Our days continued on with my hatred, and my brothers' fears growing day by day, until we were all handed off in our sphere to respective buyers. It was a quick ordeal that lasted mere moments as we were lifted and dropped into another carriage before we could even comprehend all the words said around us.
We soon found a new home in a dark grey cage, where each day they swung against the ball over and over again to break it open so they could collect our bodies. Yet the sphere withstood them, even after all this time, the strength embedded in it by our mother served as a shield guarding us all.
Yet the blessing from our mother only made our anxiety deeper. Each day they would crack the faces a little more, and more, until one of them broke, and as the pierces fell, shattered to the ground, our bodies would fill with fear thinking our demise had quickened.
Using all the strength I could muster, I made small shields with the anxiety and stress powering my body, trying to reinforce the cradle of love our mother has left us.
But as they figured out my actions to protect ourselves, they said, "If you wish to stand in our way, we will stop being kind."
Each day, little snippets of food were poured into our sphere for us to survive, but they decreased again, and again over the days, till our bodies barely had enough strength to even stay upright during the day.
Our bodies were slowly withering away, and lying helpless in the sphere, we just waited as the swings against our sphere grew more and more each day. One face broke, then another, and another until a large hole existed on the side of the sphere that they could reach in.
I couldn't move, I could barely speak, but with all the pain I had left in my heart, I summoned one giant iron face to protect us. The trembling hands of my brother, which clung to my flesh, made the stress and anxiety I had reach its pinnacle, but even with all that, a single swing was all it took to break through my shield, and as the pieces fell and pierced our bodies. I could only cry in response to the reality laid in front of me.
As they grabbed me and pulled me out of the sphere, my mind panicked as it thought of any way it could find a way to protect itself. Any actions, pleas, or offers I could give to escape this situation?
But even if I managed to make it past the one in front of me, what will I do after? Where are we even? How far from home? Is there any place for us to even return to? Will other humans treat us like this just for existing? Can the power or strength of men in any regard even keep them safe?
My mind goes wild with thoughts, and under my breath, I say, "Messiah, please save them."
Even if it's the only words I can spew out from my body, I can only hope that they can help us move forward.
Being brought up close to the man's face, I see a smile right before the wall behind him bursts open and a brick in our rottening cage flies from one of the walls into his head, cracking his very skull open, and causing me to fall from the air.
In that moment, a giant finger catches my body, and I look up at the sight of a man who looks like some combination of a dragon and a wolf. His gigantic body breaks through the prison as he moves his head towards me.
He brings his other giant hand towards him and drops his finger towards me, causing me to cower in fear as the horror of his inhumane size falls onto me.
Yet his finger gently crases my head, and says, "It will be ok now, from this point on you won't be harmed by humans, I Gurmand promise that to you all."
The feeling of the fur on his finger, the sound of his voice, the power which overwhelms even my captors. In that moment, I can feel all my fear and anxiety render themselves onto the man in front of me, and for the first time in weeks, I can feel what life is like without anguish in each moment. My body relaxes, and sleep overtakes it.
-Break-
"Sister, sister, sister!" I hear repeatedly through my ears, until my eyes open wide.
In front of me, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink, and White, all with tears in their eyes, hug my body and squeeze me close. Seeing their faces, I reach out my hands and say, "I am so glad that you're all alive. I am so happy that you're all here."
They each push the weight of their bodies onto me as they all reach in for whatever love they can receive, and that I can give back to them, before a voice says, "Please back up from her, you don't want to crush her brittle bones."
My brothers all look up where they see the giant man called Gurmand, who stares down at them. Each of my brothers moves around my body to protect it, and I say, "Don't be rude to the man who saved us."
Laughing, he says, "It's all right, those who have had their trust stepped on cannot be expected to immediately start trusting another person again."
Smacking all of them on their heads, I say, "No. If you wanted to do anything to us, you could at any time. So it is rude not to trust you."
"You've got guts, girl. I can see how you all managed to keep it together for so long. But don't worry any more, it will be fine. I am from Blestemate, and from today on, you'll all be citizens there."
My brother faces light up and staring at him, I say, "Really?"
"Yes. You see, we got a request for citizenship, and when we sent someone to double-check, we found your home ransacked. Thankfully, we were able to track and find you all."
