Katsu woke with a jolt. Darkness surrounded her, much like it had before she had been knocked out. Her nerves still sang with adrenaline, her limbs twitching in response to move, to run, to fight, to get the hell away. She ignored these impulses for a moment to listen. She'd have little chance to escape if they were in the room with her right now. No, that would only cause her more unnecessary pain. So she waited, and listened. Only a quiet creak in the direction of the ceiling could be heard.
She sighed in relief as she slowly pushed herself up from the bed, cautiously swinging her legs over the side. She had to take a different approach to this escape. Obviously the brash jump out the window only caused them to come running after her. This time, she'd have to be sneaky. And not stop until she was far away. No matter what. Of course, this would be easier if she could see, or even hear. At least if she could hear, she could tell if those two abominations were near or not.
Regardless, she would get out of here and take down anything that tried to stop her.
Despite trying to keep her footsteps silent, to her they felt as if they were echoing and resonating against the walls. Katsu desperately hoped that it was only that loud to her, and it wasn't a warning to those twins. Knowing her luck, that would be the specific reason she was in this room.
Ignoring the loudness to the best of her ability while trying to remain as silent as possible, Katsu reached over her bed to the wall that she knew was there, using it as a guide line to walk around the room, searching for a window. Once she moved around the bed, she was able to use both hands to feel both high and low for the distinct chill of glass. However, after making it to the third wall, she had come across no such feeling. The last wall could only have a door and that was a risky move in itself if it wasn't locked. Not only would she be forced to try and remain undetected, she'd have to navigate around a building she was unfamiliar with and without her sight. It was most likely a suicide mission. But, if she could gain freedom...She would try it anyway. Worst case scenario was the door would be locked and she'd have to wait for them to visit her to make her move.
Trailing on to the fourth wall, she felt a bump in the wall and change from a smooth texture to the grainy gritty texture of wood. From there she managed to locate the door knob. With as little noise as possible, she turned the knob. Resistance was met instantly.
She huffed in annoyance though her hands began to shake. Her chance of escaping just decreased greatly. Of course she had another plan of action, she wouldn't allow herself to give up so easily, but had the door only been unlocked, it wouldn't have to be as risky.
Focusing on finding her way back her bed so she could rest, and not strain her muscles was all she could do at the moment, to keep from losing her mind. Once seated, she was enveloped in silence again, with no purpose. It was moments like these that made Katsu question whether she hated the games the twins played with her, or the absolute nothingness where her mind was left to wander, and dwell on what had already happened, what was to happen. Even though she tried to occupy herself with other thoughts, such as question what she had done wrong to get captured again, where the others were, even on what the others were doing at the Order currently, but nothing could keep it away for long. Just when Katsu thought she had control, they would seep back in, with their games, and pain and torture. Of course, they never called it torture, she bet they didn't even consider it so. They were simply Noah playing with an Exorcist, like Rhode had with Allen. But they had no boundaries. They never stopped unless she passed out. Even then, she bet they kept going sometimes.
Katsu shivered, fingers locking into her hair, pulling, hoping the dull pain would pull her out of those horrible memories.
Laughter, bindings, pain. Oh, all sorts of pain. Throbbing pain from broken limbs. Stinging pain from lacerations. Burns and bruises from their experiments. How she detested the Noah's skills. Especially how limitless Jasdevi's was.
"We've found you boring like this, Exorcist. There are only so many games we can play before they grow old." Devit said, grinning down at her. "That's why my brother and I have an idea."
Shudders trembled through Katsu's limbs, eyes wide with unshed tears. However she remained silent in fear that she'd only cry out in pain if she opened her mouth. She couldn't stand giving them anymore satisfaction.
"Hai-Hai. New game!" Jasdero sang, peering down at her over his brother's shoulder.
"You're no fun when you lie there unresponsive, so we came up with a wondrous idea. We want to fight you. We don't know why we didn't think of it earlier."
I can barely stand to sit here without screaming in pain. Fighting you would be suicide. But Katsu couldn't voice these thoughts. Screams were tickling the back of her throat as Devit grinned down at her, undoing her bindings.
This should be a happy moment, she could try and escape, but she knew her body could barely stand to support itself, let alone carry her away from the twin's presence fast enough to be safe. The bastards probably knew this.
"Get up, Exorcist," Devit demanded, pushing her across the table on which she lay. She fell like a rag doll, broken bones jostled, older lacerations reopening. She couldn't hold back the short scream of pain that escaped her lips. Jasdero giggled.
"Stand up, you won't be any fun unless you try." Devit said, pointing his gold gun in her direction, Jasdero following suit without a moment's hesitation.
Katsu whimpered in her form of retaliation, but tried to move herself anyway. Like children, they had temper tantrums if there whims were not met, and they weren't afraid of resorting to violence to achieve their goals.
