I do not own anything but my characters (Iris, Amon, Axel, etc), the Galileus (but sadly I do not own the creature design) and Cryal.
Quotes and meanings below.
"Speaking aloud"
'Speaking telepathically'
Subconscious thoughts, deep in the mind and cannot be heard by others at all.
My fanfiction & Wattpad: VivicaNight
My deviantart: Horrorgir1
Chapter 25: Bloodied Chains
The years went by slowly, my mentality continued to deteriorate.
Through those 23 years, I was isolated from all living contact for 15 of those years. Only seeing another being when feeding time comes, I had become so viciously aggressive toward the feeders to where a small slide-door was designed onto the door to my room for easier, safer feeding. Not one soul even wanted to come in to clean my room, even when I was knocked unconscious. Alexander would have been brave enough, but of course he couldn't care less about my wellbeing.
Through those years, my entire mentality caved in on itself, reducing me to a reclusive feralistic killing machine.
Of course, my dreams and mental visits with the boys kept me hanging on by a thread.
For the last 8 years, I have been reintroduced to contact mildly, only to fight and entertain Alexander's crowds of humans and Cryal. Those humans, I have learned, had to swear to keep the site's location and business strictly to themselves. Otherwise they would become the entertainment, the bait technically to whatever is in the viewing room.
Since the event happened between Valentina and I, we were never paired against each other again.
Now I have become obedient, yet remain intensely loathful toward every soul around me, especially the monster that murdered my unborn daughter.
An hour after the fetus was killed, my body was forced to give birth to it. I got to see my stillborn child, to hold her for a time before she was ripped away from me.
The whole point of creating this facility, I learned, was not only to make money by being similar to some kind of fucked up zoo, but for experimenting as well.
Through all those years I learned there is a device implanted deep within my chest near my heart. This was put in when I was a young child, basically like a microchip. Besides the sloppy murders I caused in Florida, that is another way they found me.
Alex had figured out I was communicating with Axel and Amon 5 years ago, he altered the collar of mine and made it impossible to go on any longer.
I have tried a million times to destroy the device around my neck, each time I try to break it, the device shocks me. Through all these years, it hasn't even begun to deteriorate from my picking.
Crouched beneath my mostly-destructed bed, I pick at my collar, the harsh shocks barely affect me anymore.
My small, frail body is now covered in scars all over, my wings have become so torn up to the point flying is nearly impossible. The experiments this facility puts me through weekly has crippled my body, but just enough to where I can stand and fight in the stadium.
My largest scars are located at the base of my neck, my waist on the right side of my body and from the base of my sternum, down my stomach to my pelvis.
The mark on my neck has nearly faded, almost gone completely. Alexander has been determined to unmark me from Axel, claiming me as his property now, like a piece of desired livestock.
The shocks begin to affect my heart to the point it has begun to hurt.
Growling lowly in defeat, I remove my hands from it to take a break.
Moving my fingers, the feeling of pins and needles caused by the prolonged shocks are slowly eased out of them.
Moving my attention to my room, I have been determined to cover the whole room in blood. Whether it be mine, or blood from my food, I am determined to express myself through my 'art'.
All over the room designs have been dug into the shallow fabric and into the cement walls beyond, most of them consisting of my love and I, memories I am deathly afraid to forget, and my thoughts.
The state I'm in must have been the reason Emma bent my memories, to make me become the person I truly was.
Through the years, I have not aged, still I remain youthful.
Like Vivica predicted, the Shadow Reapers destroyed the barrier and invaded a number of years ago. The damage was catastrophic, but Alexander wiped them out like flies, being much more powerful of a being, knowing the species inside and out from history.
Through the destruction, his daughter was able to escape through a destroyed wall, she has been his side-task while his main focus was on me.
She has yet to be found.
Other creatures were able to escape as well, from what I heard, the most impactful breakout was an angel.
Since that angel disappeared, the defense of the facility has gone down drastically as it was being drained to fuel the barrier among other things.
The sound of the door opening snaps me out of my thoughts, seeing a man in the familiar protective gear used to escort me to the stadium. My mouth forms into a vicious snarl, displaying my bloody dagger-like teeth to him.
My collar begins to inject the familiar narcotic used to knock me out for the escort into my veins.
Becoming weak from it, the world goes black.
Loud cheering brings me back to reality, lying upon the ground inside the reinforced stadium.
The glass walls remain up permanently, the crowd roaring in excitement. Slowly I open my eyes and regain control over my body, growling.
No longer getting dressed for these events, I remain bare. Pushing myself off the ground, I take in the appearance of my opponent.
A thin yet healthy girl stands across the stadium from me, her hip-length black hair dimly shimmers in the large lights pointed down at us.
She looks like the kind of girl who is unbreakable, loves chaos and destruction, while always being in a proud mood.
