Chapter 7- Beauty and the Beast
Tiberius found himself being dragged into a strange, isolated room, the Partas clan member felt a sudden rush of coldness rush through his body as he was suddenly thrown onto a metal table. The cold steel freezing his stomach making him shudder which only turned into pain as he was suddenly slugged in the back of the head making him groan.
Tightness surrounded his wrists and ankles as straps were tightly secured around him making it so he could barely move, Tiberius's head was soon shoved face first into the metal table breaking his nose in the process.
"Here you go doctor. The General wants this one to be nice and ready for the showing, the boss said something about wanting to prove how loyal these children are too our cause" one of the guards announced as a new figure appeared
Flashing a bright light right into Tiberius's right eye, the Partas clan member could just make out a dark-skinned female with long pitch-black hair that reached down her shoulders, glowing sapphire blue eyes that shined with the light, she wore a face mask over her mouth and nose and a white lab coat over her voluptuous body
"Thank you, boys. I'll be sure to get him in pristine condition" the woman announced as the footsteps of the two guards moving to the back of the room echoed, growling as he tried to rip free of the restraints Tiberius's face was suddenly forced back into the cold table
"Now, now sweet one. We can't have you messing up your little make-up now can. The General wants you in tip top condition for tonight's showing of our soldiers and it's my job to make it so" the woman announced as she wrapped a strap around Hadrian's head making sure he couldn't move "So, where should we begin"
Taking the face mask off the voluptuous doctor gave the young boy a sultry smile before moving over towards a set of tools, Tiberius barely managed to turn his head, by doing so the young boy did something he never thought he would do again and cowered in fear as he saw all sorts of drills, knives, tweezers, Tiberius even swore he saw a meat cleaver in the mix, ever since being free of the Dursleys, Tiberius thought that nothing could scare him but he was now certain he was wrong
Out of the corner of her eye the doctor saw Tiberius staring wide eyed at her, her smile turned into a vicious grin as she picked up a rusty kitchen knife, the young boy tried to pull at the restraints with all his might as sweat began to drip from his face, the woman moving closer and closer before the rusted knife suddenly appeared right in front of his right eye
"Now where should we start first? Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Mo" the doctor moved the knife around on his back, from his left shoulder blade down to his pelvis, then in the middle of his back right on top of his spine and finally ending on his right shoulder blade "looks like we have a winner, and I know the perfect place to begin"
Sticking the kitchen knife right in between the bones on his right shoulder, Tiberius tried his best not to scream as he felt the blade pierce through his skin, the next thing he heard was the blade hit the table he was lying on making him scream in pain, blood began to pump out from the wound as the doctor left the rusty knife inside his shoulder
"Now this is where the fun really begins, you should feel special as a normal slave doesn't get our mark this big" the woman announced making Tiberius's eyes widen in fear, the doctor moved back towards her set of tools and picked up two more kitchen knives
Soon enough she repeated the process and impaled one of the knives into his left shoulder as well as using the last one to stab Tiberius's pelvis right in the middle however making sure not to his spinal cord and paralyze him, it wouldn't be good to have a soldier that can't move.
"now then here comes the fun part" grabbing hold a thin carving knife, the doctor lined it up with the knife in his left shoulder and began to drag the carving knife across Tiberius's back and towards the blade that was in his pelvis and then back around the other half of his body creating a large O shape.
"now for just a little bit of decoration" the doctor announced as she began to carve inside the circle, minutes felt like hours as all Tiberius could do was lie there and grit his teeth, trying so hard to not make any noise of pain. The doctor was simply marvelling her work as she continued carving in the bird of Night Raid which the revolutionary army had taken as their symbol.
"What… What's your name? Tiberius suddenly groaned out through the pain, dealing with the effects of having his back sliced open along with the memories of killing his mother, his mind began to derail slightly and allow his darker emotions to rise as anger and hatred passed through him.
