[OP: "Cold"--The Oh Hellos]

Rumi woke up to her head throbbing. For a second she was afraid she was blindfolded, because when she opened her eyes, she saw nothing.

Then she realized she was cuffed to the wall, hand and foot. The reason it was so dark was that there was no light in this room, but she could see the empty space somehow.

It came back to her... The Convocation of the Cursed had gotten the better of her in their little tiff. How could she have been so sloppy? Perhaps that news about Keigo had distracted her.

Where was she now...?

Then she heard the sound that had probably woken her up to  begin with--a scraping sound.

Then a piercing shriek that was probably from pain.

Her ears picked up more sound than other people's, so she judged that scream came from several rooms away, but it was definitely in the same building, whatever that was.

She wondered if the truth potion had worn off yet. She wasn't sure how long she'd have been out from the crack on the head.

Then the door to the room, which was out of her line of sight, opened, and someone came in.

"Of course we can always use more subjects," a weasley voice said, down from below her, so a short man, likely. "But why did you have to bring this one? Already cursed. What more can we do to it? And, not to mention, it's a d----d nuisance."

"I'm telling you, she had information on where to find the new Holder." That was the voice of Tomura for sure.

Rumi's skin crawled. That son of a reptile!... This had to be one of the Dark Lord's mad dungeons...

Which was not good...

Did that mean she was in the Dark Lands? Or just one of the territories of the Dark Lord?

Perhaps the smoke wizard had brought them here, no other explanation. She'd really thought she'd keep him out of the fight for longer.

A torch was lit, making her blink.

The small man, who looked like a fat troll to her, held it up to peer at her.

He seemed harmless enough, except that there was a greedy look in his eye that she didn't like.

"Oh, it's awake," he said. "How troublesome. But, if the truth potion is still in effect, perhaps we can get some answers. Listen, rodent--" Meaning Rumi. "--can you tell us how many people the king has looking for the Holder that we don't know about?"

Rumi bit her lip to try to keep from speaking, but the compulsion was beating in her chest... The potion had not worn off.

It clearly hadn't been that long then. 

Of course the forced answer was: "I don't know," she said aloud, against her will. "I always work alone."

"You look familiar." The little man peered at her. "Why do you look familiar? Something about rabbit curses... Yes, a whole village of rabbit cursed... Oh, I remember: It was the well water, wasn't it?"

Rumi tensed. Did this snake know about that?

"A good joke, you might say," the little man said, chuckling in a nasty way. "Those were the days of experimenting with transmogrification spells. Didn't quite have the knack of making them reversible at will, so everyone ended up stuck that way, but, no matter. All in the pursuit of the arts. I didn't think one of them would still be out in the world after that. You must be quite impetuous."

"There's no need to lose your shirt, doctor," Tomura insisted, impatiently.

"Well, if she really works alone," the doctor said, adjusting a monocle in his eye, "then she really is not much use for information. She must already have told you everything there was to know about the Holder. We still don't even know which of those little nuisances has his power."

"Little nuisances?" Rumi frowned. Did they know more than she did?

"Doctor," Tomura said cautiously, "we don't want her to know that we were there when the Holder passed--" He stopped abruptly, covering his mouth.

"I need to find an antidote for that potion," the doctor said. "Ah, I think I have just the thing. A moment."

He went back out the door. Perhaps he thought Tomura would also leave, but that dour personage remained.

Silence transposed.

"Where is this?" Rumi asked finally.

"It's one of the Dark Lord's smaller fortresses that he creates new amalgamations in," Tomura answered, of course not wanting to, but not able to stop. "I would have gone back to his main one, but only sworn in servants are allowed there... Curses!"

"Why don't you leave if you don't want to spill secrets?" Rumi taunted him. "Or were you hoping I would?"

"Somewhat, yes," Tomura said. "I'd like to know if you're going to turn in the new Holder to the king."

Rumi frowned at him. "I guess that depends," she said, through gritted teeth.

"On what?" 

"On what I find... I don't trust the king...but he's better than the likes of you scum. You're just going to turn him into the Dark Lord. Maybe you don't care what happens to the people of this land, or any and, but some of us do."

"Don't pretend to be so unselfish. You just want to save your own skin--I heard you before. Your village..."

"So a pox on me for wanting to save innocent people who your friend cursed just for the fun of it."

"A lot of people are cursed by the Dark Lord," Tomura said.

"Including you, I notice." Rumi frowned at him. "Why work for someone like that? I don't really care, by the way. I'm only asking to distract you." She winced and mentally kicked herself.

