[f]
The world surrounding her was muffled, a strange pain throbbing inside of her skull. It forced its way out as the dull silence seemed to reverberate, choking her dazzled sanity. Chi tried to lift her heavy eyelids, mustering all of her strength, but she could only open them a crack, her head muddled and foggy.
Something was wrapped tightly around her wrists—something cold and hard like steel, tugging at her numb yet sore shoulders to keep her feet suspended a few inches off of the ground. It hung her from the ceiling of a pale white room; many ancient machines filled the open space with a threatening ambiance.
Chi tried to speak, moving her cracked lips to form words, but she found that she couldn't utter even the smallest whisper, for her throat was absolutely parched. Fear flooded the back of her mind and the fog dissipated, allowing her to draw more strength. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she lifted her head to glance around, eyeing more of the mysterious room's details.
The machines did indeed look quite terrifying, many unknown tools and metal structures covered with the remains of dried blood. Looking down at herself, she saw her uniform was now torn and completely ripped apart, slashes running through the flimsy cloth as the same dark maroon color that stained the machines also tainted the ragged edges of the slashed fabric.
"He... llo?" Chi mustered, but her voice was barely a whisper. It tore at her throat and she felt that if she spoke any more, or even tried to, she would vomit blood.
Lifting her head upon her sore neck, she looked up and was surprised to find that her wrists were in fact bound by thick, metal handcuffs that were hung from the ceiling floor. Panic spread to her chest and she jerked wider awake, newfound energy and adrenaline coursing through her veins. Jerking her elbows side to side, she attempted to loosen the metal cuffs, but they only dug deeper into her skin, drawing a sharp gasp from her lips.
"Help... me," she tried to scream, but it came out more like a whimper—a crackly one that shattered the still air. It tore at her throat relentlessly. Her mind was much clearer now. Chi did not recognize the room she was in, and still yet, she had a gut feeling that it was something she recognized from her lost memory.
With newfound strength, Chi hoisted herself up, ignoring the screaming pain from where the sharp edge of the cuffs cut deep into her skin. With sharp yanking, the chains groaned in protest, creating a clinking sound that broke the silence of the room.
Voices could be heard coming down the hallway outside the open doorway of Chi's room; she had to act fast, or all would be lost. Without thinking about it, she curled her legs and used the force of her momentum to swing them back down and pull at the metal bearings.
Glancing up at the ceiling, a hopeful smirk crawled its way onto Chi's lips as she spotted cracks appearing like spiderwebs on the ceiling from where the chain was suspended. The voices were getting louder now, along with heavy footsteps. They seemed leisurely, as if they didn't sense Chi's attempt to escape, and she used that to her advantage.
Finally, the chain bearings gave away and she fell, landing gracefully on her two feet. Her breathing was hard and her shoulders felt stiff, her muscles already aching from being suspended for who knew how long. She crouched, resting her tired body for a few brief moments. The long, thick chain, still connected to the handcuffs around her bleeding wrists, clattered to the floor in a series of clinks, and the voices from the hallway stopped. The footsteps, in turn, quickened.
People appeared in the wide-open doorway—about seven people, each wearing matching coats; coats, it looked like, of those doctors or scientists would wear. There were six men standing defensively in front of a woman. Chi couldn't see the woman's face, but something hazy formed in her obscured memory—something she couldn't quite make out, but she knew that woman. Her old self knew that woman; she could feel it in her bones.
The first two men charged towards Chi, and her body reacted in ways like reflexes. One swung a fist directly at her face, but she ducked and dodged it, ramming her metal cuffs into his stomach as she lurched forward. He grunted in pain and Chi shoved him forth, straight into the next man. They rammed into each other in a series of limbs and yells, crashing into one of the machines.
Another man leapt up to kick Chi in the chest, but she used the base of her metal cuffs to block his shoe and twisted her arms, rolling the man's ankle and knocking him out of the air. When his back collided with the ground, Chi kicked him aside, her boot cleanly whacking on the side of his head, sending him tumbling into another one of the machines. He, too, did not stand again.
Chi's head was buzzing as the next three men lunged for her; her tawny eyes contrasted against the darkness of her feline pupils. She didn't even hesitate when three men barreled toward her; each of them were two times her size, but she did not run. Spinning with lightning speed, she coiled around the chain connected to her cuffs and whipped it towards the men, lashing at their bodies with the steel links. They yelped, leaping backwards, this way and that to dodge the flying chain, but Chi was relentless. She spun and whipped the couplings at the men until it created gashes in their clothing, drawing blood and bruises, knocking them off of their feet. One by one, they were demolished, hitting the ground with loud thumps.
And, last, but not least, was the woman.
Now, Chi could get a better look at her.
She looked to be not much older than Chi, but something at the back of Chi's mind told her she was not as she seemed. Her eyes gleamed a malicious lilac, a deep plum, and a cunning magenta; all the colors decorated each other in a kaleidoscopic pattern. It was a strange color for a human to bear. The woman's hair matched her eyes, with bangs hanging above her eyes with a straight cut, and hair cascading down to her waist. In all truth, she was beautiful.
She was the most beautiful woman Chi had ever seen, and yet...
...She was the most dangerous.
Chi knew this, and she didn't even have to listen to the warning from her lost memory to know that to fight this woman would be suicide. No matter how much she tried, she could not remember who that woman was, but she needed to get away as quickly as possible.
Glancing anxiously around the room, she could see the only exits were through either the bolted metal grates on opposite sides of the vast, ivory chamber, or through the door—the very one the woman stood in front of.
