Un-Chain

Uteu couldn't stop himself from emptying everything from his stomach onto the floor. He trembled violently and tears formed at the corner of his eyes.

This... this was just too horrific.

Who would do such a thing?

Was the Liquidation Guild truly such an evil existence?

Suddenly, he gasped sharply as a piercing pain drilled into his mind from every direction. He felt completely overwhelmed as dozens of emotions and memories came pouring in.

Uteu couldn't control the howl of pain that ripped from his throat as he was forced to learn how these children ended in such a state.

_________

These children had once, all been Psyche actives.

They had been living with their normal families, living their normal lives, growing up happily until the day that they realized they were a bit different from the other kids.

At first it was brushed over by teachers as the child being gifted with high intelligence and early maturity. It wasn't so unusual to have a brilliant child who could learn easier with better comprehension over other's in their age group.

Those teachers wouldn't have known that these were the first signs of a developing Psyche, whether dormant or active. They couldn't have known that the minds of these children were beginning to develop in a such a way to allow for them to comprehend the complex laws of the Earth's energy.

Then, there were some children who wouldn't sweat despite the heat waves and some that were able to regulate their body temperature to resist the cold in freezing weather. These children had all developed a type of resistance to the elements in one way or another. They slowly became resilient to even illnesses, becoming sick less and less frequently in comparison to other kids their age.

Doctors explained it away as having a strong immune system or that the makeup of their bodies allowed for such resistances and resilience.

These doctors wouldn't have realized that these were the signs of a Psyche active. That the Earth's energy has already been seeping into their bodies to mold it until they were capable of wielding the energy themselves.

Finally, a very small amount of these children were gifted with even more peculiarities.

Surviving a house fire with hardly a burn on them, despite everything else burning to ashes.

Being struck by lightning and getting up a few seconds after, with only frizzy hair standing on end to prove they were struck in the first place.

Falling off a steep cliff without getting any broken bones, just a mere few scratches for injuries.

Getting stuck inside of a cave that's been caved-in with extremely little oxygen and holding out long enough for help to arrive to get them out.

Miracles. That was what the entire populace had labeled these situations as. That these children survived thanks to some sort of miracle. They would make a fuss about it for a short while before brushing it off once more as something that, while uncommon, wasn't anything they haven't seen before.

The regular people knew nothing. They didn't even have the slightest idea that these life threatening moments would cause these children to awaken their abilities as true Psyches. That they would become able to wield the energy stored inside of their bodies and the energy of the Earth all around them. To mold it, and shape it as they wished.

And while all of these people were ignorant of what was happening to these children, the Guild did not hesitate to approach them.

The children were told that they were gifted, they were told what they actually were and what they could potentially do. That they should join the Guild to train properly. That they would be a danger to themselves and their families without proper guidance from the Guild. That their families would never understand what was happening to them.

They were told that the Liquidation Guild was here to remove everyone's doubts and fears. That their goal was to eliminate the danger to the world by properly raising all Psyche actives.

Then, they were told that there were more children, children just like them already in the Guild and that those children could understand exactly what they were going through.

So they went, longing for someone to understand them and to learn to understand themselves. They went so that they wouldn't frighten their families anymore; so that they wouldn't accidentally harm their beloved parents.

When they arrived in the Guild, they had been pleasantly surprised. There truly were a lot of children there. Countless children who had either just recently become a Psyche active or had just recently activated their abilities.

And for the first time in their lives, they felt hopeful that they had found a place they could finally fit into. They had found a place that they could belong to.

Unfortunately, it was all just an illusion and it shattered as soon as they fell asleep.

They were all dragged out of their beds in the middle of the night and forced to ingest some type of red liquid that immediately weakened them and prevented them from calling upon the Earth's energy.

They were put under the Guild's constant surveillance and forced to drink a vial of the foul red liquid everyday. The red liquid weakened them to become docile. Making them unable to call upon any magic spells to fight back.

Every single night, they were taken to a room that drained the energy out of their bodies, between their so called training and guidance, they were drawn very thin, exhaustion and weakness were a constant companion.

They were once told to come to the guild to train properly- So, they were trained to release the acc.u.mulated energy in their bodies so that the Guild could drain it out and use it for themselves. They were taught absolute obedience and they were trained to move with very little food and sleep. That any disobedience would be met with absolutely no sleep or food at all.

They were once told that without the Guild's proper guidance, they would become a danger to themselves and their families- So, under the Guild's fully trained members they were given a set of guidelines to follow everyday. If they didn't follow these guidelines, they would be beaten till their skin split apart and their family's death would hang over their heads as well.

They were told that their families would never understand what was happening to them- This, the Guild had turned into absolute truth. The first thing that the Guild used the children's stored energy for was a wide area spell against their families, wiping the children's existence clean out of their minds.

Every child was kept isolated and away from the other children. Other than the first day, they never met again until they met THAT man a few years later.

Out of the blue, one day they were all told to gather together in a tight enclosed space, squished against each other until they couldn't fit a single person more. On a large screen above them, it flickered on and a redheaded man, Harkal Drelden's face was streamed to all of the children. His lips parted and he told them all that he no longer needed them alive, that they were only lower quality goods that were useless to keep fed and clothed.

As soon as the screen flickered off. Through every opening in the room that had once given them air, a slimy red liquid poured into the room instead. They were trapped, the door was bolted and welded shut. As soon as the liquid touched them, they felt heavily weakened, unable to resist it.

The liquid solidified over time as it absorbed their energy. Stopping just short of suffocating the shortest of them all.

That was when people in full hazmat suits came and used a strangely designed, circular saw that cleanly cut into their skulls. They would then carefully take out their brain and slip it into a glass container on the back of their hazmat suits.

Unable to twitch, unable to blink or even scream, they were all stuck in their minds, until it finally, finally left them.

And yet... and yet!

Just like the energy that still filled their corpses and kept the red jelly liquid fueled, their deep hatred and regret would not leave their bodies alone. Even after they were all fully submerged into the red jelly liquid and relocated many times, that boiling hatred had not gone away.

For several years, it remained dormant, trapped within all of those corpses. It wasn't until Uti Drelden was brought into the room with them that something changed. Her energy flowed through them, it had awoken all of their lingering resentment bringing it up to the surface.