Wincing at the memory of having to deal with the irate man, the Official could not help but wonder just what had gone on between them to make such a spirited Key as the Firefly suddenly to withdraw into himself. "It shall not be tolerated any further."

Again, the Official waited to see if his words made a dent in the Key's strange attitude. With a shake of his head, the Official found himself trying to smother a grimace as he prepared to go on. He hated this aspect of his job, the way he had always to stay so stern and unwaveringly disciplined when all he wanted to do was offer a little comfort to an obviously troubled youth. "You do not have *personal* issues nor do you have preferences. You are a Key, such luxuries are not for you."

A slight movement and quiet sigh from the unusually silent lad and the Official was more than relieved to see that the Key wasn't, as reported by the cleaning staff, catatonic. If Firefly had been in such a way, then the Key would have been transferred down to the Medical Centre, two levels below the ground floor. Once there, he would have been examined to see if it was cost effective to 'fix' the Key. If so, Firefly would have been given over to a Trainer to be made financially viable again. If not, then The Firefly Key's room would be emptied until there was a new Firefly Key.

No matter how popular a Key was with their clientele or how well respected and liked they were by the Palace staff, if a Key was no longer able to work to the best of their capacity, then there was no place for them in The Palace. It was that particular policy that the Official really objected to. Too many times he had seen boys who were no longer able to fulfill their duties as Keys sold to brothels of a lesser standing, auctioned off to past Owners or, as rumours went, disposed of if unable to be sold. He hated it simply because most of the boys would forever remember The Palace as a kind of sanctuary compared to the world they would be forced to encounter outside its huge iron gates.

He thought that it was better for them never to leave the "safety" of The Palace, re-training and working as a servant, Trainer or even an Official than forever to remember their time in a literal prison as the best days of their lives. It was both sad and cruel for the Keys to be forced to leave their home and from what he had heard from his limited time outside The Palace, a good many of the former Key's never adjusted to life outside. How could they be expected to when, for many, it was the only life they knew? Some boys, however rare, did manage to find good homes and make happy lives for themselves but for each 'success' story, there were a dozen more tales of misery and abuse.

As the Official took in the young Key's appearance, he noted how Firefly was sitting cross legged, hunched in on himself with his head sagging slightly down towards his chest, hands resting limply between his legs. Taking a short step closer, he looked intently at the redhead's face and, unable to help himself, the Official immediately sympathised with the look of utter resignation he saw upon the lightly freckled face. Something serious had obviously happened with the last Owner for the Key to be acting so unlike himself. Gone was the usual hyper-activity, as was the sarcastic humour and little pranks he liked to inflict upon his room staff. More unusual still was the fact that Firefly hadn't ventured into the forest since his last Owner, unusual because on more than one occasion, the Official had had to send Palace servants into the wooded area to seek the Key out on behalf of a disgruntled Owner. Never had more than a few hours gone by that the Firefly Key hadn't visited the forest.

The knowledge struck him like a thunderbolt and with a barely suppressed shiver, the Official realised that the Key was close to being permanently broken, if not already. Closing his eyes, the Official almost gagged as a flare of self-loathing shot through him as he ran through what he was expected to say next. God, how he hated this job, he honestly did not know why he came back to The Palace each morning. The self-loathing was accompanied by pity for the young Key as the Official opened his mouth to speak, "Whatever happened between yourself and your last Owner, you must forget about it. Put it aside and not let it affect you. Must I remind you again that you are a Key and as such, you are to behave appropriately at all times."

The Official opened his eyes only to find that Firefly was looking at him. Silently, he noted how tired the Key looked, the dullness of his green gaze accentuated by the dark circles underneath his eyes. So close, the Key was on the very edge of having his spirit broken, so close that the Official had a sudden vision of the youth standing on the edge of a cliff and he being the one to try to draw Firefly back. If he could be assured that Firefly would find a safe and happy place outside The Palace, he would report the Key as incompetent and recommend that The Firefly Key be sold. Recalling the public's general prejudice of the Fae race, the Official knew without a doubt that the outside world would not hesitate to be unwaveringly cruel to the delicate youth. Especially one who had earned the hatred of his Clan and suffered the humiliation and agony of losing his wings.

