*Warning!*
There will be scenes of torture in here and graphic talk. Proceed at your own cation.  

🌹🌹🌹

Pain hit Gabbriel let a train. 

A very long, pain inducing train. 

She didn't need to open her eyes to know that her arms were pinned above her head, but her red eyes did open to see how. Two giant stakes were hammered through her palms and into the damp, cold stone behind her. Her feet, which she realized were now barefoot, barely touched the dirty ground below her. 

   "Gabbey," A voice whimpered in front of her. Raising her eyes wearily, she made eye contact with Akemi, who was in the same position as she was. Gabbey could see her loves' eyes were red from crying as another tear slipped down her face. "Oh, thank Gods. I thought you were dead. You didn't even flinch when they put the nails in. . ."

   "I must have been hit pretty hard," Gabbey grumbled, her temple pounding at the thought of her older injury. She probably hit her head against the caves' walls. Her arm twitched, most likely from the immense pain in her palms, and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. 

Gabbey was the strong one here, she wasn't going to cry over a little bit of pain. 

Her gaze drifted around the small contained room they were in.  Stone walls, stone floors, chains, and a barred metal doors. Absolutely too far for Gabbey to even attempt to reach. Her head slumped back into the wall behind her and she hissed at the pain it brought. 

   "Well, aren't we in a pickle?" Gabbey mused dully.

   "Uncle Jose will send a party out to get us in a few days, we haven't sent a message in almost a week." Akemi tried to be optimistic. "We just have to hold on for a little bit."

   "And if they don't think we're in any trouble?" Gabbey asked. "Or we can't hold on?"

   "Uh. . .Well. . ." Akemi trailed off before perking up. "Wait! Don't you have that bond thingy with Gajeel?"

   "Yeah?"

   "Maybe you can contact him through that!"

   "I doesn't work like that," Gabbey let out a sharp breath. "We can feel what the other is feeling is we push it through the bond, or we can pull and tug it. Not really a great way to communicate." 

   "So, no communication to the outside. . ." Akemi slumped against the wall. "Isn't this just great."

   "We'll be fine," Gabbey tried to reassure. "Jose will find us and we'll be out of here in no time."

   "I wouldn't be so sure of that," Hughie sung to the two prisoners as she waltzed into the small, dank room. Chai was followed behind, with another unknown male as well.  

   "Did you really think we wouldn't search your rooms?" Chai scoffed, showing them the lacrima they had hidden. Their messenger lacrima. 

   "Shit," Gabbey cursed, closing her eyes.

   "Shit, indeed," Chai chuckled, eyes flashing dangerously. "Don't bother using magic, those are magic draining stakes." He chuckled again. "You're supposed to nail them down in an area and that area is magic proof, but this works just as well! Now, to business. Who else is on this mission."

The two girls raised their eyebrows in surprise, but Gabbey was quick to smooth her emotion over. Akemi, not so much. 

   "Who. . .else?" Akemi echoed. 

   "Yes." Chai snapped. "Who else in your stupid guild is here. It can't just be you two. Not with how we had our guy write the letter. Too important."

   "Too important for our guild to send two fully capable girls on a mission?" Gabbey implored.

   "Exactly! Who else?"

Silence. If only Gajeel was here. They could have totally mastered a plan together, somehow gotten themselves out of the sticky situation. 

  But its best he wasn't here. 

   "Alright, well, if you aren't going to just tell us," Chai sighed, pointing at Gabbey. "Take her down, Lett. On the slab."

It was as if the slab of stone appeared out of no where, but was probably there the whole time. Gabbey just didn't deem it important. 

For the next couple days, she sure would. 

   "Here we go!" Lett grunted, tugging the stakes out of Gabbey's hands roughly. The girl fell, biting her lip so hard it bled, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry from pain. Her red eyes glared at the towering man before her, a snarl set on her face with blood dribbling down her chin. "Tough one, huh? Lets see how long you last."

Her knees collided to the rough stone as Lett dragged her in front of Akemi. Her chest was pressed harshly against the stone, her hands getting tied towards the floor, a little hook at the bottom of the slab to keep them in place. 

   "You just had to go for the shirt, huh?!" Gabbey snapped, feeling the damp and cool air make contact with her now bare back. A sharp snap  caused her to flinch slightly as she realized what was going on. "Akemi," She murmured in a low voice, their eyes finding each other. "Don't answer them. Don't look."

   "I'm done playing games with you fools," Chai walked around to get a glimpse of Gabbey's face. "I want an answer, now. Where are the rest of your guildmates?!" 

