Chapter 10: New Threat

Eliza awoke with a groggy groan to the sound of footsteps tapping on the surface around her. The women's eyes flickered open to a blurred vision of three human figures standing in front of her. Once her consciousness started to return, she started to panic and attempted to move but quickly realized her wrists was bound by rope that attached to the ceiling. The defenseless position made the brunette start to feel incredibly uneasy, the realization of the situation creeping its way into her mind. No clue where she was, who these men was, or what they even wanted from her. It all made no sense, what motive would they have in capturing her?

One of the three uniformed soldiers approached Eliza, stopping right in front of the bound women as the masked soldier started to speak. "Ah looks like she's finally awake. Maybe she'll be more useful than those two brats in telling us what we need to know." The masked women spoke. She turned to look at the other two men and nodded toward the door. "Speaking of which you two should go check on them, boss gave us strict orders to keep them alive so make sure they have enough food and water." The two mysterious men nodded and left the room without a word. The women turned her attention to Eliza once again and gave her a sultry look as she approached the soldier, pacing circles around the brunette, letting those cold hands stroke across her exposed stomach and hips.

Eliza struggled and tried to pull away from the touches, attempting to scream but was silenced from the stretch of rope covering her mouth. "Now once I remove this gag, it would be wise of you to smarten up and keep that mouth shut until I want you to answer me sweets." With that, the women reached for her belt and retrieved a small knife and wasted no time in bringing the blade up behind Eliza's head and carefully cut through the piece of rope. Eliza spit the rope from her mouth as soon she felt it loosen and turned her head to glare at the mysterious figure behind her. "Where are the two other girls you took?"

Eliza was met with a firm slap across the face in response. The female pressed her lips into the soldier's exposed neck area and kissed a trail upwards, stopping just below the ear lobe to whisper into the soldier's ear. "What did I just get done explaining to you girl? Speak when spoken to and if you play nice maybe I'll answer a few questions you might have. Until then keep that pretty mouth shut for now." Eliza felt disgusted from the contact and nudged the women away from her who only chuckled at the reaction. "Okay let's start with the questions shall we?" The women asked as she started to return pacing circles around the soldier. "There are a few people who the boss is looking for and has it on good authority you might know who they are. The first contact is Snow Villiers, blonde-haired man, very tall, and works at a local bar I hear. Second contact is Oerba Yun Fang. Tall and fair skinned female, long black tresses, wears a pretty unique blue sari. The third and most important contact however is miss Lightning Farron."

Eliza flinched at the mentioning of the women she loved and started to feel the anger build up inside her as she struggled against the restraints once more. "What the hell are you after?! I won't tell you anything about any of them and if I find out any on you scumbags even touch-" The women flicked a hand up and grabbed the back of Eliza's hair and tugged downward, causing her to groan in pain as the masked women started to once again lick at the exposed flesh before trailing the appendage down past the brunettes lips and throat. Eliza's eyes widened in shock and tried to pull away from the invading appendage but to no avail as she tried to kick the women away. The masked stranger withdrew the same knife from before and started to cut through the woman's top as she snickered. "If you're not going to listen, I have no other choice to punish you in my own way."

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Serah and Vanille was tied back-to-back, hands bound by a strict rope that easily was causing their fair skin to redden and bruise quickly. The two girls shot awake once a pair of double doors flew open, two of the mysterious men from the other room made their way inside and approached to two girls, grabbing ahold of the gags they was each given and ripped them out without so much of a warning. The bound girls coughed harshly, quickly taking the time to catch their breath before speaking. "Who...what...what do you people want from us?" Vanille bravely spoke up.

