#crossedge

Zelos’ did his best to shield him from the negativity, with his arm around his waist to keep him pressed protectively against his side. But the embrace also aided Lyner in his movements. He felt himself grow weaker as they finally reached the fifth floor. His steps turned to shuffling before to outright staggering.

Just a little bit further…

Before them was an open expanse with a tall, hexagon shaped spire right at its centre. It…was not a room, however. There was no door. No entry way to be seen. It appeared to be a prison of sorts. A heavily secured one at that.

The entire laboratory was built around housing, rather imprisoning the Hateful One.

Coarse, bright lights suddenly flooded the area, immediately blinding them, before a klaxon wail screeched into life. Loud, grinding gears added to the chaos, soon accompanied by the sound of metal scrapping against metal. Of machinery in desperate need of oil and maintenance.

Greatly startled, Zelos immediately reacted by wrapping both arms around Lyner protectively and dragging him back several feet, York and Lazarus moving to take offensive positions either side of them.

They watched in muted disbelief as the thick metal and electronic panels that made up the walls of that tower folded back. Like a deranged, ungodly flower. To reveal a massive glass cylinder of bubbling green liquid, a container that had to be five times larger than those they had encountered on the third floor. A prison of thick paned glass, upon a two-foot-high podium and attached to a magnitude of wires and cables.

However, it was the thing inside the container that was the most horrifying.

Twisted and deformed features, a seemingly pitiful attempt to appear human, but holding such contempt for them that it purposely moulded itself into their worst fears. Frail, bony frame to present the wicked intent of fragility, but possessing the ability to tear through metal with one single swipe of its razor-sharp claws. Its large, bulbous head offered wisdom, but only to prolong malice and hatred with every uttered word. And its existence promised power beyond those who sought it wildest dreams, only to bring death and poison to each soul it touched.

It was…it was far worse than he could have imagined.

“That’s the Hateful One?” York muttered.

Lyner shuddered when two piercing red eyes narrowed in their direction and grasped onto the front of Zelos’ jacket, prompting him to turn his gaze away from the entity and toward him.

“Lyner?”

“I can’t…I can’t describe the negativity of this thing,” Lyner murmured as he pressed his face into Zelos’ chest. “It’s pure, unadulterated malice.”

And it had its gaze right on him…

The high-pitched ring of static echoed throughout the chamber before a voice was heard, slightly distorted from the use of an electronic device. 

“Magnificent, isn’t she?”

Zelos immediately bristled protectively, keeping one arm around Lyner’s waist as he snatched his weapon to wield it offensively. “Who the fuck said that?”

Lyner immediately snapped his head to the side. Somehow, he looked beyond the overwhelming presence of the ungodly Hateful One, toward an overhanging observation deck. One that was situated closest to the camber.

There, a menacing silhouette was seen against a backdrop of flicking red emergency lights. Stocky and still. Features unrecognisable. Only allowing a brief glimpse of a white jacket, tainted red due to the lighting, with each illumination of light.

It was quite fitting, really. An enigmatic figure. Whose name they had heard numerous times throughout their ordeal. Unknowing that he was the one who initiated it all.

Upon seeing the new addition, Zelos and companions instinctively raised their weapons, anxious and ready to attack at the slightest sign of aggression.

But Lyner placed his hand atop of Zelos’ rifle. “Save your bullets. He’s hiding behind bulletproof glass.”

Shooting him would not do any good. He was alive, with a human presence, but he did not have a will of his own. He had not had one for quite some time. He was just a puppet. A mouthpiece for the Hateful One.

Clearly, it had something it wanted to say to all of them.

“That’s Youji,” Lyner continued. “He’s the one responsible for all of this. He’s the one who released the first initial creatures out of petty revenge.”

“That also means he’s the one who was in charge of the experiment to begin with,” York added, disdainfully.

The one who continued to subject victims with cells from their so-called “Original Mother” only to turn them into creatures? Yeah, that was him.

A metallic click before the overhead communication system activated once more. “I must admit I am surprised that you are all still alive. Especially you there, the unarmed blond one. Empaths like you usually die so quickly.”

Zelos absolutely seethed in his skin. “How the fuck did he know that?” he asked quietly, his question directed toward Lyner who still rested against his chest for both support and comfort.

The Hateful One told him.

“He’s under the Hateful One’s control,” Lyner replied, just as quietly. “Has been the entire time.”

For years, perhaps.

“But I see he’s on his last legs,” Youji continued, his tone mocking. “It won’t be long now.”

Lyner had to grasp onto the firearm firmly to prevent Zelos taking a shot at the antagonistic scientist out of sheer anger. He was still very sensitive about that subject and with how sickly and frail Lyner had become due to the miasma and aftermath inflicted upon him by that Oni, he had only grown even more so. He did not want to be reminded about that military document.

He especially did not need to hear the sadistic joy in that man’s voice.

“You truly are surprising, I will give you that,” Youji went on, his tone flat and lifeless. “To make it all the way here. To even know of this place. You even destroy the False Onis with relative ease.”

There was an unexpected pause from Youji, though his silhouette did not move. He remained completely motionless, like a statue. There was an intense feeling a scrutiny, however. From both the deranged scientist in his observation platform and from the hideous entity in its prison.

“You’re not…normal, are you?” Youji’s voice crackled through the PA system. “You may even be…special. Hm. How interesting. You could be the soldiers that I’ve been waiting for.”

As Lyner’s companions tensed around him, his gaze flickered toward the Hateful One and he felt a sense of suspicion. That thing had absolutely no interest in creating human soldiers to dominate the battlefield. Was it attempting to put up an act to fool them? Why? It knew that he was an Empath.

Yet…there was a life force in Youji. He was alive. Conscious.

He was nothing more than a puppet, though. Strung along through mental suggestion, propelled by the Hateful One into doing its bidding. That thing was telepathically controlling him.

And Youji had not the faintest idea.

Still, there may be a chance to get some information out of him.

“You!” Lyner called out, his hand on Zelos’ arm for support. “I know you can hear me. We know all about your experiment. About Project: Youkai. But we don’t know why. Why did you do this to your own people? Why did you kill so many innocent people?”

There was a surge of sadistic amusement from the Hateful One before the automated click of the communication system once more.

“I’m sure you can understand the fragility of life, being on the brink of death yourself. Soldiers can’t afford to have weaknesses on the battlefield. In our world, a country can only be as strong as their military, and the military is only as strong as their soldiers. That’s why, for the greater good of my country, I had to do whatever it took to make the perfect soldier, to grant them the power to eliminate all weaknesses, to give them a critical edge on the battlefield.”

Lyner scowled at the blatant lies. “Don’t give me that bullshit. You could care less about your country, about your people. These experiments are proof of that. All these young men are dead because of you. They had families. Futures of their own. And you took it all away from them. What you wanted was to play God. Nothing more.”

The silhouette finally moved against the backdrop of flickering lights, a gesture indicative of someone shuffling on their feet. “Maybe I simply wanted to get revenge on the behalf of our dear Mother here.”

Lyner glanced at the Hateful One from the corner of his eye. They were finally getting to the truth.

“Mother?” York openly baulked at the notion. “This thing is the spawn of hell itself!”

“Silence!” Youji shrilled, the sound echoing through the dark cavern. “This precious Guardian is merely getting revenge against the living for what humanity has done to her for centuries!”

That was the excuse that the Hateful One was using against Youji, was it? The scientist had clearly gone insane thanks to the dark entity’s influence.

“By injecting its cells into soldiers?” Lazarus questioned.

Youji scoffed through the PA system, his disdain and dismissal of his own kind palpable. “They’re expendable. Hah, loyal to a fault. Such naïve little simpletons. Anything for their beloved government. Alas, their own government also thought of them disposable if they allowed the project to continue for as long as it has.”

That could not be denied.

“But they also cancelled it,” Zelos openly taunted. “Didn’t like that too much, did you? This whole shitshow is entirely because of you.”

Youji fell silent as the piercing, watchful gazes grew in intensity. Youji, along with the Hateful One itself, were staring down at them. Frustrated and irritated with the fact that they knew too much. They did not just storm the laboratory guns a blazing; they busted in with knowledge.

And that made it all the more difficult for them to control the situation.

“You clearly know quite a lot, don’t you?” Youji finally replied, his voice terse. “I had no choice but to respond the way I did. They were to commit the ultimate act of treason. They wished to murder our precious Mother. Besides, I had no intention for the False Onis to escape. It is hardly my fault that the military is so incompetent that they did not foresee such an event.”

Lyner felt himself bristle. “Liar. Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

Youji fell silent once more and that sense of being scrutinised increased. It was different this time, however. It was focused solely on Lyner and it was filled with disdain and the promise of harm.

“Fine,” Youji uttered suddenly, his voice unexpectedly sharper, finally doing away with any attempt to mask his malice. “I wanted them all to escape. Out beyond the region. Into the entire country. Onto every single island that makes up all of Japan. Why? Because I hate this damn government. The military tried so damn hard to keep everyone contained in this damn laboratory. The entire place was in sheer chaos before the damn things escaped. They could have prevented the whole thing. But no, Mother would not let them. She awoke one of her precious children. The bastards couldn’t defeat a true Oni.”

Youji spat and snarled out his true motives without remorse or guilt. Yet, Lyner did not believe that malice was entirely his own. It was being enhanced by the very entity that he worshipped.

“Their despair was delicious.”

Lyner’s whole body immediately stiffened as a voice, so empty yet so utterly malicious, resounded in his head.

“As your despair will be. When I destroy every single thing you hold dear.”

Lyner snapped his head in the direction of that ghastly thing floating in the glass prison and snapped, “Get the hell out!”

That thing had no right or permission being inside his head!

“You dare talk to Mother like that!” Youji immediately scolded him.

“Shut the hell up, Puppet,” Zelos snapped in response as he tightened his arm around Lyner’s waist. “We’ve heard enough from you. Your so-called ‘Mother’ is the embodiment of hatred and anger and is just brimming with malicious glee at all the pain and suffering it has caused.”

Unfortunately, Lyner could feel it, which was why he was feeling so sick and disgusted. That thing got its strength through the torment in others, especially Empaths. That was why they got Empaths involved in the project. Just so they could feed them to that bastard.

“Damn rebellious children.” Youji was beginning to unravel. “You Empaths really are an irritant. You know, in ancient times, Empaths were referred to as “Those who made our world pure.” Disgusting really. That is the reason why Mother hates you so much and wants you to suffer.”

That…must have been what Empaths were referred to in ancient times.

Lyner ignored the faceless silhouetted in the observation deck and turned his attention toward the Hateful One. “Whatever you referred to us as, you simply hate us because we can tell truth from lies. Because you can’t manipulate us and turn us into your obedient little puppets. That’s why you target us so maliciously.”

A flurry of bubbles within the green liquid was the only visible response he received. But the entity inside was furious.

“You plan on ridding the world of Mother, don’t you?” Youji asked before he mockingly scoffed. “Absolutely fruitless. So long as Mother exists, so will the Onis. And as long as the Onis exist, so will Mother.”

Lyner’s eyes widened as a sudden, inexplicable realisation struck him. “That’s the half-truth.”

Zelos immediately took him by the shoulders to make him look at him. “Which half?”

“As long as the Hateful One exists, so will the Onis.” Lyner looked into Zelos’ eyes and smiled reassuringly. “But, as long as we kill the Hateful One, the Onis will also die.”

The relief that Zelos felt was immense. “Right. So, we just gotta kill this one bastard. That makes things easier.”

Lyner nodded. “It does.”

The overhead announcing system crackled to life once more and Youji’s was heard, laughing. Manically. “You think you can kill a God? Alright, give it a try! That Empath will be the ultimate sacrifice to give our Mother the power she desires!”

Zelos immediately scowled and he snapped his head in Youji’s direction. “The hell I’ll let that happen!”

Before Zelos could snarl any other insults or for Lyner to attempt to reassure him, the horrific sound of shattering glass and flowing water interrupted them. With only one possible culprit being responsible, they all snapped their attentions toward the glass and metal object in the middle of the vast chamber.

And found that the Hateful One had breached its own prison.

The Hateful One’s arm dangled out of the glass cylinder. With a lazy, flawless motion, it flung out its other arm and broke through the glass again. Eerie green liquid and shattered glass exploded around it as it moved its entire body, smashing through its prison so effortlessly.

No, it was not a prison. It was simply a healing pod. A place for it to rest until it needed to move.

