Not gonna lie there boyos, been feeling pretty under the weather recently. But, if I can get a chapter out I will! Hoping for more consistent updates these days!

Enjoy!

545 knew it was too good to be true. That the slight amount of enjoyment she'd found was too good to be true. And she found out when the guards came to get her one day. She had figured that it was just a regular escort to the exercise yard. She was wrong.

"W-Wait," she started weakly as the guards missed the turn for the yard, continuing to drag her away. "W-Where are we going?"

"Shut up," One of the guards said. 545 felt herself begin to panic as she realised where they were going, and she wanted nothing more but to escape and run as far away from here as she could.

"No, please." She said weakly as she began to drag her feet. "Please, don't, I swear, I'll behave if that's the problem. Stop, please! Please!"

"Stop being so damn difficult!" 545 jerked hard and tried to run away, but she couldn't. They had too hard of a grip on her. She felt a baton smack her in the head, and her vision began to cloud as she was dragged along by the guards towards the hell she was expected to endure.

This was her own fault, though. She'd gone about this all wrong. She'd allowed herself to get hopeful. To think maybe it would get better. Of course this was going to happen, it was the only logical outcome.

The guards dragged her inside the room, and walked her over to the machine. She was placed inside with a cold, metal claw gripping her back, and her arms were clamped by more metal. She felt the desire to resist and try to break out, but she knew there was no point. She'd already tried when she gave a damn. What would doing it now do?

"How's my favourite prisoner?" 545 recoiled at his voice. "I have some news for you."

"Please don't do this..." She whispered weakly.

"See, I'm sure you know that I've been draining you of your power. Now, I haven't told you why, because it should seem obvious. After all, can't start an uprising to change the world without a metric fuckton of power at your disposal."

"I gave you what you wanted!" 545 shouted, finally gaining his attention. "You said you had what you wanted!"

"I do," Hades responded flatly. "But a little excess never hurt anyone. Not me, anyway. So, I figured I'd take some more from you. Now you don't care, do you?"

545 felt the needle pierce the skin on her back. She felt it hit her spine, and she cried out in pain as the fluid poured out.

"If you'd just bring her out, we wouldn't have to do this every time." Hades said pointedly. "I don't want you, after all; just her."

"I don't know what you mean!" 545 screamed as her nerves were lit on fire. "I don't know how to do that!"

"Exactly why we have to force her out," Hades replied. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times; don't worry about it. She comes out before you die every time."

545 felt her vision going black. Her whole body was racked with spasms as Hades' poison circulated her body violently. She may really die this time. This really might be the last time she has to go through this.

That thought made the whole thing much easier to swallow. This might be the last time. If this killed her, the pain would stop.

If she died, it was all done with.

Hades watched the girl writhe and scream for what felt like an eternity before he got what he wanted.

Her whole body went limp, hanging weakly in the contraption she was strapped in. After a few seconds of twitching, her right half violently resisted her restraints. Her right half came alive as her right eye opened, revealing a pool of red anger. A horn grew out of her head, and flames encompassed her arm.

"Hades!" She roared, pushing against the restraints. "I'll kill you! You'll die for what you've done!"

"Now now, END." Hades said as he walked up to her and smirked. "There's no need for such hostility. After all, I tell you the same thing I tell Nashi. If you'd just come out, we wouldn't need to inject her with pure, unfiltered ether."

"I'll kill you!" END screamed, the restraints groaning in an attempt to keep her down. Good thing they were magic canceller. "I'll torture you just like you're doing to her!"

"Oh spare me the theatrics," Hades said as he turned and walked back to his operator console. He pressed the red button at the bottom, which would signal the second needle to enter the girls body. "After all, it doesn't do you any good to struggle so much."

"Gah!" END shouted as the second needle went in, causing her body to go rigid. "I-! I need to talk to the others! Fairy Tail! Drake! Someone save us! Please!" Hades could only laugh as the girl screamed.

"See what happens if they come to save you," he warned. "Not that it matters anyway."

545 didn't know much of what happened after being tortured again, but she did know she woke up in a heap in her cell. Her whole body racked with pain, but she had no time to sit around and complain about it. The cell door was almost immediately opened, and two more guards grabbed her too her feet and had to carry her through the halls due to the pain. The whole time 545's brain struggled to keep up with what was happening. She could feel herself slipping into a stupor, disassociating with what was around her. Was this what happened with the Broken? They became so disassociated with reality that they went insane? Was that what was waiting for her?

She had no time to wonder, though, as she soon became antiquated with the ground of the exercise yard, the guards dropping her into a heap and leaving. She didn't know how long she lay there, staring into the ground without a care in the world. Was it even worth it anymore? Was it worth it to get up and keep going? She didn't know anymore. She'd allowed herself to get hopeful, to actually think it was possible to survive down here. But it wasn't. She'd known that, and after she'd fooled herself into thinking it was anything but true Hades and Tartarus had reminded her just how foolish she was. There was no point.

