Warning: Slight spoilers ahead in the manga and torture.
Saph's PoV
When I woke up, I thought I was back in the Underground. Cheek pressed against the stone, the straw covering the floor poked my skin uncomfortably. My first instinct screamed for me to find my knife in my boot. To secure my weapon in my hand before I attempted to try anything else. However, the snug blade that usually rubbed comfortably against my calf didn't appear to be there. Neither were my boots. Propping myself up slightly on my elbows, I looked around, prepared to fake sleeping if someone came in.
Panicking slightly, I surveyed my surroundings in order to get a better feel with where I was at. I had never been to jail before, but the area made me believe that I'd been taken to a holding for criminals underneath a fortress. The only furniture with me was a rusty metal bucket. With a nauseous scent wafting from it, even an imbecile could discern what its use was. Someone had put me on a makeshift bed of straw. Cradling my throbbing head, I shakily stood up from my position. Wobbling slightly, I leaned against the wall for support, only to find bloodstains and gashes on the mortar. Streaks of red indicating someone had clawed there until they bled.
Not wanting to think about what happened to drive someone towards that, I turned around and walked towards the metal bars. The biggest opening was wide but short. A squashed rectangle that I suspected where my food would come through. The length roughly made up my forearm. Other than that, all of the other gaps allowed only my hand to fit through if I turned it over sideways. Even if I somehow molded the bucket into a weapon, there wouldn't be much room to utilize it. Peeking out of the enclosement, all I saw were more cells like mine lined up against the wall. Every single one of them was empty. Escape, at the moment, didn't seem possible. Deciding to conserve my waning strength, I lied back down on the straw. I maneuvered my limbs so that they pointed in the same directions as when I first woke up. Closing my eyes, I focused on every sound that thrummed inside my ears.
My efforts were soon rewarded as the thump of footsteps reverberated into the chilly air. Trying to keep my body relaxed, I remained completely still when the door opened. Hinges groaned in disuse while wood scraped against the rock. The person approached closer and closer to my jail before stopping near enough that I could smell a hint of gunpowder.
A second set of footsteps fast approached us. These were hurried and light, unlike the steady, hard steps of the first person. This time the door was pushed open so fast that it banged against the wall. Flinching slightly from the sound, I hoped that it had gone by unnoticed.
"It doesn't seem as if she's awake yet," a man's voice panted out.
"No. She's up. Hear me, bitch? I know you're awake," a gruff voice barked out orders. Kenny.
Irritated that my ploy failed, I wearily got in a sitting position. Leaning against the smooth stone, I glared at Kenny and the sweaty, mostly bald man beside him.
"She's just a child," he gasped while wiping his brow with a handkerchief.
Kenny spit on the ground near a shovel. "Don't let that fool you. See all that blood covering her? She stabbed a comrade she lived with for years in the throat without a second thought. Might look innocent, but she didn't survive in the Underground for nothing."
I hadn't noticed the dried blood splattered all over my clothes until Kenny had mentioned it. How it made the cloth dry and rough on my skin reminded me of the filth that I used to live in. With how much I was dyed in the red liquid, Leon must have not been able to survive the attack. Murder amongst the Survey Corps was rare, but Leon also had never been a true member if he'd been working under Kenny. Not feeling guilty in the slightest, I found my bloodied clothes just irksome.
"Leon told us that you were sick and weak, must have surprised him when you put up such a fight," Kenny grinned, "I'm glad you have that in you though. Makes you more fun to break."
His companion shivered, paling slightly. "Just tell us what we want to know and I'll make sure your death is painless," he offered.
"You want information?"
"What do you know about me and who else have you told?"
Kenny laughed as I looked at them confused. "I don't think she has any idea who you are!"
Glancing back and forth, I sized the man up. The clothing he wore seemed expensive and Kenny was with him. Agni's subordinate's words filtered into my mind. "Are you Uri Reiss?"
"Wrong, but you're close. I'm his brother, Rod Reiss. Uri Reiss died years ago."
"I don't keep track of what fat pigs dressed as nobles are dead," I snarled out something I had heard Levi say multiple times.
"Well you should since the intel is dangerous enough it might lead to the downfall of humanity."
"Just because I wouldn't mind humanity wasting away doesn't mean I'd try to bring its destruction."
Kenny stepped closer until he was within an arm's length from the cell. "Nobody cares what your intentions are, what matters is that scum like you learns things you shouldn't."
"Then why didn't you kill me?" I asked, gesturing towards my towards. "What's with this whole setup?
"Because we need to know who else you've told."
Licking my bottom lip, my mind raced for a plan. I hadn't really told anyone anything except some scarce details to Levi. "How about I tell how I discovered your little secrets and you let me go?"
Kenny barked out a laugh. "We're already aware that Brutus was the one spilling everything. He has made up for that fact by lying about Leon not trying to kill you and for helping out to get you here. Figured he could become useful in the future, so I'm going to keep him for awhile."
