Mortem ad Wrens

Chapter 27: What We Can Become

Summary:

tw: torture, abuse, sibling abuse, gore, blood, deadname, old pronouns, flashback, body horror, GRAPHIC PHYSICAL ABUSE, knife, blood, gore, kidnapping, coercion/compliant kidnaping

Notes:

[Violence Start] and [Violence End] tags are in play for this one again. There's a flashback summary after the latter if you need to skip it

'text' JSL
Text thoughts

[VIOLENCE START]

"How the hell did she get that close!"

Akira landed heavily a few meters into the room and drew a shuddering breath as they glared back at Keiko, one of their older sisters. "Fuck you that's how," they hissed. "You'll fucking pay for what you did to-" Akira bit back a scream as Keiko speared their leg with her foot.

"If she's holding out this long, the quirk must be a powerful one," Eichi, one of their older brothers, added. "We can't just kill her."

Keiko pulled Akira up by their hair while putting her weight on their leg. "Come now, bold one, tell us who helped you," she snarled.

Akira just stared defiantly at her, mouth pressed tightly. Keiko slammed their head into the ground twice before putting her weight on their leg and twisting their torso backwards at an odd angle. Akira let out a choked gasp as their spine crackled and they felt a bone in their leg snap. Still, they glared up at their siblings without breathing a word.

The abuse continued for what felt like an eternity before the door quietly opened, and Keiko promptly dropped Akira. The world was too blurry to try and catch themself, so Akira's nose smashed into the ground with a crunch.

"Tch, amateurs," a syrupy voice drifted from the doorway. "If you can't force the answer out of a high potential, you call me." Akira was rolled over, and they let out a choked gasp at the bone now sticking out of their leg as it sluggishly bled. Nori loomed over them, spindly fingers dangerously close to their face. "Once more, Daitan, or you'll never speak again. Who helped you?"

Akira spat in their face, blood mixing with saliva as the woman simply pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it off. "Now, that was uncalled for. I suppose you'll be awake for the process then."

They did scream as Nori's fingers carefully extended up their nose, joints brushing against the sides of their canal and arching down their throat. Akira tried not to breathe as the entire digits sharpened into cold metal and began to saw at their vocal chords. Just as they thought they would pass out, a white-hot pain latticed through their leg, ripping a gasp out of them and causing Nori's fingers to slip slightly.

[VIOLENCE END]

(flashback summary: Akira's vocal chords were removed after they tried to speak out against their family and refused to tell who helped them)

Akira woke up with a silent scream, kicking off their blankets as they jolted up. Rolling off the thin mattress, they snatched a blanket before it could land on Koji.

Noting they'd almost been asleep long enough for them to normally wake up, Akira stared at their legs for a long moment before they could push past the dizziness and move to the bathroom. By the time they finished brushing their hair, Akira's hands only slightly shook while they made tea. They let their mind drift, barely registering that their mug was empty after a while.

An hour later, Aizawa walked into the room. He looked at them, blinked, and went to make coffee. "Nightmare?" Akira nodded. "Want to talk about it?"

Akira chuckled at the irony and sluggishly signed, 'Can't. Mute.'