Shapard🐆

Your bare feet moved over the warped wood floor. Glass shards lay scattered like fallen stars, but they weren’t remnants of the tragedy with your mother.

No.

This glass was newer. It was the debris of a life left fending for itself.

You had been left behind. 

Mother dead.

Father gone.

Or so you had prayed in the quiet, shivering nights. 

But the man you called your father always found his way home. He had come back to shatter the already cracked glass of your existence.

“You’re a disgrace! Fucking bitch of a daughter!”

The memory hit you so hard you could almost feel the phantom grip on your hair. You felt your small, bony body being dragged across the floorboards, the old wood groaning, splinters digging like needles into your thighs and stomach.

“Pa-“

“Don’t fucking call time Papa!”

He swung you. Your body hit the wall with a sickening, wet thud. You spat blood, the copper taste filling your mouth, painting your teeth. Everything hurt.

Your ribs, your head, but the deepest ache was in your soul, the part of you that still wanted him to stop, to look at you with something other than loathing. 

“What-“

Before the question could leave lips, his hand clamped around your throat. His fingers were like iron bands, squeezing until your vision began to spark with black stars. His breath, sour and hot, trickled over your face as tears and blood began to mix, creating a gruesome mask on your skin.

“I don’t want to hear your voice ever again,” he hissed. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, reflecting madness that had no room for mercy. “You know what?”

A sharp click echoed in the small room.

A silver reflection from the dim light shot into your eyes, blinding you for a heartbeat. Your pupils blown wide, you saw the rusted edge pf the blade.

“You’re never going to be able to sing or talk again.”

He there you onto the kitchen table. The leftovers of the last bits of food-moldy bread and congealed grease-smeared against your back. Cutlery fug into your soft, unformed skin.

You tried to scream, but it came out as a gurgled, pathetic whimper. The last thing you saw before the world turned into a nightmare was him leaning over you, the knife poised.

Then, he pressed it in.

He didn’t just cut. He dug.

You felt the cold steel slide past your skin, slicing into the delicate muscle of your neck. It was messy, frantic search. You could hear the wet, squelching sound of the blade working inside of you, carving through the only thing you had left.

Searching, Removing.

The vocal cords, the last thing that connected you to your mother’s soft lullabies, were bing ripped out of you.

You couldn’t scream anymore. The sound was trapped in a throat filling with its own heat. All you could feel was the agonizing fire and the heavy, slow-motion decent into the dark.

This is how I’m going ti die, you thought, your small hands feebly clawing at the table as your life leaked out onto the wood.

Just like Mom.

In this house you thought was home, the only thing left was the silence he had carved into you.

The world was a hazy smear of a grey and charcoal. You didn't know if your eyes were actually open or it your brain was simply projecting the last shadows it remembered before the light went out. You couldn’t feel your limps.

You were just a floating consciousness tethered to a throat that felt like it had been swallowed by a volcano.

Was this the afterlife? If so, it was colder and louder than you expected.

“That’s impressive she’s still alive.”

The voice didn’t belong to your father. It was heavy, metallic, and devoid of the frantic rage you had grown used to. The sound of heavy boots crunched against the wood and glass, vibrating through the floorboard and into your skull.

“I thought you killed her off.”

A muffled, panicked shout erupted from the other side of the room. It was your father, but he sound was strained, choked off. You heard the desperate scuffle of his feet, the sound of a man struggling against a grip that was far stringer than his own. The “Reaper” of your childhood was being handled like a disobedient animal by these intruders.

“It’s our lucky day,” the voice continued, closer now. You could feel a presence looming over you, blotting out what little light remained in the room. “Knock him out.”

A dull thud followed, the sound of a heavy blow meeting some, and then the house fell into a new, terrifying kind of silence. Your father’s heavy breathing was gone.

