Chapter Text
Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten in hours. Or days? There weren't any windows or a way to tell time, so all she could do was assume. It felt like time passed much slower here than anywhere else. Like everything stopped in place.
She drank the water from the tub, hoping it'd quench her stomach in the meantime. At least they left that with her. Although, after having nearly drowned multiple times, she felt sick and disturbed just looking at the sloshing liquid.
As she slowly regained some strength, she was finally able to stand up on her own, using the wall as a leverage. The room she was in was quite small, with concrete floors and walls all around her. There was a wooden pole in the middle of the room, along with the chair she had been tied to before. The small light bulb above, hanging by a wire that was definitely not safe, was the only light source she had.
A pile of newspapers were in the corner of the room, laid out to create a neat pile. Was that what she thought it was for? Probably. And she was definitely not going to be coerced to use it.
Saika walked along all four walls, seeing if there would be anything to push or press that could somehow help her get out. There was nothing. Traveling to the pole and the chair, she also couldn't figure out how those would be of any use to her. She found herself standing in front of the door, and hesitantly reached for the handle.
Right as her hand felt the knob, she heard a beeping sound coming from the collar. She grabbed the collar, seeing a faint yellow light flashing in unison with the beeps. What was that for? Confused, she turned the doorknob and took a step forward, and the most agonizing shock ran throughout her body. She screamed and fell on the ground, writhing in pain as she saw the collar light flash red and heard the beeping turn into a monotone shrill.
Just as she felt the shock, it disappeared seconds after. The light from the collar quickly turned from red, to yellow, and then to nothing. The beeping sound subsided as well, leaving her in silence except for her groans of agony. Her muscles felt tense and her head was throbbing.
Okay. Let's not try that again. In fact, let's never do that again.
She slowly got up using her arms, sitting upright. Then she heard the beeping start up again. Nope, not on her watch. She got up on her feet and ran to where the pole was, hearing the sound fade out.
Alright, so the collar let out warnings when she was too close to the door. Made sense. She was pretty sure the same thing would happen if she tried to pry the damn thing off. Easy enough to understand, as Slim had stated.
She sighed as she leaned against the pole, trying to think. She couldn't do anything here. They'd left her with nothing to do, in order to enforce submission. The only thing she could do was refuse to eat, even though her stomach was becoming a whale. But still, that didn't really benefit her in any way.
Saika thought deeply to herself, weighing her options. She could try to break that light above her, leaving her in total darkness, so that once one of the brothers came in, she could attack them. But then the collar would be holding her back, and she knew it needed a key by the little hole at the back. There was a 50 percent chance one of them would have it on them, which at this point wouldn't be helpful if she took into account the fact they might not even have the key on their person. If the other came in to see what she'd done, it'd be over for her in more ways than one. Even though this was a chance she was willing to take, she wasn't even considering the high possibility of failure. They were totally a lot faster and stronger than her. Plus, she didn't want to hurt them, really. In conclusion, that option would only be necessary once she'd done everything she could.
She went over decision after decision, wondering what would happen, the consequences, the chances of failure. Everything was just too high of a risk. Slim and Nightshade were capable of anything; she couldn't predict them. Irritated, she sat down and hugged her knees, where she finally took notice of her appearance. Her white blouse was wrinkled with grey stains, and her dress pants were ripped and dirty with grime. Even her previously polished shoes now had scratches and grooves covering its surface. She rolled her sleeves up, shuddering at the memory of Slim asking, no, demanding , for her jacket. He seemed way too into that power play of his. She remembered his look of amusement as she handed him her coverage, like a snake watching its prey. And like his brother, he enjoyed being domineering.
And being an arse.
For now, she'd have to be patient. And that was something she was actually capable of.
The door swung open, scaring her awake. When had she even fallen asleep?
Nightshade strut through the door, shutting it behind him with a grin.
"SO TRASH, DID YOU HAVE FUN BEING ISOLATED IN A CLEARLY BORING ROOM?" God, could he be any louder?
Her only response was to turn around. She refused to accept being called such degrading names. Seriously, he was the most condescending person she'd ever met. Well. . . minus Fell.
Actually, nevermind. Nightshade was just a tad bit worse.
"I HEARD FROM THE MUTT THAT YOU WERE REBELLIOUS YESTERDAY, REFUSING TO EAT AND SUCH. CORRECT?"
Rebellious. So that was the word he used for her. Not that she was complaining, but her actions had been nothing but cooperative, taking away the fact that he'd also threatened her with the people she cared for.
And more importantly, she made a mental note that it'd been a day since she was kidnapped.
"I SEE YOU'RE STILL ACTING LIKE A SPOILED CHILD. MIGHT I SAY, THAT ATTITUDE OF YOURS WON'T DO YOU ANY GOOD!" The sound of his boots got closer.
