Chained up

"It's about time you woke up, I was starting to think that I had accidentally killed you."

Kai's head throbbed as he tried to sit up, but then he realised that he already was. Opening his eyes, he saw Anastasia sitting on a wooden chair on the otherside of a set of bars made of ice.

It was then that Kai realised that the entire room was made of ice, and that it wasn't an average room.

It was a cell.

Without hesitation, Kai attempted to summon Esurient and-

"Fuck!"

Felt a wave of pain wash over him. It was like he had been dumped in the water up in the Arctic while a blizzard was going on. His entire body felt like it was going to freeze over.

Looking around, Kai realised that he had been stripped of all his clothing, bar a ragged piece of cloth that had been attached to his waist.

There was also three shackles made of light blue ice attached to both of his legs and his left arm, restraining his movement.

The last thing he noticed was the thick collar made of ice wrapped around his neck, that was also the coldest part. He then realised that it had been this collar that had caused him to feel that pain when he attempted to summon Esurient, but why-

"My oh my, only awake for a few seconds and you already attempt to attack me. What happened to the sweet Pet that I know and love?"

Kai scowled, rubbing his chained wrist with his free hand.

"What sweet Pet? I'm sure no one wants to be your pet willingly... bitch."

Kai cried out in pain once more, the tips of his fingers beginning to turn a pale shade of blue before returning back to their complexion a couple of seconds later.

Anastasia's smile faltered, her eye twitching in response to Kai's words.

"Well, I'm sure that's not true, you were quite eager to be my pet. You were so bashful, so innocent. Why, I would have been an idiot not to take advantage of that."

Rolling his eyes, Kai gave Anastasia the middle finger and said:

"That was your Innate Ability, I've seen people much more attractive than you, and I would much rather become their pet rather than become yours, you washed up old hag."

Instantly, Kai groaned as another wave of pain washed over him, like it was freezing him solid, it was so incredibly cold. The finger which he had just given Anastasia turned blue, no, it wasn't that it had turned blue, it has turned to ice.

"Oh really, and who would those 'other people' be, you ungrateful little shit?"

Kai chuckled weakly, happy that he was successfully getting under her skin, even though it waws causing him pain.

"Let's see, there was Sofia, a really nice red haired woman. She may have been a little rough on the outside, and fond of a good drink, but she would obviously be a much nicer owner than you.

Then there was another girl named Noelle, a little bit older than me. A bit mean, very physical, but she meant well, saved my life on multiple occasions. I obviously paid her back that, I'm just that type of person, but she would also make a better owner than you.

Shit, while we're at it, who's limiting it to only women? There was this guy called Failure, strange name, I know, but he gave me so much free stuff I almost couldn't believe it. He also saved my life, then I tried to save his, he ended up dying anyway, shame, but he would also make a much better owner than you."

Taking a deep breath, a sly smirk had etched its way onto Kai's face when he was speaking when he noticed Anastasia's expression grow darker and darker. It made him happy seeing that, he was extremely petty after all.

"I see, well, I'll make sure that by the time you get to see them again they won't be able to recognise you, how about that?"

Kai's smile instantly dimmed.

"You're still a bitch."

Another wave of intense cold pain later, Kai was back to glaring up at Anastasia.

Turns out, Yelena had been wrong about touching the ice foundations of the castle, which was obviously where they were, where else would there be a room of ice?

But even though it didn't instantly freeze him, there was some condition to the freezing, it was still incredibly cold, cold enough that Kai felt that if he sat still for long enough then his skin would probably get stuck to it, and it would not be pleasant trying to move around after that.

Anastasia sighed, lightly resting her chin on her hand as she gazed down at Kai.

"What happened, Pet? You were so eager to please me just yesterday, yet now your acting so rebellious. What changed?"

Kai stared blankly up at Anastasia. Was she seriously asking a question like that? The answer was so obvious?

Why would he ever want to serve someone like her? Even though he didn't pride himself on having pride, he wasn't just going to let himself get stepped on.

