A/N: I know you guys had been wondering about why the hunters were doing what they did to Syaoran. Well, I think it's time for you all to find out.
But I suppose I should reply to the reviews first since fanfiction is being pretty stupid these past few days and I haven't been able to reply to anyone. So even though I don't like writing responses in chapters and would have preferred getting back to you guys personally, I'm afraid this will have to do for now. You guys can just skip over the following parts in bold if you have no interest in reading them.
HappyHam : Yes. She got him to eat. If he wasn't so afraid of her, I'm afraid I wouldn't have more thn half the plot for this thing. ^_^; Don't worry though. I don't like the hunters very much either. The answer r to that question shall be revealed in this chapter so read on.
talkstoangels77 : Hey… did you just put me in the same category as her? *sniffles* I can't believe you think I'm a crazy lady who loves torture. (Kurogane: What else should she think after reading what you've been doing to the kid and the mage in this story of yours?) *shoves him in a closet* who invited him? Ahem… well yeah. True. She might have kissed him while pretending to be Sakura but she never did that for him.
IceQueen987 : Lol, maybe that is exactly why Fai is staying away from you? I mean, if you went all the way to the moon, you wouldn't get to work on your update. (yes, I am going to keep on bugging you about it until you put up the new chapter and let me see that fic we discussed about a while back.
Tomi Lang : Mother bird, huh? Never really thought about it that way but now that you mention it… *laughs* No fluff in this one but I hope you'll still enjoy it. ;D
Lollipop Stealer : Awww… Thanks. ^_^ I wish I could but I seriously don't have the time for that right now. But I swear, once my vacations start you'd be able to read to your heart's content. Nah, I still think Mokona is Mokona. :P
neko-chan cat eyedgirl meong : I'm still working on that one. It's gonna be a long update so I'm hoping it will be worth the wait. Better keep your fingers crossed. ;) ;) Syaoran is perfectly capable of moving on his, he's not paralyzed or anything but he 'won't' move. Or rather, he's just gone into a… what was that word… Oh yeah. Stupor. He's gone into stupor due to the whole shock of having Syaoran's spirit forcibly removed from his body. That coupled with the trauma induced from nearly dying did that. (I wonder, if you stop breathing and your heart stops beating but you are still resuscitated, would you be considered dead for the time your heart wasn't beating?) Really? Which fic would that be?
Kyrione : You wanna be fed like that by Sakura? o.O? Or do you happen to have someone else in mind, hmmm? *grins* ahem, well anyhow, I hope you would love Syaoran's reactions in this one too. ;) ;)
Ice Vixen X: Hmm… which cliffy would you be talking about here? the one with Fai and Syaoran? Or the one with the whole blank eyes thing? *laughs* No, I did not study this as a subject. I don't think it's taught in normal universities. But to tell you the truth, I would have sucked in real life. It might be kind of hard to believe but blood makes me very queasy in real life. I'm not phobic or anything but the amount of blood that's involved here… I think that's probably the only reason why I didn't pursue a career in medicine.
lojeloce of namimori: Why, thank you. ^_^
Anonymous: Thanks. Well that is understandable. You can just skip over them if you want but seeing as this 'is' a torture-fic… ^_^; Cloney is still pretty angry so it might not happen so soon but there is a reason as to why he is there with Fai right now.
Justice333: *grins* Thanks.
And that takes care of that. Now that I'm done with the responses, Enjoy!
And don't forget to leave a review. This might be the only update for a while though since my finals start in about a fortnight so I'm gonna be busy busy busy. ^_^;
"So ready to tell me what happened after you two left Celes?" Fai questioned in a deceptively light tone, but Kurogane could see the hardness lurking just behind those light blue eyes.
"Do you remember the events that led to us leaving?" Nixon answered quietly.
"I can't forget them even if I wanted to." The blond responded somberly and Kurogane had a vague suspicion that it must have been something bad.
"A group similar to that one exists in this world, as I'm sure you would have figured out by now."
"Did they get her?" Fai said softly and funnily enough, for the first time in ages, Kurogane was unable to determine what was going on in the magician's head.
