Dripping. The soft tap of water hitting the floor filled the silent air in Sion's cell. His hands, bound in iron clasps, held scratches all over them as if he had tried to punch his way out of the stone room. His breath was slow and the dried blood that stained his brown skin began to chip and flake away. He had long accepted his fate within this prison. He had lost count of the days, he didn't have a window to see the outside world, even the air was stale and smelled of mold.
His golden eyes lost the life they had once held. He worried himself to destruction. Had the others slipped away? Will they fight for him? Was his family okay? His mind had raced on these thoughts for days. There was no stimulation, not even a rat to scurry by. The silence was torture.
However, the torture was yet to find Sion. The door which led to his cell hall was opened. Sunlight grazed Sion's delicate skin for the first time in days. His eyes were blinded by the rays of warmth. He tried to make out who was approaching and only found an intimidating figure walking down the steps as the door closed. It carried something long in its left hand and a torch in the right. Sion slowly lifted his head. His mouth slightly opened as he was parched, his lips dry and cracked.
"Please. I need some water." Sion quietly pleaded. His hands lifted slightly as he begged. But instead of being met with water, the bars to his cell reverberated with the sound of metal spikes striking the door.
"You need more than water." The figure spoke before revealing its face. It was the General. "You'll need to pray in hopes the gods have mercy upon you when I'm done." He spoke as he opened the cell door. The simple act of him stepping across the threshold of the cell took forever. Sion's pupils were the first to quiver, then his body followed suit. His teeth attempted to clench together but his teeth rattled ever so slightly.
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"Where's my family? My friends?" Sion desperately asked. But Finra simply dusted his shoulder off and cracked his neck to the side. The sound was disgusting. Sion's words fell upon deaf ears as a smile spread across the General's face.
"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Truly. I want to enjoy this." Finra's hand dropped the whip and reached for Sion's jaw. His grip was tight. Tight enough to break Sion's skin slightly. A small amount of blood slowly trailing down Sion's cheek. His breath was heavy as his heart pounded as hard as it could. But he could not let Finra have the slightest taste of his fear. He glared back with hatred that brewed and festered like the fires of hell. Finra was amused by this and set the torch in a sconce on the wall.
"Ooo. Keep that look for me. I like it." Finra licked his top lip slowly and forced Sion to face the wall with a hard shove. Sion's body trying to force itself back around before being held in place.
"Hands on the wall. Give me any trouble and I'll have you killed today." Finra ordered. Sion realized he could not yet fight back. He did not know what became of his people. Or his village. He was at the mercy of this Kingdom and needed to think of a way out. But, how long would that take? How could he possibly get out of here? If he confessed, he would surely be beheaded in the matter of hours. His hands curled into fists against the stone wall. Just as he was spiraling, the spikes from the cat o' nine tails whip dug into his back. His scream filled the halls.
"YES!! GIVE ME MORE!" Finra roared as he reared his hand back. The spikes ripped free of Sion's flesh leaving rips down his back. Again, Finra swung hard and allowed the spurs to embed themselves in Sion's back.
Drool ran down Sion's chin through his teeth as he tried to clench through the pain. His eyes squeezed shut as the tears leaked through and down his cheeks. His body screamed for mercy. To run from this man and his sadistic words.
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"Don't you dare go quiet on me." Finra growled as he grabbed Sion by the hair, his fingers pulling on Sion's ears as well. A cat-like snarl left Sion's throat as his head was forced backwards to stare at Finra. He bit back the pain for a moment to spit on Finra's cheek again.
"Has anyone ever told you how fucking ugly you are." Sion spat out as he attempted to push past the pain. Instead of having words thrown back at him, Finra released him and began to assault his back once again but in rapid succession. Sion didn't have time to breathe. Or even scream. His body convulsed with each rip and tear of his skin and muscle. He no longer could hold strong as the count of the whips would escape his mind. He fell to his knees slowly as his hands clung to the wall in order to ground him.
"If you confess, we could just skip to the fun part." Finra said as he inspected his instrument of torture. "But I am enjoying watching you break as well." He started before lifting his hand again and striking Sion's back once more. This time is much harder. Sion could no longer fight it. His tears flowed wildly as his voice broke in terrible wails between the sharp inhales for breath.
Finra's foot kicked Sion in the side of the head, not hard but with enough force to make him fall onto his bloody back. A hand grabbed Sion by the hair and lifted him from the ground. Finra's eyes staring at Sion. Sion's eyes were slowly closing but Finra slapped his cheek hard. Forcing Sion to wake up.
"Don't die yet. You're doing so good. Being a puppet to let my frustrations out on." He said softly before kissing Sion's forehead. "I'll be back for round two soon. Perhaps then, you'll have more to say to me." Finra released Sion and allowed him to fall back onto the floor.
The only thing that followed Finra on the way out was his disgusting laughter.