It wasn't long after she heard someone coming that Ishi felt it necessary to lay back down. She hadn't the opportunity to pay much attention to Skylar, who was awake around the time that Ishi finally convinced herself to wake up. Rather than address Skylar, she laid down upon her side, facing Constantine, and pulled the blanket up over her, covering herself completely, and primarily focusing upon pulling it up by her shoulder, ensuring that anyone looking at her wouldn't be able to see that her eyes were open and looking around. She just had to appear like she was sleeping, and if someone were to do something to her, she'd have the element of surprise going for her . . .

That didn't happen, though. When she heard someone speak, it felt like a knife had been driven into her heart, and Ishi stopped breathing for just a moment, listening close, but not speaking. Her heart pounded hard in her chest; where was Skylar supposed to be going? Was she the only one that was going there? Was the man talking to Ishi, as well? Ishi simply pretended to be asleep.

And it didn't take long for an unsettling feeling to burrow its way into her heart.

. . . guilt. She felt guilty for laying there, rather than following Skylar out, but she just wasn't able to bring herself to act like that at that point in time. Instead of toughing it out with Skylar, Ishi was still in bed, curled up next to Constantine. Going back to sleep just wasn't going to happen, not while she felt sorrow for her own (lack of) actions, but getting up and leaving wasn't going to happen, either . . .

The man was cowed somewhat by Skylar's anger, the situation perhaps made worse by the fact that he really did seem to want to help, to a point. He considered suggesting that Skylar get cleaned up and dressed before going anywhere, but decided against suggesting anything. Instead, he would lead her quickly through the underground structure to another room, an ornate study of some kind, where the older man from before sat in a chair, glancing up before looking back to a worn book, reading by candlelight.

"Hello Skylar. I take it you don't like our hospitality..."

The younger man would quickly disappear, shutting the door behind him. Faruq's eyes didn't glance over Skylar's form in a hungry way at all, his motivations perhaps a bit more unclear. In any case, he would continue to calmly read from one of his books, allowing Skylar to sit in one of the many chairs in front of the desk, allowing her to peruse the reading materials, or do whatever she wanted, really...

She followed him closely, afraid she may be attacked by those scarabs again. The thought made her skin crawl. Thinking back for a moment, she reached up and placed her hand on the young mans arm, very briefly. “Thank you.” Her voice was soft, and she offered him a half smile before entering the room.

“Your hospitality? I just woke up. My body is beaten and bruised. We need time to recuperate.” She was slightly annoyed that they acted like trio would be in tip top shape. Her eyes scanned the room for anything that could be deemed useful, informational, something. “Why have you requested my presence here, sir?” She would remain respectful, as he had done for her. Every minute spend down here made things seem more and more odd.

While she wished to remain defiant in some way, the softness of the chairs beckoned her. She had spent god knows how long on the floor for her sleep, and slowly she made her way closer to him, and the chairs.

Carefully, she eased herself down in the one closest to him, winching some, and exhaling loudly. “You must understand in some way how we are feeling.” Her tone was gentle and sweet, genuine. “No matter how hospitable you are, keeping someone from leaving against their will, still makes them your prisoner, sir.”

There was no disrespect in her voice, no hint of sarcasm. “I’m not sure what your plans are for the three of us, but this I do know. We need fresh water, and bathed, time to heal. Ishi is in terrible shape, and Constantine...” Her words trailed off as she fought back the burning sensation behind her eyes...”He is not well at all.” She tossed her glance away from the elder of these men, wiping away a tear that had escaped its prison.

"You'll have all the time you need to heal. I understand your worrying, but we'll do whatever we can to make your lives easier. And Constantine can stay here too, if he likes. You can even remain involved with him if you like, though you have the distinction of being female..."

Closing his book and setting it down, he would pull a bottle of wine from a shelf, along with two glasses. Pouring out a drink for each of them, he would offer one to Skylar, setting it on the edge of the desk where she could choose whether to accept it. The gesture was intended to be polite more than anything...

"There's no sense in lying. We're not going to allow you to leave here. You two are the only chance any of these men has ever had for a family. I have no interest in starting another family, but it would be cruel of me to deny the rest their only chance..."

