"Oh would you look at that." (Y/N)'s mother whispered as she stood up from the swinging chair on their porch.
10-year-old (Y/N) who was laying against her mother, reading a book had to sit up once the woman moved. She glanced to where her mother was looking and spotted the gates to her community opening up as familiar weird-looking trucks entered the grounds.
"They must be here to rest again." (M/N) spoke and leaned against the porch railings to watch the trucks. "What do you think they'll have for us this time, honey?"
The girl shrugged. Last year they gave them weapons and things to protect themselves with as thanks for allowing the Ground dwellers a place to rest. She was never allowed to get too close to the Zone though but there was always that woman who liked to come by and chat with her mother. It's become almost a yearly thing.
As (Y/N) went back to reading her book, she could hear her mother greet the woman as expected and soon they got to catching up. The woman talked about the Zone's recent travels while her mother gave them updates on how the community was doing. It was there usual conversation they started with.
The girl's shyness took over when the woman said hello to her and she gave a meek wave. Hiding her face behind her book.
Footsteps entered the porch and stopped just in front of her. She looked up and saw a book being held out for her to take.
"Your mother said you're quite the bookworm. So I bought you a book." The woman smiled. "Straight from the Zones."
(Y/N) gazed amazingly at the book. It was in pristine condition. No tears, no water damage, no dirt or scuffs. It was even still wrapped in plastic and had a label on it to a bookstore she's never heard of before. It was completely new. She's never seen anything like it before.
The book was carefully taken by the girl as she flipped through each page expecting at least some damage. But nothing.
"Th-Thank you..." The girl shyly mumbled which made the woman smile. She looked up to meet her eyes and saw just how yellow and shiny they were.
"You're welcome, sweetie."
*Tap tap tap tap tap tap-*
(Y/N)'s eyes shot open and she hastily pushed herself up and shoved her body deep into a corner. She was immediately in fight-or-flight mode. Her eyes were widely darting around as her consciousness slowly came back. The last thing she remembered was the Zone. They took her.
Where was she?! She felt metal all around her and was inside some techy room or whatever this place was. The room felt cold and clustered, the interior was so alien to her and yelped when something hit the glass wall in front of her again.
She looked straight ahead and met the person sitting in front of her on the other side of the glass.
"Finally you're up. Was starting to think you were dead."
(Y/N) didn't say anything as her eyes examined the person.
It was a girl around her age, probably the same Capturer who found her judging by her form. Her armor on the upper half of her body was removed so she was only wearing a white tank top and her uniform cargo pants that covered heavy boots. When (Y/N) looked at the girl's face, she saw she was wearing sunglasses despite being indoors.
"So you're not one of those Elitist weirdos?" The human girl asked as she leaned back against a wall. "Cause' if you are, we have no choice but to put you down. So answer honestly, ok?"
At the thought of being killed, (Y/N) furiously shook her head. "I'm not!"
The Capturer pursed her lips and tilted her head. "You could be saying that so you won't get killed."
(Y/N)'s eyes widened which the Capturer took note of. "Or not. Can't know for sure though, hm?"
"I swear, I'm not!" (Y/N) pleaded. "Just let me go, please!"
"Oh, we will. As long as you cooperate unlike that guy." The Capturer nodded to the cell next to (Y/N) and she turned to see that same straggler demon she controlled unconscious on the floor with a collar around its neck. (Y/N) gasped and finally realized where she was.
In a cell. She was trapped.
Her hand moved to her shoulder and felt bandages where the knife once was. There were even bandages on her head and she didn't feel so concussed anymore.
They patched her up. That doesn't mean they wouldn't still kill her.
"So tell me." The Capturer started, scooting closer to the glass while the demon watched her carefully. "Why were you around those Elitists? Were they after you? Is that why you were so beat up and bloody when we found you?"
Yama told her to not say anything to anyone and she was sure he meant humans too.
The Capturer noticed the demon's silence. "Not talking?"
If she lied, who knows what they'll do to her. But if she told the truth, again, who knows what they'll do to her. Yama said the Zones knew about Zankoku and knew that he was dead. If they knew about her situation-
The Capturer snapped her fingers to get the demon focused back on her. "Look I'm trying to help you out. Either speak and be honest or end up like the demon next to you. It's your choice."
Either way it was looking like she was dead no matter what. They'll see that she has Zankoku's abilities and kill her on the spot! He was a monster, a tyrant. They wouldn't allow someone connected to him to roam free.
(Y/N)'s fear was clearly showing. She was paralyzed by it. The Capturer noticed her tears and heavy breathing at the threat of getting killed, at this rate she wasn't going to say anything. She doesn't trust them.
The Capturer sighed and took a quick glance back before changing her sitting position to sit on her legs.
(Y/N) watched her reach up to grab the sunglasses and before she knew it, her vision grew fuzzy as her eyes glazed over and her body grew still.
Everything faded to black and felt weightless until light began to shine.
A great blue sky, clouds, and the sun appeared above while grass, dirt, and mud covered the ground below. (Y/N)'s vision cleared and soon she was standing somewhere familiar. Somewhere she hasn't been in so long.
Her home.
She whipped around when she heard a cow moo and froze when it was her favorite dairy cow. Eating in the feeding trough and waving its tail contently.
Tears pricked her eyes as chickens ran around her feet and towards the coops. She can see her fellow farmers working, the familiar sound of the conversations they had that she missed so much.
