He woke up with a groan and throbbing pain at the back of his head. He groggily looked around, trying to make sense of the situation.
For a sparse moment he thought he went blind, as everything around him was covered in darkness. His breath quickened as his eyes darted around, trying to spot something, anything but the surrounding darkness.
He was just about to start hyperventilating, his mind in almost full panic mode, when something flickered at the corner of his vision. He focused on the movement and noticed a small candle, almost burned out.
He let out a sigh of relief, as a thought of blindness was discarded. Now, where was he?
That's when he noticed an uncomfortable feeling on his arms. They were positioned over his head, the muscles strained from the tension. He dared to look up and his mind froze.
He was shackled and chained to the ceiling, his feet barely touching the floor. The whole position of the body put so much strain on the arm muscles it hurt and they trembled.
Suddenly, a breeze flew past and he shivered at the cold feeling. That's when he noticed something else. His clothes were gone! Gloves, shirt, trousers, apron, boots… The only thing left out were his underpants.
"What the-?" He mumbled as another chill sent his body shivering again. His mind was working on full power, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Calm down, Varian." He said to himself, trying to slow his breathing as he started to panic once again. "Think. What's the last thing you-"
His monologue stopped as he remembered. Darkness, forest, running away, hiding behind the stump on the clearing, almost getting to the castle, before being abducted by-
Just then he heard a door slam and someone made his way towards him. His eyes widened with recognition and terror, as he stared at the male in front of him.
"Ah, you're awake. Good." The male smirked as he stepped forward. Varian's body tensed and he tried in vain to move away.
"No! Get away! Let me go!" He pleaded, already feeling his eyes tearing up. He willed for it to stop but his vision only blurred more. "Leave me alone!"
"I thought we already talked about it" came the reply and the male drew his sword, the tip of it hovering over the boy's stomach. "It's not going to happen"
"Why?" He cried, although he already knew the answer. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
"Because, dear Varian" the blade touched his skin now and pushed just a little bit to create a small wound. "You betrayed us"
"You-you were going to destroy Corona" the alchemist argued as he tried not to look down at his stomach. He already felt a small stream of liquid slowly moving down his skin. "A-and we agreed no one gets h-hurt"
"Corona is a disease and needs to be cleansed before we can reclaim our land" the male replied with the ever-present grin. "And I think we both know, where it's going to start"
"P-please" Varian stuttered as the blade slowly entered deeper inside. He let out a whimper of pain and more tears fell from his eyes. "A-andrew"
"Traitors pay with their lives" was the answer before the blade was pushed in harder. The pain erupted from his stomach and Varian couldn't hold it in any longer.
He screamed.