Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 16: Deteriorate

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(POV: Narrator)

At first, she would fight.

"Nobody." Quaritch said. "Nobody at all is coming to get you."

He'd usually do so by leaning in closely to her as to maximise the scare-factor, however he'd always receive just as scary a look back.

"Prick!" She'd yell. "You best watch out when they do!"

Often, when he'd leave the room, she'd try and squeeze her way out of the cuffs that was holding her hands together, or break them off on something around the room. More often than that however, Spider would accompany her on his father's orders. When she wasn't trying to attack him, she was death-staring him. He kept telling her to trust him, but she wouldn't listen. She ruled that off as pointless and pure nonsense from the get-go, not wanting to or wanting to stoop to such a level as to allow herself to join the side of such 'poorly behaved aliens' - as she called them to their faces.

The other guards as well as Quaritch would try and get her to reveal any information on Jake that might 'prove useful' as they phrased it, which didn't make much sense to Ni'teya at first. However, when she found out that they'd practically believe anything she'd say, she used that to her immediate advantage. She'd lie; Tell them about 'tactics Jake would use often' that 'always worked and were successful' involving types of weaponry, secret bases and such. — When they found out she was lying though, they didn't allow her food for a day and a half.

The final straw however was day five. Quaritch was still bitter about her lies; So, he did something irreversible to her.

He took off her neckpiece before she woke, only for her to wake up to find him sitting on a chair opposite her, dangling it from his index finger. Immediately, she lunged for it, however he'd already anticipated she would. Guards held her back, Spider watching from the doorway.

Then, he took her central piece of the necklace; The shell. Her shell.

He picked it from the object, holding it up higher, isolating it completely.

Then he broke it.

He squeezed his fist tight shut, revealing the broken fragments thereafter, letting them drop to the floor.

As the girl hadn't eaten much, it took her a few moments to realise what exactly had happened. When it did, she didn't pull any longer. She didn't resist the guard's hold on her; She let herself sit where she was, staring. She watched him take his boot, stepping onto the shell's already detached fragments, further shattering both the object as well as her sanity.

After that, the denial set in.

"Nobody's looking for you." He'd say.

This time, her replies would be delayed, prolonged in hesitation. Instead of some half-assed and cocky reply, it'd be:
"...Yes! Yes they are!" as if to confirm it to herself, as if she wasn't quite sure she was telling the truth.

The next few days drooled by, the girl hardly eating. She clasped her hand tightly shut the entire time, even as she 'slept', which really was simply her body forcing itself to shut down for an hour or two from exhaustion. Inside it; The fragments of her favourite shell that was no more.

Spider noticed her deteriorating countenance, her tired eyes and her drooped ears. He'd attempt to be friendly, to joke, to simply talk, however she continued to ignore him, having no energy to take part in his efforts.

Not long after, the worst of it came; Which was that finally, she didn't fight. She couldn't, she had no strength or will-power to. She couldn't even deny the words being spewed into her head, she couldn't brush them off, she couldn't ignore them. Instead, she listened and watched, taking everything in but not letting anything out. All the words, all the blows stayed with her, damaging her mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically.

"Nobody's coming to save you." Is what he'd tell her.

"Nobody at all."

The longer it took for hope to reach her, for any sign of sanctuary or miracle to appear, the easier it became for Ni'teya to succumb to the untruths; The words that used to render as pure scare-tactics, a way for them to get into her head, became more and more believable. The longer she went without a saviour, the more the words, the previously ridiculous words, sounded like fact. To her, it became likely, absolute even, that she wasn't getting out of there.

Instead of hardly sleeping, it seemed she had no choice but to. Her exhaustion was too much for her body to handle, sending itself into slumber as to preserve her energy. They'd feed her, but not enough; Not nearly enough. It was clear to her that she was the bait at the end of their rod, that she was disposable to them. So, she waited for them to do so.

Even Spider began to offer her his food. He was scared she was dying, which, wouldn't have been impossible considering her state. He'd stay in the room with her when she slept or when she was awake, just in case something where to happen. He did care, you see. He just needed her to listen to him and trust his actions, although if she wasn't going to do so when she was stable, she definitely wouldn't when she wasn't.

He could hear her mumbling, too. It wasn't a constant thing, some nights she wouldn't whisper a word. But as time went by her mumbles got louder. He was then able to make out what she was saying, or rather, who she was calling.

"Lo'ak." She would whisper in a deep state of sleep. Just 'Lo'ak' , nothing else.

After all, that is all she could think about.

'Nobody is coming to save you', she thought.
'Not even him?'

She asked herself what she'd done, why he'd left her there. — Quaritch's words were inscribed within her own mind, they were the pinnacle of every debate she'd have with herself.

'Was I too much?'

'Why isn't he here?'

'Did I mess up?'

In front of the crew's eyes, she was being broken. Weakened, unrecognisable and unresponsive, she wasted away in a desolate and dreary cage, not wishing to be saved any more as she thought it useless.

'Lo'ak, where are you?'

The Ni'teya many knew and loved, the Ni'teya who would never allow herself to be broken, to be vulnerable or naive, was becoming just that. She was becoming more and more like the Ni'teya she used to be. She was diverting right back to the timid little girl who was refused by her own family; Who felt hopeless in a place she didn't feel comforted by.

She thought...

'If my own family did not want me, it's no wonder he doesn't either.'

...

'If my own family let me go, I should've expected him to.'

...

'I never loved my family, but. . .'

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