Being in pain isn't a fun experience, no matter how masochistic one claims to be. Niko certainly never thought so, yet it came for him all the same.
One could write 3 paragraphs describing in excruciating detail the pain he was feeling and the actions he took to alleviate it, but for the sake of brevity, let's not.
Niko screamed and flailed on the floor for about 3 minutes before 2, confused and panicking guys came over running. It had been less than half a year since Niko was in a brutal fight, and once again, here he was, blood pouring from his nose and shrieking in pain. There was no culprit to be found this time however.
Internally, what parts of his brain that weren't overriden by pain, Niko simply had one thought in his mind, Aina. She was helpless, still in the closet where he left her, the other homunculus free to do as he- no, his master wished to.
As the guys tried to pick him up, awkwardly at that, he screamed desperately "CLOSET!"
The 2 boys looked at him, at each other and stood affixed for a moment before one of them immediately began a sprint towards the closet at the back.
"Nobody's there!" He squeaked out, peering in.
Niko began crawling desperately towards the closet, he wasn't ready to believe it, it was obviously a lie, Aina is saf-
The blood loss took its toll, the world was darkening, his limbs felt like lead, he could barely hold his head up. He could only stretch his arm forward a bit before he collapsed.
Couldn't they use a softer cloth? My lips and are gonna be ruined at this rate! Of course they use the same, rough cloth to tie me up, cheapskates! Anybody who treats a woman so roughly is destined to die alone, any follower of the Goddess knows this.
But of course, it had to be a cultist who's kidnapped me. And it's such a shame that it's a young kid who has me like this, and a creepy one at that.
A dangerous, dominant older woman instead would be oh so forbidden, sigh. It feels exploitative, being carried on a kid's shoulder, me being nearly a decade older and all.
So this is what Niko was hiding, it makes sense, him being tied up in cultist business isn't exactly something you'd tell friends. It would hold true of course for anyone BUT ME! AM I NOT STABLE ENOUGH?! DID THE DUMBASS THINK I WOULD FLIP OUT, RAT HIM?!
Ow! Why did he shake me?! What? Cuz I'm moving too much? Did he expect a kidnapped person to be still?
He's rather fast, for a child, for a child lifting up an adult like me. Something tells me he can go way faster but isn't, probably not to hurt me too much.
Niko was on the floor again, his face punched in, blood pooling. Significantly better than last time, so that's great. I hope he's already planning to run after me, I really hope he is....
This kidnapping doesn't seem make any real sense though, it just makes the suspicion after them even greater, it's direct proof they're involved! The Overseers will of course step in, it just makes their entire position significantly worse.
No shade for Niko, but he is by NO means someone who can crack the cult open. This whole thing is so moron-
Wait, am I being taken by the cult? The boy doesn't seem to be a cultist, he doesn't give off the energy one would expect from them. Well, he doesn't give of any energy, is he even human?
The chills I'm feeling rising up my spine isn't very promising either... My gut instinct never lies, there is something more to this.
I can't be a quiet passenger anymore, time for a show.
I start flailing around in the boy's grip, eyes wide, trying to scream, the voice being muffled by the cloth. I start gasping for air but of course it's not happening, and that's the point.
After a minute of wild panicking, gasping and more, the boy slows down and drops me on the floor. He bends down to my level and pulls off the gag.
Moron.
"Th- thank you, I couldn't breathe... Why didn't you do it earlier? Did you want me to die?!" I accuse him, equal parts anger and fear etched on my face, it must be realistic.
The boy in response simply turns to the side, unable to face me, lips pursed. Obviously he cannot apologize, lest he ruins the whole kidnapper shtick, but the guilt is visible on his face.
"Your first time kidnapping someone and you nearly kill them, I'm sure your master would loooove hearing that." I mock him, it is pretty clear he hasn't done this before. Disappointment and pity now replacing anger and fear.
No response, he purses his lips tighter, anger is bubbling.
"Hey, it's not all bad. Your master would be a moron to expect a kid like you to do a good job. Don't feel bad, you're limited by your conditions, no matter how much you try." I smile. At this point any adult would tie me up and take me on my way, but, he's not an adult, is he?
"I'm genuinely asking, what if you killed me here? Would your master be kind enough to not kill you? If he does, that means he never trusted you with the important tasks and you've shown why. If he does? You are worthless to him." A pensive face, a legitimate question being pondered.
He tries to think for a moment before immediately shaking his head vehemently, and grabbing my collar in anger with both hands. His face a mix of fear, denial and anger.
This kid really is worthless.
"What? Will you kill me? Beat me? Are you going to throw a tantrum? What are you, a child?" My face a clear 'I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.'
He's trembling, it's so clear he wants to cave my skull in, he easily can... But, he won't. What he SHOULD do, is not listen to me ramble any further and gag me back and take me away.
It's been a minute now.
"Hey kid, you're done for, you've taken too long." I grin, before pointing my head in the direction of where he was taking me.
"You decided to stop in the hallway, and the only areas this hallway leads to is the living quarters and... The governmental head cells."
Eyes wide, mouth quivering, quick gasping and twitching fingers. Thank the Goddess the kid never had to gamble.
"You should've kept running, now, you've given the squad valuable time to track us down." No, he hasn't, nobody even saw us.
"Your master, he's as good as caught... " Lean in, whisper.
"He'll be executed, just like you hung the boy today, someone will string him up as well."
Impossibly fast, no felt presence and nigh- imperciveable unless in direct line of sight... Perfect little guy for this work.
He's panicking, veins protruding from his face, fingers itching to choke the life out of me.
"If I die, then definitively your master dies. You're done for, boy." I win.
Huh? No no no no, WHAT?!?
"STOP! YOU MORON!!! DON'T DO IT!"
BANG!
The boy's body lands with a thud, blood pouring from his skull, the pistol slipping from his hand.
"He got me there." He really did.
'Child killer' has a nice ring to it, yeah?