"Fai-san?" Syaoran said hesitantly, unsure about whether he ought to ask for an explanation about this group that existed here and in the Mage's adopted homeworld or whether he should just let him be and try and puzzle it out himself. "What… What group is Nixon-san talking about?"
"In Celes, people revered magic," Fai answered quietly, his gaze distant as he looked at the brunette and Kurogane felt as though the blond was looking into the past as he spoke. "But there were those who hated the mages because of their supposedly unholy powers. A group of such people formed an anti-magic society, quietly picking off mages, one by one, draining them of their powers before murdering them in cold blood. When the numbers of missing magicians began to rise at an alarming rate, Ashura-ou sent out his very best to apprehend them. We succeeded in capturing."
"They were all sentenced to a public execution."
"What happened?" this time it was Kurogane who broke the silence that followed the blonde's statement.
"We managed to free the few Mages they had captive at the time," Nixon replied for him, "That was Masooma's first time as a healer. The things that they had done to them…" the Oracle trailed off, frowning in revulsion, "you don't need eyes to know what they went through."
"I remember the look on your face," Fai laughed, though Kurogane could tell his heart wasn't in it. "You couldn't even eat something without throwing up for the three days that followed."
"Well… not everyone has a stomach made of steel," the blind man retorted, glaring at the blond in mock anger. Which in itself was quite surprising seeing as the man couldn't exactly see. "And if I recall correctly, you refused to leave your room for the whole day."
"That was Masooma-chan after her first session." Fai corrected, his expression turning solemn as his eyes followed the path the girl had just taken a short while ago. "But she pulled herself together the very next morning, bringing together other healers to work with her in the infirmary."
"She sounds like a very strong person." Syaoran stated softly, his gaze resting on the unmoving form of the white dimension hopper.
"She is," the blond agreed with a soft smile, something akin to pride showing on his face. "Which is why, it's so surprising." The last part, he had addressed to the Oracle, turning to look at him through hard eyes.
"I foresaw what Ashura would end up doing to Celes," Nixon turned his back towards Fai, as though hoping it would shield him from the blonde's piercing blue-eyed gaze. Kurogane saw the magician stiffen slightly before he sagged on the edge of the bed where Mokona lay.
"So that's why you took her and left." He murmured, laughing humorlessly to himself as he ran a hand through his hair.
"My station as Oracle was only enough to protect me and only me from curses. Had we stayed… She would have died along with everyone else."
"That still doesn't explain what happened to you two."
"When we arrived in this world, we actually emerged quite close to Metropolis." The Oracle spoke softly, "The hunters have ways to monitor magical activity and the transportation spell must have set their alarms blaring. They were upon us in mere minutes." He said, his voice sounding distant, as though reliving the memory, "It all happened so fast. I don't even remember how but somehow, they separated us. I managed to outrun them but they got their hands on Masooma." His frame shook lightly, but the vibe he gave was more of regret and barely suppressed anger rather than sadness, "I tried going after her, but I was injured badly. A mage found me and brought me here to Magihidusi. As soon as I was able to walk, I tried to leave to look for her but… I had no idea where the hunters had taken her. "
"I can sense auras perfectly fine to make up for this blindness of mine yet I was unable to locate her. I didn't know what to do. I tried to get the mages' help to find her but they all refused. That was when I came to know the history of this world." Nixon inhaled deeply, holding his breath for a few moments before letting it rush out his nose.
"About half a millennia back or so, there was a great war in this world between the ordinary humans and the mages for the right to rule over this world by controlling the very life force of this planet. Countless lives were lost on both sides, and in the end, the essence receded deep within the nature itself, weakening the Magi who greatly relied on that powerful aura to amplify their magic. Without it, they were weakened and the humans emerged victorious, forcing the surviving Magi to go into hiding. They built underground cities like these, casting spells to make them undetectable by humans. Unfortunately, humans were not willing to forget all the lives that had been lost. Somehow, they managed to infiltrate other magical havens, slaughtering all that came in their path. Magihidusi was the only city that remained unplottable. As the saying goes, bloodshed demands more bloodshed, the Magi council wanted revenge for their fallen brethren. So they renewed their efforts to locate the essence. About two hundred and fifty years ago, they succeeded. But since, their intentions were selfish, the essence summoned a Shaman to curse the elders. Thinking they were above such things as the curse, having lived over a quarter of a millennium, they decided to face the hunters on their own. They were supposed to be strong enough to take them down."
