Chapter Three: Jail Time
A/N: This chapter is brought to you by Yaoi Boi! I am in the midst of a million writing projects and am taking time out of my busy schedule to write the next chapter of this. Hurrah!
When Meva awoke he felt cold. Partly was because there were some new rips in his clothes and damp air blew over his pale skin, and partly because his face was pressed to a cold stone floor. His eyes opened and he saw his breath puffing out in front of him, a fine mist eminating from his lips. He lifted his head off the floor an inch or two just so he could look around and sharp pain sprang forth, starting where his neck met his head and rocketing to the front of his skull.
Wincing at the pain but ready to endure it, he turned his head slowly, needing to see where he was, just what he and Noli had gotten themselves into. It was dark, with only a little light coming from outside of their prison cell and down the hall.
Just a second... his eyes scrolled back to the front of the room. Bars? Prison cell? Where the hell were they?
Noli was laying, not moving, on a cot against the wall. He rose to his hands and knees, and crawled over to her. It was difficult to ignore all the pain shooting up and down the entire length of his body, but he did what he had to do. What did whoever put him here do to him? Drag him from the wreck of a ruined caravan all the way to wherever the hell he was now? Smooth.
He remembered seeing the dead bodies, the ruined wagons. But his mind failed him when he tried to recall the last few seconds before he passed out. He knew that someone had been there, someone had said something, but what the words were eluded him.
Pressing one hand to Noli's neck, he took a quick check. She was alive, just asleep. He slumped back to the ground. Relief swirled around him. Thank Yevon, he thought. Thank you, Yevon.
~*~*~
Baralai woke up, and he was still in the torture room. He did not know why they were there, not really. They had not been asked one question, and he had thought that they did not have any enemies. Obviously they were dead wrong. Dead. Wrong.
It was quiet in the room. He feared the silence, thinking that maybe he was deaf, maybe that he was actually dead and this was one of those dreams, just like a story. Maybe the torturer was playing with him, making him think that he was going to get away, right before he came in for the kill. He rose from his spot on the floor slowly, trying to push the worst-case scenarios out of his mind. The three of them: Gippal, Nooj, and himself have been tortured before, they would survive this. Whatever this was for...
Laughter jumped at him from the shadows to his right. A weak yelp escaped his throat before he could sotp himself. Don't give them power, he thought. Don't do that! The room was dark, and he could only see outlines of tables and racks holding various methods of torment. He thought about going and getting himself a weapon, then decided that might not be the best idea. If he got caught just trying to escape, then he might be allowed to live, but he knew this. This was the work of a madman, and if he was caught trying to escape and he had a weapon in his hands, that would be the end of him.
"Gippal...?" he whispered, needing to find at least one of his friends. They were here earlier! "Nooj...?"
A light appeared behind him, making his skin crawl. In the deepest corners of the room he thought he could hear faint circus music. What the hell was going on? He told himself to not turn around, to not see what the demented person who set this up wanted him to see. There were times when it was better if he was left in the dark, and he wanted this to be one of those times.
"Turn around boy, or I'll SHOW you what I did to him," can the creepy voice of the torturer, from somewhere in one of the shadows. It did not help at all with trying to tell where he was.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Baralai slowly turned around until he was standing with his shoulders squared in the direction of the light. He peeked one eye open, and then the other one flew open and he had to choke back a sob. Bile rose in his throat as he laid his gaze on the figure on the wall.
It was Nooj. He was naked, and his body was covered in drying blood. There was no doubt about it, he was really dead. His head held a bright, mad grin that creeped Baralai out to no end, and in the center of his forehead was the tip of a pike, the pike that was holding his head in place on the wall. His body was pulled taught, with his arms spread out to each side, and his legs straight down, by a chain. The chain was pulled so tight on his body that it had cut into his skin, breaking it and let the blood flow. There were grotesque markings all over his body, and his eyes were blank. Completely hollow. Baralai knew that that smile on his friend's cold, dead face would haunt him in his nightmares until the day he died.
"Oh shit..." came a soft voice from behind him: Gippal. Baralai turned to face him, but he could only see his friend's outline in the dim.
"Gippal..." Baralai's voice was weak, very weak. He leaned over and vomitted then, and soon Gippal was joining him.
"He was alive up until the very end, when I drove his head backwards," came the weird voice behind them. They knew where he was now, but only because the man wanted them to, and they could not do anything to him. "Some o' my best work, 'f I dun say so m'self."
"You sick bastard," Gippal gasped out between heaves.
"Watch your tongue, child. You may ver' well be next!"
Gippal looked up at Baralai, and there was such defeat, such sorrow, in his eyes that Baralai thought he could faint right then and there. "I'm... sorry..." he said.
It broke Baralai's heart to see this...
~*~*~
Noli awoke to find Meva collapsed next to the cot. He needed sleep, he needed the time to heal. It was for the best, she thought, sitting up. They thought he was the threat, but he was only the white mage. Stupid chauvanistic bastards, asigning the basic gender roles. That kind of made her mad, and she really did not want to watch Meva get beaten up like he did as they brought them back here, but she thought that it was better if at least one of them was only mildly hurt. He would understand.
She did what she had to do. That's acceptable, right?
Footsteps started moving down the hallways, growing louder and louder with each step. They were coming to her cell, she knew. And she thought she knew who it was, the man in the hood. Of course, the bad guy ALWAYS had to hide himself, at least at first.
Stupid bad guys!
Then he appeared right outside her cell. "Wake the male up," he said. "I have to talk to you both. I will be back in five minutes. Be ready or be prepared to face your punishment."
