Two hours later.

Leon faced no opposition as he made his way down to the cells.

He’d taken some time, gotten changed into his military unform. He glanced down at his hand, where he held a small silver collar. Excitement thrilled through him, and for a second he imagined the look on Anna’s face when she finds out what he just did.

Although, she would never find out.

***Flashback***

Three years ago.

Location: Princess Orchid’s private chambers.

"Your highness. I have secured what you ordered."

Leon, followed by six soldiers dragging in a massive iron cage covered with a thick black cloth, walked into Princess Orchids room.

She was seated on her bed, dressed in casual attire, and leafing through a thick leather bound book. Tools were spread out all over her, strange tools Leon hadn’t seen before. Six black stones floated in the air, humming and thrumming, vibrating with raw energy.

She looked up, pale pink eyes devoid of any emotion. Not even a shred of warmth to see him. "Thank you, General." She said, gracefully getting out of bed without dismantling her tools.

Leon bowed, keeping his face stern and cold as he gestured to the soldiers. They peeled the cloth back, revealing the cage.

Inside, was a Dream Weaver. Its body was bound with thick silver chains. It stayed still, its unnatural features and eyes darting around the room.

Princess Orchud gasped. "Marvelous, General. You did it. I quite frankly believed you’d die out there."

"You would have liked that, wouldn’t you?"

"Of course not," Princess Orchid took a step closer to the cage. "Who then shall secure these beautiful creatures for me if you’re gone?"

Leon’s fists clenched at his sides as he struggled to control his anger. Each time he looked at the Princess, all he could see was the face of Lotus, his lover, the light fading from her eyes as she slipped into that dreadful Coma.

Leon shoved his unpleasant emotions aside, reminding himself how sharp witted the Princess was, and how terrifyingly accurate her inner sensor for danger was.

"Get out." She commanded and the soldiers all ran out.

Leon hated how much control she had over his men. In their defence, none of them wanted to be a scape goat for the Princess’s wicked anger.

"What do you plan to do with this one?" Leon asked through gritted teeth. Not because he cared about her experiments. But because he felt sorry for the Dream Weaver. Even though it was a mindless AI beast that he was trained to execute. Somehow, being a pet specimen to Princess Orchid was a fate far worse than death.

Meanwhile, Princess Orchid crouched in front of the cage, lifting a delicate hand to tap on the steel bar. "This one is very healthy, General. Good job."

Leon’s heart twisted with anger. "Thank you, your highness."

The Dream Weaver watched the Princess, its eyes almost wary, even though Leon doubted they had emotions.

Princess Orchid rose to her feet and walked back to her bed. For a split second, Leon imagined pinning her to it with his sword.

"Have you heard from Azul recently?" The Princess asked, plucking one of the black stones out of the air. Leon couldn’t see what she was doing. But whatever it was hissed and emitted bright flashes of light.

His hand went to the hilt of his sword. But he didn’t draw it. "Not yet. His delegate haven’t sent their reply."

The Princess hummed. "Here I am doing him a Favour. Offering a political alliance, something the East doesn’t do. And he dares keep me waiting?"

"Shall I handle him, your highness?"

She turned to him and laughed. One of her rare, abused and utterly sarcastic laughs that made Leon feel like he was wearing his skin inside out.

"You? Take care of Azul? My dear Gernal, don’t be delusional. You may be strong, but he is royalty. And from the North. You can’t win."

"You don’t know that." Leon spat, his anger getting the better of him.

Princess Orchid schooled, her red lips drawn into a mocking smile. She faced him fully, holding up a slender, silvery object. "You can go and try if you want. Just take extra men with you, that way they can return your corpse. And don’t worry, even my sister wakes up, I’ll tell her you died defending this great kingdom, and not at the hands of a man twice your size."

Leon’s body burned with humiliation. He felt the rushing urge, stronger than ever, to kill her.

Unaware of his festering bloodlust, or aware and deciding to ignore it, Princess Orchid walked over to the cage.

