AR: Alright… This story is turning out completely different from what I first thought it would be, but that's okay. This will just be a supernatural thing. You'll see what I mean in a little while. However, I was wondering… I didn't know whether to put this chapter in now, or make another one with Zero first. I'll just have to work my little scenario out somehow… I was itching to write this chapter, though. Hehehe… Oh, and I'm going to make Harpuia's hair go down to his middle back, or so. And green, of course.
And, Leviathan-san, if you could e-mail the site to me, that would be great. It won't show up in your review (or maybe the computers I use are just being bitchy), and I would love to take a look at it. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Hmm, after three chapters, I still don't own them. I must be doing something wrong…
Chapter 4: Relief
Green eyes quickly snapped open as a faint message flew through Harpuia's mind. The determined voice ignited a blush on Harpuia's cheeks and triggered a quick, nervous heartbeat within his heart. He sat up, wincing slightly as the dried blood cracked and healing wounds reopened, and stared at the floor, shocked at what he had just heard. The message ran through his head again and he brought his hand up to his face, covering his mouth slightly in surprise.
"Was that… Zero?" he whispered, feeling his cheeks burning and his heart pounding. It had to have been; no other voice could elicit such a response from him. That message came from Zero and, if Harpuia had heard correctly, it said that it was coming to save him. Harpuia thought about the possibility of Zero actually coming to save him, and a familiar sting rose to his eyes, marking the signs of tears. Though, these weren't the pain filled, sad tears that came so often. These tears were joyful, full of hope. Someone was actually coming to save him, and that person was the one thing that he wanted to see. Zero was coming to save him.
After the initial surprise and happiness floated over (though it took quite a while for it to pass; Harpuia was nearly glowing with relief for many minutes), Harpuia realized how Zero would see him. He looked down at his battered figure, and grimaced at the horrible sight. The cuts that he had received the night before were scabbing fortunately, unfortunately however, they weren't the most attractive sights to see. Huge gashes turning scars lay across his stomach and back, and his chest, legs, and arms sported many small cuts. The blood that had spilled from all of these wounds the night before had dried and now covered his skin, cracking and breaking whenever he moved. His thin pants, now completely in tatters, were stiff with dried blood, and chafed painfully against his fresh wounds. He reached back and felt his hair, running his fingers along the clumps all the way down to his middle back to find it also stiff with dried blood, and sighed sadly at the touch. He hoped his master would a least pity him enough to let him bathe; he needed it desperately.
Almost as if on cue, the door creaked open and the looming form of Harpuia's master stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. Harpuia immediately stiffened up and quickly put himself in a less vulnerable position. His master cackled and walked slowly over to Harpuia, taunting him mercilessly.
"My, my… You look positively awful, my dear boy," he said with a snide tone. Harpuia flinched and slid backwards a few inches as his master crouched right next to him, a horrific smile plastered on his face. He ran a finger along one of the particularly large gashes that extended from Harpuia's ribs on the left side of his body all the way down to his right hip. A shiver flew up Harpuia's spine as his master caressed him and he bit his lip to keep from thrashing out in defense. His master smiled cruelly, clutched Harpuia's chin, and brought it close to his face, just like he did the night before.
"I trust you've learned your lesson, treasure," he whispered, mocking Harpuia with his nickname. He smirked and brought Harpuia's face in even closer, almost covering Harpuia's lips with his. Frantic thoughts flew through Harpuia's head, and he turned his head away quickly, wrenching it out of his master's grasp, earning himself a harsh slap to the face. Bringing his hand up to his stinging cheek, Harpuia stared at his master with hints of fear and hurt behind his eyes. His master merely stood up and fingered his whip, stroking it caringly.
"Watch yourself, boy," he spat, turning around to leave. He walked calmly to the door and almost slammed it shut, but turned around to Harpuia instead. "You look disgraceful. Get up and go wash your filthy blood off, and get a change of clothes while you're at it," he said and slammed the door behind him, leaving it unlocked for Harpuia. Once his footsteps faded away into nothingness, Harpuia slumped with relief. He brought his knees in close and hugged them, trying to comfort himself from the fright that rose in his heart once again.
