CONTROL - Ver. 2

XXXIX

Her cell was cold and wet. After days and days of experimentation gone wrong, they seemed to have given up on giving Rin a curse. Her body had continued to reject it, even after―

Flashes of memories caused Rin to squeeze her eyes shut and strain against the cuffs that chained her to the wall. She had been in and out of consciousness throughout it all. She remembered her bare skin against a cold, metal table. She remembered the pain she felt as they cut her up and tore her apart. She remembered feeling the agony of her shattering heart. What they did to her... What they did was unforgivable. Even now, the numbing pain in her lower belly was a reminder of the torture she'd undergone just for them to give up.

And at the center of her memories was a certain woman with dark hair, leering down at her like she finally got her revenge. Rin's wrists strained against the metal cuffs as the image of Minerva's face lingered in her mind like a backdrop. She had lost her unborn child and yet all she could think about was that wretch of a woman. The anti-magic cuffs cut into her wrists as she pulled them taut out of anger.

Rin could see nothing but red. She knew that no matter what, when she got out of here she was going straight for Minerva's head. And Kyoka's. And Mard Geer's. Everyone who had ever seen a hint of a demonic curse would take their last breath under her. She swore to it that she would be the last thing they ever remembered; the monster they had created.

Though their experiments hadn't worked out the way they'd hoped, they definitely did something. Rin's magic was through the roof and constantly increasing. She was overflowing with so much magic power she thought she'd burst like a ticking time bomb. Masumi had successfully warded off the curse power that they'd tried to attach to her, but the lasting effects caused her abilities to swell beyond their capacity.

In fact, Rin knew very well that she could leave any second, but that would be no fun for her. No... She wanted revenge. She wanted every being within this hell hole to suffer her wrath. A malicious grin smeared her lips, her tongue smoothing over her sharp fangs. She couldn't wait to unleash hell on this floating rock. The only thing stopping her was the fact that her friends were present.

Erza, Mira, Natsu, and Lisanna were all present within the Cube, but they were split up. She knew that if she did anything too drastic without ensuring their safety, their lives would be at stake. All she could do was wait it out and hope this war would start sooner rather than later.

The creaking of her cell door made her drop her head. She already knew that if she were to lay eyes on the woman that she'd lose all control and her patience would have been for naught. The door shut behind her, locking the two inside the cell together. The hairs on Rin's arms stood up from the proximity. It made her sick to her stomach being anywhere near her.

"Come to torture me some more?" Minerva blankly stared at Rin who was somehow maintaining her composure. The brunette had been taking her lashings much better than the others, smiling through the pain and taunting Kyoka. Minerva knew there were only mere days before Rin took her leave and their lives with her. In fact, she'd come to accept it.

"I came to apologize." Rin bristled at that. They were too far gone for apologies now. "What they did... It was unacceptable."

"They...?" Rin found herself laughing at the woman's poor choice of words. "You mean you." Rin pulled against the chains quickly, creating a loud clang within the small room. Minerva flinched and stepped back at the brunette's threat. "You took up their offer and became just like them. The blame falls on you now, too." Minerva was silent. She knew that her life lay in the palms of the girl's hands already. She knew she was her first target once she escaped. She had already accepted death and welcomed it. She just wanted Rin to know that she wished she could have done things over.

"The others have escaped," she informed. "As of right now, the Cube is hovering above Fairy Tail. I just came to say my final goodbyes." Minerva turned her back on the girl and opened the creaky cell door.

"You think you can beat me?" She stopped but didn't turn around to face her.

"No, I don't." Without another word, Minerva shut the door behind her and left Rin to her own devices. If they were above Fairy Tail, then that meant the fight was finally beginning. Her tongue swiped over her lips in anticipation. She couldn't wait to let loose after so long.

Rin bounded around in her chains as the Cube seemed to shake violently. She could hear things clattering to the floor from outside her cell door. Whatever was happening couldn't have been good though there was nothing she could do about it at this moment.

Throughout the shaking, parts of the wall she was chained to seemed to crumble away, including the part that was bound to her ankles. Using this chance, she reached down and pried the cuffs from her legs, freeing half of her body. However, before she could free her wrists, a red, flesh-like webbing began to emerge from the floor, ceiling, and walls. She had become trapped within the room as it began attaching itself to her body and keeping her glued to the cell.

"Fuck," she yelled out. Perhaps she waited too long and was forfeiting her chance of escape. No matter, she couldn't free her limbs from the web and found that it began to merge with her skin until she was completely covered in it. All of her senses were completely cut out and left to fend off against the void. "Am I dead?"

Rin tried to find some kind of sign that she was still conscious but found herself looking into the abyss of nothingness. Her thoughts were even clearing her mind. All of that anger and despair she had felt was slowly fading as her body numbed. For the first time in her life she felt completely at peace. If this was death, then she'd welcome it with open arms. She felt free.

That freedom only lasted about twenty minutes. Her sight had suddenly returned to her and she could feel a tingling sensation at her fingertips. That tingle turned to waves of pain coursing through her body, reminding her of all the torture she'd endured up until this point. That peace she felt vanished in an instant as her eyes met the same cell door she'd been staring at for days now. Her rage returned and she suddenly lost all of her patience.

With a single tug, her right arm ripped the chain from the wall, leaving the cuffs around her wrist. Then, her left followed suit. Though she was technically still shackled, the anti-magic cuffs had minimal effect on her power output. She had so much magic it overpowered the metal's properties and rendered them useless. She could hear footsteps running her way since she was making so much noise, but she didn't care.

The woman's breathing became erratic as she slowly became angrier and angrier. She was not fucking around. Anyone who stepped in her path would reap the consequences and she wasn't gonna play nice. She wanted blood.

Rin kicked the thick cell door from its hinges, sending it flying across and hitting the opposite side of the hallway. Men yelled in her direction and charged at her as she finally stepped out on her own two feet. Those coming from her left were met with a brick wall of her magic whilst she stared down the right corridor. Three men ran up with their weapons in hand only to be met with death.

The first was whipped to the side using the chains that had bound her up for torture, and the other two had their necks twisted to an eerie angle with her magic. All three bodies dropped to the ground simultaneously, leaving her to step over them like they were mere obstacles.

Sting was right to have called her a bloodhound all those weeks ago. He was right. She had locked onto Minerva's scent and had been tracking it since she had visited her cell. Rin was on a direct path to revenge and she vowed to crush anyone that dared to stop her.