Pain erupted from Lyner’s forehead before that all-too familiar icy chill grasped his spine. He nervously ripped his gaze away from the Hateful One’s twisted and gnarled form to look toward the shadows that surrounded them. Where he saw the fleeting figures of white and darting red eyes.

“Heads up, it called for creatures, too!” Lyner yelled.

Despite the deep scowl that marred Zelos’ features, colour drained from his face as he raised his weapon. “God damn it!”

Lyner glanced toward the creatures that hid in the shadows and over at the Hateful One that was lumbering up its long, spindly limbs, before he turned his gaze back toward Zelos and his companions.

As long as the Hateful One existed, so did the Onis. But they could not afford to ignore the False Onis that surrounded them.

There was little choice to be had.

“I’ll take care of the Hateful One. Keep those things away.”

Zelos immediately snapped his head toward him. “What?!”

Lyner expected such a response, which was why he did not move, did not unsheathe his blade. Not yet. Instead, he raised his hand and gently touched the side of Zelos’ face. “Bullets won’t work. Even those infused with Jadeite. Only lightning. Only an Empath.”

The situation was similar to that of the events in the cemetery, only so, so much worse. And unlike that time, they did not have the luxury to truly…comfort one another beforehand. The situation was far more dire, more dangerous. Only a few more precious seconds left before they had to respond on the battlefield.

And Zelos knew that.

Zelos grasped Lyner’s hand in his. “You’re in no condition.”

“I know. But I’ll survive.” Lyner leaned up and pressed his lips against his. A kiss that ended far too quickly. “We have a life to live together, after all.”

With the Hateful One beginning to stretch itself from its former home, Lyner knew that his time was up. He leaned back, sickened by the thought that he had to tear himself away from Zelos. But he would leave him with a parting gift.

He reached into his bag and pulled out the clips containing the remaining Jadeite infused bullets. “Take these. In case Original Onis decide to crash the party.”

Zelos’ expression smoothed out into professional stoicism as he retrieved the clips and slipped them into his belt. And despite it hurting so much, the two of them turned away from each other, moving to take their respectable places on the battlefield.

“You two, do whatever it takes to keep these bastards away from Lyner!”

“Right!”

With one swift motion, Lyner unsheathed his blade. And he would do whatever it took to keep the Hateful One away from Zelos, Lazarus, and York in return.

He stood before the Hateful One as it unfurled its grotesque, lanky form to its full height, towering over him in a display meant to intimate and dominate. “When you found me here, did you ever foresee that I will be the one to kill you?”

Menacing red eyes peered down at him as the thing snapped its head to the side with a sickly crack. “I foresaw only your death.”

“Then one of us is wrong.” Lyner pulled his body into a battle stance. “And it’s sure as hell isn’t going to be me.”

Its gaping maw spread into a wide, deranged grin that would have spread from ear to ear if it possessed any, an expression of sadistic amusement. One that has, no doubt, been expressed countless times over the centuries. At each encounter where it or its created Onis had inflicted unimageable suffering upon a victim.

Something it truly believed it was going to inflict upon him, too.

The battle was not going to be easy; it was going to be painful. It was going to push Lyner beyond his limit. But it was a battle he had to win. No matter what.

Lyner summoned a surge of lightning and focused it within his blade. He tensed the muscles in his arms and shoulders as he swung his sword in a wide arch, sending a shockwave of energy toward the Hateful One, striking it in the chest. The single attack enough to push it back a step and to wipe that infuriating smirk off its lips.

Time to get the battle started!

There was a brief moment of surprise from the entity. Shocked that he was able to use an elemental attack and not just physical. But it soon turned to outrage and then indignity that Lyner dared to attack and inflict real, actual damage upon it.

“Wretched filth!” it screeched into his mind, causing him to grimace at the intrusion and at the piercing volume.

Typical. The hateful and violent detest when their victims dared to fight back.

In retaliation to Lyner’s act of rebellion, the Hateful One whipped out a gangly, razor tipped arm, hoping to land a devastating blow. Lyner instinctively ducked, parrying the attack with his sword. Grateful that while he was exhausted and drained from the toxic miasma, his swordsmanship instincts were sharp and true.

Gunfire echoed around him, overshadowed only by the frantic voices of Zelos and the others. Although it went against all of his empathic instincts, he had to push aside the need to check in on them. Instead, he had to simply trust in their skills to handle themselves on the battlefield. He needed all of his own, his complete concentration and all the luck that would come his way in his own fight.

Lyner sidestepped as the Hateful One took an overhead swing at him. As the black-tipped talons crashed heavily into the steel-enforced floor, he stabbed his blade into the appendage and summoned a bolt of lightning, directing it along his sword and into the entity.

It screeched in pain and ripped its arm back, tearing Lyner’s sword through its hand, further damaging itself. Thankful that he had a firm grip on his weapon, Lyner immediately jumped back and repositioned himself, knowing all-too well that his enemy was growing even more agitated.

It quickly realised that Lyner was different from the military soldiers that it had witnessed, and that it, itself, was significantly more efficient on all fours. So, it dropped down upon its long, lanky limbs and began to scurry about in a pace similar to that of a trapped spider. Only far less appealing.

Lyner had to resort to his lightning attacks to keep the dreaded thing away from his companions. And that was the very idea, wasn’t it? Drain him of his energy before lunging in for an attack. Just one would be enough.

Unfortunately, he was not granted the luxury of a single devastating attack. It would take several.

Bullets infused with Jadeite crystals were not powerful enough to cause significant damage to such a deranged creature. He did not have enough of them to try. But…a Jadeite bomb at just the right place, like right down its damn throat, should do something.

Lyner ducked another violent slash from the entity and skidded to the side, his hand slipping into the medical bag that still rested at his side. As his enemy slammed its gnarled appendage onto the ground, it hunched its shoulders and raised its head, its jaw dislodging for a single purpose.

It was about to screech at him for the purpose of intimidating him and causing him pain.

Perfect.

He grabbed a jar from his bag and with a quick flick, threw it straight into the Hateful One’s mouth. The very moment it broke on the multiple rows of yellow, twisted teeth, it exploded into a dust cloud of finely ground Jadeite crystals.

The sound the Hateful One made as it reared back in agony was simply indescribable.

It was painful to hear. It staggered Lyner for a moment, the sound cutting straight through his head. But it something that was positive. The crystals, in their raw form, was enough to cause significant harm to the entity.

“Jadeite crystals?!” the Hateful One shrieked as it clawed at its own throat. “You wretched child!”

Lyner gritted his teeth through a grimace as he summoned another lightning attack and aimed it toward its exposed chest. He needed to keep going. Keep on attacking. That thing held no mercy for anyone or anything, so he should do the same.

“You attack me not knowing the suffering I had endured?”

Lyner seethed. “Don’t try that with me, I know exactly what you are so appealing to my empathy isn’t going to work – you are the manifestation of anger and malice. You’ll never change. You’re incapable of it. If I let you live, you’ll go in search of more lives to destroy. That is exactly what you are.”

And he knew exactly what to do. By killing it, destroying its core, he would remove it from existence. And he would free all the souls trapped in the bodies of the False Onis and the souls trapped in the region itself.

The Hateful One slammed back down onto all fours, an eerie black slime oozing from its mouth. “You Empaths truly are a pestilence. Very well, continue to fight. It will be to your death. Facing me head on in battle will only kill you in return.”

Lyner tensed his shoulders as he raised his sword in front of him. “I won’t die. I refuse.”

Even as the black slime continued to pour from its mouth, splattering across the floor, the Hateful One smiled wickedly. “Do you companions know? Does your warrior know? By defeating me you will die also because of your Empathy?”

“There is nothing to know. They don’t need to know your lies!”

“I will take you down with me!”

The Hateful One lurched forward suddenly, flailing out a limb. Lyner had enough time to raise his sword defensively to perry the attack, only for the force to hurl him backwards several steps, causing him to land heavily on his back. A landing that knocked the wind out of him.

A strangled gasp lodged itself in Lyner’s throat and his breath left him. Pain radiated from his head to his legs, but he had to ignore it. Mercifully, he maintained his grip on his sword. He had to get straight to his feet. His only saving grace was that the attack put distance between them, not shorten it.

“Lyner!

“I-I’m all right!” Lyner managed to shout as he forced aside all his discomfort, all his pain, all of his fatigue, and pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t lose hope! Just a little bit more! Keep going!”

He stabbed his sword into the floor and used it to leverage himself to his feet. He could taste copper in his mouth, his muscles protested every move he made, and his vision was beginning to blur. But he had to keep going. He would keep going.

Just a little bit more…

Lyner still had a couple more Jadeite bombs. And he had a couple more lightning attacks left in him. He just needed one more attack. One more to finish it.

The medical bag was heavy. It was added weight he could not afford. He grabbed the two remaining Jadeite bombs, clenching one precarious in his teeth and the other in his hand as he lifted the strap of the bag over his head and tossed it aside. He narrowed his eyes and tensed his aching muscles, ignoring the smirk of vile of amusement on the Hateful One’s lips.

It was now or never.

He sprung forward and threw a Jadeite bomb in the path right before the Hateful One. It exploded in a light green dust cloud, shimmering like glitter under the floodlights. The entity shrieked in anger and agony as it reared back, its arms flailing out to its side in unwilling reaction. With its serrated maw agape, Lyner snatched the second bomb perched between his teeth and, undaunted in his sprint forward, aimed it directly into its open mouth once more.

The Hateful One tried to snap its mouth shut, having realised what he wanted to do, but the bomb still met its mark, exploding straight into its face regardless. As more finely ground gemstone particles graced the air, the Hateful One screeched an unholy, ungodly sound. A noise that made the air vibrate.

It almost dropped Lyner to the ground there and then. The cry of agony was akin to a physical attack. His vision blurred and he staggered in his steps.

But he pushed forward. Despite the ringing in his ears. Despite the greying of his vision. Despite the taste of blood in the back of his mouth.

“Destroy him! Destroy them all!”

Lyner skidded through the rain of Jadeite crystals and brought his sword in front of him. Mustering all his strength and calling on reserves he prayed he possessed, he stabbed his blade into the chest of the hateful one.

And summoned his lightning abilities.

“This is for all the pain and suffering you have caused!”

Sparking electricity raced along the blade and straight into the Hateful One’s body, causing it to tense and spasm uncontrollably. It tried to move, however. It tried to order its arms to attack him. To strike him down. To viciously tear him to pieces. He was able to feel the utter hatred it held for him. He could not exaggerate enough just how much this entity detested him.

Lyner felt a trickle of something drip from his brow, between his eyes, before parting to one side of his nose and down his cheek. He did not need to look at it to know that it was blood. The marking on his forehead was bleeding.

It…

The sword was not quite enough.

He gritted his teeth as his hand desperately fumbled at the belts that hung around his waist until he found what he was looking for – his knife. He swiftly unsheathed it and raised it over his head, stabbing it into the body of the Hateful One. With two focus points, the lightning was able to extent its energy further.

“And this is for all the pain you have caused Empaths!”

For their sake, for everyone’s sake, for Zelos’, for York’s, and for Lazarus’ sake, and for his own sake, perish and never return!

…The sound of splintering glass.

Lyner’s eyes widened, and his lightning abilities flickered to a stop. The unimaginable hatred, the overwhelming malice – it was…gone.

That was it…

That was its core.

Its essence had been destroyed.

His grip on his weapons loosened against his control and he found himself falling backwards, an eerie feeling of weightlessness as his vision blurred and waned. That was it. That was all the strength he had left in him. He did everything he could. There was nothing more. He gave everything he could. He had nothing left to give.

He landed heavily on his back, but he did not feel a thing. Everything felt numb. His body shuddered as a violent cough forced its way from his throat. The overwhelming tang of copper tainted his mouth, and he felt a trickle of blood trail from his parted lips.

Medicine. He needed some medicine.

“You two, go! Get out of here!”

“But-!”

“I’ll follow with Lyner, just go!”

Lyner knew that his breathing was growing more laboured but he felt a wave of calm wash over him as Zelos’ aura approached. A moment later, his beloved mercenary appeared in his vision. Although haggard and sweaty from the drawn-out battle, he was unharmed.

That was such a relief.

Zelos carefully slid an arm under Lyner’s shoulders, a gesture Lyner was unable to aid or protest, completely drain of energy. With one arm holding his shoulders, Zelos slipped his fingers through Lyner’s hair, cradling his head against his chest tenderly. He was…upset. Greatly shaken by what happened. By the state that he was in.

