Disclaimer: Ken Akamatsu owns Negima
Heavy footsteps stomped down a narrow, dark passage. Slowly opening her eyes, Konoka felt her sore body jerk roughly sideways. A wave of nausea passed through her body. Softly moaning, she tried to move but found herself locked in an iron grip around her middle; she then realized her body too weak and in pain to move.
With great difficulty, she lifted her head; another wave of nausea slammed into her as she gathered the dark outline of a narrow tunnel.
Everything was dark. Faint, dismal lights flickered just out of her sight and echoes of various unknown sounds melded together, adding to her discomfort. Suddenly, the movement stopped and the scraping of metal against stone pierced her ears. Her stomach rolled as unwanted bile rushed up to her dry throat.
Pain embraced her body setting her nerves on fire. She tried to keep the bile from rising but failed as the green liquid trickled down the side of her mouth. The burning, bitter taste mixed together with the coppery sensation in her mouth. Then, as quickly as she had stopped, she felt herself moving once again. Her vision soon became darker and blurred. A faded pool of nothingness waited as she slipped into its cool depths. Before losing complete consciousness of her surroundings, the sound of a door slamming shut reverberated in her ears.
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Konoka awoke from what seemed like a nightmare only to be greeted by a splitting headache. A distant cry echoed above the muffled noises that grated against her eardrums. She tried to cradle her head in hopes of blocking out the sounds to relieve some of the pain, but she found that her hands strangely would not move. Muddled and feeling feverish, she strained to open her eyes, fighting a useless battle against herself. Fear diffused through her body when she realized her right eye would only open to a weak and painful squint, which caused her right cheek to burn painfully, only adding to her nausea. The strange noises hammered her ears as she tried to straighten her weak and aching neck. She lolled her tongue over in her mouth, a thick and gritty substance coating it.
'Where am I? Why won't my arms move? Am I dreaming?' Though her head felt heavy and her vision was blurred, she attempted to move her arms again only to feel a spiked, icy numbness pricking her skin. The cold, corroded manacles rubbed her leather-like skin raw as she continued to struggle against the restraints. The height of the chains stretched her body that allowed only minimal movement.
Everything in the room spun before her eyes; Konoka closed them but it only made the dizziness worse. She opened her only good hazel eye once more to the dismal scene. Her body subconsciously shivered from the cold, humid air circulating.
Raucous laughter diverted her attention to a door-size opening in the wall in the wall where a black curtain acted as a shield from outside. She glued her eyes to the curtain, afraid of what might come through. Slight lifts and phantom figures pressed against the curtain as unidentified shapes formed. Tears stung her eyes as she struggled harder against the chains, but nothing changed. To increase her growing fears, a blood-curling scream erupted from behind the curtain followed by a deafening uproar.
'This is no dream…..it's a nightmare.' She prayed that Asuna would wake her up any moment. She bit her lip in place of pinching herself so she could wake up quicker. A fresh supply of blood coated the tip of her tongue and still, nothing had changed. Grimacing, she looked around to find a large, spacious, dark room with minimal furniture. A few candles were scattered near the wall, splashing it with dancing shadows. 'Am I stuck inside this dream? How do I wake myself up?' She thought frantically.
Her gaze returned to the left to rest upon a king sized bed before trailing her eyes back to the black opening. Hope filled her and she tried again to escape from her binds, but it only rubbed her wrists to the point of blood running down her arms. 'Set-chan? Where are you?' Fear enclosed her as the strange noises grew louder.
'Where am I?' Konoka tried to shut out the screams.
After what seemed to be hours, the screams stopped. She heard the audible snap of something solid. Soon sounds like twigs snapping from a tree and ravenous hunger filled the air. Abhorrent sounds and strong repugnant odor surrounded her. Konoka never noticed the offensive smell before and wondered how a smell this foul could go unnoticed.
To her surprise, an arm appeared from behind the curtain lying on the ground as if someone was on their back. Before she could react, the arm lifted upward and disappeared back behind the curtain. Konoka's heartbeat increased as the sound of movement grew more violent as the curtain shuddered. Without warning, a large, grotesque face shot out from behind the curtain.
