This seems familiar, doesn't it?

If you've read this story before, then you'll recognize the following six chapters; or rather, six parts of one chapter.

So yeah, I decided after over a year that Chapter 10 was far too long to be interesting, and there were a lot of parts that didn't fit as well as I originally hoped. Thus, I present Chapter 10: Being Tormented in six parts, thoroughly revised and edited for a much better storyline and buildup.

For those of you just joining the story with no idea what I'm talking about, hi! I'm Yours the Author, or just The Author, if you like. This chapter has actually been posted before, though it was much longer, mixed up, and probably not as satisfying as I originally hyped it up to be.

I resolve to change that, though. I will no longer keep rereading this chapter "for fun", only to end up becoming unsatisfied with it and spending another year rewriting it. That is not an option in the real world of writing, so this is where chapter 10 will be put to rest and the remaining chapters of the story can be written, edited, and published properly, finally concluding the series I started all the way back in high school, 2015.

As is customary at this point, I'll now list a few warnings for this chapter:

WARNING:

Contains kidnapping, offscreen injury, flashbacks, monsters, brief strangulation, insults, cryptic warnings and threats, and unwanted physical contact


Chapter 10: Being Tormented; Part 1


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…This is… unawesome…

And then I woke up.

A dull pain thrummed through my body. I was lying against something hard, cold, and a little uneven; like stone. My eyelids were heavy.

I am so tired.

Finally, my eyes slid open. The floor, made of rough, black bricks, had a faint, metallic smell to it. I shifted onto my side and realized I was in a small prison cell, with a single square window covered in thick, metal bars.

I guess I can't escape that way, I thought. But… Why do I need to escape?

The light coming in from the window was dull and gray, as if a heavy thunderstorm was blocking the sun outside. There shouldn't have been anything off about that… but there was.

Bracing my arms and legs to stand up was tricky, since my body felt numb; light and heavy at the same time, but still sore. I used the wall for leverage and felt the wobbliness of my legs fade as I shifted my weight from foot to foot, taking slow, cautious steps to the window. My mouth was dry and tasted like an obnoxious amount of salt, and my ears rang all the worse as I moved.

There was no ground outside the window, as if the room were floating in a cloud. The light barely illuminated my body, where my gaze eventually fell. I wore the same clothes from before: a pair of flip-flops, a T-shirt, and a pair of shorts. I brushed a hand over the front of my shirt; it was hard in a sort of tacky, sticky way, but it was too dark to see any stains.

A quiet tinkling sound brought my attention to my wrists, next. There were thin, golden bracelets that each had dangling, heart-shaped charms at the cardinal points, and each heart had a tiny green jewel at its center. The bands seemed just big enough to hang less than a centimeter off of my wrist. I had a feeling they weren't put on by normal means.

I raised a trembling arm in front of my face. I could see a slightly bold outline around its shape, and the color was a bit flat, almost like a paper drawing-

Wait.

Of course, I thought, rubbing my thumb against the palm of my hand. I'm still in the anime dimension… thingy. Still don't know how that works. But if I was there before I was here, then what was I doing…?

I felt drawn to look at my other arm. My left elbow was wrapped in white bandages, making it a little hard to bend. Pulling them off was tempting, but probably not a good idea. I was certain that they hadn't been there before…

I gazed into the apparent sky and tried to remember. I was somewhere… I thought, with someone. No, many someones. I knew most of them, but the rest were strangers. And then we… "We…"

thump.

Thump.

THUMP.

I gripped the window bars instinctively and turned to the door. Something big was coming, and those footsteps were familiar in a terrible, terrible way.

The door slammed open and it all rushed back to me: the rogues, the mansion, the Oni—oh, no, the Oni!

A strangled scream left me as the large demon stumbled into the room—It's so big how did it get in here the door is too small why is it here why is it coming towards me I need to escape—

It was just like the ones I'd seen in that mansion: big, lumpy, and purple-y blue. Its uneven eyes seemed to light up when it saw me. Its arms were so long, its stance so wide; there was no way I could slip around it.

