worlds apart }{ galen

[GALEN CROSS]

Chances were looking very good that Galen Cross would die today. Danna was prolific in the Dark Arts, with or without her wand, and she was as determined to break him as Galen was to not let her. She would pull out everything in her arsenal to get him to scream and to beg, two things that he must not do, at any and all costs. If he had to die, then so be it.

It took too much of his strength to chuckle as she Accioed her wand to her, and it was a weak and choppy sound, but Galen made it known. He'd never seen her use her wand before, always showing off with wandless and usually even nonverbal magic, if even any at all. She was truly pulling out all the stops, and if Galen was going to go down, he was going to go down with a biting remark on his tongue. She used the Cruciatus on him again, this time at least twice as powerful as the first, and Galen wasn't sure he could bear it. He hissed sharply, arching his back and pulling hard at the chains, making them bite into his chafed wrists and ankles. Galen forced down any other sound. No screaming, no begging. That was all he was, all that he knew. Was he even a person anymore? There was nothing but resistance. No screaming, no begging.

The cries of agony swirled inside him through the pain, with no release and no way out. Finally it all became too much and his back jerked, hunching over as he retched violently onto the floor beneath him, sweat and blood pouring from him now, his skin growing pale as he vomited again, a bloody foam dripping from his mouth. Danna was pouring everything into the curse, everything she had. Galen didn't know anything but the pain and the importance of not giving her what she wanted.

When the physical torture ended, the mental torture began. Danna cast Legilimens again, tearing through his mind, searching for anything and everything. Galen did his best to block it, knowing that snippets showed through the blank whiteness as before. Dylan leaping into his arms, face buried in his shoulder and legs around his waist as she clung to the letter that admitted her for Auror training. A battle with he and Jaegar against a gang of Death Eaters, dodging curses and Jaegar seizing up with the Cruciatus, making him tremble and shake, his eyes rolling back in his head. The day Kirby had nearly drowned in the ocean and Galen had to give her mouth to mouth until she coughed up what must have been a gallon of water, that horrid blue-purple hue fading from her skin.

Danna showed him visions of horrible things. His wife being raped, Kirby saying she didn't miss him, Jolene and his youngest daughter dying at the hands of Danna's soldiers, Jaegar looking so lost and aimless in a strange place. Galen didn't know what was real and what wasn't anymore. He was clinging to consciousness by a very thread.

[DANNA DEVILLE]

That son of a bitch still wouldn't scream. No matter what she did. Danna glowered at him, then her wand. This should have worked! Why wasn't he screaming? The hiss, the way his body jerked, it was nearly enough to make her feel smug, that she got anything out of him, but mostly she was just frustrated because it wasn't enough. Even her second attempt at Legilimency hardly gave her much. Not as much as she wanted. Only Dylan's excitement and Kirby nearly dying. But her floor now sticky with his vomit at least gave some proof that he wasn't made of stone. There had to be something that would make him crack.

Not one to give up, she switched again, back to the Cruciatus. All of her growing irritation was fueling the fires of her rage, the emotion powering the curse. As impatient as she was, it was a struggle not to keep switching, to hold him under until he gave out. Too quickly she changed back to Legilimency, then back to the Cruciatus after another few minutes. Her arm shook slightly, but she grabbed onto it with her other hand, forcing herself to remain steady. Her anger was too much now, she felt like she might explode from the force of it. Several times she switched between the two spells, focusing on her breathing to keep herself relatively sane.

Eventually she recalled a charm that might help her case. "Confundo!" she hissed, hoping the confusion would take better after the other things he had just withstood. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she hastily added, "Imperio!" just after.

Just scream. She'll make it stop when you scream. You should thank her for being so generous. Then all you have to do is ask nicely for her to use the cane. It will be over quickly. The pain doesn't have to go on. It would be so much easier if you would just ask. Let go. Everything will be fine. It's not so bad.

[GALEN CROSS]

Crucius, Legilimens, Crucius, Legilimens, it was a wonder that Galen didn't drop dead. Danna's fury fueled her Cruciatus Curses, making them as strong as any of their kind that Galen had felt. His entire body and mind were white hot fire. Whether his skin was burning up and peeling off of him, or Danna was ripping through his mind, pushing and tearing through everything in his brain, just a jumbled mash of brief flashes of memories.

"Daddy's back!!"
"You stay with me, Jaegar, you hear me?!"
"God, Galen, yes! Yes, of course I do, I will!"
"Like your cock was made for my pussy, yeah? I think this is what we were made for, baby."
"Into my office as soon as possible."
"Jesse Mercer has to die."
"I've got your back. How many times have we done this, huh?"

Nothing made any sense anymore, Galen's mind was falling apart, all he knew was that he musn't give in, must not let her hear him scream. Blood was trickling steadily from his mouth and nose now, his mind reeling with the Confundus Charm.

"No," he spluttered, voice barely audible. He kept repeating it over and over, clinging to that word as Danna Imperioused him again. Everything was so deceptively light and airy; Galen wished for the pain, held onto it with everything he could, because he could not give in.

"No!" he coughed more forcibly, sweat dripping from his hair and mixing with the blood on his face, streaming into his eyes, blood and foam in his mouth and nose. There was nothing but agony, nothing but agony and the only purpose he had in still living, to defy her, to never ever let her hear him scream or beg. It was quickly becoming too much. No one could withstand all of this. It was all so clear to him now. He would never go home, no matter what he did. Galen was already dying here, in the lair of this terrible witch.

[DANNA DEVILLE]

No? Why was he still telling her no? What the fuck was wrong with him? What was wrong with her? Why wasn't this working? She had to keep going. Keep going until he surrendered.

You'll kill him if you keep this up a voice in her head said.

He should die then. But she couldn't have him die. No, he'd enjoy that too much. She would force him to give in. It hurt. She knew it did. She also knew how powerful she was. So why didn't he just scream? No one was invincible. Something had to make him give in to her.

It took everything within her to lower her wand, dropping the spell. Taking in several deep, trembling breaths she sent her wand back to her room and stared at him for several long minutes. She just didn't understand...but it would be fine. It always was.

"I'm not going to kill you," she whispered. "It would be too easy. It would be like giving in. And I don't give in. I don't lose. My grandchildren were brainwashed through a severe regimen of these four spells over a long period of time. And I'll do it to you. We will do this every day until I have you broken. And I will break you. You may not believe me. In fact, I know that you don't. But my will is a lot stronger than yours, as is my power, as is everything about me. I have done more than you could even imagine. You will surrender, one day. And every day that you don't you will be put through hell. I will torture you until you are nearly dead every day for the rest of your life if I have to. I will do everything in my power to keep you alive until you give in. I promise you that. You will beg me one day. And you will thank me. It will happen. I don't know why you don't just give in now. This isn't doing you any good. This won't do anyone any good. But keep on being stubborn and proud and see how much of your world falls apart because of it. I will enjoy every last second of it."