Chereads / Retribution / Chapter 12 - The Cloud Meets The Cat

Chapter 12 - The Cloud Meets The Cat

"Better keep that mouth of yours shut. Wouldn't wanna prove your any less of a man, now would you?" Mugen dropped his hand against the table, treading slowly towards the jailor.

"That's enough." Mugen turned to the female, a bead of sweat trailing down his face. 'When did she get up?' He bared a rather serious face, contemplating as to whether or not she'd be a target. Lizzy had squat down beside the curled up man. "You caused this on yourself you know... Can't say I don't feel sorry for you though." She sighed, "Just shut up!" With a sigh, Lizzy took hold of a first aid kit laying atop the table.

After plopping it down beside Rox, she took grasp of his hand. "Here, let me treat it." Mugen watched the whole thing. Funny how you'd feel like a villain when your not on your turf.

About 20 minutes had passed. Rox was now asleep, his head laying atop his desk with his newspaper atop his head. His right hand was wrapped in bandages. By the looks of it, three of his knuckles were fractured. Lizzy on the other hand was still hard at work, writing names in the abundant silence.

Mugen found himself sitting on the floor... Ironic isn't it? This conflict started because of a lack of seat. At the end of the day, he still didn't get one. Infact, now he was feeling worse than before he mentioned a thing. 'Damn, I've been wasting too much time... Best get my head back into things.'

"Oh, it's that time already?" Lizzy stood up and began stretching. "What time?" Mugen turned to her, somewhat interesting her words. "Lunch for the prisoners. I'll be sharing it." Mugen tilted his head, mouth now agape. "But your... Your the vice warden aren't you?"

She nodded, "Mhmm, but us siblings have to do work too ya know. Rox guards the perimeter when he doesn't have paperwork while I tend to the prisoners alongside the other jailers."

'Some prison this is... Even the top dogs gotta work?' Lizzy made her way towards the door, only turning to speak a few words "Wanna come?" Mugen jumped to his feet, "Sure!"

After leaving the office, they were stopped by a lone jailer. He was pushing about a trolley with many bowls of what seemed to have been steaming porridge. The catch? No spoons.

"Alright, let's get going." She says to Mugen before taking the trolley. "Thanks, I'll go from here on." She makes clear before rushing Mugen to follow. Going deeper into the prison and passing not only the cafeteria but the armory, they found themselves in a small contraption. An elevator of sorts. With the press of a button, the grills came shut causing Mugen to jump.

"More sorcery?!" Mugen's eyes went wide, eyes taking left then right. "Suuuuure~" Lizzy responded. Mugen's body felt weird. It was as though... They were moving. He was standing still and yet, he was aware that they were going into the depths of the earth, but how?

Once they had finally gotten there, the grills pulled themselves apart once more. "Here we are." Lizzy pushed the trolley forwards, entering the dimly lit hall of cells. This cellar was but one straight path. One path with many different cells to each and every side of the journey. There were lights hanging above them, yet they gave only a dim presence.

"Why does it feel so... Cold down here?" Mugen muttered to himself, realizing that the darkness had corroded every step he took. Lizzy, again, was hard at work in distributing her meals. But something that Mugen himself caught onto was the arrangement. The arrangement of guards in particular. For every five cells, there lied a guard, unshaken with a rifle in hand. This was for both sides, causing a parallel for both sides.

All of the prisoners they passed by had some form of injury. Some were missing limbs, some carried endless amounts of wounds scattered amongst their body. Others had literal weapons stuck inside of them. Many had missing eyes and even tongues.

Mugen kept his head straight, trying to ignore their silent gazes and mumbles. "New guard?" One inmate muttered, "They recruit that young?" Another from a separate cell continued. "Tch! The abuse never ends."

Lizzy, despite all of these words, she kept a smile holstered. "Number 23, 26 & 30..." Her voice echoed throughout the metallic complex. "Do you like your tongues?" The inmates quickly refrained from speech and silently dined upon their meal.

Mugen bit the bottom of his lip as they continued through the complex. There must've been hundreds of cells, yet only one person was responsible in doing this? The walk of pity was almost unbearable. Sometimes he'd been taken aback by the putrid scent of corpses lying untended to within a cell. "Be-careful..." They came to a stop.

"Hmm? Why?" Mugen took his eyes to the empty cell. Unlike the others, there was no bed, no toilet either. "Number 58... Show yourself."

...

..

.

There was nothing. "Number 58?" Lizzy barked once more, yet no response again. "Who's that?" Mugen asked, "Apparently it's a legendary samurai. She doesn't allow anyone to enter her cell when she's like that... When she's in the ground however, you can do pretty much anything... Yet she doesn't say a word nor does she react. " She comments.

"Ok then, and her name is?" Mugen crossed his arms, "Yuki Ha. Just don't go near the cell, alright? I'll come back later." Lizzy inquires before turning back.

"Wait! I'll feed her. I'll make sure the food gets to her." Lizzy turned swiftly, "No! Not happening!" She responded. "Why not? You might not know this, but I'm a pretty strong boy. Both you and Rox should be aware." Lizzy still refused. "You'll die regardless." Mugen groaned loudly, "Come on! It'll just be quick! She stands no chance!"

Lizzy went silent. Mugen had an air around him. That air of determination that she was reluctant to disagree with. "Well..." - "Pleaaaase!" Mugen clasped his hands, bringing a frown to the table.

"Fine!" Lizzy gave him the key and took her distance. After unlocking the grill, Mugen entered the cell with a bowl of porridge. However, he didn't put the bowl down. Instead, he locked the grill behind him and slipped the key into his pocket.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?"

Lizzy rushed to the cell, trying desperately to pry it open. "Shit! Open the door!" She called out. "Sorry, not happening." He commented, sticking his tongue out. "Damnit..." She muttered before running off in a panic. Mugen's watched her off, smirking widely before turning to the figure atop the ceiling.

""Who are you?" The silhouette asked. She was standing... Atop the ceiling... Her long hair and her breasts seemed to have been the only two things that were affected by gravity. As for the rest of her body, she truly had no problem standing upside down. "You must be new here... You wanna die boy?" She asked, yet Mugen refused to answer. Instead, he placed the bowl of soup onto the floor.

The darkness covered her body. All he could see within the cell was the small traces of her silhouette. Apart from that, he didn't even know where the walls were. "Say, how about you show me why your so feared? I wager I could kick your ass five times over."

"He... Hehehe.. Haha... Hahahaha!"

Yuki stopped herself before cricking her neck to the side. Soon enough, she squats down with a bright smile planted on her face. "I hate you cocky bastards."

Mugen threw his jacket to the side before ripping his under shirt open. "Likewise!"