TW: Kidnapping/torture

---X---

You'd lost sense of time ever since Kafka had kidnapped you, locking you up with chains that drained the power of the Aeons from your hands. Rendering you vulnerable to every word and beckon. 

"Looks like you're awake. Man, you look horrible." She spoke in a low smoky breath that dragged with every word. She let out a small laugh, leaning close to your ear with a cruel smile. 

"Bladie sure did a number on you, didn't he?" She pouted, feigning a small sliver of concern. 

You barely manage to keep your eyes open long enough to analyze her familiar half-lidded stare. The way her red lipstick outlined the thin smirk on her face. You find the strength to turn away from her, your defiance sets off Blade who cuts another wound into your bloodied back. You swore he was having fun with it, as each slash rolled over and cut into another. The will to slump down and cradle the floor is stopped by the sharp blades woven on the inside of your chains, holding you up. 

Her gaze softens, as she apathetically twirls a piece of your hair in her hands. "Don't worry, the sooner you give in, the sooner this pain is over with. I promise, in the end, you will remember nothing, but me." Her voice was horrifyingly comforting, leaving you with chills.

Kafka left, and you clench your teeth, feeling them grate against each other. Holding back the screams brought about by Blade's sword digging into your back. The last thing you remember before passing out is Silver wolf's smirk and the sensation of lightning burning through your body. 

As you lose consciousness, the images of a pink-haired girl, and black-haired boy fade into the recesses of your mind. 

---X---

"Morning Y/N~" Kafka hummed, greeting you with her usual ambiguous smirk. 

Continuing your regular routine, you begin pouring yourself a large cup of coffee, only to zone out enough to end up spilling most of it on the floor. 

"Nice." Blade huffs, putting his empty mug back on the counter. 

You hold your throbbing head and curse under your breath. The only thing you could remember being Kafka's voice, instructing you on your latest mission to infiltrate the Dyus-Prime in order to take their stellaron. It was a simple mission, but after Blade did the briefing, you found yourself unable to recall anything about the specifics. 

Sitting down on the rickety couch you found a strange image of a red velvet covered couch cornered in your mind. "Something the matter?" Kafka asked, her concern was overshadowed by the lack of empathy on her face. 

"It's nothing, I just- thought we had a red couch." You shook your head, knowing that it was insane, and yet such a vivid feeling. 

"You're probably just tired." Kafka leaned in, batting her eyelashes as she lifted you chin to meet your lips to her lips. She cornered you, shoving you into the couch. 

"The couch has always been grey." She gets up without another word. As she leaves, all the apprehension you had fades away, and so too did your headache. Your head felt much lighter, as if the weight of whatever you'd been thinking about had been removed. 

--X--

The mission began smoothly, the four of you rushing onto the heavily guarded Dyus-Prime fleet ship. Managing to swiftly evade detection and sneak into the most heavily guarded corner of the vessel, the next part of the mission was to- 

Was to.

"Y/N, what are you waiting for!?" Blade rushes you, digging a sword into the throat of a patrol officer who had nearly discovered them. 

"I don't-" You paused, unsure of what you even wanted to say. 

"Forget it." Silver wolf jumped in, completing the next part of the mission and retrieving the Stellaron, placing it in a tiny box and throwing it to Kafka. 

"Time to go." She raises her arms, shooting a hurricane of lead into the ceiling, and from it pours a horrible red. Ignoring your subconscious as it throbs -the screams, the hollering- in the back of your mind distract you from your escape. 

The four of you reach the extraction point, where the guards were positioned, waiting for your arrival. A barrage of fire is hurled at the four of you, unable to react in time, Kafka pulls you to the side, to her side. Though, as soon as she does, she shoves you away from her and counterattacks the guards. Her short moments of strange compassion leave you desperate, though, immediately shunned by her cold demeanor. 

"Go time Y/N." Kafka orders, throwing you out onto the battlefield right between the gunfire. You somehow are only hit once before The Abundance takes over, warping your body it absorbs the bullets. Although not technically hit, every bullet sure does leave a pretty big bruise in its wake. 