But…the battle was over now. They were-

Loud, ear-splitting sirens of different tenors suddenly ripped through the silence and bright flashing red lights took the place of the daunting floodlights. A strange tremor filled the air, creating a tension that was both baffling and ominous.

Zelos pulled Lyner closer as the sirens grew in intensity.

Lyner felt sick with dread. But what could be happening? The Hateful One was dead. Wasn’t it? Th-there was no aura from it. Nothing to suggest that it was alive.

The overhead electronic loudspeaker suddenly roared into life with a high-pitched whine. “You need to leave.”

Youji? He was still alive?

“What the hell is going on?!” Zelos demanded.

Unexpected heavy breathing was heard over the PA system. “I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but you need to leave. I’ve activated the self-destruct mechanism. I will destroy this entire laboratory and bury this thing’s corpse under a million tons of rock and ore. I’ll take all the research down with me. As…penance for what I have done.”

Lyner’s eyes slid close. So, Youji must have regained some of his senses during the battle. The Hateful One must have been so preoccupied in wanting to make Lyner suffer that it had forgotten all about its little meat puppet.

…It was for the best, he supposed. The Military would do far worse should they get their hands on him.

“…this way…”

What…?

“…we’ll guide you home…”

That voice…?

Lyner opened his eyes. He was greeted by the sight of luscious green trees, healthy and vibrant, swaying gently in a soft breeze. Around him were stone pedestals and statues, a dark grey from weathering and covered in emerald-green moss. Beneath his feet where he stood were well-worn paving stones. A path that was vaguely familiar.

The shrine?

He immediately turned around to be graced by the sight of four Shinto Priests as they knelt on the before him, with their hands and foreheads pressed upon the ground in a form of deep appreciation.

“You…?”

The Priests each raised their heads one by one and sat back onto their feet. And the priest that Lyner had communicated with numerous times before smiled up at him, his demeanour that of peacefulness. “You have our everlasting gratitude.”

“It’s…over?”

The priest nodded. “The Hateful One has been destroyed. It’s body is nothing more than stone now. Soon to wither away.”

The relief Lyner felt was immense. It was over. It was finally over.

“We will never be able to repay you for all you have done.”

Lyner shook his head. “As long as I remain by Zelos’ side, there is nothing I want or need.”

He paused for a moment, his mind drifting to his two companions. His fears and hopes for them. One did not go through such a traumatic ordeal and not feel something for them, also.

He…could not go back to the World of Souls with them, though. He knew he was unable to go back. He was in no state. He would hardly be of any use to them. It was a shame. The way they departed. There was a lot he wanted to say to York. To Lazarus. And to the others back in the World of Souls.

But…his friends and those he had befriended from the Fantasy World would have to wait for that conversation. He hoped that Lazarus and York did not mind telling them everything that had happened.

“Although, I do ask is that you watch over York for me. Keep him safe from the government, the ones behind everything. And, if it is possible, give Lazarus a message for me. Tell him to live. To make his way to a world of his choosing. He deserves it as a reward for all that he’s done.”

The Priest was unsurprised by his request. Even a little amused by it. “As you wish.”

As the Shinto Priests moved to bow before him once more, a bright light filled Lyner’s vision before it slowly faded to black. He remained in this world of darkness for a while, oddly content. Yet, he soon began to notice a strange swaying feeling. As if he was being moved.

…Ah, he was. He was able to feel Zelos’ protective presence and his strong arms. He was being carried. That explained why he felt so content and calm. But there was a sense of concern in Zelos’ aura, also. Directed at him, of course.

It was…unfortunately understandable. Lyner felt so tired. There was no pain, just this unfamiliar numbness. Everything felt so heavy. So…difficult.

That thing truly tried to take him down with it.

It was difficult, incredibly difficult, but Lyner managed to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, diluted by the bright light of the sun. The only things he saw, however, was Zelos’ chest and the Jadeite necklace he still wore around his neck. “…Zelos?”

Zelos paused in his steps abruptly, his breath hitching in his throat. He then breathed a shaky sigh of relief, and his arm curled tighter around Lyner’s shoulders, pulling him closer. “Yeah. We’re home. Back in our world. I know where we are.”

Lyner sighed and nuzzled his head under Zelos’ chin. “It’s really over.”

The Shinto Priests sent them back home. York and Lazarus were back in the World of Souls, back with the others. The Hateful One was gone. The secret laboratory was destroyed, too. The souls held captive were free. As was the region itself.

It was actually over.

“It is.” Zelos pressed his lips against Lyner’s forehead. “I’ll take care of you now. Everything will be all right.”

Just as Lazarus wondered if he should ask their oh-so respectable leader if he wanted them to actually do something around the garage, Lyner passed his line of sight and walked to the dark-haired mercenary.

And a lopsided smile of amusement spread across his lips.

Those two had gotten very close recently. He supposed they did not have much of a choice, did they? It was just the four of them. For the sake of survival, they had to get along. Yet, even so, the two got on swimmingly. Lyner was not at all put off by Zelos’ guarded demeanour. In fact, Zelos was a hell of a lot less prickly around him and with him. And it was not just because of Lyner’s new role, his new ‘gift,’ as it were. It was way more than that.

They were amusing to watch, to be honest.

“What are you looking for?” Lyner asked with innocent curiosity.

Had it been anyone else or if they were back in the World of Souls, Lazarus was fairly certain Zelos would have replied with a bristle and a retort about it ‘not being anyone’s damn business!’ or something similar.

Instead, he simply turned his head to look at the inquisitive blond. “This looks good enough.”

“For what?”

“A shooting range.”

While the response left Lazarus confused, Lyner perked up, understanding the insinuation immediately. “Is this ok? We have enough bullets?”

“We have enough for a short session,” Zelos returned gruffy as he looked away, yet his words were utterly as a reassurance, nevertheless.

At least Lyner found them to be as he smiled. “Alright.”

To say that Lazarus was curious was quite the understatement. “What are you two up to?” he asked, calling out to the conspirators.

Lyner turned to face him and presented him with an innocent and friendly as can be smile. “Zelos is going to teach me the basics of shooting.”

From the back seat of the jeep, York practically choked on his own spit. “He’s what?!”

Lazarus was amused.

Oh ho, was he now? That was indeed a surprise! Lazarus had mentioned that in jest. Admittedly, to get a bit of a rise out of the mercenary as he thought himself to be quite the expert with all types of guns. But to think he would actually step up and take on the proposition? And to follow through with it?

Aw, it seemed that their hard-hearted mercenary had gone soft on everyone’s favourite swordsman.

“Why don’t you two have a look around?” Lyner proposed, his tone suggesting that he understood everyone’s need to be useful or to keep busy in some way. Still, his expression soon creased into a look of concern. “But don’t wander too far.”

“Sure, we’ll be good.” Lazarus reached around and tapped York on the back of his head with his hand, signalling him to follow. “Have fun, you two.”

With a grumble and a gripe, York hefted himself out of the jeep and followed him toward the main maintenance building of the garage. It was a two-story structure, and he assumed the main office and breakroom of the place was located on the second floor.

Cars and the like held little interest to him. Hopefully they could find some useful information in areas where people lingered.

“Those two have gotten close,” York muttered.

Lazarus glanced over his shoulder. The two had moved to the back of the jeep where Zelos had stashed a couple of their newly acquired guns. He had one out, one for rookies, and was explaining a few things to Lyner. And Lyner listened intently, nodding his head occasionally. As a swordsman, there was a lot he needed to readjust.

He had wondered why Zelos had thrown in a couple guns and sets of ammo in that morning. Ol’ Zelos had been planning a little training session.

How cute.

“Makes sense, if you think about it,” he said as he turned his gaze forward to watch where he was going. “Lyner is the only one with the patience to deal with a guy as guarded as Zelos. I’d end up pissing him off at some point, and you?”

York’s expression turned comically sour as his gaze shot off to the side. “Let’s not go there.”

“Exactly.” Two explosive hotheads were always going to clash and butt heads. No question.

As they walked inside, they heard a couple of familiar high-pitched cracks of a gun. No startled yelps, so Zelos must have prepared Lyner enough for the kick-back of the thing. Although, with Lyner having the arm and shoulder strength to swing a sword with ease, it made sense that he would be able to handle the repercussion of a rapidly firing gun.

Aiming the thing was an entirely different manner. Zelos had to get up nice and close to show him how to do that.

The first floor of the garage was for repairing and restoring vehicles, so was of little to no interest to Lazarus and likely to York, either. So the two of them immediately ventured upstairs. And just as he had surmised, the second floor consisted of an office and filing room, as well as a break room. Of which had a large corkboard overflowing with pieces of papers and notices.

Might be something of interest on that notice board.

The windows of the breakroom were open. And they overlooked the grounds of the place. Where Zelos had decided to turn into a shooting range. Lazarus could hear a few short bursts of the rifle and knew that Zelos was still teaching Lyner a thing or two. A fact that was quite intriguing in of itself.

He decided to wander over to the window to have a look.

Lyner had the form of a marksman, the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and he peered down the sights. Zelos stood behind him slight, one hand underneath the rifle, as he told him, as he showed him how to aim, how to deal with and count resistance and environmental factors to ensure that his aim was accurate.

He squeezed off a couple more rounds, aiming for a target that Lazarus could not see. And he did not know whether he hit it or missed as Zelos’ expression remained pretty neutral. Passive, even. But what it certainly was not irritated.

Definitely interesting.

“How was that?” Lyner’s voice, though low due to the distance, carried in through the window.

“Not bad,” Zelos admitted, another surprise. “I’ll have you robbing banks in no time.”

Lyner looked indignant as he turned to face him, but the expression was definitely a playful one. The smile on his lips gave it away. “I knew there was an ulterior motive. Going to teach me to hotwire a car next?”

Zelos snorted, but Lazarus was low-key a hundred percent sure it was a move to cover up a laugh. A low, dry laugh, probably. But there had to be some amusement there. He just had a dark, steely edgelord demeanour to uphold.

Lazarus wondered if the two had any idea that they were shamelessly flirting with each other.

Oh well, whatever to release the tension, he supposed.

“It’s fascinating, actually.”

York snorted as he sulkily crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his back against the wall next to the window. “I don’t see why.”

Lazarus turned away from the window and spent a moment to study the redhead.

He had been awfully quiet and sullen lately.

And, honestly, he was worried about the guy. He seemed pretty cool, calm, and collected so far. But Lazarus knew it was all an act. The guy was back in his world, but not in a region that he was familiar with, under extremely strange circumstances, dealing with creatures that he never believed existed, and yesterday learnt that his own military had set up a possible evacuation centre before skipping town to set up an exclusion zone. Which they were currently in.

That had to mess with a guy’s head.

Worse of all, he was cut off from those he cared about most. York was extremely protective of Miko. Fiercely so. Lazarus had witnessed it. Lyner had borne the brunt of it. They both knew how much of an impulsive hothead he was. He could do and had done rash things when he was worried and protective.

Lazarus knew that someone had to take on the role of…guardian, he supposed. Ensure that York kept his head on straight and in the game. Miko was not around to do the job for them, unfortunately. Neither was Troy. And he knew that Lyner would instinctively try to take on that role, but with him already dealing with his new sensing abilities and essentially becoming Zelos’ guardian, he was already taking on too much.

So, Lazarus took on the role.

Besides, it was not like he had anything better to do.

He had to admit, it was not as easy as Miko or Troy made it out to be. It took more than a few well-placed playful comments. The guy came close to freaking out a couple of times. About the situation. About his concern for his friends. About what the hell is going on. He managed to appease him with the possibility that they were in some kind of subworld based on his world.

After all, no living beings, animals or humans. None of the technology worked, not even for a second, not allowing them to gain any kind of information about the outside world. A little bit suspicious.

Lazarus seriously hoped that he was right. York would just explode, have a total freak out if it turned out that he was in fact back in his own world. Alone. Somehow. Not that anyone would blame him. He was sure if Lyner and Zelos returned to their world under same circumstances, they would be frantic with worry, too. That was why they had not said anything to trigger the guy.

The situation had got to be terrifying for the guy. The World of Souls was different. It was a world excluded from his own. He had at least one person he knew on a deep, personal level. He had some idea of what to do, what needed to be done.

This was different.

Lazarus felt for the guy. He truly did.

