Blackness.

Void.

Depth.

All around him.

Nothing to be seen but engulfing shadows.

Smothering everything in sight , drowning everything in such an intense darkness that there was no hope for light. Swirling and deepening , the black hues only sought to get even darker and even more suffocating as he could feel his eyes searching about frantically , trying to find a pinpoint of brightness amongst all he could see.

But alas , there was nothing in sight. Nothing but the darkness that accompanied him , the void that stared back at him. All the whilst he could hear some strange noises surrounding his being , loud enough to be acknowledged yet somehow sounding incredibly distorted to the point where he couldn't tell what he was listening to.

It sounded like mumbling of some sort with how unclear the words came out to him , but it was louder than such yet he still could not make sense of it. His heart started to beat vividly , tense from the sounds of what he could hear yet at the same time , on edge because he could see nothing regarding where it was all emanating from.

He could feel a sweat working up on his skin as the sound started to rise in volume slightly , the distortion applied seeming to ebb briefly , yet not enough for him to understand what was happening as any clarity was overshadowed by the increase of multiple noises that sounded in his ears.

Crack

The sound of something harshly being hit against a surface broke through the cacophony in question , a chill running down his spine as the vividness of the sound seemed to shake his very bones. He could feel a shudder coursing through his being as fear seized him , trepidation only growing as more of the unfortunate circumstances came to light.

Crack

Yet another sound of the wickedly grating crack , this time sounding a bit louder than the first time but still remaining just as frightening or even more. The features on his face which were normally at ease to move around , simply stayed put , unable to shift even an inch as they stuck to him as if they were part of a mask ; unmoving and rigid.

All the whilst all he could do was look on into the darkness , feeling his eyes growing wider with dread as the sounds around him increased with energy before having been torn through with another rough resonating smack.

CRACK

This time the sound was even louder , brightly ringing in his ears and making him want to grit his teeth from the impact he could already imagine. The distorted noises seemed to increase once again in volume in response to the ear splitting crack , but it wasn't one that he would have expected to have heard.

Though it wasn't exactly clear to him , the little he could distinguish with the rise and fall of the noises , there seemed to be encouragement linked between the sounding hit and the voices which surrounded him. Encouragement for what he didn't really understand , but even before he could begin to process that thought , something else caught his attention regrettably.

"AAAAAAAGHHHH!"

A bloodcurdling scream.

Feminine by what he heard.

And full of incredible pain.

Sounding against the darkness and piercing through any thought which had existed as he felt his blood turn cold then and there. His breaths became shallow , eyes wide with terror as the sound seemed to encompass him , seeking to be absorbed by his still and bounded body as he could do nothing but look on.

His muscles tensed sharply in response to the distressful cry , movement being his only wish in the given moment as he wanted nothing but to get away from such horrific strangeness , but to his misery his limbs remained just as unresponsive as the features plastered on his face whilst his heart beat with urgency.

Crack

The sound of the cry that cut through had been overwhelmed by the strange murmurs that had grown in response weirdly , almost as if enjoying the agony resonating in the cries as the sound of the crack came again , a bit softer and sounding slightly wet compared to before.

He could feel his insides revolt from the added horror , incredibly disturbed by the emerging thick sound of something beginning to drip whilst he could hear choked cries and wails being muffled through further encouragement. Hearing the feminine voice having broken away from the piercing cry and withered into shaky gasps and tearful moans before a new voice took precedence in the matter.

"Heretic!"

CRACK

That voice sounded clearly above the rest , evidently brutal and full of spite. He could feel his heart thumping wildly in his chest with the next cries that came straight after the connection of the hit. Cries that were immediately submerged by the returning ruckus that rejoiced with the sound of the wails of sorrow that lingered in the air for him even many moments after they had broken through.

"Cursed!"

CRACK

Another word he could distinguish in the midst of it all , a word he also didn't understand but it sounded clearly in his ears. Said with spite and acerbity which he could feel making his own hairs raise as yet another sob broke through from the feminine victim in question as he heard more wetness accumulating with each smack that came through with no remorse.