She focused on using her unbroken left arm to try and push herself into a sitting position, right arm cradled against her chest. While trying to move her torso, she kept her legs as still as possible. Her left knee cap burned whenever she moved it or bent her leg.
"Too slow!" Jasdero complained, jumping in place, swinging his gun wildly.
"Can't...any faster," Katsu gasped through clenched teeth, her chest rising and falling heavily with the added strain.
"Perhaps we should help you along then," Devit suggested, his and Jasedero's gun leveling with her face.
Katsu's mouth opened, but she never got to say anything before a bang resounded through the room, and a puff of smoke blocked her vision. Despite seeing gray, strings launched through the air, wrapping securely around her wrists and ankles, none too gently. A cry wormed its way past her lips as the binds tightened around her weak joints. As the smoke cleared, the lose string became taut, forcing her arms up, followed by the rest of her body until she was in a standing position. Every inch of her body screamed in protest.
The twins laughed. "You know," Devit said, "I always wanted a puppet..."
Katsu shook her head, wishing they had just left her on the table.
The sound of a key turning in a lock was Katsu's temporary angel sent from heaven, relieving her of the pain. Her heart raced however when she remembered the meaning to the unlocking door. This was her chance. She couldn't let it go to waste again.
Standing, she ran towards the door so she was in front of it by the time it opened. As soon as she heard the hinges squeak as they reached their limit, her hand snapped forward, aiming to hit something. Something she did hit, but it wasn't a blow. An expert block knocked her arm to the side, grabbing it and twisting it around her back. Damn, if she could only see.
"There's no need to struggle."
Katsu snarled. There was every reason to struggle. There was no way in hell she was going to let those bastard twins have their fun without giving it her all to not let them get away with it. She winced as the grip tightened, twisting her arm further behind her back.
"Katsu, please. Listen to me."
Devit was stooping so low as to beg to her? What sick game had he come up with this time?
Katsu's only answer was her leg shooting out and connecting with a shin. The surprise had the desired effect. As her captor grunted, and his grip slackened, allowing her to twist out of it. She wasn't quick enough though. Devit recovered, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight to his body. The most she could do was wriggle side to side.
"Katsu please listen to me. It's Lavi. I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help..."
She knew he was still talking, but it was all lies. Lies to get her to calm down so he could strap her to the bed and break her bones, cut her...anything that caused pain. She would not let him. How many times did she have to say it?
Just as she was going to lash out again, something odd and completely unexpected happened. Not in a good way.
A mouth descended onto hers, covering it in a soft gentle non-demanding way. All her nerve endings fried for a moment, as her brain tried to process what was happening and why.
Why was Devit kissing her, the pervert?
Katsu's fist freed itself from the strong arms holding her to the body and she socked Devit in the face, the force snapping his head to the side, making his lips leave hers.
"You bastard. Here I thought you had standards."
"La~vi, how's it going?"
Jasdero...why was he just entering? Was he letting his brother "go first"? Had they gotten bored of their other games that they were going to force that upon her too? The one thing Katsu prided herself on not tainting was going to be taken away by these sadists too.
"How do you think, Komui? Nothing's getting through to her."
Damn right. She wasn't falling for any more of their tricks. She wanted out of here.
"Perhaps we should try to take her back to the Order and I can see if I can contact General Tiedoll. He helped her through this last time, he should be able to do it again. If he isn't too busy that is."
She wasn't at their home base then? Yes, all she needed to do was to get out of there and get away. It's so much easier to run away in a town, instead of an extremely isolated house. And what's this about Tiedoll? Were they ordered to go after him next? She wouldn't let them. That man did not have to deal with their shenanigans.
"I'm not going anywhere," Katsu growled, struggling against Devit's hold again.
"If only Allen's eye would heal so she could see that we aren't a threat to her."
"I doubt that would help Komui. She's really far gone."
Wait...Allen? How did they know Allen? Did Rhode tell them? Were they trying to use him to get her to comply with their wishes? It wouldn't happen. She'd protect Allen from them too if she'd have to. Even if he almost killed her with pain often. She'd protect the world from these devils and others like them. It was one of the reasons she fought as an Exorcist.
"If only she talked to us before. We could have helped. It doesn't help that we know very little on the Noah Clan too. Katsu's knowledge could be helpful."
Stop talking like I'm not there! Katsu demanded in her head. If you're going to have your fun, get on with it already and stop this stupid charade. I know you're lying, you know you're lying and you know I know you're lying, so give it up already!
There was a sigh. "We should restrain her, so she doesn't try to hurt herself."