"And why would you like to know sweetheart?" the woman replied as she picked up a pair of pliers, squeezing the handle on them to make sure they worked properly
Barely managing to turn his head due to the restraints Tiberius's face morphed into one of rage and undying hatred, "I want to know the name of the person whose throat I'll rip out when I get out of here"
"I highly doubt that you will escape after all many of our little soldiers have tried for over ten years" the doctors voice soon broke Tiberius's thoughts "but to answer your question my name is Arabella although most just call me Bella. Now then let's get back to painting you up"
The now named Arabella grabbed hold of Tiberius's chin forcing him to face her, prying his jaw open her grin turned evil as she moved the pliers towards one his canine teeth
"You came from the northern region, I heard the guards picked you up and saved you from death, which means you've most likely you hunted danger beasts and harvested them haven't you? Then you must know that it's always a risk to leave a wild animal unattended, just think of this part as me taming you"
With that said she clamped her pliers down onto one of the canine fang and began to tug at it, more blood began to creep out of his mouth as Arabella pulled with all her might, soon enough a popping sound was heard and she ripped out Tiberius's canine tooth right out from his gum whilst tearing the roots apart, the young boy nearly howled in agony as blood began to fill up his mouth, Arabella raised the fang up towards the light showing the tooth like fang was twice the size of a normal tooth for someone of Tiberius's age.
"Would you look at that beauty" she said as she turned towards Tiberius, seeing him like he was she knew that he was in fact losing a lot a blood, most of spilling out from his back and covering her nice clean table, she knew she had to hurry up and finishing turning the boy into a submissive child that would do anything they ordered, but she wanted to continue having more fun with him
Deciding to kill two birds with one stone Arabella moved towards Tiberius with a now strange syringe in her hand along with the meat cleaver in the other, the female could only grin at the young boy's reaction as Tiberius struggled to get even move only for the Arabella to seemingly appear and plunge the needle into his neck, the Partas clan member growled as the veins in his neck and the left side of his face began to turn crimson red
"Shhh… there, there sweet one, just relax and let the medicine do its work. You're going to want to keep this feeling of calmness because the begins our session is soon ending and this is where the true fun begins" soon enough Tiberius's body felt like jelly, he was calm and felt at peace, as if he had nothing to worry about however that soon ended just like the doctor said
The sadistic beauty suddenly released a breath of air onto Tiberius's chest, nothing happened for a few seconds until agonising pain shot through his body, his screams of pure pain shot echoed within the room and shot down the halls of the building he was being kept in.
"Beautiful isn't, to cause so much pain from just a breath of air. It was created by our general and a few of our mad scientists, it's such a wondrous thing and I can never get enough of the faces that my little pets make when I treat them with it in their systems"
"That red liquid I injected into increases your sensitivity by tenfold, meaning that one breath of air feels like a table of needles on your back. Now all I need to do to is play my little game of how loud can you scream. Of course, it can't all be fun as we have business to do but with the hunk of a body you have I do so hope we will be able to play more in the future"
"Now you just lie there and let me do my job" with her part said she began her work and Tiberius's screams could be heard all through the hallways and rooms of where ever he was locked in
…
The metal door to the prison cell was soon swung open letting light pour into it and allowed us to see what looked like a mangled body dumped into the middle of it.
On the bodies back was the large Night Raid bird, carved into his back right down to the bone and had blood covering the entire back and just managed to cover up the faded scars of whip marks, blood poured out from the open mouth of the body revealing that it was missing a set of canine teeth, the little finger on his right hand was now missing and on his left hand his ring finger had been sliced off.
Slowly managing to lift his head up, the mangled body of now Tiberius Partas barely managed to crawl himself towards the small dog bowl that was filled with water, not even bothering had plunged his face right into the bowl, gulping as much water as he could.
From what he could tell as he was normally locked in this dark cellar he had only been in the facility for two months now and he felt like he was in his own personal hell, he even swore that he wished he was at the Dursley household that here. The faint whistling of Arabella could be heard as she strolled down the hallway before his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.
…
A dull emerald green eye and a cold blood red eye snapped open as Tiberius sat up straight breathing heavily as his brain ached with pain, the nightmare he just had felt so real, he felt the pain of his tooth being ripped out as well as his fingers being sliced off.
Tiberius raised his right hand to wipe the sweat the was coming his forehead only for his eyes to widen slightly when he saw his ring finger was actually missing, quickly raising his left hand only to find out that his little finger was also missing.
Tiberius began to panic slightly, with him missing fingers did that mean the nightmare he just had, actually happened. A slight itch began to irritate his back making Tiberius snap out from his panic as he rose from a small pile of hay that he had been sleeping on.
