#animals without direction

[dreaming-medium]

Animals Without Direction

Chapter Forty-One: Rescue Mission

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Masterlist

Allerick didn’t come back to the cell.

The worst part was neither did Seungmin. Both you and Hyunjin stayed curled in each other’s arms for what felt like hours. Neither one of you wanted to move from your position against the cell wall.

When you had woken up, Hyunjin was fast asleep behind you, his head resting on your shoulder. Every shallow exhale he let out fanned over your shoulder gently. 

You turn your head slightly, your nose nuzzling into his temple. His eyebrows twitch but he stays asleep.

All of your injuries from the dagger have closed thanks to the mage surrounding you. His magic is weak right now, but it still managed to close the wounds to a bearable point. The bloodstains on your tunic have now dried.

The only thing that’s left from earlier is a constant dull throb, making the injuries feel as though they’re two days old instead of a few hours. 

Your body feels achy and weak, more so than it has these past few days. Mortal’s Touch still must be flowing through your bloodstream and making you frail. Every single one of your joints ache. There are pains in places you didn’t think were possible to hurt.

And who knows when it will end?

You’ve been in this cell for weeks– months now. 

And all you’ve had to do while you’ve been in here is think. Well, between all the torture, that is. 

Memories were your only escape from the harsh reality that you found yourself in. Little flashes of running through the forest of Erbus while your mother calls you in for dinner soothed you. 

If you thought hard enough, sometimes you thought you could picture her face again. When you really allowed yourself to focus, you could recall the curve of her nose, shaped just like yours, the small bridge of freckles that would appear in the summertime, the prominent shape of her cupid’s bow.

Once a month, your mother would crush up rose and lavender petals and make them into an oil that she would apply to her skin. The only times you were ever close enough to smell it were when she would hold you close.

Like that time you were six years old and fell from the tree you were climbing. You had slipped on the branches and came tumbling down to the dirt. The only injury you ended up sustaining was a small scrape to your elbow.

But you cried so hard, you may as well have broken your arm. After bandaging you up, you were still letting out little sniffles and cries. 

Your mother wrapped her arms around you and held you close to her chest. 

A mother’s hug heals everything, doesn’t it?

There’s a different type of warmth that comes from the arms that carried you since the day you were born. No matter what the circumstances were, it didn’t matter what was wrong or what hurt, mind, body, or soul, if your mother wrapped her arms around you, you were better.

You would breathe in her rose and lavender scent and the tears would stop. She would coo into your hair and kiss your forehead before sending you on your way once more.

In no time at all, you would be back to climbing trees and jumping over fallen logs in the woods.

What you wouldn’t give for one of your mother’s hugs right now.

Even though you were so young when she was taken from you, it doesn’t take away the fact that she’s the first person you crave when you’re scared or when you’re hurting. Calling out for your mother is an instinct so ingrained in everyone it should be studied.

That day on the battlefield, when all of the soldiers were closing in around you on top of that wall, you called out for your mother.

And if you had the strength, you would do so right now. 

You want your mother. You want to hear her voice, you want her to hold you close and listen to her heart beat.

A hollow, empty feeling sits so heavily in your chest. It’s a different pain than the type you’ve been on the receiving end for the last few weeks. It’s not even a pain that was inflicted while you’ve been in this cell.

Nonetheless, Erbus caused it. These monsters are the ones that took your mother and father away. They’re the ones that took away the one pair of arms you need to be held in the most. 

Erbus has been torturing you long before you were thrown within this cell. Long before this war was declared, long before you were made into a court member of Miroh, long before you even became a mercenary. They have been twisting the knife in your heart since you were only nine.

Hyunjin’s arms twitch around your body, shaking you from your runaway thoughts.

Your head turns a bit and you look at him as his eyes twitch and blink open slowly.

“Does it hurt?” he asks immediately. His voice is rough and slurred as he drags himself from sleep.

“Nay,” you whisper back. “Only the usual pains.”

“Then why do you cry?” 

You freeze.

Slowly, your hand reaches up and you touch your cheek. Sure enough, there are tears coming down your cheeks.

“I…” you start but your voice trails off.

“Troubled mind?” Hyunjin murmurs. He lifts his chin from your shoulder and sits back against the wall once more.

Your eyes stare forward, focusing on just one of the four hundred and thirteen stones in the floor. 

“Aye,” you respond. “I guess you could say that.”

Hyunjin waits for a moment. His hands move from wrapped around your body to trail up the sides of your arms, tracing small circles and patterns on the bruised and battered skin.

“Coin for your thoughts.” 

A weak smile pulls at your lips at the little joke. Maybe if you had more energy, you would’ve laughed. 

“I am just thinking about my mother,” you say simply. Behind you, Hyunjin lets out an exhale.

“Taken by Erbus?”

“Aye.”

You had already told Jisung the story that one night in front of the campfire. The night that he crawled inside your bedroll and held you while you both cried together.

“Tell me about her.”

It’s such a simple request, but it squeezes at your heart nonetheless. Countless fragments of memories go through your mind, once more, you think you can smell her scented oil.

“She was tall.” It’s the first thing that comes to your mind. “Tall for a human woman, at least. One time I heard my father say it was one of the reasons he fell for her, she had the height of an elf, but the sharp tongue of a human.”

Hyunjin lets out a weak laugh behind you. “Much like you then.”

You hum in agreement. “Aye. I definitely take after her in many ways. But she always told me I looked more like my father.” There’s a beat. “They both loved me so much, Hyunjin. I cannot even begin to even create a complaint about my parents. They loved me more than the moon loves the night sky.

“Our cottage was this tiny house with one room. There were no bedrooms or a kitchen or library. It had four walls that held two beds, a small cooking spit, a table with three chairs, a wardrobe, and a bookshelf. But I never wanted it to be any different.”

His fingers continue to trace up and down your arms as you stare off into space, reminiscing about that little cabin in the woods.

“Every night, they would tuck me into bed and both of them would kiss my cheeks, my father first, then my mother. And they would tell me how much they loved me. I cannot lie, I had a very fortunate childhood.”

Countless people you have crossed paths with have had the opposite experience as your own. Every time someone would tell you about a negative relationship with their parents, your heart would ache for them.

The smile on your face turns wistful. “One morning, my mother woke me up early, before the sun had even risen or poked over the horizon. I can only remember she held up a finger to her lips, smiling and telling me that we had to be quiet, that we were going to surprise my father since it was his birthday.

“We went down to the town and we were there just in time as the bakery opened. The two of us were the first in line and we bought him the most beautifully frosted cake that I had ever seen, it had to be bigger than my face.”

Both you and your mother also bought a sweet bread that the two of you shared on your way back to the cabin. The two of you giggled and passed the bread back and forth, making sure it was finished before you got home.

Your mother had said it was a secret that only the two of you could know about, and your younger self took that to heart.

“When we got back to the cabin, my father was still asleep. He snored like a bear and we could hear him before we even got inside. We woke him up holding the cake and yelling birthday wishes at the top of our lungs. He sat up and hugged us both with the biggest smile on his face. By the Six, I can still see the crows' feet crinkling next to his eyes.”

The happy memory sits inside your chest, warming up your damaged and worn soul. It flickers inside you like a dying campfire.

Thinking about your parents always kindles the flames within your soul, even now, when you’re at the lowest you’ve ever been. Just remembering the happiness they raised you with alights something inside you.

Hyunjin remains quiet behind you, listening to you talk. Not once do his little caresses cease on your skin. 

“We started the day with cake and then spent the remainder of his birthday down at the lake, playing in the water and laughing as a family.  Even as the sun went down behind the clouds, we were smiling and laughing. It was… it was perfect. Every single day was perfect.”

Suddenly, your throat feels too tight. 

As if sensing the shift in your demeanor, Hyunjins hands gently wind around your stomach once more, being very careful of the wounds throbbing across your stomach. With what remaining strength he has left, he squeezes and holds you close.