There just…was not much he could do for him. York was not exactly the type for long heart to hearts.

For the time being, York was calm. A team player. Just going with the flow. Allowing for Lyner’s and Zelos’ experience in such matters to get him through it and, hopefully, back to the World of Souls. How much longer he would remain that way was anyone’s guess.

They had better find the reason why they were pulled into this world. And soon.

Lazarus pushed away from the window and headed over to the bulletin board. “Anyway, let’s have a look around.”

“What are we looking for exactly?” York asked as he followed him.

“Journals. Newspapers. Even those iPhones or whatever,” Lazarus replied as he ran his gaze across the many flyers and scraps of papers pinned to the board. “Something that will help explain what’s been going on around here. We’re four days in and haven’t a clue what these creatures are, where they came from, or what should be done about them.”

“Or what happened to the people here,” York murmured under his breath.

“Exactly.”

Lyner’s new sensing abilities had offered them small insights, information that he was somehow able to tap into without rhyme or reason. But there had to be a limit to the amount of information he was able to access. There had to be a limit on his new skills. And they had to be cautious of them.

Like those creatures, they knew nothing of the mark that marred Lyner’s forehead. A gift? Or a curse?

“We’ve been brought here for a reason,” Lazarus continued. “We don’t have anyone around to tell us what that reason is this time. Not so blatantly, that is. We’ll need to figure it out on our own. With just the four of us, it’s not going to be easy.”

York sighed and raked his hand through his hair in mild frustration. “I see your point.”

Allowing his gaze to wander over the noticeboard, Lazarus attention fell upon a few torn pieces of paper. Newspaper articles. There were several of them bunched together, purposely collected. They were not of the normal news articles that a business like a car workshop and garage would collect. After all, a couple of the pieces had words such as ‘missing’ and ‘strange disappearances’ printed in big red lettering across the pages.

He reached over and gathered them, handing a few sheets for York to flick through and occupy himself with.

As Lazarus read through the articles, he found them attempting to mislead from the eye-catching titles. They spoke briefly of those who were believed to be missing, their homes and businesses in disarray, only to launch into an explanation of possible runaways. Off on a journey to start afresh elsewhere. Just leaving everything behind to start anew.

Oh yeah, made perfect sense.

And the articles that spoke of strange sightings? Just kids and teenagers playing pranks, or the witnesses had misidentified one of the natural faunas for those creatures.

Or simply had a nervous breakdown and suffered from wild delusions.

“The locals really had no idea what they were dealing with, did they?” Lazarus muttered.

“I guess it didn’t help that those in charge tried to cover it up as much as possible,” York added, a frown on his lips and a deep furrow on his brow.

“Hm.” Lazarus motioned to the newspapers in his hands. “These talk about strange creature sightings, only to be brushed off as pranks, or as shared psychosis and delusions.”

York sighed as he idly folded the newspaper clippings in half. “These echo it. Even going as far as saying packs of wild dogs with mange. Gaslighting at its finest, I guess.” He handed the clippings back to Lazarus and folded his arms roughly across his chest, where his expression took on a contemplative look. “Though, I do get why. These things aren’t normal. The average, everyday guy doesn’t have battle experience. There is no way the people of this town would know how to deal with them. They probably wouldn’t even be able to comprehend their existence. This…just doesn’t happen here.”

That may have been true, but was going to such extreme lengths of silence, to cover everything up, and keep everyone deep in the danger zone a good idea?

Lazarus supposed he had no right to judge, he was not from the Human Realm, after all. He may have a few hazy, vague memories, but it was not his home. It was not his place of origin.

“I suppose if someone in charge came out and said that a bunch of monsters capable of creating their own mist were roaming about, very able and capable of murdering anyone in their way, people would panic.”

York snorted lightly. “You got that right.”

Still, having people panic and flee should have been a far safer option…

A loud whistle suddenly cut through the air. Lazarus perked his head up and turned his attention toward the window. That noise definitely came from outside, and it definitely was not natural.

Without a word, Lazarus and York head toward the window and leaned out of it to look outside. Zelos stood by the jeep, with a duffle bag in one hand as he slammed the truck shut with the other. Next to him stood Lyner, his hand clutching his forehead as he looked to the west at a dense patch of woodland, his posture edgy and restless.

“Head’s up!” Zelos yelled up at them. “Another fog is coming!”

Lazarus clenched his jaw. They were not exactly in the best place. The garage, especially the first floor, was an open planned area. The fog could just roll right on in. But the second floor did allow them an advantage. They could lock themselves in the break area if necessary. Maybe if they could snipe them before they got too close.

“Then get your asses up here!” York yelled back.

Lazarus pulled back into the breakroom and shut the window before he looked around the room. It had one door. One way in and one way out. Of course, if push came to shove, they could use the windows. Of which lined one wall, overlooking the yard of parked cars and scrap metal. The windows opened vertically, which allowed them to slide the glass panel open far enough to push the muzzle of their gun out and take shots out at the field below.

Hopefully, with Lyner’s skills, they could take the creatures out before they entered the garage. Of course, that depended on which direction those creatures slinked their way in from.

After a moment, Lyner and Zelos joined them in the breakroom. Zelos closed and locked the door before he dropped the duffle bag upon the table in the centre of the room.

“What’s the view like from up here?” Zelos asked as he began to rummage through the bag.

“Perfect for taking potshots if needed,” Lazarus answered.

“It’s coming,” Lyner murmured. “It’ll be rolling in any second now.”

Lazarus glanced over at Lyner. The guy was switching between unconsciously flexing his fingers nervously at his sides and idly rubbing at that strange marking that marred his forehead. He also gravitated toward Zelos, his gaze flicking between him and the windows leading to the outside.

Lyner mentioned that the fog felt like an eternal feeling of dread. Lazarus could not imagine what that was like. To be going about your business only to suddenly be overcome with an intense feeling of dread, to know that danger was about to appear, and that there was very little that you could do about it but wait.

No wonder he grew edgy and jumpy whenever a fog drew near.

Lazarus felt for the guy, but he was glad it was not him carrying that mark.

Lyner suddenly grimaced and looked over at the windows. “Here it is.”

Lazarus wandered over to the windows and looked outside. The windows were thankfully all closed, but it was still an incredibly eerie feeling to watch as a dense, black fog seep in. It appeared like a low-lying mist at first, crawling across the ground, creeping from every crack, every corner. Rolling and boiling, it looked more like toxic smoking, growing large, denser, swallowing everything up, plunging day into night. Only vague silhouettes could be seen.

They were honestly fortunate that they had Lyner’s forewarning. He did not want to get caught up in that fog. Especially in the middle of nowhere.

“It doesn’t get any less creepy, does it?” Lazarus asked aloud as he pushed away from the window.

“Not at all,” Lyner replied, his body releasing an involuntary shudder.

Zelos had pulled out a couple of rifles from the duffle back and had laid them out upon the table. He held one rifle in his hands, idly testing it functionality. “How many?” he asked Lyner.

Lyner closed his eyes, his fingers unconsciously brushing over the marking on his forehead. “I can sense four of them.”

Zelos racked a bullet into the chamber. “Let’s see if I can take it out before it gets too close.”

Lyner opened his eyes and nodded his head slowly. He flickered his gaze toward Lazarus and then over to York. “You two, get ready,” he said as he motioned toward the rifles. “There’s one at the forefront, but there’s three more close behind. They may or may not react to the shot.”

Yeah, it was best to get the bastards’ attention and take them out. Hunkering down and waiting for them to leave really was not their style. They would have to deal with them at some point.

Lazarus worked over to the table and took hold of one of the rifles while York took the other. A rifle was not exactly his forte, but he knew how to snipe something between the eyes.

As Lazarus flicked the safety off his rifle, he watched in disbelief as Zelos unexpectedly gave Lyner the rifle. And equally unexpectedly, Lyner took it and headed over to the window, with Zelos right behind him. He opened it just enough to push the muzzle through. Black fog crept in through the small opening, the black tendrils curling in like dense, black smoke.

Lyner spent a moment to aim the rifle, angling it at a certain level and direction. He then motioned for Zelos. Who then stepped in and took his place.

“One’s closing in,” Lyner said as he took a step back, yet remained close, nevertheless. “It’s behind that blue truck. Remember?”

“Which way is it moving?” Zelos asked as he got into positioned, unconcerned and unbothered by Lyner’s closeness.

“To the right.” Lyner raised his hands to cover his ears. “You should see its eyes any second…”

Zelos suddenly took a shot, the crack echoing through the breakroom, followed by the telling tink of an ejected shell casing hitting the floor. “Got it.”

“Perfect shot!” Lyner seemed both thrilled and relieved. “It’s gone.”

Lazarus could not see it, but he knew that Zelos was smirking with self-satisfaction. Both from the one shot, one kill strike, and from the small compliment from Lyner.

He wondered if that was the true purpose of Lyner’s training today. To get the gist of sighting a gun so that he could do more than just pointing them in the right direction. Or if today was just a coincidence.

Still, quite a sight to witness. To think that Zelos trusted Lyner like that. Meu would be thrilled to bits. He would have to share the gossip with her once they return to the World of Souls.

“I can feel three more,” Lyner said, reminding them that they were not out of the woods yet. “They’re at a distance at the moment but heading in our direction.”

“Looks like we get one each,” Lazarus said with a grin as he sauntered up to a window.

Lyner glanced toward the window, eyeing up the fog as it seeped in through the slight gap. He remained silent, a light furrow in his brow before he nodded his head. He turned his attention back toward Zelos and softly rested his hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Yours is following in the first’s footsteps. It has no idea that it’s about to meet the same fate.”

Zelos nodded and made no attempt to dislodge Lyner’s hand from his shoulder. Another unusual sight. Instead, he repositioned himself to take a shot, waiting for the right moment.

Lyner spent another moment gazing out the window before he turned away and set his attention toward Lazarus and York. He gave a short wave with his hand, beckoning them toward the windows. With Zelos occupying the middle window, they moved to take up positions on either side of him, York to the left and Lazarus to the right.

Lyner moved to assist York first. Like he had done with Zelos, he opened the window just a smidgen and retrieved the rifle from him, just so he could set up the sights. “It’s to the left. I’m pretty sure it’s scurrying around the white trucks. I think I remember them being in that direction. I believe yours is hiding, so it might prove troublesome. But if you see a pair of red eyes, take a shot.”

York snorted in mild annoyance as he slipped in to take position the moment Lyner stepped back. “Of course, I get the asshole one.”

“I’m sure you can handle it,” Lyner returned encouragingly.

Lazarus anticipated Lyner’s assistance, so he opened the window himself and propped his rifle upon the window ledge, allowing for Lyner to slip in quickly.

“Yours is around the abandoned cars. As soon as you see a pair of red eyes, take its head off.”

Lazarus shot him a grin as he took possession of the rifle once more. “Said like a true sniper.”

Zelos definitely taught him that one.

Lyner flushed lightly and shrugged. “I can’t even begin to match you guys. But at least I can point you in the right direction.”

Lazarus chuckled before he purposedly got his game face on and looked down the sights of his rifle. It was incredibly disconcerting peering down the sights, into the inky darkness of the fog as he searched for two glowing pinpricks of red. The creature’s eyes were all he had to go on, all he had to aim for. And he had to aim right down the middle.

The thing had to be in the area. Lyner had not said anything about it moving, advancing or fleeing. It was likely hiding. The fact that no one had fired meant that all three creatures were hiding.

They just had to wait in silence.

The silence drew on, uncomfortably. It was soon broken by a telling, shrilling crack from a rifle next to Lazarus. Zelos had taken a shot.

“One more down,” he uttered as he pulled back.

Just as he said that two pinpricks of red suddenly lined up directly in Lazarus’ view. They startled him for a moment, but he managed to still his aim and squeeze the trigger. The rifled recoiled into his shoulder and his sight rapidly shifted, preventing him from viewing the aftermath.

“Two down,” Lyner murmured, confirming Lazarus’ shot.

And a third shot promptly followed.

Lyner sighed with pure and blatant relief as he leaned against the window ledge between Lazarus and Zelos. “That’s all of them. And the fog is dissipating.”

Sure enough, streams of sunlight cut through the dispersing fog, allowing familiar shapes and figures to reemerge. The rusted cars, the piles of scrap metal, the unmanned vehicles of the garage. They all returned under the bright sunlight, completely normal and unaffected to what had just occurred.