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Elsewhere, Constantine would open his eyes, groaning as the pain of consciousness reached him. Staring straight upward at the ceiling, he wasn't yet aware of what was around him, but he was conscious, at least...

"Skylar, is there anything here for pain?"

He wasn't aware Skylar had left the room, either...

She slumped rather lazily in the chair. It was the closest thing to comfort she had really had since this whole thing started, and yet, she was so very uncomfortable. She glanced over her shoulder as he spoke, more out of curiousness then fear really. It was his words that drew her attention back to him. “Involved?” It was spoken more to herself quietly, then out loud to him, but none the less said.

She watched as he took down the wine and the glasses, filling one for her, and setting it close. Her finger wrapped around the glass and politely she nodded to him. “Thank you.” Manners, it would seem, would get her point across here. This man was wise beyond his age, and childish games weren’t going to do the trick.

“I’m well aware that you won’t allow us to leave. I must admit though, it strikes me almost hypocritical that you would not deny these men a chance for a family, but deny us the choice of whom we give ourselves to, in the name of cruelty, that is.” She cleared her throat and sipped the wine. Its pungent sweetness teased her tongue before she swallowed.

“As for Ishi, she is but a child, surely you men have some morals. To be taken at such a young age, not understanding what it should all really mean, that, my friend, is cruel.” Still, there was no malice in her voice, nor was she being defiant. Although she wished to not lose the one thing she had that was precious to her to these men, she wished even more that Ishi not be involved. She would gladly give herself to each one, so long as Ishi didn’t have to endure that again.

He was awake. Ishi backed up in the bed, drawing herself away from Constantine, avoiding him now that he was moving, while prior, she was willing to almost curl up beside of him comfortably . . . or . . . well, at least as comfortable as she could be in this place, the miserable discomfort it was.

"C-Con-stan-tine . . ." Ishi whispered.

She was covered up to her shoulders, and kept herself as such--and was only a few feet from Constantine, to boot. Though, it wasn't like he could see all that well, anyways; she could be indecent without the covers, and all might as well have been fine, but she definitely didn't feel comfortable with that. Clothes had yet to be provided, too, as her older clothes must have been torn to shreds from the attacks of the scarabs . . . however long ago that was. God . . . it had only been a short while since they arrived there, and Ishi was already starting to lose track of time.

He was calling for Skylar, and she had might as well helped him out with that--to let him know of Skylar's current situation, as she was aware of it. "Skyrar r-reave . . . w-with man . . ."

"I'm aware it isn't fair to you. However, no one in the world would treat you two better. I guarantee you, no one will even touch Ishi until she is older, and you... Well, you'll need time to get adjusted first. We may not have all the comforts of the above world, but we have decency..."

No one was behind Skylar, nor were there any indications of scarabs... However, there were perhaps hundreds of cracks scattered throughout the building where they could enter. Faruq, however, sipped at his wine, enjoying one of the few comforts that survived the underground.

"There's going to come a time when you'll be expected to do certain things, but until then... Please enjoy your stay, as much as possible. Like it or not, you're the new queen of this place, and the men are willing to do almost anything for you, I'm sure..."

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"Mmm..."

Groaning, Constantine would sit up, the blanket falling to his waist. Skylar had left without waking him, so she must have left on her own... Right? At least, there was little chance of him chasing down where she might have gone. Gripping his head and pressing his temples, he would look down with his eyes closed, trying in vain to get his headache to subside.

"How are your wounds?"

Constantine would speak without opening his eyes, hunched over somewhat with pain. His torso bore small bruises and cuts all over, but there was no question of whether he was still strong. The pain was making it more difficult for him to use it, but his body was still the same as ever...

Again the wine would quench her thirst as she listened to his words. He was kind...polite...and as much as she wanted to hate him, in the moment, she could not. Nor would she however give up hope that they would escape this tomb and get Ishi home to her family, but that, had no need to enter this conversation.

Her tongue darted out across her lips, thinking...hanging on his words. She was queen here, the only woman able to reproduce. Valuable information, once put in his words. These men would do anything for her, cater to her even she would bet. “Expectations. What, prey tell, might that include?” While some were, more the likely, obvious, he made it sound like she would play, mother, lover, sister, cook, and housewife. Things she would not be willing to do for ALL these men.