"I know you really don't really care, and I wouldn't answer you if I could avoid it," Tomura said. "But the truth is, it goes back a long way. Whether you're cursed or not, this is the only place people like that can belong. And it doesn't much matter to me what side I'm on."

"Scum like you make me want to spew my innards onto the floor," Rumi said.

"That's disgusting," Tomura said.

"I think you're disgusting," she replied. "So what will that doctor do to me now? A nice round of torture? Maybe some more mutilation?"

"Probably," Tomura said. "Or put a spell on you to compel you to work for us. I mentioned that you used to be the Masked Manhunter...though you've fallen a bit far."

"If I fell, it was because of people like you. The Dark Lord wants to destroy anyone who is noble, brave, or skilled in anything that he can't control," Rumi said warmly. "I won't say I'm a beacon of righteousness, but I could never dream up the repulsive things that he does. There are so little light places left in the world, and when they're gone, people will starve to death or get eaten by monsters. Then there's no more world anyway. You sure have an odd way of wanting to live your life."

"I believe the Dark Lord cannot be stopped," Tomura said. "Only survived, and that by being useful to him."

"You really don't sound that loyal for someone who's on his payroll."

"If you were on his payroll you would know that's the most likely reason to not be loyal to him--" Tomura stopped, as if he hadn't intended to say that part.

Rumi smirked wryly. "So the truth will out after all? But that only makes it worse. You know better and you're still doing it."

"Do you have a better idea?" Tomura grumbled.

"Sure I do," Rumi said. "Find the Holder, make sure he or she is powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord, and then put an end to this catastrophe now. Someone has to keep things in check. The gods themselves seemed to have abandoned us, but the Holder is the one trace of divine power that could compete with the Dark powers that be."

"The new Holder is a child at best," Tomura said. "And if it's the one I think it is, he is nothing and not worth hoping in. We're all doomed anyway. Really, it would be a kindness to recruit you. If the Dark Lord has use for you, then you'll live longer."

"I don't want to live if I'm not living my own life," Rumi said, "with my own willpower. I guess you don't really care about that part. I know those of you who work for him the closest have no souls."

That remark actually seemed to bother the mummy man a bit. He recoiled.

"Ahha, I fixed it!" The doctor came back in. "This should take the edge off the potion. It won't stop it entirely for while, but you should be able to keep from blurting out a what comes into your head. How much did you absorb?"

"Too much," Tomura answered.

The doctor poured some liquid on him. 

It seemed to hurt. Tomura grimaced.

"Now," the doctor said, with an air of washing his hands of it, "I have a new assignment for you. The new assignment is the old assignment. The Master still wants you to track down the Holder. Did this furry femme fatale have any leads?"

"He did not just call me that," Rumi said.

"No leads," Tomura said, rubbing his head. "She's quite useless, unfortunately. Washed up."

"Washed up?!" Rumi explained. "Let me out of these cuffs, you son of a motherless roc!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Tomura said.

"Sure it does. Rocs are monsters--they don't have mothers," Rumi replied.

"Yes, exactly, so what is the point of saying it's motherless?" Tomura said. "That's just an ordinary roc."

"Oh, shut up, you talking pig hind end," Rumi spat back.

"It is so vulgar," the doctor said. "I think the spell might have deprived her of her feminine qualities as well as her features. Sometimes these experiments really don't work out so well. Rabbits now, they're terrible rodents. Did you know that they devour--"

"Doctor, I think we should direct our attention to the matter at hand," Tomura cut him off. "Master still wants the Holder, and it should be an easy matter to find him. We don't need this fuzzy former fighter after all. I found another lead."

"It's odd that you didn't mention that while you were under the influence of the serum," the doctor said, with a smile that Rumi didn't like.

"I was directing my thoughts away from it on purpose," Tomura said, "so that I would not say anything in front of the prisoner."

"I see, that is wise," the doctor said. "But she's a strong specimen, and I could get weeks of fun out of her."

"No, she assaulted my Convocation," Tormura said. "And you know that anyone who threatens us, I have a right to kill."

Rumi nearly choked on her own bile.

What? Wait, how was she going to escape if he just killed her? The doctor was bad enough, but at least there was a chance.

No, no! This would ruin everything--

She knew she was about to start saying all that, and she started to bite her tongue instead.

"I don't think she likes that idea." The doctor looked at her. "Very well. I have enough busy work anyway, if you know what I mean, and it's less fun on an imperfect specimen anyway. Once cursed, it's just adding insult to injury."