She stumbled as a relieved smile broke across her face. Her body moved to go greet her fellow farmers, wanting to hug them tightly and cry her pain away, thinking everything that had happened was just a dream. She was awake now, her community wasn't burned to the ground, she wasn't a demon and the Elitists weren't after her.
She was home. She was finally home.
But then a figure walked past her that made the girl freeze. A figure she knew all too well.
(H/c) hair, (s/c) skin, and old overalls covered in dried mud and dust. They carried a basket and went over to start on the chickens. Their brain went on autopilot as they collected the eggs and kicked away a rooster that tried to attack their leg.
It was her.
"What- what..." (Y/N) huffed out. That was her. Human her.
Her eyes weren't a milky (e/c), she didn't have claws but instead normal nails, there were no fangs in her mouth, no black blood on her arms.
"The fuck..?"
(Y/N) jumped as that same Capturer girl walked up to the human version of her with narrowed eyes. She looked from human (Y/N) to demon (Y/N), all while her eyes were glowing a bright yellow.
"This is- This is you?" The Capturer questioned before she looked around the scenery. This was a human community. But the girl was a demon. "You're from here?"
"What's happening?!" (Y/N) began to sob. "What are you?! What are you doing to me?!"
She was beyond confused and horrified. She thought every horrible thing that transpired was just a dream. She thought she was finally home. But she's not. She didn't know what was real anymore. And who was this girl? Why were her eyes glowing? How did she bring her back here? Back to a calm before the storm.
As expected, gunshots and screams soon came. (Y/N) saw her past self look up at the commotion and her fellow farmers did too.
It was happening again. She was being put through it all over again.
The scenery began to change and instead of the bright blue summer sky, it was a starry and smoked-filled one. Screams and agony filled the air as (Y/N) found herself inside some sort of shed and her past self being dragged across the ground until she was laying on her back as her arms and legs were pinned down by an Elitist.
Xed stood over her with a small bottle filled with black sludge that he held in his hand. He smiled excitedly as he bent down to grab (Y/N)'s mouth and forced her jaw open to shove the bottle between her lips. Present (Y/N) fell back against the wall as she saw her past self be forced to drink the blood and soon her body began convulsing as she screamed from her insides feeling like they were burning inside out. The Capturer stood next to her as she too watched in horror as the blood took effect on the girl followed by the suffering of other humans around her. The Elitists were all shoving these bottles of blood into their mouths and forcing them to drink it. Some died from severe agony while others were forced to endure the pain.
She looked to the present (Y/N) and watched her cover her ears and close her eyes as she fell to her knees and tried to block everything out.
Tears spilled from her eyes as she heard those screams. The suffering. The smell of smoke and blood. Everything.
She didn't want to be here again. She wanted it to stop. She wanted everything to stop.
When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in the shed anymore. Concrete was below her and when she looked up, she was now in a large room. Old cafeteria tables bunched up against the walls as dozens of demons stood atop them and all around her. Further up, she can see through the ceilings to multiple floors above that were all caved in and made the room even taller than it was.
When she turned back, she could see her past self being held in Xed's arms while Zankora stood over her and traced her claws against the girl's skin.
She's never seen Zankora so clearly before. But now that she does...
She wished she could forget.
Zankora was a tall demon. 8 ft tall at least. Her skin was paper white as a tattered black dress covered her form that was ripped and torn to shreds at the skirt. Her upper arms and thighs were normal but the further they went, a rocky black material covered them that extended the demon's height and gave her long monstrous limbs. The material made her hands look like massive black claws that could cut through anything and her legs were shaped in a way of an animal as her feet were like huge black talons, similar to her hands.
Zankora's long black hair fell down to her waist and covered the majority of her face from how she leaned over (Y/N)'s past self. But through the hair, she could see that mask.
The skull mask with two long black horns and no mouth. It had straps attached to it to keep it secured on her head and a thin black cloth covering the eye sockets to keep her real eyes hidden.
Both present (Y/N) and the Capturer watched the demon leader examine the girl in Xed's arms and whisper with a tone filled with so much astonishment, carefulness, and love that it made present (Y/N) sick to her stomach.
"My love... My King..."
'King?' Thought the Capturer as she glanced at the present version of the girl.
"You come back to me..."
Everything began to feel light again. The scenery was disappearing and being filled with darkness until (Y/N) started to feel her physical body and the view of the cell she was in began to form.
(Y/N) stumbled forward once she was able to regain control of her body and was breathing heavily as she could feel a panic attack coming on.
She had to witness everything all over again...
Why couldn't it be a dream? Why did any of this have to be real?
Her hands gripped her head as she finally began to sob. She finally let out all of the fear, all of the pain and suffering, the exhaustion and changes that came from those days under the Elitists' control. They took everything from her. Her home, her family, her humanity. In just a matter of weeks, she went from living her normal life to being thrown into this world without warning. Being forced to become a demon, forced to run for her life every second of the day, forced to do the bidding of a crazed vengeance-fueled demon cult.
Why couldn't she just slip away? Why is she being forced to continue like this?
She completely forgot about the Capturer sitting in front of her on the other side of the glass. In total disbelief at everything she just saw.
The Capturer moved to her feet and quickly ushered out of the room.
Leaving (Y/N) alone in the cell to cry. Wishing she would just die.