An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I was gonna wait however bc I’m going to Supanova today I also wanted to show some love for my bby girl!!!! I have chapters 9 to 11 written and am currently going through 12, so wish me luck! :D
So you may have already noticed that this is part one. So um. Yeah. This is already really long so I had to split it into two parts. The second one should be up within the week. Continued from here. If you’re new, start here!
Tag list (ask to be added or removed): @whumpallday, @stxck-fxck, @thatsthewhump, @unsung-sympathy, @terriblethrillssss, @insanitywishes, @woodenhoneybee, @whale-whumps
Content warnings: lady whump (there will be guy whump too if that’s not your speed, more next part though), descriptions of a near panic attack, burning with candlewax
Last of the notes: a huge shoutout to @shameless-whumper who requested the premise I used for this piece and the next, and @card-games-and-pain for this post which I used a slightly modified version of in these pieces. Big creds to you guys for providing my creativity some sustenance.
She woke up slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes and wincing at a voice above her, gradually floating into her ears.
“...can’t just skip you; up and at ‘em now, Gemma!”
“Who th’hell’s Gemma? ‘m I lost? I‘ve never known anyone with th’name Gemma…” she slurs, sleep laden tongue stumbling over the words. Her hands pushed her to sit up, forcing her to look at the person staring into the cage at her.
“There you go, nice and awake. And you’re Gemma, obviously.” Zoran tilted their head in a coy smile as if it had been her name all along.
“Gemma, that’s not even right… aren’t I supposed to be Gemini? I mean, you used the full Zodiac names for everyone else and I think you called me Gemini so I just assumed...” Gemma hung her head slightly. Saying this kind of thing was exactly what would get her on their bad side, but it would be easier to make the best of it later if she knew what they wanted.
“Oh, but I couldn’t very well call you both Gemini, could I?”
The words took a few seconds to settle in. And then her heart plummeted.
“Wh-what do you mean both?!” There were a million scenarios and theories to panic about in her head, filling it up and drowning her consciousness as her body shut down. Her gut instinct was yelling and trying to warn her, but she couldn’t hear it over the roaring waves.
“Yeah! I split it instead: you’re Gemma and he’s Nye!” They gesture at nothing, face falling for a second, “ ...oh that’s right, I almost forgot I didn’t reintroduce the two of you. Nye, get in here! Take her out for me, could you?” Short hair and dark skin came walking in, expression blank as he bent down with a ring of keys in his hands and Gemma gasped in a horrible, shaking sob.
“Brice! Oh god, Brice did they… why?! What did you- what are you doing to him?!” Gemma’s heart pounded at the sight of her twin brother--oh fuck they took her brother too what the hell what the helI--and he didn’t even look up to see the tears rolling down Gemma’s face and the hand clamped over her mouth to quiet her pathetic sobs.
“It’s wonderful how a Gemini breaks, isn’t it?” Zoran comments, not caring to address her distress. “That inherent need to learn and improve put to good use, huh? What a pity it would be to see you go the same way.”
“Don’t-” and sobbed silently, horrified that her first thought was ‘don’t do to me whatever you already did to him,’ “Please, just please let us go…”
“Leaving so soon?” they gasped dramatically, and Nye finally got the cage open. He dragged his sister out with a firm grip on her arm and held her still, facing Zoran. “I had to work so hard to find the perfect pair of Gemini twins! You have to stay for the rest of the party at least, watch everyone else’s turns, and, well, I haven’t even decided what to do with you lot after that!” They laughed like it was funny.
“Brice,” Gemma gave up on them, turning back to her brother with teary eyes, “why are you doing this? Please, let me go; whatever they offered or did to you isn’t worth it. I promise.” Nye twitched at that and she swore she saw just a hint of conflict in his expression. Not all was lost.
“Your brother Nye and I have an arrangement and, contrary to your belief, it is very much worth his while to comply with me. It’d be a shame if I had to-”
“No,” It was a husky, haunted whisper that first escaped Nye’s lips. “Please, don’t…”
“Oh, well if you insist,” Zoran sighed, “Nye, fetch the table I had you bring down. I trust you know well enough not to run by this point, Gemma. You’re not as thick skulled as a few other people here.” Pointedly, they glanced over at Taurus whose eyes glimmered dully with hurt at the comment.
