, staring at slowly shaking limbs losing their control.

"Madame Damia? Are you alright?" he hopes not.

He knows it when she goes falling into a mirror, barely cracking it. Madness overtaking as she seemed to try to destroy the ugliness reflected back.

"Don't do that? It hurts right?"

He tugs her skirt without any real intent. The action irritating her enough to whip and slap a claw across his face, knocking him down further across the mostly dark room of mirrors. Face down, he yawns through a smile he feels he can't stop himself from making. Mama says he's not supposed to make that face in front of others. They'll know.

A murky reaction of powders and liquids activating in the pouch carried under his clothes. Gas slowly steaming from where he fell.

Now he didn't start it.

Rosa said he lied a lot and that's just silly. He was telling the truth very much of the time even if she didn't believe him.

If you lie under a detector, like the ones they hooked him up to at the 'trial' thing, then it would hurt very much. Shocks of pain or heavy weights pressing you to death. Lots of types. If you tell the truth but are even scared a little bit, it still hurts.

It's not like he wants to get hurt or feel owies.

Lukas said he used tricks. Not lies.

That was much smarter. Not exactly right but very much better. It was a good thing everyone was all too dumb to listen to Lukas or he'll be in more trouble. Adults were so silly, it was kinda sad how stupid they were.

The sound of the summer thunderstorm outside could still be heard from this deep in.

If Damia's personal....room, wasn't soundproof enough, then that was perfect to cover up anything the escaped. The servants here were too used the sound of screams anyways.

"You brat- w-hat is.." she stumbled, slowly knocking over self. "...you did this....and the...fire. Darius..."

"That's silly?" Amar wonders to himself, why do so many people think that?

He only set the signal when? Not start the actual thing. How was he supposed to do that?

People all thought and acted so funny, it got boring after a while.

He stretches a little, getting up he goes to help the blood-sucking lizard lady into the middle of the room. Didn't want her hurting herself just yet.

"Thank you for helping me all that time" Amar sincerely thanks, not a single lie meant. "No one else wants to get me good poisons. I'm having a hard time getting enough now to keep up my training? Ah but no one eating my blood is nice. That part was weird?"

"Y-uoi" she seethed, growing increasingly stiff. Her breathe speeding up as she panicked, the lack to easily expanding chests and lungs make it all the easier to just hyperventilate.

"Don't worry. You won't turn out like master Darius. This is very different stuff." the boy tilted his head, a little confused but ultimately understanding of the woman's fears.

Fiddling with the small case in his pocket, Amar tried connecting the pieces until the tube and needle were all attached and good to go. It was a little hard to figure out but if he thought of it as a puzzle game it wasn't so annoying.

A semi-clear jelly-like liquid swished in the syringe.

"Don't be scared? It's really good? We learned a lot and made lots of cool stuff under you and master Darius. Now we have all the books, we can learn more. It's the nutrient potion. We helped make it last longer. One-shot like this you don't have to eat or drink for a few more days? It's really cool." the boy showed off.

He got some nice head pats for it. Somehow Gable or Cap saying he did good, even if it was just something like this, felt nice. Vincent not yelling at him, even if he was surprised, also felt not bad?

It was still weird though. He doesn't always know what to do when he didn't trick people into being nice to him.

The funnyman that was Rosalia's papa was much easier to deal with. If he said he was going to put a hole through you, he does. Simple.

It's even funnier how Rosa thinks her papa is scary. He was so scary nice to her and her drooling stinky sister? All the time? Sometimes he thinks she doesn't even know he's her kinda crazy papa. Babies were stupid sometimes, but that's okay because they're little and cute.

At least Lukas knew just what Gable was. Gable didn't say it but it was too easy for anyone that still had their eyes in their heads.

The other boy could smell it too. That they smelled alike, somewhere under the skin. Same way Lukas knew about the weak one. The one that could break with one press of his foot, if he felt like being clumsy and missed juggling his knives. Amar's not sure how someone as strong as Lukas could have someone so weak for his brother? Even a half brother. That one wasn't so little anymore.

All of own his brothers were strong? Isn't that how brothers are supposed to be?

Oh. That's right. The weak ones went to sleep. How silly of Amar to forget. He didn't?

'Don't look.' his mama cried

'Don't listen.' she'd order him.

'Don't ever look back.'

She would sing her songs, over and over again. Washing over the prettiest of sounds, ringing in his ears. The hypnotizing bells beating in tune with how his little breath beat.

He's sorry it didn't work.

"You-" the monster below gasped for breath.

There were enough vials for three shots. That would keep her alive for a very long time.

Soldiers at the troops can go do a lot more if this stuff worked on people. He guesses they were gonna use it on long missions without a lot of food or water? The lizard lady was still a 'people'. She counted. A "test subject". Okay then.

He stabs her twice in different parts, carefully injecting all of the substance in. Watching for any side effects like he was told to do. Were there bruises? Extra pain? Did anything explode?

