(tw: warning for violence/very mild torture)

Chapter Nineteen: The World's Theorem Of Fairness

He felt as if he was floating.

It was as if he was inside a dream, and he was a baby Fletchling with a broken wing that was trying to fly; floating, falling, floating, falling—he was stuck in an endless cycle of awkward motion that he couldn't quite get himself out of.

Fabio Lucrum found himself trapped inside a cage of nightmares.

The one thing he prided himself on was control. He had lost that now, however, and whatever mysterious force that was up against him didn't seem to want to let him win.

And so he gave up. Let the shadowy hands clawing at his cold skin grab him as he fell. Closed his eyes as he lapsed back into the state of unconscious—or rather, an unwanted purgatory that held him as he teetered on the edge of an imaginary cliff.

It was easier than struggling, after all, and in the first place—he'd never liked pain .

§

When the boy next woke, he was a child again, back in Sinnoh even when he'd thrown that place out of his mind years ago.

His hands were small once again when he glanced down at them; they lacked the childlike skin someone would possess, however, and they were coated with a layer of grime that made his pale skin seem a shade darker.

He could feel his tiny heart pounding deep in his chest, like a Pyroar trying to escape a cage or something. If the officials discovered him and his sister, he would be dead within a moment—the government was corrupt and hateful like that.

Fabio absolutely despised those grown-ups. The ones that thought they could run the world, in the end, all they did was make it a despicable hellhole that he couldn't even bear to live in.

The eight-year-old tried to comfort himself. His father would be back soon with food. Or, at least, that was what the man had promised—but more often them not, he would return with empty hands and a mouth full of bullshit.

It was all he could do to not look disappointed when he heard his father's footsteps and saw his hands empty. He could only plaster a false look of understanding at his latest excuse; at some kind of reason that he couldn't care less for.

He hated the man with all his heart. He hated kind people, especially those that couldn't afford to be nice to others in this ugly world but still was anyway—because on the other end of all the kindness and smiles, people like him suffered.

"I'm sorry," his father had apologised. "I just found another beggar starving in the streets, and I just had to..."

His lip curled at that, but he couldn't argue back. It would be disrespectful to scream back to his father that he was blind, that they were the ones who were suffering and couldn't he be more careful with his actions for once?

They were beggars too. They were starving and dirty and sick of the world, but his parents were too blind to see that.

This was why he hated mercy.

Fabio was eight, barely breathing and clinging on to whatever frayed thread of life he could find, and he could not breathe.

§

"Oh. You're finally awake, Sleeping Beauty."

The voice that buzzed in his ears was more than condescending. It had a bitter edge to it, the timbre concealed by layers of deceit and malice, and he opened his eyes to meet golden irises with nothing but angry hysteria in them.

He found a smirk daring to cross his face—and though he knew that he was in a vulnerable position here, with chains looped tightly around his wrists and linking to Arceus knows where, he couldn't help shooting his captor a cocky expression.

"So you managed to outdo me this time, huh?" He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I wonder what I did to end up here. Must have been something bad."

"But you did want to come here, didn't you?" The black-haired boy smiled back at him, and the two managed to maintain the facade of a regular conversation for all of two seconds before the shorter teenager dropped all pretences. "I did do you a favour, so why don't you thank me?"

Fabio snorted at that, shaking his head in disbelief as he regarded his captor. "I never remember you thanking me for looking after your sorry ass," he shot back. "It's a miracle I even remember your name, Leone."

His fellow mercenary snorted at that, bounding off the chair he'd been inspecting him from so that he was just two steps away from him. "And why would I care if you forgot my name?"

"Deny it all you want, but I know you do." There was a daring sparkle in Fabio's eye as he leant forward to meet the other's gaze, feeling the weight of rusted metal digging into his wrists in response. "Besides, look at you now, all grown up. Decided to run back and become daddy's little pet again, huh?"

A scowl bloomed over his pale skin, and Leone crossed what little distance had stood between the two of them in an instant, cold fingers digging into the older guy's neck as he tilted the mercenary's head with more force than necessary.

"I'm a mercenary just like you now." A feral grin replaced the frown, teeth bared and eyes so wide that the black-haired boy seemed more like a wild Luxray than anything. "People like that wouldn't matter to me if they didn't have money."

"Nope." The word escaped Fabio's mouth in a casual murmur, and he raised a finger to prod at his captor's forehead. "If you don't even have your sanity, then you'll never become a good mercenary. That's the one thing you must have."

"And you dare to call yourself sane?" Leone's rabid expression never changed as he brushed the man's finger aside. "No matter. I'm still one of the best out there. Right next to you, as a matter of fact."

The older boy simply laughed in response. "Whatever makes you happy."

Narrowing his eyes with a small growl, the shorter boy moved his free hand so that it rested on the cool surface one of the prisoner's handcuffs—and he smiled as his enemy tensed under his touch. "I'd say you aren't in the position to talk back right now."

He laughed at Fabio's expression; the initial adrenaline was starting to wear off, and though a daring smile still remained, the underlying seriousness beneath was more tangible than the boy would ever expose.

"I'll be back later with food," he spat.

§

He set—almost threw—a rusty tray in front of his captive, watching as the older boy jerked at the sound, having been too engrossed in trying to get his handcuffs off.

