The Devil That Dreamt Of Paradise

by Yamishika

As the will for freedom goes deeper than you'd ever know. (Dark Jellal-Centric Story) Tags : Pre-Canon to Eventual Canon Narrative , Heavy Backstory , Mention Of Distressing Themes , Gritty , Twisted , Psychological & Philosophical Focus , Questioning Morality , Very Slow Build Up , Eventual Jerza , Freedom Obsession , Childhood to Adulthood , Mentally Challenged Jellal

22. True Colours - (Part 2)

Trigger warning : Focus on a lot of heavy and cruel (child) abuse in this chapter.

If not comfortable with reading that , please skip to the next chapter , so the theme of abuse will not be as graphic or prominent and the intensity from this chapter should have by then passed.

Also majority of the plot that had happened in this chapter will be explained/reiterated after in the next chapters , but without such a vivid focus like here (which could be quite unsettling or too heavy to read for some).

---

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

"I had a dozen of em in the tray and more than 'alf of them are gone now!"

The baker roared at the shivering bluenet who simply felt the gust of anger being thrown in his face. His large bronze orbs were glazed and wide as he didn't want to keep looking at the man's raging visage , it was making him overwhelmingly nervous as it is , but his eyes just couldn't dare to look elsewhere as he remained stuck on the spot like a statue in the square , unable to think anything through as a volley of accusations came at him with no remorse.

"Why are they gone?!"

The man questioned him again , to which he simply just shrunk in his shoes even more , barely being able to process the words being shouted at him as he could feel more unwanted gazes pinning on him , and everything feeling dizzy and loud after that.

'I don't know where his things have gone!'

'Why is he asking me?!'

'I didn't do anything!'

As if the burly baker got impatient from having his question left in the air unanswered by the brat , he spat out the answer himself with disgust as his fist pounded against the table in building up fury.

"They're gone cause you fucking stole em!"

From those words Jellal was ultimately left flabbergasted , unable to actually believe what was being told to him and actually becoming horrified himself that such an accusation would be thrown at him.

"N-No!"

"N-No I-I d-didn't!"

Somehow those words found a way to crawl out of his caving throat , leaving his mouth in a desperate spat as his small fists started to ball into themselves as he could feel his emotions surging but he didn't want to get overly emotional as it would have been mortifying in this situation as it is.

But with Jellal's attempts to convey his innocence in the matter , it seemed it all but fell on deaf ears as the baker seemed purely convinced that he was the culprit.

And he made no intention of not being subtle about that.

"Yes you did!"

The burly man scorned another bout of spit flying from his mouth through his seething. His beady eyes having hardened on the boy entirely as the once bustling and ignorant crowd watched on with whispers being exchanged as the drama played out.

"Fucking thief!"

The man named Jellal with venom on his tongue , causing the boy to nearly choke on the anxiety that was coursing throughout his body at a rate which was wholly uncomfortable. His watery gaze shedding out his lament as his tight throat tried to find it in him again to defend his innocence.

"I-I'm n-not a-a t-thief!"

"I-I d-didn't t-touch a-anything!"

He cried with his voice wobbling , the conviction in his words barely coming through due to the burdening weight on his heart that was getting heavier as this all went on. He could feel it was starting to get harder to breathe and things were starting to look bright to him , the only thing giving him some relief was the gusts of winds swirling around and keeping him cool as he could feel his frustration rising.

Though even with that tearful acclaim , it seemed it did nothing to budge the man's opinion on him. If anything it only increased the man's aggression as his voice gritted with even more undertones of disgust as he spat a new accusation at the bluenet.

One that he had been accused of before not too long ago.

And one that had his blood boiling the minute he heard it.

"You're a liar."

As Jellal heard those words being bellowed at him , it's like there was a switch in his feeble voice as his tempered exasperation started to come out with the heightened adamance he now had to completely dismiss that claim against him.

"N-NO I'M NOT!"

"I-I O-ONLY T-TOOK W-WHAT I-I B-BOUGHT!"

His whimpering and crackled tone developed with urgency as his voice was now lacing with strength other than the will to prove his innocence. His glazed gaze having become bloodshot through intensity as his hands pulled tighter onto his bags , unaware to him he was starting to actually tear into the material from the sheer strength of his grip.

"DON'T RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME YOU FUCKING BRAT!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

But it seemed him raising his voice wasn't an ideal move on his part as it only further incensed the man. Who had been staring at him all this time like he was a little roach , that stare had now morphed into something more rigid and distasteful as his change in attitude was not something appreciated.

But that didn't stop Jellal from going on.

"Y-YES I DID!"

"A-AND I-I'M NOT A L-LIAR!"

"O-OR A T-THIEF!"

"I-I'M N-NOT E-EITHER!"

"I-I'M I-INNOCENT!"

The words left him almost in an aggressive choke , and he didn't even understand why he had gotten so incensed by those words alone , something about being accused of something so wrong unjustly just got to him like nothing else. The same happened when Zekiel called him out to be a cheater and a liar , and now even with a grown man who was probably 5x his size and who was evidently cross with him , he still had that flare in him which somehow dismissed those factors of fear that had been addling him just so he could do himself justice.

Though as he was coming down from his emotional rush and he could feel his reddened face cool down with both the streaming of his tears and the wind and rain starting to come over , he found himself witnessing the sight of the man who had gone unexpectedly quiet.

And was now leaving the back of his stall.

To come to him.

"Oh yeah?"

Jellal watched the man approach him with stilled and blurred vision , his stomach beginning to drop as the man's footsteps echoed in his ears and that weakness inside him lurched inside painfully again like before , having his legs trembling and his chest now feeling tight as the man soon came to tower over him.

"Then let me see your bags."

Rather than a request , the words came out like a demand. It took Jellal a few seconds to understand what had been said as his mind had been so seized by this change in tension , but then he felt meaty hands pulling away at his bags and trying to yank them out , unknowingly tearing the fabric at the bottom before his hold eventually withered.

He could feel his heart racing as he saw his bags being taken from him , his mind almost unable to think about anything in the moment due to being stunned by this unjust invasion of privacy. But with the anxiety and discomfort that was festering inside him , he quelled away the bad feeling with thoughts of truth.

That if the man would look through his bags , he would see there was nothing in there.

Nothing but that he had been purchasing through honest means.

And through that he would know he was accusing him unjustly.

And he would be made to be the bigger idiot.

And everyone would know who was in the right

And who was in the wrong.

Atleast…

That's what he thought.

He was forced to watch as the man emptied out his shoppings onto the floor with no care. Throwing what wasn't of his interest as he scoured through the bags aimlessly. His eyes watched with horror as all the food he bought was messed up onto the floor and the things storing it were made to crack and become ruined on the cold ground.

Eggs cracking all over.

Milk being spilt.

Flour being spread.

And everything just wasted.

Though before that sorrow could truly settle into him with the lead forming in his throat , the final revelation came through as finally the bags were nearly emptied out and something came to light.

"So what are these then?"

His heart came to a stop as his bronze orbs soon came to realise the presence of something he didn't expect that had been hidden deep underneath one of the bags without his knowledge.

Almost like they had been tucked away neatly into them as if trying to conceal their presence.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The pastries.

The ones that had been stolen.

"W-Wha-"

He could not contain his shock as the word barely left his lips in the moment , his whole body beginning to quiver as his chest started to squeeze with the sound of whispers and murmurs growing with disgust as he watched the man holding the pastries in a bag throw them to the floor alongside in disgust.

The action shocked Jellal , but even more with what came next.

"Thought you were smart weren't you?"

"Little fucking thief!"

Without warning , before he could react he felt his cloak that had been concealing the majority of his face being ripped off with startling aggression. And it was after that he felt a whole new wave of hell be unleashed on him as everything heightened from there.

"Is that…?"

"Oh gods it's…"

"What a wretched being…"

"How dare that little brat have such…"

He could hear all sorts of comments being mentioned around him , barely able to single onto one or the other as he felt a kick to his stomach by courtesy of the man who's anger had heightened by folds through this new reveal.

"Now I get it."

"Not just a fucking thief."

"Or a fucking liar."

Jellal keeled over with his arms holding his stomach , almost being sick then and there but before that bile could come up , there was another merciless blow given to his gut and a bit below too that had him falling straight to his knees.

"But a fucking devil too."

