WARNING: I know that some of you read this story with your children. I suggest you read over the chapter first so you know what to edit out.
I would also like to remind you that Ultear was tortured as a child, Wendy was tortured when she was twelve by the Dragon Chain Canon in Edolas, and everyone was tortured in the Tower of Heaven. After all, Erza lost her eye.
ELLE WILL NOT BE LOSING AN EYE. I am not okay with things that involve fingers, toes or eyes, so they will be left alone.
The rest, however, is free game.
Also, apparently Ivan calls everything '-chan'...
Chapter Seventy Nine - Ivan, Part One
Footsteps echoed down the corridor, stopping at a heavyset door. A man pulled out a ring of keys, and raised one to the lock, twisting it open.
He walked into the room, the door shutting (and automatically locking) behind him. Walking down rows and rows of empty cells, aiming for the occupied one at the end.
"Ready for your daily draining?" the man asked, smiling wickedly.
The girl in the cell, covered in tattered clothes and bruises, looked up and glared at him. "Do your worst," she said, spitting at his feet.
His face darkened, and he pulled a level next to the cell door.
A while hooked up to the machine would do her some good.
He left the room as her screams echoed down the dungeon's hall, shutting off suddenly as the door shut behind him.
I came to in a place that I would stay in for the worst days of my life. I was in a dank dungeon, in a cell all the way at the end of the hall. There was a bed(with a really shitty mattress) that I was laid down on, and I slowly sat up. My body still felt sore - like it had been run over by a truck, and I didn't know if that was from Brain's gravity attack or the Amaterasu Formula. Probably both. And deeper still, running from the core of my body through all of my veins, was a feeling of emptiness...as if something vital was missing.
Upon remembering what happened, my hands tightened into fists, and I felt the cold encircling my wrists. Where my usual inhibitors were, I instead had on the manacles I recognized from the series – the same thing that Natsu, Erza and Lisanna had to wear in the Cube, before the fight with Tartaros.
Sure enough, I couldn't feel my magic at all – that was the emptiness I was feeling.
I didn't like it.
Looking down, I noticed that I also had one on each of my ankles, and I also felt the heaviness around my neck.
Jeez, overkill much?
Not long after I woke up, the door at the end of the dungeons swung open, and a man walked up to my cell bars, shadowed by the horrible lighting.
I was expecting to see Brain, or even Hades, but instead I saw Ivan, and I honestly didn't know what was worse.
All of them seemed to hate me, and I couldn't exactly use my magic freely and defend myself.
He smirked at me. "Eleanor Rigby," he said evenly. "You have no idea how overjoyed I am to see you."
"Ivan Dreyar," I responded, glad my voice was just as even as his. "You have no idea how repulsed I am to see you."
He lost his smirk, instead glaring at me, before he hit a button on the wall.
Oddly-shaped chains flew out of the wall, five of them, each clipping onto one of my cuffs.
Ivan's smirk returned, and (smiling all the while) he pulled a lever down.
A scream tore through my throat as my magic was pulled from inside me, even though (with the cuffs I wore) access to my magic should have been closed off.
I don't know how long it lasted, but eventually, the machine shut down. I was exhausted, flat on the bed, and I could barely turn my head to see the space around me. Upon looking back at the cell bars (which was much harder than it should have been), I noticed the lever down, and Ivan smiling gladly. "Let me tell you about this…you see, this machine actively drains your magic, even though it's pulled through the cuffs which block it off. Do you like it?" he smiled evilly. "I had it especially made for you, Eleanor-chan. It's meant to be as painful as possible."
I felt exhausted, like I just drained my entire container, and the only thing I could think was… "Porlyusica is gonna be so pissed at you."
His smile disappeared, and he scowled. "What does my mother have to do with it?"
That's right. Sometimes I forget that if Porlyusica is Laxus's grandmother, that also means she's Ivan's mother.
I shrugged, thinking about my Overload and what had happened to Ultear in the past. "It's complicated. But if she gets near you and has her broom…"
For a second, what seemed like fear flashed across his face, but eventually, it disappeared.
Nice to know he's still scared of his mommy.
But then it was gone, and he was sneering at me. "Who cares what the old hag thinks?"
"Now Ivan," I said, frowning at him, trying to be as condescending as possible. "That's not nice. You shouldn't insult your mother."