Shadow moved in your peripheral vision. A gloved hand reached down, fingers ghosting near the ruin of your neck. You wanted to flinch, to scream, to crawl into the floorboards and disappear, but your body was a broken vessel. You could only lie there, staring up at the ceiling as anew face entered your blurred line of sight.

“I’m gonna make you perfect.”

You took a deep breath, the air in your lungs feeling thin and bitter. For a fleeting, desperate second, you thought of Enjin. You thought of the way his golden eyes had softened just enough to make you believe in a different life. You debated if this returning to the source of the rot, was the right choice.

But it was already too late for a second guesses. The silence of the house had already swallowed you whole.

“I knew you’d come back.”

The voice didn’t come from a memory. It was real, vibrating through the floorboards and making the mechanical instrument in your throat hum in a terrified, involuntary harmony.

You froze, your teeth sinking into the inner side of your cheek until the copped taste of blood flooded your tongue. Slowly, you turned toward the darkest corner of the room, where the shadows seemed to bleed together into a tall, familiar silhouette.

“With what of I owe the pleasure, Zodyl?”

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Not edited, but by proofreading I saw a few typos. I'm going to fix them when I'm done with the story!

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That is madness

HAHAHAHAHAHHAAH

Riyo followed with uneasy, heavy steps. Each pace felt like dragging her feet through thick, freezing sludge. Her face stoic and cold, while her red hair bobbed behind her, meanwhile her mind was a chaotic rush of why’s.

Beneath the confusion was a terrible, s harp ache in her heart. It was the stinging weight of betrayal.

The kind wiz only feel when you’re left behind by someone you’ve actually started to care about, or even love. 

Someone you thought was finally one of your own.

Who understood your pain.

Even though it only had been couple weeks.

But it was days that didn’t felt like being trapped in water, not able to get out.

When they reacher the room, and the silence met them was louder than any scream.

The bed was long cold. The sheets were roughly pulled back, revealing a hollow space where a body had been just an hour before. 

The monitors were still on.

“But why would she-“ Amo’s voice broke. Riyo whipped around, glaring at Amo with a harsh, lethal look that hid the glass-sharp pain in her eyes. “She left, Amo. She really left.”

Amo didn’t say anything. He just looked at the empty glass of water on the nightstand, her expression unreadable, but her shoulders were tighter than ever. 

This wasn’t just a runaway.

This was a breach.

“Riyo, we have to find her, before they do.”

****

The HQ was turning into pure havoc.

Arguments and accusations were filling the room, everything was tense and for the first time the Cleaners were divided.

The peace was destroyed only because of sone single person, you. 

For some it seems, like you tried killing them all. After the contract, you had taken dealing, safety, and the protection of the Cleaners and thrown it back in their faces.

Corvus was tapping on his scalp as a vein almost popped on his forehead. The Situation turned out worse than he had expected. And he needs to find a solution very fast.

And the Man who is supposed to be responsible for Team Akuta?

And the root of all that evil?

He was nowhere to be found.

Enjin hadn’t been back for a while. The leader of one the most eccentric team in the Cleaners was missing in action, and the air felt thinner because of it. Without him there to distract Zanka or keep Rudo in check, the tension in the common rooms was rising to a boiling point.

And Amo and Riyo?

They both were silent. But one was cold deep water that was waiting to pull you into its depth. 

This was not good. They were planning something.

Enjin was out there, drinking, partying or hooking up. “Semiu.” His chilling voice silenced the room. “Call Enjin and bring him back.”

***

In a dimly bar miles away from the polished halls of the HQ, the golden orbs that usually looked at the world with a laid-back confidence were clouded, staring at the bottom of a whiskey glass. 

The ice clinked against the rim as he tilted it back, the liquid burning a path down his throat that matched the heat in his chest.

He wasn’t doing his job. Wasn’t visiting his Siren. He was just drinking and not coming to the HQ at all. 

The cigarette in his hand burned down to the filter, the smoke curling around his tattoos like a suffocating ghost. He knew, he should goo back. 

Back to you. 

