No Memory Of This

"No Memory Of This" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
[Write a summary of the thread's events here, including spoilers and important plot details. Check the Order of Threads to see if the thread you are placing already has a summary, to make less work for yourself.]
==Full Text==
The Warden: The idea of approaching Rhenco after everything had occurred filled the Warden with a loathing she had never quite known before. She would much rather leave him to rot. But it was the circumstances in which he was captured which drew her to Haligan Jail–there could be something very dangerous loose among them, masquerading as herself, and she needed details.
Thus the reason for her slowly materializing in front of his cell in the dead of night, all fangs and horns and glowing eyes from their previous encounter, but her presence was subdued and dark. Her tail whipped from side to side, the movement the only betrayal of her anxiety. She said nothing. She waited for him to notice her.
Rhenco: The cell was dark, but Rhenco’s voice spoke from the inky black corner. “Oh….I understand now. I see…you’re my demon. Now that’s really upsetting. I hate having a conversation more than once…”
The Warden: Explain, she said softly. He already knew that his contract was with somebody else.
Rhenco: Rhenco huffed once. He actually sounded put out. That is, as put out as a man devoid of soul such as he could. “Sweet Milae let an animal from another time follow him home. Or at least that’s my best guest. We made the contract…I thought it was with you.”
He shuffled a little, still hidden in the darkness. “I gave them a message meant for you…would you like to see it? I dont like repeating myself.”
The Warden: From another time? The Warden blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what that meant. She got a taste of Milae through Akkey’s memories but nothing clear enough for it to make sense, and definitely nothing about another demon.
I would rather you keep your venom wasted on a false target and have your fangs empty when you attempt to bite me, too. No, tell me who this Milae is, instead, and what your contract entails.
Rhenco: “The demon was as stupid as you are weak.” The voice droned. “A contract to leave the Rebellion be. I faced true death you see, had to protect myself…of course it was my human intention to uphold but the demon wanted a likewise contract. The kind known for it’s loopholes. Perhaps it’s too my benefit… something tells me I’d make a better demon than both of you.”
“As for Milae… that info I’ll keep in my little mind. ”
The Warden: I will give you one more chance to tell me both of him and the conditions you agreed to, of your own free will. She passed through the bars and stood in his cell, shedding a low scarlet glow. Else I will take it myself and leave you in ruins.
Rhenco: Rhenco slowly raised his head to stare her in the eyes. In them was couriosty, intrigue, desire.
It was a challenge. It was the defiance of a man that wanted to put the being in front of him at his feet, with a foot resting on its head.
“No…” He breathed.
The Warden: Fine.
Without hesitating, Nala gathered her essence and launched it like a harpoon straight at Rhenco’s mind, digging in deep and searching for any traces of the half-breed and the contract he’d forged.
Rhenco: Rhenco’s head craned backwards as his body went rigid. Every one of his mental walls piled around a corner of his mind…but it left the part about Milae exposed.
She saw what he had discovered about the goat…
Saw why he had surrendered…
Rhenco’s air peeled from his lungs in a slow, weak croak as his body spasimed from the less than comfortable sensation of the demon mentally tearing into him. “Fine!…the goat is there….you have what you need…”
The Warden: She turned and immediately rammed against the barrier in the back of his mind, her teeth bared and her eyes glowing as she tried to pry it open. The contract. Tell me about it. Now. Everything she was learning made her more and more bewildered, and she needed to know who or what was behind the deal.
Rhenco: She saw a flicker of the details, but it wasnt what Rhenco was protecting. Although she knew what was behind the strong barrier. That secret she had seen in their first encounter. That terrible truth he had under lock and key.
Rhenco forced his breathing to stay consistent despite its straine. He knew he wouldnt be able to stop her from seeing the contract, along with everything else outside of the barrier. It was simply taking up too much of his will to accommodate everything else.
But before the Warden saw all the details, she saw Rhenco looking at her, or what I thought was her.
This is your dungeon…I’m your Warden now…
That he had let that slid on purpose. He wanted her to feel those words like the slap in the face he had intended them to be. After those and the other words he had spoken to the other Nala faded, she saw the contract, the details…
And the condition she had just violated.
In her moment of surprise she felt Rhenco force his will and mental sight into her mind, seeing the flash of claws, a pierced heart, a dying scout. And then the man cried out as he was forcefully removed from her thoughts and memories.
The Warden: The Warden shut down her intrusion but she knew it was already too late. With a roar, she turned and swiped a clawed hand across the back of the cell, her claws throwing sparks as they dragged through the stone and left molten-hot scratch marks across the wall. They cooled from orange to red and she stood there shaking with rage, rage that she couldn’t unleash in any satisfying amount on the one person she wanted to absolutely obliterate. She let a string of Daemon oaths roll from her tongue under her breath and pushed away past the bars of the cell, banging her fists on the opposite wall of the hallway. 
Who was that? she snarled. Why did she contract with you?