Nope? In fact, she looked healthier? That's what he'll say back to Vincent and everyone. But the food here probably wasn't very good so?

"You-" she floundered like a fish, eyes spinning madly as they tried to keep focus on the tiny boy in front of her. Her choked laughter sounded like a type of drowning " you...would have made...a great...man...just like him."

He stabs the last shot into her neck and forces her jaw open.

"Your teeth are really bad." he squints, holding his breath.

He doesn't like this part at all. It was gross.

"If they fell out like mine, it would be better. But adults don't do that? They're really bad, but it still hurts a lot." it hurt a bit to tilt his head, his neck " You can bite your tongue off and die? I'm not allowed to let you do that."

They gave him gloves but it felt weird. The pliers were ok. He doesn't really wanna reach in and pull the yucky things himself.

1

2

2 and half?

Holding her down enough was a little hard when she screamed and squirmed around like that. It was almost as slippery as catching eels, but the heavy dress kept if he stabbed a few knives down.

"Okay dokey. That's 9? " he showed her the small jar, and it made a clattering sound. The healthiest sharpest teeth. "I left the rotting ones. Sorry. I don't really wanna." he tried stretching his head the other way.

Nope still hurt.

Rotting toothaches hurt more. That seemed like a fair trade for the yucky wound on his neck It was gonna hurt more when Cass saw and cleaned the wound. She was gonna find out anyway. Stubborn and silly as always.

Oh but he doesn't remember an always? Doesn't know her. Right.

He doesn't remember anything.

"You can move now. If you want? The numbness is only temporary." he says as he sits on top of her. Watching. Waiting.

It was honestly boring if nothing else was gonna happen. He'd rather watch Lukas do homework.

The painted claws swipe to strangle him, long in their reach. Amar feels himself yawn again, he just can't help it. He was so sleepy.

Bending down, he escapes by going low. Practically laying on top of bony lizard lady.

Maybe this is what Rosa means when he doesn't have enough 'mochi' on him, he knows she means fat and flesh the same way he knows all 381 ways Lukas says bacon but means something else. It doesn't feel very comfy.

"Still didn't wear off? You take too long? Too slow." he's a little grumpy right now so he complains.

When he makes to get up, he drags her by the string on her neck. It looks a little familiar.

"Mama said she never loses at games. But that's a lie. That's okay. Sometimes she lost something because of gambling. A lot of people at the troops really really like gambling? Ah, that funny loser. Lord Ventrella? He likes it a lot too. Lots of people." he tugs against her gritted teeth, the half worn rotted ones still left in her bloody mouth. He bets it doesn't taste as good when it's her own.

"Everything's fair and square when playing? I think you won this somewhere? I don't know? Mama had lots of these things. But I don't think I like you wearing even one of them very much."

It would be kinda funny if her head came off just like that. The kid wonders what kind of excuses he could give that could make for that?

Oops?

The gems and chain scatter as the clasp and links break, sparing the woman to breathe.

When he gathers the broken pieces he decides it looks better that way. It would be easier to sell? A lot of his mama's jewels looked a little too funny around here but the gems were alright? This place was weird, anywhere and all over he went. The same way how he had to explain to Cass that boys didn't wear earrings and most people didn't ever season their food right. Or at all? Weird.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH" the bloody woman screeched, strength renewed to rip herself free to claw and attack.

Just like the monsters in stories told in the dark. They were really scarier than beasts? People were the scariest, especially when they're weak. Weak ones have to come up with all sorts of bad ways to eat you.

He dodges easily, too easily. It was more fun playing with the stinky baby and the super-hard breadsticks, even if she was a lot slower. But if he hit that one too hard then Rosa would do more than hit him back. Like pull his ear or cry mad or make him smell more bad cheese. Bleh. Scary. Even scarier than stories.

When Damia finally breaks a nail by ramming herself against a wall, Amar admits that also felt a little good. He didn't even need to do anything?

But she had him trapped now. Cornered. Blood drooling savagely out her gummy mouth. How funny.

"Did you know? The door used to be here?"

The strange statement takes her back for the moment as if registering it as truth versus a distracting lie.

Amar holds back a giggle, just a little.

Slender white arms, almost lovely if they weren't floating disembodied, reach out from the stone wall, grasping the boy all around. Amar laughs because that tickles.

"Your sons say they hope you like your new room? Bye-bye forever now."

The arms pull and he disappears through the solid wall, childishly sweet giggles still echoing.

The woman screams.

Bleeding, clawing, surrounded by dimming candlelight and hundreds to thousands of broken reflections. She screams and screams till her declawed fingers rub raw against the impossible stone. Time seemingly meaningless. No exit. The reflections mocking at every angle every turn.

Revolting at the sight of the largest grandest mirror, she runs headfirst into it. Crashing in diamonds and shatter.

She does not die.

For a very long time, she cannot die.

Sometimes a sleepy silly child will think back to that fact and laugh a little. Don't mind it. He's just remembering something funny.