"Damn it…" Harpuia said with a shaky breath, trying to push away his fright from his trembling body. "Why does he scare me so much?"
Shaking himself mentally, Harpuia stood up, biting his lip at the pain as he felt several of the larger wounds reopen again, and stumbled over to the door. He urgently needed a bath, and needed the warmth to drive away the slight sickness he felt coming over him. However, he quickly had to lean up against the door for support and clasp his hands over his mouth, trying to keep whatever was in his stomach down. A violent shudder shook his body and he could taste the repulsive bile rising in his throat, but he managed to keep from being sick. That small episode left him feeling rather dizzy however, and he knelt down, resting against the door to try and stop the room from spinning. He sat still for a few minutes and once he was positive that the small wave of sickness had passed over, he stood up and opened the door slowly, wanting to get to the baths as quick as he possibly could. A hot bath sounded like heaven right now…
He staggered in the direction he knew the baths were in, keeping almost right up against the wall for support. His legs felt like lead and it was difficult to make them move properly, his exhaustion coupled with the many wounds that stung as his pants rubbed up against them not helping in the slightest. The hallway blurred slightly, and Harpuia merely walked in the direction that his instinct told him to go in. Luckily however, he didn't have to walk blindly for very long as he heard a voice from behind him.
"Excuse me, Master Harpuia, but… May I offer you some assistance?" the voice said, and Harpuia turned slowly around to face the owner. He eyes were greeted by a humble servant bowed over slightly in respect, and a small smile of relief appeared on his face. This particular servant, a man of about 25 named Jos, was always kind and pitying to Harpuia. He was the only person in the whole castle, besides the doctor that saw to the green-eyed boy's wounds, that could honestly say he had Harpuia's trust. Everyone else obediently heeded the master, and simply earned Harpuia's doubts.
"Yes, thank you Jos," Harpuia said gratefully and moved away from the walls, walking carefully over to him. Jos immediately sensed Harpuia's pain and quickly moved to support him, not wanting to let the poor boy fall and hurt himself further. Harpuia gave Jos a smile of thanks and voiced his request, "Could you please take me to the baths? I don't think I can make it there on my own…"
"Of course, sir," Jos said, a warm smile that he saved only for Harpuia lighting up his face. He walked slowly for Harpuia's sake, careful not to reopen any more wounds that already had, and tightened his grip on Harpuia to make sure that there wasn't a chance that he would fall. Fortunately for Harpuia, the baths weren't too far off; they were about 20 rooms away (close, considering how large the actual castle was). They got there quickly despite the slow pace they were going at, and Harpuia sighed in relief as he saw the steam spilling out of the room. Apparently someone had already set up a bath for him as Jos took him into the room to find that no one was there, only a ready bath waiting for him. He turned to Jos and smiled, no longer needing his aid.
"Thank you so much, Jos," he said softly, putting his hand on Jos's shoulder in thanks. Jos merely smiled and bowed, and turned around to leave Harpuia to himself, shutting to door behind him quietly. Knowing that he was as alone as he could possibly get (there were bound to be surveillance somewhere in the room), he carefully stripped off his ruined pants and touched his toe to the water, testing the temperature. Luckily, it wasn't too hot, so his wounds wouldn't hurt too much. Still a bit hesitant at the pain however, he carefully lowered himself into the bath, clenching his teeth together to keep from crying out at the hot water touching his fresh wounds. His body burned for a few minutes, but luckily the pain only lasted for a short while. He soon got used to the water and it soon felt wonderful against his skin, washing away all of the blood that had dried on his body.
He was a bit worried that the blood would ruin the water, but the bath was so large that soon the blood that washed off of his body was lost. Fresh blood came out of his reopened gashes and dyed the water around him slightly, but aided by the presence of the water, his injuries halted their profuse bleeding and the blood swirled away. He sighed in relief as the warm water soothed his body and his mind and washed away his doubts. His mind quickly cleared of all of his unwelcome thoughts and he ran his fingers delicately over the new gashes. They stung a little when his fingers brushed them, but he was too calm to really notice the pain. He did notice, however, notice how large the cuts really were now that the blood was washed away and he could fully see the injuries. He took a deep breath to prepare himself and stood up in the shallow end of the bath, the water just about coming up to his hips. He looked down hesitantly and winced as soon as his eyes met the damage. The slash across his belly was one of the worst ones he had ever gotten. It was almost an inch thick and Harpuia could tell that it was deep. He knew it would take quite a while to heal, but he had no desire to think about it, so he took a deep breath and plunged himself fully beneath the surface of the water, squeezing his eyes shut completely, letting the water surround him with its comforting warmth.
