Atlantis

Yuushi swam up to Orpheus as soon as he re-entered the harem. “That was fast. Are you okay? What happened? He never goes that fast.”

“I’m fine,” Orpheus assured him, patting his arm. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.” He sat down somewhat heavily on one of the stone ledges that ran around the room in parallel circles. Yuushi sat next to him, hand still resting lightly on his arm.

For a long while they were silent. Orpheus said nothing, staring at the far wall, lost in thought. Yuushi did not disturb him, simply left him the small comfort of his touch. After a moment, Orpheus let out a gusty sigh, as though giving up on his thoughts for the moment.

“Yuushi?” he asked, “How long have you been here?”

“Me?” Yuushi smiled softly, his eyes joining Orpheus’s in gazing at the far wall. “A while now. Five years, I think. Give or take. I was only sixteen when I was brought here.”

Orpheus looked over at him, surprised. “You’re twenty-one?” he asked. He had somehow thought Yuushi was much older. It seemed impossible that such a tired, resigned air could come from someone so young. It chilled Orpheus in a way he could not seem to define.

Yuushi winked at him. “Indeed I am,” he said. “Why, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty,” Orpheus replied. “I turned twenty today, actually, if I’ve been keeping count correctly.”

“Really? Happy birthday!” Yuushi’s eyes shone with a surprised delight that nearly broke Orpheus’s heart. He wondered how someone who had been in this hell for five years could still be so cheerful. Even now he could see the large yellowed bruise on Yuushi’s neck that still hadn’t healed, in the place where the guard had held him down.

Orpheus attempted a smile, for Yuushi’s sake, but he was pretty sure that his own didn’t compare. “Can’t really be too happy down here,” he said wryly.

Yuushi’s face fell slightly, and Orpheus immediately felt bad. “Thanks for the sentiment though,” he said quickly, and Yuushi rewarded him with a soft, sad half-smile.

“I know it’s rough,” Yuushi said quietly. He leaned gently against Orpheus, his head on the prince’s shoulder, their naked flesh pressed together lightly from shoulder to waist. “I know it is.” His voice was nearly a whisper. Orpheus lifted a hand and placed it on top of Yuushi’s head, stroking his hair softly. It was soft, almost velvety. Without really thinking about it, Orpheus turned his head to the side and kissed the sandy-blond strands.

Yuushi turned to him, looking slightly surprised. Their faces were inches apart. It was so natural that Orpheus didn’t even think about it, just closed his eyes and leaned forward, or maybe it was Yuushi who leaned forward, yes, probably him, until they were kissing, just lightly, tenderly, as though the moment might shatter if they handled it incorrectly.

It was only a few heart-stopping, feather-light seconds, and then Yuushi drew back, the sad smile still dancing across his lips. “Happy birthday,” he said again. “For what it’s worth.”

Orpheus leaned forward so that their foreheads were pressed together, savoring the simple, non-threatening physical contact, a touch that, for once, demanded nothing of him. “Thanks,” he said. “For what it’s worth, thank you.”

The more Orpheus looked at Yuushi, the more truly apparent it became how very young the man was. His body was slight, slimmer than Orpheus’s own, and had the tone of muscles just recently grown into. There was something delicate, fragile about him that didn’t seem to fit the smiling, sometimes boisterous youth, and Orpheus would be willing to bet that it hadn’t been there before Yuushi was captured and brought down to this place.

He watched Yuushi often now, more concerned than ever about his friend’s well-being. King Poseidon had been true to his word it seemed, at least for now, and no other guards bothered them, not even when the Beast next came to refresh them. But Orpheus remained worried. Some fear had moved into Yuushi’s eyes when the guards had come to them, and it hadn’t yet left. Orpheus wasn’t sure why, but every time he caught a glimpse of that sudden naked terror, there and gone again in a flash, he remembered the way Yuushi had pressed against his back, the touch of quivering flesh against his.

‘This isn’t the time. This is supposed to be the safe time. What are they doing here?’

When one had been here for five years, Orpheus realized, then the routine of it must become some sort of comfort at least. At least you knew when the pain was coming. At least you knew what to expect.

At least you knew when you were safe.

And Orpheus had ruined that for him. He’d broken Yuushi’s sanctuary, and he was beginning to realize that the damage might be irreparable.

Whenever he thought about that, anger started to boil up inside him like tar. Anger, and determination. It was about that time that he began to think about escape.

At first he brushed aside his own thoughts, unconcerned. After all, in a place like this, it was merely natural to think of escape. The brain would work on that problem regardless, even though it was hopeless. But the more he thought about it, the more the possibilities began to present themselves, and the more he began to seriously consider the idea.

Finally, it had gotten to the point where Orpheus realized that he would either have to crush these thoughts, or move them out of the realm of idle daydreams. One way or another, they were getting too distracting to handle. So one day, during a lazy afternoon in the harem chamber, he found Yuushi.

