Trigger warning : Uncomfortable predatory behaviour and disturbing inferences.
Can skip to the next chapter if desired.
Ratings have changed to be safe.
It had gotten a little colder this night , signifying to the blue haired boy that yet again the year was going towards it's windier and wetter seasons now that he could see that nightfall came quicker , the once green and lush leaves in the trees were changing to more vibrant and varied hues whilst a biting chill started to linger in the air every now and then.
A sigh left his lips as he stirred again in his covers for like the fifth time now in the span of two minutes. Tossing and turning to try and get himself into a comfortable position but regardless of what he did , he found that some part of him would fall victim to the dreadful cold that lingered around , making the boy huddle into himself deeper to try and preserve warmth.
Though eventually after a handful of attempts of trying to force himself to fall asleep , Jellal came to the conclusion that tonight it possibly wasn't going to be as simple as closing his eyes and hoping he would be claimed by slumber.
No , sadly tonight it was going to be a bit more demanding than that and he could already tell what would be necessary to help him.
Peeling the covers away from himself gradually , he felt a brisk chill immediately hit his barely warmed skin , the sensation making him shudder as he gingerly came off the height of his mattress. With his hands rubbing over the smooth skin of his arms , he didn't want to sacrifice the heat of his blankets so he quickly wrapped the length of the fabric around his body and head , tucking himself into a small wrap before he took his time to walk towards the door , holding himself tightly as he felt shivers going throughout his being.
'It's not too late…They haven't arrived yet so I won't get in trouble.'
He thought to himself in confidence as he had yet to hear the arrival of those men at the given time. The stone-faced ladies had emphasized that he was to be in bed by the time they arrived (well that was his assumption) , so with that logic , if he were to ask one of them for assistance now , surely it would be something done without too much hassle caused.
He wanted to go and ask if perhaps they had any spare blankets or bigger shirts he could wear as usually they did have some stuff like that when the colder seasons hit and supplied him with it. Though this year it had seemed to arrive earlier , he hoped it wouldn't cause too much of a fuss to ask for such now.
He sucked in a sharp breath , feeling another chill run down what was exposed of his bare skin as he heard the wind howling from outside. It probably wasn't ideal that the current clothing he had on at the moment wasn't as durable as it used to be. Without even tampering with it as much as he used to , he could still feel the quality of the fabric wasn't as comforting as it once was.
A few holes had formed in his shirt and vests here and there , and some in the trousers he had too , though he wanted to do his best to ignore it and some of the stone faced ladies had done some work with stitching to keep it more intact , it was proving difficult now to keep turning a blind eye and he needed something more.
Thankfully it was coming to that time of year where the stone-faced ladies would go to town and get new garments , so at least it wouldn't be too much longer with staying with these hanging rags . And the clothing then was usually much nicer to wear and softer to feel , until it would also go through another year of wear and tear and end up in a similar disposition as what he had now.
Though that would not be the case for some time , he needed something for the moment to at least help him get through the colder nights arriving and hoped that one of them would be able to supply him with something of the like.
A sniffle left his nose as an itch tickled his nostrils , using the edge of his knuckles whilst holding firmly onto the blanket , he gave a rub to the tip of his small nose as he steadily moved to the proximity of his door and gave a light knock on the wood to signify his need for assistance.
Considering the stone-faced ladies usually would be busy with their own things and such and had a strong dislike towards disruption , he had been told to ask for assistance only unless necessary. And that being through the system formulated of knocking on the door to get the attention so he didn't rudely interrupt anything and nor left the room unsupervised.
He didn't really know why the last thing was so emphasised as there wasn't really anything he could do in the house which could be of trouble considering everything was usually out of reach and there was barely anywhere to go save for the main room (which was practically barren save for the table that the stone faced ladies usually sat around and the appliances which were used on a day to day basis) , the room which was completely off limits (belonging to the stone faced ladies) , the washroom and his mother's room on the other side of the house.
Really there was nothing much more he could do in the house outside which he didn't already do in his room as it was all controlled by the adults anyway. And he made sure not to ever touch anything the adults left out unattended in those times he would be allowed to leave his room but they persisted in their adamance for him to follow those rules so he had to oblige.
May have been tedious but as long as he didn't make anyone angry or get in trouble again , he would follow dutifully.
As the blue haired boy waited for response to his action , he looked at his barefeet to pass the time , wriggling his little toes to try and generate more warmth whilst he resumed rubbing his biceps through the thickness of the fabric to abate the coolness.
If he had to be honest , he didn't like the cooler weather too much. Not because he found it unbearable or anything , but the shivers he would get would be a bit annoying and not to mention he found himself catching colds more often and feeling awful , making his days gruelling but in a way he really did not like.
Having a stuffy nose , burning body , hammering headache , feeling his tummy get all funny and the like was something he would rather do without , not just for the fact that it was rather horrible to feel and could amount to something rather disgusting , but it was during those times the stone faced ladies would be hovering around him almost with no end with their contempt filled glares and suffocating silence (if they weren't getting irritated in the moment).
The medicine they gave too was also not something he liked either , it was absolutely repulsive to ingest , whether in raw form or mixed in with a cup of water , by default he would gag just from the smell of the bitter concoctions. And it would have been no stretch to say it took a hefty amount of willpower not to throw up the minute it touched his taste buds , having to feel it regrettably coat his throat in all it's acrid measure until the horrid aftertaste would fade away after what seemed like forever.
