The air wasn't blowing cool breeze. The building was just cold by itself.
Making Leo's skin shiver, tiny bumps growing along his arms
The cold air filled his lungs
Making his breath hitch with each draw
His breathing grew more and more unsteady
Finally
He opened his eyes
The floor was made of smooth blue ice
Almost transparent
Even the walls and columns were made of ice
The windows were made of glass, though
Or a very transparent ice
The hazy sky still shone its pale light into the room
Soon
Leo could hear footsteps behind him, slowly growing closer
He tried to stand
But
He couldn't.
A device constructed from ice locked him in place
It held both his wrists in place, along with his neck.
He could feel them going numb from the ice
No wonder he could hardly breathe
He clenched his fist and pulled with all his strength
The device didn't even creak
Leo exhaled loudly, breathing heavily
Suddenly, a hand ran through his wild, fluffly hair
A man knelt in front of Leo, their faces inches apart
Leo clenched his teeth
It was Marquez
"You killed one of my men," he said, not smiling this time
"Where is she? Where is Autumn?!" Leo shouted in his face
Marquez closed his eyes as Leo barked
"I swear to God, if you touch her again I'll kill you!" Leo shouted
His voice echoed throughout the empty room
Even repeating itself a few times
Marquez remained silent
"You can't say I wasn't nice to you..." he muttered, standing up
"What? Are you kidding me?!" Leo shouted
While Leo argued, something formed in Marquez's hand
Despite being made of ice, it was surprisingly flexible
Its length curled and folded all the way back to the handle, tiny ice spikes running along it
A whip?
The man moved out of Leo's view, stepping right behind him
PLASH
A sharp strike echoed throughout the room
Leo stopped arguing instantly
He hissed, biting deep into his bottom lip
He could feel it
A burning pain against his back
PLASH
Another strike echoed
A deep grunt escaped his mouth
Leo bit harder into his lip. Blood began leaking from it
Eyes unsteady
He could feel blood trickling down his back from the wounds
PLASH
Leo couldn't bite harder this time
"Gah!" a grunt escaped his lips
The spikes tore into him, sometimes getting stuck
But the force of the whip ripped them out again
Leo couldn't help it
Tears began flowing from his eyes
Fists tightened.
His whole body tensed
PLASH
Marquez swung the next blow harder
Despite being serious during the first few hits, he couldn't help but smile a bit
PLASH
The smile turned into a smirk
PLASH
Then laughter
PLASH
PLASH
PLASH
Marquez laughed wildly, each hit getting faster and faster
The bruises began to spread across Leo's back
PLASH
Soon, all Marquez could see was red marks
But
He didn't stop
He laughed harder and swung faster
The hits echoed through the room
PLASH
"Raaaaaaaagh!" Leo roared, tears still streaming down his cheeks
He tensed his entire body and pushed
"I'll kill you!" he shouted. "I'll kill you!"
A crack ran through the device that held him
Then another
And another
Marquez didn't stop
PLASH
Instantly, the device that held him shattered
Falling to the floor like broken glass
Leo stood up, breathing heavily, his back still turned
Blood leaked from his scars
His chest heaved
Despite this, Marquez was still laughing
Leo turned quickly
"Your dea—"
PLASH
The whip caught Leo in the face
Leo gritted his teeth
He charged forward
But—
His heart pulsed violently
He plummeted to the ground, a burning ache spreading across his chest
He choked, trying to breathe
That's when Leo saw them
There were other guards inside the room
Flicking their hands in the corners
Leo punched the glass floor, anger flaring
He stood up again, shakily
Eyes locked onto Marquez
His heart spasmed instantly
He fell again
Briefly, Marquez raised his hand
Leo's heart stopped, freezing
"Let him come. The lesson isn't finished," Marquez said
Leo stood up again
He didn't shout this time
His fist charged forward toward Marquez's face
But
He dodged by twisting to the right
Leo shot forward on the slippery ice
Soon, he stopped at the end of the room
This time, he jumped forward
Marquez dodged backward
Leo's fist crashed into the ground where Marquez was
Ice debris flew everywhere
Leo followed up with another punch
Marquez raised his hands
Layers of ice formed in front to block
Leo's fists crashed through them all
The friction of passing through the ice stopped Leo's fist inches from Marquez's face
Leo didn't care
He twisted his hand to grab Marquez's collar
He pulled Marquez forward through his own ice
Leo used his other hand to grab him by the face
Raising him higher
Then slammed his head into the icy ground
The ground collapsed, chunks of ice falling onto the lower floor
Leo landed and recovered quickly
The room was surprisingly empty
And Marquez was gone
Leo stood up
"N-no... Stop!" a voice shouted outside the room
Leo didn't look for the door
He slammed through the wall where the voice was nearest.