The other young man smiled at him cheerfully as he sat down. “Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”

Orpheus skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “Has anyone ever tried to escape from here, Yuushi? You’ve been here pretty long, and you listen to stories. What do you know? What’s been attempted?”

Yuushi frowned slightly. “Please don’t tell me you’re planning an escape, Orpheus. It’s not worth it. Trust me.”

“Just tell me,” Orpheus insisted.

Yuushi sighed. “Lots of things. Everyone tried revolting at once. The guards outnumbered us, subdued us, brought us back. People have tried to sneak out before, but there’s no way to do that either. Through the tunnel is the lair of the beast. If you try to go out that way, it stops you. The other door is into the hallway, and there are always guards posted there. And even if there weren’t, the castle is patrolled so regularly, you wouldn’t be able to make it out without getting caught.”

“The tunnel,” Orpheus fixed on, “what about when the Beast’s not there? What about when it’s in here with us, or out capturing someone else, or, I don’t know. It must leave to feed or something, right?”

Yuushi shook his head. “When the Beast isn’t there, they post guards there as well. Even if they didn’t – it only leads to Galileo’s chambers. He’d summon guards if he caught you there.”

“There has to be a way,” Orpheus insisted. “There has to be.”

Yuushi made a disapproving sound and reached over to touch Orpheus’s arm. It was an almost habitual gesture by now, this small, physical comfort.

“Please,” said Yuushi, and the tone of his voice made Orpheus pause in his thoughts and really look at him. The sadness had returned to his expression. “Please, Orpheus. Trust me, you don’t want to try this. Enough people have attempted it and been captured. If you’re captured, Orpheus, they’ll send you to the village. And they’re not nearly as merciful down there as they are up here. Besides, I don’t want…” Yuushi trailed off for a moment, until Orpheus reached out and covered the hand on his arm with his own.

“I don’t want you to get your hopes up,” Yuushi finished. “Or mine. It’s taken me a long time to accept my fate, but I have. Escape is not possible, Orpheus. And I’m not the only one who knows that. Talk to anyone here. No one else would try it, or go with you. No one else is prepared to take that risk.”

Orpheus said nothing, momentarily subdued. He considered Yuushi’s words. From the sound of things, trying to escape was not uncommon. But if it had been attempted and failed so many times before, then success would require a particularly ingenious plan, something he did not yet have. He would wait then, for inspiration to present itself. There was no point in running off half-cocked.

“Orpheus,” Yuushi prompted after a moment, bringing his attention back. Once again, Orpheus found himself looking into Yuushi’s eyes. They were large, and pale, pale blue, like a winter sky. “I don’t want to lose you,” said the bearer of those eyes. “You’re the closest friend I have in this place. I care about you. I don’t want you to get taken away to the village. People die down there, die of rape and mistreatment. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

Orpheus petted Yuushi's hair idly, feeling guilty for the betrayal as his thoughts continued to dwell on escape nevertheless.

He got his first inkling of an idea when the Beast next came to them. He was in an exceedingly bad mood at the time; the King had called him the previous night, and had been rougher than usual. Orpheus had several long cuts on his thighs, and he’d had to coat his entire upper legs and the inside of his passage with the salve, just to dull the pain. Some of the other concubines had told him that eventually the body became used to it; that the inside stopped ripping so easily, but so far Orpheus saw no sign of that. Definitely not when the King was as violent as he had been.

So when the Beast came the next day, Orpheus was not pleased. But, as usual, there was nothing he could do about it, a state of affairs which he was very rapidly becoming sick of. He couldn’t fight the Beast, and even if he could, the end result would only be that the mucus in his lungs would cease to work and he’d no longer be able to breathe under water. He’d drown.

So Orpheus waited with everyone else along the sides of the cavern, staring at the Beast no longer with fear (it had become too common for that, which was somewhat frightening on its own), but with a certain resigned moroseness.

Orpheus was near the far end of the room, and he tried not to watch as those before him were picked up and lifted into the air, speared on the tentacles for all to see. The only one he watched when it happened was Yuushi. The young man was lifted simultaneously by two tentacles, one wrapped under his arms, around his chest, the other around his ankles. He was turned in the air so that his back was facing the Beast, and the first tentacle slithered into his anus, making his eyes close in a slight wince. He gave probably the least reaction of anyone, and the familiar rage seethed somewhere in the recesses of Orpheus’s mind at the thought that this was because he was so used to it.

The tentacle came to his mouth next, not a new one but the tip of the one circling his chest. Because it was holding him also, it was unable to get very deep into his throat, and Orpheus’s fists clenched helplessly as Yuushi lowered his head onto it, forcing it deeper into his throat, to be certain that it would be affective.

The tentacle that disappeared into Yuushi’s anus began to writhe deeper, pushing into him, forcing itself further and further into his passage, and Orpheus wondered why it had to be that one that was free, and force Yuushi into the humiliation of thrusting the oral one deeper himself.

