Author's note: I do not own the anime Seven Deadly Sins, nor the characters used. All credit to their original owners.
A Single Year is all They Took
Melodias had not meant to fail. To be captured by the enemy. To be disarmed and chained down in front of a small group of the few still angry about Hendrisken's failures. Yet here he was, at the feet of one who longed to destroy him more than anyone else he knew. The Weird Fangs of Baste Dungeon, who had wanted the Holy Knights to take over the kingdom and were unaware of Hedriksen's demon forms, as they had fled the moment he was proclaimed defeated in order to avoid persecution for their crimes. Melodias looked around his cell, but it was the same as always. Walls made of dark gray stone, various places in the floor, walls and ceiling for Melodias's chains to be attached. The floor was made of rough cement that scraped him up every time he was shoved down... which was a lot. Currently, he was chained so he was kneeling down in front of a chair, where Freesia sat. She laughed, kicking him over and over in his chest and head. "Tell me! Tell me where the Sins are going!" she cackled, urging him to release the secret he held, but he couldn't. If he did, all of his friends... the other Sins... Hawk... Elizabeth... they'd be tracked down, and then... he didn't know. Freesia looked down at him in her strange bug armor. "I wish I didn't have to do this." Freesia giggled maniacally, not sounding like she meant that at all. "Sit tight!" she disappeared through the cell door. Melodias gasped for breath, skinny and weak from lack of proper food and water. He was ashamed of himself for suffering so immensely from just a few kicks. He tried once more to escape, but some strange magic seemed to prevent him from activating his Demon powers. Full Counter was useless, considering no magic had been used at him at all. He pulled on his bonds, trying to undo the cuffs and kicking out his legs to try and free himself from the binding chains, but he couldn't. The door opened, and Freesia put a hand under his chin. "Now, now, dear. I wouldn't be struggling so hard if I were you. That will only make this worse." A knife dug into his shoulder. He bit his lip, trying not to make a sound. Another knife forced its way into his chest, one into his right wrist, another into his left arm. Pain flared through him, and finally, when another knife dug into his spine, he screamed in pain, gasping for breath. He thrashed, but that only brought more pain, as the knives were being held in place by Freesia and now two more Holy Knights his vision was too blurred and his mind too muddled to recognize. He realized soon his thrashing was causing the knives to tear through his skin, and he stilled himself. The knives were yanked out. "Did that hurt?" Freesia asked, voice dripping in fake sympathy. "That is only the beginning of your torture. Of course, if you were to tell us what we needed to know-" "Never." The Sin of Wrath glared, green eyes that usually sparkled in amusement dull and angry. "So be it. You face your next torture in an hour." and with that, Melodias was left alone. He breathed heavily, blood pouring out of his wounds. He realized with a shock his back legs... had been paralyzed. He felt as if something inside of him had broke. He couldn't even get up anymore. His green eyes widened, but before long, blood loss took over and he fell into unconsciousness.
-Timeskip-
When Melodias woke, he wished he hadn't. His legs were still useless. He was lying in some sort of odd tank, glass surrounding him on all four sides and reaching the stone ceiling. A large, rusted pipe seemed to be the way to get out. He begun to drag himself towards it by his arms, desperate to get out of there, but it begun to pour out water. A quick glance around, and Melodias realized that they intended to drown him. More water flowed around him, already covering everything but his head. His chin was now under. Panic spread. His mouth was under. His nose. He couldn't breath! His eyes... no more sight. He was submerged. He desperately tried to swim, but his legs refused to listen and his arms were barely enough to let him surface every few seconds for air. It wasn't long before he hit the top. There was no escape from the water! He pounded on the ceiling in pure desperation, yelling under the water under finally he made the mistake of gasping for breath on instinct, and begun viciously coughing and attempting to breath, only to fill his lungs with water once more. Just when he was about to slip into sweet, sweet oblivion, about to go unconscious and... hopefully die... the glass shattered, flushing him out and leaving him dripping wet, coughing, gasping and attempting to curl into a ball at the feet of the Weird Fangs. "Pitiful." murmured Golgius. When finally, Melodias was dragged by his hair into his cell and chained down to the floor so he was bowing down at the door, he gave in to the tears, finally alone. Fighting and getting wounded in combat was something he was no strange to, but his demon powers could let him heal almost anything. Here, they were used against him to revive him so he could be healed then tortured again. It was mentally and physically torturous. He hated being chained down always, on his knees, hands chained to the ground far from him so he was forced to bend over. He fell into unconsciousness, not knowing his next torture would be his last.
-Timeskip-
Melodias woke up tied to a stake, arms in front of his chest, ropes wrapped around his arms and chest keeping him to the large piece of... metal? The metal was cold, telling Melodias he had been tied there recently. His body heat hadn't yet warmed it. He looked down weakly, to see logs under him, piled up so they buried his ankles. He gasped in horror, realizing he was about to be burned alive. A bucket of water was hanging above his head. "Scream that it hurts. Beg us to make it stop, and then it will. And then, unless you want more torture, you will tell us everything."