Lazarus idly flicked the safety switch back into place and let the rifle rest at his side. He turned to look at the blond next to him and paused. Lyner leaned heavily against the window ledge, with one arm folded across his torso and idly rubbing his fingers against the mark on his forehead.

“You doing ok there?”

Lyner tilted his head toward him, his eyes somewhat vacant. “Hm?”

“You’re looking a little pale,” Lazarus pointed out. As he did so, his gaze flickered briefly over Lyner’s head toward Zelos. And his noted with mild amusement that his observation had caught the mercenary’s attention, too.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lyner instinctively replied, his response dismissive. “Just a small headache. I’m not used to so many gunshots.”

Lazarus did not fully believe him but decided to let it slide for the time being. There was little doubt the guy had a headache, but he questioned if it was from the gunshots, and he doubted that it was small. “At least they seem easy enough to kill.”

“If you’re an expert marksman.” Lyner lightly tapped Zelos on the shoulder with the back on his hand. “How Zelos here is able to handle such a hefty gun with one hand is beyond remarkable.”

Another compliment. Lazarus was starting to feel jealous.

Zelos himself seemed unsure how to respond to such a sincere compliment. Lyner’s honesty and sincerity could be a little bit too much sometimes. “Anyway, this place seems to have the spare parts necessary, should we need them. Find any information?”

“Only a few news reports that don’t really offer much,” Lazarus replied as he walked over to the table in the centre of the room. “I’ll collected them, nonetheless.”

Lyner tilted his head in Zelos’ direction and looked up at him questioningly. “I guess that’s all we can do here?”

Zelos nodded. “Yeah. Let’s move on to the next place.”

“Where to next?” Lyner suddenly narrowed his eyes. “And don’t you dare say the bank.”

Zelos looked away and snorted to cover up a sniggered.

It appeared orderly, however. The parking lot was clear, almost spotless. No piles of debris. No empty cars or abandoned trucks to be seen. The boarding of the windows had been done in a careful, methodical fashion. With arrows pointing to the front entrance. One that was closed.

Curious.

“Let me guess,” Lyner began as Zelos pulled the jeep to a stop and turned off the engine. “You’re going to shoot out the lock?”

The corner of Zelos’ mouth twitched into a half smirk, and he leaned back to grab the duffle back carrying his weapons. “Far quicker than searching for a key.”

He supposed that was true. It was highly unlikely that somehow would keep a spare key under a rock in the garden, like at their safehouse.

The four of them clambered out of the jeep and walked over to the front entrance. Needless to say, Lyner did not sense anything untoward inside or in the surrounding area as he would have immediately stated as much. Instead, they strolled over to the barred and boarded up doors, where Zelos immediately reached into the bag and pulled out his gun.

“There better be something useful inside,” he muttered as he pressed the muzzle against the key lock and squeezed the trigger.

Lyner could not prevent a wince at the sound – the small explosion, the splintering of metal, and the spaying of shrapnel. Another reason why he was unlikely to be a gunner anytime soon. With his sudden sensitivity due to the marking on his forehead, a few gunshots of his own weapon were likely to leave him with a crippling migraine.

Zelos pulled his gun back and lifted his leg to not-so gently kick in the door. Something, he no doubt, had done numerous times before. The door protested lightly, but ultimately swung open, allowing them entrance.

The first room they encountered appeared to be the reception and customer service. Yet, the area where one assumed would be filled with chairs or perhaps even tapered off cue chains had been emptied. Instead, there was a line of tables, seemingly set up with a purpose in mind. One that was ultimately never achieved.

Lyner kept the minor oddity at the back of his mind as the four of them continued with their inspection and found their way to their ultimate destination – the warehouse.

Tall shelving units that easily reached three stories high and could only be reached through the use of a forklift. Conveyor belts, which were not functional snaked through the open areas. He could also see a command centre and office overseeing the entire operation on an upper platform against the back wall.

Lazarus gave a low whistle, a sound that echoed. “Nice. It’s even bigger on the inside.”

“This might take a couple of hours,” York could not help but gripe, even though it was his idea.

At least they were close to the safehouse in case they needed to do a couple of supply runs. And since they were in town, and if Zelos’ theory was correct, should he suddenly get a foreshadowing of a fog, he should rightly get a longer lead-time, too. Although, the warehouse was located on the outskirts of town…

They just better be careful.

“Well, we certainly won’t be inspecting everything,” Lyner said. “Should we look for some kind of invoice or just randomly start opening boxes?”

“Hey, there’s a bunch of stuff over here,” Lazarus stated as he abruptly wandered off. “Looks a little out of place, don’t you think?”

Lyner turned in Lazarus’ direction, his head quirked to the side in curiosity. It did not take him long to noticed what it was that drew the blond gunner’s attention. The storage of the warehouse was neat and orderly, with all the shelving units loaded to full capacity. Yet, by the loading bays was seemingly a shipment of goods and wares that had not been taken care of. It was neatly stacked, yes. But it had not been stored away.

Perhaps it was a last-minute delivery?

Or it was not meant to be stored away.

The first thing Lyner noticed as he drew closer was the abundance supply of bottled water and bags of rice. Were they for the grocery store?

But as he grew closer still, he realised that they were large bundles of thick, if scratchy blankets, folded out cots, and copious supply of rubber mats. Seeming innoxious items, if not for the dark green tone and the ‘army’ insignia inscribed across them.

“Provisions?” Lyner murmured aloud as he inspected the bags of rice and powdered soup, knowing full well that they were meant to feed large swarths of people in one sitting. “Why are they stored here?”

“Seems kinda odd. The general store wasn’t ransacked or anything,” Lazarus added.

“Right? It was just an ordinary store. Everything seemed to be in place.” Lyner shook his head. “Cots, blankets, food. They must have been organising an evacuation.”

Had someone planned on turning the warehouse into an evacuation centre? That would explain the boarded-up windows and the cleared waiting room.

“But these things haven’t been touched,” York quickly pointed out.

No…

They were all neatly stacked. The bottled waters still wrapped in plastic. The bags of rice still in the hessian bags. The blankets, the mats, the cots all still folded and unused. Nothing had been touched since they were stacked up and piled here.

But…why?

Lyner’s frown deepened. He did not like the feeling he got. “It’s all military grade. Isn’t it?”

“Looks that way,” Zelos replied, his tone level. Rather cold.

“Why leave it here?”

“It’s just a token effort.”

Lyner felt his shoulders tense. “What do you mean?”

Zelos turned to look at him, his expression hard and his scowl searing. “I don’t believe the military had any intention of using them.”

Lyner shook his head, truly not wanting to believe that. “B-but they wouldn’t have just left the people here to fend for themselves? They couldn’t have.”

Zelos waved his arm over the provisions harshly. “Then why are these things still here?”

Lyner felt startled. He…did not have an answer to that. Under the perfect government, they should not be inside of the warehouse. Untouched and undisturbed, all this time later.

But they were.

Lyner looked away, his eyes downcast, knowing deep inside that Zelos was right. He just…wanted to see something for himself first. He had to know. “…I’m going to inspect the offices. There might be something of note there.”

If…if the military, if the government had initially planned on using the warehouse as an evacuation point, then there had to be some point of contact between them. Some kind of exchange of information. Something.

That was what he hoped to find, at least.

The office of the warehouse overlooked the loading and storing area, so Lyner could still keep an eye out on the others along with his sensing abilities. He knew that he should help the guys at least look through the provisions, to sort out if they could do with anything, if they were useful for their safehouse. But he just wanted to know why they were stored there.

There must have been a purpose for them. The bedding, the food – they were not something that could have been distributed among the masses. The inhabitants had to converge to one place to benefit from them. They have had to reside in one place.

The warehouse must have been considered an evacuation centre at one point.

Why was it not used?

It…could not have been what Zelos had insinuated. It could not have been for show. Governments were not perfect. No matter how hard they pretend they were.

But could they be so callous?

The office was rather underwhelming. It was an open room with overhead lighting. Clean and spacious, but little else to make it noteworthy. Rows of desks adorned with electronics that looked like information processing units. Computers, if he recalled correctly. Many of the monitors were black, yet he could see small pinpricks of light to indicate that they were all receiving energy. On power saving mode, most likely.

Lyner strolled around the room slowly, yet cautiously. There was not an aura of threat, but he was unfamiliar with the electronics.

The Human Realm was said to be one of promising and innovative technology. Yet, the computer systems that sat before him looked rather…primitive compared to those back in his own world. Perhaps it was the information stored inside that was more advanced. He should be able to navigate the systems relatively easily.

He grabbed the nearest chair that was located in front of a computer and sat down. He pressed the space bar on the keyboard, which caused the screen to light up. Were a small window greeted him. One asking for an employee’s password.

Something he obviously did not have.

He looked around the desk in hope that they had written the password down nearby, on a piece of paper. Unfortunately, there did not appear anything of the sort. He did find a couple of order forms and inventory sheets. They did not appear complete, but they offered a glimpse as what was held in the warehouse. And they were sure to be useful in navigating the wares down on the floor.

Hmm, goods for the hardware store. Some for the specialised stores in the centre of town. Even some medical materials.

Good. Items that were useful for them.

He gathered up the papers and moved to stand up from his seat when his foot collided with something on the floor. He instinctively glanced down, and his gaze fell upon a familiar object. Rectangular in appearance and beige in colour.

It was a folder. With the military insignia stamped on the front.

What was that doing down there?

Dropping the inventory notes onto the desk, Lyner sat back down onto the seat and reached to snatch the folder. He leaned back into the chair as he flipped the file open. There were a few loose papers inside, thrown together in haste by appearance. Some of the papers were crinkled and crumbled, folded in half crookedly and hastily.

In a hurry to gather evidence? To hide their existence inside of town?

He leafed through the papers, some of them being inventory lists of what the military had provided for the townsfolk. Others with details of what the units of soldiers were to do once they reached the warehouse and took it under their command.

There were a couple of surprises, however.

The numbers marked at the top of the pages meant very little to Lyner, but he assumed it was the dating system of the human realm. The commands from the higher ups seemed reasonable, what one would and should assume from their governmental body. Soldiers to move into town with the ultimate purpose of preparing for an evacuation. First, the inhabitants were to gather at the warehouse before they were to be bussed out under the safety of the military. That was to occur over three days.

But then something happened.

A…A new order came in. It ordered all military personal to pull out. To pull back. They were to be dispatched elsewhere. Where? It did not say. Just to pull out until further orders.

They were to…leave the evacuation provisions there. It would…make things look good for the government after all was said and done.

…That was infuriating.

Make the government look good? To who? The survivors sure as hell would not be singing them praises after leaving them high and dry like that. He was sure those creatures appreciated it, though. Gave them more time to continue their hunting spree.

Lyner sighed and sunk back into the computer chair.

He hated politics. So much.

Just up and leave everyone behind. Leave them to their own devices. Leave them to fend for themselves. He did not want to believe it, but it was written in black and white right in front of him. On a piece of paper with the military insignia.

Lyner sighed and rubbed his forehead where the marking resided. He felt a headache beginning to build. He wearily glanced at the file in his hands, a bile of disgust forming at the back of his throat. His gaze then caught something he had not noticed before. He squinted as he read the final page, and he glanced toward the floor in thought.

They…were setting up an exclusion zone? That was the reason the soldiers had been hastily repositioned?

An exclusion zone…was that the reason why they had not seen anyone?

But why no air support?

Zelos’ presence heading in his direction pulled Lyner from his musings and he raised his head. He pivoted the chair to face the entrance of the office. He sensed that Zelos was alone, and he felt that there was a mild sense of reluctant in his aura. No, it was more a feeling of awkwardness. He knew that Lyner was not exactly thrilled with the possibility that a government would just leave their own people when they needed them most.

Even though he was right.

After a few moments, Zelos appeared in the doorway. “Hey-”

“You were right,” Lyner said, cutting him off. “The government ordered the units here to pull out before setting up the evacuation centre and to leave everything behind.”

Zelos was clearly startled. “…What do you mean?” he asked as he walked over to him.

Lyner presented to him the military folder. “I found this,” he said, allowing Zelos to retrieve it from him and to flip through himself. “Initially, the military was ordered to set up an evacuation centre before performing a full-on evacuation of the town’s residents, but something happened, resulting in an emergency order for them to leave all provisions behind and pull out immediately. Pretty much leaving the inhabitants here high and dry. They didn’t even stick around to set up the evacuation centre.”