But Yuushi didn’t seem humiliated. It seemed commonplace, routine for him. With a free hand, he grabbed the end of the tentacle protruding from his mouth and forced it deeper; obviously any gag reflex he’d once had was long since lost. Yuushi held it there and waited, and Orpheus could tell by the way his eyes squeezed shut that the monster had let the ooze flow into him.

Soon after, Yuushi was dropped, and the Beast was upon Orpheus. He tried to submit as gamely as Yuushi had, to not make a fuss, but the humiliation of it still burned his conscience. He was a prince of the Royal House. He should not be made to endure something like this. His pride was about all he had left.

The Beast lifted him with a tentacle around his waist, and the appendage just next to it went immediately for his mouth. Orpheus’s throat was stretched wide, wide, as the tentacle forced itself deeper and deeper inside. Orpheus closed his eyes, knowing what was coming next, as a tentacle reached toward his lower half.

But to his surprise, he wasn’t penetrated. The tentacle began to wrap around his lower half, in preparation for doing so, but the moment it touched his thighs, the appendage recoiled, and the Beast made a strange low crying noise, as though it had been burned.

Orpheus’s mind raced as the single tentacle continued to penetrate deeper into his throat, and by the time the slime dripped down into his lungs, he had an idea. The second he was dropped, he raced to the large storage cabinet on one side of the room and grabbed up one of the small, round containers that held the salve they used for injuries. He unscrewed the white lid as he rushed back to the Beast, eager to test his theory before it finished.

When he reached the waving tendrils, Orpheus scooped up a large handful of salve from the container and smeared it on the nearest tentacle.

This time the Beast’s screech of pain was much louder, and it moved itself physically away from Orpheus. As Orpheus backed up, out of reach of the furiously waving tentacles, he could see the area where he had smeared the salve - the skin beneath it already beginning to discolor.

‘Yes.’

Orpheus hurriedly re-screwed the lid of the container and swam over to Yuushi. “Yuushi!” he hissed excitedly, “When is Galileo out of his room, do you know? There’s an exit from there to the outside world, that’s where they brought us in to the castle. When is Galileo out of the room, but the Beast still there, so they won’t post guards?

Yuushi looked surprised and nervous at Galileo’s frantic excitement. “I think…” he hesitated. “I think after the Beast finishes up with us, he goes to make his report to the King. I’m not sure. Orpheus. You’re not thinking of escape, are you?”

Orpheus placed a hand on either of Yuushi’s shoulders, his excitement mounting, adrenaline rushing through his veins. He stared meaningfully into Yuushi’s eyes, trying to impress upon him the importance of the situation. “Gather everyone,” he said. “Get everyone together as soon as the Beast is done with the last person. You tell half the people, I’ll tell half the people. We’ll meet in the back of the chamber. This must be done quickly, or there won’t be another chance.”

The group assembled quickly, and Orpheus felt the rush in his veins like a drug. When the last person was dropped down from the Beast and made his way over, he was already speaking.

“The salve!” he said excitedly. “It burns the Beast. It wouldn’t touch me where the salve was on my skin. If we cover ourselves in it, we could pass by it in the tunnel. It wouldn’t be able to hurt us. But we’d have to go now – before Galileo gets back, and before he has a chance to notice the burn mark on the Beast. If he saw that, he’d definitely realize that something was up, and at the very least they’d post more guards. So if we’re going to escape, it has to be now. Who’s with me?”

He had expected returned excitement, a chatter of surprise and hope. But his face fell as he looked around the circle and realized that he was not going to get such a reaction. If he hadn’t been so distracted by his own thrill, he would have seen it on their faces even before he began talking. They looked around, sometimes peering doubtfully at each other, none of them looking Orpheus directly in the eyes.

“Come on!” Orpheus persisted. “Don’t you want to escape? Don’t you want to leave this horrible place?”

The crowd began murmuring dully, and Orpheus heard snatches of their excuses as they passed among one another, but still no one spoke up.

‘They’re too afraid,’ Orpheus realized. ‘Yuushi was right. They’ve lived so long without hope, and are so afraid of what might happen, they don’t even consider the possibility of escape any more.’

Orpheus looked at the ground, feeling unaccountably angry at the lot of them. He knew he couldn’t blame them for not wanting to take the risk of being caught, but he couldn’t help wanting to just grab them all by their shoulders and shake them-

“I’ll go.”

Orpheus looked up in surprise, to see Yuushi step out from the crowd. He came forward until he was close enough that Orpheus could hear his voice, though it dropped to a low murmur. “I’ll go with you, even if no one else will.”

“I thought you said escape was impossible,” Orpheus said, matching the softness of his tone.

“It is,” said Yuushi. “But if we get caught together, then maybe they’ll send us to the village together. At least then, even if we’re still in pain, at least I won’t have lost you.”

Orpheus put a hand on Yuushi’s arm, all the comfort he could afford to give, and then nodded. “Alright,” he said finally, his voice definite. “Come on, let’s put on the salve.”