CONTROL - Ver. 2

XXXVIII

Rin's eyes fluttered open as she woke up but squeezed shut as liquid flooded her vision. She squirmed around in panic as she found herself trapped in some kind of tube which was filled in some kind of liquid to keep her suspended. Her hands were tethered to the top of the tube while her ankles were connected at the bottom. She was also completely naked and on display.

Her panic subsided as she realized that she wasn't drowning. Whatever this liquid was, it was supplying her oxygen somehow. She wasn't breathing, but she wasn't suffocating either. She attempted to kick the tube, but the liquid was viscous and kept her from using any real strength. Also, her broken leg seemed to have been healed.

All she could say was that she was damn confused. She remembered being taken by the Demon Gate that killed the Council, but everything after that was blurry. Rin grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. Lahar... Doranbolt... Everyone... They were all gone.

"Look who's finally awake." Rin's eyes darted to her left where a woman, or rather, a demon approached with a shorter female by her side. The woman in charge had a large helmet that covered a majority of her face save for her mouth and eyes. She had large talons for hands and bird-like feet. The other girl had a black bob-cut and two bunny-like ears protruding from the top of her head.

Damn cursed demons.

Rin attempted to yell at them but found her voice muffled by the liquid. The demon in charge simply laughed at her inability to do anything about her situation. "How is the transformation progressing?"

"It seems to be ineffective," the shorter one responded. She was then glared at by the woman for lack of results. "S-She's pregnant. Her body is actively fighting the curse to protect the fetus." Rin's eyes grew as wide as the moon. She was... what...? Her writhing continued more at the revelation. She was not safe here among these beings of evil and chaos.

"Figure it out," the woman demanded before exiting where she had come in through. The other demon stayed behind and glared at Rin through the glass.

"I guess we'll have to do what we have to do," she snickered. "Too bad you were awake to hear all that. Meanie Kyoka~, she could've just let you live without ever knowing." The demon shrugged and grinned mercilessly at the sight of panic in Rin's face. She was silently begging her to leave her be. Unexpectedly or not, she couldn't let them harm her baby. Call it motherly instinct, but she wouldn't know how to live with herself if she let them succeed.

The fluid suddenly changed as the demon altered its composition. Rin did everything in her power to negate the effects, but she could feel herself becoming drowsy. Whatever they wanted to do with her, they wanted it done as soon as possible. She struggled and used every muscle possible to fight the sleep that beckoned her up until her body went numb, leaving her to doze off and await her fate.

竜

Sabertooth was calm and quiet. Not much was going on as a majority of members had taken on jobs which had flowed in thanks to the Grand Magic Games. Sting relaxed in his office chair, bored of doing paperwork all by himself. Rin had been gone only a few days and he'd been having trouble readjusting to the new normal. He didn't want to work, he didn't want to sleep alone, he wasn't even hungry.

His office doors suddenly slammed open and revealed a hysterical Leese who collapsed as her Aera finally gave out after flying the whole journey between Era and Gazania. Sting clambered to his feet and knelt down beside the crying exceed. Worry flooded his veins at the sight. Something was very, very wrong.

"What are you doing here, Leese? Where's Rin?" The exceed sobbed louder at the mention of her best friend. "Leese!"

"I don't know," she shouted out through her tears. "I left the Council hall for twenty minutes to get Rin's lunch and when I got back, everyone was dead. The hall was completely destroyed and Rin wasn't there!"

"What do you mean everyone's dead?" Lines formed across Sting's face as he tensed up. This was definitely not good.

"Everyone! The entire Council!" The exceed sniveled as she tried to catch her breath. "Even Lahar... I couldn't find Doranbolt or Rin's bodies, though." A spark of hope ignited in the blonde.

"Maybe Doranbolt got them away to safety," he suggested. However, the exceed shook her head. Rogue, Lector, and Frosch had now entered the office to investigate the commotion.

"Their scents were fading at different rates. Whatever happened to them, they vanished at different times." Sting sat back on his heels, his arms dropping limply at his sides. He knew he shouldn't have let her leave. Rogue looked back and forth between Leese and the blonde, silently begging for an explanation.

"The Council was massacred," Sting muttered. "Rin is missing." Rogue zipped his lips shut as his input was most definitely not necessary here. Instead, he moved to his partner's side and knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Lector and Frosch followed suit, offering Leese some kind of comfort.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sting furrowed his brows and looked up at Rogue. "If she's out there somewhere, we better start looking before it's too late. We got that letter from Erza, right? About Tartaros. That's what Rin was investigating, so it had to have been them."

"But why would they kill everyone else and kidnap Rin?"

"She's special. Not just to you. Her power and magic quality are unparalleled on this continent. Whatever they have her for isn't good, but we can assume they wouldn't let someone like her go to waste." Sting tsked and stood to his feet.

"How can you be so sure? Why wouldn't they get rid of their biggest enemy?" Rogue shrugged as Sting seemed to come up with a pessimistic view on every idea he presented.

"Sting," the dark-haired mage spoke sternly. "If anyone can catch her scent, it's you. Either we move now or we let this chance pass us by." The blonde sighed at his words and scrunched up his face. He rolled his shoulders out and cracked his knuckles, opening his eyes to reveal a new, steely determination.

"You're right. Let's go." The two Dragon Slayers held their resolve and moved to the door, being called out by the taupe exceed who wiped her eyes dry.

"I'm coming, too," she demanded. "Let's go get those sons of bitches."