She bears two black feathered wings at her sides, in the light they shine a familiar violet, fading into black within the shadows.
Another Cryptsin.
She stands ready with a proud grin on her face, fists up as if ready to fight, her bright purple eyes flare with power.
Just seeing her as another opponent, I let out an intimidating screech from deep within me, making the crowd roar with excitement.
She gives me a proud wink, as if sending me a message.
The announcer welcomes the crowd to the event, most of the crowd tends to be the same people each time, all coming to see me destroy my targets.
The announcer gets to introducing my opponent as Magenti Joles, a creature that has been here for over 20 years. This fighter is also well known for easily taking down her opponents as well, due to popular request we were paired together to fight to the death.
The chains on our ankles release us, our collars give us our power back, ever since the whole accident I created, we are no longer allowed our full strength.
Letting out a loud screech, I fly into the air slightly to give me a head start toward her.
Smirking at me, the girl takes flight, her wings not as damaged as mine.
She flies over me, hissing I jump up and flap my wings to give me a boost. Grabbing onto her ankle she looks down at me in surprise, climbing up her I sink my claws into her skin with each inch I make.
She cries out in pain, a pained, unfamiliar female voice booms into my head, 'Iris, I am here to help you get out.'
Hearing the voice in my head I screech loudly in pain, not having heard telepathy in many years.
Doing what has been programmed into my brain at this point, I climb higher.
She begins to fly frantically before spinning through the air, I remain glued to her skin.
'LISTEN TO ME IRIS! DO YOU WANT TO SEE AXEL AGAIN?!' Her voice explodes into my head through pain, the intense pain from my head causes me to howl. Once I hear Axel's name, I snap out of it and begin to listen.
"...Axel...?" Quietly I repeat.
'Yes. It is time to leave. Follow my lead.' She tells me, winking.
She grabs onto my wrist, using unfamiliar power she bursts me away from her, causing me to crash into the ground.
The crowd gasps in shock, watching me get overpowered for the first time since Valentina.
Growling in pain, I watch her land across from me.
"Time to die, Iris!" Magenti announces so strongly to where I begin to believe it to be true.
She glances over at Alexander, who is watching closely.
She smirks before looking down at me, 'Stay down.' She tells me telepathically.
Obeying, I remain still.
She reaches an arm out to me as a large amount of deep purple fog seeps from her, making us lose sight of the crowds.
'When I nod, lower your head and quietly say into your collar, 'Jlaz'' She tells me.
The crowd begins to complain that they can't see what is happening, the next sound that rings through my ears almost makes my eyes pop out of my head.
What sounds like small explosions erupt from all over, followed by screams of agony, bones breaking and chains being dragged across cement floor.
All the sounds explode from all directions, the girl nods.
"...Jlaz..." Once the word is spoken the collar snaps open and falls to my feet, the girl says the same thing before her collar falls from her neck.
"Get up. It's time to leave." She says, reaching out for my hand.
Hesitantly I grab onto her hand and get pulled to my feet.
The sound of glass breaking and destruction makes me nearly cower, the girl runs with me to the exit, the purple fog slowly fading.
Approaching the elevator, a fist is met with my skull causing me to collapse to the ground, holding my head in agonizing pain.
Seeing an intensely pissed off Alexander, he goes to grab me, "You're not going anywhere!"
The girl quickly reaches out toward him, as she does large chains tipped with large hooks burst out from the ground before me, seeming to have somehow manifested with her control.
The chains fly at him, strong enough to hook onto him all over and throw him away from us.
The fog dissipates, the sight before me leaves me both breathless and motionless.
All over the bleachers, chains have busted through the thick cement walls and floors, having torn up and dismembered every human in the stadium. All the Cryal in the room are stuck with hooks and wrapped up with them to keep them from moving, some are even torn in half. Alexander remains pinned against a wall by the tight, large unbreakable chains.
A shake from a hand on my shoulder grabs my attention, slowly I stand up, unable to take my eyes off the destruction in front of me.
The girl yanks me into the elevator the moment the ceiling begins to cave in above the stadium, Staring at Alexander, my hatred takes over.
"NO! KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!" I scream out, the girl having to grab onto me to keep me from taking off back into the collapsing basement.
She shoves me against the wall and the elevator goes up, the elevator shaking with the building's destruction, "We can do that later! Right now we need to get the hell out of Dodge before we are followed!" She screams in my face, making sure I hear her words.
"He's gonna turn...he's gonna turn..." I trail off, speak as I should be in the looney bin.
"He won't turn, unless he is stupid enough to let millions of people see a fucking dragon flying through the sky. The collapse had to have rumbled the ground for miles, surely waking up nearby neighborhoods." She explains.
The elevator reaches the floor we picked, she drags me out of the elevator.
Realizing I'm slowing us down by not working with her, she lands a hard smack across my face.