One of the masked strangers chuckled to himself at the question, flipping a switch-blade from his pocket to slide the blade's tip along the tip of her chin. "There's a lot of things I want from you." he answered coldly. "With that petite body of yours it's been giving me a few ideas however the boss man's given us strict orders not to do anything unnecessary." The fellow masked goon laughed at this. "Unnecessary huh? I say we deserve a little something for all our hard work yeah? I bet these girls are still virgins. What'dya think Gimley?" Gimley snickered sadistically. "I think we can agree on that. Just be quick and let's get this done." Serah and Vanille shook their head, screaming for help instantly. "Get away from me! You'll regret touching me you sick creep! Help!"

xxx

Eliza's top was currently cut down the middle, revealing that muscular bronze-colored stomach which was now being occupied by the goon's gloved hand. "Now before we get to the real fun I'm going to be needing that information. I won't ask again. Where is misses Farron?" Eliza gritted her teeth at the witch, shaking her fists in a attempt to free herself. "Go to hell you miserable bitch! You'll get nothing out of me!" The goon lady shrugged and was about to bring the knife to the girl's throat until a scream echoed through the hallway. "Damn it. What are those two idiots doing!" The masked interrogator turned around at just the right moment for Eliza to lift her legs up and wrapped around tightly against that thin neck. The woman put up a struggle, hands lifting up grasp at those offending limbs to try and slip through, however the soldier ended that with a quick tug of her skilled legs, twisting that neck until an audible snap echoed through the room.

The knife was she had equipped dropped to the floor with a clang. Eliza cursed at her luck, taking a quick glance around the room to make sure no other goons was on their way in to stop her. After waiting a few moments, she wiggled her feet to try and get closer to the knife and finally after a few kicks, she was able to clip the hilt with the back of her heel. The blade slid right beneath her, now using her leverage to press one foot down on the blade which would cause the hilt to pop facing upwards, now being able to quickly grab the hilt with both feet. Once it was secure, the soldier swung her legs upward as if she was on a swing until the hilt was able to reach her bound hands. After a few attempts, the third swing was just enough for those fingertips to grasp the hilt. Eliza quickly started to cut at the binding ropes, only taking a few moments for the rope to thin and suddenly snap, sending the woman crashing down on her hips, feeling one her ribs cracking. "Ah damn it that smarts! Just hang on ladies I'm coming." She spoke, grimacing in pain while keeping a hand over those damaged ribs as she sprinted the best she could out of the room and into the hallway.

xxx

"Now how about we start by taking off these clothes shall we?" Gimley giggled in his perverted haze and was about to begin until the doors was kicked open, revealing the prisoner from before. "How the hell did she get loose?" The other goon spoke as Gimley flicked open his knife. "Doesn't matter. The fact she's gotten this far, it doesn't matter what Kat's orders were. The girl dies." The goons then charged at Eliza, Gimley taking the first swing with knife-in-hand which the soldier was able to quickly block with her free hand, grabbing a hold of the man's wrist and gave it a quick spin around, twisting the hand backwards as she saw the other goon making his move. The man aimed for a swinging punch which nothing a simple duck would elude which was easy enough to give Eliza the opportunity to deliver a swift knee to the man's gut. Gimley was still struggling to free himself at this point, cursing as the pain was becoming unbearable.

Eliza gave the scumbag the same treatment, a quick knee to the gut before releasing his arm, only to use that exact moment to deliver a crushing punch to the goon's cheek which sent him crumbling to the ground immediately after. The last one standing recovered from the attack and went for another punch, Eliza turned away but didn't act fast enough as it clipped her shoulder. The impact was stronger than she expected and caused her to wince, but in the heat of the moment, adrenaline prevailed as she quickly retaliated with a throat punch then with a quick elbow to the back of the neck. All done with only one arm. Once the two goons was incapicitated, Eliza turned and sprinted towards the two girls still bound. "W-Wait who's there?!" Vanille spoke, visibly shaken and blind folded.