Too scared to scream and too shocked to move, Konoka stared at the ugliest face that she had ever seen. From its mouth hung a few fingers of the hand she saw earlier, slightly curled at its lips in a last attempt to fight for freedom. The creature pulled up its massive head to allow the hand to slip down its throat.
Its entire body was unclothed but encased in what seemed to be a shiny, muddy-brown shell. The disproportional form slumped over, its massive arms too heavy for its shoulders to support. Two obsidian earrings rested in his left ear. Muscles seemed to be the only armor the creature needed because with each movement the muscles flexed.
Konoka felt her entire body stiffen as he reached out for her. His enlarged hand covered her small face entirely. The rough texture of his hand and the rotted odor attacked her senses. She felt her stomach roll and her stomach muscles again pushed bile to her throat. He tightened his hold; she felt her head was being torn from her body.
'Why can't I wake up? Asuna! Set-chan! Anyone, wake me up.' She cried out in pain as the muscles in her neck strained. She was sure that she was going to die, but the hold on her face disappeared and something big slammed against the wall next to her. Once her eyes cleared, she saw a man, whose back faced her, standing over the bulky monster.
The man looked an average size wearing only a loose red shirt, grey pants, boots and dark curly hair. Hope filled her being. 'Someone to help me.' She thought.
"Do not touch what belongs to me, underling." The voice was cold. He reeled his foot back ramming his toe into the already deformed face. "Get out." He spat. The demon cowardly skirted out on all fours.
Horror-struck, Konoka's hope died as the man turned around. He was not a man. His face revealed pale skin and yellow slit eyes. Even in the poorly lit room, she was clearly able to see his form. 'Please, oh please let me wake up.' A few teardrops fell from her trembling chin. The demon frowned as he slowly walked to her.
As if reading her thoughts, he lifted a hand gently touching her face. "This is no nightmare, my dear. This is very real. You belong to me." His voice was soft but cold. His eyes filled with emotions Konoka had never seen before, extreme loathing and animosity. The demon's hand was cold yet smooth to her surprise.
"Do not worry, Konoka Konoe. You are very special to me. I will not eat you." He grinned at her reaction. "I have special plans for you."
She shrank back as far as the restraints allowed from his touch. She did not want him to touch her again. She hated the feeling of his eyes as he studied her. She tried to turn away from his eyes only for him to hold her chin in place. "Your fear is so thick, I can taste it. Yes, you will prove to be a very valuable asset."
Konoka's tears streamed down her face as she realized she was in no nightmare; she was in reality and there was no one to wake her up. "Where's Set-chan?" she managed to ask, her cracking voice passing trembling lips.
"Dead." He casually responded with a grin.
"NO! You're lying to me. Set-chan would not die. She would not leave me alone." She shook her head in disbelief and struggled with the chains again.
He chuckled at her stubbornness, "If she were alive then why had she not tried to rescue you?"
"She will come for me; I know she will. Set-chan would never stop until she finds me!" Konoka spoke with conviction. "And when she does, she'll destroy you." The demon threw his head back and laughed at the moment of bravado as Konoka allowed her emotions for the samurai to surface.
"Your faith in the half demon is touching but out of place. Do you even know about your precious 'Set-chan?'" he stipulated cruelly, "That she was exiled from her tribe from birth? She was a freak that walked the surface of this planet. Her contaminated blood that runs through her veins is apparent in her appearance. She threw aside what little demon pride she possessed for the sake of befriending humans. Hiding behind their enclosed magical barriers pretending she accomplished something in order to bring her life meaning."
"Training under the tutelage of the Shinmeiryuu masters to make herself less dependant, she had become reliable like a dog. Then she met you.' His expression changed to disgust, "A princess of the Konoe family; the sole heir to the bloodline of powerful magicians. Unknown to her, she had hit the jackpot."
Konoka didn't want to listen to these slanderous words about Setsuna. He reached over to her restraints and released her. Her legs felt unstable and she fell to her knees. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "She made friends with you and eventually she began to experience various other emotions. Confusing those feelings with desires to protect the one person who truly cared about her along with the fear you will discover her 'secret' the only thing she could do was push you away.'
