A/N - I am once again a day behind after I got home and ended up sleeping after work all the way through until I had to get up for work again. Of course, with intermitted periods of waking up and reading things on my phone here and there.
A huge winter storm is coming through my area right now, and with the cold and precipitation, it knocks me right out since I just want to be warm and I huddle under my blankets and refuse to come out. Tomorrow and this coming weekend I will be working to catch up so I finish strong with the last day on time!
Dead Stars
By Genavere
Chapter Five - Shackled
A rumbling shook the building, the reverberations traveled down the chains to her shackles. Lack of blood flow meant she did not need to worry about the pain the tremors might have brought. A hazy fog filled her vision of the empty cell.
Confusion gave her something to think about beside the warmth that slid down her arms and down her back. Kept her imagination from running ramped at the state of her back. Before she had passed out, there had not been any rumbling that she remembered.
What she could remember before that had mostly been pain, and the reverberations would have been nothing compared to the jerks of her body. Through all the lashes they gave her, it had been a relief that they had not touched her in any other ways. They had not even asked her questions or for demands. All that led her to believe they sought her torment and torture, along with her keys.
Abex had stood in front of her many times in both rooms, in his hands were her beloved keys. He'd rub them over his face and talk how he had sought them for a long time. Never did he demand for her to revoke her contracts, which she venomously refused to do even if it meant her death.
That meant he only sought enjoyment out of her pain until the end.
A sob caught in her throat. She tasted the blood in her mouth from the rawness there and where her cheeks had been pierced by her teeth. Unconsciousness would be a blessing, one she craved more than anything besides the chance to see Natsu again.
Had he managed to break away from his cell, she wondered. The chance he could be free and wreaking havoc where they were warmed her heart. She would gladly be buried in the rubble if it meant he could be free. Then maybe, just maybe, she could rest.
Another loud rumble left the whole cell vibrating, dirt fell from the ceiling around her. A breath caught in her chest as a fire seemed to spark inside her. If those rumbles were Natsu, then she needed to fight, too. No matter the state of her body or how mentally drained, her captors would not get away with this. They would escape and she would rescue her keys.
Blinking the haze clear from her eyes, she looked at where the shackles attached to the ceiling. Similar to ones she had seen and read before, the chain went through a circle attached to the ceiling. From there, she traced it to a large spool of chain with a lever attached to it. She figured the lever had to have a lacrima attached to it to spin the spool to lift or lower the person attached.
Mustering whatever strength she could, she gripped the chains attached to her restraints and waited. It did not take long until another tremor shook the foundation and she pulled herself up as far as her elbows and shoulders could. Muscles ached and joints popped, every bit of energy she had went into the effort.
Both of her arms shook when they managed a ninety-degree angle. If she could endure a bit further.
The chain snapped taunt, the strength completely gone. Muscles tore and an anguished cry left echoed around her. Throbbing around her wrists joined with the pulse of fresh blood dribbling down her arms. It hurt. Everything did.
Glancing up at the eye the chain went through, a sense of worthlessness brought fresh tears. Nothing. It had not moved. No crack, no wiggle from the foundation.
A deep sense of foreboding made her feel physically ill. There would be no escape. Not without someone to rescue her. The pathetic princess who needed to be rescuing. No matter how hard she worked, how far she trained her body, mind, and magic, she would never be good enough.
Not to be a Fairy Tail wizard, even if she had been with them for years now.
Not to be her mother's heir to her golden keys.
Not to her friends
Not to herself.
She sobbed and let an enraged scream out. Would never be good enough to be Natsu's team mate, best friend, or romantic partner.
"It's not fair!" Her voice rasped out, her body shook and fought against the chains. "Why?! Why can I never be good enough!"
Pressure built around her wrists, a similar pressure she felt when she fell back against the shackles. Wounds on her legs and buttocks from the whip burned as they reopened. The fresh blood warmed her cool skin.
She wanted Natsu to take her home. Wanted to be strong enough to fight next to him. Even when she tried her hardest to get them both to safety, she had failed. They caught them.
Coughs mixed with sobs. Tears with blood.
Breathing had been a challenge before, but it began increasingly difficult while crying. Frustration at her situation hit again. Bones grinded against bones, muscles and tendons felt like they were tearing. Yet, she refused to stop her tantrum.
"Let me out!" Her legs swung like she tried to run midair, her upper body twisted and turned as much as she could. If that Abex had been in the room, she would have aimed all her kicks at his groin and head. Both were the same, in her opinion.
He did not deserve her keys, would never know the loyalty and trust she had worked hard to build up with each of her spirits. If he had them, the abuse they would endure at his hands would be severe. Worse than what Karen had done to Aries and Loke. And they would have to know their pathetic master had let them be taken.
Lifting both of legs together, she began swinging her body like a clock. Back and forth. Back and forth. She gasped for breath. Felt the numbness in her body. Until she hung there dead, she had to fight.
Any air she had flew from her lungs and left them aching for a breath. Everything looked strange, shudders ran through her body in desperate attempts to restart from the shock.
Finally, a gulp. Air filled her lungs, stronger than it had since she had been cuffed to the ceiling. Her chest rose, then slowly lowered as air filtered out of her nose. Those yoga classes had worked for something besides being flexible.
Blinking up at the ceiling, she tried to figure out why everything looked so different. Why it did not take more strength to stare up. The burning sensations along the whole of her back side cooled against the stone floor even where blood pooled. Then a new sensation triggered in her hands and she rose them slowly.
Both wrists and hands had skin completely rubbed off. Bruises darkened what skin still remained against bloodless fingers. In the core of them, the thumbs looked awkward and off. The skin around them were dark and they pushed passed her pinkie fingers.
Wide eyes and panting lungs, she turned to her side and began dry heaving at the realization of how she had gotten out of the shackles. Would they be able to heal properly? Would she be able to write again?
Would she have been able to write if she had died like a hunted boar? Strung up and waiting for the knife to slit her down the middle for all her insides to spill out. Death had been the only thing waiting for her here. Free, she could fight to survive.
Spittle dripped from her lips and the last of the heaving surpass allowing her to take some much-needed deep breaths. Noticing her cut up clothes on the filthy floor, shaking hands took the edge of what had been her skirt between her working fingers and wiped her mouth with it.
"Okay, Lucy," she whispered painfully. Even if her throat hurt, she needed to hear the words. Needed the inspiration to move. "Just…get up and walk out the door. That's all you have to do."
She stared at the cell door, refused to utter a notion that it could be locked, and urged her body forward. A single step. A crawl. Even dragging herself to it. Anything. After everything she had done to get out of her shackles, had it been for naught?
"Natsu…" If he heard her, he would come. The rumbling around them had to be him. "Natsu…!"
With shaking limbs, a foot was made before she collapsed forward on the chilled floor. Everything spun and darkened around her. Pain flared, limbs ached or had fallen numb. The wall had crashed around her.
Please, she begged whoever could hear her pleas. Please…let me live to see him once more…Please…
A/N - Yes, Lucy is my whumpee, but I feel that she is strong enough to handle it. This chapter, even after using all her strength, she finds more until she is completely spent.
I wanted to show the mental struggle and physical as she sought to get out and fight with who she believes is Natsu fighting out there. The prompt that is next (which should have been today's) is "Can't Scream" and I am not sure if that will be this one or not. We will have to see!
Let me know what you thought!