He didn't like to complain about things , considering the fact his complaints would just end with a comment of virulence or be ignored as if they never meant anything in the first place , and he had tried his best to learn how to stomach that awful substance with the least issue possible , but the experience never seemed to get better.
Rather over the years he had been made to ingest such a thing , it just seemed like his senses sharpened to repel it even more.
So to save himself another episode of that misery and not to give anymore trouble to the stone faced ladies in the future , he believed it would be best to be proactive regarding his needs now he recognised the signs when his body started to suffer unwantedly.
And what he was feeling now was undoubtedly a symptom of such.
'Hmm…Did no one hear me?'
Jellal's features knitted with confusion as he looked up from the sight of his small toes , wondering why no one had heeded his signal as of now. Usually it only took a minute or two for him to get some form of response or one of the stone faced ladies to come and peek their heads through the door they would make ajar.
He gave another knock on the door , this time one with a bit more power and waited a given amount of time , not as much as before but enough to confirm if he had been heard or not. His brows furrowed as he found himself met with the same result , no one having wanted to heed his signal nor even having made a notion of even hearing it in the first place.
'That's strange…'
Curious by this finding , the bluenet pressed his ear against the door , slightly moving the small hood created over his head by the blanket as he tried to detect if there was something which was occurring without his knowledge. Focusing strictly on if any sounds were out of place , he found that all he could hear was simply the sound of footsteps , but it didn't sound like heavy footsteps which they usually gave off.
And given that it was only just barely coming to nightfall , he didn't think that they could have been there so early. He knew them to usually come later in the night or if there was that visit they would make which was less routinely , their presence would easily be able to be detected as he recognised it immediately.
Given the smells , the sounds and the vibe that lingered with them.
But now he couldn't really sense such going on.
It was most likely the stone faced ladies walking around the home and they hadn't really caught attention of him , probably by him being too quiet if anything. They might have been more absorbed in their duties than normal , so it might have required a bit more to attain their notice.
'I'll try again…'
With a tighter closed fist , Jellal knocked on the door with a noticeable amount of more pressure. Feeling the wood slightly rattle from the impact , he put a pause to his actions and hoped that soon one of the stone-faced ladies would come so he could ask them for the garments.
It was getting colder by the minute and he could feel his body already starting to fall victim to the biting chills despite his efforts and the wrapping of the blanket around him. A slightly frustrated sigh left his lips as time went on and he found no change in response , making his features twist on themselves more in confusion.
'They really didn't hear me?'
That was really strange. He was sure he should have been heard that time around , with the hollowness of the walls it was sure to have travelled far in the house. But still…No one was coming to hear his request.
Was it possible they were ignoring him?
But why would that be the case?
He hadn't done anything as of his knowledge to have made any of them cross recently , so this sort of behaviour wasn't something to be expected. Biting the inside of his mouth , Jellal's mind formed a strange dilemma.
What was he meant to do now?
Was he supposed to try and go to sleep the way he was or ?
Thinking about that option , his mind ruled it out immediately as a small sneeze came to him in the midst of deciding. His cold was wanting to seize him again darn it! And he didn't want to be like that again and go through that misery or put any of the stone faced ladies through dealing with him at that time.
Besides he had spent a good few attempts trying to get to sleep on his own anyway and those didn't amount to anything. So with that deduction , he settled on the idea that was most prominent in his mind and hopefully the one that would bring him the desired result for his arising problem.
With a shaky grasp , his hand left rubbing the skin of his bicep and reached out for the cold metal of the door knob , shivering initially from the chill that accumulated on the metal before he turned the device carefully to the side , hearing the door creak in the midst before drawing the door open.
The plan was to hopefully find one of the stone-faced ladies and ask them directly for what he needed , and seeing it was rather quiet overall , he believed it wouldn't make too much of a fuss doing so as no one had arrived , so he wouldn't be breaking any rules.
That's what he thought.
Though as he left the confines of his room , feeling an unneeded draft brush against him without warning as he shuffled out of the room with the blanket tailing behind him. Soon after he found himself in the main room of the house , stony and dull just like every other room of the house he knew to be with the exception of these two beings he could see in the middle of the room , nearing the entrance of the house.
'Who are they?'
His dark eyes couldn't help but focus on these two beings , male by the looks of it however they didn't seem to resemble the other guys that he had frequently caught visiting the house. They weren't as strong or younger looking like the stone faced males that he saw , but they were well dressed. Yet they were neither as disoriented or foul smelling like the other guys that he would witness either , but something did feel off about them.
He didn't know what it was though.
A smell caught his senses , one not as potent as the revolting heady stench that he was used to when those men would come and visit his mother , but this smell was rather rich in sharpness yet subdued , distinct and filled with complexity that seemed to linger alongside that heavy smell he knew. And then there was something mixed with it that was similar to something weirdly smoky too.
His nose crinkled as his eyes took in the sight of these strange men (who he noted had faces that reminded him of rats) , they were wearing important looking clothing but not as layering. Rather it was well made suits of some sort whilst their greying hairs were slicked back in a way that looked rather silly to him , and also they had a lot of shiny ornaments over them too which told him they certainly had importance.
Though if it was the same importance as the stone faced men or not he couldn't tell.
All the while they both had these two small sticks they were holding , that had a sort of glow on one end whilst they sucked the other before blowing out what looked like coloured fog. The sticks seemed to get smaller every now and then with the frequent blare that would light up and cool here and there.
And with where they were in the room , just standing in the middle of the space talking amongst themselves , he couldn't distinguish if they were men that had just come or were leaving.