Katsu struggled again, limbs trying to hit something, war cries escaping her lips. She would not let them strap her to the bed. She wasn't going to hurt herself. That's what they were going to do if she let them restrain her.
Devit grunted and struggled to strengthen his hold her. "Don't think she's agreeing with that idea, Komui."
"There isn't much to do until she regains her sight at least." Jasdero said.
"No, wait, I have an idea," Devit said to Jasdero. Katsu shivered in disgust as she felt someone's-most likely Devit's-breath tickle her ear. "Katsu, Allen's on his way. If you can calm down, we can bring you back to the Order so you can see him when he returns from his mission."
"Lavi..?" Jasdero asked.
Katsu felt Devit lean away from her, barely making out what he said to Jasdero. "Did you not notice her pause when we mentioned Allen?"
Anger pooled through her body. "What did you do to Allen?"
Devit swore under his breath. "Nothing!" He sighed, "It seems that the only way we can get her to trust us is with time again."
Katsu felt herself being forcibly shuffled away from the door and back in the direction of her bed. She yelled, struggled, kicked, anything to free herself. Despite the grunts she received, there was no slack. Damn, she had to get free now. They potentially had Allen. Despite being an annoying bastard whose injuries she had to deal with, he was her brother. She wasn't going to let her brother be thrown to these wolves.
She was thrown onto the bed, Devit's weight close behind, not letting her have a chance to get up again. Once she felt the straps wrap around her wrists, all her strength left her body. The bindings...were impossible to fight. They were always some stronger than normal material that Jasdevi came up with, not allowing her to break through them. A quite sob passed by her lips, as her wrists were secured to the bed. There was no way out for her now.
Much to her surprise, however, the duo left silently, not wanting to play their games.
She quickly lost track of time. On occasion-about six times in total- they brought food to her. They fed it to her carefully, as if they cared. This only worked to confuse her. Why would they show her such consideration? Normally they'd force it down her throat quickly without a care and often enough to simply keep her alive. They must've had something terrible planned.
Katsu shivered. That on top of the silence. It drove her insane. She couldn't move her muscles much to get rid of the jitters, couldn't see anything in the room to focus her attention on-not that the room had much to look at, she presumed-not even the twin's games to keep her focused on the pain.
By the time any sort of relief came, she was twitchy and expecting the worst at every turn.
Her relief came first as she gradually regained her sight. It started first to grow from pitch black, to a dim grey, then slowly colours seeped in. After that, the colours began to take shape and form recognizable objects that were blurry. The blurriness faded away and her sight grew more precise. Her eyes widened when she took in the sight of the walls that were once white but decreased in brightness after many years. A single light bulb was the only fixture in the room and stood out against the absolute nothingness that was the rest of the room. Even the door in front of her was the same off white. Katsu groaned. She was sure the tone of the room was worse than not seeing anything at all.
This also proved true after many more hours. One thing that kept her slightly interested though, was the lack of the twins. She was sure that they wouldn't be able to hold themselves back knowing they had an Exorcist strapped in a room defenceless. And she hadn't seen them at all since regaining her sight.
Katsu groaned, hitting her head off the mattress for the hundredth time. Where were they? What were they planning? Her muscles were cramping. She needed to move. Now. God, what if their game was to let her suffer the torture of her own mind? They'd done it before. Granted, not for this long, and with less breaks in between. That had to be it.
Every nerve ending froze in Katsu's body as she heard the distinct sound of the door unlocking. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't see their faces again, after all this time. She swore the next time she saw them, she was going to defeat them. She wasn't in a position to do that. Why couldn't she have stayed blind? At least this way she could have kept her promise.
Katsu closed her eyes. She wouldn't let herself see them.
Footsteps were the only thing that sounded throughout the room before a pair of breaths, one uneven, the other slowly and natural. The footsteps paused by the side of her bed. This was it. They were going to start their games now, she was sure of it.
"Katsu...?" The voice called out.
Katsu squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She didn't want to see him, she didn't, she didn't, she didn't.
"I have more food for you. I know you're awake." She smelt something meaty wafted under her nose and her stomach growled. However, she barred her teeth. "Open up." A utensil-spoon-was placed against her closed lips. Katsu shook her head roughly. "C'mon, you need to eat. I swear I haven't poisoned it." The spoon pressed against her lips more forcefully, yet still with a gentle touch.
Reluctantly, Katsu opened her mouth letting the broth drizzle into her mouth followed by a piece of meat. She chewed slowly, needing more prodding to open her mouth again.
Once he was done feeding her silence echoed around them. Katsu refusing to say anything, Devit refusing to leave.
"Can I see your eyes, Katsu? I need to see if they've healed."
Katsu snarled. Why the hell should he care if he saw her eyes?
