(Hey everyone! Big Trigger warnings this chapter! Thoughts of self harm/suicide and more physical abuse)
Stampy felt like he had been struggling with this collar for hours now. He had kind of given up on getting it off any time soon but continued to fiddle with it every now and then.
He was hardly paying attention to it when he suddenly heard a click and felt it release its grip. He quickly looked down and saw it had fallen off of him and he had picked the lock with his claws.
He gave a weak but relieved laugh and quickly got to his feet and looked around. "Okay... gotta find Jase." He quickly took off down the hall he last saw him being dragged down.
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Jason's body was weak. He could barely move, every bone in his body ached with even the subtlest of movements. Scars and bruises littered his body and blood coated the floor.
He'd lost track of how many times he had died at this point. He stopped counting after what... twelve? He'd suffered any kind of death at this point, some in ways he didn't even want to name.
Jason couldn't even recall how long he'd been trapped in that room for. It felt like years, but he had probably only been there a day.
Everything had changed about him, his hair a mess, his body scarred, his voice hoarse from screaming. All that remained the same was the hatred in her eyes.
Phoebe was off to the side, trying to find another method to try, ignoring him as she muttered nonsense to herself. She seemed to be debating which of two blades she wanted to use this time.
Jason slowly sat up, leaning his back against the wall. He tried his best to be quiet, but one of his boots squeaked across the ground.
She grabbed a small dagger and tossed it in his direction, it barely missed him. "What are you doing?" She asked coldly.
"J-just s-sitting up!" Jason flinched.
She glanced at him. "..." Suddenly another knife was tossed at him, barely missing but on the other side and she was in front of him with a knife at his throat. "You weren't thinking about escaping again, were you?" She hissed.
"N-no!" He choked.
"...Good." She pulled away from him after a painful minute or two. She glanced back at her options and narrowed her eyes. "What to do... what to do..." She muttered.
Jason looked at the ground, his heart already racing.
She continued to search through her options, slowly getting annoyed at her lack of a decision.
Jason took a deep breath before looking back at her. "How much longer are you going to keep doing this to me...?" His voice was frail and weak.
She huffed. "As long as I want." She replied coldly.
"Why? Haven't you done enough?"
"..." she glanced at him, her eyes hateful. "If you're asking that, then clearly not."
"P-Phoebe please stop.. I just want her ba-"
She was suddenly in front of him again a knife held just inches from the side of his face. "DON'T YOU DARE MENTION HER AGAIN!" She yelled. "SHE IS GONE AND SHE IS NEVER COMING BACK! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THAT?!"
Jason said nothing and only stared at her, the fear in his eyes evident.
"WHY DO YOU KEEP REMINDING ME OF SOMEONE I'M NOT! WHY DO YOU KEEP MAKING ME FEEL GUILTY! MAKE ME FEEL PITY FOR YOU?!"
"I KNOW YOUR BETTER THAN THIS!" Jason yelled back, voice cracking.
"NO! YOU DON'T! I'M NOT LIKE HER! I'M NOT HER!"
"ARE YOU SURE?!"
"I-!" She stopped the hate, anger, and frustration written on her face and in her eyes vanished and became one of confusion and uncertainty for a brief moment before shaking her head. "STOP IT! STOP PLAYING WITH MY HEAD!"
Jason looked taken aback by her confusion, not knowing for sure what he had just done.
"STOP LYING TO ME!" She yelled in anger. "STOP IT!" She stabbed the knife into the wall beside his head, tears starting to run down her face. "S-STOP... S-stop acting like you cared...."
"I DID CARE! I STILL DO CARE!" Jason hadn't even flinched at the knife this time. It felt like something inside him was changing, but he didn't know what.
"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" She yelled back, squeezing her eyes shut, causing tears to fall. "YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO GET INTO MY HEAD!"
"NO I'M NOT! I'M BEING HONEST WITH YOU!" Jason's hand moved up and grabbed onto the sleeve of Phoebe's dress.
Her eyes snapped open and she stared at him. Tears flowing down her face before she pulled away. "N-No... You... You can't be... No one cared... No one ever cares..." She started to mutter, pulling away from him, her eyes glazing over.
Jason looked at her confused before trying to get closer to her. "Surely there has to be someone who cares..."
"No... No one cared... They all just used me... lied to me..." She looked up at him. "Like you." she spat with venom laced in her tone. "Some even tried to kill me... heh... some even succeeded... " She gave a dry chuckle. "M-Maybe... maybe I'm better off that way... no one can hurt me if there isn't someone to hurt..." She glanced at her little pile of sharp blades.
"W-Wait!" Jason tried to get closer once more but was stopped by his chains, which seemed to have gotten shorter. He tugged on them again and again, the metal digging into his wrists.
She ignored him and grabbed one of the blades and stared at her reflection in it, her eyes blurry from tears and had a distant empty look to them.
Jason continued to tug on his chains. "Wh-what are you...?"
She closed her eyes and held the blade aiming at her chest. "Goodbye... Captain..." her voice was soft and sorrowful as she pulled the blade back then moved to thrust it into her chest.
"STELLA NO!" His eyes widened at her words and he tugged harder, cracks decorating the wall before it gave away and the chains ripped out. Without thinking Jason darted over to the girl and pushed her arm away.
She gasped in surprise, the blade swinging to the side, slashing Jason's upper arm, barely missing his own neck and spiraled to the floor.
She stared at him in shock, unable to move from surprise.
