Nico couldn't sleep.

She'd been staring at the opposite wall of her cell for the last... how long has it been? Five minutes? Or perhaps it's been five hours. Was it daytime or night? Either way, Nico couldn't tell. It was all the same to her. It had been a while since those bad men with the white masks slid the sad excuse of food into her cell. Not that she really minded. She was sure that the food they gave her made her feel worse anyway.

Even so, she still wished the bad men would come and pay her a visit. Nico craved the company; even if these people were only dropping off her tray of "food" or coming in to yell at her. They did that quite often, mostly when Nico acted "out of line". But at least it was something. Something that would occupy her mind. But when she was left alone, all she could do was think.

Nico didn't like to think anymore.

Anytime she thought about anything, she thought of them. It hurt to think of them. Her siblings had been the blinding light that had kept her sane in the dreary hell hole she now called her life. But slowly, one by one, they stopped coming back to their shared cell. Nico didn't know why they disappeared, nor did she want to think about why they were gone. Amber, the eldest, was the first one to go. The bad men dragged Amber away mere weeks after they were captured. Eventually, Amber stopped coming back to the cell. Maybe she escaped... that's what Nico hoped for, anyway. After that was Enzo, her older brother. He showed more resistance than Amber did, but that didn't stop him from eventually disappearing either.

The bad men finally stopped after that. They left Nico and her final sibling, Veronica, alone in that cell for a long time; at least for what felt like a long time. There wasn't much they could do in the dreary cell. They'd be counting the cracks on the walls when they weren't caught up worrying about the other two. However, their moment of peace was all but that... a moment. A fleeting moment that was violently torn away.

The men in the white masks appeared again. With grim looks on their faces, they opened the cell emotionlessly. Neither girl was sure of who they were coming for, and they glanced at each other fearfully.

"N-No, please!"

The men stalked closer to Veronica, grabbing her by her arms and dragging her out of the cell. Nico immediately bolted upwards, desperately clinging onto the jacket of the man.

"Please, don't take her," Nico pleaded, but the man only shook her off of him. She tumbled to the ground, watching in despair as the men locked the cell door, leaving Nico alone once again. She cursed loudly, running to the cell door and banging on it desperately. "Please!"

If her sister was taken by the bad men then eventually she'd leave her alone, too. She didn't want to be left alone, it'd be scary in the dark cell if she was by herself. She'd always had someone with her to reassure her; Veronica couldn't leave her like this.

Nico plopped downwards, watching her sister be dragged away helplessly. It's okay, Nico thought. She'll come back, eventually. I won't be alone again, this is all just temporary.

Veronica never came back.

______

Two hundred and fifty sheep...two hundred and fifty one sheep...two hundred and fifty three sheep...

Nico rolled over onto her back, grunting in frustration. She'd been trying to sleep for an hour, and counting sheep had been her last resort. She opened her eyes, glaring at the ceiling. The bad men haven't visited her cell in a while. Maybe they forgot about her?

Nico bristled at that thought. All of her siblings were probably in one cell together while Nico was still stuck here. She couldn't help but hope that someone would come to stop her from her utter boredom.

Following the days that her last sibling was stolen from her, Nico kept hoping that everything was a dream; that the next time she opened her eyes she'd awaken to her brother jumping on her bed and the soft melody of Amber playing the piano in the other room.

Nico sighed; that hope had died long ago...yet here it was resurfacing just because the bad men weren't visiting as often as they used to. Her hopes and dreams kept repeating in her mind like a broken record. It was driving her mad; it was better when she knew things were spiraling downwards. Flashes of the peaceful times with her family echoed in her mind. Back when everything was bright and happy as opposed to the dark and miserable atmosphere of her cell. Back when she didn't have to worry about a group of people tearing away her family, never to be seen again. Back when she'd laugh and cheer with her siblings instead of yelling or crying. Back when-

Stop. Thinking.

The door to her cell was violently slammed open, startling Nico out of her blank gaze towards the ceiling. She blinked and squinted her eyes away from the door, her eyes burning at the sudden light flooding the room.

"Get up, Subject 4-N. It's your turn."

Nico hardly had the time to adjust her eyes to the light before two faunus roughly lifted her by the shoulders and dragged her out of the cell. So they didn't forget about her, Nico thought as she was pulled down a labyrinth of hallways. She couldn't navigate her way back to her cell even if she tried, she'd lost track four turns ago.

Eventually, they made it to gray door. The men holding it opened the door. Nico peered inside, hoping to see her family residing there. Instead, she saw a white operating table with belts attached to it, and a metal cart with metallic instruments next to it. Nico shuddered, and immediately tried to bolt against the men holding her.

They held fast onto her arms, dragging her over onto the table despite the girl's struggling and screaming. She was forced onto the table, and strapped down. Nico whimpered in fear and tears pricked her emerald green eyes as she was left alone once again.