   "Bite me," Gabbey spat, the slobber mix with blood hitting Chai in the face. Akemi shut her eyes, shaking her head with her mouth clamped closed. 

   "Lett," Chai snapped, wiping the substance off of his face with narrowed eyes. Another snap, before a searing pain lashed itself across Gabbey's back, right shoulder to left hip. Gabbey closed her eyes, biting her lips and taking a deep breathe. 

   "Who else is here!?"

Snap!

   "Where is your other camp?!"

Snap! 

   "Is there another member that infiltrated this guild?!"

Snap!

Lash after lash hit Gabbey across the back. At twelve lashes, she finally made a pained noise. At thirty, she felt light-headed. It wasn't until there was forty lashes, yes she counted, before Akemi finally said something. 

   "Stop it! We don't know anything, okay?! Just please, stop," Akemi cried, squeezing her eyes shut. Gabbey rested her forehead against the cool stone, sweat pouring down her forehead just as fast as the blood down her back. 

There was a moment of silence that was only filled with Gabbey's harsh breathing and Akemi's soft crying, before Chai let out a sigh. 

   "We'll just have to try again later," Chai commented, like it was a simple task to check of his list. "Lett, put her back up there."

The bonds around Gabbey's wrists disappeared as Lett dragged her back to the place where she hung before. He nailed the stakes back into Gabbey's hands, this time the girl didn't bother to hide the curses to show her pain, before walking out. 

Hughie pranced around the room, her hand rolling up the whip that no doubt Lett used to hit her back. Her keen eyes darted between Akemi and Gabbey with pursed lips. 

   "Shame," Hughie sighed, rubbing her fingers together. Gabbey saw the glint of light reflecting off her fingers, before noting that it was blood on Hughie's fingers. Her blood. "You two were so promising. Well, lets see who drops dead first." 

The metal bars closed with a loud slam, rattling the walls around them. Gabbey closed her eyes with a sigh, letting her head fall back into the wall behind her and letting the cool stone slightly relieve the pain from the whip. 

   "I-I'm sorry," Akemi whispered, eyes full of tears as she stared at Gabbey. Her shoulders shook from crying, but her palms were killing her. 

   "It's not your fault." Gabbey murmured, barely loud enough for Akemi to hear. She swallowed, speaking louder. "It's not your fault."

   "What are we going to do?" Akemi asked. 

   "I don't know." Gabbey admitted, opening her eyes. Even in the darkness down here, where ever they are, Gabbey's red eyes still shone like rubies. Akemi loved Gabbey's eyes, no matter how monstrous her love said it made her look. "I know one thing for sure."

   "What that?" 

   "I don't think whipping is going to be a kink of mine." 

   "Really?" Akemi tried to fight the rising smile. "While we're in trouble down here?"

   "No better time!"

   "Well," Akemi let her head fall back but kept her grey eyes on Gabbey. "I don't mind that. I couldn't imagine hurting you, in any way."

🌹🌹🌹

This went on for weeks. Months, maybe. 

Time wasn't a concept down in the dungeon Akemi and Gabbey stayed in. Maybe they got tortured twice a day? Maybe ten times a day. They didn't know, and they really didn't care. 

Gajeel was worried and starting to get scared, Gabbey could feel it in their bond. It was such a raw emotion that she could practically taste them. As much as Gabbey tried to not let the pain get to her, it would some how leak into their bond. Gajeel would panic, and Gabbey swore her heart stopped at the sudden fear that gripped her heart. 

They always asked where their camp was. Never believing when they said no one, said that they were the only two even near the Serpents guild hall. Hughie would come in, summon any weapon that Lett would want for the period of time, and sit there and watch with a grin on her face. 

Gabbriel got most of the force. They thought that if they broke the strongest one, information would easily spill out. They scarred her back, broke her fingers, shattered her leg, completely carving Gabbey's skin as if it was paper. They carved their guild mark into her skin, right on top of her Phantom Lord guild mark. The removed the Serpents mark, they weren't true snakes of the guild.

The back of her hands were covered in stab marks and her fingers were clearly not set right, for they were at old angles. It didn't matter, they would be broken again within a day or two. 

Some days, Chai would join them and watch with pleasure. Other days, it was just Hughie, Lett and sometimes Maja. Chai's favorite days were when he brought his daughter in - the woman with dead eyes, they found out - and have her make Akemi and Gabbey go through different heart-breaking scenarios. 

His daughter specialized in Illusion Magic, making it hard for Gabbey to recount what was real or a mirage. 