Despite her feelings, 545 felt her body going through the motions. She stood and wandered through the crowds that were watching her, before she finally made it to the wall. She dropped and sat against it, staring at the ground in between her legs.

For the longest time, or hell, maybe it was only a few seconds. She didn't know anymore. The point, though, was that 545 heard someone walk up to her. And she had an idea as to who it may have been.

"545? Are you okay?" 545 lifted her head, not surprised to find Takara standing there. The black haired woman was watching her with a wary, curious eye. 545 didn't really care.

"Fine," she answered hollowly. Takara watched her with a raised eyebrow before she sat down next to her, sidling up to her.

"Did he torture you again?" She asked under her breath 545 neglected to respond, watching the ground without a care. "I'm assuming he did, bastard...I'm really sorry about that."

"S'fine," 545 mumbled. "I don't feel like talking right now."

"Well I do," Takara replied, her voice now low. 545 felt the woman's shoulder hit hers, and then another feeling came over her.

The feeling of something sharp being driving into her midsection, right under her chest. Casting her already downcast eyes towards it, 545 saw a makeshift stone shank being pressed into her side.

"Listen up, you." Takara hissed. Despite her tone, the woman still had an incredibly sweet look on her face. From anyone watching from afar, it looked like she might have been trying to soothe 545's worries. It was anything but.

"What do you want now?" 545 asked.

"I just want to know one thing," she hissed. "The other day, you saw Jason and I interact. Give it to me straight, what did you see? Did you see the note?"

The note?

545 had no idea what this woman was talking about. She didn't give a shit about any note, or whoever the hell Jason was. Al she wanted to do was sit here and wait to die. Maybe if she let go, released her resistance, it would take her faster. What would that feel like, to just move with the wind? To just stop operating? Maybe it would be easier.

The pain of the shank only reminded her she was still bound to this accursed place.

"Answer me!" Takara hissed, desperation in her voice. "If you're being tortured, I know you might want to do anything to make it stop, including selling me out. So answer me. What did you see?!"

545 ignored her. If she did what she promised and stabbed her, death would only come sooner. Wasn't that what she wanted? Takara was dumb as all hell if she thought threatening her with death was going to make her talk. Now, if she promised to make her live and experience more of this, that would make her talk.

"Talk!" Takara said, her serene looking face beginning to crack with anxiety. "Tell me if you saw me! I caught you looking you bitch, I know I did! I'm selling myself out by asking, but I can't sleep knowing you might have seen...Damn it all this is is fucked, I'm fucked...I knew I should had left well enough alone! Damn it!"

Takara took the shank away, shoving it back into her pants to hide it. The woman was hiding her face now, trying not to cry.

"I knew this was stupid...I've fucked myself over, Jason...I just wanted to get out of here and find my brother and now...Tetsu I'm so sorry..."

Just at that, as 545 felt her resistance slipping away, the name 'Tetsu' registered in her brain. When that happened, a light blinked on in her head. It shone weakly at the darkness attempting to consume her, doing it's best to keep her grounded in reality.

...Tetsu...?

545 willed herself to look at Takara. The woman wasn't looking at her, but she did look up once she noticed 545 looking at her.

"What?" She asked with tears in her eyes. "Why're you looking at me?"

545 ignored her. She just stared at her, eyes wide. The name 'Tetsu' rested in her brain, emblazoned in bright neon letters. She recalled that name. She knew it from somewhere, but where? Why did that name strike a chord in her?

...Tetsu...

As she stared at Takara, 545's brain felt like it split open. One moment she was looking at Takara, the next Takara was gone and replaced with someone else, a man. This man had the same raven black hair and bright blue eyes, and he had a smile on his face. She knew this man! Where did she know him from? She'd never seen him as far as she could recall. Was he on the other side of the exercise yard? No, that didn't make sense. Takara had mentioned he was outside the prison somewhere. But where then?

From before Tartarus?

No, she didn't know anything from back then. The whole life she'd lived prior to the prison was hazy at best and at worst, she was on a boat overlooking an ocean as her memories rested on the seafloor. Despite that, though, the name and face stuck out to her like a white stain on a black shirt. Where did she know that name from?!

"Ain't my fault your friends don't know how to pace themselves, they exhausted themselves."

"I came here to talk to old friends, not have a meaningless fight with you."

Scenes, memories that 545 did not recognise flashed in front of her eyes. Who where these people, this man? What was happening?! Was this who she used to be?! What she'd experienced before Tartarus?!

