Recuperate

 The palace awoke in a blaze as news of the unconscious emperor and his warriors spread amongst the servants like wildfire. At first, the intimidating sight of shadows holding the bunch made the staff hesitant to get closer but with Zeya's reassurance of their safety, they moved quickly to get them to the royal infirmary.

 "It was an ambush. Somehow, the monster knew exactly where we were without even alerting the shadows keeping watch." Zeya explained to Ezra once she had taken care of the three, the council was visibly shaken by the sight of the three seemingly lifeless figures, but they were still breathing.

 Unfortunately.

 "However, we were fortunate enough to escape with everyone still intact, so rest assured." She tried her best to comfort the council, although she was unsure as to why she was doing that. "But it would be best to have one of your physicians check on them to make sure."

 "I knew this was going to happen." The council said frustratingly, clearly worried despite knowing that Varen was not an easy being to kill. "If only I had convinced him to take the Valors with him."

 "Not even his two most valued Valors could handle the creature's spells." Zeya shook her head as she spoke, her expression grim. "I doubt a couple more of those shielded bastards would make any difference in the outcome."

 "I'll be in my chambers if you need me." She concluded quickly, wishing to leave the chaos that was unravelling before her. She knew that nothing would change with her sticking around anyway. Besides, the sudden exposure to all this noise after being in the tranquil forest was too much on her sensitive ears. The last thing she needed the most right now was to cause a scene herself.

 However, she didn't make it far before her legs buckled, causing her to fall to the ground. She covered her mouth in a hurry as a rush of nausea hit her unexpectedly, trying hard not to throw up right then and there. Her vision blurred until it completely turned black, dragging her into the abyss of her mind that she despised so much.

================= 

 The sun was one of the many things that Lex despised. Being partially a shadow, his skin was more sensitive than most, and it was not a big fan of the harmful rays that the star we call the Sun gave out. Despite his skin visibly getting irritated, he continued walking without seeking any shade, his mind weighted heavily by the secrets he was not aware of until a moment ago.

 Still unsure of whether it was the truth, he came to seek it in Exousia, where his sister was supposed to be. Extra measures had to be taken if he didn't wish for the monster to find out his whereabouts, so he brought some manpower with him. Quickly, the palace was engulfed in a gigantic bubble made entirely of shadows, making sure nothing could come in or out of it without Lex noticing.

================= 

 Zeya woke up to find herself in a strange room as her sight started to clear.

 She was taken aback when her attempt to get up from her seated position failed, an invisible force quickly jerking her backwards.

 "What in the world-" She looked back to see that her hands were chained to a thick wooden pole, leaving her completely incapable. 

 "Looks like you've finally come around." A familiar voice spoke up from one of the corners of the room.

 "What the hell do you think you're doing, Lex?" Zeya demanded, recognizing her brother's voice from the darkness. Her sight was assaulted yet again when the room lit up out the blue without warning.

 "Oh goodness, finally some light." Lex sighed in relief, walking over to Zeya with his eyes squinted. "I know we're shadows but Nox really had to get rid of all those damned shadows in order for me to light even a single candle in here."

 From the corners of her eye, Zeya noticed the very furious emperor tied up next to her with chains specially made for someone as powerful as him. He tried to speak but to no one's surprise, only angry muffles came out thanks to the restraints placed over his mouth. 

 "He's quite a temper, hasn't he?" Lex said with a mocking smirk, amused by Varen's murderous glare. With a snap of his fingers, the restraints around Varen's mouth disappeared into thin air, freeing him finally.

 "I didn't expect to reunite with you in this way, Kaiden." Varen said as he eased his tense jaw.

 "... No wonder I couldn't recognize you." Lex smiled at the perplexed Kaxarene, not knowing what's going on. "You've only ever met the other one."

 Varen looked over to Zeya, desperate for an answer to what exactly was happening. Has there been a chapter to this story that he had missed? 

 "It's a long story." Was all she said, the deadpan expression sealing the deal for Varen that she was not going to elaborate any further. "You will get the gist of what's happening soon enough." 

"Since both of you are awake, I think now is the best time to tell you what's going on." He took a seat in the floor in the middle of Zeya and Varen, taking a deep breath. 

 "Do not worry, I'm not here to kill you." Lex started with his usual sick humor. "You won't be gone for no longer than a few hours so I'm sure none of your followers would have even guessed that their beloved ruler was taken away."

 "On the other hand, I brought you here under the elders' orders." He turned to look at Zeya, his expression hard to read. "They wish to see you and gave me specific orders to bring you to them." 

 "I thought we've agreed to sever ties... There should be no reason to see each other anymore." Zeya questioned Lex's statement, looking away. Varen noticed how her hardened voice got softer, almost like it pained her to be reminded of her mother's realm.

 'Sever ties?' The emperor thought, never having heard of this before. The people of Stygia considered family connections to be extremely sacred, and it was even more so the higher you ranked in society. He couldn't help but be curious of what lead her to go that far but now was not the time to pry yet, they had much more important matters at hand.

 "It's regarding the matter you asked me to investigate. I brought it up hoping to find something useful but to my surprise, they seemed to know more than I had expected them to. Besides, they said that they're willing to overlook it."

He now turned to Varen, a frown forming on his dashing face as if he had eaten something unpleasant.

 "The problem now is that they definitely won't be happy with him tagging along but, we have no other choice thanks to the blood contract between you two."

 "Don't ask me how I found out..." He sighed, clearly disliking the path this conversation was going. "For now, just get some rest and I'll come back once the portal is set up which, won't be that long."

 The click of the door closing behind them signified that the pair was now alone in the room, the silence hanging heavily above their heads.

 "Never in my years would I have predicted that I'd be kidnapped like this." Varen's dejected but amused laughed broke the silence, seemingly having made peace with what's happening.

 "You look like you're enjoying this predicament that we're in." Zeya commented, unmoved by Varen's infinite yet almost idiotic positiveness.

 "You should probably get some rest like what your brother suggested." Varen advised, looking over his shoulder to get a glance of Zeya. "Wouldn't want to be looking unpresentable in front of such important figures now, would you?"

 "I'd prefer not seeing them at all, but I guess that's not a choice I can make, is it?"

 "Beggars like us can't be choosers I'm afraid." He said and for once since her return, Zeya agreed.