“I often think about what my life would have been like if they were not taken from me,” your voice utters. The tears have not stopped flowing down your cheeks. It’s a wonder your eyes aren’t too dry to even shed them.

“Thinking about what could have been can poison your mind,” Hyunjin murmurs. His own tone sounds strained.

“Perhaps,” you reply. “But at the same time, it relaxes me. I allow myself to conjure up a vision of this second life… One where my parents raised me and we were permitted to live together as a family…”

He hesitates for a beat. “What do you imagine?”

A soft hum comes from your chest. “I like to imagine that I grew up to be an alchemist.”

When he laughs, it comes out gently, like a puff of air. “Truly?”

“Aye,” you answer with your own weak laugh. Your head tilts to the side. “I would have studied hard and learned the craft and opened a shop in the town… I would have created tonics that would cure ailments, supply aid, perhaps even extend lives or do wondrous things like breathe underwater.”

Your body begins to relax further into him as you tell him your little fantasy.

“I would live in the room above my shop and it would only be a short walk to the cottage where I would visit my parents at least once a week for dinner. Maybe, I would bring them a new tonic or two for them to try for me…

“Eventually, some dashing young man would walk into my shop one day, looking for a healing potion and I would notice that he seemed injured so I would take him into the back where I keep all my ingredients and supplies and make him sit still while I heal him up. After a moment, I would look into his eyes… he would look into mine… and I would fall in love.”

His arms tighten around you. “Sounds like folly to me,” Hyunjin grumbles into your shoulder.

“You sound jealous.”

“I am not.”

“You are jealous of a man who does not exist.”

“Nay. I am not.”

“He does not exist, nor does my shop, nor do my alchemy skills.”

Hyunjin scoffs and shifts behind you. The wistful smile stays on your face and your hands reach up and rest on top of his.

“Rest assured, nothing about this fantasy life is real, no matter how deeply I wish it to be.”

There’s a long moment of silence in the cell. Condensation drips from the ceiling into a standing puddle and you can hear Erban soldiers communicating through the walls. The fires lit in the sconces flicker and lick up the sides.

Behind you, Hyunjin’s chest rises and falls in a shallow, uneasy rhythm. 

Taking a deep, painful breath, you turn slightly in his arms to look at the side of his face. As soon as you move, he looks right back at you. The bags under his eyes look like deep bruises.

“Though, I am certain that the life I live now is a fantasy to some others,” you murmur, staring deeply into his now dull eyes. “Perhaps the alchemist escapes their mundane life by imagining she is the mercenary for the Jarl’s court; maybe she imagines that her other court members invade her life and make themselves the most important people in her life.”

Hyunjin stares back at you. 

“Perhaps she imagines grand battles and wars, maybe she dreams of learning how to wield a sword so she can protect the ones she loves, even at her own peril.”

And for a moment, even if it is brief and fleeting, you see a tiny spark in those gorgeous eyes. It leaves as soon as it comes, but you know it was there.

“Does the mercenary also have a happy ending in the alchemist’s fantasy?” Hyunjin whispers.

You hum, rolling your eyes a bit. “Now we are imagining a fantasy’s fantasy? Should we go one step further and imagine that mercenary pictures being an alchemist?”

It’s his turn to roll his eyes and look off to the side. “Now you are just being boring.”

“We do not even know if this mercenary will have a happy ending.”

“She will,” Hyunjin replies immediately. His voice is stronger than it has been in weeks. The strength is only there for that one moment, same as the spark in his eyes. He looks back at you. “She will.”

You open your mouth to respond, but before you can, a world shattering boom rattles the entire fort. Both you and Hyunjin practically jump out of your skin at the noise. The very stones of the walls shake from what sounds like an unbelievable impact.

Soldiers begin screaming outside the door of the jail.

Hyunjin’s arms tighten around you in a protective manner, his entire body tensing up.

Inside your chest, you feel your heart kickstart. Is this Miroh? Is Miroh attacking? Is it finally happening?

There’s only about thirty seconds of silence before two more explosions hit the fort, these ones sounding and feeling like they’re at different points in the fort.

Your eyes flitter around wildly, trying to get your bearings. Every single one of your muscles begins to scream when you try to move.

All of the instincts within you are telling you to move; but even if you managed to crawl across the floor to the cell door, you’re still locked in here.

Another explosion hits the fort and dust falls from the ceiling over you and Hyunjin. 

The screaming gets louder and louder.

“Do you think–”

You’re cut off by the sound of the door to the prison bursting open and slamming into the stone wall. At the same time of the collision, a booming, feral, animalistically angry voice screams down the hall.

“You ruin everything, you rotten fucking monster!” Allericks’ voice is so loud it echos in your ears and rattles your very bones. “There will be no rescue mission for Miroh!”

His boots are thundering down the hall.

As Hyunjin holds you close, small noises of fear claw their way up your throat and you shrink back into him inch by inch. Allerick’s voice has such an instant effect on your brain. At the very sound of him, you can feel every single one of your wounds throbbing.

Now that the door to the prison is open, the yelling and screaming is louder. All of the soldiers are bellowing orders to one another, manning different stations and trying to muster enough strength to defend themselves.

“You disgusting, hideous, vile creatures! You and all of the blackened beings of Miroh!”

As soon as Allerick’s body is in front of the cell, he’s thrusting the key into the lock and wrenching open the door. It swings and hits into the bars with a clang that goes right through you. He sneers when he sees you and Hyunjin huddled in with one another. 

“Oh, how wonderful that you were able to feel one final tender touch before I rip you limb from limb!” he growls, striding towards you at such a frightening pace, you would think he was running.

Hyunjin tries to turn your bodies to shield you but Allerick is much faster and stronger than both of you combined at the moment. He reaches down and grabs you by the hair, prying you out of Hyunjin’s arms and launching you across the cell with a roar.

The stone scrapes up your arms and legs as you collide with the floor.

“Y/N!” Hyunjin yells.

“Even when I have you down in my prison, chained, tethered, tortured, and two steps from The Void, you still find ways to stab me in the back and make my life difficult!”

He stalks closer to you.

Weakly, you push yourself off the floor, both of your arms shaking. Your elbows almost immediately buckle under your body weight and you whimper quietly as you make contact with the floor.

“I should have known better than to think you could be of any use to me!” Allerick grabs a fistful of your hair just to use his other hand and delivers a punch directly to your cheek. The pain bursts behind your eyes immediately. 

He pulls back and punches you once more, this time releasing your hair as the punch lands, just so your head can crack down onto the stone floor.

“Stop!” Hyunjin screams. 

“You will get your turn, dagger ear! Shut your fucking mouth!” Allerick screams at him and then turns his attention back to you.

Explosion after explosion hits the outside of the fort. All of the dust and debris rains down from the ceiling. The very ground shakes underneath you.

Groaning in pain, you’re about to turn over onto your back when a swift kick is ushered right to your side. Instead, your body ragdolls with the momentum of the kick and you grunt and cough at the same time. Little droplets of blood spurt from your mouth. 

“You good for nothing rat!” Allerick screams. “I should have killed you on day one. I should have had the guards tear your limbs off and fed them to you while you cried and begged for death!”

Another kick to your ribs and you’re sure you hear one snap. The sharp pain shoots right through you, the pain chokes any noise you could make and all you’re able to produce is a wheeze. 

A hand grabs your shoulder and rolls you onto your back. His body comes down over yours, straddling your hips and grabbing the front of your tunic.

There’s no strength left in your body. You’re so completely broken and useless. All you can do is open your eyes and look up at him from. 

He looks nothing like the man you know. The man above you right now is a wild animal; his teeth are bared and veins are popping in his forehead. You wouldn’t be surprised if foam started coming from his gums and dripping down his chin. 

It feels like you’re looking into the eyes of the Void. Cold, harrowing fear trickles down your spine. You want to scream, you want to cry, but you’re completely frozen.

