White feather in a metal cage [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPLPpRCCbX1_qtLO7lIOyMMpa9mjTOiRYm1RiIcBnP8ytXtc1-hzjuKDrz9Q96NorNjCxWqPATGRpBWO4r_3h2sRNWR0T7C71h6hjBdyR7SZz0i9V_TnGa9_h8xLce0EfxwafcYWFH9nbhTYBQZUNJC=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Saiya was not used to waking up in strange places. The last time that had happened had been an extremely traumatic situation, and she did not relish the idea of being in another of those scenarios.
The last thing she remembered was noticing a blur of motion above her as Snowbelle attacked whoever had thrown a net over her. She was fairly certain that she had been drugged when the assailant had stabbed her with some kind of needle after that, but it seemed that either she had been healed or enough time had passed that her Sapphire Fortitude had finished flushing it out of her system.
What was even more disconcerting than the lost time, though, was that she couldn’t sense anyone else around her. Even if her party members were asleep, she should still be able to sense the emotions from their dreams.
Another sense that seemed to be missing was the one she had of Snowbelle. Fear threatened to grip her with the thought that the attacker had actually killed her Familiar. Normally, she could always feel the bond between her and the Seagull. She relaxed a moment later when she realized the connection seemed there still, but it felt muted or muffled, as though something was interfering with it.
Saiya sat up slowly to get a better look at her surroundings. Taking in the heavy metal cage that currently surrounded her, covered in runes to reinforce it. She had seen something similar in the streets of the Processing District on the wagons that transported caught monsters. She wondered briefly if that was to be her fate now too.
She shook her head, trying to clear away the fog and negative thoughts. The action made her realize there was something heavy around her neck and, when she investigated it further, found a sturdy metal collar around her throat.
Saiya had never experienced the sensation of a Silencer before, though she had been contemplating trying one simply to better understand the experiences that Uriel always subjected himself to and Phoenix had suffered through. She was learning now just how horrible it felt to be cut off from not just one’s perceptions but also her Familiar and powers.
It had been a long time since she had felt this powerless, and the fact that she was a prisoner compounded her fears. She took a slow, deep breath, realizing her fears were trying to take hold of her mind, and tried to calm them to regain control of herself.
Once she felt a bit steadier and adjusted to the uncomfortable silencing effects, she looked beyond the cage bars to find her companions all in similar cages and also with matching Chains. Even Snowbelle was crammed into her own tiny birdcage —which she actually didn’t fit into well with the bars cutting into her soft fur and cramping her wings at odd angles— hanging from the stone ceiling with a tiny collar around her thick neck, silencing the aval’s own magical abilities.
Uriel and Everin were the only ones awake at the moment. The former was curled into the back corner of his cage while hugging his knees and staring silently into a middle distance. She was almost thankful that she couldn’t feel his emotions at the moment as she was certain it would be unpleasant.
The Avatar was also surprisingly silent as he seemed to be meditating while wrapped in his rainbow tails in the cage to her left. Or perhaps he was praying? She didn’t want to disturb him either way. He was Emerald Caste and likely knew she was awake now from simply hearing her move around. He’d talk to her when he was ready.
The cages were close enough to each other that she was able to stretch her arm through the steel bars to her right and gently nudge her sister awake. When Rayna came to her senses, the bard’s first reaction was to punch the cage door, curse in pain and frustration, then try pulling apart the collar and cuffs to little effect.
The noise Rayna made was enough to wake the others as they all took in the situation and Dazien muttered, “Perhaps splitting up and entering the horrific slaughter room wasn’t the best plan.”
“It wasn’t really the plan to begin with,” Phoenix pointed out as she hugged her knees to her chest in her cage that sat across the small room from Saiya. “The plan was just to get information about the kidnappers… Not get kidnapped.”
“Well, it looks like you failed,” an unfamiliar voice said from the entrance to the dank dungeonesque room. A tall cinderen with short white hair and glowing crimson eyes wearing a long, red, hooded cloak walked through the doorway before setting down a large sack and sauntering over to Phoenix’s cage.
“I can help enlighten you about the pile of siva shite you’ve stepped into,” he said with an evil grin that showed off pointed teeth. The look he gave Phoenix made a shiver run up Saiya’s spine. She had seen that kind of lecherous look before, and it never ended well.
