A/N: A little short this time, apologies. This will be the last update for now until I'm reassured people would like to read more of this. Thank you.
"Are you actually conscious this time, Petra?" Abel asked tentatively, a weak smile upon his face.
"Unfortunately…" Came her dry response, her voice barely above a whisper as she struggled for her breath.
"That's the first thing you've said in days." Abel gave a hearty laugh of relief, standing from the chair as he made his way over to the mattress, staring down towards her the weak, sympathetic smile still present on his face.
"Why are you here…?" She asked dryly, turning her gaze back to the ceiling.
"To look after you." His smile faded somewhat at Petra gave a rather painful laugh, rolling her eye.
"Why are you still in this damn building…" Petra moved her stare as far away from his as possible, glaring out the window to the almost mockingly bright, blue sky.
"The dragons killed a lot of us. Kept a lot of us… Some of us chose to come back." Petra scowled, shaking her head incredulously.
"You utter fools. Why!? Why come back?!" She hissed towards Abel's soft sigh.
"Because we're still faithful, we're-"
"IDIOTS! FOOLS!" She barked, her expression a light with anger as her eye glared towards him, burning through him as she clenched her fist. "THE HELL WAS IT ALL FOR THEN?! WHAT WAS THE DAMN POINT IN EVERYTHING, IF YOU THROW IT BACK IN MY FUCKING FACE!" Tears burnt within her eye as she glared at the man before her. "Don't you look at me like that… Don't you DARE look at me with all that… That pity, that false sympathy… Get out… Get out you idiot." She spat venomously towards him, the man nodding softly as he left the room shutting the door behind him, ignoring the light sobs that tried to draw him back.
For three days, Petra turned away all visitors, slowly regaining her strength to the point she could finally drag herself to the chair by her mattress, even though the act winded her somewhat as she panted and grimaced, questioningly examining the metallic chunks on her form.
"These are… Cell?..." Tilting her head, Petra slowly closed her eye, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind for later date. She grimaced as a small prang of pain raced through her form, her hand gently rubbing against her left temple. "Fuck this stings…" A small jolt of uncertainty ran through her form as she reached for the shaft, her hand shaking at the thoughts of who put it there. Gritting her teeth she let her hand fall back within her lap, sighing softly.
"Petra!" She glared as her door was swung open, a small group of dragon-scouts bursting into her room. "Please! Cell's soon to be attacking, we need your help, your strategy knowledge is crucial-"
"Dragons… In the house of the faithful?... How deplorable…" Petra leant against the table, already feeling fatigued though the day had barely begun.
"Petra, please… Please, we need your help. We're dying out there!-" The men silenced themselves as Petra slammed her fist on the table, turning to them as she merely glared, staring them down.
"Can you not see… I am still recovering… I cannot help you…" Not entirely a lie, but enough of one to make her heart burn with hatred for the men that crowded her room. "Get out…" She waved her hand dismissively, the men uttering amongst themselves a moment before they solemnly left the room, shutting the door once more behind him. The silence didn't last long as Abel soon made himself known.
"Petra… Please, you've been in here for days…" He flinched somewhat at the look she gave him, the woman hissing gently as she rubbed against her left temple.
"So what… I'll be in here for more days to come too. I assure you." She grumbled lightly, grimacing as the thoughts of the skirmish filled her mind once more.
"If you'd just step outside, come out get some air, something…" Petra waved her hand dismissively, Abel giving a small sigh of defeat.
"Go away… Abel… Just go away…" Resting her head upon her fist, she gave a sigh of relief as she heard the door to her room click shut once more. "All of you… Just go away…" Another sleepless night soon came to plague the woman, leaving her pacing within her room; visions of green nightmares haunting her dreams, her thoughts. If he had just pushed a little harder, if he had not humoured her in the first place she could be dead and gone; dead and not have to deal with a festering socket, and needy men.
Petra slowed her pace, gingerly reaching out towards the handle of her door before she flinched away, visions of Cell bursting through causing her to almost shriek in fear, a hand clamping over her mouth. "Pathetic… I'm… I'm so pathetic…" Retreating back to her makeshift bed, Petra coiled into the fetal position fighting the urge to sob into her hand, forcing herself to at least get some sleep.
Every day the others came in fewer and fewer numbers, and every day Petra dismissed them, spending her time either sitting at the table, staring at the floor, or gazing out of the window, her socket brimming with infection as she made no move to retrieve the arrow, eventually, and finally to Petra's relief, they stopped appearing in her door way, even Abel finally left her alone, giving her the solitude she longed for.