In the back of her mind though, she thought only of Ishi and Constantine. Would they be awake when she returned? Not only that, but would she be able to finally heal them? Their pain, wounds, were horrid, and she...she was feeling better by the minute, surly her power had returned. Only, this made her think, how much more valuable she would be to these men if they knew the prowess she possessed. Something she best keep secret till she could speak to Constantine.

Wounds--wounds--wounds . . . she had to think for a moment about that--what wounds were. She couldn't remember the word. In fact, she hadn't known what it meant before, back when she was "learning" common (which was in itself just learning how to read--she could barely speak it as is, obviously). She went for an entire minute in silence, before it finally started to click: pain, injury, wound. Once she made sense of it, Ishi whimpered softly--once she thought about the injuries, they started to hurt again.

". . . hurt," she replied.

Ishi made sure to keep herself covered once Constantine was sitting up. It was dark and all, but the eyes could adjust to the darkness. Ishi was able to see, for example--slightly. Though, there was no chance of Constantine seeing anything for the time being, considering the damage to his face.

Though, that didn't mean she put distance between them. Ishi, sitting up, was right beside of Constantine, although she couldn't necessarily explain why, nor did she consider the possibility of revulsion for the man. At best, she was afraid of him, but since he wasn't Vimal, that meant that he--as an individual of significant strength--was a source of comfort. She didn't lean into him or anything, just remained sitting close to him, but still . . .

"How is . . . Con-stan-tine-san . . .?"

Faruq would take another sip at his wine, clearing his throat a bit before speaking. He was a tiny bit uncomfortable, as implacable as he was going to be.

"I promised these men families, specifically children. I didn't promise them a prostitute or a servant. We've survived this long down here alone, and we're capable of taking care of ourselves and children, I promise you: whatever else you wish to do down here is your right."

Of course, bearing children for all of the occupants of the underground would be quite a challenge, but he didn't necessarily expect her to play wife to every man, nor even mother to every child. It was a matter of survival for all of their bloodlines, really. She was only one person, after all...

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Constantine couldn't really see, partially because his eyes didn't seem to focus well, and partially because there was a good deal of bruising and swelling on his face. However, he didn't seem to notice it very much, his larger concern being how he had no real idea where he was, and couldn't really remember much. Like, for example, who was Constantine? One of his brothers, right? He could distinctly remember his sister referring to him as Cyril a short time ago...

"I'm not sure how he is... I can't remember much right now. I'll talk to someone, have them bring some pills or something. And we'll see how Constantine is..."

No, Constantine shouldn't have been here, he hadn't come with them. He was... Doing something else, probably. Turning to look in Ishi's direction, he had a bit of a confused expression, though the unknowing look was probably something more of a concern...

His discomfort played on his worn features. It brought a bit of satisfaction to her, having him in the same boat as she. As he spoke, she chose her words wisely, wanting to maintain as friendly a conversation as possible, even though the entire situation enraged her.

“Why would you make promises you weren’t sure you could keep? Morale?” She pulled her legs up under her, crossing them, getting more comfortable. “Surely you cannot look me in the eye and tell me that bringing a child into this lifestyle is alright? Or fair at that.” She remained, non hostile. Forming her words as more of an informative tool. Then it dawned on her....

“What about Constantine?” Her eyes caught his and held them in a gaze. He had been beaten badly by these men, the trauma to his face making him almost unrecognizable. Of course she was sure he had fought back which probably only made it worse on himself, but still, there had to have been a better way for them to deal with him. "I worry about his well being down here, as well as fair treatment.” It was the only way she could word her thoughts at the moment, as her mind wondered back to him and Ishi, and how long she had been gone from them.

Strangely enough, it wasn't uncommon to hear a person talk in the third person--in Cizok, that is. Ishi didn't see too much wrong with Constantine's current state, him speaking in the third person--or, so she figured. There were only a few choice words that she could make out, but it was enough for her to get the gist of what he was saying. To her, it sounded like he was saying that he didn't know how he was doing, going in and out of third and first person, something also not too terribly uncommon in her own culture and language. In fact, Common was amongst the few languages in the world in which it was decidedly strange to speak about oneself in the third person . . .