The strange man gestured around the room and said in a grandiose manner, “Welcome to the Scarlet Banquet, the most ancient and prestigious Blood cult in the world!”
“Blood cult?” Dazien asked in a mocking tone before clarifying, “Don’t you mean insane cannibals?”
The man rolled his eyes at the amethyst warrior, “You’re just jealous we don’t limit ourselves in the pursuit of power.”
“Power? From eating people?” Phoenix asked as she glanced to the right over at her brother, “What is he talking about?”
“From what I’ve read in a few history books, they perform forbidden rituals to basically turn a person into the equivalent of a Monster Seed and consume them. It’s both vile and short-sighted.”
“T-the limiting of maximum potential has been theorized to be greater than Monster Seeds,” Camilla surprised them by speaking up, “B-but the amount of p-progress granted is also said to be m-more potent.”
The trembling brunette managed to inform before giving a little squeak of terror and burying her head into her arms when the crimson-cloaked man slammed a fist against Phoenix’s cage in anger.
“Better to be powerful sooner than dyin’ to some monster from chasin’ after Obsidian dreams,” the man replied testily. He bent down as though taking a closer look at Phoenix before spitting angrily on her and muttering, “Wayfarers. Always meddlin’ in other people’s business. Disruptin’ the natural balance… You’re a plague on this world. A plague that seems to specifically have somethin’ against people like us.”
“Dude, everyone has something against cannibals,” Phoenix shot back, angrily wiping the spit off of her.
Saiya was always confused by Phoenix’s reactions and found her to be one of the most contradictory personalities she had ever run into. Meeting a perfectly harmless woman who showed a slight bit of romantic interest in her or standing in front of a crowd to give a speech: complete panic attack and mental breakdown of overanalyzing the potential social situation. But a terrifying monster, a Divine god that could easily send someone to annihilate her with a thought, or an evil psychopath hellbent on repeatedly murdering her: give it some snark and try to stab it dead.
The result was a barely functioning girl with an aptitude for dying, and Saiya knew that would only make the situation worse at the moment. She tried to intervene and signal to the glaring Wayfarer that compliance now would most likely help present an opportunity for escape later.
“Phoenix,” she said softly, trying to keep her tone light and aloof, “We shouldn’t judge others for the situation they’ve found themselves in. We should ask why someone finds themselves doing what most consider evil deeds. Sometimes, people are not what they seem on the outside. We should look at what might be behind their words and actions and remain patient before casting judgment.”
Phoenix gave her a confused look and Rayna looked at her like she was an insane doppelganger that had somehow taken over her body.
Unfortunately, Phoenix didn’t seem to take the hint as she replied, “Saiya, they eat people. I don’t think there’s any situation that could forgive that outcome. That’s, like, the most evil option to choose. We need to put down these monsters like Rayna always tells me to.”
The man glared at Phoenix, clicking his tongue in disapproval, “Tch, I thought you were supposed to be the passive one. Everythin’ I’ve seen and read says you like to stand in the back despite being the holy Saint.”
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“You’ve been researching me?” Phoenix asked incredulously as she looked up into the scarlet hood.
“I think the whole city has been,” he said with a hearty laugh before cutting it off to kick the woman’s cage and growl, “Which makes your presence here all the more vexin’ for the boss. Such a Wayfarer thing to go pokin’ your nose in places they don’t belong.”
He leaned closer towards the cage and took on the tone of giving an order that would be obeyed or else punishment would follow, “Now, I want you to strip down to your unders so you can get cleaned up properly. While it might be simpler to clean a corpse, it’s a real pain in the arse, and I’m hopin’ to keep about half of you alive for the time being. So, time to strip, or I start killin’ your friends one by one.”
The Wayfarer glared at the man and opened her mouth to refuse when Saiya interjected with a pleading voice so unlike her usual tone, “Please, Phoenix. Just listen to him.”
The entire party, except for Uriel, stared at her incredulously this time, but Saiya knew… She knew cruel people could not be bartered with.
“She’s right,” a quiet and broken voice said that Saiya almost hadn’t realized was Uriel speaking, “It’s better to obey. Safer.”
