Chapter 7: Turning Point of Knowledge
Darkness. That's all I feel besides the searing pain. The intense darkness crushes my soul while the pain crushes my physical body. I hear laughing before I feel a knife tear through my leg. I twist my body in pain, yet even my pained movements are halted by the large chains that bind me. Still the laughter pounds in my head. Afterwards, more knife cuts.
This Hell continues for two whole days. Every time I try to sleep, the sharp pain of a knife jolts me awake. The worst part of all of this is how sudden it was. I can't remember what happened after I was sucked into the black sand. Now all I know is the pain and laughter. I've tried many times to summon my wings or my daggers, but the power I used to feel has drained away.
I then feel a hand on my face. The fingers trail up to my eyes and pull at what has covered them this whole time. I immediately glare at the person looking down at me. I hear a scream, and they run away before I can get get a good look at them. Anger wells within me. This is pain and torture beyond what I could imagine. I look down at my body and see countless cuts that are just deep enough to bleed. Every inch of my body burns. I let out a beastly growl and struggle against the chains before I finally tire and fall to sleep.
"Wake up, monster."
These words wake me from my deep slumber. I gaze upon the face of my captor, a slim man with long black hair. He looks down at me with dark black eyes that seem to drill into my mind. His smug expression sets the ember of hate deep within me ablaze.
"Who the fuck are you?! Why put me through this hell?!" I roar.
"Calm yourself, monster. I have done you no harm. That was my associate who you scared away with that monstrous crimson eye you have." The slim man laughs arrogantly.
"If he harms me again, I will kill him. I mean it."
"Just try it in those chains, monster." Every use of that word makes me angrier. "We have just trapped you here like Lord Noctral has ordered."
Noctral. I'd nearly forgotten about that man in the midst of my pain. He is the one who sent me here. He is most likely also the one who sent Seth to that grey purgatory as well. Another man soon enters the dimly lit room and shoots me a dark look.
"This is one who has done you so much harm. He is in charge of the punishment that all angels in this facility recieve."
"There are others here? This is wrong!" I shout.
The chains around my ankles and wrists are suddenly released. I fall to the floor painfully, but I don't waste a second. I summon wings and Featherfall as I lunge towards the long-haired man. He stops me by grabbing my throat tightly. The other man, face covered in scars and wounds, cheers.
"Not so fast, monster. You are the one with black wings and a black soul, so you have no place to declare our actions wrong. We are merely punishing the ones who sinned and turned their backs to God." He lets go of my throat and turns me around. "I've always wanted to clip the wings of these monsters. Might as well make you the first."
I feel his hands tightly grip my wings from the top. He proceeds to push down with inhuman force. I feel every bone in both of my wings break. I let out a cry of pain and crumple down onto the floor. The long-haired man laughs and walks out of the room, leaving the torturer with me. He says his name is Var and walks towards me.
I grit my teeth through the pain and swipe at his face with my blades. They sink deep into his cheek and make him stumble backwards. My broken wings drape over my shoulders and make a sort of cloak that covers my wounded body. I've pieced together the situation in my head over the past two days. These people must be punishing the angels for what they see as sins. I have no idea what turned my wings black before I even knew I had them, but they have marked me as prey for this group led by Noctral. But I'm fed up with being prey any longer. Even back in Shirou, I was weak and needed protecting. No more.
"What did we angels do to your little group to deserve this?" I ask sternly as I put my dagger to Var's throat.
"You caused the world to become the way it is! You all sinned and were thrust to the Earth and ravaged it. You all must pay!" Var says spitefully.
He pushes me aside and begins to change shape. In the blink of an eye, his ugly scarred face becomes that of a beautiful woman's. His short body transforms into a full-bodied womanly fiigure. Long red hair, very similar to mine, cascades down her shoulders.
"That red eye disgusts me. I'm going to rip it out of you, sinner." Var, now revealed to be a woman, spits.
My tattered clothes are replaced by a new set of slim purple armour. A bright silver chestplate shines in the dim light of the room. I finally have full reign of my abilities. I spin my daggers with the skill and intention of one ready to kill. I launch my leg at Var and kick her into the wall next to the door. Amazingly, she is pushed through the wall with a crash. I must have more physical porwess that I thought, so I wonder why I wasn't able to break through those chains before.
I step through the hole I created and step foot into a large and surprisingly bright room. I see Var struggling to her feet in front of me, but beyond her are many wooden chairs with people chained to them like I was to mine. This must be where the rest of the angels that Var tortures are kept. Most of them that I can see are drained of any resolve or emotion, but some are staring intently at Var and I.
"Anubis just left! Now's your chance to stop this!" One of them shouts. Anubis must be the black-haired man I saw earlier. Yet when I look at the angel who spoke up, they seem to shrink back. I must look horrifying right now. But I don't care. I look to Var, who has just gotten back to her feet, and prepare my blades. My humanity must have been extinguished in that room, because all I feel now is a desire to kill the shapeshifting woman who stands before me.