You’ve seen more compassion when staring into the eyes of a wolf.

Never before have you seen a human being gaze upon another with a look like this.

“I should have killed you yesterday. I should have drenched that dagger in Void Toxin. I should have watched it take a hold of your very soul. Oh, little mouse, how I crave to watch the life leave your eyes.”

His hand moves from gripping your tunic to wrapping around your throat completely, his fingers dig into your neck, cutting off your oxygen immediately. 

Your mouth opens and closes, gaping like a fish out of water. One of your hands moves up to claw at Allerick’s, your nails digging into his skin to no avail.

“When those pests come down here, there will be nothing left of you, nothing but a bloody, useless corpse. You will just be another tally added to the toll while we cleanse this world of your filthy kind.”

All of your limbs grow cold, your muscles begin to spasm from the lack of oxygen. 

The veins in your neck feel as though they’re about to explode from the pressure. Your eyes feel like they’re about to bulge out of your head. 

A sick smile spreads across Allerick’s face as he watches you struggle, it stretches from ear to ear, showing off his once perfect, now yellowing, teeth. The bags under his eyes make them look psychotic.

He is not the man that raised you.

He’s an animal.

Hyunjin screams behind you, but it sounds so far away. You can’t hear the explosions anymore, you can only feel the ground beneath you vibrating with each impact. 

Is this really how it ends for you? Minutes from salvation?

Huh.

Tears well up in your bloodshot eyes, the edges of your vision fading. 

Will it be Uddos or Ytris you see when your eyes open once more? Who will be welcoming you to their part of the afterlife?

The Void cannot be any worse than this damned cell.

Slowly, your eyes begin to close. So, this is it. This is it for you.

Death might not be so bad.

Perhaps you’ll finally be able to see your mother and father again. There’s no way their souls are not in Utrium. They were both too kind and too full of love to end up anywhere near The Void.

Maybe you’ll finally get to smell that rose and lavender oil as your mother holds you in her arms. You can practically smell it now. It wraps around your nose and sends a wave of peace through your body. 

That warmth– that sweet, sweet warmth of your mother’s embrace calls to you. The cozy, soft comfort of your head against her chest feels as though it’s right in your grasp.

Will there be sweet breads in Utrium? Oh, they’ll be the best you ever tasted, you’re sure of it. 

A calm smile pulls at your blue lips. 

Every single day will be just like your father’s birthday. You’ll be able to eat cake for breakfast and spend every single afternoon down by the lake, splashing water and swimming until the sun goes down–

“Not yet,” a familiar maternal voice coos in your head. “Not yet, my love.”

Another voice roars clear as day, shattering your peace and bringing you back to the harsh reality you’re currently in. 

There’s a flurry of movement above you as a figure crashes into Allerick and tackles him to the ground and off of your body. You’re only able to make out the silver sheen of armor as the figure passes over you. 

Desperately, you take in a gasp of air. Coughs wrack through your aching body as you try to breathe in any oxygen possible. Each breath is choppy and painful, but you suck them in nonetheless.

Your head drops to the side and you barely make out what you see in front of you. Your savior, completely crouched over Allerick, as he delivers punch after punch to his face. Allerick desperately tries to fight back but each hit is too powerful.

It’s taking too long for your vision to fully unblur. 

Who is that? 

That armor… you’ve seen that armor before… but only once.

The fires from the sconces glint off the polished steel brilliantly. Every single inch of the armor has been crafted exquisitely. Not a single piece is fitted incorrectly. 

Miroh’s standard hangs off his sword belt on his hips.

The leather straps wound around the pieces are oiled and expensive. The now bloody gauntlets hug his forearms and display Miroh’s crest proudly.

It’s nothing short of regal.

It truly is a set of armor suited for a Jarl.

Your heart clenches in your chest and more tears spring from your eyes when you realize what you’re seeing. 

Bang Chan, the Jarl of Miroh, is here to save you.

There’s some more screaming and boots running down the hall. Your eyes flick up to Hyunjin, who looks like he collapsed while crawling in your direction on his hands and knees. Tears are coming down his face as he sobs in what looks like unbridled relief. 

He looks over and meets your eyes, and that relief becomes even brighter when he sees you’re alive. 

“Y/N!” he cries your name. “Y/N!”

Over and over again, he sobs your name like it’s the only thing he knows. It’s the only word that tumbles from his cracked and dehydrated lips. 

Figures sprint into the jail cell, one of them immediately runs to Hyunjin’s side.

“Here! In here! They are in here! In here!” 

“Down here!”

Emotions hit you so heavily as familiar voices hit your ears. Voices that you’ve come to love and cherish. Voices that you would remember when it was so dark and bleak that you needed to try and gather some joy in your soul.

A warm hand grabs at your shoulder, rolling you onto your back. Out of pure instinct, you scream in panic and fear. Your voice comes out in a mere hissed noise, your vocal cords damaged from Allerick’s grip. 

The hand recoils quickly, but comes right back to cup your cheek and gently guide your eyes to meet theirs.

More and more tears blur your vision, but you would recognize Lee Minho’s face anywhere. 

His eyes are wide in horror as he takes in your near death appearance. “By The Six,” he says in a ghastly tone.

All you have energy to do is blink and breathe. 

“Are they alive?!” Jeongin’s voice screams down the hall. “Minho, are they alive?!”

Minho can’t tear his eyes off your face, staring down at you in horror. “Aye! Alive! They li– They live!” he answers thickly. Every muscle in his face twitches and pulls into a different emotion every second.

You’re watching as he rides a carousel of human emotions: anger, disgust, horror, fear, sadness, it all crosses his face as he looks down at you. His hand begins to tremble against your cheek. 

“Y/N,” he murmurs hoarsely, his eyebrows pinch together as if he’s the one in pain. “Oh, oh, you poor thing.” He sounds near tears himself.

Maybe it’s because his face is the first one you’re seeing during your rescue, but you swear you’ve never seen anything so beautiful in your life. One of the Six’s angels surely has come down to save you. 

“Chan!” Jeongin screams once he’s in the cell. “Chan! Enough! Enough!”

Behind Minho, you watch him run over in Chan’s direction, most likely to yank him off of Allerick’s body. What state he’s in now, you don’t know. But you can’t find it within your heart to care if he is alive or dead. 

“How is Hyunjin?” Minho calls over without taking his eyes off of you.

“Alive!” Changbin answers. “Y/N?!”

“Alive!” Minho answers.

“They are both alive?!” Seungmin screams down the hall. 

“Both are alive!” Minho yells back just for the rogue to come join the party.

You don’t know how many more times they’re going to scream that you’re alive, but you don’t care. You wish you could scream it too.

You’re alive. You’re alive!

Chan lets out a loud roar of frustration as Jeongin drags him away from Allerick. “I want him bound and taken back with us. I want him thrown into solitary confinement! Whatever dark hole Miroh has under the Keep, I want him kept there! His face will never know sunlight again!” 

Seungmin rushes past your body over to where Chan and Jeongin are, following his Jarl’s order to bind Allerick. 

Chan continues to scream out in ire. “The Six themselves will have to come release you from Miroh’s prisons, you filthy, miserable excuse for life!”

Minho moves slowly, bending down and cradling your head with one hand. His touch is so gentle, treating you like you’re made of the most delicate glass ever created. 

“We have you, Y/N, we have you. You are safe,” he coos down at you. You’re not sure if he’s trying to convince you or himself that you’re safe now. He keeps repeating it, shuffling you around to cradle you close to his chest. “I got you, Y/N, I have you.”

“Minho,” you whisper hoarsely. The way he reacts, you would think you punched him in the chest. His shoulders hunch forward and he grips you tighter, bringing your head closer to him. Both of Minho’s arms wrap around you and he pulls you up into his lap.

Your head tucks into his chest, a wave of warmth and peace floods through your body once you’re safely nestled in his embrace. 