Gemma stood complacently with hands held behind her back, eyes following her brother as he left the room. Nye came back just seconds later, locking the door behind himself, and wheeling in a long metal table that nearly had her passing out at the sight of it. Torture implements of all types and sizes were laid out in neat rows just begging to inflict pain on an unlucky victim. Amidst the knives, bottles, and syringes she recognized were countless mechanisms she didn’t even want to place, as well as everyday household objects strewn about.
She couldn’t even comprehend why or how all of this would be used on her and she was trembling uncontrollably and unseeingly when a hand clamped on her shoulder, pulling a flinch and coaxing her head up. Zoran stared, a fond smile spread over his lips, and wordlessly pulled her forward towards the table.
Gemma suppressed the urge to swat the hand away, or run, or crawl back in that awful, degrading cage to get away. She walked at the guidance of Zoran’s hand, and knelt when it pushed her down, holding hands still when a length of rope pulled them behind her back, and then her ankles just a minute later.
When a length of cloth came around her head as a blindfold, she leaned ever so slightly into it. Then the room was silent until she heard something akin to… the shuffling of cards?
“Nye, you and I are going to play a game,” they started, no room in the statement for refusal, “and Gemma is going to be a good pawn for us. The rules are simple, so pay attention because I’m not repeating them.
“We will draw cards one at a time. Whoever pulls the card must first read it aloud and then perform the listed action on Gemma or, because I’m merciful, you may forfeit and I’ll turn the card’s command on you instead. That card will then not count towards your full six cards. When both of us hit that card total of six, the game is over. Clear?”
“C-crystal,” Nye’s voice cracked around the word.
“And one more thing. To be sure this is as fair as possible, I’ve elected to include a mediator. Take Libra from his cage, Nye, and tie him down over there. Just the hands should work fine.”
At the mention of his sign, Libra went stock still. Some other captives were arguing, trying to protect him, but he couldn’t hear as he felt every muscle in his body locking up and panic coming on quicker than he could quell its effects. Nye’s tall, lean silhouette loomed over him and he squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t prepared for this. He would never have been prepared for this. He knew it was coming, but he thought he had a few days to collect himself--
“Libra, hey, can you look at me?” A hand holding his chin gently and a soft voice talking to him parted the impenetrable fog just for a second. “Where are you right now?”
He tried to think, but around wheezing breaths and shaky limbs it was impossible. Libra muttered something that got another response out of the voice.
“Listen to me, try to breathe. You’re, ah, you’re locked up in the basement where you’ve been for a few days. You know, the grey stone and cage, dim lights, all that. Smells a bit like mildew. Don’t worry, you’re not going to be hurt right now. This won’t be hard if you follow their instructions.”
The descriptions helped a bit, and he drew himself back to reality with them, pushing the fog and panic away to the back of his mind in favor of paying attention and following instructions right now.
“I- yeah, I ca-can, I can breathe I’m oh-okay,” he muttered, short of breath. Inhaling slowly, he counted out measured gasps as Nye pulled him out. Shaking legs carried him unsteadily to the loop in the floor where Libra was tied tightly, hands in front between his knees, so he couldn’t escape.
“Libra.” Zoran’s voice was sharp enough to cut, and he snapped his gaze up, wobbling with the lasting effects of his near panic attack. “You will be our mediator for obvious reasons. I trust you to have the values of fairness on your side as your sign should, because you know you’ll pay dearly for any deviance or bias. I’ll ask your opinion if I want it, and otherwise you’re to stay as a silent, close observer. Yes?”
“Y-yes.”
“Alright! The boring shit’s out of the way, so let’s get this show on the road!” Zoran’s expression split into a blinding grin, faux professionalism of earlier all driven away by the immediate promise of pure, unadulterated fun. “I’ll take the first turn.”
The room held its breath as they took the first card from the deck, reading it slowly over in their head before revealing it to everyone else.
“Drip hot wax on them.” They enunciated each word with pure ecstasy, “Starting things off with a bang, I see.”
At their feet as they lit a candle furnace, Gemma bit her lip in anticipation. Surely melted wax couldn’t hurt all too badly, she rationalized. She’d burnt herself on a candle before and it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. She could handle this.
Above, Nye watched on as Zoran melted what looked to be pieces of a candle. It melded into liquid in a basin above the flame, turning translucent and nearly sparkling as it stirred under the lights. It was tantalizing and sickening at the same time to know it would be poured over his sister’s skin, burning and burning until… he didn’t even know what would happen.