It wasn't until they got bored of Gabbriel did they really started to torture Akemi more. That's when they realized they were torturing the wrong person. 

Akemi's cries of pain were a lot more easily gained then Gabbey's ever was. Soon, her voice chords were practically shredded from her wails. The best part, to them anyways, was the look on Gabbey's face. 

The deep, raw, unfiltered look of hatred that settled into her eyes when they looked over to her made them laugh. Her slurs of threats and what she planned to do to them when she got out amused them. They weren't getting out, not unless Chai wanted them to get out. 

No matter how heart-broken it was for Gabbey to watch her mate be tortured, they both made a promise after that first day. They wouldn't break. They wouldn't give up any information. They needed to keep fighting. 

There was a rare day, one day Gabbey looked back on now and wished she fought harder. 

Lett had taken it upon himself to dig the stakes in different spots, deep into the wall to ensure she didn't get out. He was so focused on that, he didn't even notice the iron fist that hit him on the side of the head. 

Lett was knocked out, leaving Gabbey hanging on the wall with one stake in her palm. She tried, she really tried, to rip the damn metal stake out so she could crush it to pieces in her mouth, to blow this damn place to hell, but Hughie stopped her. 

A mage with the power of lightning sent electrical currents into Gabbey's body for a long period of time as punishment. 

It seemed like, to Gabbey at least, that the rest of their lives were going to be spent down in this damn dungeon. 

Until the day that Chai decided Zeref would rise and conquer all. 

🌹🌹🌹

The doors slammed themselves open once more, shaking Gabbey from her uncomfortable slumber. She let out a confused groan, seeing more than just two figures enter the cell. 

   "Aw, are we having a party? For us?" Gabbey asked with a sly grin, staring at them with her one good eye. Her other eye was swelled shut, refusing to open itself. 

A fist swung itself into Gabbey's gut, making her cough, before the stakes from her palms. At this point, Gabbey wasn't squeamish and her hands didn't feel anything at this point. Akemi let out a sharp cry but was quick to shut her mouth to not make anymore noise. 

Without so much as a word to either of them, two men grabbed Gabbriel's arm and started to drag her out of the cell. Behind her, she could hear Akemi get dragged out by two men as well. 

Although her body was broken, her spirit was still intact. Which is why she kept speaking. 

   "You might want to be careful there, bud," Gabbey mocked, a spiteful smile on her face. "You don't want to pull a muscle, huh? That would be bad."

   "Does she ever shut up?!" The guard to her left complained. 

   "Not really," Hughie, who was walking in front of them, replied. "Damn woman never knows when to keep her mouth shut. It's gonna get her killed one day."

   "Only if it's by you, sweets," Gabbey snapped, grin never fading. So, maybe Gabbriel has gone a little bit insane. 

Just a tad bit. 

   "In your dreams,"

   "I'll gladly keep dreaming about you! I dream every time I go to sleep, that it's going to be me who slits your throat." Gabbey snickered, letting out a huff of breath when Hughie turns and punches her across the jaw. 

   "Keep it up and I just might slit yours right here, right now," Hughie snapped back.

  Please do.

    "We'll see whose first, then."

They're lead down more hallways, through the storage room Gabbey and Akemi searched so long ago, through the dark hallway that was now lit with torches, and into the huge cavern that held the machine. 

It looked completely finished. 

Something cold got pressed into Gabbey's hand, above the massive hole in her hand, and her head quickly snapped to the guard holding her. He had messy blue hair and a red tattoo that covered the area above and below his eye. In a voice so low, that only her dragon hearing picked up, he whispered, 

   "Eat this as soon as you can, the stone is in the middle, right above the tabled station."

   "How can I trust you?" She said in an equally low voice, but nonetheless clenched her hand around the cool object. 

    "As soon as that machine is turned on and releases all of its magical properties into the air, something much bigger, much worse, is going to appear. I need to stop it."

Nothing more was said as he reverted back to being a so-called guard. It didn't matter if there was, anyways, they were right in front of Chai and his demon daughter. Chai was facing the machine, his back turned towards them but his daughter stared at them lifelessly. 

The two Phantom Lord members were shoved to the ground, onto their knees, and Gabbey took that moment to shove whatever the hell that man gave her into her mouth. 

  Metal!  She thought in realization, slowly chewing the piece as quietly as she could. It was covered up by the last minute fixes the machine was going through, and even more so when Chai started to talk. 

   "Soon, the world will truly know the power of the Serpents guild," Chai stated. "Soon, with the Infinity Elixir Stone, I will raise Zeref from Death's cold grasp!  I will let the greatest wizard in the lands rise and take the world as his own!"