I clenched my fists. But I'll be darned if I don't try—

The Oni reached out and wrapped me in its fist, the grip conveniently—or intentionally—keeping my arms at my sides and my airways blocked so I could no longer scream.

I struggled; eyes shut tight as it started to move. I didn't know where we were going, only that it was going to violently maul me and then eat me and I'm running out of air—

The pressure released, and I fell with an undignified thump, gaging with each desperate attempt to recover my breath.

When I had recovered enough, I looked around an impossibly large room with a floor that shimmered like smooth, golden marble. Aside from my breaths, it was quiet… wait, no. I realized that there was another sound, as if someone were speaking random sounds. Familiar random sounds.

I cringed as a loud series of thumps grew fainter. The Oni must have left. Is the coast clear? I made to stand—

"Oh, stay like that, won't you? I find you kneeling before me… fitting."

I froze, still on my knees. The voice brought back more memories: the movie theater; the back room; a whispering, trilling sound; taking someone's hand.

"…Materna?" I looked up.

She looked exactly as I had last seen her: tall, pale, silver-haired and barefoot, wearing that short white dress with the flowing sleeves and staring at me with those purple eyes that I couldn't help but stare back into. I've seen those eyes somewhere else, right?

"Ah, you remember me," Materna smiled down at me. "How delightful. It has been a while since we last spoke."

I furrowed my brow. "It… hasn't been that long… has it?"

It couldn't have been that long since we met, it couldn't have been… could it?

Materna chuckled softly, her voice echoing as if she weren't alone. She stepped closer. "You must have many questions…" I instinctively leaned away. "And some answers may come, in time. Or they may not. That's the thrill of not knowing, isn't it? You're an author; I'm sure you understand."

I made a vague noise of acknowledgement, unsure if I was supposed to say something or not. She was only a few long strides from towering over me. More memories trickled in. "…You never did answer my question…" I mumbled.

This made her pause, the first hint of uncertainty I'd ever seen on her.

"Back at the theater," I continued, pressing my lips together. "I asked what happened to everyone else at the mansion. You told me about Ryan, Sally, and Bobby, but you forgot someone." I narrowed my eyes. "…What happened to Naoki?"

That hint of confusion grew stronger, somehow. How can she not know who he is? I wondered. He was in the mansion with me at the end, which means he must have been in the theater like the others. If she knew about Sally, Bobby, and Ryan, then she should know who he is. Am I reading her wrong? I shook my head slightly. No, it's probably a trick.

Materna's face suddenly lit up with recognition. "Ah, yes… now I know what you're talking about."

"Who," I corrected.

"No, what."

"…Huh?"

"You see, my dear…" I shuddered at the pet-name. "You already know of my last resort plan to kill you. In fact, I told you as much when we met. However, the entire mansion was full of traps set up to kill you; some in 'scripted' ways, like in that little video game you know about, and some… not. Are you with me so far?"

"Um—"

"Good. My plan for you, if you made it all the way to the annex, involved something that I made… you wouldn't be able to understand the intricacies of it, but was something that would keep you from leaving the area when one of my children came to finish you off. No matter how that event ended, its objective was still the same: kill you, or get you killed. Despite all of this… you weren't killed. What was this thing?"

I blinked. What was this, a game of riddles? Something to keep me from leaving the area when an Oni showed up… I recited in my head. The only thing I can think of is—

"…No."

"Yes." Materna's smile became a sneer. "The thing you called 'Naoki' was yet another trap meant to kill you. He wasn't real."

I could only think of one thing: his eyes. Deep purple and hypnotizing, always a mystery. She has his eyes, I realized. He had her eyes. How did I not see it? It's so obvious, but… no, they can't be the same, they're so different, they feel so different, they're not…

She was kneeling in front of me, but I couldn't bring myself to look up… until she brushed my hair back behind my ear slowly. I froze.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it, dear?" She cooed. Her hand traced along my cheek… then grabbed my chin and jerked my head up. "Get used to it." She dragged me to my feet before letting go. I couldn't even think to protest.