His limbs tensed with anxiety , his desire to desperately move them and do something trying to take control of whatever strange bondage had him subdued , but it was all futile. Rather than feeling anything shift , he could feel a weight depressing further onto his chest , making it harder to breathe with each resistance he made as any movement he could have even thought to contrive was immediately put an end to with this additional discomfort.

Given the situation he was helpless in doing anything , unable to understand what was happening , not even being a spectator to vicious cries and howls that would break through here and there with the strange fluxes of uproar that accompanied not too long after it.

"Wretched!"

CRACK

His heart beat painfully in his chest , the sounds of the rebounding echo of the snap rang too clearly in his own ears , the loudness having suddenly increased that it all of a sudden felt so unnervingly close , yet there was nothing to be seen. As his breaths drew sparse , he could feel wetness dripping down his own face , cold and bitter , he could taste the saltiness of his own sorrow that only increased with what he heard next.

"S-Stop-!"

As a deluge of thick wetness sounded in the dark , a tearful voice broke through the chaos , barely anything holding weight on it's own yet he noticed it immediately with how broken and distressed the tone was. Sobs choked the words that were spoken , pulling on his beating heart and making his tears fall even further , hoping that this person would soon be given the relief they asked.

But this was all they got in response.

CRACK

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-!"

Another harsh sound of a deafening crack , this one being much louder than the previous ones he had heard and he could feel himself wanting to shiver in response. His ears regrettably took note of the wetness and viscosity of the sound that had increased , somehow now making the crack sound even more sickening , to the point he could feel his tummy feeling funny , yet everything remained still as it had been.

And the voices that surrounded him grew even louder with acclamation , the sound having reached enough clarity now that he could hear there were others , explicitly enjoying the agony of the poor soul that was commencing , and even cheering it on.

The thought of that alone made his blood turn to ice.

"TRAITOROUS BITCH!"

"I told you she was nothing but a fucking bimbo for that bastard's dick."

"Absolutely despicable…"

"HIT HER AGAIN!"

"A DISGRACE TO THE BLOODLINE OF OUR GUARDIANS!"

"This pretentious slut thinks she can plot against us with that sociopathic bastard and get away with it?"

"She's a dishonour to us women…"

"SHE HASN'T SUFFERED ENOUGH!"

Comments of such were starting to get apparent now that his mind was actually starting to process the noise instead of filtering out in the background. Though a lot of it was lost in the commotion and there were a lot of things said that he couldn't catch the meaning of or even could understand , the sheer vileness used to spew out such words could not be mistaken , and all he could feel were the tears increasing down his cheeks with what he heard next.

"S-STOP!"

Throaty and raw , the pleads came out of the strained vocal cords of the woman in question as her words sought to desperately sound over the chaos in eruption. He could hear frantic breathing mixed with heavy sobs that were barely allowed to sound as another hit came without warning.

CRACK

Yet she was sought to be silenced with another merciless blow. His own breaths became increasingly hollow as the sound of the smack was so unrelenting , it almost made him forget to breathe. All the whilst he could feel himself being suffocated by an unknown and unseen pressure , his little heart beating away in avid fear as he was overcome with distress of his own.

Simply growing and twisting inside him , becoming heavier with the more distasteful comments and scorns which were spoken around him , the shadows that encompassed seemed darker and more threatening than ever as another uproar of approval came through with the acceptance of their requests.

CRACK

Yet that didn't stop the woman from trying to plead again.

"P-PLEA-"

CRACK

But before she could even manage a definite appeal , her words had morphed into another round of agonising cries , another crack having come through which sounded even more wetter than previously. This time he could distinctly hear something dripping and seeping elsewhere whilst a strange smell seemed to fill his senses.

Metallic and potent , he could feel his mouth turning bitter from the smell , wanting nothing more to conceal his senses from such horrid sounds and emanations , but all he could do was watch on in the darkness as a returning voice came back to the scene.

"YOU ARE OF THE FORSAKEN!"

The voice bellowed in a fit of rage , soon after a sound of the harshness hitting against the softened surface reappeared once again , this time sounding even harsher with the presence of anger as he could feel an uncomfortable thickness suddenly seize the air.

