I can’t move.
I can’t move!
I CAN’T MOVE!
Okay.
Calm down.
Where am I? No idea. It’s dark. Completely and utterly black. Probably where I was trapped before. Dark. Almost peaceful…
Wait. I hear footsteps. They’re too heavy to be Psivee-En’s. He’s probably dead. After all that. He shouldn’t have died. He did wrong but he redeemed himself. He died saving me. He shouldn’t have died. Why did he have to die?
The footsteps fade away. It has to be the monster. Can’t be anyone else. Still can’t move. I’ve worked out why, I’m tied up. Arms tied behind me. Legs tied apart. I couldn’t be more vulnerable. There’s something else in here though, curling and twisting itself around my body. Like vines. Or… No. Don’t go there. Speaking of which, my body feels lighter. Colder. Like…
My armour. He’s taken my armour off. And my stomach wrap. Although my organic armour remains, I feel so exposed.
There’s feeling in my limbs now, but considering how I’m tied up, I’m not sure I want to feel anything. The band around my neck is enchanted, even if I was strong enough, I wouldn’t be able to use magic. He’s thought of everything.
“Ah, you are awake, impure one. About time. I want you to be awake for this.”
His voice is contradictory. Like the adventurer coming to save a princess. So full of self-righteousness. Horrible.
“Why? Why the fuck are you doing this to me?”
“Because you are impure. This will kill you. Painfully. But you will be able to go to the afterlife, with no sin in your soul. I am your saviour from evil. I am your redemption. I put that curse of undeath on you, so I could free you from sin.”
He’s in the room now. Maybe he was here the whole time? He can probably sense how terrified I am, but that doesn’t stop me from talking.
“S-so you’re going to torture me and use my corpse for experimentation. That’s SAVING me? You are fucking stupid. What have I even done to deserve this?”
“Psivee-En tainted you.” I swear, he’s smiling. I can’t see him, but I know he is. He’s enjoying this. “I am going to untaint you. Anyone can be made pure again. You just need to know how. Well, nearly anyone. Your little shadowspawn cannot be saved in any way.”
“Leave my children out of this!” I shout, sounding more like a plea than a demand.
“I’ll leave six of them out of this. The shadowspawn will be killed. Painfully. Worse than what will happen to you.”
Something switches on, close to me. Metallic spinning sounds. Like a saw.
“I have to remove your armour first.”
I panic, and my body tries to spasm, but nothing happens. It’s as if I’m frozen. Utterly defenceless.
The first cut hurts more than I expect! He’s tearing off my organic armour! The pain in my arms! Why must I feel this? I hear the first piece, my left arm’s armour plate, fall on the floor, as the pain pauses for a brief moment. My eyes are watering.
“I expected you to scream.”
“F-fuck you…” I whimper. Right now, all I can do is try and be brave. It’s not working though.
The saw starts up again, cutting into my left arm now. I desperately try and hold in my screams as he cuts into each part of me, but as he reaches my chest plate, I can’t take it any more. I scream and bellow, tears pouring from my eyes. The only armour plates he doesn’t touch are my headplate and my groinpiece, but the pain is so intense that I don’t care.
“That’s better. I was worried you no longer felt pain. You need to feel pain to be saved.”
I can’t do anything as he makes me suffer. The pain is so bad, I can’t even talk. He knows this. I feel the vines tightening around my limbs and around my neck.
“I need to wait for your body to heal up. Luckily I gave you something to speed up that process. Still need to wait though.” His voice is fading away. He’s leaving. “See you in an hour.”
I still can’t move. I’m trapped in my own body. I… I’m going to die here, in the dark, cut off from the rest of the universe.
Just like Veeyel.
My mind goes blank for a moment, as I realise how much truth lies within my previous thought. M-maybe… Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am tainted. Maybe I deserve to die. Maybe I should have died already. All those years ago. In that cell. Trapped. Beaten. Broken.
The pain begins to fade away, and my body is left feeling completely numb. There is nothing now. Nothing but endless shadows. I have nothing to fear any more.
I close my eyes, ready to accept my fate.