Because if one thing he learned these days is that you actually mean something to him. And goddamn he misses you. 

He saw the way you looked in that hospital bed. 

Fragile, broken, and silent. And he saw the empty space you left behind in his heart when you couldn’t annoy him. 

“Stupid,” he muttered, his voice gravelly and thick with drink. He wasn’t sure if he was talking about you or the fact that he actually gave a damn.

Enjin Blamed himself for everything that happened to you. 

His choker was buzzing with missed “calls”. Enjin took a deep breath in before he accepted the reach out.

“Enjin, She’s gone. We need you ASAP!”

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Canvas City never really slept. Even in the late hours, the neon signs buzzed softly and the distant sound of metal spray cans rustling and applying new layers of colors onto the rough stone walls of buildings. Some old, faded and cracked, others fresh and Vibrant.

Red, Blue, Yellow. Colors colliding and creating beauty in chaos.

It was beautiful.

And yet it was too heavy, it reminded you too much of blood and bruises.

Your heart felt light and heavy at the same time.

Three months in a hospital bed messed with your head. The sterile smell of disinfectant, the constant humming of machines, the hard footsteps of nurses and Cleaners passing the door every hour. And in the state of nightmares that plagued your mind you had time to think. 

Every second felt like pure torture.

Memories came crawling back like maggots. Voices you tried to forget whispered in your ears. Faces you wished you had never seen appeared when you closed your eyes. Your trauma replayed itself in hyper speed, like a modded record played. The needle scratching over the same painful line again and again.

Your father’s voice.

The dead body of your mom.

Zodyl’s cold psychopathic stare.

The moment Enjin was looking at you with pure hatred.

You clenched your jaw tight.

Running away seemed and felt easier than dealing with all of it.

Your instincts screamed at you ti run, and for once in your miserable life you listened.

No one will miss you.

The thought echoed in your mind, cruel and persistent. 

You didn’t even know if it was true or not. You actually never knew. It sounded believable enough to hurt.

No one will miss you.

Your bare feet scraped softly against the cold pavement. Every step sent a small sting through your skin, tiny rocks pressing into your soles. The concrete held the night’s cold like ice, making your body shiver.

But you kept walking.

You had to.

If you stopped, the thoughts and the guilt will catch up to you.

It was hard to leave the place that once made your heart feel like it belonged somewhere. Even if that place was only a temporary illusion. Even if it had never really been home.

Your eyes and finger tips wandered across the walls of Canvas City.

Right paint strokes spread across the buildings like wild emotions someone had thrown onto concrete. Some murals showed monsters, others typography, others simply meaningless colors that somehow still told an own story.

A small smile broke out on your face, a distant memory in your mind when you were drawing something with your mother. 

You missed her dearly, even though she didn’t give you the life every child should have. 

You wanted to disappear into a place like this.

A place where no one expected anything from you.

A place no one knew your name.

A place where no mechanical instrument was stuck in your throat.

A place where you could be free.

Peacefully.

CLANG.

The sudden sound of metal hitting the ground snapped your attention forward.

A tall man stood a few meters away on the pathway. A wrench had slipped from his hand and now lay on the pavement between you.

But your eyes didn’t focus on the wrench.

“E-Enjin?”

The name left your mouth before you could stop it.

Your heart dropped into your stomach.

At the same time it started pounding violently against your ribs.

Hope.

Stupid, desperate hope.

Was there someone looking for you? 

Was he-

“My apology, ma’am.”

The man bent down and picked up the tool before looking at you properly. But all you could look at was his blonde hair.

“I am not Enjin. My name is Nanami Kento. Do you need anything?”

Your teeth sank into the inside of your cheek.

Of course he wasn’t Enjin.

Why would he be here?

Why would Enjin search the streets for you in the middle of the night?

Stupid.

“I’m fine.”

The words felt hollow the moment they left your mouth and all you want to do is slap yourself.

In reality you were doing horrible.