"Don't even bother," he called, crawling into the chair so that his arms draped over the back of the wooden surface and observing the agent's sour expression. "You may be slippery, but I know all your tricks. There's no better way to capture a mercenary by having another one do it—even better, have someone who's known you for half your life do it."

"You talk too much," Fabio retorted, and his fingers curled around a lump of bread that looked as if it was on the verge of turning mouldy. "If you want to taunt me, it won't work."

Leone snorted at that. "You may be regarded as the best mercenary in terms of professionalism, but people go to me if they want bloodier results—they don't call me the Sadist for nothing, you know."

"So you're going to torture me to death or what?" the blonde asked in a bored voice, turning his attention back to trying to get the tight metal cuffs off his wrists. "It makes no sense to keep me here without doing anything. Your f—I mean, you employer must want information."

The black-haired boy raised an eyebrow at that, slouching over the chair's backrest and staring at him with a gaze to intense to be considered harmless.

"Yes, my employer does want to know some things about the information you have," he commented with a smirk. "He told me to use any means necessary to get it out of you, so I think I'll enjoy slowly getting my revenge on you. You'd tell me what you know if you know what's best for you."

He stared back at him with an unamused expression, raising an eyebrow in response to his threat and shrugging his aching shoulders as best as he could. "I wouldn't know anything. You must have kidnapped an innocent civilian by mistake."

Leone stared at him in disbelief. "Do you have a death wish, you idiot?"

Fabio tilted his head. "Not like I have a choice. You know the code of conduct for a professional mercenary—besides, I don't give a shit about death anymore."

"You and your black-and-white way of thinking..." The shorter boy shook his head in disgust. "The things I'm going to do to you will be much worse than death."

§

He hated to admit it, but for the first time—Leone was right. He did feel like dying.

The blonde had no idea over how much time passed; all he knew was that he was trapped, in pain and very much helpless. Somehow, the runt he'd used to take care off had bested him this time, and he hated every inch of it.

Fabio wasn't about to admit it—not yet, anyways, he still had some shred of dignity left in him—but he couldn't help but let out a low hiss as he felt yet another piece of sharp bamboo inserted into a bloody incision made in his arm.

"It'll become infected in a day at most," Leone announced, a wide smile forming on his face once again as he flipped his victim over. "Isn't that great?"

"Living with your father must have screwed you up," he replied through gritted teeth. "I can see why other mercenaries call you a sadist."

The teenager ran a hand through messy black locks, not caring that his fingers were streaked with blood that wasn't his own, and he tossed the crimson-stained knife he'd been using aside. "And I wouldn't have any idea of who did this to me."

A sigh escaped the taller man's lips, and he felt agony flare through his arms as he tried to push his enemy off. "You're still hung up over that?"

"Shut up," the boy scowled, digging a knee into his captive's stomach while he tightened the chains wrapped around a pole in the ground. "It's not like you've been through what I am. Besides, let's not talk about that now—you haven't drunk anything in two days. I'm sure you'd like some water."

Without waiting for his former friend's response, Leone got up, satisfied with his work on the chains—and he draped a thick cloth over the mercenary's mouth and nose before grabbing a large bottle. "Aren't you thirsty?"

He could hear a faint series of chokes come from beneath the fabric as he poured the water, the liquid cascading down in a thick stream and wetting the towel within moments.

Fabio had no choice but to leave his mouth open, laboured breaths drowned out by pained gurgles as the water filled his stomach.

Above him, the black-haired boy grinned, watching the victim's swollen stomach and setting the half-empty bottle on the floor beside him and digging the heel of his boot into his stomach. His enemy's mouth was now closed, refusing to give in, and he couldn't help but shake his head at his stubbornness.

"You can't choose to be so obstinate," he tutted, feeling satisfaction flood through his system as a sick belch sounded below him. He made quick work of loosening the chains, kicking Fabio into a sitting position and watching as he vomited the contents of his stomach onto the grimy floor.

"See? That's better," he soothed, voice overflowing with false sympathy that made both of them reel. "Y'know, for what you do, it's funny you break so easily."

The boy let out a shuddering breath and managed a weak grin. "As you said, I was never quite alright in the head."

"Then I'm glad we agree on one topic," Leone hissed. "If we were normal, then I wouldn't be here beating you to near death, and you wouldn't have left Sinnoh in the first place. It's sad that no one likes you anymore."

"Do you think I care about what people think? Especially in a world as rotten as this?" Fabio glared back at him. "I don't care about others, and you know that. So why would I care that they hate me in the first place?"

"Save your breath," the boy huffed in response, getting up and stepping towards the door just a few feet away. "No one cares if you live or die now. The only one to decide that is me."

Fabio was left alone after that.

§

I know that I shouldn't be shipping Fabio and Leone bUT I'M SORRY MY YAOI HEART BLEEDS

This was honestly a really fun chapter to write tbh--I like Fabio more after this lol he's literally such an extra main character so at least he gets some development

My search history is so questionable at this point I was researching on the water cure torture technique and stuff--

Sorry for updating late!! I procrastinate a lot and I'm in the middle of projects and exams right now :"))

Thank you guys so much for 2.2K reads and 338 votes!! :0 You have no idea how much this means to me <3

As always, votes, comments and critiques are very appreciated °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°