Thickness that was cut through like a knife with the shrill cries that grew more abrupt and guttural as the sound of the hits became more and more frequent , and each time only becoming faster with each sound that escaped the woman's lips.

Whether it had been a cry.

CRACK

A moan.

CRACK

Or just a breath that barely left her lungs.

She kept being hit and the smell of copper only continued to thicken as his own tears continued to fall with no end , desperate to move and get away from the horror that encroached but all his attempts were just as futile as they always had been.

"P-PLEASE!"

CRACK

"N-NO!"

CRACK

"I-I'M BEGGING Y-YOU!"

CRACK

His panic simply heightened with each time he could distinguish the woman's agonising cries from her supplications of anguish. Each becoming so frequent and raw that they were practically interchangeable , both of them simply unable to do nothing more than express the sheer pain she was being put through , her speech becoming subdued through the screams that welled in the back of her throat along with the thickness he heard gurgling back as her voice would get momentarily lost in the chaos that rose and fall.

CRACK

His own heart was pumping so fast in his chest that he could feel his head rushing painfully from the tension. His mind started to go blank and the sounds somehow increased to an even more deafening scale , yet now he could hear them becoming distorted once again.

A film being cast over the words that once made sense and the noises he could distinguish. Terror seeping through his veins as the darkness continued to enclose and a final avid cry stole what was left of his submerging mind.

Chills running down his spine as the few words he found left by the woman haunted his mind horridly.

"H-HAVE M-MER-AAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!"

CRACK

Those were the last he heard her manage before the concluding hits came with brutality. Striked against her with no intent to hold back , the sound was nauseatingly vivid , ringing through his whole being as they only continued to amount without care and with each word he heard being grunted in response.

CRACK

"THERE."

CRACK

"IS."

CRACK

"NO."

CRACK

"MERCY."

CRACK

"FOR."

CRACK

"DEVILS."

With the ending of such venom , he heard mountainous applause break through as the sound of an increasingly wet object was thrown elsewhere. And in the midst of it , the sound of something being unfastened came through and not even a moment after , a weight being slumped to the ground in thick wetness , being dropped with no care as the sounds of approval grew even more energised by the sounds.

He could smell the metallic scent continue to thicken with the enthusiasm in the voices as time went on , his senses felt attacked by all these pervading stimulants , making his body feel incredibly disgusted as it all only grew worse with the growing uproar.

Uproar that wanted nothing more but to continue bellowing it's hatred and happiness out into the open even after the voice of the woman had faded away and the smacks had stopped being apparent in the atmosphere.

The rally went on for what he thought was no end , but as it finally died down and the darkness's suffocation grew deeper and twisted more , a new sound stood out to him amongst the cacophony.

A sound he recognised immediately…

The sound of weeping.

Dark eyes shot open in absolute alarm , shivers seizing his body as sweat protruded out of his pores with no end. His breathing felt incredibly hollow and his chest felt tight as he came to find himself looking at a form of darkness , not the one he had been in currently , but one he recognised now as a comfort.

The ceiling of his room , dark and plain but what a sight for sore eyes it truly was. Even more so now the moonlit rays from the outside were breaking through the barred windows , illuminating parts of his room with a silver gleam and giving difference to the nightmare he had escaped and the reality he found himself back in.

"A dream…?"

He questioned softly under his breath as his eyes were still stark wide from the terror that pulsed through his brain. His heart still beating wildly as his eyes adjusted to the sight of pale moonlight coming through and reminding him of the solace of the night where he found everything was peacefully calm and still.

Unlike what he had witnessed

It took him time to recompose himself , his mind still strangely blurred from the happenings of his nightmare , yet eventually he felt his heart rate calm down and it was easier to breathe again now that the cries which had haunted him had subdued from being so present.

Not completely gone ,

Yet he knew they were of no worry for him now.

"It was just a…dream…"

Sitting up slowly on his rigid mattress , Jellal took deep breaths , allowing the quietness of the hour to lull his soul to serenity as his eyes looked at the light breaking through as a comfort. Reminding him that the darkness which had captured him and was intent on immersing him was no more of a threat , and that the heavenly light would be there to be his companion for as long as needed to bring his heart back to steadiness.