Falling on my ass, I snap out of my daze of needing vengeance and realize what's happening.
Quickly I stand back up, "Ouch..."
"We. Need. To. Hurry! Those chains wont stay there forever, she told him 15 minutes." She says before running off, I follow her through the building.
"Him?" I ask while running, not having any clue who she is talking about.
"My father." She tells me, soon we come to a room, the whole facility evacuated of employees due to the collapsing structure.
"Get your weapon!" She tells me, kicking through the glass door.
Quickly I act, jumping through the broken glass, seeing Valkyrie upon some type of machine levitating her due to no one being able to touch her.
Grabbing onto her, a surge of energy flows through me. My eyes glow a shimmering violet, causing me to grin at the sudden increase of power.
Running out of the room I catch up with the girl, she lifts her arms and the ceiling explodes above us in a large cloud of purple fog, revealing the night sky I haven't seen in 23 years.
Quickly she grabs onto my arm before leaping into the air, spreading her wings she takes off with me, quickly remaining out of view we land outside the building.
Following the girl she runs to a car, opening it with a relieved sigh she jumps in.
Opening the passenger door I throw Valkyrie into the back seat, taking my place in the passenger seat I pull the door closed and we both put our seatbelts on.
The girl picks up a key from underneath her seat and turns the car on, leaving the parking lot in a flash.
She picks up some kind of cube, a brown, very old looking puzzle box with gold designs all over it.
"Finish it." She says to the cube, sounds erupt from behind us, turning I catch the last glimpse of the remaining building caving in on itself, a large fire explodes from the building.
Eyes wide, I look at her.
She looks at me and smirks, "Celest Night, it's nice to finally meet you Iris!" She grins happily, putting the box down she holds a hand out to me.
Realizing she is Vivica's sister that was mentioned forever ago, hesitantly I slowly shake her hand, she watches the road and withdrawals her hand.
"...What the hell...was all that..." I mutter, still in shock from the whole event.
"Well, we got plenty of time to talk, so you better get comfortable. Florida is a long drive from here." She tells me.
.
The sun begins to rise beyond the horizon, most of the night consisted of silence and road concentration.
The girl, Celest, tried speaking to me a number of times wanting to learn more about me, but I held my tongue.
Being around her feels very unusual, I just want to be alone like I've been for so long.
Being alone makes me feel safe and secure.
She knew this and allowed me to sit in the back seats with Valkyrie.
A hard stop wakes me from my slumber, almost causing me to fly forward and land on Valkyrie at the feet of the seats.
With a start I quickly sit up, claws ready to kill I look around.
Celest looks at me from the mirror as she giggles in amusement, "Hey there sleepyhead. Do you need to use the restroom? Are you hungry at all?"
Watching her speak, I then realize we are parked at a gas station beside a pump.
Feeling my bladder about to burst, I quickly nod before struggling to open the car door, making my wings disappear in the same moment.
Finding the handle I pull it and hop out of the car.
Celest follows my actions, before I am able to run to the gas station she darts in front of me, grabbing onto my wrists and pulling them up between us.
Instinctively I hiss before snarling and becoming defensive, she shushes me before speaking, "You haven't been face to face with humans for decades, do. Not. Lose. Control." She speaks slowly to ingrain the words into my head.
Thinking about it, I could have just barged in there and killed each and every person in that store. She is right, I have completely forgotten how to fit in with humanity.
She looks at my claws, I follow her gaze, realizing they are still out.
Dulling my nails she smirks, "That's a start. Do you want me to go with you?"
Looking at her bright blue eyes, I change my eye color to brown, "...Yes..." I mutter.
She smiles, releasing my wrists she takes one of my hands as she leads me to the store.
A bell above the door rings as we enter, making me jump and nearly go all-out Cryptsin.
Celest laughs at me before taking my hand, we walk around the store. There are a couple humans walking around minding their own business, but a few of them are curious about our strange clothing and watch us.
The ones watching us makes me nervous, I stare back at them beyond the isles as Celest continues to drag me around.
Finding the bathroom she opens the door, both of us slip into the bathroom and lock the door.
"Nerve wracking?" She jokes, giggling.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I look at her and smile a little.
She allows me to use the toilet first, quickly I make my way to it and lift up my gown, pulling my bottoms down I use the toilet.
Celest redirects her attention to the mirror, looking at her reflection.
She runs her fingers through her hair, "Damn...if Viv told me I'd have to be in that god forsaken building for two decades, I probably wouldn't have made myself get caught!" She vents.
Narrowing my eyes at her, Finish and let her use it.
Standing across from her, she moves her gaze to meet mine. Turning around on her heel she slowly approaches me before placing a hand on my cheek.
Her eyes take in all the features of my face, hair and eyes, "But, if I had known you were such a beautiful girl, I gladly would have done what I did." She admits with a smile.