He heaved in agony , his whole being on the verge of trembling to oblivion as a spur of blood came from his lips mixed with slight bile. His quietened sobs had come back in full force as he desperately tried to make some kind of explanation on his behalf about this occurrence.

"W-Wait…T-This i-is a-all w-wrong!"

He cried , still in intense shock that those things had been found in his possession. Tears leaked heavily from his distraughtly wide orbs as people looked on and whispered between themselves in disgust , but he still tried to explain for himself.

"I-I d-don't know h-how t-those g-got there!"

"P-Please l-listen-"

Another kick was given to him , making the young bluenet fall to the floor with his back sprawled out on the concrete. A strained scream leaving his blood covered lips as he felt a merciless pressure being used to stomp on his calf.

"P-PLEASE!"

His cries for mercy intensified and were left lingering unheard in the hushed market square as they developed from desperate attempts to be heard to simply stop the man from abusing him.

But it did nothing.

And no one did a thing.

Other than watch.

Other than whisper.

As he was being beaten cruelly in front of them all and becoming a mess through both his incurred injuries and the effects of fear and humiliation.

He felt one of his legs being stomped out by the man's weight , as if he was intent on breaking his limb then and there. Choked sobs and shrieks leaving his being as his vision spun from both being incessantly confused and just absolutely mortified.

Unable to think of anything other than.

How did this come to be?

He didn't do anything like this. He didn't steal. He didn't touch anything he was meant to , he had been doing his errands as needed and been with his friends the whole time and-

A thought pulsed through his mind and spurned in action through Jellal's body as he got a sudden rush to move away from the man's abuse and go to the only ones who could prove his innocence.

His friends.

With a throat ripping scream , the boy used whatever strength lingered inside him to scramble away from the wrath the baker had unleashed on him and his eyes desperately starting to look around for his group of friends.

The ones that would vouch for him and be able to clear the claim that he wasn't all these things he was being told.

And he could see that they were at the side , having appeared in time and that he would be able to ask them for help in this matter.

"Fucking cunt get back-"

Before the baker could unleash another spew of venom to the quivering bluenet , somehow Jellal found the will amongst it all to speak up against his searing anger and use his new found hope to try and beat that horrid fear and trepidation which was threatening to subdue him completely

"M-My f-friends!"

He screeched at the baker , feeling the rawness in his throat burn from the blood that was spewed out and bile that had followed with it.

"M-My f-friends can t-tell you!"

"T-They've been with me!"

"T-They've been watching what I d-did!"

His glazed orbs watched the man in fear as he shuffled backwards with pain writhing through him , his gaze moving frantically between the approaching man and those who he could see on the side.

Eventually having shuffled to where they were standing in their usual huddle , he turned to them in utter humility with his hands clasping at their legs , unable to do more than that as his leg had been nearly incapacitated through the man's actions.

"P-Please tell him i-i'm not what he s-says I-I am!"

"T-That I-I d-didn't d-do t-this!"

He told them all who were just looking down at him , wordlessly and that emotions hidden in their still orbs as he started to literally beg them for someone to be his saviour.

"A-Asta?"

Using what will power he could even in the face of something so humiliating they would understand his desperation.

"A-Alma?"

Understand his avid fear and the injustice that he was going through at the hands of something he didn't understand and that was wholly uncalled for.

"K-Kaden?"

Hoping that one of them would speak up for him even in the face of this man's burning aggression and hostility.

"Z-Zekiel?"

Even if it was terrifying and even if they felt at unease themselves because of what was happening due to all the eyes on them.

"L-Lars?"

Because it would be the right thing for them to do in the face of such cruelty. It would be the right thing for them to do for someone they considered their friend. No matter the odds , they needed to be the ones to help bear justice and shed light onto this horrible misunderstanding.

'Why are none of them talking to me?'

But instead of being met with any form of response to his calls , he was met with something completely unwanted. None of them even wanted to move , none of them even wanted to say anything. Even with the glances that they were piercing him through , those soon were dismissed as they looked elsewhere and shuffled away silently.

As if they didn't want anything to do with him.

As if…

They were ignoring him?

'What's going on?'

'Why aren't they doing anything?'

Though before he could ruminate on that , from the corner of his eye he caught the sight of the one guy who definitely could vouch for him and would have to. Since he was the key witness of his actions at the stall , and he was someone who wasn't scared of a lot like the rest of them.

So he had to speak on his behalf.

He had to save him.

"M-Marik!"

The bluenet cried as he clutched at the feet of the leader in avid hope.

"P-Please!"

His eyes glazing over in another round of tears as his large orbs looked at the boy pleadingly , his tears spilling over with no limit as he could barely choke out his appeals.

"Y-You w-were there with me!"

"Y-You k-know I d-didn't do a-anything!"

His shaking fingers held the boy's ankles with more desperation , with each word that left the depths of his caving chest. His eyes stinging and his throat going raw from just how urgent he was for the boy to listen to his request.

Marik's eyes looked down at him , something hardening in his gaze as his vision trained on the azure haired child , fists unknowingly clenching with each plea he heard being wrenched out through the boy's futile hopes as his features tightened on themselves.

"P-Please M-Marik!"

Jellal pleaded once again , sniffling at the boy's foot as he saw some sort of motive forming on the boy's face. His heart beating wildly as he wondered if Marik was actually going to come through for him and be the saviour he needed this time.

But those thoughts were proven horribly wrong.

When he heard what finally the ebony haired boy had to announce.

"I saw you steal."

And everything just seemed to stop for him then and there.

"You told me to be quiet about it."

"Otherwise you'd hurt me."

"And you'd hurt my friends too."

Marik told the world with no hesitation as he glared at the azure haired boy with his true intentions for once. The boy simply left in nothing but absolute shock as his vision fixated on the taller boy with nothing coming through to his mind , other than this strange thought that had struck alarmingly in his mind.

It made sense now.

All the confusion and mystery about this guy and his ways , it made sense to him. Those weird smiles that he would give , those riddles he would talk in , all those times he would try to get him away from the group.

It made sense.

The friend he was trying to be to him , trying to be considerate and include him in and trying to make him feel like he meant something to them after that day.

It was all a lie.

Everything that had been happening between them to make him feel comfortable and at ease after they had shown their true colours against him , it was all one big lie.

And now he was finally exposing it.

Finally getting him into the loop.

'He lied to me…'

'He lied to me so much…'

His grip withered away from the boy's ankles as it just started to process in him what actual joke his trust and good intent had been taken for. What actual joke that he had been taken for. And had always been taken for.

'He was lying to me…'

'He was lying to me all this time…'

Tears fell from his still orbs in plentiful measure , though it wasn't sure from what as his body just shook from trying to fathom this realisation. His mind having completely switched from seeing the compassionate and kind leader that he envisioned the boy to be like and aspired to be alike to , now having morphed into something that caused him disgust beyond words.

And all he had to say after finally coming back to his senses…

Was this.

"Y-You…"

"L-liar…"

The words croaked from his throat , barely sounding to the world but having been clearly heard by the child it was being directed to as a smirk finally revealed itself to the bluenet's visage.

"Y-You…"

"L-Liar…"

He uttered again in complete shock , those words simply tumbling through his lips as reality was making sense to him finally , the missing piece of the puzzle slotted and his confusion cleared with just the truth hidden in these two words.

"Y-You…L-Liar…"

Two words that he couldn't stop repeating to himself as his clarity sharpened along with his rising and wrenching pain that was settling inside him as he continued to relay the truth to himself still caught in the waves of shock.

"Y-You're a l-liar…"

And each time he said it.

"Y-You've b-been…"

The pain was wrenching inside him deeper.

"...L-Lying to m-me…"

And deeper.

"A-All t-this…t-time…"

And as he kept doing so , the smirk on Marik's face grew with pride with each wave of betrayal and realisation that washed over the utterly distraught bluenet as his horrified orbs watched the epitome of malice grin at him with delight.

And that's when another thought started to make sense to him.

His sight wearily turned to the nearby charcoal haired boy that was starting to hide away behind in the surrounding crowd as he couldn't bear to meet Jellal's direct gaze.

The murky eyed boy having nothing able to say or do other than watch it all unfold like he was meant to , but that lack of action and interaction that he gave in that split moment , it gave the bluenet all the understanding he needed to actually comprehend all that had been adding to him.