Materna regarded something behind me. I made to look, only to turn back to her, eyes wide. Not something. Someone. I had looked for less than a second, but I had two clues: eyes and hair.

A variety of pink and red eyes were watching me, but the important thing was the number of eyes: twenty-four. How did I manage to count that many eyes? No idea, but twelve people stood behind me, all of them incredibly tall, but most important of all: four of them had hair curls on specific, recognizable places on their heads. What else am I supposed to think?

"D-did you turn the countries evil or something?"

Hysterical laughter, on all sides; I drew in on myself. Am I wrong? Right? Either way, I couldn't lose this thread.

I looked at a chortling Materna with as much defiance as I could muster. "You should—I mean, you will let go of my friends right now, o-or else I'll—"

"Oh, my poor, sweet, dumb, stupid Author." I blinked. That probably shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. "For a 'fan' with such interest in the 'lore' of your 'fandoms', you don't seem to have much of a grasp on the situation." It occurred to me that the anachronistic words leaving her mouth were almost funny, but I couldn't find it in myself to laugh. "I'll give you a hint: they are countries, but they are not your friends."

…Okay, I thought, putting a hand to my chin. She didn't hypnotize them, and it has to do with the lore… So they're evil on their own, and they are countries, and they don't like me… that makes me think of—

"The… second players…?" I offered. She gave the slightest of nods, smiling at me like an adult would at a child sounding out a big word. In a way, I supposed that was exactly what was happening. "But they're not… canon…?"

"Dear girl, you were in their dimension before. Is that not proof enough that they're real?"

In their dimension? Does she mean the one with the other 'me' in it?

She seemed to have read my mind. "There you go," she cooed again, and I bristled.

It crossed my mind that I had never used Katharina's knife once, which seemed like a terrible waste after the trust Mari showed by gifting it to me. How I'd love a chance to use it here… wait, what?

"Now," Materna continued, "as much as I would love to stand here and answer your inane questions, I have business to attend to. And a deal to uphold."

I blinked at that last point. "A deal?"

Materna's smile never wavered. "When you ask someone to work with you, you must compensate them appropriately. When you ask several powerful people to work for you, you must compensate a little more. 'Give and take'; I'm sure you understand."

Twelve pairs of eyes fixed themselves onto the back of my head. I shuddered.

Materna reached a long arm across the small distance between us and placed her hand to my cheek. Where did this come from? My mind blanked and my heart raced. I didn't want to aggravate her into doing something I'd regret, but I also wanted her to not touch my face stop touching me—

She rubbed her thumb along my check bone slowly before letting go. This is weird, right? I thought as my hand went to my presumably blushing cheek on instinct. That's definitely a weird thing, especially when the other person really doesn't like you, right? Right?

It took me a second to realize she was talking to the others now… the "second players". "I'll be ready for the next phase in one of your hours or so," she was saying. "Please put her back in her room when you're done. If you have any questions, remember the file. And, most importantly… have fun."

I had so many questions, but just as I opened my mouth, she faded from sight. A wave of nostalgia hit me briefly, a memory of a number of scenes from the HetaOni game where the monster would disappear after a fight, or when it was convenient. I gazed at where she had been, the spot on my cheek now sensitive and cold.


Here's the plan:

Every Monday for the next five weeks, the next part of Chapter 10 will be posted. This will give me time to begin touch up edits for the rest of the story (fixing minor errors, grammar, plotholes, etc), and also to work on the next actually chapter of The Citadel of the Onis. Once all six parts of Chapter 10 are posted, I will open a poll on my profile, so be ready for that.

In the meanwhile, REVIEWS WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED. This story holds a lot of importance to me, so to anyone taking the time to read up to this point: please, PLEASE leave a review. It would mean so much to me.

I'll be seeing you next Monday, so leave a review, tell me what you thought, and I'll see you around. Until then!