Zoran slipped a glove on one hand to protect him from the heat and flicked out a knife to slice open the back of her shirt, thankfully leaving her underclothing intact, and reached back for the melted wax. Gemma trembled under their hand that pulled the t-shirt apart, pushing hard on a shoulder to make her bend further over her knees.
When the wax hit, it felt cold for a few lovely seconds before the nerves buzzing under her skin caught on fire. In a blink, it was searing and pulling at her as it dripped and spread further like a parasite. It was melting her skin, starting at her shoulders, the liquid left of it dripping further and further down her stripped bones and muscles and hardening again, bonding like a shell that protected her from the relief she so desperately craved.
Her teeth were clenched with such force that she feared she would break them as she whimpered and moaned at sluggish agony that felt no better even minutes after most of the wax had dried.
The hand on her shoulder pulled her to sit back up, and at the movement Gemma felt the wax adjusting and cracking, reforming itself and shifting across its own burns. The blindfold was already soaked with tears but that didn’t keep her from crying all over again.
“Your turn, Nye,” Zoran turned to him and gestured to the stack of cards. Hand shaking, he drew one and flipped it over, breath already caught in his throat.
“Shut… shut them up,” he read, brow furrowing, “and it has a question mark on it.”
“That means you have a choice. You either find some way to ‘shut her up’ using whatever you can find on the table,” they gestured to Gemma, whose harsh breaths were still echoing through the room, “or I find a way to silence you. Your choice.”
“I-I can do it to her,” Nye muttered, walking closer to the table he’d brought in. He could do this painlessly, some way or another. His hand ghosted over a few things on the table, shivering and flinching away from others that he hoped he’d never see used. Or worse, he contemplated breathlessly, have to use himself.
Slowly, carefully, he settled on something. He felt bile rise in his throat at the thought of strapping it on his own sister, but it could be useful to her long term. Something to bite down on for the pain… something to help block screams so it was less humiliating…
Grimacing, Nye picked up the muzzle, all leather facepiece and straps with a metal bit, and carried it carefully over to where his sister was kneeling.
“Wow, didn’t take you for that kind, Nye,” Zoran commented with a giggle, “just don’t forget our deal about talking to her.” The man in question fixed them with a fragile glare before turning back to Gemma, putting a gentle hand on her jaw. Slowly, he coaxed it open and met her lips with the metal bit, sliding it in to the back of her mouth.
It pressed down on her tongue and Gemma nearly gagged on it with how far back it reached. She held still as her brother figured out how to fasten and tighten the straps, pulling them only tight enough to keep the muzzle snugly on her face. She wasn’t upset with him, she reassured herself. He had no choice in what he was doing and there were a million worse avenues that prompt could have taken them down.
When he stood and walked back away from her, she tested the give on the muzzle, working her jaw and finding she could hardly open it. But the metal gave her something other than her own teeth to bite down on. She just prayed it wouldn’t come that far even though she knew, deep down, that it already had.
(BIG WARNING: If you’re not comfortable with the LGBTQ+ community, you’re sure as hell not going to be comfortable with this, or my blog, and it’s a good idea to unfollow me now. Shapeshifting/Genderbending character ahead, and mild description of such. Second warning for a description of a panic attack.)
Rey stretches out in the bed, waking up to the sound of voices down the hall. Rey just lets out a happy hum, turning their face into their pillow to sleep a little more.
“Rey, wake up, kiddo. Breakfast is ready.” Meili knock on Rey’s door, earning a sleepy grumble from the brunette.
“Be down inna mint.” Rey mumbles from the pillow, pouting when Meili turns on the light.
Meili chuckles and pushes the door open fully, “Alright, kiddo. We’ve got dumplings this morning.”
“Yummy.” Rey’s eyes open slowly, adjusting to the light, as Meili heads out of the room.
Rey runs a hand down their face, feeling a little different than normal. They roll onto their back, then sit up, letting out a yawn. Rey smiles when Jupiter trots in, the little black cat jumping up on the bed and meowing at Rey.
“Hey kitty cat.” Rey reaches over and pets him, leaning down to press a kiss to his head, before noticing something weird. Their chest feels different.
Rey scrunches their nose, and reaches up to grab their boobs. They freak out when they feel nothing there, darting for the bathroom, and tripping on the way there, tangled up in the blankets.
Rey finally makes it into the bathroom, squeaking at their body in the mirror. He immediately makes a mental change to his pronouns, “This is so fucking weird.”
He settles down against the counter, closing his eyes for a moment. The change doesn’t feel wrong. In fact, it feels very right. He’s always had an off and on relationship with his gender, but if it’s manifesting like this, then that’s got to be a sign of something.