'He never said anything weird…'

'He was warning me…'

'He knew this…'

That's when his gaze turned to the other surrounding kids who were now glaring at him and more confident in showing their intentions along with their leader who was shamelessly grinning with pride. And that alone told him everything he needed to know about the real nature of all these kids as realisation upon realisation enlightened him tragically.

'They all did…'

'They all knew what he was up to…'

'They all knew he's a liar…'

'They're all liars…'

Though as the young boy was slowly starting to come to terms with the magnitude of plot against him even in the pitiful state he was all this time , the strength in his hands started to develop again with a rush of emotions he didn't even know or could describe as the proclamations he was making to himself finally sounded out to the world around in a fit of broken hysteria.

'That's what you are…'

As he knew what the truth was now.

'You're a liar…'

'Such a liar…'

'You're a liar…'

And he wanted all around him to know it too.

"Y-YOU'RE A L-LIAR!"

The words roared out of him in a deafening mixture of unsaid pain and anger with his vocal cords almost ripping from the tension as his hands threateningly clawed at the boy from underneath.

His sudden recovery from his stage of sorrow brought momentary shock to the older boy as he felt his calves being pulled with a strength that threatened to bend and crush them as nails began to dig past his clothing and into his flesh as the boy underneath him was starting to show colours he had never seen.

"MARIK!"

The name left his lips with a shattering volume that was enlaced with a maelstrom of emotions. With his teeth bared from such an intensity of frustration inside him , the coming rush that suddenly rippled through him was almost enough for him to actually bring the boy with him to the cold stone (and now wet) floor with him from how intent he was to just-

"Don't raise your hands on me fucking devil!"

Marik sneered as he quickly evaded Jellal's attempts to bring him into a brawl by kicking the boy away into the distance enough so that he would crumple on his own injuries. A cry left the young boy's lips as he fell mercilessly on the weight of his battered leg , sprawled out on the floor with his pains beginning to wrack him more intensely before he heard footsteps approaching him in both directions.

"You dare try to accuse me after what the fuck you did?"

Marik sneered as he walked up to the injured bluenet before he delivered another sharp kick to the boy's stomach that had him splurging out another bout of blood.

"And after you got caught too?"

The people around watched in repulsion at the blue haired devil's actions , vividly abhorred by his actions and audacity to treat others in such a cruel and atrocious manner. It was thanks to the gods that he had been exposed for what he was and could be given rightful punishment for his ways.

"Learn where you stand, you little shit."

Jellal heaved as he felt his mouth filling with thick blood and burning again. His body still shaking through a storm of emotions yet unable to express any of it as he was kicked over and with no remorse by the older boy , who's smirk had grown into a wide and pleased grin as he uttered those final words.

The baker man who was watching as the devil kid was beaten horrifically by the older child . walked up to the pair and gave his final bout of abuse. Stepping on the boy's forearm that was attached to the hand he used to try to make another attempt at grabbing at Marik , and hearing him squeal and watching him squirm as his bones underneath were almost somewhat crushed before letting up after as his beady eyes hardened with even more contempt.

"I can't waste my time on this irritating little cunt anymore."

The baker man finally announced as he had enough of this devil's drama. Absolute nonsense this was and this bastard had the audacity to disrupt everyone's life with his fiendish acts and lies. Good that he had been caught before he could get away with it. And good that Marik had informed him about it before he could make the getaway.

"Make sure you teach him a lesson."

The burly baker man sneered as he took one last look of despising the blue haired brat before accumulating a wad of spit in his mouth and directing it at him.

"Of course."

Marik accepted the offer with pleasure , his honeyed orbs sharpening with glee as he looked at the disoriented tattooed boy who's features were all scrunched up in pain after having tried to amount to something more than pathetic. A laugh broke out of his lips as he kicked the bluenet again in the ribs , seeing more blood being vomited out of his lips as he took time savouring to defile the marked fiend like he always wanted.

"A devil needs to know his limits."

People watched on as the young child was mercilessly beaten by the older boy , his blood and bile being upchucked more times than preferred and staining the stone pavement and parts of the clothes he wore with a putrid colour and smell before being washed slowly by the incoming rain.

The crowd still not having dissipated as they watched the chastisement of the one that bore the devil's blood silently and some enjoined in encouraging his suffering with cheering the older boy on to do more.

And make the devil child really pay,

And regret what he did and dared..

As this bizarre humiliation unfolded with nothing but bitter remarks and disgusted stares shared between the spectators there, there was no knowing how many hits he had taken , nor how much time had passed.

The only indication to him that the world wasn't paused in this utterly cruel moment was the weighted torrent of rain that was splattering against the dirtied pavement and washing away the evidence of his pain and weakness , only to have more be beaten out of him.

Eventually he did feel the torment start to subside. Either from his body getting used to the beatings or maybe his tormentor getting bored of his repeated form of abuse. He didn't know what the answer was to that change , and didn't care to think about it , just revelling in the fact that he was finally feeling some sort of break after this hell had been unleashed and the agony wasn't as unbearable as it had been.

Tears washed down the blood from his face and his body became uncomfortably still from both the aftermath of torment that wracked him and from coming to terms with all the different eyes that were watching his humiliation.

And some who were enjoying it.

Sobs only managed to leave his throat , the will to do anything leaving his mind other than the desire to curl up and cry , to bury himself in a place so deep and dark so no one would ever see him.

Or even know he existed.

He didn't care how pathetic it sounded , it's all he wanted now.

To be away from everything.

To be away from everyone.

To be away from this cruelty.

But that would only be allowed to happen after his punishment was done.

And unfortunately for him.

Marik was just starting.

"Guys help me with this."

The older boy signalled over to his lackies as he directed them to take the boy into a hold , too disgusted to do it himself.

"I got a little devil blood on my shoe because of him and I need you to hold him still while he cleans it."

Marik announced with sadistic glee as he glanced over at the drenched boy who didn't even wish to look up from the mess around him and see what misery was incoming. Zekiel having left the crowd to take the boy into a hostile hold with his arms yanked behind him , ripping another shriek from the bluenet as Lars joined the picture and got his fist tangled in azure locks.

Jellal heaved to himself , trying to recollect from the pain and disarray he felt until his face came in contact with a striking kick from the side of his face and more blood spewed out of him , from both his mouth and leaking nose which made the older boy scoff at the mess made.

"You've gone and got me dirty even more."

Marik sneered as he started to push his blood and slightly bile splattered boot towards the younger boy's features , which had him almost reeling back immediately , but that reaction was met with punishment at Zekiel's tightening grip and all 3 of them laughed at the cries wrenched out of him.

"Now you'll have to clean me."

"And I want you to do it with what it came out of."

Jellal felt his senses immediately repulse as the smell of thinning copper and the rancid odour of acidic sharpness was brought close to his mouth and nose. His throat already starting to rush with another bout of acerbity , willing to spill it onto the floor beneath him and coat himself and that nearby him again in acrid measure.

"Because that's what a devil blood like you only has worth doing."

But because of what Marik was intending for him with his boot so close to his mouth , his lips tried to evade any form of contact , swallowing down what revulsion he felt , and keep his mouth closed for dear life , as he didn't wish to submit to these cruel whims.

Not to this .

Not like this.

Not to him .

Though he didn't know how long that resistance of his would last as it seemed the odds were already working against his favour. His stomach that had been in the process of churning all this time since the ordeal had started , was beginning to become more alarming in movement as he actually felt the urge of repulsion and bitterness starting to work up his throat even more with the accumulation of all that he had been exposed to starting to disgustingly lurch out at him.

From all the anxiety he had suffocating his chest.

From all the humiliation that he endured.

From the sheer horror he was feeling.

From the reality that was exposed to him.

From the cruelty that had been condemned on him.

He could feel his throat beginning to burn again despite his attempts to swallow it down , tears searing his puffy and reddened orbs as his stomach started to make repulsive sounds. His body began to shake as he finally allowed himself to gasp out for air to quell that incoming nausea , evading the taste of that which was being forced on him by craning his head to the side instantly. And after doing so , trying to bury his head away into himself so he wouldn't have to risk having to commit to what the older boy wanted.

But because of that he heard another round of shameless cackling that came from the older boy and his lackies who were clearly amused by this futile reaction.

The laughter ringing in his ears was filled with such viciousness and pride . Just listening to it alone sent chills through his already shuddering body. As if he was in the midst of the epitome of grave evil himself , but yet he was the one that was in the wrong and he was the one who was named the devil.

And all he could only asked was,

Why?