His clean and musky scent wraps around your senses. It’s been so long since you’ve smelled anything but death, decay, vomit, and blood. 

Behind you, Chan barks more orders, nothing but pure wrath and malice in his voice. 

Weakly, your hand comes up and you grab at Minho’s arm, your bony fingers curling around his arm. His body begins to tremble.

Slowly, your eyes begin to slide shut. That sense of peace and safety lulling your brain to finally shut down. 

“Not yet, Y/N,” Minho whispers, shaking you very gently. He jostles you the same way you would try and get a dew drop to fall from a leaf. 

Another body comes up behind you.

“Water,” Jeongin croaks. “Here, Y/N, drink, please. Please.” 

Minho turns your head for you with one hand cradling the back of your skull. A waterskin is immediately placed upon your lips and clean water comes rushing out into your parted lips. 

You’ve never drank anything so greedily in your life. It’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted. The nectar of the Gods was put into this waterskin, wasn’t it? Your neck cranes to get even more of the water.

“Easy,” Minho says in a gentle tone. 

Jeongin’s hand comes up and rests on your forehead, taking away the waterskin after another moment. His fingers shakily brush away the hair sticking to your forehead. 

Changbin and Seungmin sound as if they’re talking to Hyunjin, giving him water just like Jeongin had done for you. 

Several Miroh soldiers come into the cell. “Take this thing out of my sight,” Chan growls, he’s talking about Allerick. “Straight to the prisons with him. Do not be kind.”

“Aye, my lord,” one soldier says and there’s some shuffling. “The remainder of Erbus has fled, my lord.”

“Good,” Chan answers. “Changbin?”

“Garrison the fort, I will keep another General here.” the Commander answers, his tone distracted. “We return to Miroh immediately. We will come up with another plan once we return.”

“You heard him.”

The soldiers move around and exit the cell.

The cell becomes quiet, save for the whispers of your fellow court members. Changbin and Seungmin whisper down to Hyunjin while Minho and Jeongin coo down to you. 

You could have never anticipated the quietness that surrounds you now.

Chan’s armor clinks as he moves around. “How do they fair?”

“Horrible,” Minho answers quickly. “Horrible, Chan.”

“Her stomach,” Seungmin croaks from across the room. He sounds absolutely miserable. “Please check on her stomach.”

Both Jeongin and Minho hesitate before one of them very gently lifts the fabric of your tunic up to reveal your marred abdomen. Both men suck in sharp gasps.

“I healed her last night,” Hyunjin murmurs. “But only what I could… The poison–”

“What poison?” Chan asks, obviously alarmed.

“Mortal’s Touch,” Seungmin answers. “The one I spoke about.”

Warm, gentle fingers brush over your abdomen delicately. It still sends a sharp pain up your body and you hiss, shrinking away from them.

“Apologies,” Jeongin whines. “I believe her ribs are broken.”

You nod in Minho’s arms, some of the strength returning to your body. Your breathing is still choppy and hoarse. Every few breaths, you cough.

The clinking of Chan’s armor gets louder and you hear him kneel down next to you. Slowly, you open your eyes to look up at him. His warm, brown eyes meet yours and you swear you’ve never felt such instant comfort in your life.

Relief like when your mother held you after falling out of the tree.

Your throat gets tight and your bottom lip trembles.

He looks down at you and you see his jaw clench, the muscles in his neck shift around as he swallows, his Adam's apple bobs. He’s trying so hard to be strong right now, but you know he’s moments away from breaking down completely.

“We need to get them back to Miroh,” he says, his eyes never leaving your face. “They need to see Felix immediately.”

Minho and Jeongin both nod. The advisor slowly and carefully begins to move his arms around, preparing to carry your body out of this damp and dank cell. Your body easily falls into the comfort of his embrace.

Chan stands up first, gathering himself back together to face his soldiers, clearing his throat and looking around the cell for a moment. His shoulders roll back and his head tilts to the side, it’s that same nervous twitch you’ve always watched him have.

He walks towards the cell door, his boots hitting the ground with steady thuds.

“I want my family back home."

[egophiliac]

:) hello! :D hope you have a nice day and absolutely do not think of the possibility of one of the last story cards being of silver! and that his groovy will very probably be crying!!! THERE'S SO MANY CRYING PEOPLE IN STORY CARDS LATELY!!! SPECIALLY LIGHT USERS!! I AM!!! SCARED!!!! bc so far we got Lilia and Sebek in the beginning book 7.... so at the end.... so we're missing story Silver... and Malleus is the one with less cards, so they might add one for him... but... the tears... ego.... THE TEARS!!!! EGOOOO!! (LOVE YOUR ART BTW EVERYTIME I GET A NOTIF FROM YOUR BLOG I RUN HERE TO SEE!)

(thank you! 💚💜💚)

YES I am ALSO like...90-95% convinced that we're going to be getting a story card for Silver once we wrap around back to diasomnia. 👀 especially because the way things are going, Silver will be the only character whose dream we haven't seen -- yet???? -- and that just. y'know. makes me wonder!

although I do think it would be VERY funny if he got a story card and the groovy was just "regular Silver except with one beautiful single crystal tear". this is actually a lot coming from him.

(he used up all his emotion yelling at a baby that one time, there's none left for a proper groovy-level cry.)

[kizzer55555]

The Vampire Aesthetic

Ok so Danny knows two billionaires personally and they really couldn’t be more different. Yet they had one thing in common. A vampire aesthetic. Sam is fully into goth. Spiderwebs, bats, the color black. She enjoys fangs and fake blood and the darkness of her soul. Meanwhile, Vlad is Vlad. If his name wasn’t enough, the dark clothing, pale skin, and flying around with a cape and fangs with coffins in his mansion really sells it.

Danny doesn’t know many rich people so he thinks this might be some kind of trend. (If Paulina is rich, her family likes the chupacabra) So he just thinks that all rich people have some kind of vampire thing going on.

Cue Danny somehow ending in the Wayne household. Maybe he was brought over as a friend of one of the bats, maybe rescued from a field trip/vacation gone wrong, maybe some other situation. But he is there in civilian form with civilian Waynes and Danny just takes a good long look around the inside of the mansion.

“So where’s the vampire aesthetic?

Everyone freezes.

Danny just starts looking around, checking behind paintings and feeling the walls for secret levers. Used to secret passages with Vlad and possibly Sam. The Fentons definitely had them when they were temporarily rich.

“Come on, I know you guys are hiding it.”

Cue the entire batfamily thinking that this is another Tim and that he is fully aware that these people are the batfamily. Danny hangs around the mansion more and the bats just start dropping their disguises and not even bothering to hide stuff around Danny because they assume he already knows. (Possibly even trying to recruit him to be a new bat) Meanwhile, Danny, who does not know these people are batman and his birds, just does not pick up on any of it.

He grew up in a health violation with a giant ballon observatory lab above his head and a portal to the afterlife in his basement. He is a half dead teenager who has tea with the god of time and his godfather is the other parent to his clone child. He’s used to death lazers being scattered across his home and mysterious stains on clothing.

People are weird! He doesn’t judge!

[solradguy]

The more I learn about Unika's lore, the more I kind of really just do not like a single thing they are doing with her. Not a single thing

[opens-up-4-nobody]

Someone in the house hates cats...

[illmoraineakoi]

Headcanon that if Victim had powers, they'd predominately be ice themed.

[fluffypotatey]

To be honest I am a huge Nalu shipper. But the thing is I want to know the difference between the way Natsu cares about his guildmates and Lucy. Like what is the obvious difference since that boy sees every as Nakama so how can we say that the wag he cares about Lucy is different?

Like even when Erza passed away? (All the way back in first season there was a segment where the guild was gathered at her grave and all) Natsu was still very reactive. Plus he was also said to be depressed even when Lisanna passed.