With a small sigh, Petra looked away from the window basking in the silence before she gave a noise of surprise, the chunks upon her wrists slamming together as they dragged her to the floor, forcing her position into a kneel as they pulled away in front of her, dragging her to bow towards the doorway. Petra was awash with panic, struggling against the magnetized pull of the chunks, every heart beat more erratic than the last as she heard the door to her room creak open then shut again. Petra listened as the being that invaded her room quietly stepped around her, the familiar noise of her chair creaking with weight lighting her senses, finally the pull of the chunks gave way, her wrists still being firmly held together, but she was allowed up from the floor.
Slowly, Petra turned towards the chair, her fears confirmed by a damning smirk as Cell rather lazily made himself comfortable, staring out the window rather reminiscent of her own posture the past few days, watching as the sunlight filtered to the deeper orange of late eve.
"So! How's my favourite dragon been?" Mocking joviality clung to his every word as he then turned his gaze upon her, his grin ever present and foreboding, un-phased as silence was his answer. "No need to be rude now, Succamine. I thought we were intimate with one another?" A small chuckle accompanied his mockery, his eyes narrowing towards her as he caught sight of her festering socket. "Well that won't do at all." His hand firmly gripped the woman's chin, forcing the trembling mortal to focus upon him. "Why haven't you dealt with this?" Arching his brow, he patiently awaited her answer.
"I'm… Afraid to take it out… It's going to hurt…" She scowled towards herself, inwardly berating her pathetic tone as Cell sneered, staring at her with slight amusement.
"Well of course it's going to hurt." The chunks upon her wrists attached themselves to the chunk at her waist, holding them tightly in place as he reached for the infected eye. Gripping the shaft he twisted the arrow, the broad head scraping away at the debris and gunk that was left of her socket, her eyelid surprisingly still intact. Petra bit back what noises of pain she could, unable to stop the light sobbing as he drove the arrow around the socket, using the metallic edges to rip away the infected gashes, neatly cleaning out the socket before he pulled the arrow free, dropping it upon the table, only to replace it with his fingers, rather meticulously cleaning the wound before he finally pulled away, haphazardly wiping his hand upon her bedding.
"There." He stated, shifting back to recline in his chair, her chunks once more allowing her to move freely, Petra's eyelid instinctively falling to close the empty socket. "Oh, I don't think so." Petra flinched gently at his tone, glancing up towards him. "You'll look at me with both eyes, whether one's missing or not." Reluctantly, Petra battled for control over the muscle, forcing her lid to stay open, keeping her empty socket on display. "Good." His hand shifted from her chin, patronizingly resting upon her head as he spared her a few pats as if she were a common pet.
With a spur of anger, Petra gripped the arrow from the table, launching her hands forwards as she sought to drive the shaft within his chest. With a tired sigh, Cell stared down at her, an un-amused expression plastering his features.
"Really?" He questioned, snatching the arrow from her grasp once more. "Really?" His hand easily found purchase within her curled, black, locks. The nightmare dragging her to her feet, only to slam her head against the window, pressing her against the glass as the chunks upon her form locked in place against the frame. "Was that clever? This is really how you want to play?" A hint of anger barely clung to his tone.
"How could I not!?" She bit back at him with a shrill yell, struggling against his grip. "You've killed so many of us! I'm not about to-!"
"Oh I have? Well, I wonder how many of them you've killed now." Pushing her against the window one last time, Cell released his grip, watching for a moment as she struggled and writhed futilely pulling against her bonds that held her in place.
"Stop! Don't you touch them! Don't you dare!-" Petra hissed as his voice boomed over hers, reluctant to allow her body to tremble and shrink away under his presence.
"Don't I dare? Don't I!?" The room was suddenly a wash with silence as he left her, only to reappear in her vision once more. Floating just outside the window, ginger strands clutched tightly in his hand as the small girl screamed and sobbed, gripping at his wrist, trying desperately to alleviate some of the pressure from her head. Petra yelped at the sight, a feeling of sheer helplessness flooding her form as the girl was held inches from the glass, her innocent blue eyes burning with tears as she reached for her saviour beyond the glass.
Unable to muster her voice, all Petra could do was scream. Scream and thrash at her bonds as she watched the girl before her, her eyes brimming with tears, sobbing with terror as finally the gleaming metallic point of the arrow burst through the front of her throat, washing the window with the dizzying covering of red. Petra's form fell silent as the girl was pressed against the glass, twitching and convulsing as her wound pulsed with blood watching those innocent blue eyes grow dim with each passing moment until the life finally left her eyes; her body being unceremoniously dropped as she came face to face with her nightmare once more, his sickening smirk standing out against the tint of red.