"My house. My mother! We need to get her body back!" Feeling a sick feeling rush up in my mouth, I say, "The things they said they were going to do to it, we need to have it as soon as possible!"
Using his large finger nail, Gurmand touches the metal against my face, and says, "Don't worry, we've already gotten the body back."
I grab his finger nail, and say, "Let me see her, please."
"I said you were strong before, but now the body is in such a state that it will be hard for your heart if you stare at it. It's not something I would recommend you look at, especially right after being freed."
"I want to see, I need to know she is back, otherwise I won't be able to go to sleep. Please, Gurmand, let us see my mother."
Sighing, he says, "Alright, come with us."
He walks forward, stamping his large feet against the ground, as he moves towards a series of white sheets, all with items inside them. Stopping in front of one, he says, "She is over here."
Together with my brothers who hold onto me for dear life, I say, "It will be fine, but you guys don't have to watch if you're not ready to."
Pink says, "We are not going to leave you alone."
Red says, "We are all we have for now and forever more."
I nod my head at them, then step forward, and Gurmand, with his large nail, flips over the sheet, and in front of my eyes lies a mutilated form. The skin is completely ripped from the body in front of me, and the organs are carefully laid out beside her. The fingers, toes and ears are all chopped up into little bites and gathered in a bundle beside her head. Each of her teeth is removed, and crushed into a bowl, making a powder, and the eyeballs that once lay in her head are nothing more than sauce over the powder of teeth.
Placing a locket in front of them, Gurmand says, "The missing skin was used to make this cursed object. I got it off a man from inside. There is a picture of her inside, though I don't know how they got it, but it was how I was able to identify her."
Seeing it all, my body freezes, and the world goes silent as I take in the sight before me. The screams of my brothers, the shock to my eyes, even the touch of Gurmand trying to calm my nerves, has no effect on my mind.
Some did this to my mother. A person with a heart, brain and soul decided that it was ok to turn my mother into this lump of flesh, like she is a piece of livestock. Can a person even do this? Only an animal could be this beastly? No, this was thought out, this was planned, a careful, thinking mind performed each action. Beast couldn't even do something like this; only a demon could. If humans are capable of this, if they can imagine that something like this from the depths of their brains. They have no value in this world other than to be put into the dirt. They must all go.
Turning to Gurmand, I say, "How can I be strong like you!"
From that day, no, from that moment, I decided to do whatever it takes to be strong. To stand against all of the hatred sent towards us, Nightmares. To be the shield that crushes humanity under its heel. In a world where we reign supreme, I am sure that my brothers will finally be able to know true peace.
-Present-
So I can't stop here, I need to stop, I will stop this ball no matter what. "BEWITCHMENT!"
Iron gauntlets appear on each of my arms, and the metal around my face forms into a full mask. Soon, the iron faces in front of my body become harder and more intricate in their designs.
Zbur shouts, "It seems Žudrė has gotten a second wind, and Dumnorix's assault is going to be crushed. Wait, what is this!"
Looking past my shields, I see my brothers breaking through the giant walls of earth made by Pia, and they are heading towards me at full speed. This is good, if I hold on for just a little more, I will be able to win.
Zbur says, "It seems this match might be over, and the Knightmares are going to wi-, hey wait, how did you get in here, ARGH!!!"
"Abbán, hurry up, we don't have all day."
"Thank you, Elia."
Abbán coughs a little then shouts, "DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX, DUMNORIX!!"
He shouts, quickly gets a large majority of the stadium to join in and yell Dumnorix.
ΦRushing around and hitting the ball, Dumnorix says, "A little late, but it seems the cheers have finally reached an acceptable level."
Dumnorix's speed increases as he smashes the ball every 8 seconds to every 4 seconds. As each strike doubles the power of his blows, the air and earth soon start shaking due to the force of his blows. Throughout the stadium, each person can feel the tremors they cause as they bash off Žudrė's shield."
Φ I need to hold out, I need to hold out just a little bit longer!
In front of my face I see the iron face in front of me start to crack, and I quickly summon another one behind it, but the force breaks through and sends cracks into it instantly.
"No, this can't be happening, I can't lose!"
From in front of my iron face, I hear Dumnorix shout, "I AM THE GREATEST IN ALL CREATION!" And soon the ball smashes through both of my iron faces.