Found & Forgotten

Chapter 22

Kenji furrowed his brow in concentration as he reached for another one of the Kaido-go texts they'd taken from the bluenette's, well, library was probably the best word to describe it, though apartment was the official term. Turning back to the glittering golden manual in front of him, he tried to match up the strange symbol written there to any of the ones inscribed in the translation before him. No luck.

"Soseki-" He began, only to be cut off by said person.

"Kenji, do you think this matches? These words here?" Soseki was obviously excited that he'd managed to translate some of the SunSphere's manual.

Kenji took a cursory glance over the words Soseki had copied out.

"Even though that looks correct, I'm not sure that 'Step 9: Activate' is of any use," Kenji pointed out.

"You're probably right," Soseki sighed. "And that's not even the whole sentence." He turned back to the manual and the next part of the translation.

Kenji did the same, redoubling his efforts at translating the ancient language. For a while, the pair worked in silence, until Soseki let his head fall to the table with a loud thud for the third time in the last hour.

Kenji merely cuffed him, his patience worn too thin to be able to offer any words of encouragement to the younger man.

"Ow..." Soseki moaned faintly.

"We need to finish this before Master Sosa returns." Kenji said curtly.

"I know, I know," Soseki placated, dragging yet another Kaido-go reference book towards him. "Though I don't know why we can't just get those girls to do this...it'd be a lot faster."

"I've already told you: it's because they might translate it incorrectly on purpose to prevent us from carrying out the ritual." Kenji answered exasperatedly. "Now shut up and continue translating!"

"Hai," Soseki nodded, reluctantly opening the book and looking up another symbol written in the manual.

Levy had woken up to Lucy's screams.

After an uncomfortable night - and really, how could anyone be comfortable when tied to a metal ring inside a damp dungeon? - she'd been jerked abruptly back to full conciousness when Lucy had cried out. Listening to the quiet thwip sounds, Levy deduced that the man from yesterday was back, and most likely using a whip on Lucy in an attempt to get information out of her.

"Leave her alone!" Levy cried, voice hoarse due to her dry throat. But she wasn't about to let Lucy get hurt, especially when she couldn't even remember any of the information that the man wanted!

"Finally awake, are you, Levy, dear?" The man chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll get your fair share of pain after I'm done with Lucy. How are you doing, love?" He added.

Levy could hear Lucy breathing heavily, but despite that, the blonde still managed a defiant retort.

"I'm not going to tell you anything. Our nakama will find us soon enough, and then you'll pay!" Lucy told the man, strong despite her pain.

Levy, bound as she was, with a blindfold still covering her eyes, could only listen in horror as she heard the whip travel through the air and Lucy's cry as it hit her again.

"I'm telling you, she doesn't know anything!" Levy cried, desperate to stop her friend's pain. "She's suffered some really bad head injuries, so she's lost her memories of her time at the guild! She won't be able to tell you who Yukino is, because she doesn't know!"

"And you will tell me, I suppose, Levy dear?" The man asked.

Levy remained silent, gritting her teeth.

"Well, let's see if I can prise the information from you." The man had a sadistic tone to his voice, leaving Levy with only a few seconds warning before the whip whistled through the air again, this time hitting her side.

She felt the fabric of her dress rip, and the skin underneath break as well. A line of sharp pain piercing her body, burning hot as she felt the wound start to bleed. Though she clenched her teeth hard, she couldn't quite stop a pained sound escaping her mouth as the whip lash effectively immobilised her.

"Oh, but this will never do." The man muttered to himself. "You Fairies are all the same. No matter how much pain I inflict, you won't tell me what I want to know."

Levy heard footsteps approaching her and once again felt the man's rough fingers gripping her jaw tightly.

"So I'll make you a proposition, Levy, dear," he said. "If you tell me what I want to know, I'll stop hurting Lucy. Or in other words, the longer you stay quiet, the more Lucy will suffer."

Levy's mind recoiled at this. She would be responsible for Lucy getting hurt, but she couldn't tell the man what he wanted to know, or she would jeopardise the safety of the entire continent. Possibly even the planet.

"I would apologise, Lucy, love, but I'm going to enjoy every bit of this." Levy had been so caught up in her internal ramblings that she hadn't noticed the man walk back over to Lucy.

Stuck in the darkness inflicted by the blindfold, Levy could only listen as her best friend cried out in pain over and over again.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy managed to force out, between laboured breaths. "Don't...tell him...anything!"

"Gomenasai, Lucy," Levy whispered, forgetting the physical pain she had experienced from the single whip lash as the emotional pain of her friend being hurt overwhelmed her senses. "Gajeel...Natsu...minna...please hurry."

Lucy curled up into a tight ball, determined to bear the pain she was going through, no matter how excruciating it got. Unable to open her mouth without screaming, she concentrated hard on the one thing that could save her. Natsu, please... And then she blacked out as the pain became too much.

Levy sat up as best she could when Lucy's pained cries stopped. "Lu-chan? Are you alright?" When she received no answer, she aimed her anger at the man with the whip and hoped he could sense how furious she was.

"Oh dear, that will not do," the man exclaimed. "She's unconscious. Such a pity, don't you think, Levy, dear?"

Levy remained silent.

"Not to worry, I'll come back tomorrow and we'll do this until you give me the answers I want. Lucy seems strong, I'm sure she'll last a long time, though, of course, she will be suffering all the way through it!" The man sounded almost cheerful.

Levy glared in his general direction as she heard him leaving.

"Don't worry, Lu-chan, the others will find us. We just have to hold on til then." Levy promised her friend.

Ohaiyo minna-san!

So, exam period is finally over! And I finally have an update! I'm really sorry it took so long! Gomenasai, please don't kill me?

Not much really happens in this chapter again...it really is just a plot filler. Gomenasai. But it's an update. I promise something more exciting will happen next chapter! Which should also be put up on Monday, instead of early Tuesday morning...heheh, oops. :3

Anyway, it's 2:45am here, so I really should be getting to bed.

Please COMMENT and tell me what you think! :)

AA