Chapter 79: Ch77. Pain as a teacher
All Diego knew by then was pain.
Shinji was not kidding when he said that Diego was not going to be able to use any of his healing skills, having to rely solely on his captor for keeping him just an inch away from dying.
But it had taught him something.
The first few times Shinji had hurt him, Diego had tried to push through it, biting down on his screams, forcing himself to focus his thoughts on Miles, on how his big brother had always stood strong, on how he never broke. But now, he felt like he had passed the point of no return.
He was slipping away.
"What is Wonderland?" Shinji would ask, and Diego would answer with a simple "Fuck you" or with nothing but silence.
But then, Shinji would heal him, Diego would feel the sudden relief of his most grievous wounds being soothed by the healing magic – his healing magic – only for the pain to start all over again.
Each time, the threshold of his suffering expanded. It was a relentless cycle, designed to break him piece by piece, both in his body and in his mind. And Diego was losing.
He was chained to a chair, wrists bound in steel cuffs, his head drooping forward as sweat and blood dripped down his face riddled with the smallest cuts and gashes. His body felt like a mass of bruises, every nerve screaming in agony. His lungs burned from the sheer effort of keeping himself conscious.
Shinji crouched in front of him, his ever-calm, ever-smiling face hovering just inches away.
"The more we keep at it, the more you surprise me," Shinji mused, tilting his head as if studying an interesting experiment. "Who would’ve thought that a simple kid, even though said kid is a player, can endure this much pain and suffering... But it’s always the same in the end. You know that, right?"