His anger flared, and he reached over and pulled down the lever; but unlike last time, he stopped almost immediately.
"Temper, temper!" I gasped, trying to breathe properly.
But I learned something – Ivan couldn't let the machine run on me for too long.
Good to know.
He glared and slammed the button on the wall outside the cell, sending the chains back into the wall.
"You must have a death wish," he snarled, before turning and walking away, leaving me alone in the dark.
It seemed like hours before I was able to get up. When I could finally stand, I started to move around the room, observing it the best I could in the dark light.
I moved slowly, still slightly weak. There were no windows, and the only exit seemed to be the door at the end of the hall.
I gritted my teeth.
There was no way in hell I was going to stay there.
I'm sure the cavalry would come eventually, but there was no way I was sitting pretty until then.
I walked over to the bars, searching from top to bottom for any sort of weak point. I realized that some of the bars seemed a bit weaker than the others, so I picked what I thought was the weakest and aimed my strength there, kicking at the bottom and starting to wear it away – I'd be able to slip through the bars if I could just get rid of one.
Even if it took me weeks, I would get out of there.
It did take me several weeks (I think) - enough that I would guess it was about a month - before I was able to move the bar, and slip between them.
I pulled the bar with all my might, pulling it straight out of the ceiling.
It wasn't exactly the ideal weapon (it was also a lot heavier than I would've liked) but I didn't exactly have magic at my disposal, and I'd be damned if I didn't use anything.
Carrying the bar, I made my way over to the door. I'm only visited once a day, and I had waited until after Ivan had already left.
The door was locked from the outside, that much was obvious.
From what I remember correctly about how to kick down a door (I used to spend a lot of time on tumblr, okay?) you should never use your shoulders, but instead kick at the handle.
Kicking I could do. My legs were definitely stronger than my arms were, though my whole body was a hell of a lot weaker than it's ever been, what with constantly being drained of magic and underfed.
I stretched out and then, suddenly, slammed my foot into the door.
Nothing.
I pulled back my leg and started again.
"Come on," I muttered. I looked at the pole in my hand, and then backed up all the way to my cell.
Please work please work please work.
I took a deep breath and began to run, aiming for the door. As I got closer, I put the bar to the floor and used that to add to my boost, sending my feet straight for the door handle.
Before I reached it, though, the door opened, and I went flying into the other hallway.
"What do we have here?" Ivan's voice asked, and even though my body ached, I got off the floor, spinning the bar and preparing myself for a fight.
He laughed at my stance. "You're going to try and fight me? You don't have magic!"
"I don't need magic to beat a dick like you!" I snarled.
Unsurprisingly, he reacted, and I dove to the side as he came at me, before I spun on my heel and used the bar to smack him in the stomach.
He coughed and jumped away, before readying his magic.
Fuck.
With no magic, I couldn't fight long distance, and that was something Ivan had obviously figured out, too.
I dove forward, readying the bar so I could slam it into him. I was a bit slow, and two of his odd paper things came at me, slicing up my arms a bit before I managed to hit him in the sternum.
And then a heavy force hit me, and I went flying into one of the stone walls.
It was heavy enough that I couldn't move, and I knew who it was immediately.
"Brain," I hissed.
"What did you do that for?" Ivan complained.
Brain walked out of the shadows. "You were taking too long. In addition to that, you were losing to a twelve-year-old girl who couldn't use magic."
"Excuse me, I am thirteen!" I said, glaring at him.
Brain looked at Ivan. "You nearly lost your power source. You're getting sloppy. And getting outsmarted by a child."
"Yeah, Ivan, what does that say about you?" I sassed.
His face darkened, and he threw a few dolls at me. They sliced the sides of my arms and legs, and I held back any sort of cry of pain, not wanting to give them any satisfaction.
"How are you going to get her back into the cell?" Brain asked Ivan.
"Well, you could either do what you did last time, or…" Ivan smirked evilly, and gathered his magic. "We could have some fun until she can't stand it."
Eventually, I couldn't hold back my screams any longer, and when I woke up, I was back in my cell.
It was more than that, though. The collar on my neck was chained to the wall – enough for me to still roam my cell, but not to leave it. My bed was also gone – I guess I lost any sort of 'benefits'.
They'd probably cut down my food, too, even though I only got around one meal a day.
Not that I'd really call it a meal.