"Pirrs . . ." she whispered.

He said he needed pills, but she was having trouble figuring out just what those were. She hadn't heard the noun before, and it didn't correspond with any word she knew in Cizokian. In the book she was translating into Common in order to teach herself how to read, that word had never come up.

But if she acted ignorant, despite the fact that she was, in fact, ignorant to the idea of pills, what they were, what they did, and the like, she'd just come off as useless again--and that was starting to get to her. She had tried the last few times to have a use, she really had, but it was difficult, especially when she tried and failed miserably.

"Want me get you pirr . . .?" the girl asked.

A bit of an undertaking, considering the fact that she didn't even know what they were, but if she could keep her blanket, keep it wrapped around her, and find Skylar or someone, maybe she could get her hands on some of these "pill" things, and be just a little more useful.

"Morale, and justice. We were political prisoners, and received political punishment. And as for children... I have thought of that. Eating the scarabs changed us, but since then, we have discovered ways to get food. Real food. Eventually, our children will be able to leave this underground, though we will remain here forever. And when they do, you may leave too. Constantine will heal, and then he'll be one of us until he leaves with you. However, if it is how to keep you here, we will feed him the scarabs as well, and then he will never be able to leave this dungeon either..."

There was a faint note of threat in his voice, but he remained calm and reasonable. He certainly had a lot of threat at his disposal already. He knew the situation wasn't fair, but he was working with what they possessed. And he didn't require all of anyone, just... Perhaps a borrowing of time. Certainly more than they'd ever received...

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"What...?"

Constantine wasn't sure how Ishi could retrieve any sort of pills for him. That didn't really make sense... Unless Skylar had left some, or perhaps the men had provided some from the kit Skylar had possessed, or even somewhere else. He wished there was a bit more light, perhaps... That was a problem. He couldn't even see the room around him, not that the pain would have allowed him to do anything useful...

"Sure... Thanks, Ishi."

Groaning and laying back down, he would grimace a bit, not quite able to fall asleep, but not really wanting to be awake at all. The situation was bad, but at the moment... Well, everyone was alive. And hurt, perhaps, but that was something that would require time...

Time. Their best friend, and greatest foe, so it would seem. The man wasted no time picking up on the conversation after her words. She was careful to not allow emotion to tell him what she was thinking, or feeling. She was sure that the hatred that filled these mens hearts would slowly consume any offspring they produced. It soon became apparent that being allowed to leave here, was not going to be an option.

It was his threatening tone, and obvious verbal threat that sent her soaring over the edge. She wanted to throw the wine in his face, spit at him, but instead......she sat the glass of wind down on his desk, and eased from her chair standing tall, and now pain free. “Please return me to Constantine and Ishi.”

She offered him respect that he obviously was not going to accept. Threatening the only family she had here, was not going to get him far. Also, her worry for the other two was weighing heavy on her mind, and she felt it better to ease that and speak to the leader of these freaks again when her head was clear.

With her chin up, and not another word spoken, she waited for her escort to take her back to the room. Though her eyes did not waiver from his.

"O-kay . . ." Ishi replied with a slight nod of her head.

And so, she stood up--shakily at first, but she inevitably managed. So long as she kept the blanket around her (which she was wearing like a towel, now, having wrapped it around her body as if she had just gotten out of a bath), she'd have her chest covered, down to her feet, and the blanket would even drag for a bit. Dirt and sand could be dealt with later, not that she really cared about that much. Ishi had suffered so many discomforts by now that something as menial as sand scratching her legs as she laid down to try and sleep wouldn't even merit the tiniest thought.

Ishi was going to have to swallow her urges for this, though. Truth be told, she felt as if she had been violated, even if it was just disrobing her and leaving her indecent, and it made her feel a bit violent, if she could muster the strength to. That wasn't going to get Constantine any pills, though. Whatever they were. It didn't help at all that she didn't even know what they looked like, and could barely pronounce the word as is.

But even still, she left the room, and though she could slightly see, she had no idea where she was going--so she just turned a corner and hoped to bump into someone along the way. Unfortunately, this meant she was going to exact opposite as Skylar had, so even if Skylar was escorted back to the room in the very near future, she wasn't going to be bumping into Ishi Kato along the way.