Your naked feet shifted on the cold correct and another shiver crawled up your spine. The man looked like he wanted to say something else, his eyes flicking briefly toward the hospital bracelet still wrapped around your wrist.

But thankfully he didn’t ask questions.

He simply nodded and stepped aside.

You continued walking.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Your destination slowly began forming inside your mind.

There was one place you needed to see before leaving everything behind.

The place where it all started.

Years Ago.

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Meanwhile, you drifted in and out of reality. Your mind felt eerily calm, almost serene, but your heart was a battlefield. Emotions you thought long buried clashed and surged, unfamiliar and overwhelming. You didn’t know how long it had been. Time had lost its meaning, it had simply been a while.

And slowly, questions began to surface.

Was anyone missing you?

Probably not. 

No one ever really did. That’s what you told yourself. And yet, your heart ached for it, for the idea of being missed, of being wanted. The pain was sharp, persistent. No matter how hard you tried to stop it, your thoughts wandered to a certain blonde you believed you had already forgotten. Somehow, they were the one you missed the most.

Did you even want to go back?

Or was this feeling nothing more than a faint, cruel spark of hope, tricking you into longing for something you didn’t deserve? 

You hated it. 

You hated how vulnerable you felt, how exposed. You could feel yourself changing, shifting into someone unfamiliar, and you didn’t know whether that change was a good thing.

Why don’t you heal yourself?

The question echoed again and again.

And the answer remained the same,

you didn’t know.

You struggled to grasp these emotions, this sudden rush of feelings you had lost long ago, emotions you once swore you no longer needed. They slipped through your fingers no matter how tightly you held on.

Why was all of this happening?

You had no answer. Only a distant sense that maybe, somewhere deep inside, you already knew, but chose to keep your distance from the truth.

As your thoughts spiraled, another question crept in, darker and heavier than the rest.

Were you even alive?

Or was this hell?

If it was, why did it feel so quiet, and yet so unbearably loud at the same time? Sometimes, faint voices reached you. Riyo. Amo. Their words blurred together, but their presence grounded you. And on rare occasions, you heard Enjin.

You were torn between two choices.

Acceptance.

Or fighting your way back

******

Another shot slid down Enjin’s throat like butter. He refused to admit it, but the fact that you hadn’t woken up was weighing on him more then he cared to confess.

It would mean way more if he’d confess.

He couldn’t even bring himself to visit. 

His fingers tightened around the chilled whiskey glass while his other hand held a smoldering cigarette.

Beside him sat the woman from last time, a lingering shadow.

“Still nothing?”

AH I AM HOPEFULLY BAACKK

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Not Fu.

Not Gris.

Not even Zanka.

No one.

Silence clung to him like a second skin as he pushed through the twisting walls, carrying you as though you were made of glass.

Semiu had already sent help, and Team Eager moved fast. They cut a path out of the labyrinth in record time, but none of it loosened the rigid knots of tension and anxiety in his shoulders.

The drive back was worse than all of it.

His mind ran in brutal, relentless circles, spinning endlessly around the image of you limp in his arms—your eyelids unmoving, your chest frighteningly still. You hadn’t woken up. Not once.

You hadn’t even flinched.

And Enjin? He wasn’t just angry. He wasn’t just worried.

He was rigid.

Every muscle locked tight, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached—hard enough that anyone might think it would break.

His golden eyes drifted back to your unconscious form, his thoughts racing, counting the little time you had left. One look at the pallor of your skin told him the truth: you could die at any second. A bandage was wrapped around your head, slowing the bleeding, but it wasn’t enough.

You were slipping away, minute by minute, and he didn’t know what to do.

He wasn’t a healer.

“Why didn’t you just heal yourself?” he muttered under his breath, frustration twisting his voice as he stared down at you, helpless.

Gris drove as fast as he could toward Eisha. She couldn’t be far—at this speed, maybe five minutes.

Five minutes too much.