"Get it nice and clean Fernandes "

Marik sneered as Lars yanked the boy's head back to get another shriek emanate from his throat whilst trying to stop him from taking cover from what was expected of him. When that happened , another shedding of tears came from his immense reserve of grief and sorrow , almost like it was never ending.

His bloodied and dirtied face that tried hiding away into the wet ground underneath him , was jerked up to face Marik's obvious pleasure-ridden and contorted features. Even with the blur that was covering his vision and the rain obscuring it even more , he could still see just the sheer level of pride and glee the boy was radiating from this.

He was enjoying this.

Enjoying making him suffer.

Enjoying making him cry.

He was enjoying this greatly.

An action that he never would have believed if he had been told before given how much he esteemed the boy and his actions. Given how much he looked up to him and gave him trust due to what he showed him. An action he would have considered to be nothing more than a cruel joke as this wasn't who he believed his friend was.

His friend to be.

But they weren't friends.

None of them were.

Never had been.

It was all one sided.

A delusion used to fool him.

A cruel joke of the dreams he had.

And that was the shocking reality of it.

That all of this that had been done to gain his trust and compliance , was being used for nothing other than this. Just a means to give him more pain. As if it wasn't enough with what they left him with on that day. As if their sole purpose for everything towards him was nothing but to make him miserable and hurt.

Despite the fact he genuinely tried to see them as good people.

Despite the fact he genuinely believed they were amending their ways.

Despite the fact that he genuinely wanted them to be his good friends.

And all of that having been turned into such a sick and twisted ploy…

He had no words to express just how much he was feeling.

Or what he was feeling.

Other than this.

"W…Why…?"

That was all he could muster to the mastermind of it all. The one who had literally devised such a plan just with the sole intention of bringing him harm. And that's the only question he had for him.

Why?

Because at the end of the day he truly did not know what he did to deserve this treatment. He did not know what he did for the boy and his friends to be so hateful towards him. For them to conspire to such a degree against him and his innocent intentions. To go to such an extent just to humiliate him. Just to deceive him. And bring him under their feet.

Just why?

Though as he watched Marik's sadistic delight come to an evident pause as he seemed to glare down at his pathetic state , he felt his gaze training on the right side of his face.

Virulence fuelled his doings as his honey gaze darkened with another depth of contempt and he wordlessly ordered Lars and Zekiel's grip on his waterlogged locks and beaten arms to tighten with such deadly measure , he thought his hair was going to be ripped out and his limbs crippled.

"Shut up."

That was the only answer given to his question.

That was the only answer he deserved.

And after that the pain was made to commence once again.

"A-AAAAARGHHH!"

Though as Jellal was put through another throe of pain through the indirect hands of the ebony haired boy , before his face could be brought closer to the blood and bile covered object , and then directed to commit the disgusting intentions Marik had in store for him , tensions somehow subsided as the boy found the weight holding him back lifted suddenly.

And his head stopped being yanked up.

What had happened?

There was the sound of footsteps seeming to rush away all of a sudden , leaving him entirely confused as to why they stopped defiling him when they had been doing it so eagerly. But even though that thought existed in his head for a brief moment , he felt that he could breathe better again as it started to become clear to him that nothing more was going to happen.

And that gave him relief he couldn't describe.

However it wasn't something he could just savour in measure.

The reason why soon revealed to him.

As after a few moments of realising that he had been released from Marik's directed hostage , he lifted his head , blinking away the tears that blinded his eyes as he saw a couple of legs that had appeared in front of his being that he was now staring up at.

A pair he vaguely remembered somehow.

A new glare he could feel had trained on him , sharper and more intense than those surrounding him yet somehow familiar. He noticed that the pairs of legs in front of him were adorning a lengthy skirt that reached all the way to the ankles just like the stone faced ladies always wore.

And it didn't take him long to make the connection with what he heard next.

"Oh gods…."

"What have you been doing, you insolent brat?!"

The elderly stone faced lady who was there after going to look for where the child disappeared to after being sent out , gasped in tempering fury but also embarrassment as she looked over at his pathetic conditions and the messed up food that was nearby , evidently wasted and thrown in array and having become nothing but inedible and repulsive because of so.

"Get up!"

The old lady commanded , uncaring of actually understanding what physical state he was in as she was too engulfed in the fact that so many people were looking their way and making remarks amongst themselves , which silently had her blood boiling more.

"I said get up!"

Vera gruffed , the young boy hearing the hidden anger starting to intensely develop as he tried to comply with the orders , but he found even trying to lift himself up onto even his less battered limbs , he fell forward pathetically. Unable to support himself.

And this made her very angry.

"Good gods…"

Jellal felt his body being forcefully hoisted up from the floor , his face unwilling to meet the woman who was in a strange way his saviour as he already could imagine what sort of expression existed there. She just did the minimum to get him back to his feet before he felt his ear being clipped by the vicious grasp of the old woman who seemed disgusted even having to touch him.

Whether that was because of what state she found him he was in,

Or just because of what she thought him to be.

He didn't know.

But he didn't have time to know as her voice slithered into his disoriented senses ,

And she uttered these words to him in a low threat,

"Watch what happens to you for doing this…"

All from which he felt the tightness in his chest start back up again.

---

"WHY DID YOU STEAL?"

The old woman roared at him , who was crumpled on the floor in a small corner of the threshold of his stony prison. Having been thrown to the floor as soon as they arrived home , Vera made no haste with beginning his impending doom as the boy had already become an inconsolable mess on the way back.

Whether that was due to the pain of the injuries that were incurred by the time she got there. Or the fact she had been tugging him by the ear with such force it was almost like it was going to come off. Or that he had been in fear that had fully seized him due to being caught in the midst of his wrong doings and she was going to make sure he regretted his mischief…

She didn't know.

And frankly.

She didn't care either.

Because that blue haired brat had shown to be exactly what she had always thought him to be this time. He'd shown his true colours. The devil blood finally started to show its effect in him and now she knew for sure that this spawn would be no less of a trouble than it's wretched father.

And now something had to be done so it knew it's limits.

"SAY SOMETHING YOU DESPICABLE DEVIL BLOOD!"

She hissed as she got the thorny cane dripping with fresh blood and leaking onto the cold stone floor ready again. Grabbing one of the child's hand's forcefully and threatening to strike another laceration into his already punished palms. The skin having become so inflamed and reddened , there was no trace of the creamy pale skin that usually existed underneath. To the point that it couldn't be told which cut started and which one ended.

But that didn't stop her from giving more.

"WHY DID YOU STEAL?!"

Awaiting for the azure haired boy to finally give an answer that was satisfactory about his crime , she held the cane brandished high with threat , aimed at his bloodied fingers that were pulled taut. Ready to create another laceration as her beady eyes watched the helpless boy quiver like a leaf before she finally heard him speak again.

"I-I D-DIDN'T!"

And it wasn't what she wanted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Jellal cried out again , feeling the strike of the wood being swiped down onto his left open palm again , and this time leaving a deeper cut than the last that was left behind because he said something else which wasn't wanted.

His voice having become so raw and throaty with how much he was made to scream and cry from the irate torment he was being made to endure due to the old lady's boiling wrath.

The pain felt exceptionally apparent and more agonising than he could usually endure as he had been fed some sort of drug beforehand which made his senses and nerves hyper reactive and the touch on them so intense , just the slightest graze was enough to make him scream.

And she had been hitting him for he doesn't know how long now , hitting his palms and even just him in general. Allowing that horrific and blood coated cane to hit where it saw fit and where anger directed it to. And because of that , draw more red and deepen it on his battered body in measure.

His large bronze orbs looked at his lacerated palms through a blurred gaze , his small features crumpling on themselves with each passing second that was made to feel like hell's fire was burning into his affected wounds and searing into his cells. He choked on another round of incoming grief as he couldn't think about anything other than the shot of pain that was seizing his hands viciously.

"I'LL ASK YOU AGAIN ."

Vera bellowed as she got the cane ready to rip through more skin on his fingers , feeling the bluenet come to a forced still as her booming voice registered in his frightened ears unwillingly. His large eyes that hadn't stopped looking at his tormentor even with the anger she was bearing on him in the fear that she'd hurt him even more , and him doing that annoyed her to no end.

"WHY DID YOU STEAL?!"

She was getting tired of hearing his denials , every time she was hitting him and all he did was insist he didn't. Even though the people at the marketplace watched him get exposed. Even though another child outed him for his depraved actions and he had been found with the evidence of the crime.