The warm depths of the bath coupled with the darkness of his closed eyes placed him in an almost fantasy world. All of his pain, memories of his torture, and fear of his master completely disappeared and were replaced by complete and total darkness. This darkness wasn't evil though; it was comforting, void of any malicious intentions. Memories flew past Harpuia's eyes in a blur, and he wasn't able to actually see any of them. The feelings he had just washed over him and surrounded him in a whirlpool of reminiscence. Time seemed to pass slower in this dream world for it felt like he was under the water forever, not feeling the need to breath at all. He knew that his actions would be misinterpreted as suicide however, so he pushed away the vortex of memories and thrust himself above the surface, gasping for the air that he had lost. He looked around quickly to see if there were any people there to prevent his "suicidal actions," and sighed in relief when he saw none. Perhaps they figured that he had learned his lesson about suicide attempts, and decided that he would know better than to try that again. Come to think of it, they had actually let him comb his hair by himself for the entire past week. Harpuia greatly welcomed all of the privacy he could get.
He reached back and ran his fingers through his soaked hair and sighed softly as he felt the hard clumps of dried blood that hadn't washed out clinging to the soft tendrils. He looked around the bath, trying to make out the objects through the steam, and noticed the soaps and shampoos on the other side of the bath. He swam over to where they were located and leaned against the edge, looking at the choices that he had. Luckily there weren't many that he had to deal with and he picked the pair of shampoo of conditioner that was on the far right. He looked at the label to see the fragrance that he had randomly picked out and a small smile crept onto his face.
"Vanilla…" he said quietly and grinned happily, screwing off the cap of the shampoo and pouring a generous amount into the palm of his hand. "My favorite…" He rubbed the shampoo gently into his hair, pushing away the slight disgust in his stomach as he felt the clumps of blood embedded in his hair. As soon as the shampoo was worked up into a thick lather, he fiercely cleaned away any trace of dried blood that there was. The thought of the blood was pushed away by the sweet aroma that came out of the shampoo, and Harpuia closed his eyes, the wonderful smell filling his senses. After a long while of rubbing the shampoo into his hair, making sure that he washed every bit, he opened his eyes and felt no more trace of blood in his long hair. He stopped washing it, and brought his hands up to his face to breath in the sweet vanilla scent that drove him crazy. Just like Zero…
A soft giggle bubbled in Harpuia's throat and he submerged himself under the water, running his hands through his deep green tresses to get all of the shampoo out of it. He swum around in a few circles to ensure that all of the suds came out, and blushed happily as the image of Zero appeared in his mind. It seemed like no matter what happened to Harpuia, the mere thought of Zero could fill that hole in his heart that pained him so. As he poured out a generous amount of vanilla conditioner into his hand, he brought up Zero's warm voice in the form of that message he had heard in his sleep. He nearly fainted as the message that brought hope replayed in his mind, and he closed his eyes, gently rubbing in the conditioner into his hair, thinking about the possibility of that message actually coming true.
"I will save you. I'm coming…"He melted. Harpuia's heart and soul turned into a big puddle of hopeful thoughts, that sweet message swirling around his mind, the voice making his heart race. He felt that the conditioner was fully rubbed into his hair, and he felt backwards with a small splash, a wonderful smile lighting up his face. Holding his breath, he laid submerged in the water, tenderly brushing his wounds as the message calmed his dark, fearful thoughts. Not one to dwell on suffocation, he came up again and rested against the side of the bath, closing his eyes and drifted off to that dream land that he had become accustomed to. However, his thoughts and feelings in this place were more of longing, a deep yearning that burned a hole in his heart. He just wanted to be free.