What's the difference between all of them and Lucy?

the fact that he stayed. the fact that before he met Lucy, Natsu wasn't one to stay in a group or even want to work with anyone besides Happy at the start of the story. hell, he was ready to just file Lucy down as "New Guildmate" once they reached Fairy Tail

but then, Lucy doesn't leave. she follows him on his mission to save Macao despite her not needing to or even really understanding everything about it. she stays and then fights with him and saves him. it's no secret that Natsu is strong and can take care of himself really well. he's been going on solo missions for years now, and no one has really stopped him, but that means he's been in a lot of sticky situations where he and Happy are on their own and have no backup. and yet, without asking, Lucy offers it

and i think this is the moment when Natsu considers that maybe it's okay to have someone there to have his back (sans Happy)

"but Natsu only needed Lucy for the next quest because of the requirements," well, Natsu also wouldn't have taken or even considered that quest if it weren't for Lucy, yeah? he was not a team player (in the picking job's sense) or really wanted other people to help him on his quests sans Happy. and then he goes and picks a job that caters to their team whilst ensuring that Lucy can't say no

or maybe i'm reading too much into it 🤷🏻‍♀️

or maybe Natsu's got horrible abandonment issues that he will latch onto people so fast (Igneel & Lisanna) but also cause him to distance himself so far when left behind (his 1st time at the guild, Lisanna's death). Erza and Gray are Natsu's closet friends after Lisanna and yet they cannot reach him when he closes himself off. and then we have Lucy, who stuck by and had his back, so who is to say Natsu didn't make some contingencies to ensure whether or not she'd join him?

but maybe it's the rose, colored ship glasses i have on

because yeah, Natsu cares for all of his guildmates. the power of friendship is his biggest motivator. when we meet Natsu, our first introductions of him is defending his guild's reputation from Bora (who was using it as a guise for human trafficking) and saving Macao. and our 1st big arc (Galuna Island), where Natsu adamantly refuses to allow Gray to use Ice Shell and sacrifice himself despite how antagonistic they've been to each other. we get Natsu 100% at Erza's defense throughout the Tower of Heaven and he is even ready to defend Wendy though they only met hours ago

Natsu is a character with a bleeding heart and cannot help but wear it on his sleeve, but we don't really see him allow others to fight his battles or have his back until Lucy comes in. to be honest, i don't even think he had his heart on his sleeve until Lucy. he still has a bleeding heart (i don't think anything could stop that), but he was not ready to be open in receiving company because he was so used to it being ripped away from him

that being said: of all the characters he interacts with, he finds Lucy to be someone compatible enough for him to start going on team missions and inviting her on them (for example, his 1st S-class mission, which he stole, he went to her house to show it to her. the fact that part of the reward was a celestial key might be a coincidence, but i wouldn't doubt it as Natsu and Happy's trump card in case she refused)

but yeah, the difference is that he stayed and didn't push her away at the beginning, but instead continued to invite her along with him to the point that doing a mission without Lucy wasn't his regular anymore. compared to the rest of the guild, of whom he spent most of his childhood with, even if he spoke to no one, they would still be around and talk to him anyway. he might not invite them on job and only challenge them to fights, but the guild is his home and a constant in his life, a constant he needs (bc heavy abandonment issues).

"okay, but he still pushed her away after he watched Igneel die right in front of him. and he left the guild for a whole year, too. so what's the difference there?" you may ask.

so 1) Natsu never thought the guild would disband. he returns to Fiore after a year and is the last to know that they disbanded. he assumed, like all the other times before and while he and others were sealed for 7 years, that Fairy Tail would still be there when he returned. he assumed that his disappearance would not impact so hard because the guild would still be around and Lucy would have the others with her

which, did not happen :)

and like, so many guild members go off on jobs, quests, or even just leave for an indiscriminate amount of time (which i, personally, believe was his rationality for leaving), so him being gone for a year was nothing! right? no harm, eh? his plan was never to be gone forever :))))

2) he just watched his father die and lose any chance of having some semblance of a long term reunion with Igneel. he literally lost one of his main driving motivations for getting stronger and taking jobs. before Fairy Tail, before anyone, it was Igneel. and to learn that a) Igneel was always with him to begin with and b) he only got to see him for less than a day after 14 years of nothing......i would feel lost too ngl

man's needed space from everybody. and he also needed comfort, but Natsu has been shown not to really be the character who asks to receive comfort (and when he does receive it, it's usually when he's already emotionally compromised). he is in the habit of shutting people out after being abandoned or losing someone close to him, with his next rationale being to "get stronger" in order to prevent what happened in the past to ever happen in the future.

anyway

what makes this different? well for one, he sent the letter only to Lucy (or it's implied since no one else is shown getting one) because of how the two spend most of their time together. even the line that goes with the panel makes it sound like Natsu is unsure on how the note will be received (maybe even hesitant? but that could be my own hopes)

and one of the 1st people he reunites with after a year is Lucy and we get such a similar parallel to the first chapter of Fairy Tail between the two as if the narrative itself is slotting them together to say "ah yes, now everything is back to normal and new journeys can begin"

but yeah, this is just a long way of saying, that Natsu does love his friends and guildmates but even when he is close to them, he kept to himself (and Happy) and sort of stayed in their orbit but always with some emotional distance because of his fear of abandonment. and then you have Lucy where he will stay for and allow her to orbit around him and he will invite to new adventures no questions asked

that's the difference

[worstloki]

it actually is concerning when people's activism doesn't include awareness of boycotting like what do you mean there's a flag in your username and you are openly encouraging people to buy disney+ and netflix subscriptions and eat at mcdonald's. what ARE you DOING!!

[iztarshi]

One thing about 87!Donatello's occasional desire to be a normal turtle is, it's worrying, but it's not suicide adjacent the way it would be for any other Donatello.

The context in which he starts to think about it is one where they've pursued a newly mutated sumo gerbil (yes, seriously) back to the petshop where it was trying to break in so it could "go home". When the unstable mutation wears off it's happy to be shut back in its cage and Donatello thinks he recognises the petshop as the one where the turtles were originally sold.

For the gerbil being given sudden sapience isn't a gift or the beginning of its existence as a person, it's a weird and scary thing that left it adrift in a world it didn't understand and that didn't understand it. Having it wear off is a happy ending. After all, if a human was turned into a dragon and given massively expanded intelligence, a thousand year lifespan, and the power of flight and fire, but still wanted to go back to being human that would be understandable.

Donatello remembers being a turtle - his sense of his own identity doesn't start with sapience - so seeing another animal unmutate and be happy when he's unhappy with nearly but not quite fitting into the human world makes him thoughtful.

There's still a lot he does and enjoys that a turtle couldn't do! And most of the time (such as when being threatened with de-mutation by Shredder) he doesn't want to go back to being a helpless turtle. But there is that lingering feeling that he might fit into the world better (and be liked by humans better) if he was simply a turtle they could keep as a pet.

[dreaming-medium]

Animals Without Direction

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Four Hundred and Thirteen

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Masterlist

Four hundred and thirteen.

That’s the amount of stones you were able to count on the floor of the cell you’re being held in. 

Four hundred and thirteen.

Some of them are split in half with a large crack running down the middle. In fact, some are in more pieces than that. The bigger cracks would spiderweb into smaller ones. There’s one stone right under the window that's completely shattered. Should you count it as more than one, then?

No.

No, it’s still just one.

It started as one stone. You can tell by the mortar around the outer perimeter of the stone that it started as one. If it started as one, then it will always be one , right?

Right.

Just like you.

You came into this cell as one person. One person with two arms with two hands, two legs with two feet, five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot. Who knows what you’re going to have once you leave. 

If you ever leave.

Well, you’ll “leave” eventually. But, who knows if you’ll be alive. 

You may just be a lump of limbs and organs at that point. 

There’s already so much of your blood on those four hundred and thirteen stones. How much more can you take? There’s only so much that a body can handle before it just… gives up. But you, stubborn you, are hanging in there much longer than anyone could have expected.