It was actually incredulous that this little devil was going to such an extent to claim he was innocent.

As if he actually believed he was.

Despite all the people who could testify to his crime.

He really knew no bounds.

It made her so disgusted.

"I-I D-DIDN'T!"

"I-I S-SWEAR!"

"P-PLEASE!"

He bawled with his stream of tears washing away residue of dried blood on his face and dampening some of it that had seeped into his trouser. He whimpered to himself , even afraid to be heard as all his mind could contrive for the answers to the old lady's harsh words and incessant berating were the truth that he couldn't deny.

That he didn't do it.

He didn't steal.

He never touched anything he wasn't meant to.

Telling her all that and more each time she had been interrogating him , and each answer he gave led to fire being left on his skin again by the fury of the ripping cane. Being made to cry to no end as all his mouth could muster was just to continue to prove his innocence in hope that she would see the truth.

See that he was absolutely genuine in the matter.

That he never wanted to do something like that.

And cause embarrassment and drama.

But sadly…

That just wasn't the case.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

Another violent throw of the cane came at him , this time nipping against his open and bloodied palm and the length of his forearm. Immediately drawing out blood with the contact and ripping through what was once intact and ivory toned creamy skin.

Though with that final cry that was wrenched out of his sore throat , he saw the cane being dropped by the old woman in a fit of annoyance. His sniffles and whimpers ringing in his hyper sensitive ears as he started to ball up into his bloodied and battered self and move in closer to the stone wall behind him.

The old lady was starting to move away from him and he thought that finally she had brought an end to his punishment.

But how wrong he was for thinking that.

"Still insistent on claiming your innocence?"

Vera scoffed as she had enough of hearing this devil's lies as she turned to go to the stove and went to collect the water she had been boiling for some time now. Usually that would be done for cooking , but with this brat's level of audacity…

She had something else in mind.

"Disgusting devil…"

"Caught in the act yet so adamant with his lies…"

She mumbled to herself as she started to transfer the liquid that was brought to a strikingly hot temperature into another pot.

One that kept the temperature intact for longer.

Her teeth gritted with contempt as she could hear the boy snivelling away in the corner he had been in for a couple of hours now since she arrived from taking him from that embarrassment.

"Corrupted brat…"

"EXACTLY like that fiendish bastard of a father…"

"It really does run in the blood…"

Vera hissed with venom as she recalled the distasteful actions that she remembered of the devil himself the spawn had come from. On top of being a sociopath , the man had been found out to be a thief with his rotten ways even at young. Taking the hard work of others for his own benefit and doing whatever damn thing he felt like.

It was so repulsive.

And infuriating.

That someone like this had to be the one to infiltrate the bloodline of the blessed protectors.

Abuse the trust of the country and the capital.

Attempt to set an attack on the nation he was born and brought up in.

And if that wasn't bad enough.

Whilst he got away without suffering any form of punishment and went to gods knows where.

The fiend had the sheer audacity to leave his depraved spawn to spread immorality alongside even without his presence..

Gods how she HATED that man…

And everything related to him.

Jellal took deep and heavy breaths to try and recollect himself. Everything hurt , even breathing. Whether that was due to what he was fed or just from the non stop crying and screaming he had been doing and had finally been given some pause , he didn't know.

All he knew was it hurt.

A lot.

His body was shaking and shivering from the sheer pain that he had been made to go through finally having come to a stop. His ears still ringing fresh with all the screaming and shouting that occurred , both from his own throat and the old lady's venom.

And his mind was nothing but fixated on the spew of degrading and cruel insults and labels that were unleashed onto him with no end.

Good for nothing.

Disgraceful.

Shameless.

Depraved.

And so many more.

The worst one being this one that stuck to his thoughts the most.

Devil blood.

Something that he had been called by not just the old lady who had been beating him with no remorse for time on end , but also what he had been called by the boy who had done such a big deceit against him. And not just him , but also the angry baker man after he had seen his face.

And even the whispers of the people who were around watching him get humiliated.

They were all referring to him as that or something related to 'Devil' , and he honestly couldn't understand why? He couldn't understand anything at all anymore , not even a semblance of it.

Other than the fact he had been continually lied to.

He had been wholly deceived.

He had been shamelessly betrayed.

He had his trust played with.

But at the end of the day ,

He was a devil.

Why?

The cruel realisation of this thought had more tears leaking out of Jellal's large and puffed up eyes as he looked at the extent of his injuries on his hand and could make out massive spots of red and darkened tones to signify clotting. He wept from the searing agony he was feeling , hoping that this was finally the end of it all and that he could just forget this whole nightmare happened.

But when he heard footsteps re-approaching.

He learnt that desire had already been rendered futile.

"Little devil…"

Vera spat as she brought the pot of boiling water in front of the fear filled bluenet , who just looked up from his miserable state with his blurry gaze widening as he took in detail of this new item that was brought in front of him.

A large pot that seemed to be filled with something.

'?'

And with what he heard next.

He had no choice but to find out why,

"The old punishments aren't working for you anymore are they?"

She sneered as her eyes almost burned from having this azure haired abomination enter her vision again. Almost tempted to throw the pot of scalding water on him just due to her hate for such wretched beings , but keeping herself in check as she decided to let the bastard child himself find out what was in store for him and his lies.

"You think your special blood can save you because you're more resistant than most isn't that right?"

Jellal blinked as short gasps left his vacillating lips as he couldn't comprehend what the woman was referring to. Whether it was another ruthless jab at him or anything that had weight.

His stilled orbs cautiously looked at the pot that was emitting steam and then the etched stoniness of the elderly woman who had some sort of intention in store for him.

"I have other things up my sleeve to make you squirm devil child."

And it wasn't long until he found out what.

"I wasn't a feared warden in my time for rotten delinquents like you for nothing!"

Without warning the woman lunged for the boy's hands , making him become initially still from the sudden contact and causing him to almost immediately fall back into hysteria as she brought both his blood drenched and ripped palms hovering above the boiling liquid before glaring at him with scorn.

"Which hand did you use to steal?"

She questioned him callously , the boy beginning to go into a frenzy as he started to realise her method as his lacerated palms were touched uncomfortably by the billowing steam that was entering his blood and driving his nerves crazy by the increased heat.

"I-I D-DON'T K-KNOW!"

Not even knowing if what he cried out made sense to what was being asked , he shrieked his response mindlessly in hope that the differing answer would keep him from being forced to endure any more dues of punishment.

But given the features that hardened on the woman's face from hearing such a pathetic answer.

That was not the case.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

His weary throat ripped out a shriek that almost deafened him on the spot as one hand was thrusted into the searing liquid from the wrist down. Feeling his lacerated skin immediately being attacked by unnatural temperatures that made him cry with no shame as painful blisters started to form all around his hand and his skin was beginning the process of scalding before it was momentarily taken out.

"Oh you don't know now is that?"

She scoffed at his change of words , even more disgust ridding her blood from the fact he couldn't even keep up with the lies he was blatantly proclaiming with the past hours of beatings. Surely by turning up the heat on his chastisement , she was finally going to get this devil brat to suffer and remember it.

And look at the promising effect that was already having?

"What happened to you saying you didn't do anything?"

The young boy couldn't pay attention to anything that was being said , his mind just completely focused on the sensation of skin beginning to peel off from his affected hand and intensify alongside with the searing aftermath. The thing that he had been fed made him feel the shot of pain through literally every inch of where he had been abused , and feel all the measure of it too.

"ANSWER ME BRAT!"

The elderly woman bellowed before she dipped the same hand again into the crimson turned liquid. Wrenching out another excruciating roar that had his throat feeling almost bloody from the magnitude the scream came out at. Tears lined his dimmed and startled eyes to no limit as he felt his burning skin taken in for a second plunge of that watery hell , and intensifying all the injuries touched yet again.

"I-I'M S-SORRY!"

"S-STOP! P-PLEASE!"

"S-STOP!"

He started to spew apologies out again like before , still not understanding if they meant anything or not , he just wanted to say whatever would calm the old lady's fury. He shook violently with each sob that broke out of him , his feeble clothing and parts of skin tasting the drops of searing water that would jump out of the pot and make him hiss in more pain before he was delivered to another bout of hell again.

As this wasn't the answer she was wanting.

"WHICH HAND DID YOU STEAL WITH?!"