It was Marquez, his back turned while clutching his right hand
Ice blue tattoos, were drawing themselves onto Marquez's back
Like something ancient
Leo was unfazed
He ran forward, fast and controlled
Marquez spun quickly, and easily deflected Leo's grab
He gut-punched Leo and grabbed him by the throat with his morphed hand
Leo saw his face
The tattoos were spreading all over
Slowly, his face was morphing into the ice form
The complete version
Leo saw his eyes
Ink black scleras, and ice-blue pupils
The world around him disappeared instantly
...
He was no longer in the building
Ice grew like thorns and wild bushes throughout the environment he was in
For some reason, he was on his knees
Kneeling.
The ice below him wasn't clear. It had a darker color that didn't reflect.
"The fuck?" The words escaped his lips despite breathing heavily
He pushed himself upward, standing on his feet
Instantly
Something fast shot toward him
Briefly, his eyes widened
It slammed him into the edge of the icy dimension
He didn't even register when it hit. Blood just began pouring from his lips
He tried to move, but he could'nt
He was impaled onto the icy wall
A thick ice-like log or spear ran straight through his chest
His eyes widened again
Gasping, he looked at the spear-like object. The ice that formed it was also black
He tried grabbing it, even squeezing.
But it didn't even budge. He could feel the cold freezing his wound
Then
Leo heard the voice
"Bitch."
Leo froze
"Who told you to stand?"
Leo's eyes followed the voice
It traveled across the black ice, slowly moving upward to a throne
It was made of black ice also, sharp spikes shooting upward behind it
On the throne, a creature was seated, one leg folded over the other
A golden cup rested in one hand
Ancient tattoo marks filled its pale-blue skin. Multiple cracks on his body glowed a faint blue
Two curved horns grew backward from its skull, coated in frost
A long black frozen robe covered its body
Mist was shrouded around the feet of the throne, so its feet weren't visible
Slowly, the creature stood
A seven-foot creature of dread
It slowly took one step.
The moment that foot was about to touch the ground, it suddenly appeared before Leo
Leo flinched
The room got colder quickly. The mist followed him as well
"Leo, huh?" it said. "Your hair sucks."
Leo's skin shivered from its breath
Leo gripped the ice that impaled him, but it wasn't breaking
The creature didn't acknowledge it
"Marquez may fancy you, but—"
"I don't." The creature finished
It rested its hand on the ice that impaled Leo
The ice began to change shape while entering Leo's body
"Aaagh!" Leo shouted
Immediately, an ice spike sprouted from benetah Leo's skin
Another sprouted from his chest
"Aaagh" he shouted
Another sprouted from his legs and arms
Leo screamed harder, tears flowing
The creature watched calmly, deliberately making the ice grow and pierce his skin slower
"Let's continue for another five minutes," the creature said
Leo screamed louder as each branch of ice sprouted from his body
Each echo dancing along the ice
...
Five minutes had passed
Leo was
Unrecognizable
Ice sprouted from every possible angle
Even then, his whimpers were still heard
Blood dripped and ran along the black-tinted ice
The creature still stood in front of him
"Don't ever come back here," it said
The world began to burn like pages
...
Leo was back, Marquez's hand raising him by the throat
Marquez released Leo
He didn't have scars. He was completely fine
Leo trembled, his rage noneexistent
"Y-You're a demon," Leo stuttered
His whole body shook, his hair standing on end
Then
He fell backward
Vision plummeting
End