He raises his face to look in the mirror again, studying it with an intense curiosity. His jawline made a subtle change, less rounded than normal. His hair didn’t change at all, but then again Rebel’s and Eliott’s hair doesn’t change either. One of his eyes looks a little different compared to the other, little specks of blue developing in the brown. The other eye looks completely normal.
The biggest difference is his change in genitalia, and lack of boobs, not like he had much to speak of. The lack of boobs is actually a relief, but the other part is going to take a little getting used to.
He comes out of the bathroom, after using it, a weird experience in itself, and runs a hand through his hair.
“Rey, you better not have gone back to bed!” Mona calls out from the hallway, her footsteps getting closer to his room.
He has no clue how he’s going to deal with this today. How will the other’s react? He looks over at his clothes, scrunching his nose. He could wear a skirt and an oversized shirt today, it should hide the change well enough, then maybe he won’t have to tell them just yet.
“Um, are you okay?” Mona leans in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at him, “Everyone else is already downstairs.”
Rey looks back at her, before making a high pitched noise, like a whine, “I’m not okay! I have no clue how to handle this.”
He gestures to himself, before tugging at his hair, his eyes darting around the room.
Mona blinks and pushes herself up from the doorway, “Oh. Okay, cool. We need to go downstairs then. Eliott will know how to help.”
Rey goes full panic at that, shaking his head insistently, “Nope, can’t do that. Nope. I can’t. Please, don’t make me do that.”
“Woah, Rey, please calm down. You’re okay. Should I get Rebel instead?” Mona steps forward, extremely concerned when Rey starts shaking, his eyes overflowing with tears.
Rey collapses on the ground, pushing himself to a wall and shaking his head again, “I-I can’t. Please, don’t make me tell anyone.”
“You’re okay.” Priti manifests next to him, gently whispering into his ear and calming him down a little bit, “No one’s going to judge you. No one’s going to hurt you. You’re safe.”
Rey curls in on himself, bursting out in tears, “Priti, what’s going on?”
Priti opens her arms for him, Rey settling right into them, “Oh, sweetie. Your magic is finally filtering in. It’s just manifesting the way you feel, and you feel more masculine today, right?”
Rey closes his eyes, nodding his head, “I guess so. I just woke up, but it feels right.”
Priti kisses the top of his head, “Good, and the others aren’t going to be upset with you, you know that, right?”
“I know, but I’m still terrified.” Rey rubs his eyes, feeling a new set of tears spring up, though the tightness in his chest is subsiding a little.
“That’s okay. It’s still new, but it’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.” Priti strokes his shoulder, emitting a gentle calming spell, “You know Rebel, Angel, and Eliott do the same thing, right?”
“Y-yeah.” Rey tugs at his hair, “I know. I just- People knowing isn’t normal for me. This is the kinda thing I’d usually hide from people.”
He hears someone suck in a breath from the doorway, looking up to see Eliott hanging at the entrance to the room. Eliott offers him a worried smile, coming over and settling down in front of him, “Hey, kiddo. Mona told me what’s going on. How are you doing?”
Rey tucks back against Priti on instinct, the redheaded girl rubbing his back to calm him. He has to force himself to relax, eyeing Eliott warily, “I’m, um, well, I don’t know.”
Eliott settles his hands in his lap, sighing softly, “Well, that’s okay. Do you need some different clothes? I know you’ve got some jeans, but those probably won’t be a comfortable fit now. We can get you some new shirts too. It looks like your shoulders got a little broader with the change.”
Rey awkwardly fiddles with his necklace, nodding his head, “Th-that would be nice. Some different underwear would be good too. This, um, doesn’t fit?”
Eliott chuckles at that, reaching out to ruffle Rey’s hair, “Yeah, I can definitely get you that. Are you going to be okay going to school today, or would you like to stay home?”
Rey looks up at him, his eyes getting a bit bigger, “You’d let me do that?”
“Yeah. You seem like you might need a little bit to get used to this, and we need to get you new clothes anyway.” Eliott smiles, as he watches the anxiety in Rey’s aura decreasing steadily, “You can hang out in the shop with me, since everyone else will be out.”
“I would very much like that. Thank you.”
Eliott smiles at that, leaning forward to kiss his forehead, before getting up, “Alright, now that we’ve got that settled, let’s go ask the twins if they’ve got a pair of underwear you can have.”
