In a Dark Cavern
She struggled against the ropes that bound her, they were wrapped tightly and cut deep into her flesh- an unfortunately familiar feeling. Deep within the bowels of a mountain cave, she stared her captor in the eye.
He(?) had a small stature for a demon, not to mention a surprisingly youthful, androgynous face. His blonde hair wafted into a mane like fire, turning a fitting shade of orange-red near the end, a shade which matched the draconic horns atop his skull, although it couldn't be said if these were natural, or an aspect of his iron-esque helmet. His clothes were red and baggy, but were sure to expose his arms and midriff, both with fine skin and curvature. Despite that almost-teenage appearance, he carried a certain regal air which forced her respect, even after he had tricked her and tied her to a stalagmite.
As said, this was not her first experience being tied up in a cave, and the dryness on the air stood out to her, as if she were in the center of a great furnace rather than the center of a mountain.
He(?) cackled with a certain feminine edge, raising his clawed flingers to his face,
"Hahaha! Wait until Father hears about this! Who would've thought the Buddha's chosen would be so stupid- and that the Great Sage's protection would be so useless! Ah, victory is sweet, but as much as your flesh will be after I roast it over Samadhi's Flame- Hah!"
He(?) doubled over, lost in his own villainous joy. But as he began to recapture his wits, she responded evenly,
"There is no one to blame but me, I fear. I never have heeded the Great Sage's wisdom as much as I should," She sighed, "I suppose you will eat me, then?"
He shook his head, his crooked grin only becoming wider, "Nah- 'course not. You're too damn good for some runt like me. No, I'm gonna feed you to my father, the Ox Demon King, and then he'll finally recognize me as his heir once he conquers all creation with your blood." He smiled especially widely, "You'll be put to good use, bitch- so don't worry so much."
Despite her best efforts, a wry grin snuck its way onto her face, "Oh no, that is no good at all. You have to eat me now."
He cocked his head, "And why's that?"
Her smile grew, though only slightly, "You want to devour me for my immortality, correct? Well, you will need it if you plan to defeat my retainers."
It took all he had not to laugh, "Your retainers!? Really!? What, you mean the monkey, the pig, and the fish?"
"-You forgot the horse."
He blinked audibly, "...Right, as if that'll matter a damn bit. There's no hope for you."
She wasn't sure what he meant, "Of course there is hope. So long as there is life, there is hope."
"Hope doesn't mean shit. You're here because you relied on hope, while I relied on myself. It's the story of life, bitch"
He crouched in front of her, and looked her in the eye, "Nothing happens unless you make it happen. If you had any sense, you'd know that already, instead of always playing the frickin' damsel."
Before she could respond, he flicked her forehead with his claw, and the world went black.
...
Heping opened her eyes- or did she?
No, she surely did. The weight atop her face was not her eyelids, but a cloth- she was blindfolded, and so, whether her eyes were opened or closed, all she could see was an endless plain of black.
Finally realizing her situation, similar realizations came one-by-one to knock at the front of her consciousness with their own woes. There was a dryness and pressure in her mouth, one that stifled her breath and saliva- she was gagged. There was an odd pressure in her skull and on her breasts- she was hung upside-down. There was something like metal cutting uncomfortably into her wrists and ankles- she was bound with chains. Each of these revelations came in turn, and, by the end, panic had risen to meet them, and she struggled in vain, the clanging of those chains informing her of the futility of her resistance.
A voice like the squeal of a burning log came to admonish her, a voice she unfortunately recognized, "That's enough, girl. Those are Mage-Binding chains: using mana will only make the situation worse."
A flash of anger and indignation roared as she detected her attacker, and her struggles became far more severe. She hurled curse after curse after him, but each was caught by the gag in her mouth. At the same time, she tested his claim, hardening her wrists to break the chains- a task normally well within her abilities- and found the mana yanked from her body to tighten the binds. The pain was enough to catch the remaining curses in her throat, and, dejected, she fell still once more.
-A talon like paper-mache touched at her lips, pulling the cloth from her mouth.
She gasped at the air, desperately filling her lungs and wetting her tongue.
Archer sighed, "Let's talk, shall we?"
She waited until her lungs and tongue were satisfied before she responded, "...Unfortunately, I talk best when I am not bound and hung. Perhaps that could change?"
She heard the creaking of a wooden chair as Archer (probably) sat down, "I would love to, but that isn't on the table right now. Besides, I don't need you to talk, only to listen."
"-Where am I? Where is Pigsy?"
He ignored her, "I want to talk about your brother."
She went still, too afraid to ask what it was that he wished to discuss.
Archer continued, "He is an intelligent man, don't you think?"
She stared at where the voice was coming from.
"If he wanted you dead, you'd be dead. You know that, don't you?"
The words cut deep into her heart, and she could not deny their truth, and neither could she deny the pain it caused her to hear those words. She slumped, meaning that her body extended closer to the floor as she gave up on maintaining her posture and simply hung.
"-But you're not dead. He values you."
"He values me enough to hang me like an animal carcass."
"Precisely. It is not the affection of a brother, but a butcher: one who plans to use the whole body rather than discard it for the risk of losing any potential gains... No, it's too kind to call him a butcher. He's simply a predator, always on the hunt for his next meal, no matter how long he has to remain in the brush."