Rhenco: Rhenco glanced at the red hot gouges in the wall, and took a casual step away from them. “You from a different timeline.” He answered mildly. “My guess? Milae made a friend, and used her against me…of course I could be wrong about that.” He settled in the opposite corner of the cell. “Despite your frustration demon I’m still not going anywhere…your touch seems hotter than expected, the dragons are still abundant, and crossing Milae will still end in my death…so safely here is where I’ll remain.”
The Warden: She balled her fists and bared her mouth in a snarl. Good, she said throatily, choking on her own words. I hope you rot here until the end of time, you disgusting creature. I may have broken her contract, but I will not break mine. The Rebellion will never have anything to fear from you so long as I stand between you and them.
Rhenco: “I dont know how I’ll do it.” Rhenco said so quickly that it almost cut her last words off. “Having to be here. Facing the fire of your Rebellion. But…I’m going to keep my promises to you. The ones I made when you stopped me from reuniting with my little pet.”
He walked over to the front of the cell and gently wrapped his long fingers around the bars as he stared at her. “The demon in the dungeon…that’s me now child.”
The Warden: Then I will live up to my name. 
Gritting her teeth, the Warden looked him in the face, trying not to let her emotion show through her own expression. Why? she whispered, knowing her plea was useless. Why would you do this? Any of this? You clearly have a choice. You know of what atrocities you commit. Why?
Rhenco: If she hadn’t been a demon she wouldnt have seen it. But in that moment the Warden caught a glimpse of Rhenco’s soul as he met her gaze.
Yes, there was choice, the ever present menevolant glint in his eyes that betrayed that fact. He wasnt like Orskaf, who believed what he was doing was right, or needed. No…despite everything, she knew that Rhenco’s moral compass was intact.
But when had a human ever really saw themselves as a villain? It went against their nature. But there was more…
A glimmer of truth. Behind the thick curtain of dead eyed expressions and lustful gleams, there it was, like with all humans, a hidden motivation that was the source of it all. And the look of being lost, and knowing no other way of life.
Blind to her perceptions, Rhenco answered her quietly. “Because of how I feel when people beg like that…” a sly smirk played at his lips. “But I’m sure in your black heart you already knew that… you lived like this once…why did you do it?”
The Warden: Because I was born of wrath and primed by malice. Even now, I am only designed to burn and cut and break. I had to learn to turn against my nature. She slowly curled her hands into fists in front of her, her face downturned. But you…I find it hard to believe this is your nature, as it was once mine. Mortals may choose to commit such atrocities alike the ones you have performed. But it is not innate to them. You had to learn your way into depravity, just as I learned my way into benevolence.
Her eyes flared with emotion, a contrast to match the deadness in his own eyes. Which makes you even less of a human than I thought. And so I have no remorse in treating you as you deserve…lower than the dumbest cattle of the land. 
Rhenco: She could see his excitement. Muted, and behind a fog of tailored emotion.
He was interested…
He was eager…
“Ahh…I love the idea of you…” He breathed. “Just like I loved the idea of Haddock. I cant play with you now Warden but I will soon.”
Threats child…
The voice spoke in Nala’s head.
“My dirty little secret…”
Threats and a trick…
Rhenco almost gave a gasp, a finger slowly extending as if he meant to sink his sharp nail into a weak spot. “Or maybe…that boy is my dirty secret…hardly anyone knows about our intimate and close connection…”
A life constructed so that he only receives hatred and fear. He feeds on it…
“How would he feel if the word got out?” As Rhenco spoke, a drop of water from the ceiling landed on Nala’s head, and for a second she saw the image of her grandmother.
But a man can be starved…a man can be poisoned…a man can even be forced to eat what they are indifferent towards. Think child… Threats and violence is what he uses. Threats and violence have no sway over him.
Who’s to say what will work. But at least there are now two things that you know do not…
The Warden: The Warden narrowed her eyes at Rhenco as she considered the words that whispered through her mind.
He would take it with grace, she said, a small amount of pride rising within her, thinking about how far Stonegit had come. You and your violence are behind him. And though it was cruel, it led us to where we stand today. Better people. Better leaders. Better lovers. And you, behind bars, where you belong.
Rhenco: The smallest of frowns touched Rhenco’s brow. To a lesser observant person it just would have looked like mild curiosity. But Nala could tell something that she said bothered him.
And then the act was on again. His eyes deadened, and peered at her like a snake through blades of grass. “Would he now?” His sharp nails drummed on the metal bars. “Well maybe when I eventually leave I’ll drop by and visit him…see him properly unlike last time.
The Warden: Oh, it will not come to that. The Warden turned aside, walking away from him, finally wearied of any further conversation with him. Do take your time escaping. I have better things to do than guard the likes of you.
Rhenco: Rhenco sat back as he watched her leave, silent.
But after Nala left…
After things were quiet…
His gripped his palms, his nails cutting deep into his palms again. And despite his best efforts to feel otherwise…the back of his teeth ground silently against one another.
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Rhenco
Category:The Warden