You and the mage chained to the wall opposite of you. He may be the only bastard in Olera that is just as stubborn to die as you.

Erbus knows torture the way the birds know how to fly. It’s instinctual to them. They know everything about how to make it hurt, sure. But, physical pain you can take. It’s the mental torture that’s fucking killer. 

The window in the wall was completely boarded up within the first day after the battle, depriving you of any and all sunlight. Because of this, you have absolutely no clue how long you’ve been chained here. It could be days or even weeks since the battle. You have no idea.  

The only sense of time passing you have is how emaciated your body looks. You’re able to see each of your knuckles perfectly in your fingers, it’s getting so hard to bend them at all. Soon enough you’re not going to be able to lift your arm to even look at your hand.

The metal cuffs around your wrists feel like they get heavier every single hour.

All of those muscles that you worked so hard for have started to grow thin; the muscles that Changbin helped you grow.

How long does that take? A few days of starvation is when the body begins to eat the muscles. 

It’s not even like you can depend on your body’s natural rhythm either; the guards make sure to wake you up every hour, slamming their weapons into the metal bars that cage the two of you in the room.

And if you pass out from exhaustion, smelling salts are put directly under your nose to spike your adrenal system and wake you right back up.

Your body used to tremble from the utter exhaustion you felt, but you’re past that point now.

They haven’t even started the real physical torture yet, that you’re absolutely sure of. There’s no way that a few punches to the jaw, depriving you of adequate food and water, and keeping your arms chained to the wall are the only plans that these monsters have in store for you.

Gods, you can only imagine how gaunt your face looks. 

Especially if it's anything like Hyunjin’s. His eyes are sunken into his skull, those beautiful cheekbones seem to be the only thing keeping his skin on his face. Dark circles surround his eyes and even darker patches rest on his cheeks.

Both of you have lost the energy to speak to one another.

It’s not that you don’t want to talk to him, it’s quite the opposite, you desperately want to speak to him, but your body just physically cannot come up with the energy to even open your mouth.

When he first opened his eyes after the battle, the two of you were already locked up in your current positions. He was a mess of questions and apologies.

As time went on, the conversations would range about anything and everything. From childhood memories to battle tips. Soon enough, the dialogue between the two of you got shorter and shorter and eventually faded into nothing. 

Some words were thrown around every so often.

But eventually, it all faded to silence. 

The only noise that fills the cell is your rumbling stomachs that are beginning to eat themselves. That and the pained whines and whimpers the two of you let out every once in a while. 

Every so often, a chunk of molded bread is thrown into the cell. Two cups of murky, brown water are placed in front of you just when you think you might die. Sometimes they’re slid along the stone. You’re lucky if they don’t tip over and spill.

The Mercy Division is doing the bare minimum to keep you alive. Not a day goes by that the irony of their title doesn’t slip through you.

And you just know the worst is yet to come. They’re breaking you mentally, day by day, and then they’re going to strike you even harder. 

Deep down, you don’t know if you’re mentally prepared for that.

When a door slams open, your eyes instinctually snap open. When you look over at Hyunjin, you see him do the same. His eyes are unfocused and out of it, but they’re open. 

Heavy boots come marching down the hallway, metal clinking against armor. 

The sound used to send your heart into your throat, but anymore you’re just numb to it.

WIth shallow, slow breaths, you keep your gaze down on the floor, counting and recounting those four hundred and thirteen stones over and over again.

The boots stop and a loud clang of metal smashing together rockets through the air, jolting your heart. It’s a miracle it hasn’t completely stopped yet. 

“Wake up, rats,” the guard barks into the cell. Both you and Hyunjin don’t seem to move fast enough for his liking since he slams his shield into the metal bars of the cell once more, further shocking your heart back into an uneasy rhythm.

Lifting your head, you look up through the bars and stare directly into the eyes of the Mercy Division soldier on the other side.

There’s a usual rotation of about three of them; each of them are nasty in their own ways. But this one is particularly cruel. The last time he brought you a cup of water, he ‘accidentally’ spilled half of it onto the floor just out of your reach.

You couldn’t even crawl onto the cobblestone and attempt to lick it up, it was just too far away. The entire time, he only laughed in your face, slinging nasty words in your direction. 

This time he stands on the other side of your cage with a sick grin on his evil face. The corners of his lips seem to twist upwards in an unnatural way that makes your empty stomach do backflips. 

“Today is the day, rats,” he says to the two of you. Why does he seem so excited? “The boss is coming here today to talk to the two of you. And guess what, I heard something about a friend comin’ with him.”

Neither of you respond, not that you even want to. What’s there to say to a demon? There’s nothing you could say that wouldn’t result in a swift punch to the jaw.

Slowly, you blink your eyes and let them droop back down to the floor. It takes way too much out of you to keep them on his face.

“Aw, why the long faces, rats? Scared? Hungry? Ah, I bet you are exhausted , aye?” A chuckle bubbles from his chest. “Perfect.”

With one last, loud clang of his shield against the jail bars, he walks away from the cell.

You guess this means no food or water for now.

A long bout of silence sits between you and Hyunjin. 

A sharp pain twists at your stomach and you’re not sure if it’s from hunger, sickness, exhaustion, or anxiety. Or it could be a combination of all of them– it probably is.

“Y/N.” Your name comes out of Hyunjin’s mouth as a dry croak that nearly shatters your heart. He sounds so utterly broken.

With great effort, you lift your chin to look over at him.

Both of you are in soiled, tattered clothes. Potato sacks are a higher quality fabric than this. If it wasn’t for the fires lit in the sconces on the walls, you probably would have lost your limbs to hypothermia by now.

Genuinely, you don’t even feel the cold anymore, though. It’s the dead of winter and yet, you barely even notice the air around you. Is it cold? Is it sweltering? You don’t know anymore.

Hyunjin’s hair is everywhere. It’s greasy and unkempt. The strands are practically matted to his head. You’ve never seen him look anywhere near as disheveled as he is now. 

He looks like he’s five steps from the Void.

There’s no shine to his eyes anymore. They’re dull and lifeless. Yours probably are too.

When you make eye contact, he swallows thickly. His Adam’s Apple bobs with his attempt to create any saliva in his mouth.

“Do you–” He has to stop to cough. “What do you think this means?”

Your body shifts against the wall, the chains connecting your wrists to the stone clink with each movement. Gods, they’re so heavy. 

You know exactly what this means, you just don’t have the heart to tell him. Deep down, you know he knows too. 

“It means we prepare for the worst,” you answer thickly, your throat feels like sandpaper. When the words come out of your mouth it makes your head throb.

“As I feared,” he responds.

His tone is quiet and weak, just completely hollow.

By the Six, how long have you been here? 

Exhaustion burns at the back of your eyes and you don’t even have the strength to fight against it anymore. Your eyes droop shut, your head falls back against the wall.

Maybe you can get a few minutes of rest. Just a few. May the Six have mercy, please just allow a few minutes of rest.

------------------------------------------

The door down the hall creaks open and your eyes immediately snap awake as a reflex. The sensation sends an ache right through your skull. 

How long were you asleep? Was it five minutes? Fifteen? Fifty? It doesn’t matter, your body is still screaming regardless. 

Just like usual, you see Hyunjin’s head snap up too. Both of you are conditioned like dogs to get up when that damned door opens. 

“And now I bring you to our two favorite lab rats.” Gods, you hate his fucking voice. His slimy, evil, malicious voice. 

Three sets of boots stop in front of your cell. You can’t even lift your head to look up, you only have enough energy to keep your eyes open and staring down at the stone floor. 

“We’ve been keepin’ ‘em nice and broken since the battle. Some of the boys are takin’ bets on how long until they croak.” You don’t even have the energy to roll your eyes. “Serves ‘em right. Dirty Elves.”

