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This fanfiction contains violence and sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.
Letting her feet collide onto the mud that left her sinking into the earth every day, Juvia heaved her exhausted body through the murky ground.
Exactly on time, the eighty-first ear-piercing shriek could be heard down the tunnel. Juvia dragged a shard against the limestone wall, ritualistically marking another crooked line to her mural. There was no way of knowing whether it was day or night, but the distant screaming of people signalled the start of another morning.
It was the eighty-first day of living in this hellhole.
The absence of any light obscured Juvia's sense of sight, leaving her ears susceptible to even the tiniest of sounds. However, the noise that haunted her everyday was the soft cries that echoed through the narrowing walls of her prison.
Directly in front of her was a young mother who cradled a set of twins. The crowded rows of people made it difficult to discern them from one another, but Juvia could only seem to hear the woman's soothing voice that embraced both her children and Juvia in a warm tune.
When Juvia could barely breathe in the foul, dusty tunnel, it amazed her when the mother could inhale a deep breath and still emulate the voice of an angel's. "Look forward to the light," she would sing. But everyone knew there was no light to look forward to.
The dim tunnel left the woman's looks to Juvia's imagination. So, she took the liberty to formulate a woman with sapphire hair that encased her bony cheeks. Her slender finger would occasionally brush against the smooth skin of her newborns. However, as Juvia marked the wall as the days went by, their cries became increasingly palpable. Often deprived of both food and water for several days in a row, the soft humming would be accompanied by wailing as her babies became hungrier and weaker. As if forgetting that death is knocking on their door, the mother's eyes are forever drawn on the faltering hearts of the babies.
Juvia wasn't any stronger herself. She watched her food portion disappear into the twins' agape mouths as she became paler and thinner. She had been secretly sliding across her share of bread so that the family of three could stay conscious for as long as they needed to. Juvia decided that it was payment for the singing that kept her sane every day.
None of the prisoners spoke to each other. There were no guards nor rules, but it was unanimously agreed that there was no need for human interaction when death was inevitably close. Juvia was used to this emptiness, but when this emptiness penetrated her mind, she was starting to lose it. The complete absence of thought left her utterly dumbfounded at how she got here; or who she was.
The only memory she managed to retain was vivid. It jolted her awake in the middle of her sleep, where her heart would pound so violently that it hurt. Juvia grasped her chest to alleviate the pain but instead, a sting would travel up her spine. The prick triggered fragments of blurred memories, where she envisioned the sensation of falling. When the force of the souring wind struck her motionless, it sent her spiralling into another infinite tunnel. Her hair stuck to her face, dripping with sweat when a thick violet gas replaced the gust. It entrapped Juvia in a prison concocted by her own thoughts, sending her world into a descendant of darkness.
Juvia awakened to a scream.
It came directly across from her, but there were three screams instead of one.
Juvia stumbled to her feet as she adjusted her eyes to the familiar darkness. But instead, she saw a looming figure emerge from the sombre passageway. In each hand, a baby dangled dangerously, out of reach from their mother. The cacophonous screech that escaped her lips left Juvia's ears ringing and it sent her children wailing. The scream was much more deafening than the eighty-one screams Juvia had heard.
Before Juvia realised what she was doing, her body lunged forward, as if saving her own children. Her frail figure collided onto the stranger, startling him as she grabbed a baby from a hand. Juvia never knew how thankful she was for the damp mud that cushioned her landing. However, as she sunk back down into the mud, she realised that she should've been grateful that she was able to stay alive for the past eighty-two days.
Towering over her limp body was a cloaked figure whose obsidian leather shrouded his angular jaw. His features assimilated into the darkness, leaving Juvia's eyes clouded with confusion. The subtle sheen that radiated from his chest was an alexandrite plaque, intricately embroidered. It was a badge that anyone recognised, but it was also the very thing everyone prayed they would not see.
The tunnel was as silent as ever as the hooded figure leaned down on one knee, surveying the powerless woman. Juvia winced as she felt his gaze travel across her tattered condition. His stare penetrated her, so intense that it reminded her of the pain in her stomach from being deprived of food for days. Juvia became increasingly faint after that fall, yet she grasped onto the baby in both arms. Trembling, her only comfort was the infant that was so much smaller and weaker than her.
The stranger raised a hand, roughly seizing her chin in his gloved grasp. Before he could inspect his prey, Juvia jerked away from his grip so suddenly that she felt her body collapse beneath her. However, a tenacious hand slipped right behind her waist as she lost control. Juvia felt his breath waver as her disorientated body gave in to his hold. Jerking at her arm, he tore the baby from her arms and the silence was broken by a scream. Juvia fell to the ground, colliding against the frigid surface as she watched the man rise to leave. In each hand, he enclosed a baby, taking away everything the mother had. An exterminator had killed three innocent people in one night.
Juvia convulsed at the thought. Her hopelessness enslaved her to tears as she felt her hands fall lifeless. Her only warmth dissipated into the darkness. At that moment, Juvia realised that it was the mother and her children who saved her. They were the ones who gave her the reason to wake up every day. Her voice was so foreign yet familiar that it reminded Juvia of affection – something she had always yearned for. The thought of waking up to silence every morning allowed Juvia to finally understand why silence was frightening. It was the way she would tremble as she became consumed by uncontrollable thoughts; the unknown gloom that was always lingering in her brain, blurring her judgement. The utter bewilderment of waking to an ear-splitting scream reminded her of how worthless life was.
With one last protest, she managed to heave her weight away from his dominion. She lunged forwards in futile as she lost all rationality. Her throat burned as she let her dry lips form words for the first time in forever.
"Let them go."
The man turned unhurriedly, tossing the two children right into the arms of the mother who urgently cradled them into an embrace.
Juvia convulsed as she felt his glare pervade her as he completely lost interest in the children. She whimpered as his combat boots took easy strides across the sinking ground. His forefinger snapped her chin upwards.
Suddenly, the tunnel didn't seem as dauting as she locked eyes with the masked figure. His fingertips were icy, trailing across her jaw. His palm steadily rested around her neck where they eventually rested at her throat. She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. His lips etched into a sinister smile as he leaned into her. A nauseating smell of blood overpowered her as his body moulded into hers swiftly. In a husky whisper, his breath scoured her ear.
"Everything here can kill you, but I do it the most efficiently."
Eighty-two days in this hell hole and the first piece of advice she received was a life threat.