"Another…bad…dream…"

He told himself in order to placate his paranoia , his hands still trembling but having gradually lost some of the instability , went to his face and wiped the tears that had been leaking down his tear ducts for some time now. His fingers pressed against his roughened and raw skin , making him slightly wince from the inflamed area , but this time it wasn't much of a bother but rather a relief as he could do what he couldn't all this time.

Solidifying the fact he was truly away from the nightmare.

A nightmare that seemed to love to come and go whenever it pleased. Usually when it was time to sleep , Jellal wouldn't exactly have anything to look forward to when the night came ; if he was lucky then maybe he'd find himself on an adventure in one of the dreams that so rarely came but filled his little heart with delight , but that was barely the case.

Rather instead of visiting dreamlands and allowing his imagination to run wild and take it where his heart or mind pleased , he would find himself usually just in the still of darkness. Void. Nothing but silence that accompanied him like it would do during the day , if nothing had erupted in the meantime.

And that's what he had always known really , simply when it would be time to sleep he'd just find him in another depth of darkness that nothing would happen in but somehow the hours would pass and daybreak would have arrived. It wasn't anything particularly exciting like the sparse occurrence of a dream , but the darkness wasn't anything that hurt him usually so he didn't mind it.

This darkness however tonight , it was a different kind. It wasn't safe or serene in the slightest. Everything about it had felt so suffocating , everything about it felt so troubling and he didn't know why.

This wasn't the first time it had appeared either. No, it had been visited many times before. Someone would be screaming , someone would be crying , someone would be getting hurt…and he'd be able to do nothing about it.

Just stay and listen.

May or may not have been the same occurrence , he wasn't sure actually as tonight was probably the most vivid he had felt one of those types of dreams , but they were all chilling in their own right and he truly dreaded every time they took him as a victim without warning.

Just as they had done tonight.

Finishing wiping his face , a jolt ran through his body as a sudden thought came to his attention. A redness flushed his face as he quickly took a hold of his covers and threw them away from him , dreading if he would see anything unsightly like previous times when such had occurred.

But thankfully that wasn't the case tonight.

Undoubtedly dry and clean , his body had been merciful to him and not given him another reason to cause dread for himself. As the stone-faced ladies truly wouldn't have taken kindly to him wetting himself due to these occurrences , and he wasn't looking to have to embarrass himself again because of such either.

The last thing he wanted was to be scolded because of something like that.

It was always humiliating whenever that happened but it seemed now he had gotten better at holding back his bodily responses to such horrid dreams.

A sigh left his lips as felt relief given there would be no further trouble to deal with. However even though he was separated from the horrendous dream that had tormented him , fragments of it still remained in his mind , blaring brightly as his ever inquisitive mind already had taken to questioning what had occurred.

Such as being…

What was happening in the dream? Without being able to see anything there was only so much he could deduce. If he had to take a guess , the cracking sound was quite alike to the sound the belts would make that were used to punish him when he would be 'naughty'. But that being said , that sound in his dream was a lot more painful and harsh compared to anything he had witnessed , regardless of where he was he could feel it resonate through his entire being.

Even now , the aftermath of such a vivid noise caused his muscles to clench and his teeth to grit uncomfortably as it continued to ring against his ears.

But if it was the case that the person was being hit with a belt or something like that , why was that? Who was doing that to them? Had the person done something wrong and they were being punished like him?

Actually…

Thinking back to it , there were some comments that were retained by his mind which were directed to the unseen woman. He couldn't recollect exactly what was being spoken as a lot of it sounded foreign to him or he didn't understand it , but a few words stood out to him in particular.

'Heretic.'

'Cursed.'

'Wretched'

'Forsaken…'

What did those words mean? He had never heard something like that really , or maybe he had but it didn't register in his mind then. The words were spoken with anger and disgust like a lot of other words he would hear , so he thought that it must have been something bad.

But why?

Then he remembered a word being used which there was no lack of familiarity for.

'Devils…'

The word which he heard to no end about his father. Always spouted with scorn and disgust , painted with black hatred as the name simply would be spat out. That's what he always remembered hearing about the word 'devil'.

