Notes: This chapter contains depictions/descriptions of torture.
Third POV
That evening, Mitsuhide sat in his cell. The sudden shift in temperature from cool to cold being the only indicator of time within a dark space where no natural light dared reach. Suddenly, his eyes opened. "..Guests? They must have changed the rules since removing me of my position." Footsteps. Three pairs of heavy feet approached the cell. Mitsuhide instantly recognized the men who stood before him. "..And who do we have here?"
"Looks like they finally found you out for the monster you are, Kitsune." "Remember us, 'Lord' Mitsuhide? We're here to thank you for that conversation that 'never happened.'" The warriors spoke coldly.
"It's a sign of weakness to resort to violence because you can't win an argument with wit." "..Lord Mitsuhide, what you heard was..!" "I heard nothing. And this argument never happened. Is that understood?" "Y..Yes!" "Good. If anyone asks what you were doing, you can say..why, say that you encountered a kitsune."
These were the same three warriors that had threatened Malachi in town. They unlocked his cell with a key they'd bribed from the guard and crawled inside the cramped space. "Welcome. My current lodgings are somewhat spare, but make yourselves comfortable." Mitsuhide simply smiled at his 'guests.'
"I'm only sorry I have no tea to prepare." "Smart-mouthed snake! Let's see how cocky you are now." Temper set ablaze, one of the men tied Mitsuhide's wrists together. Held tightly behind his back. "Just so you're aware, this isn't revenge. Call it..inspiration. You know how you always got information out of people. We're here to do the same. We're going to make you tell us everything you know about Kennyo." One warrior threatened. "..Heh! You might have to write it down though!" Another laughed.
"Oh dear. I do hope you'll be gentle with me." "Keep laughing!" The man kicked him in the jaw, causing Mitsuhide's head to snap up. But he merely shook his head and smiled once more, "..Starting out with physical violence? I fear for my successors, if they have this little patience." The men stared at him and the strange way he seemed to revel in the threat of violence.
"Such passionate looks, gentlemen. I've heard of jailers taking a fondness to their captives, but never so quickly." Mitsuhide smirked dangerously. "Shut your damn mouth before we shut it for you!" "..Not yet. He needs to stay talking until I get to hear the cocky bastard cry and beg for mercy." "There. That is more like it. There really is no need to rush. After all, I expect we all have plenty of time." Mitsuhide teased.
Mitsuhide turned, spat the blood out of his mouth, and sat up straight.
Malachi's POV
It was dark. So incredibly dark down in the dungeons that you wouldn't believe it was mid-afternoon outside. But, I suppose that was on purpose. I snuck into the dungeon after having lied to the guard about a schedule shift. Go chatelaine powers. But already, I felt sick to my stomach. It was such a disgusting place, and knowing they were keeping Mitsuhide in here..
I gathered up what little courage I had and continued onward through that horrid and depressing place. I only had one desire keeping me motivated. The desire to see him, one last time. Finally, in the dim light, I caught a flash of familiar silver. It was him. "..Malachi..? What...are you doing here..?" His voice sounded weak, and almost pained. "Mitsuhi- ..Oh.. Oh my God.."
His clothing had been ripped, torn, and sliced, showing the bruises and bloody mess that littered his pale skin. His hands had been bound overly tight with rope digging into his skin. His handsome face was.. near damn unrecognizable. His lip had been badly split and was unnaturally red. Dyed with crimson. I covered my mouth with the back of my hand. 'Who.. Who the hell would do this?' I took a couple of deep breaths, attempting to calm myself. "G..Give me a moment. I'll.. I'll patch that up." It was moments like these that made me wish my abilities worked on others beside myself..
"..Leave.. And do not come back." "Oh like hell I will!" Mitsuhide only lowered his head, giving no further response. I left, only to return with medical supplies. "..I'm back. And right now, I need you to move closer to the bars so I can help you." "Do not waste the effort on a prisoner.." Mitsuhide spoke coldly. "Oh, just get over here, will you?! Crawl if you have to, but fuck- Do it!" My voice was shaky with anger, it was a struggle to not yell at him. But try as I may, I couldn't keep the tears from pricking my eyes.
They fell in hot droplets onto my hands as I roughly grabbed the bars, wishing I could just be rid of my tear glands. "..Don't start to cry now. I'm weak to your tears." With a pained groan, Mitsuhide sat up and dragged himself to slump against the bars. Close enough. I cut the ropes on his wrists. His hands were swollen, wrists chaffed, swollen, and bleeding. "Holy shit.. I often forget how horribly violent mortals can be.." I muttered without thinking.
"What..?" "Nothing. Did they even bother to ask any questions while committing this atrocious act?" I asked. "..In our time, little mouse, the cell is often no more than a place to mete out justice the public doesn't care to see." I glanced up at him, "We're talking about you being tortured, you know? Could sound a bit dispassionate about the whole situation." I dipped a cloth in some water I'd brought with me, then wringed it out to dampen it, and gently touched it to Mitsuhide's lip.
I could only assume it hurt, but Mitsuhide didn't even flinch. "..How wrong this all feels. From my perspective, you are the one behind bars.. And you look as though someone has inflicted grievous harm upon you." Mitsuhide smiled weakly, reaching a hand through the bars to try and dry my tears. But I only felt worse when I saw what they'd done. I had only noticed his wrists before, but whoever did this, smashed his fingers and removed his nails too.
"Holy fuck.. That's- I-" "Shh. Do not hold a grudge for my sake, little one. Compared to what I've done? This isn't even punishment. ..Besides, I'm hardly defeated. Look." Mitsuhide stuck his tongue out at me. 'Um. Is this a metaphor or..? What the fuck are you doing?' I leaned back a bit and eyed him suspiciously, "What am I supposed to be looking at here?" "..Do I still have a tongue?"
I tilted my head to the side, "Yes? How else would you be talking to me right now?" "Excellent. Then my most potent weapon is safe." His cracked and sliced lip formed something of a clever smile. It wasn't enough to make me smile, but my tears did stop. "Forgive me. I borrowed that from an anecdote in history. But the message is a good one. In short, as for me- ..You have nothing to worry about." It was impossible to not worry. Not after seeing what these awful mortals had done to him. But his voice was clear, his mind intact. Aside from his physical injury, I couldn't sense anything else wrong with him.
But.. That's right. How could I forget? Mitsuhide always seemed to have the situation under control. If he's in here, there must be good reason behind it. Despite the horrible torture he'd been forced to endure, he showed no signs of anger, sorrow, or despair. All I could sense from him was confidence. "..But why, though?" "Why?" He repeated. "You're following the path you think is right. I know that much. But why must you do it alone?!"
His eyes wavered, widening in surprise. Just as I thought I could see something in them- "There you are, Mitsu- What the hell have they done to you?! Who ordered this?!" Hideyoshi showed up. "Gracious. Now I have two overly sentimental visitors." Mitsuhide smiled, seemingly unbothered. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?!" "Wow. That's how you're gonna treat me? Okay. Fuck you."
Hideyoshi strode over to the cell and reached out to grab Mitsuhide through the bars, but I grabbed him instead. "Hideyoshi, now is not the time! I understand your anger, but Mitsuhide's already in rough shape. You can beat his ass later." "I know.. I know and yet.. I can't take this anymore!" "You should really work on your patience. I hear it's an attractive quality in men." Mitsuhide commented. "Can you flirt with him later? Now's really not the time."
"Do you really think now's the time to joke around? Look at you!" Hideyoshi growled. Mitsuhide lowered his gaze. "What the hell were you thinking, damn it?!" Hideyoshi made his hand into a fist and reared back-
