#((rip laptop

They were barely able to register the bars in front of them, their vision so blurry that they could hardly see anything. The room -- no, the cell -- they were in was damp and dark, water droplets occasionally landing on them from the ceiling. It burnt their skin, but that wasn’t the pain they were paying attention to.

Her voice still echoed in their mind. It had been twenty years. Why were they here? Did Wu send them here?

It wasn’t very long before they were dragged back into their own mind. Their head fell limp, black hair falling over their now-closed grey eyes. Breathing was hard, they could feel the air thickening in their lungs. No, not this memory again, please God no—

“You can make it stop,” her voice was clear in their mind, ripping them from the memory. “You can give in. Get your revenge. I’ll give you a chance, Harial. You’re a determined soul.”

The door opened and the memory faded. They slowly lifted their gaze, exhaustion clinging to their form. It hurt still, and they expected to be dragged back in at any moment, but maybe this time would be different. Was it a trick? Maybe she was just giving them false hope, exactly like Wu had done many years before.

And then, suddenly, there was an arm hooking under their own. They startled, a weak hiss escaping off of instinct, before they recognized who it was. Their eyes met the signature golden ones of their friend -- well, he was more of an ally. Soul Archer came around sometimes and took care of them after she did her job. As far as they were aware, he didn’t help anyone else in the cells like this.

‘That doesn’t matter though,’ they thought, sagging their weight into Soul’s side when they realized they wouldn’t be able to walk on their own. ‘I’m free.’ Those words felt strange to say after so long.

“Lets get you to a better resting place,” Soul grunted, not really caring if they answered or not. They let out a relieved sigh, glad that the archer seemed to have no problem with this. “You’ll need to recover before you start training.”

Soul’s words didn’t necessarily register in their mind. A sudden rush of drowsiness took over and they rested their head on the other ghost, eyes half-closed. Were they still walking? They couldn’t tell. They wanted sleep.