She posed again , his ears echoing with her hostile venom as what fragments of his brain had not been overloaded with unbearable pain tried to make the best sense of what was being asked of him.

So he could formulate an answer that would please the woman.

"R-RIGHT!"

And she would stop torturing him.

"Hm?"

"R-RIGHT!"

Even if the words he said were a lie.

Because at that moment he couldn't care about doing what was correct or not. All he wanted to do was save himself and his body from having to endure more of this harrowing torment.

However even with that stance.

It barely did him any favours.

"DON'T JUST TELL ME ANYTHING!"

"I WANT THE TRUTH!"

She rebuked the young child harshly as she punished him again with another round of dipping his limb into the boiled pot , this time taking the other that had been left and letting the small appendage be scalded for a few seconds with the burns leading higher than the wrists before letting up as another cry of desperation ripped from Jellal's lips.

"I-I'M SORRY!"

"I-I'M SORRY!"

He could only muster as he just about deduced that the answer he said was not correct. He did not have the mind to question why , or why it had been rejected. All he had the mind to do was change it to something suitable so that his hands wouldn't be made to burn anymore.

And his throat could finally stop hurting.

"L-LEFT!"

But…

Vera wasn't convinced with this answer either.

Her teeth gritted in her mouth as her hands started to hold both of the now scalded limbs with near crushing pressure. Hearing the boy whimpering and snivelling as he kept changing his answers , proving the right to label him a liar as he couldn't stay consistent with his narrative.

And because of that she punished him once more. Giving a double dip to his hands up to his wrists and holding them in the scalding liquid for a few seconds longer than before as another dreadful volley of shrieks pierced through the boy's throat and echoed from the stony walls.

Once she heard enough of his cries , she brought the limbs she bound out of the liquid hell and let them linger above the steam that was slowly starting to lessen from the crimson dyed water.

Her beady eyes looked up the messed up blue haired bastard , his clothing having become soiled through a repulsive concoction of blood , dried throw up , sticking sweat , saliva and even what could be smelt as tinges of urine from the level of fear that had him so badly shaken up.

Her senses were revolted for sure by the sight and smell of the tattooed abomination , however what got even more under her skin was how much the young devil actually resembled that heinous traitor.

They were probably exactly like each other.

One devil gone in exchange for another to come to it's prime.

And that thought sickened her to a degree couldn't be described.

However as she was in the midst of refreshing that sheer hate she had for that blue haired bastard and it's marked spawn , the pitiful sound of a raw throat croaking hit her ears and she looked at him with a hardened gaze.

"P-Please…"

"P-Please…"

Jellal rasped out of his quivering lips as he couldn't find any other words to ask or help save himself other than those that wanted nothing other than mercy.

"I-I'm s-sorry…"

"I-I w-won't d-do i-it a-again…"

And those that accepted his admittance in a crime that he never even committed , but if it would make the lady stop and be happy to hear it , then he'd tell her that lie , and accept the brunt of being deemed a liar as long as she won't hurt him another time like this.

"J-Just p-please…"

"D-Don't h-hurt m-me a-again…"

He begged again with what breaths he could muster from the depths of his horribly beating chest. His voice barely sounded more than a whisper as it had lost nearly all its power now through being strained to no end. His large and tear stained orbs looked at the woman who had gone unnaturally quiet , her features slowly etching deeper onto her pale and aged complexion as her veins seemed to engorge more and become visible with the more he went on.

"P-Please!"

Jellal rasped through his overwhelming whimpers. Feeling the air thicken again with this uncomfortable silence as he watched the light eyes that had turned stone like watching him start to swirl with emerging fury. His sight looked down at what was beneath his vision immediately , seeing the dark red tinted water and how it had richened more with the measure of his blood.

The smell wafting around with the steam that was slowly dissipating , and the stench of thinned copper beginning to hit his nostrils along with all the other putrid odours he had started to realise as felt pressure returning to his wrists that were held.

Cementing fear inside him again,

And telling him the thing he dreaded the most now.

"Do you think your admittance and apologies mean anything after this?"

This was not over.

"YOU LITTLE DEV-"

"What's going o-"

Jellal heard the older woman's rant come to an unexpected pause which honestly puzzled him as he was just trying to brace what was to come next since it seemed she wasn't done with him.

But then soon he heard the sound of another entering the scene as footsteps came from nearby the entrance of the home , ringing in his ears with the clicking of shoes before a voice accompanied alongside.

A voice that he didn't know if it would bring him relief now.

Or fear.

Vera's head snapped in the direction of the approaching figure , her eyes widening as she released immediately who had come. Mika. Arriving for her late shift to keep guard over the wretched woman and the spawn.

Something she did in great measure and took up pretty much all the allotments for compared to the other 3 of them who did not wish to stay in this hell hole with these depraved beings longer than the capital asked of them.

Something that was genuinely of suspicion , as no one liked to be around these marked enemies of the gods and the people, so for her to take the night shifts onto herself…

And to do it with such readiness.

It was weird wasn't it?

There was the argument that Mika was an avid sadist and she liked to hang around due to one of the guards who would be here to usually apprehend the dreadful woman during her client visits was someone close to her. Family actually.

And the woman said that generally she just liked to spend time alone.

But with the appearance of the younger woman at this time.

And the vividly stunned features that she had from viewing the situation regarding the little brat's state.

And some other things that she had witnessed regarding the woman…

She couldn't help but have the doubt that ,

Was there something more to her behaviour?

As the young boy was allowed to collect his thoughts , his blurred vision cleared up enough to see that the new woman who had entered the scene was none other than the lady with the bandages. Her onyx like eyes trained on him as her usually still features morphed into something alike to near shock.

Or at least , that's what he thought it looked like.

"The brat caused a scene at the marketplace."

Vera spat in response to Mika's question. The noirette was still looking over at the scene and viewing all the details wordlessly as she seemed to be stuck in her own world , but the only notion that testified against that were the small sounds she made in response to what the older woman told her.

"And he's been stealing too."

Vera caught the sight of Mika's thin brows furrowing as she kept her gaze on the shocking state of the bluenet , nothing able to be told what she was feeling now as the dark haired woman commented with a low tone.

"Is that…so?"

"Yes."

The greying woman sneered again , taking another glare at the bluenet , her blood already boiling as her disgust was rising to levels that were making it unbearable to be near this atrocious child anymore. All her senses simply revolted by any semblance of him and just any mere closeness.

She got up from the floor she had been kneeling down on to meet the boy's level and released him from her grip like she had been touching something purely revolting. Her glower stayed on him for a few seconds more before she abruptly announced a change in decision.

"Mika!"

The noirette and he almost jolted from the sudden raise in tone from Vera's voice. Mika wordlessly looked over at the greying woman after having had her sight stuck on the blue haired boy long enough and observing his state , seeing the young child whimper and wish to curl up into himself as his hands bore shocking injuries.

Injuries he never attained before.

Injuries that she knew of.

"Yes...Mistress Vera?"

She asked with the same low tone , unreadable as ever as her slanted dark eyes looked at the woman with barely any show of expression to anything. Her thin lips pursed onto themselves as the next order came from the mistress's directive.

"I can't stand being so close to him anymore!"

"Just the sight of him is making my eyes burn!"

"You deal with him!"

Vera announced with scorn as she dusted off herself and commanded the younger woman to take her place , carefully watching as the noirette took a few moments to do so.

Her suspicions about the enigmatic woman's behaviour were static as she honestly could not tell what the lady was thinking with how quiet and distant she had become over the years.

And also with these accidents she kept having and becoming covered in bandages to no end.

As the switch between the ladies was happening and he watched as the dark haired woman came closer to his vision , his body trembled violently as he didn't want to know what she would unleash on him now that she had been told of a reason to punish him.

Now that she had a reason to hurt him.

And she was known to hurt him a lot.

But he didn't want to be hurt anymore.

He didn't even have any time to himself to cool down from the brunt of cruelty he went through at the old lady's hand as he could see Mika's intense gaze stuck on him , swirling with emotions again he didn't know.

It scared him greatly.

His still bronze orbs watched as the woman wordlessly bent down to the height of the pot , the elder woman still there watching her actions. The shuddering in his body became more violent as he was dreading when she would take a hold of him someway and submit him to that burning heat again.

Or worse.

But as he watched as the black haired woman neared her body to the pot , what she did next actually was not something either of them were expecting.