As if he'd actually mind that!

"But first, I want to know the location of this village of hers," Tomura said, rubbing his chin in a conspiratorial way.

Rumi's stomach clenched.

The doctor smiled again in a very unpleasant way.

"I'll pull out our records," he said, way too excited.

Which of them was worse?

The doctor left.

"I knew that would light his fire," Tomura remarked to himself. "All right--"

"You illegitimate offspring!" Rumi hurled at him. "Of all the low, filthy, disgusting, accursed--"

"Do you mind??" Tomura cut into her ranting. 

She stopped, confused by that response.

"You're wasting the few minutes we have." Tomura put his hands together in a planning kind of way. "It occurred to me while the doctor was gone that his involvement in this hunt would probably only be a problem for me. And I thought, what if he gets a lead out of you? I'll have every servant of the Dark Lord's out there competing with me for the prize. That just won't do. Then I had the brilliant idea--why don't we just go on as before?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Rumi said.

"Probably yes, but this plan is mutually beneficial," Tomura said. "You get to live, and I get to find the Holder."

"As if I'd ever agree to that. I might not want to die, but if I give you the Holder, I'd die anyway," Rumi said.

"That's very likely," Tomura said. "But on the other hand, you have a much better chance of escaping from me than from the doctor."

With that weird voice of this that sounded even weirder than it normally would have, and Rumi also laughed.

"Are you...wait, are you actually promoting this on the grounds that it's easier for me to get away from you? What kind of fool would do that?"

"It seems reasonable," Tomura said. "You want to escape. But, of course, I want to know your resources for tracking down the Holder. You must have more."

"Yes, I do," Rumi said because she had to. "I said that before, but even if you got it out of me, you can't think I'd take you to them, and you'd waste time looking for more people. You have other friends to find him or her with."

"But they all would want the glory," Tomura said. "Except for the mindless ones, and they're not very good at taking people...alive."

"Alive? He wants him alive?" Rumi said.

"I've said too much, clearly," Tomura said.

"Apparently you don't need the truth potion to sing like a canary," Rumi said. "But aren't you forgetting something? I hate you. And so does everyone else who doesn't like the Dark Lord. No one will help you."

"But they might help you," Tomura said.

"What?" She frowned. "You...you're not serious."

"Do I seem like the sort of person who makes jests?"

Rumi shook her head.

"Well, you know the doctor will be back at any moment," Tomura said. "And you'll lose your window. I'll just have to kill you."

"Try coming closer and see what happens," Rumi said fiercely.

"I don't have to get that close, and you're being difficult," Tomura said.

"What? Are you not used to people actually saying no to you, you cretin?" Rumi said.

"I find it mystifying that all of the things you're saying you must actually mean," Tomura puzzled. "What a dirty mind."

"Dirty? That's not what that means... Do you ever actually associate with anyone normal?" Rumi said.

"What do you think the answer to that is?" Tomura griped. "Perhaps this offer was a mistake after all. I could never tolerate you long enough to get anywhere."

"Now just a minute," Rumi said, "you put it out there. And if you want a deal you have to offer something in return. And not dying isn't good enough."

"I had a plan for that, actually. If you don't agree, I'll tell the doctor to destroy your village," Tomura said.

Blank stare.

"I...should have seen that coming," Rumi said. "Wait, aren't you going to do that anyway?"

"Only if you don't cooperate," Tomura said, "which is very generous, I think. Because I could just do it anyway."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to believe you? You're not truth potioned anymore." Rumi frowned.

"First of all, potioned is not a word," Tomura said.

"Sure it is."

"Silence! And second, that vial only countered the spell partially so that I would not blurt out everything. And since the doctor cast it, I could...bend the truth, slightly, to him. Only slightly." Tomura put up his hands. "See, magic works based partially on your relation to the person who cast it and partly on the power of the spell itself. And since you're still under the influence of it, I think the side effect is that you could still tell if I was lying. Usually people under the same spells have a sixth sense about it."

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Rumi said.

But she twitched her ears. Well, he did seem like he was being honest...her gut feeling said, anyway. 

"Well, even if I agree to this mad scheme," she said, "I'm trapped. And you're a lapdog."

"I've always resented that people use lapdog as an insult. Lapdogs are affectionate and loyal creatures who don't bite their owners," Tomura said loftily. "Would it be better to be a rabid dog?"

"No one was making that comparison, though I should," Rumi frowned.

"You really can't go for 5 minutes without insulting the person you're speaking to, can you?" Tomura said.