If they were someone that he should have discerned a threat or to avoid.
Though as he stood with his presence undetected , a conversation became notable to his ears as the gruff voices of the males were carried around the spacious room.
"Hell to think she's so in demand even after so many years of being The Capital's little fuckslut , you'd think anyone would jump at the chance to bring her to the market under their name."
"It's no wonder why she hasn't been bought out yet."
'Bought who?'
The young boy's features folded on themselves as he couldn't understand what sort of conversation was going on.
How could you buy a person?
They weren't items that you found in the marketplace or anything and every time he had gone to Taïr's grounds he never saw any stalls that sold humans or anything.
It was only food , clothing , appliances and the like.
So what type of market was being spoken about?
And who were they speaking about in this context?
"'Beauty from the heavens' my ass."
"Nah the bitch is really pretty and her body is hot but she's way too fucking aggressive…"
"Only way to deal with her is sedating her…Though some are into that shit…She ain't good for business."
'Business...?'
"Taking her into the Flesh Market isn't going to do anyone any favors…She's already the nation's cocksleeve as it is…Taking her onto our hands is worthless."
'Flesh...Market?'
"Yeah she won't bring us any profit…Hell the sex she gives isn't even all that."
"If she was decent in her services like a good whore then maybe we could have considered…"
'Considered what...?'
"Sure she's incredibly beautiful , but that's not the only thing that makes the cut these days."
"She isn't fresh…Like what we need."
'She isn't...fresh?'
'...What?'
As the conversation continued , Jellal couldn't help but feel incredibly weirded out by what he was hearing.
Were they talking about his mother like that? What did they mean by 'fresh?' How was a person meant to be fresh? That should have been obvious, no? She was a human , she had no need to stay 'fresh'.
She wasn't food , food was something that was meant to stay fresh , so it could be eaten and not make you sick. Or in the other case something like clothing , like he heard the ladies talking about when tending to the laundry. None of which his mother was. She wasn't meant to be worn and she wasn't meant to be eaten either , so he was incredibly confused as to what they were referring to when they said that.
And also what did they mean by business? Or the Flesh Market? The only market and businesses he knew of were the ones that were run in the market square , and none of them had these weird implications that he felt from what he heard.
How was or could any of this be related to his mother?
"What do you expect from a woman who's been whored out for nearly six years now?"
"Well…That's on her for riding the dick of a traitor isn't it?"
A grated laugh came from one of the men from that comment , causing the young boy to cringe from the harshness that came through alongside as he started to get a bad feeling regarding these strange people.
"She's living her own personal hell as it is , no need for us to take her in and give ourselves any problems because of this psycho slut."
"We wasted our time visiting…No pussy is worth the trouble , especially not the trouble that bitch is known to give."
"We can come and give her a dickin' when we feel like anyway , she ain't anything special to buy her off."
"Probably wouldn't bring that much money in any way."
He didn't understand those last words , but for some reason it put a very bitter taste in his mouth , they sounded very ugly and disgusting to hear. And he had heard many disgusting and undignified things being screamed and shouted , all which made his stomach turn in fear or possibly cause him to feel unnerved through shame , but these guys…
The way they were talking , it didn't do either.
Instead it made him repulsed.
Incredibly.
Though as his features had been in the midst of forming disgust towards those beings , a sudden tightness had infiltrated his chest as a cough splurged out , the smell of that coloured fog had started to weave into his senses and he couldn't help but hack from it without realising.
"Huh?"
"What was-"
However, just as he had tried to clean out the polluted taste of air in his lungs , he didn't realise the attention that had turned from the two older men conversing between each other had turned to one of them now looking in his direction.
"Hey…"
The notably fatter one out of the two.
"Look over there."
As he recovered from the small coughing fit from the smells , he found his presence had been detected as he moved his bunched up fist away from his mouth and lifted his head to a questionable sight.
"It's a kid."
He felt his body stiffen automatically as he felt a strange gaze falling onto his smaller form. Though he didn't exactly understand what that sort of gaze held , the glint he saw coming off the man's beady eyes had the disgust in his body growing at alarming rates whilst something else also took precedence.
"And?"
The other male drawled out , lazily giving a look to the blue haired boy who was obviously not showing the same interest as his companion , yet Jellal couldn't help but feel a strange air starting to attack him as that man's gaze became trained on his sight.
"What were we talking about…"
"Fresh meat?"
The plumper man's voice started to take on a weird tone , the previous sneer having been replaced with something honeyed as a skin crawling smirk started to crawl onto his thin lips as Jellal felt the eyes on him starting to look at him even more intensely with something behind them that made his stomach churn.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
He could feel his breathing starting to shallow , he didn't know why but he could feel a tremble starting to exist under his skin. For some reason he found it hard to think of anything and the movement he wanted to make away from the scene wasn't coming through to his muscles as he heard footsteps approaching him.
"You can't be serious."
"He's got to be like barely six or some shit."
"That's too young!"
The other male commented , making the bluenet jolt from the sudden sharpness those words were delivered with. He didn't know how it happened but soon he felt hands probing over him , stubby fingers raking through his hair uncomfortably whilst he felt his cold skin being touched and rubbed over his face as his muscles froze on the spot. The feeling of the residue from the stick held between the fingers of the hand that touched his face burned off and hit the skin of his across his collarbone freshly , making him want to hiss from the initial contact but he remained still.