"It's me Eliza. Don't worry I'll get you two out of here. I'm sure miss pinky is going to have my head after this." She teased while working on cutting through the ropes, having to use both arms this time around. The stretch it took to reach and hold the ropes while cutting was getting to her, the breath escaping her lungs and pain becoming unbearable as time went on. It hadn't taken very long before the ropes started to come loose and eventually snapped, dropping the two girls to the ground. Eliza knelt over, not only to aid them, but also in deep pain. "Agh...you two alright?" Serah quickly nodded as she took the blind fold off herself and immediately looked around to get a good look at the surroundings and then back to the woman who freed her. "Y-Yeah we'll be okay...how about you? Did something happen to you? You look hurt."

The soldier shook her head. "No. I'm fine we need to get you two out of here and fast." She extended both her hands to grab each of the two younger ladies hands, helping them up to their feet until the doors behind them opened once again. "I'm afraid I can't let you all escape. You see, the girl you murdered, was very close to our boss. Kat was her name. I never cared enough to really think much about it. Daughter, wife, cousin, or his mother I could give two shits that she's dead. Though I'm not going to hear the end of it by the end of the day. For that, I'm afraid you'll all have to die in her stead." The stranger was a man of about 6 feet tall, long blood-red hair tied into a pony tail that reached his lower back. Equipped with an older issued guardian corps outfit but looked to be a custom built katana.

Eliza scoffed and looked back to the girls. "Get back. If you can find an opening to leave don't hesitate. I'll deal with this loser soon enough, one arm or not." she winked at them before gazing back at the man. The stranger chuckled at the bravado, sheathing the blade under his left armpit and clapped while walking towards the girls. "Wow I must say, you are quiet brave or very foolish. It's quiet hilarious if you think you'll win with one arm however, but I understand, you don't know who I am yet." Eliza puffed the sweaty streaks of hair from her view and grinned. "I don't give a damn who you are. You're in my way and I'll put you down like the rest of these idiots. Not much too it." The crimson-haired man closed his eyes and smiled, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a phone. "I guess you're right. The incredible Nylo doesn't need an introduction. Before I kill you, however, I've contacted miss Farron. I'm sure she'll be here soon, just long enough to watch all of you die."

Eliza grinned widely and busted up laughing. "Is that really what you think? Lightning will you kissing her boots by the end of the day, well, if you could only be so lucky. Kidnapping her baby sister though? I'm sure we'll be seeing a bit more boot the ass instead. I'll leave some of you left for her, don't worry." Nylo chuckled while sliding the mobile device back into his pocket before grabbing ahold of something else entirely. "So cocky..let's see if you can back any of that up hmm?" The man spoke before quick drawing a pistol, blasting a bullet directly into Eliza's lower abdomen. Vaniile jumped at the shot and simply stared, Serah shrieking in panic and sprinted up to her companion who fell to her knees, clutching at her wound gasping. Nylo stood there, laughing manically.

"You're right! There will be plenty of me left over for miss Farron to play with. Now let's see how well you fight miss brave warrior." Serah was holding Eliza's hand over the wound, blood pouring over the two's hands. "Put pressure on the wound, here stand still I'll try and stop the bleeding.." Eliza shook her head and pushed Serah back, sending the pinkette flat on her bottom. "I said stay back..!" The soldier spoke, hazy eyes glaring at her opponent, the disabled arm clutching at the wound while she groggily pulled herself back up to a standing position and started to approach Nylo. "Is that...how you are..going to fight me? Coward tactics..while I'm unarmed..what makes you think you are so good." Nylo grinned and sheathed his gun back into his pocket, dropping the sword until the blade was aimed to the ground and shoved into it moments after.