And from the looks of things, they did not even have the time, or even bothered, to tell the residents of what was even going on. They truly were left to fend for themselves.

Silence reigned as Zelos allowed the information Lyner gave him to sink in, idly flipping through the papers as he did so. As he reached the last page, his brow immediately furrowed. “Exclusion Zone?”

“I think that’s where the soldiers had been repositioned to.”

Zelos continued to scowl as he snapped the folder shut. “Explains a lot. They definitely know what is going on here.”

“It seems that way.” Lyner pushes himself up out of the chair. “Unfortunately for us, they just won’t come out and say what it is that is going on here.”

Zelos snorted as he handed the folder back to Lyner. “That would be too easy. If nothing else, it gives us peace of mind that we have enough supplies. Hopefully, we won’t be here long enough to actually run out.”

“Yeah…”

… … … … …

They had spent a good few solid hours gathering supplies at the warehouse, calling it a day an hour before sunset. Lyner was relieved to be back at the safehouse, honestly. While nothing happened that day, had not encountered any of those creatures, he still felt on edge. Simply because of the locations they were visiting. The openness of them.

At least they had managed to wrangle up some more essential supplies that they did not need to go in search for more any time soon. At least a week or so. And with the grocery store so close, it would take literally months before they ran out of food.

As Zelos said before, hopefully they would not be trapped in the Human Realm for too long.

Although, with no one to guide them, no one to tell them why they were even here, it was up to them and their fledging investigative skills to work out the details. And being three days (going on four) in with only the faintest of ideas, they might be stuck for a while…

He wondered how Ayatane and the others were doing. They had to be worried. Was it three days for them, too? He hoped not. He hoped time moved differently somehow.

When they returned to the safehouse, Zelos had grabbed the carry bags of weapons and headed upstairs. He stated to him that he wanted to inspect them, to ensure they were in working order. A totally valid thing to do. The last thing either of them wanted was to attempt to use one of their new weapons in battle only for it to not work.

They knew what those creatures were capable of. They could not afford to give them a single opening on the battlefield.

With that in mind, Lyner moved their new medical supplies to their first aid room while York and Lazarus scrounged up some dinner for the four of them. After they were done, they called for him and having had little to eat that day, Lyner did not hesitate to pause in his work. Zelos, however, did not venture downstairs. And still did not show when they had finished their food.

He was likely caught up in his work. Lyner could not sense anything untoward from him in his aura.

So, Lyner simply grabbed Zelos’ share of food and a drink from the fridge and made his way upstairs. The vast majority of the lights were off, except for a single lamplight in the sitting area, where Zelos occupied one of the couches, the coffee table in front of him covered in gun parts.

“Zelos,” Lyner called out to the mercenary in order not to startle him and sat the food and drink onto a part of the coffee table that was not already occupied. “Here, I brought you something to eat and drink.”

“Hm?” Zelos momentarily paused in his work and blinked, mildly surprised that Lyner would be considerate enough to bring him something to eat. To think of him at all. “Oh…thanks. I’ll get to it after I finish with this one.”

Lyner sat himself on the other end of the couch and drew a leg up to his chest and rested his chin a top of his knee as he took a moment to simply study Zelos. Watching as he carefully and expertly pulled apart the guns and cleaned them, putting them back together with a finesse that indicated that he had done such a thing numerous times in his life.

“You know a lot about these things.”

“As par for the course with being a mercenary and all,” Zelos replied simply as he continued working. “Nothing else to it.”

“Being a mercenary, huh.” Lyner draped his arms around his leg. “I don’t know. It might be a little bit more than that. You could be the most interesting man in the world as far as I know.”

Zelos snorted aloud. “Better keep up the mystery, then.”

Lyner leaned back into the couch and allowed his head to roll back to rest on the plush cushion behind him. “I must admit, I’m kinda jealous. Being able to go about your life freely, doing what you want, when you want.”

There was a twinge of surprise in Zelos’ aura. “Never thought I’d hear that from you, Mr. Loyal Knight.”

Lyner uttered a small laugh. He supposed it was rather surprising. “I guess everyone secretly dreams of packing up and running away, starting life anew, to have a life of freedom.”

While Zelos continued working, there was a sense of…something in his presence. Quiet nostalgia. Guilt. Regret even. Possibly even resentment. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly. It was a heavy feeling, a weight upon his chest. Something Lyner had not truly had experience with before.

“Being a mercenary isn’t all sunshine and roses,” Zelos said, his voice level, even, despite the heaviness in his aura. “You make a lot of enemies.”

He…supposed it depended on what kind of jobs one took.

Was that where his regret came from?

“Maybe you should rein in your explosions, Mr. Trigger Happy.”

Zelos snorted with a mild hint of amusement and set the gun he had been working on aside. “Maybe they shouldn’t piss me off.”

Lyner chuckled to himself then fell silent as Zelos finally reached for his dinner. Lyner knew he should return to his own task of reorganising the first aid room, but he felt comfortable sat on the couch, in the semi-darkness. It had been the first time all day he had been able to relax, after all.

“You know,” Zelos suddenly began, breaking the silence. “What Lazarus suggested wasn’t a bad idea.”

Lyner tilted his head to the side. “Hm?”

“You learning how to shoot.”

That caught Lyner off guard. When Lazarus suggested it and then playfully volunteered Zelos to be the one to teach him, he felt a sense of annoyance from the mercenary at the time. Honestly, he did not need his new sensing abilities to know that he was irritated with the blond, not with the glare he sent him. That was why Lyner quickly made light of the suggestion and dismissed it outright.

So, to have him bring it up again, under his own free will, was a surprise.

“Really? You’re…offering to teach me?”

Zelos did not look at him, but shrugged casually, nonetheless. “I could teach you a thing or two. Better than those two idiots.”

Lyner smiled and his gaze softened. Not every day he was presented with such a rare opportunity. “If you’re offering, how can I say no?”

The comfort and warmth Lyner felt abruptly vanished, replaced with the sharp, piercing pain from the mark upon his forehead. He sat up straight and his eyes grew wide in preparation for what was to come next.

The bitingly cold chill, racing up his spine and brushing across his shoulders.

Yet, it was subdued, the biting cold. The piercing, staggering pain he felt was, well, less so. It was still very suddenly and unexpected, but unlikely previous times, it did not leave him near breathless and stunned.

It was…somewhat unexpected.

“Ah…”

Zelos immediately snapped his head around to look at him. “Again?”

“Y-yeah,” Lyner replied as he rubbed his forehead idly. “Just like last night. There’s something in the distance.”

Zelos furrowed his brow, not exactly pleased, though not worried either. He set his food aside and made the motion to reach for something else. “Let’s see if those infrared goggles work on the bastards.”

With the pain of the forewarning subsiding, Lyner stood up from the couch and led Zelos into his bedroom and then out onto the balcony once more. And, just like last night, they kept all the lights off, leaving the two of them with only the dim lighting from the distant streetlights dotted throughout the town.

“Where are they?” Zelos asked as they stood together before the safety railing.

Lyner pointed at the horizon. “Over there. In the direction of the clinic again.”

It truly felt like a repeat of last night. Zelos narrowed in on the direction Lyner pointed him in and raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes. However, they were the infrared goggles that Lyner had found that very day. Hopefully allowing Zelos the chance to see what Lyner was able to sense.

“Anything?”

Zelos did not answer immediately, his attention fixated on adjusting and focusing the night vision goggles. “Yeah,” he finally said. “The fog is interfering. But I am picking something up. There’s…three of them.”

Lyner’s shoulders slumped forward with relief, releasing the tension he did not know he had been carrying. “Right. That’s how many I can sense, too.”

“Good,” Zelos said as he pulled the goggles away from his eyes. “I can see the bastards. As long as they stay at a distance.”

It really was a relief to know what someone else was able to see them, even if just faintly or vaguely, from a distance. It was a relief for Zelos, too. He did not like knowing that there were enemies within the vicinity and not being able to see or hear them. With the goggles, he at least had something he could grab and use to inspect his surroundings for himself.

“I’ll be able to tell immediately if they move.” Lyner turned his gaze in the direction of the clinic, where he knew the strange fog lingered, with monstrous creatures skittering about in search for something. “I’m not entirely sure what they’re doing. I think…”

Lyner paused as a thought, a knowing occurred to him. It made him grimace and immediately look away.

“I think they’re searching that site. You know, the one with all the blood?”

Zelos’ eyes narrowed. “Yeah…”

Blood…Was that what they wanted? No. No, they left blood behind. They were after something else.

Lyner unconsciously shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I hope they leave soon. I won’t be able to relax with them hanging around town.”

It also got so cold whenever those creatures were scurrying about.

“What do they feel like?” Zelos suddenly asked.

Lyner turned his gaze out to the inky darkness of night. “Voids. Voids of negativity.”

“Voids, huh?” Zelos repeated, understanding in both his voice and presence. “Yeah, they looked that way through the infrared, too. Just these black figures, completely detached from their surroundings.”

“Yeah.” Detached from reality, but a very real threat to everyone and everything. Such a contradiction. “It’s…a relief when they are destroyed, to be honest.”

“We’ll just have to kill every single bastard we come across then,” Zelos said, his voice level, stern, confident.

He may not know any of the inhabitants of this town, he may not be from this Human Realm, but he feared and mourned for the victims, nevertheless. A life was a life, regardless, and each life was precious.

Lyner shook his head and refocused his attention to his latest task. With a sigh, he continued to pick up the many trinkets and personal items from the shelves and placed them into the box balanced in the crook of his arm to make room for the medical supplies.

He paused when he reached for a photo. Four male individuals stood together in front of what appeared to be an academy of some kind. Siblings or friends? They looked similar in age, so they may have been companions living under the same roof. How fortunate to live in such a large house with friends as roommates, close to everything they could need.

…He wondered what happened to them?

“You shouldn’t get too attached to the personal items here.”

Zelos’ voice cut through Lyner’s inner musings, and he placed the photo into the box, alongside the other trinkets. He turned around and watched as Zelos set down a box of supplies they had acquired from the clinic. “I know. I just can’t help but wonder.”

He hoped they made it out.

“I found a pair of binoculars, though,” Lyner revealed as he pulled such item from the storage box and presented them to the other man. “They’re nothing fancy, but they might prove useful.”

Especially since they had a good advantage point over the town.

Zelos walked further into the room and retrieved the binoculars from him to inspect them for himself. “Seem pretty cheap to me, but they’re better than nothing, I guess.”

Anything that allowed them to get the upper hand on their enemy, he supposed.

Which was probably more than many of the inhabitants had.

“Don’t you think it’s strange?” Lyner asked suddenly.

Zelos arched an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“There are all these sites of attacks, but we haven’t seen a single body. We haven’t seen a single thing. No animals. No humans. Not even a bird. Nothing. Just us. Those creatures can’t be responsible for everything.” A worrying feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. “Could they?”

“We haven’t inspected everywhere yet,” Zelos immediately replied.

That…was true.

Still, Zelos could not sense, could not feel what Lyner could. And he knew that there were not a living soul residing inside of the town’s premises.

“Try not to think too much about it.” Zelos unexpectedly placed his hand upon Lyner’s shoulder as he half turned away from him. “We’ve got more important things to focus on.”

The touch startled Lyner. It surprised him greatly that Zelos would be the one to reach out to touch someone. Willingly at that. He was the one who rejected the sense of touch. Recoiled from it in some instances, especially in regard to anyone attempting to touch his prosthetic arms. Meu was the only one who got away with such feats, mostly because she was so insistent and, despite his grumbling of grievances, was a mother figure to him.

So, to actually…touch him was a big deal.

He would not make it out to be as such, however.

“Ah, you’re right.”

Wordlessly, Zelos placed the binoculars aside and walked out of the room, his back subtly rigid and his steps hasty. He, too, caught on how out of character it was for him to be the one to reach out and touch someone.

A small smile spread across Lyner’s lips. If he did not know any better, he could have sworn Zelos had tried to comfort him.

And it worked.

Lyner turned back to his task of carefully storing away the house’s previous occupants’ possessions. He just had to hold onto the belief that since their chosen safehouse did not possess the hallmarks of an attack, those who had once resided here had escaped and made it to safety somehow. They would be none too pleased to find four strangers living in their residence, but it could not be helped.

He would just have to ensure that their belongings were carefully stored in the garage.