She moved it away.

Away from him.

Completely.

Away from harm's reach.

Something that left both he and Vera speechless.

And addled.

"Mika-!"

The elderly woman cried as she was starting to think her suspicions were correct about the younger woman and that she indeed did have ulterior motives regarding these wretched devils other than what the capital ordained. She was about to jump in place and reprimand the young woman herself , until she saw something that was starting to change her mind on the matter.

The woman stood up tall and unnaturally rigid , towering over the cowering young boy who had a feeling that the act of moving the burning water wasn't the end of this all. Her shadow loomed over him as he caught sight of her still face looking down at him with some form of intent swirling which still had his heart beating frantically.

Standing over him menacingly , and without even saying a word , she watched him with eeriness alike to a monster from the abyss , just waiting for the perfect time to lunge at it's prey.

Her eyes trained on every feature that had been marred or scarred through injury before focusing on his face. Some parts dried with blood , eyes gone red from crying with no pause , the sheer tremble that was trying to hide away from sight but only amplified with her presence as she looked at him directly in the eyes.

His heart felt like it was going to stop as her gaze was so piercing , it's like it was looking deep into his soul and uncovering all his secrets. His throat felt thick as he swallowed the rawness and couldn't look away as she had him frozen in that unknown gaze she easily turned him to stone with.

His own bronze and tear blinded orbs swirled with emotion , fear and desperation prevalent as he silently begged the woman to have mercy on him. As he silently begged for her not to hurt him , and to understand that he didn't want anymore pain.

He had gone through enough.

He whimpered to himself , wanting to shuffle deeper into the wall behind him to hide away from all the threats harrowing him but he physically couldn't. So he held up his bloodied , lacerated , blistered and scalded hands up in hopeless defence , feeling pain shoot through his battered limbs as he did so yet he did anyway as the suffocating fright he felt was much worse.

Yelps threatened to rip from his lips again as his body still reacted to the writhing pain , but he pursued them tight in hope that he didn't let anything out.

His head gently shook in fear to convey the message that he desperately wanted her to hear.

The message that words hadn't been able to get him to be listened to.

But he hoped that with the final gesture of his beaten body that he could find the broken strength in him to muster.

And the sight of sheer honesty in his tearful eyes.

They would be able to tell her what had been ignored of him.

His deepest wish as of now.

Please.

Don't hurt me.

Mika's bangs shadowed her expression as she caught sight of this appeal , her body stiff with unknown intention as her fists clenched on themselves and her nails bit into her palms as the sound of the elder mistress's voice entered her senses again.

"Mika what are you-"

"Stop looking at me like that…"

The noirette uttered in a low tone to which could barely be heard by anyone but the one intended as she grit her teeth in preparation for what she was going to do.

And with no further warning the younger woman hurled a kick directly into the boy's stomach , the sound of it evident as he hit into the wall before becoming effectively winded and right after knocked immediately out as he fell slumped to the side in his own mess of seeping blood , sweat and what other things could have been there , completely having lost sense of the world.

The elderly woman was stunned by the woman's ability , completely dismissing any thought of the young woman lacking the heart to be cruel to the abominable devil like she had been assuming. A nod of approval at the noirette's work came from her as she made another comment of rancour regarding the little devil's being.

"If it weren't for the potential value The Capital is monitoring for in him…I would have broken his hands completely for what he did or worse…"

Vera scoffed , still undoubtedly abhorred by the level of sheer audacity that this despicable spawn had with stealing out in the open like that , threatening kids who were absolute innocents and on top of that lying about everything when he got caught in the act?

But she got the truth out of him now.

She got the admittance of his sin.

The culpability of his crime.

The one he was so adamant to deny.

And so desperate to hide.

Even going to the extent of trying to pin the blame on others just to save his sorry self.

What audacity that spawn had…

Her light beady eyes glanced over once more to see the sorry state of the azure haired boy , seeing how he slumped into himself and was completely knocked unconscious through the hit. Simply the only motion on him was his chest that was subtly heaving and the blood from his wounds trickling down and collecting over him as it dripped in plentiful ribbons.

Collecting with the other disgusting substances that soiled him.

And showed him for what a disgusting being he really was.

Something only fit for no name other than that rightfully given.

Devil blood.

"Good to see you have resolve in you Mika."

Vera remarked about the noirette who hadn't moved after delivering the hit , obviously just as repulsed by the fiend or even more with where she was. Though she was going to have to leave the noirette on her own to get this little fiend up cleaned up from the mess he made with all these fluids and what not , she was going to leave with telling the woman about the doubts she was beginning to have regarding her.

Doubts that were fully cleared from her mind now.

"I was starting to think you were getting soft for the devil…"

The sound of footsteps leaving the room hit her ears as she was left alone with that remark the mistress praised her cruelty with barely dismissing from her mind. Her dark orbs looked down at the young child that she had assaulted once again , taking in the full extent of his injuries and unable to remove her sight from them.

From how raw they looked , from how they were starting to fester , from how much pain had been inflicted with no intention of keeping limit.

The sight of that final broken look he used to plead her for mercy burned into her vision as her nails kept biting into the flesh of her exposed palms , digging deeper and rougher , as her fists balled tightly in on themselves.

Nothing being told of what existed in the quiet noirette other than the salty tears that started to stream down her own cold and pale face whilst she wordlessly kept looking on at the battered and bloodied child.

And the only word that existed in her mind was the one that resonated in the moment the most.

Devil.

---

"M-Marik P-Please!"

The charcoal haired boy cried out in mercy as his face was rubbed into the ground ruthlessly by the older boy who hoisted his head through clumps of his shaggy hair. Evidently getting irritated by the boy's cries , the honey eyed boy's hand went to pick pieces of grass from the ground and stuff it into the younger child's mouth as his horror grew in volumes.

"I-I'M SORRY!"

"P-PLEASE!"

Kaden sobbed , his smaller body aching thoroughly from enduring a range of punishments for his 'treason' to the group. That included being thrown across nearby walls and kicked around like a football until eventually the group of them : Lars , Zekiel him and Marik , had cornered him off in a green space near their homes , tied him to a tree and threw stones at him for a while until before the boy bled enough and his clothes were beginning to stick and it was time for the next round of rage to be released.

"You're sorry huh?"

Marik scoffed as he fisted grass blades and dirt into the boy's mouth , almost making him choke with the roughness he did it with before he forced the boy to swallow the inedible items.

"Sorry like you were feeling for that devil and tried to grass me up because of it?"

He snarled , his fist clenching tighter on the messed up strands of charcoal he was yanking and making the boy scream for mercy. Honey like viper eyes only hardened with disgust as he still couldn't get over the audacity the kid had to turn on his back and try and render his plan useless by getting the target notified.

It was only thanks to the gods that blue haired bastard was as dumb as he looked and didn't get the meaning behind Kaden's words before the plan could play out. Even with a traitor's actions , the gods ordained that the devil in their midst would be punished and utterly humiliated for the scum he was.

"S-STOP!"

"S-STOP!"

And because of that result , that was the only thing which was keeping Marik from truly making the traitor suffer unbearably like he should have. Not even the fact that they were related by blood. With this dimwit somehow being his cousin , always weak and pulling him down , that was an annoyance on it's own. But because of his betrayal , he didn't even want to share that relationship with him now more than ever.

"Fucking worm."

Marik spat as he let go of the younger boy's head after rubbing it into the moistened ground again. Allowing his skin to mix with the residue of rain , blood and remind him for what a loser he was for daring to hoodwink him. All just because he felt 'sorry' for a piece of shit.

"Why did you feel sorry for him huh?"

"Because he's a weak loser like you?"

The older boy growled as he stood up from being squatted near the shrivelling body of his cousin for so long.

"Because he has criminals in his family too?"

He then kicked the boy in the side of his arms , hearing him yelp but not being satisfied with the pain he was put through yet , the little traitor.

"Because his disgusting devil of a dad abandoned him as well?"

Another kick hit him with more force as the older boy grit his teeth and spat each cruel reality to the poor boy as he delivered more blows to his battered body.

"Or is it because he has a whore of a mother like you too?"

His voice became overall roughened as he rasped a bitter truth to the charcoal haired boy , who immediately became still from hearing this being said to him.

"But the difference is his one didn't fuck off without him yet?"