"Oh don't try and act like you're on a high horse…This sort of business you know that the fresher the meat is…The more it will sell and the more we can make off it"
The words hit his ears regrettably , feeling a horrid focus on himself as beady eyes watched him with a darkness glazing through whilst the fat fingers of the older man continued to stroke through his hair , making him wince when a tangle would be ripped through however he was very self conscious to make any form of expression in front of these two other than what was present on him for the moment.
"There's barely any consideration given to normies in this business…"
"So what makes you think…"
"Devil spawn deserve any better?"
The man's light yet questionable tone had taken a dip as he felt the fingers in his hair suddenly roughening , feeling his scalp being pulled at with the emphasis of some words whilst another hand was skimming around the side of his jawline.
Touching him in a way that made his skin crawl.
"Imagine…."
"How much money we can get off him…"
A shiver ran down his spine as he felt the face of the plumper man near his own , lowering himself to his height and taking a good look at his features as he felt the hand that was on his jawline starting to trace other parts of his face , namely his lips and cheeks.
Whilst doing so he could smell that lingering smokiness being breathed against his face , causing his throat to close up in wanting to reject the pervading stench as his stomach continued to churn and all that was happening made him feel sick.
"He has a disgusting resemblance to that traitor."
"There's no mistaking he's that bastard's son."
The other man noted , arms slightly crossed as he continued to puff on the stick as he walked over to join his companion , eyes still not as interested as the fat man but he could see something eliciting inside them as another gaze started to study him.
"But because of that he looks exotic …"
The fatter man countered the argument as his fingers stopped picking through azure waves that had been made even more unkempt and had the boy trembling from such foreign touch.
"Something that is of high value and you know that."
As his mind seemed to struggle to even process what was being said and could not even begin to fathom why , without even realising his small feet started to try and move backwards , his hands gripping tightly onto his blanket and trying to cover himself more avidly as he wanted nothing more than to get away from these strange people.
"I can't deny that…"
"…He'd certainly be up for demand…"
The more slender man mused in agreement , giving a stern look at the bluenet who could feel his heart beginning to pound dreadfully in his chest as the connotation of those words made his insides twist in a way he couldn't explain.
And it only got worse with the more the conversation went on.
"Probably even more than the whore…"
A wicked grin crawled up onto the face of the rotund male , eyes glazing with an interest he didn't want to know as his feet just kept moving back on their own , slowly but surely to try and not raise any alarm or have them realising what he was doing lest things got worse.
"Given his lineage for sure."
He could feel his muscles freezing up on themselves as the more intense the gazes grew on him , the more fear started to permeate through and thicken the air as his wide dark eyes couldn't help but remain stuck on the looming figures in front of him.
"Along with that devil's notable features."
He swallowed thickly as he took another step backwards , from the corner of his eye seeing the door that was left open from before. It was only a good run away and he could possibly make it if he made a dash for it.
But then the question posed strongly in his mind…
What if he couldn't do so in time?
What if they were to catch up to him?
What would they do to him?
The implications of the unknown consequences had his blood turning to another degree of coldness as further shivers seized him whilst he took another step back gingerly , all the whilst having not been caught yet in his intentions as he was careful to keep his sight trained on them to see where their attention lied whilst they were conversing.
"He certainly will grow to possess the cunt's handsomeness…"
Given the strangeness of their conversations and the impending feeling in the air that lingered with their attention turned onto him , he had enough of this regrettable encounter to tell him that these guys were bad news and he needed to get as far as possible.
And to do so he had some kind of plan in mind to get him away unscathed.
Whilst they were in the midst of exchanging their glances and talking , once he made enough distance , he would take the initiative to dash for it and lock himself into the confines of his room.
Then they wouldn't be able to bother him after that.
And he'd be safe.
That's what he thought.
But with one misstep he took backwards , his intentions were notified by the feeling of his foot catching onto the trail of the blanket that followed him behind. Causing the young boy to slip foolishly onto the floor as the blanket fell off and left him uncovered. His body sprawled out for a split second , his head spun from the initial contact with the cold ground before a voice called out to him.
"Where do you think you're going boy?"
Hissing and low , he felt his blood rushing as he immediately recollected himself as the sound of footsteps approaching him rang in his ears , filling the child with dread as the looming figures looked even scarier from this angle.
"We're just getting to know each other."
The fat man seethed , beginning to pick up pace and corner off the small child with his companion who had now taken further interest onto the bluenet and was studying him cautiously.
'I don't want to know you!'
The thought panged in response to the man's words as he could feel his heart beating with the footsteps that grew louder and more dreadful to hear.
All the while on Jellal's mind all there was to try and get away from the approaching men , his muscles though stiff , only allowing him to move backwards as he scrambled back in evident anxiety whilst sweat started to come through along with shivers and the men only continued to approach with more haste.
"Oh yes…"
Jellal could feel the breaths that he was taking barely leaving his chest , his fingers trembling incessantly with each attempt he made to slide himself away and create more distance. But the fear was getting to him as he could feel them closing in and their gazes intensifying in a way that made him feel so very afraid and disgusted.
"He'll bring in a lot of money…"
Before he knew it , he had backed himself into a wall mindlessly , feeling coldness hit his partially exposed back and arms as his already large eyes widened in horror with realisation of his mistake. His vision looked frantically to try and find where he could go , but soon only legs were in sight , filling his vision as that weird smell filled his senses entirely and had him almost gagging through a mixture of fright and natural response.