What was she to do then? No way was she going to cry and beg for whatever he-
"IF YOU CRY AND BEG FOR FORGIVENESS, I MIGHT CONSIDER REVOKING YOUR PUNISHMENT."
Of course. Because who wouldn't enjoy a show like that.
She saw him approach from her peripheral. Even with heels on, his height didn't appear to exceed hers if she stood up.
"LOOK AT ME."
Saika kept her head down, staring at his boots. His attitude no doubt made her really just want to annoy the hell out of him. And you know, that pair looked like the ones Undyne used to ha-
He kicked her in the chest, pushing her onto her back in surprise. He was already to the side of her, where he held her down by the shoulder with his foot. She coughed, trying to catch her breath. . . again . These skeletons just wouldn't give her a break.
"I ORDERED YOU TO LOOK AT ME, HUMAN." His words dripped with malice as he smiled. "YOU KNOW HOW TO GIVE ORDERS, BUT NOT HOW TO LISTEN TO THEM?"
She narrowed her eyes. Oh, stars almighty, he was really pushing her buttons. "I only follow orders from those above me."
"OH, SHE SPEAKS! I WAS STARTING TO ASSUME YOU WENT MUTE LIKE A SCARED CAT!" The sarcasm was blatant in his voice. He pressed harder into her shoulder, causing a grimace in her expression. "AND TECHNICALLY, I AM ABOVE YOU."
Nightshade finally removed his boot from her shoulder, and she sighed with relief. But that relief was far too short and sweet, as he kicked her in the side with so much force she skid across the floor a couple feet.
The wind was knocked out of her, and she gasped, coughing harshly into the ground. Yep, that was the most painful thing yet. The shock collar was a very, very close second. Innately, she curled into herself and tried to apply some pressure to where he struck. Smack-dab on the side of her ribcage. She hoped he didn't break anything.
His boots clicked against the pavement. "AWW, DID THAT HURT, LITTLE LADY?"
She raised herself up slightly with her arm, facing him. She spoke with a simple groan as an answer. "Of. . . course."
The grin he wore widened. "I BET IT DIDN'T HURT AS MUCH AS WHEN THOSE REVOLTING BUTLERS OF YOURS FOUND THE PRESENT I LEFT THEM."
"W. . . What?"
"GAVE THEM A SCARE, A MESSAGE, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT. THEIR EXPRESSIONS WERE SO HILARIOUS, I ALMOST LAUGHED AND GAVE AWAY MY POSITION! ALMOST!"
She didn't even notice how close he was again, and she tried to scoot away. But before she could, he grabbed her by the neck, her arms flailing up in attempts to pry him off. The shock collar was pushed down against her collarbone, causing more discomfort and pain.
"YOUR POCKET WATCH IS SUCH A LOVELY SHADE OF COLOR. I'D SAY THE GOLD REALLY COMPLIMENTED YOUR EYES."
Saika thrashed against him as he slowly brought her up, choking her. Her poor butlers. They must've been so confused, or worried sick. And here she was, doing nothing but playing the waiting game. Again, she felt responsible for putting herself in this situation.
Her vision was getting blurry and dark. She could still see his vile smile as her hands desperately clutched at his hand around her throat. She. . . couldn't. . . breathe. . .
Then he dropped her, and she fell like a ragdoll. At this point, all she could manage were coughs and gasps. She couldn't stand this. Her body was getting worn out, and if she continued losing oxygen, it could really damage her brain.
All of a sudden, right then and there, even as she was coughing up her insides, an idea formulated in her head. An idea that, no doubt in her mind, would work.
Nightshade bent down. "SPEAK LOUDER, FILTH! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IF YOU'RE MUMBLING!"
Saika remembered. Maybe being patient wasn't all she had left to do.
She looked up at him, fluttering her eyelashes. "You really do live up to your name. . . Strong and. . . uh, maleficent as always." No matter what benefits it gave her, she really did hate kissing up to people.
But Nightshade appeared to enjoy the acknowledgment. His chest puffed out a bit more and he stood just a bit taller than he had been before. "OF COURSE, HUMAN! WHAT KIND OF MONSTER WOULD I BE IF NOT ONE THAT HAS SUCH A REMARKABLY TERRIFYING REPUTATION!"
A decent one. But she kept that thought to herself.
"I see. . . you do have quite the aura of someone powerful," He swelled with pride and his eyes sparkled at your words. "which is why I was so invested in the both of you. . . well. . . mainly you."
That seemed to get his attention even more. He appeared taken aback and albeit, startled. Even though it wasn't entirely wrong, it also wasn't entirely true either.