"But never underestimate the power of a Konoe.' He surmised, 'You kept pushing and pushing until finally you broke through her defenses using the magic bred into you. She surrendered herself completely to you. You are the only person able to control such a monster. Now, she had become a dog without teeth, leashed to you by an invisible link created by your magic." He finished as he half carried, half dragged to the bed.
He threw her roughly onto the soft mattress and she fell backwards. Catching her balance, Konoka quickly sat up. She moved to get off the bed in hopes to keep it as a wall between them, but he grabbed her arm. He pulled her on the bed with his body pinning hers down. "How do you know so much about Set-chan?" She was horrified at his intimate knowledge of Setsuna. He glared at her; the slits in his eyes narrowed.
"It is not difficult to figure her out. Even demons keep close tabs on their own kind. I had heard about a half demon born into the bird tribe then cast out because of her appearance. She was after all a monster even among the demons, and not just the bird tribe. An outcast by both humans and demons, she turned to the magicians. Truly pathetic!"
He begun to stroke her jaw, "But I am not interested in her. I'm interested in you, Konoka Konoe. You are a very rare gem even by demon standards. You possess a great power within your body that has not even grown to maturity. Even now, your power is so great that even the Thousand Master could not stand up to it and you're still only in your infancy." He ran his hand over her face sending chills down her spine.
"You are both beautiful and powerful.' His face loomed closer, "A great combination." Konoka never knew how fear could simply consume your entire body. She could not move. Her eyes were drawn to his eyes as if hypnotized. He lowered his face to hers and ran his tongue over her cheek.
Silent tears fell freely down her temples. 'Set-chan' Her mind cried out for the samurai.
"Do not fear, Konoe. Like I said before, you are very special to me. Your role in my plans has only begun." He whispered in her ear.
"Set-chan." Her voice shook with despair. No matter how much she tried, her body would not move.
He smirked then sat up, looking down at her. "I am going to break your mind. You belong to me and only me. I will make you forget about your Set-chan soon enough." He rubbed the back of his hand across her swollen cheek before he stood up and headed out the room.
Konoka remained, laying alone in bed. 'Why can't I move? Where is Set-chan?' Noises from outside the room enveloped her completely. Ghastly sounds and unquestionable cruelty hammered against her eardrums. The voices of the many tormented souls trapped along with her in this Hell. Tears continued to flow, the only thing allowed to run free.
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She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face against her knees. Time held no place in this place. Hours, days, weeks, or years could have passed and yet she would not ever know. To her surprise, as she was being held prisoner she was treated fairly. Her swollen cheek had healed leaving only the faint bluish tint of a bruise.
He suddenly entered the room to take her somewhere else that resembled a large dinning hall. He sat himself upon a stone bench observing the hoard of demons feasting or playing with their food and always with her sitting next to the bench like a dog. She watched in horror as human prisoners were brought into the room. Konoka kept her eyes closed but she could not block out the torturous screams from within the mess hall.
"Watch, Princess Konoe." He commanded. She shook her head in defiance but he ordered her strapped in a chair with her eyes taped open. "I cannot allow you to miss out on our festivities." He grinned as tears streamed down her face. Konoka witnessed atrocities that burned deep within her mind. She couldn't believe that such cruelties were possible.
She begged and pleaded them to stop, but she was ignored or laughed at. The room's smell caused Konoka to vomit several times as she watched the helpless victims being torn apart and later eaten. One victim managed to escape from his captor. He ran toward the Lord falling on his knees, begging. "Please, Lord, let me and my family go. I promise to never talk about you or anything that occurred here. I promise! Please!" He cried. His body was wracked in wounds. Konoka could see the kind of torture he had suffered.
The Lord merely chuckled. "Do you hear that, boys? He wants us to let him and his family go. What say you?" The demons all screamed and yelled no. "It would appear that the majority is against me." He scratched his cheek casually while the man grabbed a hold of the Lord's leg as his captor came to retrieve him.
