Islinda was frozen at the spot, tears streaming down her cheeks unchecked. She had felt it. Every single torment; pain; anguish and depression that Azula had gone through. She experienced it as if it were her own suffering. As if Azula had vanished and she had taken her place during that ordeal as long as it lasted.
Even now, she could tell the thoughts buzzing around in the demon’s head. Islinda groaned, clutching her head. This... It was too much. She didn’t ask for this. Why was this happening to her? There were so many humans, Fae’s, that Azula could have chosen to share this fate with, why her?
Suddenly, the squeaking sound of metal being dragged open echoed through the dim confines of the prison, piercing the heavy silence. Azula’s eyes snapped open, wide with anticipation, the sudden noise jolting her from the numbness of her existence. Simultaneously, Islinda lifted her head, her expression mirroring Azula’s mixture of hope and apprehension.
The realization dawned on them both: someone was opening the prison door. For the first time in five long years, someone was finally visiting them, the sound of the door’s opening a beacon of hope in their otherwise bleak existence.
However, anger filled Azula’s vein almost immediately as the figure walked in with the torchlight. After so many years, they finally remembered they had a demon prisoner. Azula flexed her muscles, her chains rattling with the movement. Even with her emaciated form, she lifted her face and refused to show weakness to Benjamin who had probably come to check if his pet demon had died.
However, her nostrils flared recognizing the scent was foreign from Benjamin’s. Even if a hundred years had gone by, Azula could still recall what Benjamin smelled like — rotten evil with a hint of deceit.
Hence Azula’s frame became rigid, bracing herself for this unexpected visitor and when the figure finally came into view, she snarled in response. She should have known. There was a tinge of familiarity in the newcomer’s scent.
Except he was no newcomer at all.
"I have to admit, your resilience is admirable."
It was Benjamin’s second in command and if his master smelled like rotten evil, he was way worse. The Fae smiled at her fiendishly, his sinister intention written clearly on his face.
Azula did not give him the satisfaction of a response, watching him cautiously as he moved to light up the torches in the room. It took a while to light up considering how out of use it has been.
However, her prison was soon lit up and Azula had to admit she missed the tantalizing heat. She was a creature of hell and was used to the intense heat. She couldn’t remember the number of times she had curled into a ball on the floor, shivering from the cold and soughting the feel of the delicious warmth on her skin.
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