Enjin’s grip tightened around you—not enough to hurt, but hard enough to bruise.

*****

Your body was starting to feel like it was floating, and for a very long time you started to feel at peace. It felt like you were in a good dream, like everything was where it meant to be. 

You could be here forever and nothing can hurt you anymore.

It was warm, comfortable and it felt like a pillow that was wrapped around you. You wanted to stay here. 

How long have you been here? You don’t know, and you don’t want to.

*****

Riyo stared at your unmoving figure. You haven’t shown any sign of life besides your heartbeat that slowly steadied. 

She thought she almost lost you. The fact that Riyo doesn’t know what happened and what ever hurt you that bad that you almost died. 

Indeed the impact was harsh, Enjin told her you fell at least fifty meters, head first. But something or someone took you and inflicted those now visible bruises. Eisha healed you and yet you’re in a coma state. 

They were all hopeless.

The most of them didn’t care. 

You weren’t here for long. Even Rudo was worried about you, a small chuckled left Riyo. “If you knew how Enjin reacted, you wouldn’t believe me.” She muttered as she looked at you. The reaper swung around her fingers, her thoughts were running. She understood you. You two have so much in common, you killed humans with your Jinki.

You two were on the leash that Enjin held. 

You two promised to change for the better. 

“He is indeed very fond of you. Even though he was kinda a dick to you. I don’t even know if he knows that he stopped seeing women the moment you came. I mean he did stopped when rudo did an appearance. 

Enjin cared for you deeply. Everyone seems to know besides you and himself. Which was pretty entertaining to watch. After yesterday it wasn’t just a theory anymore, it was rather obvious.

“You two really are something.” Her green eyes glinted towards you, “Please come back.”

*****

The city is eerie noisy tonight. 

Nicotine and Tobacco smoke was filling the air in the nearby pup. Music is blasting through the Speakers, people were dancing around the Dance floor and the bar was flooding in with orders to forget the night. 

On top of one of the bar stools sat Enjin, his cigarette tip reflected on the whiskey glass. The Ice moving softly under the small waves as Enjin chugged down the alcohol. His Casual clothing, T-shirt and a shorts that did nothing to cover up his whole tatted body. With a sigh he laid the glass on the counter. 

“What are you thinking about?” Someone called out to him, but he didn’t react. 

“Hey! I’m talking to ya!” His golden eyes met blue ones, a woman. 

Tall, curved and on top of it a black goddess. 

“None of your business.” She raised her eyebrows, “didn’t knew this was a night to forget.” She said before sitting down next to him. “I’d be having the same as him.” Her long nails pointed at Enjin. Now it was Enjin time to raise his eyebrows. “What do you want?” He grumbled, he doesn’t have time for this. 

The fact that Enjin is saying no to a woman is something he’d never expect. 

Not when a beauty like her was talking to him. But he was worried about a certain someone that he only came here to forget for even a second.

Maybe talking with her would distract him.

“Just want to talk. You need like you need somebody.” She said as she took the glass from the bartender. “It’s really nothing that I’d like to talk about.” His eyes now wandered on the gashes the Ice started to collect.

“I Understand. A woman?” She chuckled, he just scoffed, “What made you think that it’s a woman?” Another sip of the burning liquor. “Guys like you usually have a lot of women. And women can be a lot sometimes. Speaking out of experience. Not like you Men are anything better. Speaking out of experience.”

“I am not thinking about a woman.”

Fully illuminated, burning with an intensity Zanka never seen before on his mentors face. 

For someone who is desperate trying to show that he dislikes the new presence in the Cleaners. Who made a point every day to remind everyone how little he cared about you, this expression told an entirely different story. 

Was it always this obvious? Or was he just too blind to see that Enjin’s words were nothing but a facade of something he was trying to hide?

The air vibrated around the hallway and the Vital Instrument from Enjin started to hum in energy as the Umbreaker set free. 