"Please! I beg of you. If not me, let my family go. I'll take whatever punishment you deem necessary for all of them. Just let them go!" The Lord stopped laughing. He suddenly stood up that caused the room to fall silent.
He grabbed the man by the back of the neck and threw him hard against the side wall. "Do not touch me, human." He threatened. He signaled with his hand to the guards posted on both sides of the door, "Bring me his family." Without hesitation, they left.
The man struggled to stand up but was punched in the face by his captor. "Hold him." The Lord ordered. The man's eyes held fear of the unknown. Minutes later, his family was brought in. Konoka couldn't believe that even small children were prisoners. The youngest of the two children, a five year old, started to run to her dad but was held back.
The Lord walked over to them, all the while watching the man's reaction. "Such a beautiful family you have." He reached out and touched the man's wife. The woman was very beautiful even though she too held wounds on her body.
Flickering his eyes over to the man, he kissed the woman. An uproar of laughter and cheers erupted from the dining hall as the woman fell a couple of feet back. "Sara!" The man struggled against his captor as he tried to reach his wife.
"You want me to let them go, do you?' The Lord's eyes were unreadable, "All right, I shall release them but on one condition." The man looked overjoyed that his family would be saved, but Konoka knew better.
"The condition is that you are the one to kill them." Both the wife and husband froze while the oldest kid joined in sobbing with its sibling.
"W..what?" The man couldn't believe what he heard.
"Either you kill them giving them a merciful death or I can allow my minions to do the job for you, your choice." The Lord grinned showing a row of perfectly white sharpened teeth.
The demon released the man and pushed him forward. Konoka watched as a knife was presented to the man. Three demons held his family. She wanted to close her eyes and block out the scene as the man cried and apologized. His wife smiled at him in understanding professing her love to him and that she would see him soon. He hesitated as he faced his wife. He knew that killing them himself would be a far kinder release; he steeled himself taking deep breaths.
"I love you, dear." Tears fell down her pale cheeks. The man raised the knife and plunged the blade deep into her chest. The children were alarmed as the man dug the knife deep into her chest to pierce her heart. The demons yelled in excitement as the woman's body stopped twitching. He turned toward his kids.
"Daddy, don't! Daddy, I'm sorry I was a bad person. I promise not to do it again. Please, daddy." The oldest begged as its father zeroed in. With his eyes closed, the man stabbed the child through the chest.
The five year old screams became louder and Konoka wanted to plug her ears. "STOP IT!" Her screams were easily drowned out by the cheers and roars of the demons, the desperate screams of the child as the man touched his youngest child's cheek to console her. A pained look crossed his features as he killed his child. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." The knife dropped from his fingers as he fell to the ground sobbing.
Konoka felt her body grow numb. The Lord only watched not joining in the laughter of his fellow demons. "Now eat them." His voice calm and quiet, both Konoka and the man stared at him with disbelief. The Lord grabbed the man by the hair and pushed his face into the bloody corpse of his youngest child, "EAT!"
The man's entire body shook with sobs as he tried to push away. "Would you prefer my men to do the honors while you watch, then have you for dessert?"
"Please, I killed them just as you ordered. Don't make me do this." He pleaded, his voice muffled by his child's body.
"Yes, you killed your entire family, who you claimed to love so much. You did it without hesitation. From what I hear, humans remember their loved ones by keeping them close to heart. What better way than to have them inside you?" The Lord sneered while pressing the man's face further in.
"You will eat them in front of us for our entertainment. If you do not, I will give you over to my men, who will not only eat them but you…alive."
The man's eyes widened in fear; he knelt down at the dead corpses of his family. Konoka was getting sick as the squishing of soft organs and tearing of muscles and skin echoed in the room. The gagging of the man as he slowly began feasting on his family. 'Set-chan, please come save me.'
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A crescent moon shone through the dirty glassed window of an abandoned warehouse. Light filtered through the cobwebs and dust in the air giving off an eerie glow. A pained wail erupted from within the building scaring off a few crows. A gory mess decorated the inside revealing an overweight demon whose face resembled a pig. He was nailed to a wooden table by his hands and ankles but his head was elevated by a block of wood.