He hoped with all of his heart and soul that Zero really was coming to save him. The only times of happiness that Harpuia received were times like now, when he was allowed to be alone and gather his thoughts. The rest of the time he had was spent wishing he could be alone, or with someone who really cared. No room in the entire castle was safe for Harpuia. The master and the servants who obeyed him were around every corner, in every shadow. Anywhere that Harpuia walked was likely to hide one of the servants just itching to earn his master's favor. Harpuia felt just like a little mouse in a labyrinth of traps. There was nowhere he could go. Harpuia shook his head slightly, not wanting to have gloomy thoughts to corrupt his time of peace. However, knowing that he had soaked in the bath for well over an hour, and that whoever was watching him was bored to death, Harpuia carefully stepped out of the bed, wary of the slippery floor. He took cautious steps over to where the towels hung (he had no desire to be punished for an accident), and tenderly dried himself off, biting his lip at the pain from the towel rubbing against the wounds. He blinked as he felt a new, warm liquid on the towel and glanced down to see the source.
"Damn it…" he said and winced as he saw new blood flowing from the gash on his belly. A couple of his other, more severe cuts were also bleeding, but not as profusely as this one now was. He needed to get these wounds dressed quickly, before they became infected. Hopefully the doctor in the castle wasn't busy at the moment. However, Harpuia let a small smile show on his face, as he knew that the doctor would drop any task that he had to help Harpuia. The only difficulty he would have would be finding the doctor, which was quite a problem seeing as how Harpuia had a fair amount of trouble walking. He didn't want to convenience anyone further, but perhaps he could find Jos again and ask him for another favor. However, he had no idea where the servant was, so he didn't know where to begin. Wrapping the towel around hi waist, he walked slowly towards the door, trying not to think about the pain and decided against changing into clothes, knowing that that would hurt him even more. He would just have to ignore his rather immodest appearance for the time being, and hope that he ran into someone who could help him.
"Anything I can do for you, sir?" a familiar voice said as Harpuia left the room and a grin spread across his face. He turned around and, for the second time that day, was greeted by the humble figure of Jos. Jos stepped forward and made the gesture of carrying Harpuia, and Harpuia agreed. He nodded and moved to allow Jos to carry him, knowing that it would not have been a good idea to walk. Bowing deeply with respect, Jos picked Harpuia up gently, carefully avoiding any of his deeper wounds and Harpuia looked up at Jos and smiled warmly, giving Jos the only payment he could ever want.
"You waited for me that whole time, didn't you?" Harpuia asked, his suspicions merely confirmed as Jos smiled and nodded. "Thank you… Could you… could you please take me to Dr. Rai? I need to get my wounds healed…" he said quietly, trying to be as humble as he could. He didn't need to be though; Jos would have done anything for him.
"Of course, sir," he said, and walked quickly but carefully off to the doctor's office. Harpuia closed his eyes and rested, knowing that he would need his sleep in order for his wounds to heal. Hopefully his master wouldn't try anything with him for the next week or so. He was usually left alone for a while after serious beatings such as the one that happened the previous night. He was going to have a few scars, however. The slash across his belly was going to turn into a particularly large one. Hopefully Zero wouldn't be too mortified or get too upset at the sight of Harpuia's sufferings.
"Zero…" Harpuia whispered under his breath, wondering where the young man was now. Was he really on his way to save him? It all seemed so… impossible. He sighed sadly as miserable thoughts penetrated Harpuia's hope. Zero couldn't be coming… He was just imagining his voice. Just imagining that he was coming to save him…
"Zero… Please come…"
AN: Shit… I keep ending my chapters the same way. Crap. BUT! This time, Harpuia didn't call out to Zero, so he's not going to hear it. That would just completely ruin my little scenario I have all planned out. Mwahaha…
Oh, crap… I just realized something. This should be Chapter 3, shouldn't it? DANG IT! Well… I guess the title of the first chapter can have Prologue in it, can't it? Tch… Too late to change it now. Ah, well. Just ignore it…
And, my chapters are getting longer, aren't they? I don't know how in the world I managed to make this chapter as long as it is… In my mind, it was WAY shorter than this. Oh, well. More is better.
Anyways. Enjoy what you read, and read what you enjoy. Thanks for putting up with me. Don't miss the next chapter!