Looking at her crystal blue eyes, her silky black hair and youthful, soft skin makes my heart skip a beat. Her pale pink lips seem to beckon me closer, she smirks at me before teasing me.
"Sadly, you are already taken." She moves a hand to my neck, brushing away my hair to reveal my barely visible mark.
Staring at her, I begin to feel something now unfamiliar to me, lust. Being purely Cryptsin, the desire isn't as intense compared to what I faintly remember estrus being.
She giggles, sensing my arousal, "Man, you're definitely sensitive. I won't take advantage of that, your mate might not be in favor of that decision." She walks away from me to use the restroom.
My thoughts wander, trying to remember the last time I was intimate.
Everything is such a blur, my memories of being with Axel have faded almost completely.
Celest finishes, we leave the bathroom and Celest pulls me through the isles while she quickly looks over the different types of food.
She grabs a fist full of snack bars and fills her arm with waters before walking up to the cashier.
Celest does all the talking while I remain absorbed into my thoughts.
Soon we leave the store and walk to her car, hopping in we return to the road.
"Here." She says, handing me a water.
Taking it I nearly claw the bottle open with eagerness trying to open it, within seconds of getting the cap off the water is gone.
Celest looks back at me in the rearview mirror, "Wow, thirsty much?" She teases.
I look at her and give a faint smirk, sensing my hunger she hands me a snack bar.
Swiping it from her hand, she warns, "Don't shove that whole thing down your throat in one go, no one is going to steal your food Iris. You're going to get sick."
By the time her sentence ends, the wrapper is already torn open and half the bar is gone already.
Taking her advice, I slow down and take my time actually tasting the grain bar.
She fetches a bar for herself, easily ripping the wrapper off before eating it.
She speaks with her mouth full, "Sorry Viv, hope you don't mind crumbs in your car." She speaks to herself.
The hours pass, soon I begin to come out of my reclusive shell, beginning to speak to her.
"What is that...?" I ask her, reaching for the puzzle box she spoke to a number of hours ago.
"Nope, we don't touch that." She warns me, grabbing the box before my fingers make contact with it.
Watching her in confusion, I climb up to the front passenger seat to get a closer look at it.
The gold-plated designs on it look beautiful and mystifying.
"...At least tell me what it is." I speak quietly, my eyes glued onto it.
She opens up the center console, placing the box in it she slams the console closed.
"Pretty much it is a door to a different dimension, a much more, hellish dimension. I promise you, it is worse there than it was at the facility."
"...Oh. Why do you speak to it? Why can't I touch it while you can?" I ask her curiously.
"...My father can hear me when I speak to it, he is there unless he is released. I guess you could say if you mess with it too much, become too curious, the door opens. We don't want that." She explains.
"Your father is in that realm? Don't you want to free him?" I wonder, confused.
She begins to laugh at my words, "No. I don't. It would be fun, but not for those in his path. He has a thing for hooked chains, agonizing pain and suffering."
"Oh, so that's where those chains came from back there...?"
She nods, focusing on the road.
Quieting my curiosity down, I watch out the windshield, looking out upon the beautiful spring fields.
Although it seems to have just become spring here, it is still chilly in the north.
By now we have reached Tennessee, still having a long way to go.
.
After a day of getting used to each other, I found safety and comfort at the feet of the front passenger seat. The small space making me feel secure and relaxed.
Fitting down here perfectly, I only had to move the seat back a little, hours ago.
Curled up, I remain asleep in my cozy spot.
Meanwhile Celest focuses on her senses, knowing quite a lot about the Cryal, and the Galileus as well.
Being such a strong species, if the Cryptsin knows it's full potential, we can do much more than I am aware of.
The change in travel speed, followed by the feeling of tires moving over a gravel driveway wakes me up.
Rubbing my eyes, Celest's voice chimes to me, "Ready to see Axel again? We have 10 minutes before midnight."
My eyes widen and I crawl onto the seat, taking in the sight of a large barn bearing the title, 'Bat out of Hell', as if advertising his destroyed body as a way to make money.
"Come on, we don't have much time." She tells me before turning the engine off and leaving the car.
I follow her actions, feeling the cool Florida air against my mostly exposed skin.
The moonlight and cool air makes me feel as though I have been reborn, the bond within me is so strong, we are so close to him.
I haven't felt this much of a gravitational pull toward him before, we have always been so far apart.
Celest walks over to the barn, to our surprise, the door is wide open.
"Come." Her voice hums at me, quickly I follow her into the barn.
The first thing we see is an old man passed out in a chair, sitting next to some kind of giant harpoon-looking device pointed up across from him. The harpoon's giant bolt is tipped with some kind of knife.
One of Axel's knives...
Following the direction the harpoon is pointed at, I see him.
"...Axel..."