Seconds felt like millennia as Nico laid still on operating table. Her gaze occasionally turned over to the nearby cart of various sharp, metallic tools before anxiety got the best of her and forced her to glance away. The sound of the door opening caused Nico to jerk in her restraints. Nico's breath quickened rapidly as a Faunus in a lab coat walked excruciatingly slowly towards the cart of tools. The faunus meticulously picked up one of the tools as they covered their face with a surgical mask.

"Let's hope you don't end up as a another failure, hm?"

---

Kill. Kill. Kill.

Stop.

Nico kicked the wall in front of her repeatedly, a fierce expression on her features. Her foot ached from repeatedly hitting the wall, but Nico didn't care.

Get me out of here. I've been staring at the same wall for all this time... Nico knew nothing would change, but she needed to pretend that her kicking the wall was doing something. If she didn't, then Nico knew she'd slip further into insanity.

How long had she been here? Far too long. Veronica had disappeared from the cell so long ago, not that Nico had any concept of time. Everything just blurred together. Day after day of solitude, followed by a brief moment where she was strapped down to a table and hurt with those metal instruments. She had to train with a sword for a little bit, which entitled further abuse as Nico couldn't get it right. This discipline would get especially bad whenever she saw a tall man with colorful wings accompanied by a black haired girl with cat ears and a taller boy with black and red hair roaming around the training grounds. Then the cycle repeated, again and again.

Her now crimson eyes narrowed in fury as the wall remained solid, despite her kicking. She didn't know when those bad men would come back, but she hoped they never would. There had been a time where she had longed for some form of company, but now, Nico just preferred being alone. At the very least, it meant that she wasn't being tortured.

Of course, it was just her luck that the people with the masks came back now. Her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps, and Nico immediately pressed herself closer to the cell wall. She didn't want to be hurt again, not again...

The door opened, revealing two men with white masks covering their eyes. Nico whimpered, pushing herself up into the corner desperately in an futile attempt to escape. The masked man pulled her away from the wall forcefully, but Nico flung her arm out, smacking the man in the face. He snarled, releasing her momentarily.

Nico stumbled backward, expecting to feel the cold plaster of the wall behind her. Instead, she phased right through the wall, and found herself in an empty corridor. She glanced at herself in shock, her ears pinned against her head in fear. This was it. This was her time, she had to leave!

She could hear the panicked yells of the bad men, and Nico knew she needed to leave. She began to run away from the direction of their voices, running like she never had before. It had been so long since she had needed to use her legs in such a fashion; they ached furiously. Still, she had no choice if she wanted to escape.

She came face to face with a group of the bad men, led by someone with a long braid. Nico turned around fearfully, eyes widening in panic as the people chasing her enclosed. With her lack of options, Nico ran straight for the wall next to her.

She phased through the wall, landing on her stomach. She groaned out in pain, but she quickly got to her feet and began running again. Unsure of where to go, Nico ran straight to another wall.

She slammed into it, crumpling to the floor immediately and painfully. As she hazily picked herself off the ground, she heard the sounds of people running. Nico began to run again, holding her head in pain. She had to push herself.

She ran, only stopping when she reached a dead end. The men were coming, and they sounded angry. Nico shuddered, and then backed up slightly. She dashed straight for the wall, shutting her eyes in preparation for the impact.

Instead, she phased right through the wall. She let out a cry of relief, opening her eyes thankfully. There was a spear sticking out of the table, one whose point was dangerously close to Nico's stomach. She backed up cautiously, scanning her surroundings.

There were so many weapons around her. Guns, spears, swords, axes...Nico knew she needed to grab something. Hurriedly, she searched through a rack of swords, satisfied when she found a silver double edged sword with a golden hilt and a green handle.

Nico walked to the door cautiously, turning the handle. It was locked, but Nico merely phased right through the door. She was immensely tired just from running and disappearing constantly. As she quietly trudged through the hallway, trying to catch her breath, she could hear people coming for her. They were coming from what seemed like every direction..

Nico steeled herself and then began running once again, praying she wouldn't run into anyone. Unfortunately for her, two men stood in her way. Nico held her sword, using it just as that winged Faunus man had taught her.

She quickly charged up to them, slashing her sword furiously. A large mace swung toward the girl, but Nico rolled under it and kicked the man out of the way. She kept running, ignoring the people chasing after her. There was another wall in front of her. She hoped and prayed that she'd be able to make it through to the other side. If she couldn't, it was over. She'd be stuck here forever...

Nico charged, running straight toward the wall. A man lunged forward, ready to grab her arm as Nico dashed as fast as she could, squeezing her eyes shut as she hoped she could make it through.

Nico fell forward, phasing through the wall before tumbling onto the grass in front of her. Relief filled her entire being; she was out. Finally.

She had escaped the base.