“What? No! He just said he’s not going to kill us. He obviously needs us for something, and I’m not just going to let him do unspeakable things to us before he does whatever he already has planned,” Phoenix glared defiantly at her newest foe, “You’ll just have to kill me.”
“No!” Saiya cried out, understanding what Phoenix was trying to do, but it was already too late. The wicked man turned and gave Saiya a cruel smile as he took in her desperation. She messed up, giving him exactly what he wanted as she felt his interest rise.
“Well, ain’t that lovely,” he said before turning back to Phoenix, “See, I was kinda hopin’ you’d refuse. Makes this next part all the more fun,” he taunted as he withdrew a nasty-looking serrated dagger that looked like it had been created from the claw of a miserling; a claw they all recognized.
Their captor walked purposefully towards the smallest cage hanging from the ceiling.
“No,” Saiya gasped sharply, trying to reach through the bars towards her Familiar, “Please, no,” she begged despite knowing that was exactly the reaction the cruel man wanted.
He continued smiling as he opened the cage while talking to Phoenix, “Listen here, Wayfarer. You’re going to strip down to your unders now, or, like I promised before, I kill a friend.”
“Please, Phoenix!” Saiya called out again, her slight panic showing now as she beseeched her friend to comply and not aggravate their captor further. She didn’t know if she could handle losing another Familiar. Sandy dying to protect her had been hard enough to cope with all those months ago.
Phoenix nodded slowly, hesitantly listening to her as she slowly removed her boots first, followed by the dark cloaks they had all been wearing to blend in a bit more.
The blush coloring the shy woman’s cheeks was an obvious statement of the poor introvert’s embarrassment. Saiya idly wondered if stripping would become a new nightmare Phoenix would struggle with… she wasn’t sure if her presence would help calm Phoenix from this kind of humiliating torture.
Saiya was thankful that her teammates at least respected Phoenix enough not to sneak peeks as she glanced towards the people she knew to be more interested in the reluctant hero. Instead, they were looking in their laps or intently focusing on their shared enemy.
Taking the armor off was a much more difficult task for Phoenix as the cages were too small for any of them to stand upright and her particular magical garb was a tight scaly grey leather that hugged her form and acted like a second skin.
Once the boots, cloak, and peeled-off armor were shoved through the cage bars, they could hear the low chuckle of the cultist as he rewarded Phoenix’s compliance by slowly drawing the serrated dagger deep across Snowbelle’s soft-furred tummy, causing all of them to react by crying out.
Tears streamed down Saiya’s cheeks as she vaguely felt her Familiar’s pain through the muted bond and knowing that what she felt was being dulled by the Silencer choking her senses. She cried out in agony as the small creature made a wet thud when the man tossed the aval down on the ground in front of the sobbing voxen.
He bent down to look at her and gave a disgusting shiver of pleasure as he rasped, “Ooo, that’s lovely. You must be a truly gentle girl to beg and cry for a pathetic animal.”
The white-haired cinderen then grabbed Saiya’s tear-stained face to pull it closer, and Rayna’s hand flew out to push the man away from her, “Back off, creep! Keep your filthy hands off her!”
Snowbelle gave a weak cry as Saiya pulled the Familiar to her. The pure white fur and feathers were stained red from the ragged wound that she couldn’t mend with the forsaken collar around her neck.
“Shh, Snowbelle, I’m so sorry. I love you so much, little one,” Saiya muttered, trying to soothe the pained creature as it weakly snuggled into her before giving a final shudder and stopped moving.
She could feel the bond snap as her Familiar died in her arms, and she buried her face into the soft fur, trying hard not to wail and let the deplorable man get off on her pain. She didn’t want to give Snowbelle’s murderer the satisfaction he sought.
“No more cries for your pet?” the man asked, as though trying to prod her further, “Maybe you’re not as gentle as I thought.”
“You bastard!” Phoenix yelled through her own tears, “I did what you said! You said you wouldn’t kill a friend!”
The cultist turned and sneered at her, “I never said I wouldn’t kill a friend, only that I definitely would if you disobeyed.” Then he gestured towards the silently sobbing voxen and added bluntly, “Besides, that’s not a friend, it’s a pet. An unintelligent beast that is only as good as its parts.”