"Did they succeed?"
"I wish they had," Nixon shook his head, "They were captured by the hunters. Tortured for days on the end, interrogated, and then finally murdered once the hunters had the information they needed. 'The Magi had rediscovered the essence.' Afraid that the Magi might use it and try to take back the world from them, the hunters marched down with a large army. They were upon the very gates of Magihidusi before the Shaman appeared before the city's ruling council of the time, offering a deal to them. In exchange for swearing their lives to protect the secret and the location of the essence, the Shaman would ward Magihidusi so that none of the hunters may ever be able to enter here."
"Knowing they were otherwise outnumbered by the hunters by ten to one, the council had no choice but to agree. The entrance to the last haven for the magical kind became invisible to all non-magical beings as soon as the last of the council members were in a magically binding contract with the Shaman. The only way out of this deal was death. Unable to enter, the hunters resorted to capturing any Magi that dared to venture out to the surface, refining their interrogative methods over the years in hopes of breaking their prey enough to find a way to get inside the city or a way to get their hands on the essence. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the nature of the curse and the contract, that the Shaman placed, renders all those that know of its location unable to disclose its whereabouts to those not in the contract. Funnily enough, it also makes them unable to use the essence for their own purpose."
"How did you get to Masooma if you were unable to find her?" Fai spoke up all of a sudden.
"I didn't." he responded resentfully, "for almost nine excruciating days. I couldn't find her, no matter what I did. Oh I knew what she was going through alright," he laughed but there was no joy there, it sounded just like the look on his face, hollow, cold and bitter, "all the time. Her cries and screams wouldn't leave me alone, the visions of her face, bruised , burnt and cut up, the sight of her body, beaten, broken and violated… you have no idea what it felt like. Knowing it all yet being unable to do anything." Kurogane hazarded a glance in Fai's direction. The blonde's complexion was even paler than usual, his lips pressed together in a thin line, eyes narrowed in anger, an icy fire alight in those blue orbs as he continued staring at the Oracle's back, "By the tenth day, I was at my wits end."
"What did you do?" Fai asked sharply.
"You know, that damned Shaman of theirs," Nixon responded, refusing to answer the question posed by the blond, "that bastard had prophesized my arrival to the Magi of this world. On the night he turned the council members into the very first guardians of the essence."
"Nixon," he moved so fast that Kurogane suspected the magician to have subconsciously tapped into his vampire speed. "What the fuck did you do?" Although the ninja was taken aback by Fai's sudden use of such vulgar language seeing as the magician never swore, he was even more shocked to see the blond violently shaking the Oracle as he demanded answers. Fai was the calm one. The collected one. For him to have lost his cool like that…
"What I had promised you I would do before we left Celes," he answered, not in the least bit phased by his friend's sudden volatile behavior. "Protect her."
"I had no other way to save her, Fai. I was desperate. I could feel her breaking apart as that bastard…" taking in a deep shuddering breath, Nixon started again, "I summoned the Shaman and got inside Metropolis. I almost blew up that bastard when I got there. I couldn't see her but I knew she was in a bad state seeing as I knew what they had been planning to do to her. But their reinforcements were coming so I could only grab her and get out."
"There's something you're still not telling me." Fai had let go of him by now, having reigned in his emotions, leaving his face bare of any expressions, his voice refusing to betray his feelings. To the onlooker, he appeared the perfect picture of tranquility and detachment, but Kurogane could tell that this was merely the calm before the storm.
"Masooma and I are the new guardians of the essence."
-0-
He paced the dark cell like a caged wolf, growling angrily at the prone form lying in the middle in a murky pool of water. His teeth were bared, eyes narrowed in immense hatred and worry. Hatred towards the unmoving man, and worry for the defenseless child he had left behind. He knew he was not able to touch anything in this form, and he had no doubt that he would remain unheard by all but the unconscious mage trapped in this cell with him.
He had no idea what the princess had done but one thing was sure, he could not leave this cell. Every time he tried to walk through the wall, a strange, magical force would pull him back. It was almost like Sakura had bonded him to this place.
No. Not this place.
She had bonded him to Fai.