"Open it."

Leon obeyed, his teeth grinding together. He dragged the Dream Weaver out, holding it up right.

"This is dangerous, Orincess." He warned. "If it traps us in an illusion—"

Princess Orchid waved, cutting him off. "Why do you think it hasn’t done that already?"

Leon frowned. Then his eyes fell on the silver object in her hands.

A collar.

His breath hitched and his chest tightened. "What is that?"

"My latest invention." She replied simply.

With that, she clasped the collar around the Dream Weaver’s neck. It snapped shut with a flash of light. And Leon knew, from the previous experiments, that the collar will never come out unless she removed it. How? He didn’t know. She was kind enough to let him glimpse her process from time to time. But at the same time, she was shrewd and clever. Leon never had full information. Never.

"Untie it." She commanded.

Both Leon and the Dream Weaver moved.

Shocked, Leon stared at it. It stared back at him.

Princess Orchid hummed. "I see. General, step back."

Leon did as she said, hating how easy it was to obey her.

"You. Untie yourself."

Immediately, the Dream Weaver undid the chains around it till it stood perfectly still and unbound.

"Spin,"

It obeyed. It kept spinning till she said "stop."

With a flick of her hair over her shoulders, Princess Orchid fetched a notebook and pen and began writing things down.

"Show Leon an illusion of him fast asleep."

"Your highness!" Leon exclaimed, but it was too late. The next thing he saw was himself, curled up in bed, fast asleep. The image, as all images from Dream Wravers are, was very vivid. Much so that his body began shutting down until he heard—

"Stop."

The image vanished. He sucked in a sharp breath, a tinge of fear clouding his head.

"What...what are you planning to do with this?" He asked. His heart pounded as he stared at the Dream Weaver.

Princess Orchid shrugged. "I don’t know. It is a nifty little tool, no?"

"And you’re goin to use this on me?! On us?"

"If I put this exact collar on you, General, it would fry your brains forever. And please, don’t ask how I know."

Leon grit his teeth hard. He couldn’t look away from the Dream Weaver. It just stood there, awaiting orders and instructions, the silver round its neck glinting. And in the centre of the collar was a pitch black stone. So dark it looked like a hole in time.

Leon felt uneasy. He turned to the Princess but she was still just jotting down her observations, her eyes and face relaxed and detached.

For a split second, he felt that he should have killed the Dream Weaver on the way here. Spared it from its horrible fate.

***End of Flashback****

"General. He’s in there," the tall soldier guarding the cell said with a bow.

Leon walked into the cell, his nose wrinkling at the metallic scent clinging to every molecule of air. It was dark, but his eyes and senses quickly adjusted till he focused on the creature huddled against the wall, chained by its hands and feet.

"Well well, look at you." Leon said as he got closer. "You’re still wearing his face?"

Tristan looked up, his eyes crystal clear, even as they still shifted color. The side effects of Anna’s black spores hadn’t worn out. And as a result, his appearance glitched between the face of Tristan, and his real cybernetic face.

"Leon." He spat the word like it was venom.

Leon didn’t mind. Frankly, Leon didn’t have strong feelings towards the Empath. Sure, the original Tristan was one of his men. But Leon had thousands and thousands of me under him. And while he knew them all, it didn’t mean he was in close relationships with them all.

His main issue with the Empath was everything else.

As the General, Leon knew everything about AI beasts.

He also knew that Empaths could adopt functions of Mirrors and in most cases...Dream Weavers.

"It has come to my attention that you have feelings for my wife," Leon said, tracing the smooth edges of the silver collar in his hands. "Is that true?"

"Yes."

Leon raised a brow. "She told you to leave. Spared your life. And you still came crawling back. I guess I underestimated how strong her hold is."

Confusion flashed in Tristan’s eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Leon grinned. His fangs showed and he held up the collar, its black stone menacing. "I have a job for you, Empath. One I’m sure you’ll enjoy very much. And don’t worry, it has everything to do with your sweet little Anna."