And tears started to stream more violently down his dirtied face as he remembered the cruel reality he lived. That he had been living , until he had been taken in eventually by his cousin's mother and she became the mother he had been stripped of after his own had run away with some other man , leaving him behind in the dust with no second thought.

The dust he would have remained and rotted in if it weren't for Marik's family and him.

"I'm the one who's trying to make something out of you , you fucking loser. If it weren't for me you wouldn't have a chance in this world. It's only because of me you're not being thrown to the side like you should have been."

"And yet you have the fucking cheek to turn on me ?"

"For a fucking devil?"

Being blinded through both his overwhelming sorrow and pain , Kaden listened to his cousin's incessant rant with his whimpers trying to silence them as he was starting to understand the grave mistake he made by being swayed by his emotions and faltering to the side of those who were their known enemies.

He sniffed as he felt another jab to his scrawny arms as Marik's exasperation with him still had not come to anywhere near an end , and he was going to be forced to listen to the sin he had committed so foolishly.

"You felt sorry for him?"

His heart clenched as he couldn't help but feel so stupid now he was hearing his reasoning out in the opening. Wanting to do nothing but hide away into the dirt as he heard the brunt of his cousin's rage being released on him.

"Do you think he'd feel sorry for you?"

"Do you think he cares about you?"

Marik questioned the meek child with no intent to actually hear what the kid had to say because it was common knowledge what the answer was and should be.

"He doesn't!"

"And he wouldn't!"

"He's a devil!"

"Devils don't care about anyone but themselves!"

"That's why the people hate them!"

"That's why the gods hate them!"

"That's why they are meant to be hated!"

"That's why they are cursed!"

"And they have THAT on their face so we can recognise them!"

"How can you forget that?!"

His hands clenched in restrained fury that still wished to cause pain to that blue haired abomination. It was all due to that old hag things had to be cut short , but he knew the hell that azure haired Fernandes bastard would be suffering at her hands would be much more than he could dish out.

And he wanted that as he wanted those wretched beings to suffer. For what they are and who they came from. Absolutely repulsive and undignified scum , it made him near sick, having to feign getting close to that brat all this time just to get him in a position ready to unleash hell onto him , but finally now he had been put in his place.

And he would surely remember that.

But that whole motive could have gone up in smoke if this traitor were to succeed in his wishes..

"I-I'm s-sorry!"

"S-So s-sorry!"

"I-I w-wasn't t-thinking!"

Kaden rasped in apology , just wanting Marik to be done with punishing him and making him remember what a sorry excuse of a human he was for faltering like this. But as the older boy's eyes hardened on the crumpled body of the dark eyed child , Kaden soon felt his body being kicked over and turned so the world could see what humiliation existed on his face with what came next.

"You felt sorry for him huh?"

"So do you want to get marked next like him?"

"Wanna get something like THAT on your face too Kaden?"

Marik sneered with no mercy as he watched as the wide and wet eyes of the young child went still with horror. His head instinctually shook in response but yet Marik still went on instigating.

Not caring that the boy was crying his eyes out in disgust of himself.

"So everyone knows you're some piece of shit that's been infected by them?"

"Be cursed like them too?"

"N-No!"

Even with the child beginning to get vocal and more adamant in his avid fear , the honey eyed boy still didn't think to stop with his words or his abuse.

"Have the whole world know you're feeling sorry for those connected to the bastard that tried to put us all through hell?"

"Who plotted against all of us?"

"And wanted to strip away anything and everything we have again?"

"And ruin our peace?"

Kicking into him over and over like he was a piece of dirt under his shoes.

"That you're feeling sorry for those connected to that monster who got innocent and good people killed?"

His voice became notably harsher and strung with emotions that were not usual for the ebony haired boy to reveal.

"That you're feeling sorry for scum related to that devil who got m-my d-dad k-killed?"

Kaden's lament came to a sudden hush as he witnessed the first crack ever in Marik's usually strong and confident personality.

He had known this truth about Marik's father being one of the unfortunates that suffered casualties from the attack on Almeta all those years ago , which was generally considered attempted as it didn't fully end in a success like what the devil had wanted , but that didn't mean there were no losses created in that time of havoc and fear.

His own eyes overflowing as he didn't know that he hurt his own blood like that and that the devil's doings had hurt him so much.

No wonder why Marik hated his son so deeply.

His family was broken too.

But unlike his misfortune , it hadn't been broken because human cruelty and whim,

But for nothing other than giving a devil pleasure.

Sick pleasure.

Though with that moment of weakness , Marik choked back whatever threatened to break out with further bouts of aggression as he continued to press on with his hate on the stunned charcoal haired boy.

"Is that what you want the world to know?"

"N-N-"

"Is that what the rest of our friends know?"

"S-Sto-"

"Is that what you want my mom to know?!"

That was the final straw as Kaden couldn't keep in his hysteria anymore. He wept on the muddy floor underneath him as he blubbered like a baby from the weight of the threats that had his heart beating so vividly and strongly.

"N-No…P-Please!"

"D-Don't t-tell A-Aunty!"

"P-Please!"

"I-I w-won't d-do i-it a-again!"

"P-Please M-Marik!"

Seeming to finally have said enough pleas to appease his cousin's rage , Marik finally stepped away from the brutalised body of his younger relative , eyes still glazed over with disgust and hatred as the sight of the worm still was making him feel sick.

"You better stop being such a fucking maggot and learn to hate the devil he is like the gods want us to."

"And you better be ready to prove it too."

"Otherwise you'll be next."

He told the boy with a chilling tone before the sound of those who had been watching the whole ordeal of Marik punishing the traitor joined the scene again. Evidently quiet for the most part as they witnessed the boy's sadistic wrath both taking place on that marked devil and also his own cousin for his treachery , not just to the group or his blood but the gods in general.

After having rubbed their hands off the remaining crumbs from the pastries they had been eating (And had been taken from the bunch used to frame the devil's son) , they walked up to the hunched up body of the dark eyed boy before giving their input.

"Hey…Be thankful he didn't embarrass you like that in front of Asta's sister."

"And expose you for the traitor you were then."

Lars sneered as he knew that the boy did have something going on for the golden haired girl. She didn't even seem to notice him , probably due to how weak and hidden he was , but that didn't stop the kid from having feelings it seemed.

"Then you'd have no chance with her."

Zekiel added to the injury with his harsh comment , looking at the messed up body who had become muddied and bloodied through enduring his punishment dues. It was kind of sad that Kaden would have to go through such a thing , he was already the weakling of the group to begin with , but he needed to suffer for what he did and hopefully he wouldn't do it again.

As he couldn't be such a fucking dimwit again after those beatings.

Light eyes watched as after gods knows how long , the pummelled noiret slowly got up on his feet , limping as he done so with his lip cut and having endured bruising on his face whilst his throat felt raw and scratchy from the grass he was made to swallow and how much he had been crying.

Kaden could see that the older boy was starting to walk away without him , undoubtedly still pissed off , and with the best of his ability he tried to hobble over and tail his cousin with intention to say more sorries if needed.

"M-Marik-"

But as he was doing that , he was met with another bout of cruel remarks that shot a pain through him that felt even more dear than all that he had been put through up to now.

"You're such a problem to keep around."

"Worthless shit…"

"Can't do anything right…"

"And you try to mess up the ones who can…"

And though those were agonising on their own to hear.

The one that really took the cake was that which Marik mumbled last.

"My mom should have never taken someone like you in…"

"And burdened me with looking over some good for nothing lowlife ..."

His reddened and puffy eyes started to leak again with sorrow , but this time it wasn't sounded out to the world. Rather he just followed the boy wordlessly as he always had been doing with his limbs trying to support himself as the others soon walked on too and forgot about him alongside.

---

Author's Note:

Okay...This chapter was just so painful to write all over. But with the measure of cruelty done to give Jellal the awakening he needed about the harsh reality against him , expect something dark to come out of it.

There's still going to be massive stigma affecting Jellal , but I assure you he will get over it , and that's when something birthed from hell will start to truly emerge...

Also I thought to add the POV of the child who 'tried' to help Jellal so you can find out why exactly these kids are so hateful to him , and the fact that even their hatred towards him and the 'devils' in general is something they wouldn't even spare their own friend/blood from if they turned against the norm.

Truly a grim fate.

And with the next chapters there will be a little more darkness , but trust me when we reach the point I am aiming , Jellal will finally start to build resolve.

And then it will be truly know to those around him and him , what it means to be the one that bears the devil's blood.