He had been hiding out in a barn for a couple of days now, resting as his brain ached with pain, all kinds of dreams and nightmares would come at night barely letting him asleep, most of the time he watched himself being tortured in ruthless ways, programmed to kill and hunt.
A rustling sound was soon heard making Tiberius snap his head towards his left side only for the small danger beast that had been accompanying him for the past few days to pop out of another hay pile, the creature had its dagger like fangs piercing into the centre of an apple causing juice to spray all over the ground and its scales as it chomped down on it
The creature was very aggressive and attacked almost anything in his path, whether it be human, animal or simple plants, the only thing it didn't attack was Tiberius himself, perhaps because the boy fed the beast and brought down large opponents that the creature itself could not do by itself when the two would go hunting for food and to get away from the loud noises of the village where they were hiding.
There were a few large monsters that could be hunted deep within the forest, one-time Tiberius had come across a trading merchant that was being attacked, after saving him the merchant had given him a book on Danger Beast's and their habitats, a few of them actually living in the forest that he hunted within not that he really knew what they were called as Tiberius never learned how to read.
But with some help from the trader who spoke to him, Tiberius learned the names of a few that lived in the forest. Great Jagras, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Pukei-Pukei, Tobi-Kadachi were just the names a few but the more fearsome of the all the creatures that lived here was either the great Anjanath or the called 'king of the skies' The Rathalos.
Tiberius had managed to already hunt down a Great Jagra as well as a Kulu-Ya-Ku and a Pukei-Pukei. Interesting creatures they were and all different in some way or another.
All Danger Beasts have a set class to categorize them, starting from D-Class, C-class, B-Class, A-Class and then S-Class. The classes can go higher all the way up to an SSS-Class, these creatures were often labelled as flee on sight as their power could destroy cities.
However, there was a class even above that. This class was known as Elder Dragon Class. Creatures so strong that their very power can change the climate as well as the land around them, what was once a grassy plain could very well become a large open ravine.
One of Tiberius dream was to actually hunt and kill and Elder Dragon, just imagining the fight that would occur gave him joy, the thrill of the hunt also brought him happiness, to be able to track down a creature of that power and hunt it down was remarkable in itself.
The stories he had been told by the travelling merchant of Elder Dragons that could command the power over the very winds themselves or one that is unstable with its control of the elements and therefore is quite unpredictable to fight.
Tiberius pushed himself up onto his feet, moving towards one side of the barn where a bunch of leaves laid, slowly unwrapped what was meant to be a bandage on his left wrist, showing the world a mangled piece of flesh as bone was still piercing through the skin, the wound had healed up slightly so that blood didn't pour out like a river.
Grabbing some of the leaves on the ledge Tiberius began to reapply, wrapping them around the wound, tightening them as hard as he could making sure they put pressure on the wound.
The smell of smoke reached his nose making him cough slightly as he scowled, Tiberius hated the people of the village, they were loud, filled with joy and practically partied every single day, they would roast meat on an open fire causing smoke to fill the sky.
Tiberius stayed far away from them, preferring the company of his danger beast friend than to any human, he did his best to make sure the villagers never spotted him hiding away in the barn.
Only one person ever found him, she didn't tell any of the villagers and often visited him, trying to help heal him, the interactions between the two were often just her talking whilst Tiberius listened
"A bit early to have meat isn't it?" The creature besides Tiberius made a growling sound as if arguing that meat was always good no matter the time.
"Let me go! Dam it let me go!" A female scream was heard from outside making Tiberius frown slightly
"Shut it witch" a man growled back as a smacking sound could be heard, Tiberius moved silently towards the barn door, looking out from a small hole his eyes landed upon a scene that would disgust many people.
A young light brown haired girl was being dragged by two large men towards a circle made up of all the villagers, she wore some sort of white dress with a few flowers sewn into it.