His entire body suffered from deep incisions. Setsuna stood over him her face devoid of emotion, "Are you going to tell me where princess Konoka is located?" The demon's body convulsed from the shock and pain she delivered to his body. She had tortured the demon most of the night and the sun was about to set. She couldn't afford to waste anymore time on him but unfortunately, he was the best lead she had had in months.
His belly was slit open with his intestines hanging out. With a rusted, dull knife she had found inside the warehouse, she made several, jagged cuts against his large intestine. The demon's mouth was open letting out a silent scream of pain as she ran the blade further down the intestine cutting bits and pieces of the organ. After cutting a fair amount, she grabbed the loose tissue and placed it in a dirty clay bowl that held other body parts and organs. She coated her hands with salt before she ran her hands inside his exposed body. He released a pent up howl of pain.
She turned around grabbing the next tool to use on him, "Last chance before the next break." When he didn't say anything, she turned around with a drill in her hand. She turned it on allowing the drill to warm up. The demon's eyes increased in size as she placed a hand on his head, turning it slightly to the side. The drill nearing the back of his head, she paused to see if maybe he changed his mind.
'Stubborn guy. I'll crack him eventually.' She pressed the drill into his skin. The burning sensation and excruciating pain blinded the demon as she pushed deeper with the drill into his skull. The bone was hard, but she was determined. A burning scent drifted into her nostrils as the drill worked on the bone.
Pushing harder in and ignoring the demon's screams of agony. As the bone began to give way directly following into his head, blood and pieces of skin splattered her already gory uniform. The demon's cry only numbed her emotions. He held the key to the whereabouts of Konoka and nothing was going to stop her.
The base of the drill touched his head. She pulled out the drill, which was dripping with fluid. She placed the drill against another part of his head; she squeezed the trigger. After drilling three holes nearby each other to form a larger hole in his head, she placed the drill down.
Ple…pleas..please stop." He was gasping for air and shaking as if he was cold.
"Where is princess Konoka?" Her voice was dead.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to ignore the pain, "I…I can't tell you….you would kill me…anyways."
"I promise I won't kill you if you tell me."
He swallowed, "Sh…she's at the club…' He grimaced as a wave of nausea washed over him.
"What club?"
"...there is a demon's ….club that only the elite know about.' He gasped for air, "A member's only club with…"
"Where is it?"
"…it's in a 'Haunted' forest…there are signs everywhere' He closed his eyes as he writhed in pain, 'if …you know where to..to..to look. If you have demon blood, the signs are obvious…"
"Haunted forest?"
"…a place where human avoid because they believe it's haunted by ghosts when in fact…it's from our victims." He tried to smile but gritted his teeth. "Now…you said you would let me go." His eyes squinted as he glared up at her.
She tore his body from the rusted nails that pinned him down roughly then dragged him outside where a boulder sat. The sun was peeking over the horizon and a flock of vultures flew in the air sensing breakfast from the strong odor emitting from the warehouse. She laid his body on the boulder as he demanded what she was doing. Tying him down with rope so tight that he could not move; she started to walk away.
"You bitch! You promised to not kill me and let me go." He screamed in frustration.
Setsuna continued to walk away. "I didn't promise to let you go only to not kill you. As you can see, I'm leaving you alive." The demon weakly struggled against the binds but his body would not budge. The vultures continued to circle around him slowly making their decent, calling out to him.
"You can't leave me here!" Setsuna ignored his pleas and cries as she walked away, 'Princess, I'm coming. Please hold on a little longer.' The vultures landed one after another and a different cry and scream spewed from the demon.
AN: Sorry for the long wait but you know how life gets sometimes. Thank you for your reviews. It kept me going. Difficult chapter this was to write. Very difficult. Anyway, I hope you didn't spew any bile or undigested food up. Heh.
Once more thank you to my editor. I bow to your greatness! The fifth chapter is already written and about to be edited. My editor is upset with me because I refuse to tell her what happens in the sixth. She said she would continue to talk to me, because that is the only way to truly reprimand me (inside joke).