"Dear, dear Chisaki," the woman drawled, her cherry-red lips curling into a sadistic smile. Her velvety voice was strangely enchanting. "You've awakened. Now, why don't you come over here? Erase everything you've seen. You aren't a merciless killer. You're a kind, beautiful young lady who can properly devote herself to her ultimate mission."
Her voice was melodic and silky, like a beautiful song. It compelled Chi to do exactly as she said; to forget what she'd gone through, to resign and give herself over to this kind, wonderful organization that only seeked to help humanity—to forget everything that had happened ever since she woke up in that bed next to Levi's side.
Levi...
As soon as his name echoed in her head, she remembered that this woman was not to be trusted. Feigning resignation, Chi made her grimace fade and slowly shuffled forward, dragging her heels as the woman to speak to Chi with her alluring words and songs.
But every time it seemed as if Chi would go under, as if she would lose herself and give over her soul to this generous, charming, incredible woman, Levi's face came to mind, and she would snap back to reality. The reality that was her only chance to survive.
Once she was standing directly in front of the woman, the strange woman with purple eyes, she spread her arms wide and stepped forward as if to engulf Chi in an embrace. Before she could touch her, Chi bolted forward and tackled the woman to the ground, making sure to drive her shackles into the older female's gut. A screech of rage tore from her blood-red lips and Chi took off, dashing away from the woman before she could recover from the preemptive attack.
Desperation crept into the remainder of Chi's sanity, her chest constricting, her feet tripping over the chains. She turned left around a corner and frantically rushed to escape and get as far away as she could from the purple-eyed woman. A door at the end of the hallway was safe; it was not locked, ajar, and it was unguarded—salvation! Hope flared in Chi's chest as she came closer to it with every step. Her bound hands reached for the handle, her shoulders ready to plow straight through the white metal door—but something caught the last link of her chain.
Chi was yanked backward, her body slamming into the ground. Her forehead smacked against the cement floor. Stars swam in her vision as she was suddenly pulled away by the length of her chain. She tried to fight the force, tried to break through the swirling in her head, but it was like fighting against gravity. She was powerless.
The world flipped upside down and right side up as she was yanked up by the collar of her jacket. Her back was slammed against the wall, her head snapping back to crack against the surface, reopening an old wound—one she couldn't remember where she'd gotten it—and blood poured through the injury, coating her hair in sticky red.
A hand was clenched tightly around her throat, the only thing pressing her up against the wall with inhumane force; it elevated her, squirming above small puddles of blood that formed. Wrenching her eyes open, Chi felt as if she were going to vomit. A pair of violet eyes were swarming around.
The older woman wore something that looked like a cross between a sneer and a smug smirk, her eyes flashing with lethal irritation, that lavender color coated with malice. It took a while until Chi realized that the woman's vermilion lips were in fact moving, murmuring words she could barely hear over the loud pounding and rushing of blood in her ears.
"Tried to escape, didn't you?" she cooed. "Our little mouse, our caged bird—know that in the future, you will never get this chance again—not even a sliver. You are forever ours, forever a tool that belongs to humanity. Do you hear me? Do I reach you? You will never escape. Never. And don't even count on seeing your beloved Rivaille again." Her fingers clawed at Chi's throat, preventing her from breathing; her vision began to blur, starting to fade and become dark around the edges.
At the mention of Levi's name, a small light shined in the darkness of her memory.
Levi...
Levi...!
Levi!
And in a single moment, a thousand memories flashed through her mind, flickering for a second, but it all disappeared before Chi could inscribe them into her memory.
Daring to fight back, Chi raised her shackled hands and tried to wrestle away the woman's ice cold fingers—the woman with a tag reading Violet pinned to the collar of her pristine white coat. Chi fought as hard as she could; to scratch at the woman's hands, to ram the cuffs into her hands, to wiggle through her hands, but the woman was made of steel.
That was not normal—for a supposed human to have such inhumane strength.
Who really was this Violet woman?
Violet's lips were graced with another sickly sweet smile as Chi began to lose energy, losing air as quickly as sand through her fingers. Her eyelids were getting heavier, and the darkness that surrounded her view of Violet seemed to become much, much more welcoming.
"Le... vi," Chi choked through her cracked lips, her arms falling limp to her sides. The darkness was approaching rapidly, gripping her shoulders and arms and legs and neck with kind hands. Violet's hand was getting tighter and tighter, crushing her windpipe, cracking her neck.
Death was imminent.
That is, until Violet's grip slackened. Chi gathered up enough strength to keep her eyes open for a little longer as Violet's head swerved to stare at the door Chi had been trying so hard to reach. A look of both horror and shock crossed Violet's beautiful features, rage igniting in those magical eyes.
The hand that held its vice grip against Chi's throat was ripped away as a blur slammed into Violet's body, throwing her down the hallway with a large knife imbedded in her side. Chi collapsed on the floor, the puddles of blood soaking into the fabric of her pants and her shirt, staining her jacket—the one with the Wings of Freedom.
The Wings of Freedom...
So that is what those strange wings stood for. She finally remembered. Her eyes looked up to see another person, and she hoped to find that they were wearing the Wings; she hoped to find someone she knew, a face she recognized—and she knew that she hoped that person was Levi, no matter how much she tried to deny it.
With her body sprawled against the wall like an abandoned doll's, her darkening eyes met with another pair—another set of eyes that burned a familiar shade of radiant gold, a burning saffron, with pupils shaped just like a feline's.
A pair of eyes the same color as Chi's, topped with strands colored like chocolate. Sweet, sweet chocolate... like hers.
But that was all she could see, all she could etch into her head, as the darkness finally enveloped her whole, devouring her body in a hole of inky blackness.