"Oh, pardon me, it's just a thing that happens when I'm around Accursed Fools," Rumi said in a fakely sweet voice.

"Sarcasm?" Tomura said. "That potion must be nearly worn off."

"Yes, it probably is," Rumi agreed. "It sounds as if I don't have much choice here. If you can get me out of here, I'll cooperate, for now. But, in return, you get any leads from your dark, cursed friends, I want to know about them also. With both sides looking for the Holder it wouldn't take any time at all to find them."

"That does make sense," Tomura acknowledged, grumpily. "It'll be like a race."

"Fair warning: I always win races," Rumi said.

"I really don't care." Tomura didn't. "We have an agreement?"

"With the full acknowledgement that I don't trust you as far as I can spit at you, then sure," Rumi said testily.

"And I don't trust you as far as you could kick," Tomura retorted.

"That's actually pretty far," Rumi pointed out.

"I said as far, you nitwit. That's clearly less than--you know what? Nevermind," Tomura huffed. "Think fast."

He blasted the cuffs with destructive magic.

Rumi had to yank her arms out of them before it hit her too.

She was pretty numb, but the feeling started to come back as she stood up and shook them.

"Kurogiri!" Tomura called.

Black smoke appeared out of the corners if the room and sucked them into it.

* * *

Suddenly dim lighting made Rumi blink.

"Where in the haunted lands is this?" she asked.

The area around them was blighted, unsurprisingly, and the sun was gray as if it had been covered with ash.

Behind them she could see a dark building that looked like it had been grown out of spikes and thorns instead of built like a normal one.

"This is the wrong direction," Tomura said. "The fool took us deeper into the Dark Lands. It's easier for him to go towards home."

"My apologies." Kurogiri had appeared next to them almost before Rumi could see him. "I'm still recovering."

"Well, try again!" Tomura snapped.

The smoke moved again.

This time they were dropped in a place with the same weird light, but all around them were a kind of tree that was black--a sickly, unnatural black.

"Kurogiri, you numbskull, this is the Devouring Forest!" Tomura said. "We're not even supposed to come here!"

"I'm sorry, sir. My direction is off kilter," Kurogiri said.

Rumi stared at the trees, and one of them lashed out a branch like it was alive.

It was about to grab her, and she would have been too numb and surprised to dodge, but Tomura yanked her out of range.

"You see?" he said, still talking to Kurogiri as if nothing had happened. "Now they're trying to eat us! Does this seem good to you?"

"I'm just trying to get a clearer picture, sir," Kurogiri said, with a patience that Rumi would not have thought anyone could have with such a spoiled brat.

The smoke reappeared and finally let them out into a place with normal sunlight and grass.

"This is somewhere East," Kurogiri said. "My range is not much further than this. You'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"Right, if the doctor asks you, just say you took us to that forest," Tomura said. "It's not really a lie, and it will buy us time. People only get sent there for one reason."

"Yes, sir," Kurogiri agreed. "I will remember nothing but that forest."

He vanished.

"Next time, he'd better be fully rested. A mistake like that could land someone in the bottom of the sea--" Tomura was saying to himself when Rumi punched him dead in the face.

He fell on his back, stunned.

The ground under him started to crack, but she jumped onto a stone.

"That was for kidnapping me," she said, making a fist. "And for everything else. Now, we have a deal, but you stand 6 feet away from me at all times. If I see you move either of those disgusting appendages in my direction, I'll break your neck. Got it?"

"I should break you in pieces," Tomura grumbled, sitting up. "I hope you realize that just because Kurogiri is not here doesn't mean I can't summon help. If you try to back out now--"

"I get it, everyone dies," Rumi said. "Just so you know, once I get the chance to get out of this, I'll destroy you for that threat."

"But you can't kill someone else who's cursed by the Dark Lord, and I bet that makes you furious," Tomura said nastily.

"If we find the SOL, I'll get my curse broken," Rumi said. "You'd better pray to whatever god you worship that I don't do it before you." She slashed her finger along her throat menacingly.

"I can already tell this is going to be a wonderful journey," Tomura said testily.

"What are you lying around for? Let's get going," Rumi said. "You owe me for those tools by the way. I need my tools if I'm going to find the Holder. First stop will be a village or magic shop. You're paying for it."

"Why should I? They're your tools."

"Which you stole and my coin with it, so it's really only fair. After all, I'm your prisoner." With a dirty look.

"A minotaur would be an easier prisoner," Tomura griped. "When we catch up with the Convocation, you'll be kept in line."

"I'm so scared," Rumi said derisively.