Just before you all can leave, The Abundance begins to fade as the throbbing pain numbs all sense of fight left in you. Stumbling to the ground, you barely pick yourself up, Kafka and Blade don't rush to your side, watching, as an array of frozen arrows shoot past your face. 

"Damn it." Kafka spat, immediately changing her tone as she takes a breath and raises her arms in defeat. Blade drops his sword and glares menacingly at the person responsible for the attack. Turning to the source of the arrows you stop dead in your tracks. Your headache coming to a head as the image of the pink-haired girl comes into view. 

She lowers her bow as a stream of tears well in her eyes. "Y/N!" She rushes to your side, just as you collapse onto your knees. You stare into Kafka's eyes as she narrows her gaze before turning from you, leaving you behind with the attackers who had just threatened her. 

---X---

Your memory is hazy as you wake up in an unfamiliar bed, certain that the color is wrong, and yet uncertain of what you remember. The only thing you're certain of is that Kafka would come for you. 

"Y/N?" The girl approaches you slowly, a hesitant smile on her face as she cautiously draws near. 

You don't react, staring blankly at the figure standing behind her, the one glaring daggers into your face. 

"Y/N do you remember me? Do you remember what Kafka did to you?" She asks, stretching a hand towards your shoulder. 

"Kafka saved me." You answer sternly, rejecting her advances towards you. She looks at you with pity, before quickly glancing at the boy behind her. 

"So, you don't know..." 

You raise a brow, demanding an answer. She reaches into her pocket and your heartbeat quickens, terror crawls into your mind, "I'll help you remember." Remember-

As she turns back to you, the baby pink in her irises meshes into a magenta hue, bringing her hand closer to your waist you flinch. "No!" You shout, shoving her down before she can hurt you. 

The moment you made a move you were thrown backwards harshly; the boy had thrown you into the wall behind you. Completely winded, the resurging pain in your back alerted the two of them, their eyes growing wide in fear as your white shirt begins to swell with blood and the stench of death.  

"We can't risk it anymore March, Y/N's too far gone." The boy stands his ground, a large lance pointed at your fallen form. 

You don't react, just like she taught you. 

Mimicking her half-lidded glare, they see it as hostility and lock you up in a conference room.

"We don't really have a prison cell, so welcome to our conference room." An older gentleman with light brown hair introduces. 

"Kafka's going to murder all of you." You spit, your nose scrunching upwards, the others in the room look mortified, you're shown why a split second after your threatening comment. 

'Kafka's gonna murder all of you!' You froze, it was certainly your voice, and from the projected image, it was also your face. The only difference between what the man had shown you was the fact that in the video it was someone else sitting before you, a woman with red hair. 

"What- What is the meaning of this?" You try to utter with conviction, but your voice betrays you. 

"You have said the same exact thing for a week straight. We decided to record it since that seemed to be the only way you would believe us." Too shocked to speak you sit there in a bitter silence. 

As you begin to doubt everything, a strong throbbing sensation overcomes you, "You're lying!" You try to get up and attack the man before you but as he whacks you on the side of the head with his cane you instantly lose consciousness. 

"Y/N~" Kafka's voice rings in your ear, in this dark place her face is the only thing you can see. You can recall the smell of her favorite perfume, like lavender and jasmine leaves, the way her lipstick curves slightly over her top lip, and her half-lidded stare. 

"Do you remember, me?" She asks, as your mind threatens to wipe itself out, you fight it. Certain that if you continue to let it clear your thoughts, this cycle won't end. 

"You will only remember me." Kafka's words echo, feeling her familiar touch on your skin, the leather gloves over her hands lift the exact same place on your chin. It draws you in, keeps you by her side, keeping your mind an empty slate for her to drill in her will.

"Give in-"

"No." You back away from her, terrified of seeing a dejected frown, but instead her cold and unfeeling gaze, locked onto your wavering form. As she looks up and down your body, she leaves a gloved hand on your shoulder, bringing you in to her grasp, she whispers in your ear. 