"Young , fresh , distinct and in demand…"
"He's perfect…"
A hand reached out to grab his own as he was looking on. Before he could realise he could feel his skin being gripped roughly by the fat man , feeling incredibly repulsed as his stubby fingers traced unwanted touches over his limb , making the bluenet feel everything in it's entirety as trembles ravaged him.
"And most importantly…he won't be able to give trouble like that bitch…"
Those were the final words that he could bare to hear before his nerves got the best of him and he tried to pull away his limb back into his own possession , but to his horror the grip on him tightened painfully , causing him to tear up from the pressure put on his arm and biting away into his flesh and bones as if acting like a physical warning alongside the words which were just spoken.
"L-Let m-me g-go."
"P-Please!"
The young boy could just about breathe the words as tears beaded from his eyes. All that he found which had fallen on deaf ears as his small stature was hoisted up by an unforgiving grip , pulling the bluenet on to his shaking feet as he found himself at eye level with the swollen man as his back was pushed against the wall to keep him caged in between them.
The hand on his wrist was removed shortly after , revealing a bruising ring that was forming on his cold and paling skin but in return he felt another hand starting to wander…elsewhere.
Touching up his chest and arms , feeling his skin being prodded and probed as his muscles tensed on themselves with the more he felt it go on.
"He's got a nice build too…Slender yet somehow firmer than you'd expect…"
"Can't lie….He'd do better with some more meat on them bones…"
The smaller one of them mused whilst the fingers continued to inspect him , pressing against what was barely his muscle tone and touching around his shoulders and the places where his clothing hung on loosely on his frame as he felt the fabric that was covering his midsection being lifted slightly , causing horror to settle in his system on a deeper level as he felt eyes looking in places on him he didn't like.
"There are quite a few marks on him though…"
He could feel his skin crawl as his bare skin was brushed against by dirty feeling stubby fingers. It all just got worse as he felt another pair of hands grabbing a hold of his hair again , ruffling through the azure locks and tilting his head up whilst those invading eyes continued to train on him before he heard another comment scoffed at him.
"Hopefully nothing that would damage the worth too much right?"
The leaner man said with his eyes focusing on slightly exposed skin of his abdomen, the fingers which were pulling through his hair now went to touch the raised skin and bruises that had been left from previous beatings and punishments he endured for his behaviour by the stone-faced ladies.
However if he had to be honest , he'd believed he would have preferred being in the presence of an angry stone faced lady than one of these weird men. He could feel muscles clench on each other as he the damaged skin on his stomach being touched , the sensation causing him to coil into himself as the foreign touch of someone other than himself was nauseating.
"Ah , Don't think it matters."
Though before his mind could focus on that horrible feeling , he felt those fingers removing from themselves as the more slender man switched over the hand he was taking puffs from his stick with and blew the excess in his way.
He coughed in response , hating the dirty and strange feeling that was clogging up his throat as fell victim to another fit of hacks that left his body trembling more before the sound of the fat rat faced man came back into existence.
"Considering the work we'd have set out for him…"
The male started as he took yet another suck from the shockingly smaller stick , lengthier and more intense than the rest before breathing out the intense smoke in the boy's way , obscuring his vision slightly and making his eyes burn before he felt a searing sensation being applied to his bare shoulder.
A choked cry left his lips as he felt more pressure being applied to the burn alongside something rough and gritty being pushed into his skin and cementing the pain into his nerves as tears threatened to fall.
However before his sorrow could erupt out into the open , he found himself eye to eye with the fatter man who had a brutal glint in his eyes as his thin and pasty lips curled in a mocking grin.
"I doubt anyone would want to be gentle."
He heard a hair raising chuckle sound against him , enough to tell the young boy that his efforts had to heighten with urgency.
"Besides…Those things can be considered after we take him."
Take him?
Take him where?
Who were these sorts of people? First speaking about his mother in such a strange and foul manner and now talking about taking him from his own home?
Why would they do such a thing?
And what would they get out of doing such?
Actually…
Giving a second thought to it all , he didn't want to know the answer. This situation felt bad enough as it was even with him being so left in the dark about their behaviours and intentions , and something gave him the feeling that if he was to probe anymore into that then it'd be something he'd really regret.
With desperation , he used whatever force he could muster to push the weight of the main blob like man in front of him away , simply making them move by a few inches , but that was enough to get him to slip through the crack he made in where he had been cornered.
"I-I don't want to go with y-you!"
He screamed before trying to make a dash for it , just able to make a few steps away from the wall and past the back of the fat man before he felt his arm being taken in a deathly grip as the limb was twisted behind him.
"So cute you think you'd have a choice."
A cry ripped from his lips as he fell to his knees from the impact , scraping his knee caps in the process as tears streamed down his cold face. The nerves in his arm were attacked by excruciating pressure , feeling the flesh bruise freshly because of the burns left behind , wrenching out a scream from his throat as his attempts to free himself became more frantic yet less effective.
"L-Let go!"
He pleaded for mercy , shakily standing up from the impact of the fall to lessen the struggle, digging his nails into his palms and trying to overcome the current pain with a surge of strength that could be enough to free him.
He tried to yank his arm back to his being several times , only for the pressure on him to get tougher and relentless , and the twists to form harder until he realised how futile his own efforts were compared to the fat man. All in which the realisation was made with another shock of striking pain which had his vocal cords ripping.
"L-LET GO!"
Excruciatingly tight , he felt the bones in his arm almost moving , the sensation becoming overwhelmingly unbearable , but he found himself at the end of it as the pressure had started to subside.
