Prisoner

Disclaimer: I don\'t own the characters and settings, which are property of CLAMP, or the song lyrics below, which are property of Evanescence. I don\'t make any money off of writing this.

~*~*`

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Saving me, raping me, watching me

~Evanescence, Haunted (Fallen, 2003)


Chapter 1: Shadows

Umi Ryuuzaki woke with a start. She had had the same dream - or was it more of a nightmare? - again. The dream that was caused by the events that had finally reached an abrupt halt barely two months before. She, Hikaru, and Fuu had come across Zagato\'s hidden castle only to find that Emeraude was dead. It was not known why, as the Pillar could not take her own life, and it was impossible for anyone save for a Magic Knight to kill her.

There had been a loud explosion, and the three girls were flung in all directions. But Umi had not found herself in some distant Cephiran field - no, she had crashed through a small window, barely large enough to fit her slim form, of the secret lair. And there she stayed for days on end, in a small room with a bare matress and a window too high to see through. This must have been some sort of ancient prison room.

And yet Umi survived. Each day, there were two pieces of unleavened bread and a small water bottle pushed through the flap in the door, which seemed to be locked from the outside, as Umi ha tried to open it multiple times but failed. This carried on for nearly two and a half months, and Umi developed pasty, malnourished skin, a paranoid nature, and corrupted thoughts.

Yes, corrupted was indeed the word for it. The thoughts in her head mingled and became confused, blocking any sensations from reaching her mind. She got to the point where she would later look back and assume that if she had cut her wrists with something, she wouldn\'t feel it. Wouldn\'t even know she was dying.

But then she had rebelled. Umi tried to always preoccupy herself with something, whether it was just counting the black bricks in the wall or trying to find a way to open the door, which she assumed was a door to freedom. Slowly she regained her sense of self and realized that she had been here for almost six months. Umi missed her friends and family dearly, yet had not the strength to even cry.

Her simple, suffocating lifestyle was ended one day when her door opened. It was a stranger standing in the doorframe, someone Umi had never met. Yet she knew it was Zagato. If only I had my sword, she thought, I could kill this bastard. He kept me here, kept me to die here to draw out my suffering. What happened to the Mashin? Where\'s fucking Selece...? And why have those sluts Hikaru and Fuu abandoned me? They could be here to help me!

As far as she remembered it, she and the one who kept her as a prisoner never exchanged words. They seemed to be able to talk with their minds, almost magically.

Pathetic, Sol Zagato laughed mentally, You could not even stand if you tried. I suppose I should draw out your pain even more. You need to be in a self-destructive state, yet you are not. That can be fixed...

He took several long steps toward her. Too close for comfort. And suddenly, Zagato grabbed Umi\'s arm and threw her against the rock-hard wall. Umi crumpled to the ground in a broken heap, blinking back tears. What was going on...? And suddenly, he had swooped down on her again. Umi finally found the strength to cry out as her ragged armor was ripped from her body. She tried to desperately crawl away, but her wounds and bruises were much too painful to allow movement. I must remain unwilling, Umi repeated in her mind on that day and for nearly two and a half years after that, I must not succumb to pain and misfortune. I must fight back.

---

Brought back to the real world by the sounds of her mother preparing breakfast downstairs, Umi freed herself from the memories. The only good one left was of the day when she had woken in her own bed, alive. She was intact. Not raped, not beaten, but in the same state she had been during the fateful field trip to Tokyo tower.

But this was no time for memories. Umi quickly dressed and walked down the stairs to the new, awaiting day.

To be continued