Captive III

He didn't know what time it was or how long he had been here.

All he knew was that after Dagon had finished ripping all the humiliating memories right out of his mouth, she had been bored with him. He didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse for it meant that the demons under her now had the rights for his body.

It was a foolish thought to think of this meeting to be nothing but dangerous. He had stumbled upon the trap, but was too arrogant to see that he was nothing but an ant–no, a bigger and more powerful yet still an ant–to a Prince of Hell.

Neither his numerous skills, enhanced magik, nor his system had been a match against her, never even having the chance to fight back.

If he had only seen how he had been unable to destroy Sibili or how many demons there were on the island but, then again, his blindness affected not only his eyes, as well as his ego.

How foolish he was to go against a force of nature, to swim against the tide of power when he built his raft on the bones of his lesser.

His thoughts were severed, quite brutally, by the thorny metal whip that struck his bleeding torso, its sticky thorns scraped against his skin and marking another shallow pit. One of the many marks seen around his body.

His torturer, a demon of unknown race and origin, had been dutifully enjoying its work for a few hours now. The only thing he knew from the agonizing slashes were the demon's fondness for his grunting and moaning, the only sounds that his tired body could muster after all this time.

He had been bound on the wall, his limbs stretched apart and extended to the limits of his flexibility. Wrists and ankles bound by metal braces that forced him to hang precariously against the wall while his neck had been wrapped with a coarse leather that fastened tighter once his neck left the granite bricks, choking him if he ever slumped down from exhaustion.

"My~ what a lovely specimen! How I wish we had more time, but… the mistress doesn't wanna kill you just yet." The demon's bulging belly trembled as it burst into a fit of laughter, licking its lips with desire. "I'll see you later!"

He watched as the demon climbed up the stairs and opened what seemed to be a cellar door, briefly revealing the blue skies and letting a few rays of sun through the small dungeon before the doors shut.

Although his regeneration had stopped the bleeding from the various wounds, his scorched, grated, and pierced body still agonized him by the second. Even moving his heavy head was a deadly chore, as the leather choked him tighter. Even so, he gazed to his left and caught the surprising sight of an unconscious Charlotte.

Still in her clothing, although tattered and burnt in places, Charlotte had not received any torture for the demons abhorred by witches of her kind. 

Just the sight of her brought tears to his eyes, for he thought that they had destroyed her to bits and pieces. He wanted to talk to her, tell her how sorry he was, that he left her alone to fight against the rising tide of demons.

Unfortunately for him, the leather yoke trapping him on the wall had forbidden a lengthy talk. Hell, even saying one word was as painful as walking on rusty nails.

"C-Charlotte… wake up…" He whispered through the pain, eyes barely working as the fumes from his burning skin had caused tears to foam at his lashes.

Speaking was hard because he had to take a few breaths before trying to wake her up again, but he had to hurry up since he didn't know when the demon would come back.

At last, after seven tries, Charlotte gently shook her head, her matte hair fluttering along her head.

"M-master?" She said, ignoring the blood dripping from her forehead. Her gaze widened as she caught sight of his form. "You're alive!"

Irwin knew what he looked like. Hell, he could even smell his smoking body. But he pushed her through it, for they only had one chance for escape.

No, it was his only chance to escape. He had accepted his eternal weakness; cowardice, his only path.

"C-can you still use telek-ugh-telekinesis?" Crimson tears dropped onto his cheeks, the acidity of which melted his sensitive muscles.

"I-I can try." She said, struggling against the metal cuffs clasping her wrists above her head. 

Although her physical form was weak, Irwin knew that she still had well over half of her magical reserves. 

A brief moment of relief came over him, but was soon overshadowed by nausea as his nose finally fell off his face. That was the third body part that had been removed, the second being his genitals, and the first was his left ear.

He had tried to invigorate his magik before attempting to wake up Charlotte, but had found himself unable to even find a spark of energy within his body. The demon, having magik of its own, knew of what he was trying to achieve and promptly told him of the effects of the metal cuffs around his limbs.

Even if he had Ereshkigal's amulet, the magik with which circulated his body was enough to activate the latent energy that would transport him out of here. 

Unable to utilize his magik, Irwin then called for his system. He had tried to do it before, but the constant tortuous pain made it hard to navigate the menu and the sub-system.

Still, once he knew what he was going for, it didn't matter how many times he had to do it.

His only salvation from this hell was an item of great value, one that had been with him since the very beginning.

The Monster Banishing Sigil.

There were originally five cards; one was given to Garth, to protect him from demons near the Wyoming Devil's Gate; another was in the hands of Gordon, as he was dealing with fallen angels; another, unfortunately, had been stolen by Dagon; and, more importantly, he had secretly given Ella the fourth card, for he knew that she was the least protected member of his family.

His family. No, they were not his family, but this was not the time for semantics. He took out his last card, dangling its tip on the edges of his fingers.

"Good… Take the card o-out of my hand. Once you do- for the love of god, don't let go- use your magic and target me!"

Charlotte nodded weakly, her eyes glowing with a green hue as the card in his hand flew towards her. As soon as her eyes returned to normal, her body seemed to lose its strength and hung limply with the metal cuffs straining her wrists.

"Char… Charlotte, can you d-do it?" His voice grew weaker, eyes getting heavy as a slab of skin sloughed off his leg and flopped onto the ground.

Charlotte lifted her head and looked into his eyes. From what little he could see, she was too concussed to focus completely upon his form, but, like all supernatural creatures, would soon recuperate from the injury.

Although he could not use his magik, Charlotte differed from him. She can utilize just enough magic power to activate the effect of the card, teleporting him out of here.

But he only had one card. If she did so, then she would be trapped here without him. He didn't know if the Will Domination would work even when the threat of her life was at stake.

"W-will you come back for me, master?" She asked, gleaming the purpose of the card and how it functioned from merely touching it.

Irwin smiled, showing off his burnt lips and chipped teeth. "Y-you're part… of the family. Never betray you."

His vow was sincere, more honest than he would ever be in his life. He did not know if she had heard his confession because, if she did, then, frankly, she would sooner use that card on her, rather than on him.

"I'll wait for you." She said, giving him a soft and tired smile.

Her eyes glowed with a green hue, her hands illuminated by the brightly lit card as it dissipated into an intense light.

Right before his eyes, he saw his vision succumb to the light as his surroundings grew brighter and brighter. It was as if his whole body had become light itself, surrendering to the laws of the universe. 

For but a moment, he was free of any mortal emotion and substance, free of physical feelings, before his body dropped into a soft pillow-like ground .

His eyes, barely able to see, caught the sight of a great forest being rained upon by the tears of the dark skies.

It was then that darkness gave him an icy embrace, letting him rest in its dark solitude.