The Being
They could barely see anything in the dark room as they squinted, the only sign that their family was safe was through the telekinetic bond that had somehow formed at some point during their travels.
Karlis couldn’t see anything with the fabric over their eyes; a blindfold then. They felt the cold steel handcuffs dig into their wrists behind their back as fought against them, testing their strength. Once they paused, panting softly, the faint breathing of their siblings could be heard over the rattling of chains. They were all close by at least, they noticed.
Hearing their breathing wasn’t enough to settle them though, and even though they could tell that they were alright (ish) or at least not too injured, they still didn’t know how they were and if they had any injuries at all, and their overprotective nature demanded that they had to see them, to touch them to be assured that they were truly okay.
(They were never okay, they probably would never be okay ever again, even if they escaped, even if they somehow got home, even if they healed)
They stilled as a loud creak echoed through the room, followed by slow, thudding footsteps.
Whoever it was stayed silent for a few moments, until a deep voice called out.
“Grab me the leader.”
Hands grabbed at them, even as Karlis pulled back, stumbling along as they resisted. Karl thrashed in the grips held on their arms, uncaring about the strain on their injuries, which they could tell by the ache on their ribs was going to linger for at least a little while.
Harsh white light flooded their eyes as the blindfold was removed, causing their head to throb as they winced.
They looked around what seemed to be just outside a cell they presumed they had just been kept in, and they swallowed thickly and held back a shiver at the thought of the other times they’ve been trapped in cells.
They moved their gaze to the person that had spoken, and commanded the others, and from the way it held itself with confidence, it’s head held high it’s hands behind its back as it exuded intimidation. It’s eyes, though hidden by the hood it wore, narrowed sharply at Karl. Karlis could sense that these were more interdimensional beings, keeper of the borders and responsible for keeping them safe.
‘Just our luck’ Karl groaned internally, with a light scowl. They were tired, and injured, and they knew their siblings were as well, they did not have the patience to deal with this today.
“Well, this certainly is a surprise” the being’s voice resonated around them, drawling with boredom. Karlis glared.
“When we got an alert about the crossing of a universal barrier, the last thing I was expecting was a bunch of humans. Children no less.” The being smirked, it knew damn well how condescending it was being right now, and Karl ground their teeth.
- Again, no idea what to do here, The Being says something about taking Karl away for a talk/interrogation, away from the others, who were awake, and staying quiet in fear. ß
Karl’s breath hitched imperceptibly as a flashback hit them like a freight train (which did hurt, Karlis can tell you from experience). The memory was of being separated, of hurt, forced to watch as HE messed with their mind, creating hallucinations of torturing their siblings, he would mess with their sense of time, making it feel like it had been years (it had been, in the end), telling them how useless they are, unable to do anything against him. They would be tied up and see Luke crying, begging Karlis to save him.
They saw it in their mind’s eye as he hurt them over and over again…..They remembered when he grinned psychotically as he ripped up their throat bloodily, removing their voice.
They hardly noticed that they had completely frozen up, and basically collapsed on the floor as they slowly were lowered, the guards looking very confused, siblings faces solemn as Karl’s eyes glazed over. They shook their head, quiet words leaving their lips.
“Please no”, “no’ again”, “don’ hur’ them” and similar phrases kept slipping through their lips.
They couldn’t see anything, they had been thrown back, now all they could see was void, pitch black and boundless and now they were back there and they would never escape and they couldn’t they couldn’t theycouldn’ttheycouldn’ttheycouldn’tcouldn’tcouldn’tcouldn’tcouldn’tcoudn’t
Something touched their throat and they screamed.
- Slowly they are brought out the flashback
Karlis stood shakily from their kneeling position in front of the Being who, although it hadn’t moved, it did get a strange look as it scrutinised them closely. Karlis held their head high in defiance, which to their chagrain, had no effect.
The Being growled, out of impatience or confusion, or both, and said one thing that made S5 freeze again and helped bring them completely back to the present.
“I feel a force placed on you, remove it immediately before I do something to your little friends over there.” It said coldly.
They huffed under their breath, pulled down by exhaustion from the panic attack, just wanting to sleep for the next 48 hours. They took some deep breaths to calm down. Even if it did hurt them, they wouldn’t die. Even so, Karl would do anything to prevent any pain being inflicted upon the others, even if it was a bluff, which they doubted this was.
“Fine, but you asked for this you bastard.” They said in a glitchy voice, delighting in the way the Being blinked, a sign that it was actually put off for the first time.
Karlis took in a very deep breath, and as they exhaled they pulled on the handcuffs, snapping them.
They take a stance, one foot in front of the other with one hand raised in front of their face as they chanted softly under their breathe an incantation to remove the illusion.
They shuddered at the uncomfortable feeling of the spell rippling away, feeling somehow colder without the spell to shield them.
With no barrier, they could feel the full impact of their injuries. They stumbled in an attempt to catch themselves, as they felt dizzy with everything catching up to them.
The Being didn’t say anything, and Karl knew that it’s gaze was fixated on the bloody mess that was their throat. With everything that had happened now and before they were caught had caused the stitches to split again….gods above Raiden and Raya would scold them heavily later before stitching it again.
The Being seemed at least slightly put off now, it’s brow furrowed with the slightest downturn of its mouth. All it did was hum as it was deep in thought. Karl had to prevent themselves from laughing at its reaction.
“Horrendous isn’t it” They said with an undertone of bitterness and grinned a bloody grin.
“What happened to you?” The Being asked, and was that…concern? Lacing it’s tone? No way, The Being only cared about keeping the peace, not meddlesome ‘mortals’ they appeared to be. Their gaze hardened as the smirk fell from their face and they averted their eyes to their family in the cell.
“Things.” They stated simply. They looked at their siblings who were trying not to laugh. Karlis looked fondly at them. Even in situations like this, there was still this innocence that hadn’t been completely wiped away. They weren’t naïve anymore, weren’t the children they were supposed to be allowed to be, but Karlis would do anything to keep this. Even if they ended up broken, anything to keep the others’ spark bright.
“Come on guys, you can remove the illusions now if you want.”