Recollections of Jolls trying to shoot me and Ruby's fatal fall made my mind whirl. "Guess I'm just going to have to keep my mouth shut then. I still have some business I have to take care of in regards to you, Kenny. And neither of you can kill me because I got people who are ready to share those little secrets you want kept hidden if I don't show back up for awhile. Who wouldn't set up a little insurance with so many attempts on my life?"
"Now I told you she wasn't going to tell us nicely," Kenny spoke up, removing a set of keys from his pocket. Rod left the room, distase clearly on his face.
Not going to get taken down without a fight, I wildly threw my limbs about. If I had thought my body was weak while taking a walk, it completely failed me now. Swatting away my empty punches, Kenny twisted my arm behind my back hard enough to draw a scream from my lips.
"If you start wailing at this much pain, it's going to be exciting to see how much you can take before you start begging for me to just end your miserable life."
"I'm not going to die until you tell me where my brother is!"
That made him pause in his actions. "Probably decaying somewhere."
"You're lying! You're lying! You are lying!" My mind too caught up in sheer panic to pay attention to how my struggles resulted in jolts of hurt to my body. "Where is Suzu? Where is he? Tell me where he is!"
Kenny had eventually dragged me into a connected room. All that sat in there was a lonely, simple, wooden chair and table. Torture tools and rope lined the surface, clearly been used before by viewing the rust stains. Strapping me to the chair, he shoved a wad of cloth into my mouth.
"Can't having you biting off your tongue. Much harder to talk when that happens. Trust me."
Both my hands and feet were free since the rope just went around my waist. I didn't have time to wonder why this was before he pulled the table in front of me. Forcefully, he threw my hands on the top of the table before putting them each in a metal clasp The table shook as I tried to yank away. Without hesitation, Kenny grabbed a hammer and two nails.
"I like to take the fight out of people slowly," a singular nail went straight through the middle of my left hand, close to my knuckles, "since it's such a beautiful sight to drain someone of hope," the second nail went through my right hand," but in your case we are going to have to work fast." Kenny snatched the cloth from my mouth while I gasped for air. "Ready to speak yet?"
Resisting the urge to try and free my hands, which would only further damage them, I spit on his unshaven cheek. "Give me back Su-" gagged before I could finish my demand, I glared in fury.
He used the sleeve of his coat to wipe off my saliva. "I'm going to sure have a fun time wrenching out all those teeth of yours once you're done coughing up what you know."
Trembling, I fixated on the metal embedded into my skin. Flexing my fingers revealed that their was no structural damage, but the area throbbed with such vicious agony I concentrated on nothing else. That was until a small slit was made near my wrist. Head lolling back, piercing shrieks left me without my permission. Making his way up my arm, Kenny kept cutting and slicing at my revealed skin. Over and over and over and over and over again. Wounds that weren't made to kill, but to injure. With a meticulous steadiness, Kenny drew straight welts that ran parallel of one another. Never once again taking out my gag, it did little to muffle my cries of hurt.
Feet uselessly skidded around on the floor as I tried to brace for each piercing of my flesh. The ball of cloth doing little to muffle the desperate sounds coming out of my throat, Kenny reveled in the symphony he made. A barbaric grin split his face, the scruff of his beard doing nothing to hide his eerie delight.
Shaking and whimpering uncontrollably, my resolve to not tell him the information didn't waver once. This was nothing compared to the years I spent alone in the hellish Underground. This couldn't break me because I fought fucking Titans for a living. Physical trauma meant little to me as long as I got to see my brother. Be with him. Have him by my side. And that would never happen if I spilled what my mind contained.
Any wondering I had as to why Kenny kept my legs free ceased when I kicked the underside of the table in utter distress after the cuts had reached my elbow. The piece of furniture shook with the force, rocking the nails inside my tissue. Back arching inward, I trembled as tears came to my eyes.
"That wasn't such a good idea now, was it?" Kenny tangled his long fingers into my hair, using it as leverage to pull my head up until he peered into my eyes. "You're not the brightest soldier in the military are you?"
Exhausted, my body held no strength as it repeatedly tensed as metal sliced skin. Letting the darkness encapsulate my vision, I focused on taking steady breaths. My chin touched my chest in defeat, not surrender.
After what must have been hours, Rod came in. "If you keep going you're going to kill her soon."
"I bet that's what she wants." Kenny chuckled, pulling out my homemade gag.
Jaw sore, I cautiously opened and closed my mouth. My lips were dry and cracked, resembling the skin at the corners of them. The stench of blood and sweat made it so I tasted copper. Wearily, I stared at the two men who would decide my fate.
Rod walked up to me, careful not to step in any of the small pools of blood that had formed puddles near my feet. "Are you ready to talk?"
"I don't believe you've given me a good reason too," I snarled out.
Rod straightened up, hearing my hoarse words. "If that's your choice. Kenny, give her a wash before throwing her back into the cell. You can continue the interrogation tomorrow, but I don't want her to die of disease in the meantime." With his orders given, I was left once again alone with Kenny.