"Hand-to-Hand is what you seek hmm? Even better. I'll leave you in a nice bloody mess for your friends to find how's that?" Eliza huffed, spitting out a few spurts of blood as she approached the man. "Let's see it.." Nylo grinned and snuck in a quick upper cut, catching eliza right under the nose which sent her head snapping back but that wasn't all. A swinging blow to the left cheek, right cheek, and then to the forehead follow by a gut bunch. The blows sent the girl back to her knees, coughing up even more blood that poured down onto the floor. Nylo began to laugh manically once again, offering a swift kick to the injured rib cage, sending eliza back on the floor. "So weak! Pathetic! Someone like this was able to defeat kat and two of our guard? I haven't even broke a sweat girl!" Eliza's only response was upchucking more bodily fluid, spit and blood mixed in as she was struggling to get herself back up, Serah was gazing wide eyed in the back and started to run forward before Vanille having to run over and grab her. "Please stop this! Whatever you want, We'll tell you just stop please! She needs help or she'll die!" Vanille struggled to keep the woman's limbs secure, Serah eventually giving up on fighting it. "So desperate to save your friend are you? She choose this fight. Besides, you're loving sister will be here soon enough to deal with me am I right?"

Nylo snickered and placed his boot on top of eliza's head, about to stomp her face in until she reacted just in time, grabbing his ankle and quickly twisted, spraining the muscle which caused the man to yelp out in pain, tumbling over shortly after. "Aughh! You bitch!" he roared. Eliza was now finally started to pull herself back up, bleeding from her stomach as well as from cuts/scratches along the forehead. Gasps and wheezes was all she was able manage at the moment. Nylo attempted to pull himself back up but Eliza was quick to put an end to that. With as much effot as possible, the soldier swung a good blow to Nylo's temple then to his nose, hearing an satisfying crack. However it didn't end there. Her knee met the underside of the man's chin, hard enough to nearly bite his own tongue off.

Nylo landed on the ground with a howl of pain and started to crawl away. The sounds of ruckus erupting from the back of the building was news that Lightning had finally arrived along with the sounds of company. "Shit! Already?!" Nylo spat the blood pooling in his mouth, glaring back at the towering soldier and sneered. "This isin't over you bitch. I'll enjoy seeing the day you die! Guards assist me!" With that, two men entered the room and shot out smokescreens. Eliza, who could hardly breath as it was, tumbled down onto the ground unconcious while the men grabbed their captain to assist him out of the room. Vanille and Serah was caught in the blast, coughing and choking on the smoke until it started to clear. When the room cleared up, Eliza was passed out on the ground in a bloody mess and Serah didn't hesitate to rush to her aid. "Eliza! Wake up please!" She pleaded, shaking her at an attempt to wake her.

Vanille turned to look at the doors, Lightning and Fang had arrived and rushed over to the scene at hand. Lightning jogged over to the pair on the floor to kneel over and pull Serah into her arms, looking down at her companion all the while. "Serah! I'm so glad you are alright. I'm not sure what exactly happened but we need to get you all out of here. Eliza looks like she'll need medical treatment immediately. Are you fit enough to help her?" Serah nodded as her tiny frame was visibly shaking. "Y-Yes...we just need to get her to the hospital..I'm not sure how far away we are from Bodhum but we need to stop the bleeding quick or else she won't make the trip." Lightning nodded and retrieved her scarf, using her free hand to gently pull Eliza on her back while her and Serah began wrapping the make-shift bandage around the soldier's body and tightened the knot. "This will have to do for now. Help me carry her back, we're not too far." Lightning commanded.

Fang went over to Vanille, holding her adopted sibling as she guided the red-head over to where the group was. Lightning retrieved Eliza bridal-style as she began carrying her out of the room, the crew behind them as Fang gently brushed a hand over Vanille's back. "You alright kid? I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you before...I guess I got too comfortable." Vanille shook her head, attempting to offer a smile. "It's alright..you're here now. Let's just hope Eliza makes it..." Fang took the chance to glance over at the soldier, offering a simple nod. "Me too..She needs to be alive for me to thank her. So let's hope."

Authors Notes: Well It's been a while since I updated this story, I actually was writing this when I didn't have a job, that all changed last year and all sorts of crazy things happened since then. Mostly my muse didn't want to return to me only recently. Granted this chapter isin't as long as what it could've been but it's a intro into what's to come and things will continue to get more interesting. Thanks for all the follows/favorites I've recieved even after months/years of me updating this. This is what ultimately made me come back to writing this. Hope you enjoy the story!