In one swift moment Enjin tore the wall down, leaving a disturbing wrecked hole in the wall. The wall did’t just cracked open, it burst apart. Metal forming into little almost hair lines in defeat of the raw strength he held.

It showed the aggression and Anger that Enjin felt deeply in his chest, what told him to break this whole building if he can’t find you. 

He swayed down, his Jinki softening his fall, making him almost appear as a magician how gracefully he landed in the darkness you fell in. His glowing eyes looked for your figure lying on the cold, metal floor. 

But there was nothing. 

Did you manage to stay conscious with this heavy fall?

And where did you wander off? 

Enjin’s boots dragged along the floor as he followed the hallway deeper into the pyramid, soon Gris appeared behind him with the fire stick in his hand, Fu and Zanka quietly followed behind him, not wanting to disturb Enjin, too scared he’ll snap at them.

The fire made the scenery in front of them more clearer. 

Blood trails were on the ground, leading to you. Enjin’s teeth grinned on each other as the rage burned inside him. How could he be put so off guard that he let you go?

With an unsteady pace Enjin followed fast the blood trail that led to more and more of the red liquid. When Enjin stopped the three behind him did too. 

“What is it Enjin? Have you found her?” Zanka asked as he took a step forward to see what is in front of his mentor. Only to be met with a large pool of blood, and no body lying in it. 

Just cold blood.

“What-“ 

“She was here. That’s definitely her blood.” Enjin’s body moved into a crouch as he examined the liquid. “That’s too much blood for her to move…” His whole body tensed in rage, he slowly stood up, too afraid to face reality. “But she’s not, she’s not here.” Fu said as he hid behind Gris, too scared to look at the bloody sight. 

“She got taken.” Enjin said between his gritted teeth, “That’s for sure.”

“How can you be so sure? Maybe she found an opportunity to go and be free?” Zanka said as he looked at Enjin with curiosity. 

That’s the most reasonable answer, who wouldn’t? You’d be free from the Raiders and the Cleaners. Gris and Fu nodded in agreement.

It was an offer that would be too good to be true for someone like you.

But that’s were they are all wrong.

That’s not you.

All you wanted was someone to finally care. To have something you could finally belong. You wouldn’t run away.

Enjin just knew it.

“No, Someone took her. And I am going to find her.” Zanka didn’t question anything. The look Enjin had in his face, he was sure. And Zanka trusted him.

He’s Enjin for a reason.

******

“Dad. Please stop! It hurts!”

Your head felt like it was ripped and shredded into millions of piece and chunked back together. Pain was pounding in your skull and the light was burning through your closed eyelids. 

It hurt.

Your body felt like stone that couldn’t move an Inch. Your groan echoed through the catacombs, and after what felt for hours, you finally opened your eyes. It was dark, but a dim light made you finally see again.

The light still burned in your eyes uncomfortable, neither less you sat up, the pain that coursed through your body was unmeasurable. You moaned under the pressure, as you laid down again. Your body felt weak, and everything hurts as the adrenaline eased away from your body.

“You shouldn’t move.” A rumbling, unsettling voice made your body flinch. “Siren, huh? Pretty fitting for somebody like you.” You knew that Voice, Zodyl…

A shuffle caught your attention, you moved your head slowly to the side, hissed at the pain it inflicted. “Zodyl?” Your voice was weak, pathetic, speaking hurt. Everything hurt and the exhaustion was pulling on your body. 

“You’re dying, Siren.” He was mocking you, “And this time I’ll help you once again.” Your vision was blurry, yet you could see his figure edging closer to you in slow steps. Dangerous and Intimidating as always. 

You felt your body starting to shake and you made yourself smaller in fear. “The Last time you were bleeding the whole floor with your blood. And you’re doing it again.” Tears welled up in your eyes as his hands got closer and closer to your face. 

You wanted it to stop now. 