As Lyner grabbed a wad of books, one inauspicious black cover book fell flat upon the shelf with a muted thud. He made to grab it to place it in the storage box along with the other items, but paused when a single word etched in gold letter caught his attention.

It was a journal.

Lyner set the storage box down upon the couch and focused his attention on the journal. He opened to a random page in the middle of the book and scanned the writing, noting with curiosity that it held promising information about their predicament.

‘There has been more of a military presence in town than usual. They refuse to answer any questions when approached and are always armed. They must be investigating the mysterious disappearances, but is the armed response necessary? What do they know? What aren’t they telling us?’

A military presence? Interesting. But there was nothing like that seen in town. Though, they had not inspected every corner and back alleyway yet, obviously. Still, there should have been some sign, shouldn’t there? A barricade here, a detour there. Something.

They knew about the monsters. They had to have known. They would not have responded secretly, while armed, if they did not.

But…the soldiers? Where did they go?

A brisk, violent chill running up Lyner’s spine caused him to release the journal, where it fell to the floor with a silent thud. A pain, sharp yet somehow muted, pierced his forehead, where that strange marking resided. His hand flew up to clutch his brow and he stumbled back a step, colliding with the computer desk behind him.

That feeling…

“What?” Zelos had returned to the room, startled to find him in such state. “What’s happened?”

Lyner pushed away from the desk and shook his head in a desperate attempt to clear it. “I just got that feeling again.”

Zelos was not happy. “A fog? Now?”

No…Not now.

“Something…something’s different.” Lyner pulled his hand away from his forehead and tilted his head back to gaze toward the ceiling, a motion that, for some reason, gave him a sense of clarity. “It’s…not near us. It’s toward the doctor’s clinic. A little aways from us.”

He did not have that feeling of impending danger. Of overwhelming dread. Just a sense of…acknowledgement. The void of emptiness was still profound, but there was no fear. Anxiety, yes. But not concern.

Not yet.

“That fog…won’t be near us.”

What did it look like from a distance? The darkness of night would hinder the view, but…the streetlights. They should pinpoint the location.

“We might be able to get a visual on them,” Lyner murmured as he quickly, but quietly made his way to the second floor, with Zelos right behind him.

He decided not to inform Lazarus and York about his forewarning. Not yet. The two were busy elsewhere and there was no need to make them antsy as well. There was nothing to be done. Not at the distance they were at. There was no way they were going to jump into the jeep and head into danger. Lyner simply would not let them.

They kept the lights off as they headed into Lyner’s room and out onto the balcony. Lyner was able to immediately hone in on the direction of the creatures and knew that they were scurrying around the premises of the doctors’ clinic. Why they were there, though, was unclear.

“Over there.” Lyner pointed toward the skyline, where a strange black mist blotted out a small segment of the otherwise quiet town. “The lights near the clinic are out. Covered by the fog. Can you see it?”

Zelos stood next to him and rested his hands against the balcony railing as he tried to get a better visual at what Lyner was referring to. “Vaguely. Let me try those binoculars.”

Lyner nodded. “Hm.” Even if they were cheap, they should magnify enough to allow them a better view then they could currently get with just eyesight alone.

As Zelos hurriedly left, Lyner idly wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to ward off the cool night air. It did little to help, however. He felt cold. Was it from the night breeze, or from being able to sense the empty abysses of those creatures? That chill he felt with each forewarning…

Maybe he should grab a blanket?

Zelos’ approaching presence made him stay still, however. And when the mercenary returned to the balcony, binoculars in hand, he immediately lifted them up to his eyes and focused them in the direction of the clinic. It took him a few moments to adjust the range and view, but after he did, a deep frown marred his features.

“I see something. There’s definitely something blocking out the lights in that area, but we’re too far away and the buildings are too close to see anything distinct.” He pulled back and handed the binoculars to Lyner, allowing him a chance to view the sight for himself. “But there’s definitely a fog happening there.”

Lyner raised the binoculars to his eyes and narrowed in on the clinic.

Black smoke that hugged the ground and nearby surfaces, rather than spiral toward the sky. Defying nature and human understanding. Yet, it still rolled and ebbed, like a light liquid. It was such a strange, unnatural substance.

“That means the fog is isolated.” Lyner murmured as he lowered the binoculars. “The creatures are responsible for it.”

They did not move in on the fog, they made the fog and moved as they pleased. They were quite powerful.

Zelos retrieved the binoculars from him, needing a second look. “What are they doing?”

Lyner closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips against his temples to help himself concentrate. They were at a fair distance, after all. “They’re just…prowling. I don’t sense any real intelligence from them.”

“Shit,” Zelos muttered after a moment, prompting Lyner to open his eyes and turn his attention to man next to him. “It’s annoying I can’t see anything.”

“There’s definitely something there,” Lyner reassured.

Zelos abruptly pulled the binoculars away from his eyes and scowled, his attention focused on the skyline of the town. “No, I get that. I just want to be able to lay eyes on the bastards, too.”

Oh…

Of course, that made sense.

“Should we try to search for survival gear tomorrow?”

Zelos snorted lightly. “I doubt we’ll find any in this backwater town.”

Lyner perked up when he remembered that journal. “No, wait,” he said as he unconsciously touched Zelos’ arm to grab his attention. “Just before I was reading a journal. They mentioned a military presence. There has to be a basecamp or something nearby.”

“Military, huh?” Zelos was both sceptical and surprised. “There’s no sign of one in town.”

They could have cleared out ages ago, but they had nothing better to go on. If the military had been seen, then there had to have been a good reason. They would not get involved in small town problems, after all.

A light trill down Lyner’s spine had him turning his attention back in the direction of the clinic. And the fog. “They’re moving. They’re leaving. Heading toward the outskirts of town.”

Zelos looked through the binoculars once more. “The fog is leaving, too. The strangest shit.”

Lyner smothered a light laugh. He imagined it would be. He supposed it could be comical, if not for the dangerous entities that dwell within.

“Well, at least now we know that fogs can happen at night,” Zelos added as he pulled the binoculars back once more. He turned and gave Lyner a rather perplexed look. “I’m surprised you were able to sense them so far away, though.”

Lyner gave him a half-hearted smile. “Honestly, I am, too. I wonder if it’s because I had spent time at the clinic today?”

“Or there’s less natural interference with it being in town and all.”

Hmm…Both sounded plausible.

“I just hope I’m not getting too sensitive,” Lyner said as the two of them made their way back inside. “Still, I’m glad that I was able to notice them. They shouldn’t be able to sneak up on us.”

That was the most important thing.

… … … … …

The dense forests that surrounded him held a sense of familiarity and nostalgia. As if he somehow knew the wooded trail he wandered, having walked it so many times in the past. Yet, the logical part of his brain told him that the path he manoeuvred was new. One he had never seen before.

Stranger still, he did not seem bothered by the unknown presence that lingered nearby.

Through the parting in the foliage, he saw someone. A human. A man. Dressed in long flowing robes. He did not recognise the type robes that the man wore, but he knew that they were ancient and sagely. That the man was someone of high standing, someone of status.

Yet, he did not know what that status was, if it held any importance to him.

Why…were they out in the middle of the wilderness? Why was he?

The man, someone of holy, revered status, raised his hand and with a single finger pointed to his own forehead. To indicate something to him.

Lyner blinked in confusion. But the single, brief fluttering of his eyelids caused the terrain to shift. The bright sunlight of day changed to that of the darkness of night, and he found himself staring up at the pitch-dark ceiling of his bedroom.

That…was a dream?

He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position in his bed and peered around his room in pure confusion. It was still dark, more likely than not the middle of the night. The three presences of his companions well within the confines of their safehouse, in their respective bedrooms. Safe and sleeping.

That dream. That man.

Lyner brushed his fingers against the marking that marred his forehead. That dream…was simply his mind attempting to make sense of the senseless.

That…was all that was.

He grabbed the edge of the blankets and pulled them up over his shoulder as he turned to lay back into bed. He needed to try and get some sleep.

… … … … …

Lyner stifled a yawn as he rested his elbow on the passenger door of the jeep.

He did not get much sleep last night due to small packs of monsters roaming in and out of the town. They kept their distance, thankfully, staying close to the outskirts rather than venturing fully within the town’s boundaries. But they also kept activating his fight or flight response. Not to mention resting was near impossible due to the sharp, piercing pain in his forehead whenever a fog drew within, ah, range.

Whatever that was.

He truly hoped that he was not becoming overly sensitive. Still, he would rather have the forewarning than go without it. Those creatures were silent and deadly, the fog near invisible at night. He wanted to do whatever was necessary to ensure that they were not ambushed or surrounded by them.

That was one of the day’s main objectives. Since the military had been mentioned, albeit in a single journal so far, they wanted to find some kind of proof. If the military were involved, then they had to have some kind of information. Even if it was just more sightings and experiences with those creatures.

If nothing else, they could gather some more supplies from them.

Of course, since they had not the faintest idea where any of the military basecamps could be, if they existed at all, they had no choice but to choose a random direction and head out. If nothing else, it allowed them to inspect the area, allow them to get a better feel of their, well, new home, as it were.

For however long it would be.

An inauspicious sideroad, one that appeared to be rarely used or in his opinion purposely cut into the dense forest as an access point caught Lyner’s attention. It was fleeting, a mere blur as the speed of the jeep offered little chance to inspect it thoroughly, but his instincts tugged at him, so much that he unconsciously pivoted in his seat to look behind him to catch a last fleeting glimpse.

There was something unexpected just beyond the greenery.

“Zelos, wait,” Lyner said as he straightened in his seat and turned toward the dark-haired man behind the wheel. “I think I see something. There’s something in the forest back there. Back up a little bit.”

Zelos slowed the jeep to a stop and switched it into reverse. He pivoted in his seat and rested his hand on the back of Lyner’s seat as he began to reverse the vehicle down the lonely road. “What did you see?”

“A sideroad with a truck of some kind just beyond it,” Lyner explained. “It had a dark green canopy. It looked like a service truck.” He pointed to the slight, almost invisible clearing. “There, there it is!”

Zelos pulled the jeep to the side and let it idle as the four of them stared down the small, innoxious sideroad. At the end, almost blending within the vegetation and foliage of the woodlands was a single truck. It was parked parallel to the road, seemingly done so to block whatever else was to reside in the clearing. But through the partings in the trees and the branches, other vehicles and equipment could be seen.

Some kind of encampment.

“Oh yeah, those are military vehicles,” York said as he readily hopped out of the jeep. “There might be something interesting inside.”

“Found a military camp on the first try,” Lazarus said as he followed the redhead’s lead. “Not bad.”

Zelos let the two gunners walk off before he turned his gaze toward Lyner. “This place?”

Lyner nodded his head. “Hm, it’s empty.”

No creatures. And…no people.

Zelos leaned over and switched off the ignition. “Mark it on the map.”

“I’ll mark it’s approximate location,” Lyner said as he removed the map from the glovebox. “I’m not entirely sure where we are exactly.”

“Close enough is good enough.” Zelos threw open the door of the jeep and stepped out, but pausing to reach for the duffle bag that carried their combined weapons. “I better make sure those two idiots don’t do anything stupid.”

Lyner had to smile. Though he grumbled, Zelos certainly liked to keep an eye out for everyone. “Good luck with that.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Lyner leaned back into his seat and listened to the sound of Zelos’ footsteps grow fainter. He tapped the pencil against his cheek as he tried to deduce their exact location on the map. Ok, so they chose, this road and they had drove for about twenty minutes, and had taken a couple of bends, so…

After a few moments of pondering, he decided to simply choose a spot and scribbled down a short marker. He was the one usually working with the map, anyway. He then carefully folded it back up and replaced it into the glovebox once more. With the presences of the others close by and in a tight group, he exited the jeep and made his way quickly along the makeshift sideroad.

As he rounded the truck purposely parked to hinder the view of any passerby, it was clear that it was indeed a campsite. A covert military campsite.

It was empty. Eerily so.

But there were a few quiet, telltale signs that something had gone awry. While the trucks, the metal equipment all remained undamaged, maintaining the illusion that they had just been arranged in the clearing just a few days ago, the ‘softer’ equipment such a tents and tarpaulins were all shredded and destroyed, torn not by natural means. Not by the wind. But by jagged claws.

There was no mistaking the heavy presence that hung in the air.

“Those things have been here, too,” Lyner murmured as he came to stand beside Zelos, his gaze still taking in the sight. “They really are hunting down every living creature.”