“You’re the beast,” Phoenix growled out as she clutched the steel bars holding her back from trying to strangle the man, the embarrassment of her partial nudity apparently forgotten in her rage.
He moved quickly as he appeared only inches from Phoenix’s face with that same sadistic grin, “Yes. I am. You best remember that, Wayfarer.”
Then he grabbed her face as well, pulling it through the cage until the bars prevented further movement as he seemed to appraise her appearance, his eyes roving up and down her thin frame lasciviously before saying in that mocking joviality, “I heard some rumors sayin’ you were adopted only because you weren’t marryin’ age yet….”
His grin widened as Phoenix froze at his words and the obvious surprise that flashed across her face, “Tell me, did you manage to become a Wayland by seducin’ the Fallen Paladin?”
It was Dazien’s turn to speak up, shaking the bars as he tried to lash out at the man between him and his sister, “Leave her alone, cretin!”
The man ignored Dazien’s poor attempt at distracting him from his victim as he chuckled, “Oh… I see you moved on quickly. Explains the extra adoption after the Paladin fell. Are you sure you don’t have the Succubus Class?”
He then made everyone in the room shudder in disgust as he inhaled the scent of her hair, “Well, you do smell… delightfully sinful.”
Dazien shouted again, cursing the degenerate, but the Emerald Caster just laughed and pushed Phoenix back into the cage before shouting, “Now the rest of you lot need to strip, or friends start dyin’ next.”
Saiya managed to choke out, “Please, just do what he says.”
The others gave her worried glances before beginning to comply, removing their various articles of clothing and tossing them into the walkway separating the two rows of cages. Saiya carefully wrapped Snowbelle’s still form in her tunic before gently sliding the bundle across the floor to join the rest of the clothing.
Once they all finished stripping and looking anywhere but at each other, the man clapped his hands together, “See? Not so difficult, was it? Now, hold still as I spray yous down.”
Then he picked up his sack again and pulled out a metal rod about the length of his arm with a cupped tip. Walking down the aisle, he pressed a rune on the device, and a stream of water sprayed forcefully out from it, drenching each of them in seconds.
When the monster in the form of a man reached Saiya’s cage, he watched her closely as he kicked the wrapped bundle hard into the far wall, causing her to reactively cry out and reach for her companion, “Simply lovely,” he said before hosing her down, taking sadistic pleasure in torturing her specifically. The odd tingling of magic was felt on her skin when the water washed over her, and she suspected it had purging properties to remove any Boons they might have had, though she couldn’t discern what kinds it might have been targeting.
“You give monsters a bad name,” Phoenix growled, “I’m going to kill you when I get out of here.”
The man rolled his eyes as he called over his shoulder, “I’d like to see you try, whore.”
“Oh, she’s definitely going to kill you,” Rayna muttered before receiving a blast of water to the face.
He laughed heartily once more, “She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t end up as dessert. Most of you will end up dinner, while three of you will end up turning into Bits. Which probably means just ending up dead later, but at least you’ll be clean!”
The cruel man finished spraying them down, tossing them each a towel from the sack to dry off with before collecting the clothing into the sack instead. Then he pulled out four different colors of tunics and began doling those out. What the various colors meant was beyond Saiya’s understanding, but since only three stood apart from the red version most of them received, she could guess that meant she was part of the dinner group.
Uriel’s lack of movement caught her attention as he stared wide-eyed at the tunic on the floor in front of him. Frozen and unmoving. She realized something was definitely wrong with him when the sound of cracking metal filled the silence, and she saw one of the golden cuffs fall from his long, tapered ear.
“Oi, what’s wrong with ya?” their captor asked Uriel, kicking the cage, “I said put on the— Hey! I said to strip everything, and that includes that bracer there!”
“I-I can’t—” his voice sounded strained and confused to her, “Not red—”
“Take it off now, or I’m killin’ this one,” the man ordered, pointing at Camilla in the cage beside him, who was already dressed in the red tunic.
Uriel finally complied, pressing a combination of runes to remove the concealing bracer, and when the Soul Mark became visible, the sadistic man sucked in a sharp breath.
“By the gods,” he whispered before his mouth twisted into a grin, and he chuckled darkly, “Oh, the boss is gonna love you.”