There’s a long moment of silence.

Why isn’t anyone speaking?

“Huh.”

A shockwave goes down your spine. A simple huff of air sends your feeble mind reeling. No…

“I never would have guessed that my little mouse was a rat the whole time.”

No, there’s no way. No. You… you thought he was dead. He’s supposed to be dead! It’s a hallucination. It has to be. 

There’s no way he can really be here. You have to be imagining it in some near death delusion. 

Even with your muscles screaming in exhaustion and borderline atrophying, you manage to lift your chin up to look directly into the very pair of eyes that you used to find never ending comfort in. The eyes that you used to think of as a protective guardian– a brother, a father, and a mentor all wrapped up in one handsome package.  

The age lines on his face don’t change his beautiful appearance one bit. His dark hair is graying a little around the roots, but he has it pulled back in the same bun that you remember. The scruff on his face has some lighter patches around the chin. 

“Allerick…” you croak out weakly. He only stares back at you with a nasty smirk on his face. 

The man who taught you everything you know about fighting– every block, every pary, every combination attack you know– is glaring at you from the other side of prison cell bars; he’s looking at you like you’re worth no more than the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. 

What was he…? No… He works for the Mercy Division? He’s in the Mercy Division? He’s the boss? He’s in charge? 

Your mind is reeling. None of the gears seem to be catching on one another to turn. 

Despite the dehydration, you feel tears start welling up in your eyes as you stare at his smug smile. 

All these years since he disappeared from the Fighter’s Guild… he’s been working for the very people that kill your kind for sport? The man who became your make-shift guardian is now one of the men who killed your real father.

“I always wondered if our paths were going to cross again. I never thought it would be like this,” he adds with a condescending tone. One of his hands comes up and he knocks on one of the metal bars with his knuckle. He clears his throat after he speaks. 

You can’t even focus your eyes enough to read into his expression too much, the cocky smirk is the only thing you’re able to make out. 

When your vision blurs, you drop your eyes back down to the floor. Your head drops to hang from your shoulders.

Allerick huffs once more. “Brebor, when you said they were broken, I was not expecting it to be this bad.”

So that’s the demon’s name, Brebor. 

“We did not want them usin’ their magic on us to escape!” Brebor defends himself with a whiny voice.

“They are an inch from death, fool. How are we supposed to interrogate them if they cannot even look us in the eye for more than ten seconds?”

He has a point. 

“Give them water. Let them sleep. That’s it,” Allerick commands. 

Thank the Six. You know it’s not mercy, but it certainly feels like it. You’re not sure what you’re more excited about, sleeping or drinking water.

“What say you, Skye?”

What?

You try so hard to lift your head, but you just can’t. You can’t pick your head up no matter how hard you try. But you need to know, you have to know if he’s really here.

“I agree. And make sure it is clean water. We do not need them getting sick and dying from infection before we get anything out of them.”

Oh, god it is.

Kim Seungmin. Kim Seungmin is here. He’s here and standing in front of you. Your Seungmin. Your rogue. The other side of your coin. 

You muster all the strength you possibly can and lift your head one last time.

There he is. In all his lanky, broad shouldered glory.

He’s standing right there on the other side of the cell bars.

Don’t react, Y/N, do not react. Obviously, he’s here as a spy. He’s here blending in. Act normal, just don’t move, Y/N.

It takes everything inside you not to cry out in desperation and relief. You’re sure that Hyunjin must be feeling the same way. 

Seungmin makes direct eye contact with you. You can read him entirely too well; he’s trying so hard not to show his emotions. His jaw clenches and his eyebrows twitch as he desperately attempts to keep them still.

At his sides, his fingers twitch, just itching to get you out of this prison.

His throat moves as he swallows thickly. You can see right through him, he’s trying so hard to cover up the pain he’s feeling inside. 

But he can’t react right now. He can’t risk that.

“Fine,” Brebor states begrudgingly. “Water and sleep. I’ll have Vin bring water and bread down in a little bit.”

“Nay,” Seungmin says firmly, keeping his eyes on you. “Now. That one is seconds from dying.” He juts his chin in your direction.

By the Six, do you really look that terrible?

Brebor scoffs. “That one? Nay, she’s been nothin’ but trouble since the battle. She was the last one standin’ in the fort. She probably took out an entire battalion by herself before we finally got ‘er. Maybe even two.” Seungmin swallows again. You can see in his eyes that it’s taking every ounce of self control not to lash out and kill the man. 

Brebor continues. “She can survive for a little while before we show ‘er a bit of mercy.” He slams his boot into the cell bars. The noise sends a jolt through your system. 

As soon as your muscles move, a bolt of pain goes through your system and you let out a pitiful whine. Your eyes shut on their own and it takes everything within your body not to choke up with dry tears. The headache behind your eyes makes your brain feel like it’s melting.

“I got three hundred gold on her kickin’ the bucket within the next week.” He lifts his foot to kick the bars again. All of your muscles tense.

“ Enough .” Seungmin’s voice is stern. It sends a different type of shiver down your spine. Brebor’s boot stops mid-air before he can kick the bars once more. “Get her– both of them – food and water. Now.”

“You heard him,” Allerick adds.

The edges of your vision are already starting to fade inwards.The sudden spike in your heart rate had caused your adrenaline to skyrocket and then drop off a cliff. 

So badly, you want to cry. You want to sob and let your emotions pour out of your body and let them drip down your face.

But you can’t.

It would take too much energy– energy that you don’t have left. 

You don’t even know which emotion to focus on to release anyway. It’s like you’ve gotten two stabs right into your chest. Allerick and Seungmin. The two of them are standing side by side right in front of your eyes and it feels like you can’t even breathe.

There’s a shuffle of chains on the other side of your cell.

“You stay still, rat!” Brebor barks at Hyunjin. The chains immediately stop and a loud whine follows it. 

“Did we not just say to let them rest?” Allerick snaps at Brebor who just grumbles in response.

“The two of you are showin’ too much mercy to these scum, I tell ya. They killed so many of our men. Between the two of them they do not deserve any more compassion than you would give a spider on the wall.”

“ We will decide what is too much mercy, not you, soldier,” Seungmin hisses in response. Armor clinks softly as the two of them seem to move around a bit. “Show me to the food and water, I will bring it to them myself if I have to.”

“Right this way,” Brebor grumbles. 

More and more your eyelids droop, your breathing is so shallow, you’re not sure if your chest is even rising and falling visibly anymore. Are your eyes open or is your vision blacked out?

Boots shuffle outside of the cell. Seungmin seems to hiss more orders at Brebor as they walk away.

The quieter his voice gets, the more your sadness settles in further and further. 

One particular set of boots remains right on the other side of the metal bars. You don’t even need to try and lift your head to know who it is. 

“Rest up, little mouse. You are going to need it.”

------------------------------------------

“Y/N.” Your name is hissed quietly into the cell. “Hyunjin. Y/N, wake up, please.”

Achingly, you attempt wrestle your own eyelids to open. How much longer can you continue to do this?

But you know this voice. This voice is gentle and sweet. It’s talking to you with a kindness you haven’t heard in so long, not even in your own mind.

“Please, you two,” it calls again. The cell doors open very slowly, you barely even hear it. The chains on the other wall clink around for a bit. 

There’s some murmuring off to the side for a few moments before boots scrape and thud along the floor in your direction.

Before you can open your eyes fully, you feel a presence right in front of you.

That sends a large wave of fear through your body. Your entire heart kickstarts and you gasp, your body shrinking away from them with a quiet whine. 

“Nay, nay, Y/N, nay, it is okay, I am here, I am right here,” the voice continues to whisper.

Two large warm hands place themselves on your shoulders and you have to fight the scream that bubbles in your throat. 

Still, your body naturally backpedals backwards into the wall even more, your back pressed firmly against the stone.

“Please, Y/N, it’s Seungmin, please, mercenary, open your eyes.”