But the main thing that had broken him free from the hex was Annie. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he would ever to be able to forget the look in her eyes when she said that she would rather die, how tired of life she looked. That... was something that was going to stick with him.

"What changed? I never changed. I might have been blinded for a while, but I never changed. So why don't you just fuck off back to whatever hole you came out of and leave me alone?"

Anastasia remained silent, a strange look in her eyes, one which Kai could not understand. Meanwhile, Kai's fingers started turning to ice again, reaching his knuckles and even covering a bit of his hand.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone, seeing as you don't want to spend any more time with me. Oh, and you don't have to worry, I'll have one of the guards bring you down your 'dinner'."

Kai couldn't help but notice the mad grin on her face when she said the word dinner, making him wonder what he was going to be fed in the future here.

He watched as Anastasia got out of her chair, picking it up with one hand and carrying it away from the cell. Just as she was about to leave, Kai inwardly groaned and shouted:

"How long has it been, since I got out of the tutorial?"

Anastasia chuckled, turning back to look at Kai.

"Why should I tell you that?"

Kai rolled his eyes before pulling against the chains binding him in a show of defeat.

"I won't be getting out of here any time soon, so there's no harm in you taunting me, I'm sure a bitch like you would enjoy that."

This time, when the pain washed over him, Kai managed to only let out a couple of groans and bite his lip to stifle any more noises.

Making her way back to the bars, Anastasia slowly traced her finger along the length of one of them and said:

"Well I can taunt you any time I want, so why should I mess with you too much today? But no, that's what I mean, I mean what's in it for me if I tell you?"

Kai blinked.

"Uh... I'll answer one question you ask me in return?"

Anastasia shook her head, a pitying look in her eyes.

"Tell me, Pet, what do you think is the first thing I did when you fell for me?"

Not really sure what to say, Kai simply said what he believed.

"Take advantage of me?"

Anastasia giggled and shook her head, leaning even closer to the bars of the ice cell in the process.

"No no, the first thing I got you to do is a little more innocent than that.

I simply got you to explain to me what your Innate Ability is, what all of the skills you posses do, what the items you possess do, even if you've seen anything that the average tutorial goer shouldn't have seen. That's what that little ice collar is for, it was created specifically for you.

Any time you attempt to use a skill, make use of your Innate Ability, summon an item, even just making fun of me, all of it will cause you pain.

There's also the feature that the stronger you are, the less chance you have to escape, a pretty nice feature if you ask me.

So Pet, what information could you offer me that I don't already know?"

Kai was frozen, both by the cold and what Anastasia was saying. She knew... everything?

His skills, Innate Ability, everything, she knew all of it. What was the use of hiding his abilities all this time when he had already willingly told her what they did?

For fuck sake...

She knew everything, what hope did he have to escape?

No there had to be some way to escape, there definitely was. Every situation had a loophole.

But the fact that the stronger he was the harder it was to escape...

Kai wasn't weak by any means, he was at the pinnacle of tutorial participants and maybe above average than the lower levels of the Multiverse, meaning he wasn't that weak, but he wasn't that strong. So how the hell was he meant to escape?

Noticing Kai's expression shifting, Anastasia smirked before tapping a bar of ice against her fingernail, getting Kai's attention.

"But fine, since I'm such a nice owner I'll let you know how long it's been.

It's been about six months since your tutorial ended."

Kai sighed. So he had been eighteen for about a month, that meant he had a little under six months to escape this place and get to literally any other Main or Subdimension.

Anastasia snorted at the fact Kai started getting excited.

"Why are you perking up, you're not getting out of here? Not until the next Tournament at least.

Anyways, seems that I have said enough, so I'll leave you here, Pet. Oh, and I hope you can handle the cold. Make sure you move around, I'm not sure I would be able to get a healer to come down here if you end up ripping off your own skin."

Kai watched as Anastasia walked away, the sound of her footsteps getting softer until he couldn't hear them any more.

Then, Kai was left alone.