Chapter Fifty-Three: No Matter What

                                    

                                          
A/N: I'm back!! Just moved into a new house and started school again so it's been a bit crazy. Moving forward I will not be updating as much as I had been previously but I will try for 2-3 times a week. 
                          
"Is the bitch ready to play?" Lytton's voice sounded. How many more times would I have to listen to the sickening bastard before I somehow made it out of here. I had lost count of how many days had passed as I continued to lose consciousness over and over again. 

                          
"We think she's awake, but she's too-"
                          
"Great!" Lytton exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The sound of the cell door's creaking filled my ears before my body was lifted from the ground. My vision was blurry from the lack of food, but I didn't need to see in order to know where I was going. 
                          
Cold metal stung my raw wrists and ankles as I was chained to a chair made out of rusted metal. It wasn't what I would consider comfortable, but it was better than the floor. 
                          
"We're going to have a lot of fun today Callista. Are you excited?" Lytton asked, yanking my chin upward. 
                          
"Hawk-ptui"
                          
"You disgusting bitch!" He screamed, one hand connecting with my cheek while the other wiped my spit off of his face. 
                          
I didn't even flinch. 
                          
A slap was nothing compared to the amount of pain I had endured since I had been captured. Lytton had ordered his men to beat me, attack me with magic, and use Cynth ore to draw out my life mana. While he had been instructed to find a way to make my abilities to control life mana useful, I was sure that half of what he had done to me was out of pure spite.
                          
What these idiots failed to figure out was that there was no way they would be able to manipulate my life mana because my mana was no different than any other person's life mana. The ability to manipulate my life mana came from my strong connection to my soul and past life, so all they were doing right now were waisting their resources as they slowly killed me. Yeah, it sounded bad, but that was my reality right now. But don't worry, there was no way I was going to let that sick bastard kill me.  
                          
The one good thing that had come from their experiments was the fact that I passed out so easily. When I was first captured they had kept kept a cuff made out of Cynth ore on my ankle at all times. However, they soon realized that I could barely stay conscious when in contact with Cynth ore, so they limited my interactions with the metal to their experiments, or how Lytton liked to call it, 'play time.' 
                          
After another session of beatings and attacks I lost consciousness. However, as my vision blurred, I didn't fail to see the strange cloaked figure who had come to pay me a visit every once in a while. While I had no idea who they were, I knew that they were powerful. If the prideful Nicholas Lytton treated them with respect, then they were most likely someone with the title of marquess or higher. Whoever they were, I was going to end them.
                          
When I woke up in my cell, the guards were chatting about random shit that had nothing to do with me. While they were distracted, I dragged the side of my sell. Since I had been here, the two magical beasts who were previously with me had passed away and were replaced with two other creatures. The phoenix in the cell beside me was the only other beast that had been here since I was captured and because of that I had started to feel attached. 
                          
I'm not sure if it was because I was a fire mage or just really good with birds, but the phoenix had taken a liking to me as well. Whenever I could, I dragged my body over to lean against the metal bars that separated me from the Phoenix. Each time I did so, the phoenix would leave it's corner and lean against the bar as well so that I could feel it's soft feathers. Unlike how it was portrayed in movies from my previous life, the Phoenix in this world was huge. It was probably two or three times my size with feathers almost as big as my hand. Magnificent red, orange, and golden feathers adorned the creature's body, and even though the phoenix was now covered in dirt and wounds, it was still one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.