He grabbed your face harsh and you almost screamed in pain. “You’re pale, cold, any second and you would not feel any pain anymore. A pathetic sight really. You should’ve stayed in your place.” With a hard thrust he pushed you painfully on the ground as if you were just a rag doll. Your scream was louder than the one before and you swore you lost consciousness for a second. 

“You’re a Killer, and you know exactly what you did with that Voice of yours.” He crouched down to look with that dark, dead looking purple eyes you thought you’ll never have to see again.

Not under this circumstance.

He kicked you and your body slides on the ground almost like a corpse, dead. “Heal yourself. Go on.” Tears started to spill without even realizing if you were sobbing onto the floor. “Zodyl, please.” Your voice was weak, and shallow. Your breathing thinned. 

“You’re going to die if you don’t do it. Or too afraid to lose your humanity?” You stared at him, your body motionless. You can’t move anymore.

And you’re sure you’re going to die. 

But maybe it is for the better.

Then you wouldn’t disappoint anyone anymore. Don’t have to prove anything. And don’t have to live with that terrible feeling of regret. 

You can’t do it anymore.

Living is too hard.

“If you don’t want to live. Fine by me.” He said one last time before leaving you alone on the cold floor. 

And all you could think of was peace.

When you closed your eyes and embraced yourself to get lulled into the darkness, you heard someone calling out your name. 

A tear slowly glided down the cold skin, Zodyl knew. He knew if you didn’t save yourself. The Cleaners will.

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Merry Christ/Xmas and a happy new year!!

“Now stop laughing our Siren, you’re hurting my feelings.”

“When you call me “Siren” again I’ll make your eardrums burst,” you snapped.

He only smirked and trotted forward, pleased with himself, trotting happy like a horse. You rolled your eyes, already annoyed.

He really did enjoy getting under your skin.

You kept walking down the hall, your heartbeat thudding harder with every step. The deeper you went, the quieter it became, too quiet. The kind of quiet that made your nerves prickle and adorned your body with goosebumps.

The natural lighting was disappearing the more you put distance between you and the entrance. Gris held a lantern to cut through the dark corridors, its glow flickering across the stone. Fu was trembling beside him, jumping at every small sound, which always turned out to be a rat or something just as harmless.

This was No Man’s Land. So why wasn’t there a single Trash Beast in sight? Getting in had been almost effortless, no resistance, no complications. It didn’t sit right.

“Something’s off,” you thought, and Gris must’ve read the tension on your face.

“You okay?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah. Just thinking,” you muttered, running your fingers across the strange patterns engraved into the metal and stone around you.

“What were you thinking?” Zanka asked, glancing back at you.

“Just…getting here was too easy. Way too easy.”

“DON’T JINX US!” Enjin shouted from up ahead. You rolled your eyes again, but weirdly, it eased your nerves a little.

“Not everything has to be complicated,” Gris said, steady and reassuring. “Besides, there should be a Trash Beast somewhere. That’s what the intel said. We’re not walking in blind. Just don’t let your guard down.” He gave you a small, encouraging smile.

You nodded. Gris’s calming aura had a way of settling you, smoothing the tension in your chest as you pressed on.

******

“EUUGHHH!” Enjin groaned as he slumped dramatically down the wall. “We’ve been here for hoursss! No Trash Beast in sight, nor a single clue on how to get to the sphere!”

His voice echoed through the stone, metal corridor, frustration practically dripping odd every syllable. And honestly? It perfectly summed up the whole mood of the entire team.

Tired. Irritated. No sense of accomplishment. And worst of all.

You were Lost.

The whole pyramid was a damn labyrinth, each hallways was looping into another, every staircase somehow leading back to where you’d been already. You felt like you were trapped inside the belly os some ancient mechanical beast, its shifting guts rearranging every time you blinked. 

To make it all more worrying, there was no sign of Riyo, Rudo, or Follo.

Normally, that would’ve set your nerves on fire, but Enjin kept repeating the same thing. “They’re fine, Siren! Those kids survive everything.”