The four guards that brought Akemi and Gabbey into the cavern made their way back into the shadows, where bodies were tightly pressed against the wall and each other. It looked like the whole guild was here. 

Perfect timing for the strange guard to slip out, undetected. 

Gabbey slowly reached her hand out, grasping Akemi's cold hand into her own and holding on tightly. Akemi was quick to return the hold, her hand shaking slightly. As if Gajeel himself was there, Gabbriel felt her twin tug and push on the bond, feeling her nervousness and fear as she felt his, but she didn't know what to do. 

  If I had more time, we'd probably make up a code or something. 

Her teeth crushed the last bit of metal the strange man gave her, and felt strength slowly but surely return to her body. But it wasn't enough, she needed more. 

   "We'll be known as heroes! For raising Zeref from the grave-"

   "We get it," Gabbey remarked, a sneer on her face. "You'll have the attention you never got as a wee little child." 

Chai turned slowly, a faded eyebrow raised like he couldn't believe what she just said. "Rebecca."

Gabbriel's eye twitched as her vision warped into a dimly lit room. Akemi's hand was still in her grasp, letting her know it wasn't real, but it still torn at her heart to see Gajeel's lifeless body thrown across the floor. 

His red eyes that shown with the same intensity as her own were dull, like a maroon shade of depression. Gashes were strewn across his body, a particularly deep one on his throat that went ear-to-ear.

   "Get out of my head, get out of my head," Gabbey hissed through clenched teeth. "Get out of my head, I said GET OUT OF MY-"

   "Enough."

Gabbey's eyes swam as her vision went back to normal, hand still tightly wounded in Akemi's. Rebecca's smoke-covered eyes turned away from Gabbey and began to stare at something else. She was like. . .a zombie. 

Chai turned to face his followers, the mages that willingly put the Serpents mark on their skin, knowing that this was the beginning of the end. "My followers. The time for our Dark Lord to rise is upon us. Let us start with our sacrifice!" 

The guild roared with cheers. All the people that Gabbriel and Akemi spent days on days learning about no longer cared for them. They were traitors. Maja looked on with a sadistic gleam in her eye, almost making Gabbey uncomfortable. 

   "Bring the light mage."

Someone started to tug at Akemi's other arm, trying to drag the girl away from Gabbey and towards the machine's platform. Gabbey's eyes widen in shock before she snapped. 

  Fuck it.

Yanking Akemi towards her and spinning her around to where the light mage behind Gabbey, the Dragon Slayer pulled back her fist. "Iron Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Chaos rained down on them. Gabbriel did her best to put her fatigue behind her, to ignore her grumbling stomach, and fought with every ounce of determination she had left. Akemi was quick to join in, clearly just as tired because she didn't get a meal boost like her partner did. 

And, oh god, the pain. 

Gabbriel's never punched anyone with her whole freaking hand fucked to hell, but she never wants to do it again. Fingers re-broke from the force she was using and sometimes her leg would give out, making her do some really  quick thinking.

It wasn't until there was less people around that Hughie finally decided to step in. 

   "Not. Another. Move."

Gabbey froze, turning slowly towards the she-demon's figure. She wasn't the only one in her line of sight, though. Hughie had a dangerously sharp knife pointed at Akemi's stomach, slightly digging it in, and had Akemi in a loose choke hold. 

   "Let her go," Gabbey demanded, her voice low. "Or I swear-"

   "I don't think you're in the position to be making any threats." Hughie stated with a sly grin on her face. Gabbey didn't respond. "That's it. . .Obey, little bitch."

A hand clasped onto her shoulder, jarring her back into reality. She reacted with thinking, turning around and punching the man away. Gabbey realized what she did, her eyes going wide in horror as the sound of ripping flesh filled the air. 

   "Akemi," Gabbey breathed out, whirling around in a daze of panic. It only grew as she saw her mate hold her stomach, blood rushing to the ground, and Akemi fell to her knees in shock and pain. Hughie was still above her, holding a blade covered in Akemi's blood, but Gabbriel shrieked out a spell that knocked her way back. "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Hughie's body slammed into the wall behind her, head cracking against the wall. She slid to the ground, unconscious or dead, Gabbey didn't know or care. Her main concern was her mate, who she dashed towards and gently helped lay down. 

   "G-Gabbey," Akemi choked out, hands still clutching her stomach wound. 