"I know you can see again Katsu. Komui said Allen's eye had healed earlier today. I need you to open your eyes, so you know I'm not lying to you."
Katsu laid still for a moment. She couldn't believe him. He could be saying anything to get her to open her eyes. He knew it would only make everything worse for her.
There was a second sigh, "I didn't want to do this...Katsu. Open your eyes, or you won't get to see Allen again." The voice was hard, unwavering in its serious tone.
Katsu's fists clenched but cracked her eyes open slightly only so she could see the off white walls in front of her.
"Open them fully Katsu."
Clenching her jaw and bracing herself for everything horrible, she flung her eyes open. At first she was blinded by the sheer light in the room, her eyes having connected with the light bulb. After adjusting her gaze slightly, the next thing she saw was red. Red hair. She only knew one person with red hair pulled up like that. Looking further, she saw the eye patch and bright emerald eye followed by a body dressed in an Exorcist jacket.
Tension she hadn't even realized she had left her as Lavi's presence comforted her. "Lavi..." He managed to get here to save her, Allen too.
A wide grin broke across his face. "It's about time you recognized me."
"How did you get in here? D-Don't the Noahs have akuma stationed all around here?"
Lavi shook his head muttering, "Still not a hundred percent then." Louder he said, "No, Katsu. You're at a hospital in a town next to the rewinding town. You weren't captured by the Noah. Your mission with Allen and Lenalee was a success, remember?"
Katsu frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. The twins hadn't got her...? "I-I..."
Lavi smiled slightly in understanding. "I don't know everything that happened during the mission, but Allen told us Rhode had been torturing you, bringing back memories of you time with the other two Noah. Miranda had used her Innocence to heal you to let you help Allen. After Miranda's Innocence stopped, Allen believed that the memories attacked you in your weakened state."
Katsu shook her head. What he was saying about Rhode was true, but something felt off about the last bit. She just couldn't remember what. "C-Can you untie me? My arms are sore."
Lavi nodded, releasing her bindings. Once free from the bed, Katsu sat up slowly, showing Lavi that she had no intention to attack him again. God, she felt horrible for attacking him...again. She stood slowly once Lavi moved out of the way, relishing in her joints cracking as she did so. Once standing, she slowly made her way around the perimeter of the room, like she had when she first woke up in this room, except this time, her eyes caught every single detail in the walls. She could feel Lavi's gaze on her as she went.
Lavi waited until Katsu was on her third pass of the room before speaking in a matter of fact tone that Katsu came to recognize with the Bookman part of him. "You're doing it again."
"Doing what?" Katsu asked while internally wincing at the direction of the conversation. It was times like these that she greatly disliked Bookman's ability to record everything.
"Pulling it deeper within yourself." Lavi walked over to her, grabbing her gently and turning her to face him. "It's not good for you, Katsu. This whole matter happened because you wouldn't confide in any of us. We didn't know how to help you."
Katsu turned her head away, unable to look Lavi in his all seeing eye. "It's not something I can talk about easily Lavi. Just like there are things you can't talk about easily. I respect that, I'm asking you to respect mine."
"I didn't nearly fall over the edge of insanity."
"How do you know your secrets won't push you over the edge sometime in the future?" Katsu turned her hard questioning gaze to Lavi. He held her gaze, though it was weak, as if he was thinking back on something. Katsu shook her head, "You know what, forget it. I'm fine, and I need to get out of here. Go on a mission or something."
"Komui's not letting you go on a mission until he's a hundred percent sure you're better. Both physically and mentally." Lavi's hand's released her arms, letting them drop to his side.
"Take me to the Order then. I'm fine. The only way I can get better is if I get back out there." Katsu turned towards the door.
Lavi didn't stop her, instead he followed close behind. "You've been spending too much time with Yuu-chan. You're starting to sound like him. But you can't heal as fast as he can. You need time to heal properly."
"I've had days to heal. Besides, Allen and Lenalee are most likely on missions right now. I should do my part too." Katsu stormed out the door.
"You've only had a couple days. And besides, Lenalee had some nerve damaged that was healed by the old panda, and all Allen's injuries, except for his eye were given to you. You have the most healing to do. Just calm down and take it slow. We'll make our way to the Order." Lavi said.
"I can't Lavi!" Katsu exclaimed, grabbing her hair and pulling as she began to pace back and forth in the hallway. "I need to do something. Fight akuma, travel, something. I will go insane if I'm left to sit down and think. I can't think any more. I had however many days to think, thinking the past had become reality again. I can't do that, I won't let myself and I won't let you stop me from doing something to refrain getting lost like that again."
"We'll go back to the Order, 'kay? Let me just let the old man know that you're up again and normal, and we can get on our way."
Pausing in her pacing to glance at Lavi, she reluctantly nodded.