“Could this get any worse?” Zanka whined, leaning on his stick. His voice cracked like he was on the edge of giving up entirely, “I’m just a normal guy, I am not made for this.”

You let out a low groan. Even though you were used to dangerous situations and exhausting missions, this endless wandering was draining for you. Each step felt heavier. You throat felt dry from the stale air and oxygen that you came out of the tank. 

Your stomach crumpled. You just wanted to sleep, hell, even lying down on the cold hard floor would do the job. Rather that than walking another pointless hallway.

With an exhausted sigh, you mirrored Enjin and leaned against the wall, letting your head rest back against the cold surface. The stone hummed faintly, like it was alive and breathing behind your skull.

Weird.

A deep grinding noise shook the entire corridor, making everyone tense up at the odd sound. Stone against stone, grating loudly, echoing like thunder trapped in a cage.

Your breath caught, and the floor disappeared beneath your feet. Your whole body fell backwards into nothing. 

There was no time to scream, no chance to react. Your stomach lurched as gravity yanked you downward. The air rushed past your ears. It was sharp, violent rush. 

Your back slammed into the stone so hard you saw a burst of white behind your eyelids.

Pain radiated fast across your spine in one violent wave. 

“Fuck!” You hissed, rolling onto your side. You pressed a hand onto your back, wincing as a throbbing ache of pain pulled through the muscle.

Great.

Definitely a bruise. A huge and ugly one. 

Your breathing steadied slowly as you pushed yourself upright, you lost your mask on the way down here, which was another problem. The air down here was colder, heavier and burned in your lungs. It tasted metallic. 

You blinked into the darkness, but it was useless, this place swallowed the whole light of the sun. It was so dark, you couldn’t even see the reflection off your new leather combat boots. 

“Where the fuck did I end up?…” you muttered under your breath. You can’t deny this was scary and being alone in such an unknown environment only made you freak out even more. 

You cupped your hands around your mouth and yelled, “Hello?!”

Your voice echoed through the void, bouncing back at you in the large hallway you were in. 

No response.

Not even the unsettling sight of a Trash Beast.

The silence pressed against your ears like a damp cotton. You huffed out of breath and shock. Frustration slowly bubbling in your chest. “Great. Now I am in even deeper shit and I can’t even see!”

Your next step forward scraped against the floor, exhaustion pulling on your strings like a soft violin putting you in sleep. Dust clung to your fingers when you touched the ground for balance. The air was still, untouched for years… maybe for years. 

Your body swayed from sight, to sigh and dark spots danced around your vision like lost fishes. 

The feeling of lonliness swept you from your feet. You were more than lost. Maybe you’re going to die here. 

Another problem fixed for the Cleaners.

Your body fell silently on the ground. 

Something wet surrounded you, before you could even process what happened you past out. 

****

Enjin’s golden eyes fixated on the spot where you had stood just seconds ago. And then, you were gone.

Poof, no single sign that you ever been there. 

His heavy combat boots hit the floor slow, tense and sharp steps as the reality slowly settled in. 

“Oh no!” Fu yelled, rushing forward. His hands skimmed over the wall with frantic precision. “She fell through the wall!”

Gris immediately pressed both palms against the stone, muscles bulging beneath his sleeves and gloves as he pushed with all his strength. The wall didn’t even tremble. Not even a crack nor shift.

Nothing.

Enjin’s eyebrows drew together, a deep line forming between them.

He always claimed he didn’t care. 

All the damn time.

That if anything happened to you, it’d be your own damn fault.

He underlined it every time your name so much as entered a conversation. 

But the way his jaw clenched now…

The way he stared at the wall like he wanted to tear it apart with his bare hands…

His heart dropping when he processed that you’re gone.

Worry carved itself into his face despite his best efforts to hide it.

He stepped closer, running his fingers along the seams of the stone as if searching for some mechanism, some clue anything that could bring you back.

“Fuck.” He muttered as he brushed his fingers through his dirt blonde hair.

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