That month was when things started changing. Ivan wasn't satisfied with only draining magic from me – it wasn't enough for him. He wanted to torture me himself. He would send his dolls at me, slicing me up – no doubt leaving a few scars from how deep some were.
I had the belief that someone was helping me heal during the night – not magic, unfortunately, but still First Aid, which is probably the only reason that I hadn't died from blood loss yet.
Sometimes though, those dolls didn't satisfy Ivan. He wanted to do it himself.
About once a week, he would connect the chains to my cuffs from outside, and pull me against the wall. Then he would enter the cell and have fun slowly slicing my body up, sometimes. Or, more often, he would string me up until I could barely stand and whip me repeatedly, and I, for once, regretted putting my guildmark on my back and using revealing shirts in order to show it off. Because of this, I got almost no protection from what was left of the shirt. Speaking of that, Ivan got really enthusiastic with the lashings after that, once he realized where my guildmark was.
But he made sure to never go too far, so I wouldn't die.
It was the fourth time in, (about a month since I had tried to escape) that I was finally able to enact my plan.
Ivan opened the cell for his weekly hands-on torture lesson, and I jumped at him, wrapping the chain attached to my neck around his neck, trying to strangle him.
He immediately started struggling to get air, and started powering up his magic. I kicked his arm, dispelling his magic circle. "I've. Fucking. Had It. With. Your. Stupid. Paper. Dolls!" I shouted at him, kicking him again in between each word.
"They're called…Shikigami…" he tried to hiss.
"I don't give a damn," I yelled, tightening the chain so he'd pass out before he could activate the spell.
Slowly, he sank to the ground, before collapsing, unconscious.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't let up, just in case he was faking.
When I heard his breathing stop, I got off of him and searched him for his keys. On his key chain, I saw what was probably the key for what attached my neck cuff to the wall. Sure enough, it worked, and I quickly took it off, though it unfortunately only detached the chain. The collar was still on. Then I ran outside my cell, locking the door behind me so it was harder for Ivan to escape.
There were a lot of keys on the keyring, but there wasn't anything for the cuffs, so I still couldn't use magic. I headed to the door, unlocking it and leaving the cells.
Still, I had to be careful. This was the complete unknown, and I didn't even have a weapon this time around.
I only made it six steps before someone grabbed me by the hair.
What is it with evil dicks and grabbing my hair?
"Nice try," the voice said.
Brain.
"But you're not going anywhere," he continued, and ignored my struggling as he pulled me back to the dungeons.
I turned my head and sunk my teeth into his arms.
It caught him off guard enough that I was able to kick him between the legs, and then run.
"Dark Gravity!" he yelled. I went flying forward into the wall and then –
When I woke up, I was back in my cell, and my head felt sticky and heavier than usual.
The cell was different though. For one, chains ran from my wrists to the ceiling. Luckily, I was able to sit on the floor, though something told me that the chains could be pulled up, and I could be suspended by my wrists.
Oh, joy, they restrained me more.
Before, those would only come out when Ivan wanted to whip me.
At least the one connecting my collar to the wall was gone.
On the bright side, I could hear (though barely) Brain criticizing Ivan about several things. I believe that I distinctly heard the word 'pathetic'.
There was some more mutterings, and Ivan waltzed back into the cell, smiling sadistically. The chains on my wrists tightened, but I was still able to sit on the ground, they were just pulled into the air.
Which kinda hurt so I was going to get up soon.
His smile widened, and my stomach twisted nervously. Something bad was going to happen.
"You like to be naughty, don't you, Eleanor-chan?" Ivan said.
I gave him a smirk, ignoring my unease. "I like messing with creepy fuckers. Not my fault you fit the requirements."
He growled and reached around to grab something out of view. Ivan opened the door and walked inside, using one foot to hold down one of my legs.
"You won't be able to escape again," he smiled wickedly, and held up what he grabbed.
My stomach twisted at the sight of the hammer. Not a normal hammer, used for nails, but a sledgehammer, with flat ends.
I knew what was going to happen before he did it.
"No, please don't," I shrieked, struggling against the chains.
Too late. He swung down as if he were aiming for one of those carnival games that measure strength, and I let out an ear-piercing scream as it shattered the bone in my lower leg.
And then he moved onto the next one.
They had obviously waited for me to wake up in order to hurt me, to make up for everything else.
One thing was for sure though, I definitely wouldn't be walking out of here.