Kariya was burning.
He had known from the start that the training would not be easy - and to say even that would be an understatement. He knew Zouken was speaking quite literally when he had asked Kariya if he had a death wish; and, though he had answered back defiantly, he had inwardly quailed at the thought of having his body broken repeatedly, to the limits of both his physical and mental endurance. Then he had quashed his dread, thinking only of the life he was bound to save no matter the cost to himself.
He stood atop the chamber that had haunted his dreams as a child, when he had been instructed on the nature of his family's craft. The Crest Worms stirred restlessly down below, sensing the presence of a prana source. Taking a deep breath, he descended the steps.
No sooner had he planted a foot into the mass of creatures than had they swarmed upon him, covering his entire person and dragging him down into the many more waiting mouths below.
First, there was the revulsion as his body automatically tried to reject the presence of invaders in his orifices. He gagged repeatedly, feeling them forcing their way down his throat. Blood seeped from his nostrils and was immediately consumed, drawing even more worms to that area.
Then, there was the pain.
He felt the burrowing as they began to eat through his internal organs in their frenzied search for prana, and the sensation was that of being torched alive while simultaneously being strangled.
He screamed, and the exertion immediately had him hacking up bloodied flesh.
Dimly, from far above him, he heard a rasping laugh. Zouken stood upon the steps of the chamber, making sure that Kariya did not back out halfway. He watched with gleeful amusement Kariya slowly being devoured alive.
"Feels exquisite, doesn't it?" He gloated. "Knowing that you're reliving what that Tohsaka girl you like so much has been going through before you decided to drag your pathetic self here..."
The sound of that detested voice brought Kariya's flickering mind back into focus.
He would not let himself be overcome here, in this filthy chamber, surrounded by these inhuman creatures. What kind of worthless human being would he be if he could not even withstand the trials that Sakura had been subject to without complaint for many hours longer? He would endure, and he would win the Holy Grail and kill Tokiomi and Zouken and save Sakura from the monsters that had brought her to this.
Save Sakura...Kill Tokiomi...Kill Zouken...kill...everyone...
Through the fire, he grabbed on to that thought and repeated it over and over, his hatred an unyielding rock against the relentless waves of blackness that slammed against him unceasingly.
Zouken eventually lost interest in the sight and left the chamber. Kariya, buried and by now close to delirium, did not notice or care. Not that he could notice, with his eyes and ears now swollen shut with blood and pus.
The Crest Worms continued their feeding, and, save for the sound of their movements, the chamber was silent.