Tiberius recognised her, she was the girl that would help him and keep him company in the barn, bringing him food for breakfast, supper and even a pair of shorts to cover himself with. Her name was Rachel Jessop and was often alone herself. she was apparently and often that was abandoned by her three brothers.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
The man that looked like the leader of the village began to sing a strange song, Tiberius had never heard it before and slightly enjoyed the soft tone of it, watching the man stand on top of a wooden platform with a torch in his hand
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
The rest of the villagers soon started to join in as they all turned towards Rachel who was being dragged, struggling as much as she could to break free and escape, Tiberius noticed that her quickly flickered over to the barn where he stood.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
"Rachel Jessop! You have been brought before the lord to pay for the sins that you have committed, sins of greed and gluttony. We know of how you have been stealing food from everyone, we know that you have been stealing money to buy yourself expensive clothing. But that doesn't matter now, you shall be purified on your sins and be reborn"
The man announced as a large wooden pole was raised up from behind him, piles of sticks and twigs were placed around it as the rest of the villagers continued to sing
"Let go of me. I have done nothing wrong" Rachel screamed back only to be slapped across the face again
"Silence witch, we know all about those potions we have in your basement"
"The Bliss. That isn't magic you idiot" Rachel growled back in anger, what she had in the basement of her house was a drug that could be used to better mankind, not some sort of witchcraft
"You don't deny it!" The leader of the group yelled out
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The two men had finally dragged Rachel and began tying her to the large wooden pole, Tiberius didn't know what to feel or do. He could care less what happens but this was the only person that had tried to help him, plus with his forgotten memory and the visions he's been having Rachel seemed to be the only person that has actually tried to help him.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
"Stop it! Please stop it!" Rachel cried out as the villagers continued to sing, more and more sticks were piled on ready to be set aflame as Tiberius watched onwards.
Clenching his fist Tiberius decided to act, his eyes landing onto a wood cutters axe near the corner, grabbing the handle he kicked down the barn down, the little danger beast flew out and instantly attacked the villagers, clamping its fangs down onto someone's throat.
One villager just managed to turn arounds before their head was completely hacked off, the singing stopped as screams began to occur, Tiberius hacked his way through the crowd as the danger beast rained down blood from above as it dripped from his mouth.
Limbs fell to the ground as Tiberius carved himself a path towards Rachel, blood splattering his entire body, painting his skin red
"You will not reach her. She is to be reborn pure and blessed by our saviour, I will not allow you to taint-" the leader of the villager spoke before the wood axe was buried deep within his skull, silencing him forever.
Reaching Rachel, he ripped off the ropes and settled her down onto the ground where the young girl pulled him into a deep hug, thanking him profusely as he silently growled to himself, hating the feeling of someone touching him.
Pain suddenly flared up in the back of Tiberius left knee as something blunt smashed into the back of it, knocking him down before his arms were suddenly held tightly and he was struck in the back of the head, someone grabbed hold of his chin as Tiberius heard Rachel yelling out for someone to let go of her.
"I heard from Nyau and Daidara that a rebel was lurking around these parts had managed to fight both of them off, they said something about him being so loyal that he carved the symbol of the revolution into his back"
A single man walked forwards, wearing an all-black uniform with silver lining, black boots and a pair of white gloves to complete the attire. He had a dark grey beard and a long ponytail reaching down below his waist.
"Imagine my surprise when we come across the very same person annihilate a village like an animal" turning to a few of his followers the man nodded, causing the two men that held onto him to roughly pull him to his feet and begin to drag him towards a horse.
"We'll take him to the capital along with his little friend" the man announced as looked towards Rachel "I'm sure the Emperor would like to make an example of him. Plus I'm sure General Esdeath would want to torture him as a way to pay him back for killing a lot of her soldiers.
Tiberius was suddenly struck in the back of the head once more, causing darkness to fade in and just before he fell unconscious he felt something clamp down onto his wrist.
…
As Tiberius began to stir he found out he couldn't move his hands or head, a large wooden device was locked around his throat and wrists, keeping him contained as a rope connecting to the device dragged him forwards making him walk so he wouldn't be strangled to death.
"It's called a Pillory" a voice on the horse the rope was connected to spoke up "It's a device made to keep criminals contained, mainly used for public humiliation which is more than likely about to happen to you"
*SWISH*
Tiberius gritted his teeth together as a whip was brought down and struck against his bare back, breaking the skin and allowing blood to flow, the man in the black uniform looked back and raised his eyebrow slightly before turning back
"I'm surprised you didn't yell out in pain from that. That whip was a gift from Lady Esdeath herself and designed to torture people. It has small but very sharp barbs on the end designed to tear and rip apart flesh"
Tiberius flinched again as the whip struck against his back once more, he could feel the small bards dig into his skin and rip it away, the rope was roughly tugged making Tiberius stumble forwards
"I would prepare yourself, the crowd can get very... violent"
The man announced before they marched through the gates of the capital, instantly crowds of people could be seen swarming the outskirts of the path, all of them cheering for the man on the horse, when their eyes landed onto Tiberius however those cheers soon changed to insults
"Bastard!"
