The door creaked open to show a single occupant within. Bound gagged, stripped naked, and tied to the wall, Barry felt Pan’s glare against his skin like a physical force. She might have been immobilized, her powers suppressed, but the pale blue eyes glared at him with a deep loathing that made his skin crawl.

She wasn’t all there, however, the maiden clearly was losing her mind. Pan’s eyes were wild at how they lost their focus. There were signs of the maiden Barry had grown to fear and hate, but there was now something else, something that was not in control of itself, or fully aware of everything else, only of its anger.

Barry had been told about the feral state of Valkyries. They were maidens that became highly aggressive, territorial, and entirely unwilling to back down. It was a prospect that would not help them with their goal. They had to get Pan to see that she could at least trust Barry, wouldn’t be like she expected him to be.

“Pan.” Kajou called.

Pan glared quietly.

“I’m not here to argue.” Barry said, moving closer. “I’m here to prove you can trust me.”

The glare turned to him. “I am bound.”

“Exactly.”

Barry made the proclamation while stepping forward, reaching out to the padlock that kept her wrist held firmly against the wall. With a simple click, the padlock opened, and with it, Pan’s hand was liberated. She couldn’t quite move it, but the rest of her arm remained immobile due to the other restraints.

“I need you to listen.” Barry whispered, nodding to himself slightly. “I’m going to set you free, but… but you need to listen until the end.”

Her brows furrowed, but she kept quiet. Her eyes went back to boring holes into him as he moved to start working on the other locks and restraints. He was making sure to move slowly, to give himself time to think and just… talk.

“The world I come from, it… there are no maidens, no ferals, only humans. We are all humans.” He started off, nodding along to himself. “It’s not a perfect place. We’ve had wars over slavery, and some places still use them for cheap labor. Even if they call it other things. And there’s been so much… death over slavery and killing people just because of what they were born as.”

Pan only gave the barest frown at his words, remaining perfectly still as she kept her focus on him.

“It might not compare to how things are here, but they are similar. I grew up in that world. People are people, and, to me, maidens are people too.”

“I can attest to that.” Kajou affirmed. “I can feel his emotions through the bond. It’s… it’s like nothing we’ve ever experienced. It’s as how the elder described it.”

That earned a glare from the Valkyrie, the blond woman tensing against the remaining restraints for a split second. The gesture startled Barry, making him jump back a bit, keeping his distance until Pan relaxed back down.

“I’ve seen some of the things the kingdom does, and heard the stories from the survivors. What the kingdom is doing is wrong.” He nodded slowly, unlocking another padlock. His voice grew in conviction. “Maidens should be free to choose who they’re with. I want to help Coven create collars that help maidens bond with one another. Hell, if this whole feral curse can be fixed, I’d go for that too. If possible, while I help Embla free other maidens, the slavery can’t… it’s wrong.”

One last lock left, the one on Pan’s throat. Barry hesitated as he met her eyes, trying to look into the depths of the blue irises. She was looking back at him, her face a mask of neutrality. Fear gripped at his chest, the tension felt like it would rip him in two.

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“I… think this is what you think, too.” He said in a whisper, holding the lock. “Kajou trusts you’ll do the right thing and… so do I.”

With a click, the collar opened, leaving the prisoner entirely unbound.

Barry stepped back, putting his hands behind his back to hide the shaking. His smile was uneasy as Pan looked at him and then at Kajou in mild surprise. She took a step forward, checking her body over, ruffling her wings, slowly rubbing her wrists and throat.

“If… you know a truth spell.” Barry said, drawing her attention. “Cast one on me.”

Pan’s brow furrowed further, opening her mouth to speak and pausing, frowning and shaking her head. A slight grunt followed. “I…”

“Just a truth spell.”

“I can’t…”

Pan frowned, gaze losing its focus for a moment, brows creasing into a glare.

Kajou tensed, moving slightly closer to Barry. “Pan?”

“Kajou?”

The Valkyrie stared at her sister in confusion. “Why…?”

“Pan, I need you to cast a truth spell.”

Kajou spoke softly, raising one hand to reach out to her sister, the other quietly gesturing at Barry to move away. He obliged, taking a step back.

“Just a simple truth spell.”

“Just a truth spell.” Pan nodded, frowning further before closing her eyes and waving her hand a little. Her hands began to glow, but it wavered and flickered half-way through. Slowly, her eyes opened again, turning to focus on Kajou. “You… betrayed me.”

“What?”

“You… you are tricking me, the human? The human.” Her gaze swept across the room, locking on Barry. “He wants to trick me, too.” Her hands began to glow.

“Just cast a truth spell!” Kajou hesitated. “Please don’t make me do this.”

“His Lady is an aberrant. She could use her powers to alter the spell!”

“No, Pan, there’s no one else here!”

“He will not hurt you!”

Pan lunged, wings flapping and pushing her higher. The light in her hands takes a quantitative heat to glow. Blue eyes turned and focused into a murderous determination, her pathway clear. But Kajou moved faster, leaping to intercept. The ceiling wasn’t high enough for Pan to avoid, even with her wings. The two maidens tumbled and fell.

Barry couldn’t follow what happened as they became a heap of limbs and feathers. But it quickly became clear Pan was at a disadvantage, too tired, worn out, starved. While Kajou had had a chance to recover her strength and focus. Pan was pinned down before she had the proper chance to escape.

“The bond is controlling you!”

“Pan, you don’t need to do this!”

“It’s the only way to save you!”

Pan’s whole body began to glow, her skin turning iridescent, and then blindingly hot. Kajou shrieked as she was thrown across the room. The glow sputtered and died, and Pan returned to her feet, panting. “Just… step aside. I’ll… fix this.” Her hands began to glow, aiming her palm at the downed Amazoness.

“STOP!”

Barry stood between them, arms wide. His gaze locked onto Pan’s with a cold, hard stare.

“Siblings shouldn’t fight, not like this.”

Pan hesitated. She looked at him, eyes going wide. A tingle ran down Barry’s spine as the shock only appeared to grow on both their faces. Panic followed as Pan was clearly feeling it, too. The light in her hand flickered, her aim turning in his direction.

From her shadow emerged a figure, tall and lean, glaring.

“No!” Barry screamed in dawning realization.

The canine had reached up to Pan’s neck with her claws. The Valkyrie realized what was going on, turning towards the Hound. Claws met flesh, and the glow from her hands flashed with intensity. Both were sent flying in opposite directions, Barry’s chest exploded in burning pain.

“Orion!”

He dove for the dark skinned maiden, eyes adjusting to the light enough to quickly spot the burn marks all over her torso. The canine cringed and coughed, breathing hard as she struggled to get back up and failed. The wound was deep, dangerous.

A cry tore through the room.

Barry turned to see Kajou kneeling next to her sister.

Pan lay on her back, eyes wide, empty.

Dead.