Your mind is so foggy. But his voice breaks through the fog and what feels like a safety blanket is placed over your fears.

“Seung…” you croak, your eyes wincing a few times as you try to open them.

“Yes, yes, it is me,” he reassures you quietly. “Stay quiet, sweet thing, please, you must stay quiet.” 

He sounds just as broken as you. 

Eventually, your eyes flutter open and you look up at him. When your eyes come into focus, he’s watching you closely.

He looks exactly the same as when you left for Fort Mire, except maybe his hair has gotten a little longer. A haircut might suit him.

“Seung,” you repeat, looking right up at him. “You are here…”

He shushes you again, his hand moving from your shoulder to the side of your head, brushing the matted strands out of your face. The rogue’s eyes flit all over your features, taking in every since bit of damage. 

“Oh, you poor thing,” he says thickly. His eyes are getting glassier by the second. “I am so sorry, Y/N, I am so, so sorry.”

He reaches one hand down and grabs a mug, bringing it up to your lips quickly. “Drink, it’s water, drink, mercenary.”

As he tilts the mug back, you greedily gulp down every drop of water that flows out of the mug. Some of it rushes down the sides of your mouth and down your chin. 

Once the mug is empty, Seungmin brings it down from your face and places it on the floor. With gentle, warm hands, he reaches up and wipes the water off your face with the sleeve of his tunic. All the while, those deep brown eyes are scanning over every feature on your face. 

The muscles in your arm twitch as you try to lift your hand to touch him, but your limbs just feel too heavy at the moment.

Seungmin’s eyes drop down to watch your arm attempt to come up but the weight of the chains brings it back down. You can see his entire face contort like he’s sharing your pain. His other hand comes down to grab yours and bring your hand up to cup his cheek.

He feels so warm. His skin is so soft compared to yours now. 

Weakly, your thumb brushes back and forth across his cheek, just taking in the sensation.

A cough rips from your chest and you can’t fight it. Seungmin winces with you and strokes the side of your hair through it.

“The entire court is beside themselves over this,” he whispers to you. “Not a day goes by where I do not hear Jisung and Felix sobbing quietly to themselves in their rooms. And do not even get me started on Chan and Minho.”

Seungmin shakes his head. “Chan was about to storm Fort Mire himself to bring the two of you home. Minho had to physically stop him from doing something reckless. About an hour of plotting led me to the situation we are in currently.”

“How long?” you ask softly.

“It has been about five weeks since your attack on Fort Mire.”

Your body visibly deflates. Five weeks?! It’s been five weeks of this?!

“I am so sorry, mercenary. It took too long to pull strings to get here,” he explains. “I had been floating around within Erbus’ inner court for months but had no direct ties to get here, it took a lot of convincing.”

 “Allerick…” you murmur. 

Again, Seungmin’s face twists. “He told me he knew you once we left yesterday, he only told me a small bit of your history, but it was enough.” He takes a breath. “Allerick became the commander of the Mercy Division about ten years ago.”

A long, uneven breath is stolen from your lungs and your eyes shut while you desperately try to reign in your emotions.

He doesn’t just work for these devils, he leads them. He tells them what to do. Allerick of the Fighter’s Guild commands his men to skin Elves and have their sick fun with their bodies. 

Your mouth quivers and your eyebrows twitch. Seungmin’s hand on your head comes up to cup your cheek completely. 

“I do not have a lot of time, Y/N. I am not even supposed to be down here,” he says with a new tone of urgency. Your eyes reopen and you stare up at him.

Pain is written clearly across his face.

“I am here under the guise of being an expert in torture and the extraction of information.”

You blink at him a few times. Is he saying what you think he’s saying?

“These next few days are not going to be easy, Y/N. But– But you need to trust me.”

Your head feels like it's submerged under water. The shallow rise and fall of your chest as you breathe begins to pick up as panic takes a hold of your soul.

“I need you to come up with false information that you can ‘admit to’ while I am performing these methods. Please, Y/N. I do not believe my heart can withstand torturing you.” He searches your face desperately.

The hand that’s holding yours to his cheek tightens.

“Seung–”

“Listen to me, Y/N,” he interrupts you gently, yet firmly. “I am going to have to do things to you that will plague my nightmares for the next ten years but it is the only way I can be here and feed information back to Chan at the same time.”

Your entire body trembles, your heart is screaming.

He’s… he’s going to torture you? 

Kim Seungmin is the one that will be torturing information out of you? Your rogue? Your other half?

“You have to trust me, Y/N.” His hand holding your face shakes you slightly. Desperation claws its way up his throat more and more by the second. “You have to hang on only for the next few days, I swear to you.”

Clenching your jaw, your eyes burn with tears that want to form. You do trust him. You trust him with your entire life. But that does nothing to quell the fear within you.

You can take a faceless nobody, a devil, an executioner with a hood over his head. But to be told that the one issuing the worst forms of pain you’ll ever experience is one of the men whom your heart belongs to… it’s almost like it’s just another form of torture. 

“Both you and Hyunjin–”

“Not him.” A dry croak comes out of your mouth. “Not him. Just me.”

Seungmin shakes his head. “Y/N, your body is frailer than his right now.”

“I can take it, Y/N,” Hyunjin calls from the other side of the cell. “Do not martyr yourself once more.”

“No.” Your voice is firmer than you thought possible. “I will take it.”

“Listen to me, Y/N.” The Rogue shakes your head again. “You are not thinking clearly right now. You cannot take all of it. I have to–” he breaks off and his voice cracks.

It takes Seungmin a few solid moments to regain himself. 

“I have to do things to you that I would never do to anyone in my wildest imagination, do you understand? You need to come up with agreed upon false information to give to me so I can quit my torture.”

You shake your head in disbelief. “LIke what?”

“I will be asking you for war plans, fort locations, secrets about Chan, anything. You need to think of what to tell me. It will cease my actions.”

“But I do not know any battle plans anymore.”

“Think of something. You need to be able to tell me something.” 

“Seungmin–”

There’s a few thuds from outside the door down the hall and Seungmin’s head snaps over in that direction.

“I have to go,” he says suddenly and then looks back down at you with unfiltered desperation on his face. “Think of something, Y/N, anything. I beseech you, please.”

Seungmin takes a long few moments to stare at your face. His warm eyes look deeply into yours with anguish behind them. 

If he says to trust him, then you trust him. You trust him and the entirety of Miroh’s court. To the end of the line, you trust him. 

“I will try,” you whisper in response.

A tiny breath of relief comes from his chest and he nods quickly. He takes one last look at your face before standing up slowly, making sure to grab the empty water mug from before and taking it with him.

Just as quickly as he entered, Seungmin leaves the cell, locking the cell doors behind him. 

A few soldiers come down the hallway, all of them looking inside the cell and then over at Seungmin.

“Getting to know your subjects?” One of the soldiers teases.

“Sure,” Seungmin replies. “Something like that.”

[vero-niche]

I want to do the ship ask thingy but I don't think I know any of your current fandoms. so. I obviously decided to inflict psychic damage instead

bbc johnlock

makes sense and compels me. unfortunately

[not-a-trampoline-daily]

[sysig]

Light would be the type of Sims player to make his Sim take the Criminal career and then actively make their home life a living hell

[roastingyourfave-again]

Pseudo intellectuallism in fandom spaces is formed from the lack of media literacy that is perpetuated by well-known blogs and popular Twitter accounts, which leads to the rise of anti intellectuallism . It's okay to have your opinions and point out things that you noticed, but some of you create a soap box of superiority by spouting non-sense under the guise of a "deep dive" and most of the time you Don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Worse off is the encouragement yall get from the likes and constant ask being submitted by the obvious bias sector of your chosen Fandom.

I don't believe in God, but I will be praying for yall.

I made this post because I just read through someones blog, and the whole time, my face was like:

[sskk-manifesto]

!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[clumsypuppy]