"Murderer!"
"Traitor!"
Tiberius hissed slightly as the whip once more torn into his skin, the ground beneath was rocky, piece of broken glass and sharp, pointed rocks laid all over it digging into his feet. A rotten fruit suddenly shot out from the crowd and struck Tiberius directly in the head, splattering his face with juice.
This action caused the crowds to go into a frenzy as Tiberius was dragged through the street, the pillory making sure he couldn't retaliate as the whip continued to strike his back, however with the now frenzied crowed more civilians tried to take action, throwing rotten food, insults, some even tried to spit onto Tiberius.
"Whore!"
"Slut!"
"Witch!"
Tiberius tried to turn around only for the rope to be tugged forwards making his head snap back however he just managed to see people insulting and throwing food at Rachel, the poor girl was crying as her once pure white dress was covering in mud, juice and crap.
Some brave man that worked in the stables thought to throw some horse shit, splattering Tiberius forehead, enraging the once slave of the revolution, he viciously spun around, the rope was slightly loosened at the unexpected retaliation allowing Tiberius to have his eyes land onto the brave man, snarling at him like an animal before the rope was tugged back however Tiberius memorized the face. He would skin that man alive if he got the chance.
The entire walk continued, the crowds jeering and throwing food or spiting at Tiberius and Rachel, luckily Tiberius was the only one who was whipped and they had given Rachel some shoes to wear, as corrupt as most of the people were in the Capital there were some that still had some dignity.
Tiberius's back was soaked in blood from the whipping, his feet ached with pain as pieces of flesh were slowly being taken off from the rocky terrain, shard of glass had impaled themselves deep within the skin as he walked, leaving bloody footprints across the ground.
The man in front soon threw the rope towards the whip user and turned to face a different direction from where they were headed
"Place them into the cells, I shall go an inform the Emperor and General Esdeath of my return"
"At once, Commander Liver" the rope was tugged, dragging Tiberius down towards the Captial's dungeons where he was soon enough thrown into a small, dark room. His face crashed against the ground making him woozy however for some unknown reason he started to images.
The first was a terribly small wooden room, looking more like a cupboard than anything else, scratched into it were the words 'Freak's Room' although Tiberius couldn't actually read it, then came the image of a dog cage where he had been stuffed into, there were no lights and only a bowl of water resting just outside the small bars.
Tiberius didn't know what he was seeing but he did realise that any place that was small and dark, bad thing always seemed to happen to him, rushing towards the door where a small hatch laid with three bars, he gripped onto it and began to tug with all his might.
A felt a strange feeling rise up within his stomach, the foreign feeling of fear and he hated it, he felt weak and pitiful, the small open hatch was soon closed shut leaving Tiberius in pitch darkness. Using his hands to find a wall, Tiberius followed it to a corner where he curled up and closed his eyes.
However, images of a large fat man appeared beating him, a skinny horse faced woman insulting and belittling him and finally a tubby boy bullying him with his friends.
"Harry" Rachel called out softly. Harry was the name she had given Tiberius as he didn't remember his own. "Are we going to die?" She got no response "No" she whispered back to herself "we just have to have Faith"
…
The door to Tiberius's prison cell was ripped open and before Tiberius could even blink he felt a pair of cold but yet comforting arms surround him and bring him into an embrace, icy blue hair invaded his vision as his face was pushed against cold skin, whoever was holding him didn't care that he was stained with rotten fruit, shit and spit, all that matter to the person cradling him was that he was here in their arms
"Oh Tiberius. What have they don't to you" a feminine voice spoke softly as they raised one of their hands and began to stoke his greasy hair.
Pulling away Tiberius came face to face with icy blue eyes looking at him with utter adoration and care, porcelain skin that seemed to shine in the complete darkness. The woman wore a white general's outfit and caressed his cheeks with her hands
"Tiberius. Please say you remember me" General Esdeath spoke, desperately wanting for Tiberius to remember her
"… Tiberius. Is that my name?" Tiberius replied back make Esdeath's bottom lip tremble slightly before pulling him into a tight hug, cradling him as if she let him go Tiberius would disappear.