The bastard who had taken pleasure in tormenting his precious son, reveled in the pained cries of the teen, jeered and laughed at his tears. She had bonded him to that bastard. Not that she herself had been any better. How long had Syaoran begged her to stop, how long had he pleaded for her to spare him? Had she ever conceded? No. Of course she took great care to always heal his body when things took a turn for the worse so that he would not be able to escape through death. She would caress his face, wipe away his tears, kiss him tenderly, look at him in that loving manner and get him to let his guard down. Every single fucking time, his son- who was oh-so-in-love with her- would fool himself into believing that maybe this time, she'd act differently, maybe this time she'd spare him. Maybe, just maybe, she would take him away from there.
But she would flip the switch in less than a minute, and return to her cold, sadistic ways just when he would be at his most vulnerable state. Syaoran knew that there was something special in this world that had caused his previously dormant spirit to awaken in Tsubasa's body. This world had a strange, humming energy that brought him back to awareness, so he had no doubt that his wife's spirit in her original's body had awakened too. But like her original, his wife, had done nothing to help them. She had gone along with Sakura's twisted ways and tormented his son and, through extension, himself for endless hours.
Kurogane, his supposed mentor, his teacher, his father-figure, had been no better than the other two. He could still recall the sneer on the older man's face as he had pierced Tsubasa's flesh with his sword. The very sword he had sworn to use to protect the ones he loved. He had used the very fucking thing to slice apart the muscles of Tsubasa's legs and arms, filleting it as slowly and painfully as humanly possible, laughing at the way Tsubasa would cry out in pain till his throat would itself refuse to function, bleeding just like the skin that would be sliced away.
Oh, they'd never leave him like that, of course. Sakura- God! Even thinking her name made bile rise up his throat in disgust and hatred- she always made sure to heal him right after his sessions with ninja. Couldn't have him dying, she had told him after one such session. He was much too fun to torment to let him die so soon. Had she figured out somehow that Syaoran had been shielding Tsubasa's mind from the worst parts of the torture, protecting him from within when he could do nothing from the outside? Was that the reason why she had ripped him out of Tsubasa's body like that and then sent him here? Bonding him to the magician so he could not go back to protect his precious son from whatever horrors they would make him relive through his memories. He still couldn't understand what it was that Tsubasa had done wrong to warrant such hatred from his former companions that they would want to destroy him completely, mind, body and soul. His son had loved that girl with all his heart. Why had she done it?
He couldn't figure it out. But one thing was clear. Tsubasa was in mortal danger without him there to protect him. His son's body had grown too fragile from the repeated beatings, torture and starvation. His mind was on the verge of breaking completely…
Tsubasa could not survive on his own. He needed Syaoran there to protect him. But how could he do that when he wasn't even on the same fucking world?
He needed to find a way to get back. He needed to save his son from further harm. And then, once Tsubasa was safe and away from those monsters, he would make them pay. Make them all feel the pain Tsubasa went through. They'd all pay. They'd all feel what he felt. They'd all beg for mercy, beg for him to stop but he won't.
Oh no, no, no, he won't.
A sadistic grin flitted across his lips as he stopped pacing around and turned to watch the pathetic form crumpled on the floor before him. He'd make them all beg for death, starting with this magician. So what if he could not physically touch them, he could still make them feel pain. Even when blinded with rage, he had still noticed Kurogane's reaction when he had tried to kick him.
Crouching down next to the unmoving body of the mage drawing in shallow, raspy breaths, Syaoran reached out with his right hand till it was hovering over the other's chest. He stopped for a moment, taking in the magician's face. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction in the way Fai's face was contorted in pain, how his brow was furrowed and twitched every now and then, how he let out soft moans every few seconds.
Borderline Graphic Torture:
Not feeling even a hint of remorse, Syaoran plunged his hand into the other's chest, reveling in the way the man's whole body shuddered before seizing up as he groaned. Even if he could pass through objects, he could still partially feel them, so there was no doubt about it that they could feel him too. Fai's heart was pulsating inside his fingers like a fragile bird fluttering in a cage, trying to look for ways to break free. It was warm, though, warm and soft and surprisingly barren of the thorns Syaoran had suspected might have grown in it judging from their treatment of Tsubasa. The muscle was working furiously to keep the mage's body warm enough for the bastard to stay alive. As much as he hated the man though, he knew he had to let him live for now. But that didn't mean it had to be a painless existence. Thinking about all the things this man had done to Tsubasa, he tightened his fingers, feeling them move through the other's heart as he partially squeezed it.
