floor.

There was also an individual in there. One with dark skin, white-streaked hair, and black eyes, that was frozen in time, sitting on said cot. Chris narrowed his eyes at her, and thought for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Ah, right." he said. "Yeah, that's... that's fair." he sighed, making his way over.

Once he was close enough, he shifted Ayla a bit, and formed an orb of light blue mana in his hand. Then, he violently thrust it forward into her chest, the orb absorbing into her completely. Once he'd done so, he made his way back.

"Stopper." he said. "She'll be unable to use her mana for a bit. No, I don't know how long specifically, but it's the best I can do." he said.

They then left the room, and quickly made their way to a small room with a light-grey pad in the centre of it. Once they stepped on it, he funneled some mana into it, and they disappeared from where they were, appearing on the surface, in a sandy-like area.

"Island of Wight." was all Chris said, before he collapsed to his knees, Ayla still on his back.

Chris managed to make his way to where the ring of trees were, mostly with the woman's 'help'. Once they were there, he steeled himself, kept himself standing, and gritted his teeth.

"Fine." he said. "I can never come back here, anyway. And I did what I wanted to do. I got Alya out of there, as well as yourself and the child." he told her further, shaking his head.

"Whatever happens to me from here on out... doesn't matter." he said.

"...but please. Help Ayla." he pleaded of her.

"Find someone to help her. She doesn't deserve this. She's too innocent for this to be her fate." he finished, and she could tell it was taking every last ounce of his strength and will to say that.

She also saw the blue light in his eyes starting to fade and flicker, as his breathing became far more laboured.

The one that was there surveyed the ones that had suddenly appeared there, and taking it all in, as well as who they were and the state they seemed to be in, his mouth became agape suddenly.

"...good lord." he mumbled in a hushed tone.

Then, quickly, as though on instinct, a forked tongue darted out of his mouth, causing him to recoil in distaste... and fear. Immense fear. Fear that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Familiar fear.

However, he then shook his head, and looked at the one that had addressed him.

"Right." he said.

"I can sense HER mana in you." he told her. "However... I can also tell that you're you. You have to be." he said further, before pressing the button to allow them entry into the building proper.

"Do you need help getting TO the medwing?" he asked her. "Need someone to help get you all there?" he asked further, noting the child that was there, and knowing that Angela would definitely be interested in this, to massively understate it.

"Or should I just call ahead and let them know you're coming?"

The man was silent, before looking towards Chris and Ayla.

"...the hell did you do THIS time...?" he mumbled. "And what are you doing HERE?" he wondered further, before grabbing the phone and paging someone to come and get them.

On her way to the medical wing, the woman passed some people, notable a pair of medics headed to where she had just been, but nobody bothered here. Instead, she arrived to find Nate and several other medics waiting for her.

"Erica." he said.

"Come on, let's get the both of you treated." he told her.

"We're ready to start work on the both of you." he added, seeing the clear injuries on Erica.