All in all, no matter what the Key thought of his clients and The Palace, the Official knew that The Palace was the best of two evils and as such, it was up to him to make sure that the little Fae continued to adjust to the best of his abilities. Still, the youth had only been at The Palace for two years and needed more time to settle fully into his life as a Key. It wasn't uncommon for a Key who lived as a free person before coming to The Palace to take up to five years to integrate into Palace life with a good few of them having a long and traumatic hissy fit in their third year. In what was called a "free me three" by the Palace staff, the Key in question would inevitably "snap" one day when they finally realised that no-one was going to come to rescue them, meaning that they would be a Key for many years to come. During that time, they would first demand to be free and when that failed, start pleading, begging and promising the world, finally, they would do their best to escape The Palace.

In the 16 years he had worked at The Palace, the Official could not recall a Key ever having a successful escape attempt, nor anyone coming to "re-claim" a Key.

With the idea of the "free me three" in mind, the Official was suddenly worried that The Firefly Key was going to break with the norm and have his hissy fit early. His worry growing the more he thought it, the Official knew it was best and, in the long run, more humane to nip it in the bud. Walking forward until he was by the Key's side, the Official crouched down slowly so as not to startle the youth, all the while Firefly continued to stare blankly at him.

The Official was well aware that Palace guidelines demanded that Palace staff never got involved with the Keys and were discouraged from favouring certain Keys. Many staff, especially the room attendants, had been disciplined over the years for becoming friends with their charges, something that the Palace did not encourage incase it led to a successful escape attempt. The Official knew that the higher ranking Officials remained emotionally neutral at all times when in the presence of a Key. It just would not do for a Key to become aware of how to 'play' an Official.

However, as the Official reached out to lay his hand gently upon the Key's narrow shoulder and because he wasn't like his fellow Officials, he knew that a little compassion would not go astray.

"Firefly, I'm sure what happened between you both was awful and from what I've seen of this particular Owner, downright cruel but, as I said before, you cannot let it affect you because if you do, you will not be as appealing to future Owners. You wouldn't want that to happen now would you?" he asked quietly, stroking his thumb across the pale skin in what he thought was a comforting manner. His words prompting a ragged sigh from the Key, he allowed a small smile to grace his face in the hopes of encouraging Firefly to speak of what was on his mind. "If you tell me what's wrong, I can help you and I do want to help you but I cannot if I don't know what's wrong?"

"H... he..." a cracked voice whispered before falling silent again.

Oddly elated by this, the Official waited for Firefly to continue. When nothing more was said, he spoke again. "He did something to you?"

At the slight shake of the Key's head, the Official tried the next question. "Did he make you do something that you're not comfortable with? You can tell me what it was and then we can get you trained up so that you won't worry about it next time, ok?"

Another tiny shake of the red head caused the Official to ask more. "Did he say something to you?"

For a long moment, Firefly continued to stare up at the Official before the young Key let his hollow gaze slide to the floor, giving such a tiny nod of his head that the Official wasn't even sure that he had witnessed such a gesture. Squeezing the bony shoulder harder for an instant, the Official was alarmed when Firefly let himself slip from under his hand, the little Fae curling up into a tight ball on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that... what did you say?" enquired the Official gently in response to the barely whispered mumble from the Key. "Come now Firefly, speak properly. English, use the English you were taught."

When his words prompted another garbled reply, the Official wondered for a moment if he had been too lenient already with the young Key. With that thought, he drew himself upright and stepped back from small redhead lying listlessly on the wooden floor. As much as he wanted to just sit on the floor beside the Key and comfort Firefly, the Official knew that if he didn't get the Key's co-operation in the following day or so, then the next person called in to evaluate the Key would more than likely be a Trainer. People notorious for their aversion to compassion, or coddling as they liked to call any kindness shown to the numerous Keys. A sigh floated through the Firefly's bedroom as the Official unconsciously shook his head at the thought of a Trainer getting hold of the obviously traumatised youth. "I'm here to help you but I cannot if I don't understand you? I have no wish to be unkind but you *must* forget that you knew another language before coming here... you will only end up hurting yourself if you continue to embrace its use?"