Fai gasped in pain, his hand subconsciously clutching at his chest right through Syaoran's arm as he whimpered. Syaoran's grin only widened at that. This was only the beginning for that bastard. He'd make him free Syaoran from that bond his wife had placed him in, and then he'd get him to take him back to Tsubasa. After he was through with him, he'd be begging for him to kill him.
Feeling the other writhe in agony beneath him, Syaoran squeezed harder. He had to feel this pain. He deserved it. If Tsubasa had felt it, then so should Fai. The mage's broken body trembled badly as Syaoran increased the pressure, making the older man cry out in agony as he returned to consciousness.
End of Torture
The blissful darkness that had wrapped its ebony wings around his mind began to recede as pain shot through his chest, spreading outwards as a freezing fire enveloped his heart. He couldn't breathe. His fingers weakly tried to pry apart the thing that was holding his heart within his chest as a heavy haze settled around his mind. It hurt! Oh, God, it hurt! It was like invisible fingers were wrapped around his beating heart, trying to squeeze the life out of him.
He wanted it to stop.
"Stop." He tried to say but no words escaped his lips. The pressure increased, his whole body shuddering in feverish tremors as he tried to speak out again. "Please. Stop." Only a heavy groan reached his ears.
Suddenly the fingers tightened into a fist and he couldn't take it anymore. His eyes flew open as he let out an anguished scream. At first he couldn't register anything except the for the pain in his heart as it felt like it was being crushed inside a fist of ice, but slowly, his vision registered the pair of cold, amber eyes staring down at him from beneath messy, chocolate colored hair.
"S-Syaoran-kun!" he gasped, partially in shock, partially in agony as the intense burning sensation spread to his shoulders, neck and arms. He was sure he had sent the brunette away with his other companions to Clow. How could he be here now? Was this some sort of trick his mind had conjured to mess with him?
Can't take what you dished out, Fai? Syaoran mocked angrily, the boy's normally gentle face twisted into an ugly expression as he stared at him in hatred. I'm going to make sure you suffer before I kill you. For some reason, the chocolate haired boy's words cut him deep, like a knife to the gut, as he struggled to draw a breath. The brunette crouching above him sent a malicious smirk his way as pressure on his heart let up for a fraction of a second before the heavy weight returned and the mage screamed out loud.
His eyes widened as his back arched against the pain, and his legs thrashed uselessly on the floor. The pressure let up again only to return with a vengeance, threatening to crush his wildly beating heart. Darkness lovingly spread its arms to embrace him like a mother does to its child. The liquid fire continued to spread, moving to his jaw, his abdomen, his arms, as he began to stiffen. Fai felt lightheaded, his eyes fluttering weakly, a feeling of faint settling over him as sweat dotted his otherwise trembling frame.
Though still beating frantically, pushing against the pressure that threatened to crush it, Fai's heartbeat started to grow unsteady, the small organ missing beats every now and then.
As he began to lose himself to the very thing he had woken up from not seconds before, the magician vaguely wondered if this was finally it. Was he finally going to die at the hands of the boy he had thought he had managed to save?
A/N: This chapter has got to be my most favorite so far. Out of everything that I have posted so far, which one would be yours? And for what reason? I'd love to hear what you have to say.
Oh and if you weren't able to figure it out since I didn't outright say it, Fai was having a heart attack in the last few paragraphs. The symptoms I put in here are all accurate. Although I don't think a person having a heart attack would be able to scream. ^_^; Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading Cloney's POV since it was quite fun to write. The idea for him trying to crush Fai's heart was born from a discussion I was having with a friend of mine who wanted to write a chapter in his POV. Last I heard from her, she had it all done but was waiting for me to put this up before she put that up. I would have included a link to it here but I haven't been able to get in touch with her for a while now so yeah… when she uploads it though, I'll include a link for it. I think I have rambled for quite long so I'll be off now.
~bye