Saika looked away, trying to appear timid and embarrassed. "I've. . . wanted to meet you since I first saw you. Nightshade, you and your brother have been my. . . fascination. . . e-even obsession over the last few weeks! I-I know I must sound crazy and absolutely full of lies. . . but what other way, what other reason could I have made in order to get you to. . . to see me?"
Oh, she was absolutely full of lies. Obsession? More like investigation. Based on his expression and blushing cheekbones, she was getting to him with her sweet flattery.
"Scared? Definitely! I couldn't help but be scared and. . . and want to rebel! Want to say things I didn't mean, want to see your reaction, want to see what you are. . . capable of." She wanted to both cringe and congratulate herself for thinking of this stuff on the whim.
Nightshade didn't do anything. Hell, he was probably shocked at her proclamation! Really, who wouldn't be surprised after hearing what sounded like an indirect confession?
"UH. . . UM. . . W-WOW, OKAY. . ." His face was now a deep crimson as he put his hand to his mouth, almost like he was trying to hide his growing smile.
He stepped back. "I. . . AHEM. . . I'M VERY HAPPY. . . TO. . . TO KNOW THAT, HUMAN! I'M NOT SURPRISED IN THE SLIGHTEST THAT YOU. . . YOU HAVE THOSE TYPES OF FEELINGS TOWARDS ME. . ." If it wasn't for the situation she was in, she'd say he looked adorable in his attempts to mask his embarrassment. Obviously from the way he was acting, he'd never had anyone ever say something like that to him. Which. . . actually made her feel bad for the guy. At least he took it like a compliment as she wanted.
He cleared his throat. "ALRIGHT, SINCE I NOW KNOW OF YOUR. . . UM. . . CIRCUMSTANCES, I WILL TREAT YOU LESS HARSHLY! YOU WILL STILL RECEIVE THE WORSE TORTURE IN THE MULTIVERSE EVERY DAY UNTIL YOUR RANSOM IS COVERED. . . BUT. . . NOT. . . I-IT WON'T BE AS BAD." He spoke rather quickly at the end and avoided eye contact with her, even though he had no problem doing that before.
. . .
. . .
"I'LL ORDER THE MUTT TO COME FEED YOU AND THAT WILL BE ALL FOR TODAY BYE!" He quickly walked away and shut the door behind him, leaving her in silence and amazement.
That. . .
That's all she had to do to get him to leave her alone? Well, Slim was coming sooner or later, but still? Not to mention, that was the weirdest conversation she'd ever had.
It was. . . easier than she thought. Slim might be harder to sway, but she was sure if she had Nightshade fall for it, it'd be enough to keep them from harming her even further.
She sighed and winced when she rubbed her neck, feeling the indents of his fingers still present on her skin. The guy didn't even have the nerve to say sorry to her after all the things he did. Not that she needed him to, but it would've been nice!
Besides that, this was good. As long as she played along with her facade, she might get out of here without much physical harm. If she learned anything from Fell and the others, whom she dearly missed, it was to be as sultry as possible.
And that, she was going to do.
Nightshade got out as fast as he could. He could feel his cheeks burning and his nonexistent stomach getting butterflies.
Dear Toriel, why was she so CUTE?!?
Obviously he had people who looked up to him because of his villainous attitude (and because he was the greatest monster alive to date), but never before had he had someone be so UPFRONT about it! It wasn't at all astounding to know people were engrossed in him, in fact, it was expected! But when it came from the human, it just. . . did something. And the way she fluttered her eyes and. . . and looked at him. . .
All of a sudden, he was VERY wary of her. Well, he was already wary of her during that wretched party. Yet this was so. . . different? Like, not only did he want to feel his hands around her neck again, he wanted to do other things to her that. . . that WEREN'T torturous?? But wasn't that. . . wouldn't that be WEIRD since she was his prisoner? No! She- the human was still his prisoner, no matter what he did!
He stopped as his SOUL pounded hard against his chest. It'd been doing that since he first SAW her, and he didn't know why. In the beginning, his uncertainty and confusion from this fueled his anger. SHE was causing him to feel that way, and it made him. . . despise her. Which was the main reason why he directed all that anger towards her, why he wanted to HURT her, despite the human being his prisoner. And yet she still. . . still. . .
His hands were shaking as he thought about it.
Slim poked his head out of a room as he removed his headset to rest on his shoulders.
"M'lord, I just finished listening in on-"
"GIVE THE HUMAN HER RATION, AND MAKE SURE SHE EATS IT THIS TIME."
"M'lord-"
"NOW!"
Slim looked at him, and Nightshade hoped he wasn't acting weird. Or simply hoped he didn't notice anything. The human having some significant effect on his SOUL? No way would he show any signs of it!
The Mutt obediently nodded his head. "Yes, m'lord."
Nightshade walked past him, and didn't catch the quick glance Slim gave him.