But…

In this dream they called a woman a devil. His father was a man , so who was this person then? She was a devil too? There could be more than one devil? Also if she was a devil , why was that the case? Did his father turn her into a devil? Was she always a devil? How did they know she was a devil?

The questions ran amok in his head as his heart clenched from remembering the screams and cries that came from the devil , her voice simply haunting the depths of his thoughts with a frightening linger as he also remembered the other voices present in the dream.

Voices that enjoined in and enjoyed the she devil's torment.

Which made him question , was that something that was meant to happen? Was the devil really merited to have such cruelness to be inflicted on itself? How bad of a thing must they have done for something so monstrous and horrid to be something seen with praise and joy?

That people celebrated the pain given rather than were horrified by it?

They didn't want it to stop…

But go on?

It was really strange to him , and honestly unsettling. The devil's nature was surely an enigma to his mind and the more that seemed to be uncovered about him , the more he found himself confused with what his true essence really was.

Or now , what it really was.

Or they were.

As there could be male and female devils by what he heard.

And more of one of them.

Something that he couldn't put to rest in his mind though…Was how much the she devil sounded like his own mother. The voice was very similar , pain-filled and drenched with anguish , but he knew his mother to have a rough grit to her words and that always came with a frightening temper and howling shrieks.

This woman though…She didn't possess the same. This devil…She sounded so very broken. She sounded hopeless. No anger or strength present inside her , just sadness and distress. No will to do anything , other than beg and cry. And yet she was not heeded but simply put through further torment.

It tore at him greatly.

A striking question rushed from the back of his mind as his features knitted together as he tried to make sense of the new information that was slowly being registered through his pulsing brain.

That woman…couldn't be his mother could it?

She wasn't a devil…?

Was she?

She couldn't be!

She was his mother.

She wasn't his father…

But…

Was it possible he turned her into one?

But then…how did he do that?

Also does that mean he was always a devil or had he been turned into one himself?

How did one become a devil?

His mind was already getting restless from the connections he sought to make to assuage his burning curiosity and logic. Another sigh left his lips as he huddled himself against the wall of his room , arms cradling his knees , turning his head to look out at the moonlight that gleamed with brilliance as he let his alert features be washed with the pale rays.

Fatigue sought to claim him , but he didn't want to go back to sleep yet. Not until the aftermath of the nightmare had truly passed over and he could be sure he wouldn't be tormented with such horridness again. He didn't care how long it would take , he just wanted to stay in peace with the night as he was now , allowed to be at one with his thoughts as a few questions seemed to surface alarmingly over the rest.

Those questions being,

Why did he keep having such strange dreams like this every now and again?

Dreams where there would be someone suffering , screaming or being tormented?

Dreams where he didn't understand nor couldn't understand what was happening?

Dreams when he would truly feel the essence of darkness…

Resting his head against the stone wall , feeling his azure waves spread out against the surface as his deep orbs looked directly into the moonlight just like any night before when he would experience such. He could feel his heart beating steadily as his breathing had returned to normal having now been quietened through the serene atmosphere of the night.

As his eyes were mesmerised by the grandiose beauty of heavenly allure , he couldn't stop himself from thinking at the back of his mind,

What did…

These kinds of dreams mean?

Author's Note:

Just to clear up what this segment it meant to be , the dream is actually Jellal's repressed memories , things he has witnessed but can't recall or remember due to being so young when it happened so the memories come in the form of unexpected nightmares (or even something like sleep paralysis). I will be using these sort of dreams and such sometimes to depict Jellal's trauma and recall accounts from the past so it will truly uncover things that have happened ever since his family had been deemed traitors to the nation , so you can expect them in the future!

Just another note , a lot of the beginning chapters will be used to express the treatment of Jellal and his mother and the psychological impact it has had on them whilst slowly beginning to form his ideals about things so I can say it will be rather distressing , but when it will pick up , it will certainly PICK UP.

I seriously can't wait for when you guys see all of the plot beginning to tie in together and mould the character we know him to be and the ideals he's known to advocate for!