   "I'm here, I'm here," Gabbey assured, voice cracking. She put her shaking hands onto Akemi's stomach, trying to stop the blood flow. "You're going to be okay, I promise. It's nothing I can't patch up, just a few little stitches and you'll be fine!" 

   "Gabbey," Akemi winced in pain, feeling Gabbey's hands put pressure on her stomach. Akemi's hand reached up to Gabbey's cheek, gently wiping away the tears that spilled down her face, but leaving a red, bloody mark in her wake. "Shh, shh, it's okay."

   "It's not okay!" Gabbey wailed, using one of her hands to cup Akemi's hand to her own cheek. "You're bleeding! We need to go find some bandages o-or something!"

   "Gabbey," Akemi's voice quivered. She couldn't feel her lower body. "Gabbriel, listen to me."

Gabbey's red eyes were full of heartache as she looked into her mates' glowing eyes. They shone with unshed tears, Akemi was being strong for Gabbey. Another sob ripped through Gabbey's throat, but she nodded, clutching Akemi's hand like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. 

And, technically, it was. 

   "I love you so, so much," Akemi choked out, trying to smile. "But I need you to listen when I say this. Live on, Gabbriel. Find a new family, make new friends, travel the world! Find love again. Live. Because life is too short for you to keep your head in the past."

   "But you're  my life." Gabbey insisted tearfully. 

   "Then live your life for me. Please, I need to know you are going to try and grow." Akemi sobbed, finally letting the tears fall. "Please. Gabbriel, please." 

   "Okay," Gabbey whispered after a moment, mostly to herself, before nodding. "Okay. Okay. For you." 

   "You'll be fine," Akemi assured softly. "Tell that idiot brother of yours he better find his girl soon. And Juvia that she's really the best sister ever."

   "I will," Gabbey broke off into another sob. "Please, don't leave me. Don't leave me."

   "I'll always be. . .right here." Akemi gently touched Gabbey's chest, right where her heart would be. "Always. . ."

Akemi's grip loosen before the hand Gabbey held was limp and her other hand fell to the ground. Gabbriel let out a sob, curling herself around Akemi's body for comfort.

She was dead, she was dead, she was dead. Akemi was dead, she wasn't getting back up. She was dead. 

  My soulmate just died.

A cry ripped from her throat. Her heart hurt beyond hell. No amount of torture could add up to the pain she was feeling. Blood roared in her ears, but it wasn't loud enough to block out these next words. 

   "You didn't kill her on the platform! Now we got to kill the other one!"

For the second time that day, Gabbriel snapped. 

🌹🌹🌹

Gabbriel awoke to the smell of smoke, blood, and fear.

She laid on the ground, eyes closed, just listening to the sounds around her. Fire crackled, far-away screams were heard, and the sound of buildings collapsing surrounded her. 

Finally, after what felt like hours, she opened her eyes and took in the damage. 

Around her stood a city of flames, the town that was once Casiter City. Building that were full of color and people were now abandoned, taken over by the red, orange, and yellow hues. Some people didn't make it out of a building in time and the building collapsed onto them. 

Bodies were thrown around the area she was in, but she had no doubt the rest of the city was like it. Blood pooled around them. 

  . . .What happened?

Looking down at herself, Gabbriel got her answer. 

  She happened. 

Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, scars and burns, but most of all, blood. Blood from Akemi, blood from the citizens of Casiter City, blood from the guild members in Serpents. 

Her had brushed something cool, yet again, and her eyes darted towards it. By her body laid a shimmering rock that glowed, even in the dim light. It was perfectly round and had no blemishes. It practically generate  the powerful aura it gave off.

  The Infinity Elixir Stone? 

Everything hit her at once. How rage poured into her very soul, how powerful she felt when she just let go, how easily it was to just use her Dragon Slaying powers. Metalicana talked about this, but he never believed Gabbriel would ever reach it. Her main power wasn't Dragon Slayer magic, but here she was. 

She actually used Dragon Force. 

The reasoning behind why  she was able to use Dragon Force hit her, causing an ugly sob to rip from her throat again. 

 With a wail that was surely heard to the heavens, Gabbriel cried. What was the point anymore, her mate was long gone. 

Another wail echoed throughout the land, birds flying away and burning buildings finally crumbling. The stars shook with her pain. 

Thus was the day that Gabbriel Redfox cursed the Gods themselves, and everything they stood for.

**Not gonna lie, I was listening to sad music on accident and started to cry. Didn't realize it until my sister came in and pointed it out.

AND ABOUT NOT POSTING UNTIL I FINISH THE BOOK, I lied. I couldn't help but post another chapter. 

Whoops.