"You won't remember a thing except for me. That's the way it is, Y/N." She reaches into her pocket, the fear you remember strangles you, locking you in place. This time, you refuse to give into her temptation, no matter how much you want to. Backing away, running farther into the dark until you're swarmed by a bright white light. Entering the light, it jolts you awake with a large shock.

"Y/N?! Are you ok??" The girl named March 7th asks worriedly, you'd passed out from the extensive blood loss.

"Yes. Uh- thank you." You manage to choke out, ignoring the searing pain, as it was nowhere as devastating as the pain in your heart. Now certain that Kafka had been manipulating you, although you weren't certain how, the moment you awoke the splitting headaches you'd been experiencing ceased.

"No worries, let me know if you need anything ok?" She asks before leaving the room. As you stopped fighting the headaches, the familiarity of the room resurged, reminding you that this was in fact your room. 

"Oh, that's messed up." You whisper, picking up polaroid photos that the girl had left in your room for you to look at. In it, a bunch of blurry photos of you in the background of her shots. 

Though the one that tore at your heart, and broke your trust in Kafka, was the only memory that had come back to you. The day you had first joined the Express, March had taken a photo to commemorate the event of you joining. A single tear managed to make its way onto the page before you ignored the feeling and steeled your gaze. 

Back in the conference room you brought the photo with you, holding onto it as you agreed to perform a cognitive interview to hopefully uncover your memories. "I'm ready." 

"Think back to the earliest day you can remember and describe it to me." Welt begins, opening up his palms for you to place yours on top of. You place the back of your hands above his and the two of you close your eyes. You remember him, only slightly, Welt Yang. 

"I am inside the Stellaron hunter headquarters- we're preparing a raid on the Dyus-Prime." You recall, ending the memory due to a sharp unceasing pain. 

"Further back, think about the earliest memory you have." He prods, supporting your hands as they become increasingly heavy. 

"I- don't know. It's just dark." You answer, unwilling to go any further. 

"Just keep looking, there is a mental block that is preventing you from accessing certain memories. Let it through and keep going, if you need to stop, just let me know." He consoles you, reassuring you, something Kafka would laugh at the thought of.

You take a deep breath and continue in the darkness, no matter how much it perturbed you, and the visage of Kafka lingered in the darkness you kept going. Walking further into the recesses of your mind, you find it. The place you'd kept buried, the things that Kafka wanted you to forget, the torture she put you through to ensure that no matter what you did, you would only remember her. 

"I'm in the dark, Blade stands behind me, Kafka in front of me, Silver to my right and- someone to my left." You start, knowing it would take a long time to even begin to recognize that fourth person, because of all the things Kafka wanted you to forget, that was the most important.

Welt lets you continue without persuasion, and so you continue, "The base of the floor is a dark marble. Kafka is the only one who speaks, as she repeats the same question over and over." 

"Do you remember me?" You lift your hands off of Welt's and clasp them shut to stop the shaking. Standing up and subconsciously placing your back against the wall. 

---X---

The Astral Express releases an official galactic issue for Kafka's immediate capture. Hoping that keeping her locked down will provide you with a sliver of peace of mind. 

Every night, as you dream, it's her eyes. The feeling of her hair, and the smell of her perfume, constantly drawing you into her. You know how the dream ends, with her stabbing something into your neck, repeating the same chilling question. Though as the days continue you work through the mental blockage, although every morning you're back to square one, March and Dan Heng do everything they can to help you remember. Remember who you are, not who Kafka turned you into. 

Though, you know, as you dream. As her sirens call beckons you to that dark corner, she manipulates your will to leave. You should hate her for it- and yet- 

You only want to see her again. 

---X---

A/N: I've based this off of the introductory cut scene where the trailblazer first sees Kafka. Since there was a dialogue option for her name before we even know it, I assume that there is a history between her and the MC. Since everyone compares Kafka to Makima I thought it was kind of fitting for her to use her charms to manipulate MC into not only forgetting but even wanting to forget. 

Thank you for reading!