Jason fell to the ground and cried out in pain, his arm having been cut to the bone. He curled up and clutched his arm, eyes tightly shut.
She stared at him. "... W-why?"
"B-because... Y-you're still in there... S-Stella..."
Tears spilt down her face as she looked at his arm. "I... Wh-what have I done..." She slumped forward and started to shake.
"D-don't worry about it... I can... I can just respawn... r-right...?"
"I... That doesn't matter! I've hurt you so much! I... Why didn't you let me do this?! I deserve it for doing this to you!"
"I-I won't let my Stella die..." Jason smiled weakly.
She hesitated before moving towards him and placed a hand on his cheek. "... You... You really weren't lying... were you?" She whispered softly. "What did I do to deserve you as my Captain?" She asked softly, tears falling down her face.
"C-captain...? Stella is that really you...?" Jason's eyes widened a bit, not realizing that his words had really changed her.
She gave a faint, sad smile. "... Not quite... but I'm not... not Stella?" She answered. "I... I'm not really sure anymore..." She replied softly.
Jason seemed a bit disappointed at this yet his smile didn't fade. His hand moved on top of hers and he gently rubbed it with his thumb. "Well... you're Stella to me... she d-didn't hurt me... but I still see... h-her..." There was a hint of pain in his voice.
"I-I'm so sorry... I... this is all my fault... you're bleeding out and I can't do anything about it..." she cried. "I'm so so sorry..."
He let out a quiet grunt. "It's o-okay... just promise me... p-promise me you won't ever do that... to me again..." His words seemed jumbled, as if he kept forgetting who he was talking to. His eyes saw one person, yet his heart saw another.
"I... I..." She couldn't form words. She knew she couldn't make that promise and it hurt her so much. "I'm sorry..." She cried again.
Jason opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. His chest quickly rose and the light seemed to be slowly draining from his eyes.
"No! Please, just... Hang on!" She quickly stood up and grabbed a blanket from her bed and started wrapping his arm. "Just stay awake..."
"I... I'm not sure if I can..." His voice was quiet.
"Just... uh, talk to me, anything!" She told him, trying to tie the blanket around his arm.
"I..." He coughed. "Is there anything you can do?"
"I..." she hesitated. "...I'm sorry in advance..." She told him before looking up and calling out. "PENELOPE!"
Within moments the doors swung open and Penelope came in. "Phoebe, darling, what is it? What's- Oh." She stared down at Phoebe and Jason who were both still on the floor, both crying and covered in Jason's blood.
Phoebe looked up at her. "Please! You have to do something! Can you heal him? Please?" She begged.
Penelope just kind of stared at them both for a moment before noticing something and grabbed Phoebe's chin. "Phoebe, darling, what is this from?" She asked, pointing out a small thin scratch on her neck that even Jason hadn't noticed.
"I-It's nothing... Please, we don't have much time-!"
"It's clearly something! Did he do this to you?!" Penelope glared down at Jason.
"W-What? No! I did it! He had nothing to do with it, it was a mistake, I was being careless and-"
"Don't defend him!"
"But I swear, he didn't do anything-"
"And you're asking me to heal him? Why not let him bleed out, hmm? You wanted him to suffer didn't you?"
"I-"
"If you are really so upset about him suffering through this, why don't you just end him now?"
"No! I won't hurt him! Not anymore! I-I made a mistake and I don't want to hurt him anymore!"
Penelope turned to her, surprised then almost... disappointed. "Very well then." She raised her hand and chains snapped on Phoebe's wrists and pulled her back and onto the ground.
She cried in surprise. "W-What?! No! No! Don't hurt him!"
Penelope stalked over to Jason and looked down at his form and scoffed. "You humans are all so pathetic. You made her do this. You've filled her head with lies and fantasies once again and all you'll do is break her heart again! Just like all the others!" She glared down at him before picking him up by his uninjured arm and held him in the air. "I'll see to it you won't hurt her with your silver tongue ever again."
Jason cried out in pain and looked at Penelope with wide eyes. "P-please don't hurt h-her! I-I'll do whatever you say!"
"It's not her you should be worried about..." She hissed, putting her hand around his throat before starting to chant something in another language that he didn't understand.
Jason choked, his breathing becoming irregular and strained. He could feel his throat tightening.
She seemed satisfied with her work and dropped him back on the floor.
"No! What did you do to him?!" Phoebe cried, struggling.
Penelope moved over to her and knelt down slightly but still stood above her. "He's not your concern right now, dear. Honestly, it's a shame it has had to come to this. I was really hoping you would be able to have at least one decent relationship in your life that didn't crumble and fall apart... But the only thing that hasn't changed during all of them is... well, you."
Phoebe felt tears spill down her face.
"It has to have some reason for always going south. It pains me to say this but, I guess you're just not good enough for anyone. Even when you change to fit their standards."
Phoebe looked away only for Penelope to make her look up at her again. "No one has ever or will ever love you." She told her. "Except for me and your father, of course."
Phoebe choked down a sob. "He did!" She cried.
Penelope looked surprised before glancing at Jason and humming softly. "Let's test how far and true that is, shall we?" She pulled away from Phoebe despite her cries telling her to leave him alone. "Let's see how much he's willing to go through for you..." Penelope stood over Jason, looking down at him as he laid on his back, blood trailing slightly from the corner of his mouth as he stared in fear of her before he heard and felt something in his chest snap and his world went black.
(Left this as a super long chapter for my lack of updating on the 18th <3 -Molly)