Then he was gone.
A/N: This chapter is brought to you by Yaoi Boi! I am in the midst of a million writing projects and am taking time out of my busy schedule to write the next chapter of this. Hurrah!
When Meva awoke he felt cold. Partly was because there were some new rips in his clothes and damp air blew over his pale skin, and partly because his face was pressed to a cold stone floor. His eyes opened and he saw his breath puffing out in front of him, a fine mist eminating from his lips. He lifted his head off the floor an inch or two just so he could look around and sharp pain sprang forth, starting where his neck met his head and rocketing to the front of his skull.
Wincing at the pain but ready to endure it, he turned his head slowly, needing to see where he was, just what he and Noli had gotten themselves into. It was dark, with only a little light coming from outside of their prison cell and down the hall.
Just a second... his eyes scrolled back to the front of the room. Bars? Prison cell? Where the hell were they?
Noli was laying, not moving, on a cot against the wall. He rose to his hands and knees, and crawled over to her. It was difficult to ignore all the pain shooting up and down the entire length of his body, but he did what he had to do. What did whoever put him here do to him? Drag him from the wreck of a ruined caravan all the way to wherever the hell he was now? Smooth.
He remembered seeing the dead bodies, the ruined wagons. But his mind failed him when he tried to recall the last few seconds before he passed out. He knew that someone had been there, someone had said something, but what the words were eluded him.
Pressing one hand to Noli's neck, he took a quick check. She was alive, just asleep. He slumped back to the ground. Relief swirled around him. Thank Yevon, he thought. Thank you, Yevon.
~*~*~
Baralai woke up, and he was still in the torture room. He did not know why they were there, not really. They had not been asked one question, and he had thought that they did not have any enemies. Obviously they were dead wrong. Dead. Wrong.
It was quiet in the room. He feared the silence, thinking that maybe he was deaf, maybe that he was actually dead and this was one of those dreams, just like a story. Maybe the torturer was playing with him, making him think that he was going to get away, right before he came in for the kill. He rose from his spot on the floor slowly, trying to push the worst-case scenarios out of his mind. The three of them: Gippal, Nooj, and himself have been tortured before, they would survive this. Whatever this was for...
Laughter jumped at him from the shadows to his right. A weak yelp escaped his throat before he could sotp himself. Don't give them power, he thought. Don't do that! The room was dark, and he could only see outlines of tables and racks holding various methods of torment. He thought about going and getting himself a weapon, then decided that might not be the best idea. If he got caught just trying to escape, then he might be allowed to live, but he knew this. This was the work of a madman, and if he was caught trying to escape and he had a weapon in his hands, that would be the end of him.
"Gippal...?" he whispered, needing to find at least one of his friends. They were here earlier! "Nooj...?"
A light appeared behind him, making his skin crawl. In the deepest corners of the room he thought he could hear faint circus music. What the hell was going on? He told himself to not turn around, to not see what the demented person who set this up wanted him to see. There were times when it was better if he was left in the dark, and he wanted this to be one of those times.
"Turn around boy, or I'll SHOW you what I did to him," can the creepy voice of the torturer, from somewhere in one of the shadows. It did not help at all with trying to tell where he was.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Baralai slowly turned around until he was standing with his shoulders squared in the direction of the light. He peeked one eye open, and then the other one flew open and he had to choke back a sob. Bile rose in his throat as he laid his gaze on the figure on the wall.
It was Nooj. He was naked, and his body was covered in drying blood. There was no doubt about it, he was really dead. His head held a bright, mad grin that creeped Baralai out to no end, and in the center of his forehead was the tip of a pike, the pike that was holding his head in place on the wall. His body was pulled taught, with his arms spread out to each side, and his legs straight down, by a chain. The chain was pulled so tight on his body that it had cut into his skin, breaking it and let the blood flow. There were grotesque markings all over his body, and his eyes were blank. Completely hollow. Baralai knew that that smile on his friend's cold, dead face would haunt him in his nightmares until the day he died.
"Oh shit..." came a soft voice from behind him: Gippal. Baralai turned to face him, but he could only see his friend's outline in the dim.
"Gippal..." Baralai's voice was weak, very weak. He leaned over and vomitted then, and soon Gippal was joining him.
"He was alive up until the very end, when I drove his head backwards," came the weird voice behind them. They knew where he was now, but only because the man wanted them to, and they could not do anything to him. "Some o' my best work, 'f I dun say so m'self."
"You sick bastard," Gippal gasped out between heaves.
"Watch your tongue, child. You may ver' well be next!"
Gippal looked up at Baralai, and there was such defeat, such sorrow, in his eyes that Baralai thought he could faint right then and there. "I'm... sorry..." he said.
It broke Baralai's heart to see this...
~*~*~
Noli awoke to find Meva collapsed next to the cot. He needed sleep, he needed the time to heal. It was for the best, she thought, sitting up. They thought he was the threat, but he was only the white mage. Stupid chauvanistic bastards, asigning the basic gender roles. That kind of made her mad, and she really did not want to watch Meva get beaten up like he did as they brought them back here, but she thought that it was better if at least one of them was only mildly hurt. He would understand.
She did what she had to do. That's acceptable, right?
Footsteps started moving down the hallways, growing louder and louder with each step. They were coming to her cell, she knew. And she thought she knew who it was, the man in the hood. Of course, the bad guy ALWAYS had to hide himself, at least at first.
Stupid bad guys!
Then he appeared right outside her cell. "Wake the male up," he said. "I have to talk to you both. I will be back in five minutes. Be ready or be prepared to face your punishment."
Then he was gone.