Warning: Torture. Language. It's just not pretty.

AN: More stuff from Tumblr. I'm gonna be uploading stuff from there on here (not the actual rp's, but the drabbles like this that I've written) in the future. If you want to follow, the url is queenbitchofedolas. Enjoy~

The dungeon was cold, causing Erza's breath to fog in front of her as the soldier strode down the hallway. On with side of her, prisoners called out for mercy, but she paid them no mind, already focused on the job at hand. The brave few, the newer souls who still had hope of escape, reached out to grab at the scarlet-maned girl, but their hands were beaten back by the guards that flanked her. Their job was to assist her in the task few could withstand witnessing.

Only the infamous Ice Bitch of Edolas could do this time and time again.

Pausing outside a door at the end of the hall, Erza glanced up at the soldier on her right. "Is everything I requested prepared?" He nodded, bowing his head to the teenager who outranked both him and his comrade. "Yes, Captain Knightwalker. Everything is as you requested. The prisoner is waiting as well." Her only reaction was a curt nod before turning back to the door. It was time to get some answers.

Entering the room, Erza glanced around coldly, taking in the sight of where she did what her king needed done. After all, not all work of a soldier was pretty, and the general public did not need to know about what went on in this room. An array of knives was laid out on the table, with a candle adding to the light. In th middle of the far wall, a green-haired male was chained to the stone, his arms spread and legs affixed just far enough so he was forced to remain sitting. It was clear that he hadn't been eating well, but that was all to Erza's benefit. After all, he wasn't meant to live.

"Wake him up," she ordered, making her way to the table to remove the armor that covered her arms. Ignoring the yelps of pain as her assistants for the day kicked their target, she replaced them with leather gauntlets, for ease handling the knives. Only once that was done did she even glance at her victim. "Remove his shirt."

"Gonna do the same, little chit?" the assassin sneered, looking her up and down as one of the other soldiers tore off the thin shirt he had been wearing. "I know yer type, fuckin' whore for the bastards up top. Pathetic." As she crouched before him, setting the candle down and holding a knife in the flame, he spat at her, hitting her cheek. Only now did Erza turn the full attention of her brown gaze on him.

Wiping the spittle off, the teenage girl took the hot blade and slid the tip down his cheek, deep enough to leave a mark, yet with the heat cauterizing the wound so the blood loss was minimal. "You are charged with an attempt on the life of King Faust," she stated calmly, as if she wasn't holding a live blade. "The punishment is death. That punishment has been handed over to me, and can be as painful as I choose." Full lips curved in a cold smirk. "And I am not a kind person, as I'm sure you can tell by your treatment so far." After all, she had ordered that he be deprived of a good night's sleep, and fed once every three days.

That was a month ago.

Now, the eighteen-year-old was ready for some answers to her questions. "Now, your death is unavoidable, but you can make it swift, and relatively painless. That is, if you give me the answers I need. If not…" She sighed, almost lazily drawing the sterilized blade down his bare chest. "Well, there will be more and more pain. Your death will be slow, and you will end up begging for me to kill you.

So I suggest you tell me who sent you." That was what she needed, what her king needed to know. The attempt on his life was not even remotely successful, thanks to the superior magical weapons they possessed, but paranoia was beginning to set in. So security had been heightened, and the Fairy Hunter summoned to deal with the assassin.

Magic could've been used to get the answers Erza wanted, but she had always preferred the finesse that old-fashioned techniques provided when it came to torture. Which was why she maimed, starved, and deprived her victims of what they needed to live. The first day rarely got what she desired, but in this, the youngest army captain in years knew to be patient. Eventually they all caved.

It took a week and a half for Erza to get a name from the assassin, but when she checked it out, she could find no proof. That lost her victim a finger. The next two names had the same punishment. Finally, after two months of malnutrition, sleep deprivation, and varying degrees of disfigurement, Erza got a name she recognized. "Sol. Sol of Phantom. He paid me. Please, just kill me already. It was him." The name was one on a list of former guilds and their members, Erza knew, and Sol had been a businessman as well. Sadly, he had gone into hiding recently, which only looked more and more like he was behind it.

Ignoring the pleading man before her, she stood, turning on her heel. "Kill him," the Fairy Hunter commanded, setting the torture device designed to remove her victim's nails by force on the table. Her armor was returned, and Erza left the room for the last time.

Until there was another that needed her delicate touch, that is.