"This is going to burn like a bitch," Kenny promised, retrieving a large bucket right outside the door. Setting it down next to him, he grabbed the hammer to set my palms free.
Gritting my teeth while watching the wounds weep red, I gently brought them to my face to inspect the damage. Without warning, a wave of chilly, soapy water got dumped over me. My cuts began to ignite, wrapping strands of heat around my dissected left arm. Cradling it to my body, I blew on my wounds. Trying to get the soap out without having to touch any of the 40 something cuts.
Yanking me to my feet, Kenny dragged me back to my where I'd been originally. Hitting the floor, all I could muster was curling up into a ball in the corner. Shivering, I burrowed under the straw in an attempt to seek a little warmth. Mushy food on a tray carelessly flew into the dirt not to far from my nose. Hurting everywhere, I struggled to put the leftovers on my dry tongue. Apathetic to my messy state, I licked the try without reservation. Gulping down the small glass of water when I'd finished. Too tired to think of a plan, I slept right then and there.
This happened for another three consecutive days. However, Kenny differed in the way he would drain of energy in the beginning. The second day he tied me to the wall and beat me with a horsewhip across the back until I couldn't cry out anymore. Then Kenny used the same slicing method to carve his way up my right wrist all the way to my shoulder. The third day he put a collar on me and made me run around until I crumbled in exhaustion. He took particular delight in my quaking legs since he decided to have his blade kiss the skin along my right ankle all the way to my hip. More area to work with meant longer time in the chair. With no strength left on the fourth day, he started cutting up my left thigh as silent tears poured down my cheeks.
Always at the end of our sessions he would ask if I was ready to talk. Ready to betray my younger brother. The answer never changed and it never would. Doused with the same cold, bubbly water, I knew that Kenny had to stop or risk killing me before I ran out of use.
"Take her to her cell," Rod grumbled. His eyes never wavered from my practically naked form. No new clothes had been given, and the torture severely lessened the amount of skin my black tank top and shorts covered.
Mumbling curse words underneath his breath, Kenny tightened his hold on my neck and pulled me back. Freely letting me hit whatever I was too tired to avoid. Stubbing my toe on the shovel in front of my cell, I let out a low hiss.
"Enjoy your fine dinner of slop and shit! Maybe I'll take a piss in that cup of water before they give it to you, hmmm?" Kenny patted my head in almost an affectionate manner. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Hope I show up in your nightmares!"
Not caring if he really did urinate in my only access to water, I swallowed it all once the tiny tin came. Picking the tray up, I scarfed down the chow, some of it getting in my nose. Once done with my meal, I crawled to the bucket in the corner to relieve myself. Not all defecations had made it to the small toilet, and the smell of me seemed to be close to unbearable for Rod most of the time. The stank didn't bother me when I collapsed in the moldy straw to sleep.
Something had gone wrong. Kenny always came at his usual to pick me up by the time I awoke. Not that it was an activity that I looked forward to in anyway, but it had become the one way I discerned what time it was. Stretching my sore limbs, I considered if they had decided to just leave me in here to rot away. Now that would be a terrible fate.
Would anyone ever find my body? The Survey Corps must be searching at least half-heartedly for Leon and I. If they found Leon's body, speculation might be that I killed him and went back to the Underground. I didn't know enough about the building to guess where it might be. A fortress in the walls or shabby house made to look like just another hut in the Underground. Nobles like Rod probably had the money and power to do anything they wanted.
What about Levi? A faint hope softly warmed my chest when he popped into my mind. Oh how I wished I could see him. Just hear his gruff voice admonishing me would be a better sound than the empty quiet around me. He would be disappointed to know that he saved my life multiple times from Titans only for me to waste away because of humans. A little shake of the head coupled with a sigh then a derogatory remark as he complained about having to get me out of a dangerous situation. Not that he treated me much differently than the other members of the Special Operations Squad. Our history tied the two of us together but not much else. Unlike Petra and him. I wondered if Petra ever confessed her undying love?
"I brought a present for you!" Kenny shouted while opening the whining door. He had a boy with shaggy brown hair over his shoulder. The kid seemed to be at least breathing but unconscious. It appeared as if he was taller, but with childish features I figured he was younger than me. Bruises lined his arms and legs, there were probably more by the looks of his state but I couldn't see with t-shirt and pants covering most of him up.
Shrinking into myself until my back hit the hard stone, I prepared myself to be attacked. Instead, Kenny tossed the boy in like a sack before sliding his key into the lock. "Why did you bring this boy in?" I asked, completely bewildered.
"Why Saph, I thought you would recognize your little brother!"
Sorry about the super long wait guys. I got pretty sick then I had finals. I have to sincerely thank everyone who left a review because they were a singluar bright spot during all the tests. I also have some exciting news! I'm going to do the next chapter in Levi's PoV to celebrate a combination ofgetting over 150 followers, the 30th chapter, and over 90,000 words. It'll be the first time I write in his PoV, so I hope it doesn't go too badly. Anyways, it's my utmost desire that everybody enjoyed the latest chapter, and please leave a review on your way out!