A wretched sob echoed around the room as the Officials words made their impact upon Firefly, the small Key curling himself tighter, his trembling hands covering his face as his slender shoulders shook with the force of his ongoing sobs.

"I... issa m-m-mane non... n-num." Horrified, the Official felt a chill race down his spine as he realised just how emotionally fragile the young Key was. He had seen Firefly in tears before but mostly as a result of the redhead being in the throes of a temper tantrum or from a severe beating thanks to a brutal Owner and the Key's own tendency to provoke people. Never had the Firefly Key ever been known to cry just from sheer helplessness, and if the Official guessed right, the beginning of serious depression. The Official refused to acknowledge the slight heated stinging behind his own eyes, rubbing the back of his hand across them in an effort for the sensation to go away. With his resolve to once again be more business-like with the distressed Key dwindling but not gone, the Official tried his best to remind the Key of the Palace's protocol. "English, Firefly. English. Please?"

"Issa mane nonum." whispered Firefly, the words broken by sobs. "Iss... issa mane n... n... nonum."

"Please? I don't know what you're saying?"

"ISSA MANE NONUM!... ISSA M.. MANE NONUM!... I.. ISSA MANE NONUM!"

Unconsciously stepping backwards, the Official could not help but cringe at the venom staining the words roared at him by the little Fae. Over and over Firefly shouted the words until the Official could not make out a single identifiable word, everything running into one. Back at the Key's side, the Official patted soothingly at the lightly freckled shaking shoulders, soft "shhhh... shhhhhh" noises made in the hopes of calming the distressed youth.

"ISSAMANENONUMISSAISSAMANENONUMMANENONUMMANENONUM!"

"It's all right... it's all right Firefly. Come now... shhhhhh... tell me what's wrong... come now... it's all right? Firefly... please... I *want* to help you." pleaded the Official, desperate to at least find out what was so wrong with the little Fae even if he couldn't immediately solve the problem. As the minutes passed, the Key's screaming died down into a hoarse whisper as the Official continued to stroke his hand across the red heads bare shoulders. "Firefly?"

"Issa mane nonum."

"Yes. Yes, you keep saying this but... I'm so sorry Firefly, I have no idea of what you are trying to tell me. I..." Lapsing into silence, the Official never let up his gentle patting of the Key as he watched with a worried expression upon his face as Firefly's shaking and sobbing started to subside. Slowly, Firefly's hands dropped from his face, coming to rest limply upon the hardwood floor of the bedroom, the strange words still being repeated. With a great weary sigh, the Key sniffled wetly as his eyelids began to droop and his ongoing litany was punctuated by jaw wrenching yawns. Actions that had the Official somewhat relieved as he hoped that he would be able to get more sense from Firefly after the young Key had had a few hours of deep sleep.

"Go to sleep, Firefly," soothed the Official, a small smile gracing his face as he watched the little Fae fight the lure of sleep. "That's it. Go to sleep."

Slowly rising to his feet, the Official wondered if it would be too much a show of tenderness if he draped a blanket over the yet again yawning youth. After a moment of arguing with himself, the Official snatched up a finely woven blanket from the bed beside the Key and gently covered the thin male with the light green wool. The Official made his way to the door as quietly as he could, pausing with the door open as he looked back at Firefly. "Dream well."

The door shut and locked with care to avoid waking the exhausted Key, the Official missed Firefly's next words.

"Issa mane nonum..." mumbled Firefly, unconsciously pulling the warm covering further up his body. Every bone in his body aching with weariness, the little Fae succumbed to the dreamworld. "Not my name... Firefly... issa mane nonum."