Azure

It's a cold day in Lurn. There's smoke rising in the air, escaping from chimneys. Yet I have no fire, no smoke, nothing to keep me warm.

Well, I do have clothing, and shelter, but, it doesn't help much.

"Shh. It'll be okay my dear." My mother comforts me. "We'll keep each other warm." She softly holds my hand, brushing away dirt from my palms. I ask her about father. Where is he? He's usually back soon. Her grip tightens. Ow. My hand turns a bit pale.

"He probably wants to work more, because we've been short on money lately." She tells me.

...

The time ticks, and I shiver, trying to keep myself warm. Soon, my mother and I fall into sweet sleep.

The wind howls and takes my soul away.

But before the calm hits me, loud banging breaks my slumber.

"Quick, hide!" My mom shouts.

I dash away, hiding snuggly into a small wooden chest, pieces of sharp stray wood digging into my skin.

I shiver in fright as I hope they can't hear the loud beating of my heart, and the scattered breathes I'm taking.

I hear the front door crash down, as a million pieces of wood scatter everywhere.

"This is the Union. We have orders to detain you, a demon." The soldier says to my mom. "Please comply, or force will be used."

My mom cries and screams, and in my horror, the screams get quiter and quiter, as she is dragged away.

I claw furiously at the wooden walls of the chest with sadness, grief, and pure rage and hate in my heart.

The tears endlessly fall out, and my world collapses. My ears are bombarded with screeching noises as my screams for help land on deaf ears.

And then all turns to black. And then, I'm free.

The Black Underground, Nation of Latelle

Azure

I wake up with tears dripping down.

Where am I? Did I... die?

Looking around, there are stone walls all around, and I'm wrists are shackled in strong steel cuffs, chained together.

I stand up, taking a deep breath, taking in the flavors of wet mold and cobblestone.

Last thing I remember, was being captured by those masked abductors, who instead of killing me, brought me here, it seems. I'm wearing old shabby clothes that wouldn't even last a day.

Before I can bask in my new surroundings, I hear a noise from outside my cell.

Something clicks and I hear steps approaching. It's a masked man who unlocks my cell and gestures me to follow him.

But I resist.

"You need to be taught to be obedient." The man says, and he storms into my cell, grabbing my neck.

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Agh! Can't- Breathe-

I glare at him. I try to fight, but my shackles limit me, and the man overpowers me with his strength.

He then casts some sort of magic, and sparks of lightening begin forming.

It's travelling to me?

Before I could react, the lightning arrives, and shocks my world in thousands of different colors, the feeling of countless needles piercing my skin. With that, my muscles are fried, and I find it hard to move. The guard drags me away, from the cell, and upstairs, to a higher floor in this dungeon, along a hallway. He smugly takes a couple of glances at me.

"A rowdy one huh. Your lucky I've been told to keep you in good condition. I had to waste some mana on immobilizing you." He says, picking up his pace.

"I don't understand why you lowlifes can't be a bit calmer, more grateful for the mercy we've given you. It'll make my job way easier." He says with a small sigh.

Why do my captives want me in mint condition? Are they planning on selling me? Damn it. I don't want to be someone else's slave, just thinking about it makes me shiver in disgust.

Suddenly, he stops, and backtracks a few steps.

"Whoops, this is the place." He knocks on the stone door, waiting for a response. "Why do they make these doors the same color as the walls? It's fricken hard to see."

"Come in." A rumbling voice says.

The stone door opens as the soldier brings me into this room, full of wooden furniture, and inside are two older men, arguing about something science related.

Then, they stop and stare at me.

"Alright! Let's begin our testing!" One of the taller men says.

The soldier who dragged me here walks out, closing the door behind me.

I have a bad feeling about this place. But I can barely move, I still haven't recovered from the electric shock, it seems.

These men, with lab coats, some sort of scientists, drag me towards a table, and chain my limbs to it.

Oh no. What are they doing?

Before I can even speak, one of the scientists injects a needle with purple liquid, putting me to sleep.

----------------------------------------

"Open your eyes." A loud voice calls me.

It sounds like my voice, but deeper, stronger, and confident.

It has a tinge of darkness that I can't explain.

Out from the darkness, a demon walks up to me. Just like me, it has black hair, smooth skin, and dark glowing blue eyes. But it's eyes are deeper, brighter than mine. She has paler skin, and some sort of wolf ears attached to her head.

"You." She says, fangs glistening. She approaches me.

"Aren't you tired you these humans trampling over you?" She holds my chin, and brings my face closer to hers.

"You've never done anything to them? But they have harmed you. They have hurt you." She glares in my eyes, into my very soul. I shiver.

"You should take back what is yours. You should show them who you are." Her voice gets louder and louder, until I can't hear anything but her taunts.

It hurts so much. I can feel dark emotions trying to escape from the very depths of my soul, to no avail.

But at last, the darkness cowardly runs as light begins to make up my reality.

"You can't ever forget."

Then I wake up.

I'm in my familiar cell again, with new scars and small rashes all over my body. S***! What did they do to me? My body aches and cries out to me.

Just what the hell did those scientists inject into my blood. Damn it! I didn't escape to Latelle to be used for an experiment. But what do I do? I can't escape.

There's no where to go. Unless I can overpower the guards watching me, and magically find the exit to this dungeon, which is impossible.

I'm not the one to give in to desperate situations, but my current plans are far too risky.

It won't work at all. That's for sure.

I hear steps, as a guard comes and brings me some soup. It smells disguising, and cheap, but I shove it down, tightly closing my eyes shut, hoping not to notice the taste.

Before I notice, the days fly by.

It's a constant routine.

The scientists always have something to research, always inject needles into me. Some solutions make me faint while most make me wreathe in pain.

But as the days past, and I can't keep track of time anymore, the pain I feel becomes less and less.

I begin to slowly be able to keep stable consciousness most of the time, even in great pain, and begin to pick up on the scientists' conversations.

I began to put a few things together.

First off, they kept me alive because they figured out I was a demon, and because of my physical strength, it would make me a good subject for their experiments.

Although I don't understand why me being a demon is any significance to them, but I can only assume that they are researching something about demons.

Secondly, from the conversations I can overhear from the guards, it seems as if these people are the same people who have been abducting random citizens.

This hidden organization is trying to gather as much soldiers it can, and use them for something. I still don't know what. Maybe they are making a secret army of people to take over the government or something. Those are my wild guesses. Humans will do anything to achieve their convoluted goals after all.

I realize that I'm the only test subject right now. They had a few dozen others, but they all died, likely from their poor constitutions.

Maybe this is the part where I'm thankful for being a miner, huh.

Damn it. Will I be stuck in here forever?

I slam the cell walls with my hands in frustration, leaving a large fracture in the wall.

Was I always this strong? Did the chemicals that the scientists inject into my blood make me stronger? Or are the walls just brittle?

I'm not sure.

I give a try to smash and tear the chains holding me, to no avail. it seems like these are strengthened with magic, or just made with a very strong material, I have no idea.

Sigh.

What do I do now?

When will this end?