Only for him to feel a force kicked directly into his back without mercy onto the floor in front.
"Do you want to find out what else there would be in store for a brat that doesn't listen to orders?"
Sprawled out in agony from the impact , he could feel the sensation in his arm had gone strangely still , tears continued to wet his face as his good arm went to touch the one which had been of brunt to such torment , a throaty cough having worked up from the hit on his back as he could feel his body becoming immensely weak.
"Hey…How can you be sure this investment won't fail us?"
"For all we know this kid's defiance could be the same as her's or worse."
"And then what would we do?"
"You're right…"
"If we're going to buy a product…It's obvious we need some form of a test trial."
He heard footsteps approaching him again , his head was spinning still from having been thrown to the ground and barely being able to catch himself. Only able to get to his trembling feet , he made an effort to stand up; however soon he felt his affected arm being taken into a hold again and spinning him around to meet those beady eyes that felt so invading as a new look of darkness was present on them.
One more intense and consuming.
"Come here boy."
The fat man mused , grabbing a sleazy hold of his wrist as the bluenet was trying to recover from the mayhem his body had just suffered. Eyes that had been struggling to focus soon cleared up enough to see the sight waiting for him. Something he wished he didn't have to witness.
Jellal felt a new wave of disgust wrack him as he saw a slimy inflated tongue leave the mouth of the rat faced pig , licking around the thin and pasty skin with questionable intent which made him all the more avid in his horror.
"D-DON'T TOUCH ME!"
He bellowed , fiercely yanking away his arm from the grip that didn't seek to capture him as much this time. His breathing turned ragged from both the aftermath of all he had incurred and also the emotions that were boiling up inside him whilst he started to move back cautiously with his other hand holding his hurt one close to his chest as a fearful fire lit in his eyes.
"Why you looking so scared?"
The fat man mused with a sinister glint to his beady eyes as he started to move forwards , causing the bluenet to step back more frantically as his heartbeat raced from the intentions that were questionably surfacing with each passing moment as they both started to close in on him.
"Don't make it hurt even more than it has to..."
The threat sneered as the looming figures neared him. His ears pricked up from the venom that lingered as his eyes remained wide with aggressive horror as he witnessed the fat man trying to catch up to him , his stubby fingers which tried to grab a hold of him and close the distance.
All the whilst another daunting comment hissed underneath with growing impatience that had him trembling.
"Come give me my money's worth."
With a sudden lunge the man tried to take a hold of his enclosed limbs again , proving to be somewhat successful as his rough and dirty feeling fingertips grazed against the front of the bluenet's arms. However before he could latch on successfully , whether it was out of fear or just impulse , what happened next was something that was wholly unexpected.
"THE FUCK?!"
That was all Jellal heard as he made a dash for his room after having taken the initiative to blind the fat man with a nasty serving of spit in his piercing gaze. More than enough to temporarily disorient the males from the confusion , one from the impact and the other just from the sheer surprise , and that served as his gateway out of this strangeness as he quickly legged it for the confines of his room , pressing his back against the door desperately as his fingers shakily tried to use the latch hastily as he could hear them recovering from his little distraction.
"THAT LITTLE SHIT!"
"WHERE DID HE GO?"
"THERE!"
Soon after those words were roared , he could feel an added pressure invading from the outside , trying to press against the weight of the door as his heart beat rapidly whilst his fingers fumbled incessantly with the now half done latch.
'No no no…Come on..!'
He thought with panic as his back started to press harder onto the door in response , a hiss leaving his lips as his weight pressed more onto his deadened arm , causing the pain to erupt again but he couldn't give mind to that now.
Not when these men were trying to get him.
"FUCKING SON OF A BITCH SPIT AT ME!"
"WATCH WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"
The threats rang through his frantic mind , the sharpness in the words and hostility present made him feel light headed. As if the pain wasn't enough of a problem , the panic getting to him was also beginning to incapacitate his functions , the only thing on his mind was to press onto the door harder , no matter what the odds were and simply just wishing that these bad men would go away and stop bothering him.
'Please….Just leave me alone…'
He silently asked as his fingers just about connected the latch , however soon feeling more force being exerted from behind the door as his heart jumped from feeling as if the door was going to be broken in.
'They are trying to break in?!'
"YOU THINK A DOOR IS GOING TO SAVE YOU?!"
"LITTLE BRAT I'LL FORCE MY WAY IN!"
"YOU'RE FUCKED!"
He felt his body bounce slightly from the additional strength being used to try to pry the door open , his eyes widened with horror as he could feel the latch being extended above it's limits as a slit was being pried open. His breaths became sparse and increasingly hollow as trembles shook his entire being as one thought just remained consistent in his mind.
'Why did I ever leave?!…I'm so stupid!'
He couldn't help but feel incredibly ashamed and loathing of himself to have not heeded the warnings of the stone faced ladies. This must have been what happened without his knowledge…This sort of thing must have been what his mother had to go through. These sort of intentions and wickedness were all things that she must have had to suffer.
And now it was targeting him…
His heart clenched on those implications , mind rushing with all those screams and noises he would hear when those men would visit his mother and unwantedly making him panic if he was to meet the same fate.
The fate that had her screaming , the fate that had her cursing , the fate that had her laughing , the fate that had her crying…
He…
He didn't want that!
Anything but that!
And now with that fear instilled raw into his mind , his mind couldn't do anything but keep relaying a simple thought that was the only thing which gave him comfort in this horror.