"-Get to the point."
"Heping. Your brother is a tiger, who was once tamed and has since been returned to the wild. For years, he was fed milk and choice lamb, with no reason to doubt that his meals would not come. But now, that certainty is gone. Do you know what that means?"
She craned her neck, beginning to long for the comfort of unconsciousness, "Maybe I would if not for the blood rushing to my head."
He ignored her, "It means that even I don't know the lengths he's willing to go to. And that scares me, girl. He wants you alive, that's for sure, but he will resort to any means to get what he wants from you. His brilliant mind is filled with endless ambition and a cruel creativity- he will break you if he can. And neither you nor I want that, I assure you."
"And why not? It does not seem like you have any intention of betrayal."
"You're right, I will not betray my Master, or my honor as a hunter. Never in my life have I chosen my prey for myself, with one exception: my wife. I chose her of my own free will, and my own love, and I'd rather not do anything which would upset her, or lead her to reject me when we meet again."
Maybe it was the blood rushing to her head, but the single word which described Heping in this moment was "tired." The conversation did nothing but lead her to frustration. Rudely awakened from a peaceful slumber to talk with a man with a heart shrouded in darkness about a man with a heart of ice and nothing else; her thin patience was ever-thinner.
"-And why do you not believe that it has already happened? You have already tortured me, what is a little more, then?"
She heard the chair creak again, "I do not choose my own jobs; she knows that. Besides, girl, you're too young to understand the lengths that love will drive you. I did not want to hurt you, and I told you as much, and I'm saying it again, but there is a reason beyond simple honor that I serve Shenghuo: he is an intelligent man, and I believe him when he says that he'll hand the Grail to me. Then, with the Grail, I'll see my wife again."
"-And what makes you think that you have not already earned her hatred? What reason is there to love someone like you?"
"I ask myself that question every day. But, unfortunately for you, I can't ask for her forgiveness until I see her again. Until then, I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means spending the rest of eternity paying for my crimes."
She was done. There was no reasoning with him, or her brother for that matter, and she was ready for whatever would come next,
"Is there a point to all of this?"
His voice had become increasingly strained as he worked to keep his temper, but here, it had officially become akin to a growl,
"The point is this: neither myself nor my Master will hesitate to earn your surrender, so do it now, before things pass the point of no return."
She bared her own fangs at him, "No! I have no reason to do anything for you, not when Pigsy will come to save me-!"
"He won't."
"He will!"
"He'll die."
She went quiet, before finding her energy again, "He will not! We have an alliance with Rider and they will-"
"They won't."
"They will!"
"A ceasefire has been called, and a universal alliance against Berserker. Nobody would be foolish enough to violate those terms, and especially when I stand as a more valuable asset than your 'Pigsy'."
"...You kidnapped me during a ceasefire?"
"Not at all. The ceasefire was called after the job was done. I dare to say the timing was perfect."
She went quiet. She had no retort. The words of someone she never knew rang through her head, 'Nothing happens unless you make it happen...'
Detecting her weakness, he posed his question again, "So, why not surrender? Believe me, it is in everyone's best interest. Your brother and yourself will fight side-by-side, as will myself and Lancer. Your brother will win, yes, but so will you- being able to benefit from his victory as his sister-in-arms. So please, for all that's good, surrender. Don't make this any more difficult for yourself than it already has been."
The words dripped like honey in her ears. Upside-down as she was, the sweetness went straight to her head, and her blood-rushed skull was filled with visions of calm mornings and tea, low-hanging clouds rolling over mountains in the distance, a needlessly large house filled with treasures most could only dream of, and a faceless husband who could even come to love her, and maybe- only maybe- her him.
...But these visions lasted only a moment. The blood from her heart pushed the honey from her mind and forced it to fall to the floor below with all the other filth and grime.
"...No. I will not... I never will."
"And why not?"
It wasn't so much of a question, as much as a demand.
"Because..." Tears began to dampen the inside of the blindfold, "...I would rather die than spend the rest of my life on his leash. I will not let him win. I will not let him take everything he wants like an animal and then act as if I were the one less than human!"
She didn't hear him approach. Before she knew what was happening, she felt the strange hand touching gingerly at her cheeks, as if to wipe away the tears which were actually drifting towards her forehead.
"...Please. Do not sacrifice your beauty to such small-minded notions of honor."
She hesitated, but said what she felt, "All you talk about is my beauty. If my face is all I am to you, then I cannot say that I envy your wife."
As soon as the words exited her mouth, his hand struck hard across her face, like a hammer against an anvil- a slap hard enough that she began to swing back and forth from her chain.
"Do not-!" He took a deep breath, "-Do not challenge my love for her, or you will regret it, girl." He stilled her swings by gripping her hair, pulling her face to his, "My offer remains: I'd encourage you to reconsider- quickly."
He let go, and she swung backwards, returning to her pendulum motion. She tried to organize her thoughts into something snarky- some remark she could be proud of, but he had left as noiselessly as he'd come, and she didn't realize his absence until the heavy cellar door swung shut.
With no one left to hear, she laughed at her own misfortune, but said nonetheless, "No.. no, I will not."
...