The Blade Keeper

"Have you broken yet, my dear Alex?"

Desperately gasping for air, Alex ignored Dr. Kade and closed his eyes. His mind hurt from the constant assault of headaches, his arms were sore from all the injections, and his throat was bloody from screaming.

How long it had been since he had last seen his parents? His memory was clear yet hazy. He could remember event from his childhood, from the books his mother read to him ever night, to the number of times he held Iris's hand. In the other hand, his current life seemed to dissipate into the wind. He didn't know what he was fed for breakfast, how many times he screamed, or how many drugs he consumed. How many times his blood was drawn out.

He was a collection of the past, yet someone who was oblivious to the present.

"It seems you haven't been broken yet. I wonder what's your limit?"

Alex just sent a emotionless look at Dr. Kade.

"One week? Two weeks? A month? A year?"

Alex was teaching his mental limits. How much time he had spent in the white room was a mystery, but it was long enough. He could feel his hands tremble even though he desperately tried to stop them. His body was getting worn and tired. He was about to break.

Dr. Kade let out a sigh.

"It's been a long time hasn't it, Alex?"

Alex frowned before once again turning emotionless.

"How far we have come," said Dr. Kade, "you have allowed me to greatly advance my research beyond what I expected to accomplish."

"Why should I give a damn about that?" Growled Alex in a raspy voice.

"How rare for you to talk. I remember when you when you first entered this room as a seven year old boy. Now here you are, seven years later. Still stuck in the same situation, still crying the same old cry."

Alex went blank.

Had it really been seven years? Seven years had gone by in an instant, without him even realizing it. He couldn't help but wonder how much Iris had grown. Was she still the same little girl that wanted to clean her rabbit? Had his mother gotten over him? Did she get a new child?

Alex unconsciously glanced at the tinted window that showed his reflection and realized with a start that he indeed was older. The baby face he once had was no longer there and his hair had grown long. His eyes had lost the excited glimmer it once had and was replaced with sunken tired ones.

Dr. Kade started to chuckle.

"I used to think that you would break earlier on, I've given up by now. Who could believe that a child could last seven years of torture?"

He was always on the edge of breaking, it was only because of his memories that he could pull through every single time. But even that would eventually reach a limit.

"I've completed almost every single experiment I could think of into you. I collected blood samples, I studied your brain under stress, I observed your actions, reactions, and behavior. But now it's time for all of this to come to an end. It's time for the final phase."

The doctor grabbed onto the head of the bed and steered it towards the door. As the wheels on the bed squeaked in resignation, Alex watched as the door opened and revealed to him what lay beyond the door he had always dreamed of exiting.

They were in a cave, bluish green rocks lit up the way as Alex and the Doctor slowly strolled through the cavern tunnels. Both of them were silent, as they watched the scenery around them.

Alex tried his best to take in everything at once.

The people who walked past them, the countless number of rooms with white doors and tinted windows. The silent screams of children being put through the same ordeal as him.

"Our experiment requires many subjects, those with special abilities, those with talent, those with special bloodlines, and those who don't have anything."

Alex couldn't help but shudder. What kind of monstrous experiment were they doing that required the abuse of several hundreds of kids?

Soon, the squeaking of wheels came to as top as Alex was stopped in front of a large pit. The pit seemed to hold no floor and all he could see was an inky black darkness when he glanced down.

"Welcome to the Trial of D.e.s.i.r.es. This is the final phase of our experiment."

"What's down there?" Alex asked quietly.

"Who knows?" Said Dr. Kade with a shrug, "skeletons, demons, magical treasures, and deadly traps. Each person who came out gave us a different story. The only thing we know for sure is that if you come out alive, you will get benefits. Otherwise, you stay there forever."

Alex gave another glance at the dark pit. He was starting to think another year of drugs wouldn't be too bad.

"Good luck in there Alex. I really hope that you make it out alive. You can still be used as random money."

Before Alex could utter a word of complaint, his bed was dropped into the cave with him still attached to it.

"F.U.C.K YOU SON OF A BITCH-"

"Oh my, I wonder where on earth that seven year old kid learned that word? It must've been one of the assistant researchers."

Dr. Kade glanced at the watch on his hand.

"I guess I'll come back in a day and fetch him. If he is still alive that is."

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When Alex came too, his bed was gone. In fact, everything was gone. The ropes binding his feet and arms, the plain robe he was wearing was replaced with a white military uniform.

He seemed to be older and and healthier and his arms were devoid of injection scars. And in front of him was his family.

The Duchess was sitting on a chair, beckoning for him to come while his father was watching him with a stiff but happy face. Iris was at another chair looking like a well mannered young lady. The image of her feeding a bunny doll was almost gone and there was only a small resemblance left. His mother was watching him a delighted expression, her arms out.