That being,
One wish.
One prayer.
That whoever could help him at this moment , whoever could save him from these savage men and their ill intentions , whoever could give him the peace of mind he needed at the moment…
Take them away.
No matter what the cost was , no matter what he'd have to endure as a result…No matter what he'd have to give for this one request to be answered…He wouldn't complain.
Just please…Could someone help him?
He didn't care who.
He just wanted to be away from this.
"M-Make them leave…"
The boy rasped to himself as his back was starting to give up on him against the force that was opposing. Tears streamed down his face intensely as his heart clenched with each bang he could hear making way through the thick door. His breaths quickened with each time he could feel the only barrier between him and his safety becoming more and more compromised. Sobs left his lips from both the pain endured from his own bodily afflictions and the fear that was seizing him entirely.
"P-Please…"
Those final words left him in a broken whisper , his eyes closed as in defeat as his body was on the verge of giving up the futile attempt he had commenced. Sliding down his door and crouched down with his knees tucked in , his ears pricked up with the more the wood was hit against and the more he heard the latch rustle.
Aggressively and hastily he could feel and hear the anger of those men , his little heart pounded wildly in him as he swallowed down the nausea which was creeping up on him from the back of his throat. In the midst of it his brain had started to block out the harsh words and threats that were screamed at him , processing them as nothing more than scary noises as it tried to prepare himself for what impending fate was in store for him.
Trying to prepare for what was to come when that door would be broken open and those men would be let in. Trying to prepare for what they could have had in store for his unknowing mind and soul with their vicious actions and burning spite.
However…
Little did he know his final prayer was answered.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
But in the way he least would have expected.
"Why are you still here?"
A new voice came into the picture. A voice that cut through all the harshness and terror which had been induced with a grit of it's own that he recognised instantly. His heart rate slowly started to pace as he felt the pressure outside of the door beginning to lighten as something else seemed to take their attention.
"I thought you weren't interested in the woman?"
With the sound of a new pair of footsteps approaching , ones more lighter and dainty sounding compared to what he had been hearing , he could make out the voice that had become present was nothing alike to these men. It was a woman's , younger sounding yet firm as his mind started to come down from it's frenzy with registering it's presence.
'That…That sounds like one of the stone-faced ladies?'
Which he was right in guessing , though which one out of the 4 he knew , he couldn't really tell. Her voice being so far away there wasn't much to go off of , but it was certainly one of them , that could not be mistaken.
He didn't have much time though to focus on that new curiosity as a new conversation seemed to erupt between those weird guys outside of his room and the lady in question.
"We're not."
The voice of the male had somehow simmered down from being loud and blaring like an alarm to now back to that normal irritated and gruff tone he had heard before. He found it a little easier to breathe now that the shouting and banging had stopped and he was hoping it would have stopped for good.
Though that little hope hung in his heart , the conversation took a turn of bitterness as he himself was made of mention by the rat faced men.
"There's someone else that's of our inte-"
Though to his surprise before he could hear the sentence come to an end , the woman's voice clearly injected into the atmosphere with an answer that was stern and assertive.
"He's not for sale."
It was then and their surprise took both the bluenet and the men off guard as such an answer was not anticipated. Jellal especially did not expect for a stone-faced lady to come to his rescue , considering they all seemed to like to see him suffer and hated anything to do with him from the most that he came to know.
He would have thought they would have wanted him off their hands and if anything would have jumped at the offer to get rid of him.
He couldn't believe it.
Was one of them…
Actually defending him?
His heart thumped in his chest as he continued to pay attention to the outburst that commenced with the lady's curt response.
"W-W-What?!"
"W-Why not?!"
He could hear hostility rising with the volume of the man that spoke , causing the bluenet to wince from the sharpness that lingered from his tone as he listened on to hear where the conversation would go.
"Simple."
"The Capital never ordered such."
Her words cut through like a shard of glass , unthreatened by the growing assertion the male's presented as he could hear footsteps walking closer to the door he was at. He could feel a change in the air come through from the short answer given , but he couldn't tell if it was for the better or worse.
But he was about to find out.
"He's that bastard's son!"
The words were spat out with no hesitation , as if the intensity of the venom that was conveyed was to pose as an argument alongside the reasoning presented to get the conversation swayed to something more palatable.
But that wasn't the case.
"Doesn't seem to make a difference to the officials. Besides, they most likely already have a plan for him with this being the case , one you wouldn't want to compromise , so you're better trying your luck somewhere else."
The woman's voice was withstanding regardless of the growing aggression and tension he could feel building outside the door. He barely had a chance to process the meaning of her words as another justification was thrown out into the open in a desperate attempt.
"We can pay good money for him!"
"Just name a price!"
His heart drummed carefully in his chest as an eerie silence followed not long after those words. Dread started to fill his being as he was wondering if the effect of his wish had come to an end and the woman who was practically his saviour at the point was actually considering the offer.
But as a few moments passed , her answer was announced for all of them to hear.
"The Capital's law can't be bought out , that is something standard to know in all of Almeta. I shouldn't need to tell you this…."
"Unless…"
"You wish to defy the officials who granted the law themselves?"
Her words were carried with a cold touch to them , a mocking taste in the tone as the question posed was left unanswered by the men who seemed to fall silent as the threat that suddenly loomed over their heads from her rebuttal.
The bluenet swallowed thickly as the tension in the air seemed to thicken by folds with this turn in reasoning. Though he couldn't understand exactly what the implications of such were being said , he imagined that what the woman had said must have been something which those strange men couldn't argue with as all the ferocity and passion they had been fuelled with had died down like it never existed.
