Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 85 - STAR

CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT

***

The hollowness echoed within itself, forming a chamber of sound that was both sheer nothing and titanic enough to be all-consuming. The metallic bars of the cell thrummed with it, and the stones of the cell were stolid in the face of such overwhelming force. Its only resistance had, for a moment, been the ear-shattering crinkling of chains that was finally over.

"The more you resist, the more magic it steals from you," Hisui told her companion.

Sherria Blendy finally settled down. Blood crusted along her face from the cut she received on her temple after Kyoka struck her.

Hisui felt her face swelling already. Blood still dripped from her mouth. Cold air brushed against her naked body. She tried to sigh or breathe easily, but her restraints were too taut. Her very bones were stretched. It was exercise enough just to hold her head up, so she often chose not to.

"We need to get you out of here," Sherria said.

Hisui shook your head. "Just breathe, Sherria, and don't focus on the pain."

She told the girl that as much as she did herself. It'd been her mantra during her three years of imprisonment, torture, and violation. Training.

Breathe. Survive. Forget the pain.

In hindsight, that first year had been easy. She did well enough to let go of what the torturers threw her way. She was defiant in front of potential suitors, even willing to go as far as to explain, in detail, the true manner of her condition.

That'd forced Zeref's hand, and in stepped Kyoka.

Scars from their time together lined Hisui's body, and even more so, her mind. As before, Kyoka's first order of business had been to strip Hisui down. Sherria couldn't look at Hisui, some form of shame or embarrassment. Hisui let that go long ago.

Some of her oldest friends and mentors saw her in a worse state in Crocus.

A gate opened down the corridor. Sherria stiffened. Hisui raised her head, glowering through thick jade bangs. It was a sound she was all too familiar with—the cadence of her walk was even the same. It was a scare tactic, one designed specifically for Hisui.

"Sherria," Kyoka's voice called. "It's your turn."

Hisui at first wondered why they'd dare keep two high-power wizards in the same cell. It was only when Kyoka was quick about stripping and beating Hisui, leaving much more on the table, that Hisui realized the real torture this time wouldn't be physical so much as psychological.

To break Hisui, they would make sure to shatter one of her wards before her very eyes. It was why they left Sherria's chains looser, why Hisui could do nothing. They wanted to give Sherria the illusion of fighting back. They wanted Hisui to watch her struggle until her final moments.

Kyoka appeared at the cell bars and stepped through their small door, easing the rusting iron opening. She coiled her sharp talons around the bars, scraping them as she made her way into the room, then stopped just short of Hisui. Kyoka was tall and ensured that Hisui was suspended high enough in the air that they were always at eye level. Sherria, meanwhile, was on her knees on the ground.

"First," Kyoka said. "I want to make sure our guest of honor has their proper due."

She trailed her hand up from Hisui's navel to her chin, drawing a bit of blood from her neck while doing so.

"Have you ever been touched, Hisui?" Kyoka asked. "Have you felt a lover's caress?"

Hisui said nothing.