Just like that, it was gone. The memories faded and, before she knew it, she was back in Tartarus' exercise yard, sitting there staring at her hands.

But something was different.

A flame resided in 545's belly.

It was small, an ember essentially. But the warmth still spread to every part of her cold body. She turned back to Takara, who was still watching her.

"I did see you," she said, her voice louder and stronger than she had expected. "I saw you exchange a note. What was it?" Takara looked surprised, but her expression still hardened.

"Nothing you need to know about," she replied. "Just, please, promise me you won't talk. Promise me you'll say you saw nothing." 545 made a face at this, trying to discern what Takara was talking about. She spoke of seeing her brother, of getting out of here one day. Now she was angry that 545 had seen something she shouldn't have? There was only one answer.

"You're trying to escape," 545 said, Takara flinching. "You and this Jason guy, you're trying to escape?"

"Would you shut up about it?" Takara hissed, looking livid. It was the first time 545 had seen her look so angry. It wasn't a look that suited her very well. "So what if I am?! I've spent way to long in here, so I'm getting out, and soon. That's why I wanted to know if you were going to snitch on me. Are you or not?"

Despite all that she had gone through, everything that had been done to her, the idea of tattling on Takara's hope to escape made 545 sick to her stomach. She would never.

"I won't," 545 replied. "I'm a lot of things, but not a traitor. Not like that." Takara looked sceptical, and 545 couldn't blame her. She wouldn't believe her either. She knew what people would do if they were desperate enough.

"Well, I guess I only have your word to go on,"Takara replied. "Thank you, really. If I got caught after so long of trying to escape, I'd...I don't know what I'd do."

"After so long?" 545 asked. "How long have you been trying to escape?"

"Long enough to learn this, watch." 545 made a face, but Takara pointed upwards. Looking up, 545 saw a tunnel above them that allowed guards to look down on them.

"What?" She asked.

"5,4,3,2,1..."

As Takara made it to one, 545 saw a guard enter the tunnel from outside, looking down on the yard. She watched, stunned, as the guard made his rounds and, as Takara reached one in another countdown, left the tunnel out the other side.

"The guards here are as terrified of Hades as the rest of us," Takara said. "They're extremely to-the-letter when it comes to their rounds. So I learned the rounds. Memorised them. Been doing it for years, and I've got it down pretty well."

"That's incredible," 545 breathed. "So you know where they'll be?"

"Essentially," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What's gotten into you? You looked so upset when you got thrown in here, but now you're acting like a normal person, not a Broken."

545 made a face at this. What had gotten into her? She was acting weird. From her tone to her speech, it was all very...alive. Like the embers she felt warming her up before were still keeping her alive, grounded.

"I...don't know," she replied. "But I feel...Different."

"You look better," Takara said. "Alive, not Broken. It's a better look." 545 managed a weak smile at this, but her mind was still spinning. Something about Takara's brother's name had sparked a whirlwind of memories. Memories from before Tartarus. She saw faces, heard laughter, some she took part in. But she couldn't remember any names, any notable people. Well, she couldn't remember them, but she could see them. The people she saw most often in her memories.

There was a blonde woman with chocolate brown eyes, and a kind smile on her face.

There was a pink haired man, with obsidian black eyes and a smile that shone like a flame.

A somewhat short, black haired girl with piercings, with a scowl on her face.

A girl, taller than the last, with black hair as well. Her eyes were blue, and her smile was wide, but she seemed to be keeping an eye on the others.

A man, hair as red as blood, built like a warrior. He smiled wide and laughed.

Another man, with white hair, taller than everyone else. He was seated next to a girl with blonde hair, his rm around her. Yet she didn't sense romance between them. Siblings, perhaps? Both were smiling and laughing though.

And lastly, a tan man with maroon coloured hair. He was slamming his hand down on the table they were all seated at, seemingly the one who told the joke. He seemed like a nice guy.

She could not, for the life of her, remember any names. Where these people important to her? Was she important to them? She didn't know. What she did know, was a question was bubbling to the surface.

"Can I help?" She asked. She looked to Takara to find the woman watching her in shock.

"Help?" She asked, the suspicion apparent in her voice. "You want to help me escape?"

"Yes," she replied. "I want to help you escape. Can I?" Takara didn't talk for a long time. She just examined 545's face, not sure what to believe. After a while, she frowned and sighed.

"I don't know," she replied as she stood up. "This is all so much. I need to ask him."

"Ask him?" 545 asked. "Ask who?"

"The guy you saw me talking to," Takara replied. "I need to ask Jason. This is getting too much for me to handle on my own."

Totally didn't reveal a bombshell this chapter. I ain't gonna draw out this whole torturous arc. Don't worry though, there's still a lot to come! I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 346: Jason