"It's the woman or nothing."
"Your choice."
Those were the final words that the unseen woman left in the atmosphere , sealing the deal of the frustration that had roiled in the blood of the men and making them withdraw completely as he heard an exasperated sound come from one of them before the next words were said.
"Kgh."
"Come…We've wasted enough time in this shithole as it is."
And with that he heard the presence near his door finally leaving him be , his ears pricked up in relief from listening to the sound of their footsteps fading away with the distance created and soon becoming non-existent in the walls of the house. A blissful sigh left him as he finally felt he could relax , moving his back away from the rigid wood of the door and finally allowing his posture to breathe as enjoyed the moments of peace and quiet he had to himself after all that havoc that ensued.
Though unfortunately for him…
That wasn't something that was going to last.
"Open the door."
The woman's voice pierced through the silence he thought he would be left with , the breath that he was in the midst of taking had come to a still as he could note a form of anger brimming under a calm demeanour.
And the worst thing being about it , he could tell exactly who this was now with her being so close and the grittiness and coldness of her voice registering properly. The azure haired boy swallowed thickly , sweat already beginning to permeate his palms as he regrettably got up from the floor and turned around.
Dread filled his entire being as his fingers hesitantly undid the latch , the rustling of the chains sounding horridly in his ears and denoting the time he had left until wrath was to fall onto him at the hands of her .
Not even a second after the chain had become undone he felt the weight of the door being pushed open with a rigid hand , a new sense of fear already running through him as the barrier was moved away and he could see which stone faced lady had been the one whom he thought was a saviour.
The stone faced lady with the bandages.
Eyes cold and intense as ever as they looked down at him and he could feel his body unable to do anything but remain put as his eyes unwillingly remained stuck to the temper that was beginning to seep through on her pale features.
Jellal's heart once again pounded wildly , the stare of this woman was enough to turn him to stone with how potent it was. No words needed to be said in her presence when she was like this , as it was obvious what was coming.
The silence remained stagnant , keeping him on edge for when it would turn for the worst as his eyes fell shamefully from her face. He had enough of that burning gaze that she was giving and told him of all his faults and problems , but this time he was aware of the fact that he was deserving of it.
He swallowed thickly as his eyes caught sight of her hands which were in front of her figure , from what he could see a new pair of bandages had donned her wrists and palms , ones fresher , thicker and whiter than that which he had on previously.
But really that wasn't the thing that was actually on his mind.
It was merely a distraction for his sight.
"You insolent boy."
From the lengthy and rough stick known to brutalise that was held sturdily in her hand , awaiting to hit his tender flesh with no remorse.
"Why did you leave your room?"
He didn't know how long his punishment went on for this time , well really he never kept track of how long they would go on for and to be honest there was no way of knowing how anyway. Other than counting the hits maybe , but tonight's one was something that even he couldn't remain patient throughout and had lost count of how many times that horrid cane hit his palms and forearms and drew blood little by little until his palms had all been drenched in deep red and pink hues.
All the whilst as he was interrogated for his misdeeds and made to apologise for not following the rules that had been set out regarding what he could and could not do , and berated to no end for his behaviour.
'Imbecile.'
'Insolent.'
'Good for nothing.'
And so much more that just went on as Mika would increase the pressure she hit his palms with and drew more blood through. It was incredibly painful to say , more painful than previous beatings with the dreaded cane and that possibly had to do with the existing injuries he had incurred on his being from his encounter with those horrible men.
And she made no mercy on that , avidly hitting the areas which were already inflamed and would easily cause him to erupt in tears , yet any motion he made of being in distress was punished even more as she would callously command him to stop crying.
Which he tried to , he didn't want to complain from the pain especially knowing that he had deserved it , but his bodily responses made it difficult to bear and sobs and wetness only continued to seep forth as he progressively reaped her wrath more and his clothes and flesh got bloodied through out.
It didn't help given when she would be interrogating him that his brain would suddenly fall blank without answer and he'd find himself being a bumbling fool , unable to justify his own actions when asked out of his fear and ineptness which would only cause Mika to get more impatient and harsh with her beatings.
But at the end of all of it , after unloading a stream of desperate apologies and having his paled skin and clothes stained with darkening crimson , it did finally come to the long awaited end with bloodied cane finally being dropped and she did get him cleaned up for all that was soiled in the process of his punishment and more.
She even applied bandages to the afflicted areas and got him changed into cleaner clothes whilst supplying him with a new blanket like he initially wanted, seeing that his other one had gotten trodden on and such which did in a way make the situation a bit better as at least it wouldn't all be for nothing.
However, now he remained in his bed , the skin around his eyes having puffed up from all the crying , his lacerated hands weakly held onto the top of the blanket as the message that had been burned into his body after such havoc today blared freshly in his mind.
That he would never ever go out again when those sort of men were visiting the house or such.
He wouldn't even think about it.
Not just because of the trauma that he incurred from his first meeting with such strange men , and not even just because of the wrath that came through after because of his lack of obedience towards the rules.
But because of the threat that she had left with him once the punishment was over.
The words that cruelly haunted his mind even hours after she left him alone.
Words she uttered with no sense of remorse or consideration as his whole body had been seized by a chill just from thinking about them and how they were said.
Those being,
"Next time you fail to follow instructions , I'll let you find out for yourself what savages like them have in mind for bratty boys like you."