A deep scowl marred Zelos’ face as he also surveyed the scene. He, too, was not so readily lulled by the seemingly tranquil appearance. “There are spent shell casing everywhere. Surely, they would have taken several of the bastards down. Fucking useless otherwise.”

“There’s a few bloody scenes, but nothing too grotesque, for a lack of better word,” Lazarus unexpectedly revealed. “There’s no victims to be found.”

Lyner winced. “You looked?”

“Zelos did,” Lazarus replied. “He did a quick sweep.”

Oh…

Lyner briefly wondered if Zelos wanted him to stay back at the jeep and fumble around with the map not to mark their position, but for another purpose. To keep him from possibly seeing a sight of carnage. Like the one from yesterday.

“Let’s see what we can salvage,” Zelos suddenly ordered. “There’s nothing else we can do here.”

“Stay close, though,” Lyner could not help but add in caution. “We’re out in the open, with nowhere to seek shelter if a fog happens.”

With a few reassurances and promises to stay close, they parted ways to cover more ground. From his own experience, Lyner knew that soldiers always carried their personal gear with them, while other specialised equipment was stored in sturdy, sometimes even bomb proof containers and only used under certain conditions.

There were a few scattered around the shredded remains of a tent, and Lyner assumed that was where the instructions were meted out. Unfortunately, some of those sturdy containers had been badly damaged, too.

He, however, found one that was unmarred, rolled over onto its side. He crouched down before it and as he pushed the metal container over, he heard the tell-tale rattle of equipment inside. A promising sound. He quickly undid the latches and popped open the lid.

With Zelos’ presence nearby, Lyner looked over his shoulder. “Zelos?” he called out, immediately gaining the mercenary’s attention. “I found some equipment.”

As Zelos postponed his inspection of one of the transporter trucks, Lyner turned his attention back to his discovery. He dug around through the equipment and pulled out a pair of binoculars, only they appeared more advanced than the ones he had discovered in the new medical room yesterday.

When Zelos crouched down next to him, he offered the binoculars to him. “These any good?”

Zelos seemed to know exactly what they were. “Good,” he said as he retrieved them. “Infrared goggles. They help to see at night. Do those bastards give off heat? Extreme cold works, too.”

“Hm…No, they’re definitely cold.” Empty voids of negativity were incapable of giving off heat, he supposed. “Significantly more compared to the fog.”

“That’s something.” Zelos turned his attention to the contents of the container and began to rummage around, pulling out other items that seemed to catch his interest. “I’ll have a look through here and take anything I find to the jeep; you keep looking around.”

Lyner nodded and pushed himself to his feet. “Sure.”

He decided to venture toward the one tent that was not as badly damaged as the others. That was perhaps the ‘war room,’ the place where meetings amongst those of higher ranks were held. There may be some information to be found there, fleeting and surely censored.

Lyner pushed aside the hanging piece of nylon fabric and stepped into the darken tent. Broken electronic equipment, splintered tables and chairs, and scattered papers greeted him. It appeared that his assumption was corrected. The tent was the headquarters of sorts, where those in charge made their decisions.

The white noticeboard with a hastily scribbled battle formation was somewhat…ironic.

He stood before the whiteboard for a moment and just took in the faded scribbling. It…appeared that they were attempting some kind of advancement. Small groups of soldiers, no greater than six, to head out. To battle? Or for surveillance?

Curious.

When he turned to continue his investigation, his foot slightly tapped against something on the ground. He instinctively glanced down and saw that it was a white, electrical object of some kind. He crouched down and picked it up. On the back had a symbol of an apple with a bite taken out of it. Odd.

He decided to simply pocket it for the time being and continue his search. His gaze soon drifted toward a scatter of papers, ones that had an official stamp across them. No doubt, ones issued by the government.

They could be nothing, or they could be something.

The papers were of governmental nonsense, mostly. The usual political bullshit that bored him to tears. Until one of the papers issued an order, a short and direct order.

Investigate the area and report back any ‘anomalies.’

‘Anomalies,’ huh? Talk about throwing your soldiers out into the deep end with absolutely nothing to work with.

If that was not proof that the military knew something, then nothing was. Still, that did not tell him anything about the creatures’ origin. Hardly a surprise, really. Those out in the field would not be privy to such information, if the miliary even knew at all. They could have been trying to figure out the creatures’ sudden appearance, too. And were in way over their heads.

He…wondered what happened to those of this squadron. Did they escape somehow? Evacuated by another squadron? There were no bodies. Where could they have gone?

They…could not have been…

No, he did not need that image in his head.

Lyner shook his head almost violently as he turned his attention to anything else of note in the tent. A couple of large, black, sturdy containers caught his interest. With them being in the ‘war room’ they surely held something of interest. More documents? Or equipment?

He walked over to the first contained and popped open the lid. Inside was a surprise and he was honestly a little annoyed that such equipment seemed to be buried inside of a tent as they would have been useful out in the field. He sighed when second held the same.

Guns.

A lot of them.

Well, he knew a total of three guys who would be thrilled with such a find. So, he may as well tell them. They should not go to waste, after all.

“Hey, Gun Nuts!” Lyner called out into the clearing, a bit of playfulness in his voice. “I found a couple of lockers filled with toys for you to fight over!”

Of course, that got their attention, and they did not waste any time making their way over to him.

“Ooh, do we have anything good?”

“Hey, we got some high calibre assault rifles here.”

“Don’t get too excited. I sincerely doubt those scrawny arms of yours can handle the kickback on this thing.”

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?!”

Lyner had to smile to himself. They were like a bunch of kids. He did not share their sentiment. Guns were not his thing; he much preferred the blade. But he was glad they were having fun. And, of course, it was good to have a few extra weapons on hand.

“I’ll leave it to the three of you to fight amongst yourselves,” he said as he gave Lazarus’ shoulder a quick pat as he walked past. “I’m going to find a duffle bag or something for your guys to carry your new haul in.”

“Sounds good,” Lazarus returned with a smile, also amused by Zelos’ and York’s bantering.

Lyner stepped from the half-collapsed tent and out into the field once more. He deduced that there were likely to be some carry bags in one of the transporter trucks and decided to head there first. As he crossed the grassy clearing, something pulled him to a stop. He paused mid step and just…stopped. He listened as he casted a slow gaze at his surroundings.

Silence. Once more, there was nothing to be heard other than the gentle rustling of leaves from the wind. No insects, no birds, no usual sounds of nature. Just the leaves of the canopy above.

How could it be so quiet? How could there be nothing…living?

Something…something was definitely wrong. There was a tugging at his senses, but it was not for a warning of danger.

Just unease.

He did not want to linger out in the open for too much longer.

After another quick and uneasy glance at his surroundings, Lyner continued his quest to find some carry bags. Thankfully, he found a couple of empty ones in the nearest military truck and snatched them up quickly, before he made an even hastier return to the others.

“You’re taking the lot, I assume?” he asked as he rejoined them. “Good thing I found two bags.”

“Can never have too many guns,” Zelos retorted as he retrieved one of the bags and immediately began storing away their new weapons.

“You know,” Lazarus suddenly began, his tone casual. “Lyner is the only one who doesn’t know how to handle a gun. Maybe Zelos here could teach him a thing or two, since he’s so efficient at it.”

Lyner looked over at the blond-haired gunner in mild bewilderment. Zelos himself turned his head to Lazarus and scowled at him, though the stare had no effect on him whatsoever.

That certainly came out of the blue.

“What? And take away one of your new toys? I’ll leave them to you. I have hard enough time concentrating on the presences of those creatures. I don’t need to focus on aiming a long-range weapon, too.”

Putting a gun in his hands when he got a headache was probably a bad idea, also. He’d probably shoot someone’s foot off, which was the last thing anyone needed!

It was also best that they had one member that concentrated on other attacks. Those creatures were weak to lightning, and very little withstood a sword to the face. And they had to be careful. Randomly shooting bullets and hoping for the best was not their best strategy. Those creatures were alerted to sound. Once battle was initiated, attacks had to be précised and ruthless.

If only the soldiers here were expert marksmen.

“Oh, right,” Lyner murmured as he reached into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out that small white device that caught his curiosity earlier. “York, I found this. You might know its purpose better than I do.”

“Hm?” York lazily looked over at him before he glanced down at the device. He righted himself when he made a sound of realisation and took it from him. “Oh, it’s an iPhone.”

York fiddled around with it for a moment and the black screen flashed into life, revealing that it remarkably still had some power, in spite of how long it had been out in the field. “Huh, it doesn’t have a lock, surprisingly. And it seems to have a video recording on it.”

“It’s probably nothing, but can you play it anyway?” Lazarus requested.

York lightly tapped the screen, and a series of voices crackled through the device. Some loud and clear, obviously close to the device, while others faint and further away. But all masculine and likely those of the squadron.

They sounded light, casual, if agitated as they marched and stomped their way through the forest and undergrowth. Uncaring that they made noise, snapping twigs and breaking limbs on theirs strides forward. Just six men doing their duty, assumedly.

“What are we doing out here?”

“Weren’t you playing attention? We’re to search for any anomalies and report back to commander.”

“Don’t forget engage if necessary.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get that. But what the hell is that anomaly supposed to be? Anything could be an anomaly. Hito’s farts not smelling like a ten-day old corpse could be an anomaly.”

“You getting a girlfriend would definitely be an anomaly.”

“Hey, shut up!”

There was a loud crack of a branch. It was sudden and it caused the voices, the sounds of the soldiers to abruptly stop. Though it was a video, a recording of a past event, the tension was palpable in their voices.

“No, everyone shut up. I hear something.”

“Hear something? I can see shit. Where did this smoke come from?”

“That’s not smoke. Damn it, put your phone away. There’s something there.”

The recording abruptly ended after that. Just shut off without warning.

“From the look of things, they found that anomaly,” York muttered as he switched the device off.

Lyner frowned, worry for the soldiers’ safety gnawing at him. But the device…he found it in the tent. Where they now stood. Had they returned? Or had someone else discover it and brought it back for the commanding officers to view?

It…was likely the latter.

“I have a hard time believing that the military didn’t know what they were dealing with,” Zelos muttered as he finished filling the black duffle bags.

“The higherups might know, but not the meat-shields out on the field,” Lazarus replied.

Zelos uttered a grunt as he pushed himself to his feet. “Yeah, I’ll concede to that.”

“Now that we know that the military is involved, do you want to go in search of more campsites, or return to town and continue our search there?” Lyner asked, his attention focused on the unofficial leader of their small group.

“We’ll figure that out on the way,” Zelos said simply as he reached down and picked up the two bags. “We need to swing by the safehouse to drop off our new stash either way. The jeep can only carry so much.”

Hm, best not to push it too much.

“Oh right, I saw a warehouse on the way here,” York suddenly revealed. “Want to check that out? Might be some interesting stuff there.”

“Getting inside will be easy.” Zelos glanced over his shoulder at him as he walked over to the door. “We won’t need to debate how to open this door,” he said as he used his fist to smash through the shards of broken glass, a stunt that allowed him access to simply reach in and disengage the lock.

“Aw, but you won’t get to blow it up, either,” Lyner playfully retorted. “Maybe next time.”

Zelos simply smirked at him, silently promising that there would indeed be countless times where explosives would be used unnecessarily in the future and pushed open the door. Lyner stepped through first, a silent indicator that he sensed nothing untoward inside, and Zelos followed closely behind him.

They encountered the waiting room and reception area first, and unsurprising to them at that point, the two areas were in chaos. Thankfully, there did not appear to be any suspicious or monstrous gouges in the walls or floors. The furniture had been overturned and items scattered about, the place was undoubtedly a mess. But no obvious signs of a monster attack.

None so far, at least. They had the rest of the building to inspect yet.

There was a slight oddity in the waiting room, however. At one end were a series of shutters, four to be précised, and a couple of shelving units that had been toppled over in the upheaval. A couple of the shutters had been damaged, bowed in as if hit by some unknown forced. It caught York’s interest, and he soon wandered over in curiosity.

Cautious, he managed to levy one of the shutters enough to peek inside.

“Oh hey, it has a pharmacy attached,” York said as he raised the damaged shutter, revealing the existence of an actual medical dispensary.

Now, that was a surprise. Lyner was hoping to gather some bandages and disinfectant ointment, the two items critical when dealing with flesh wounds. He had not expected to find an actual pharmacy. But he was pleased, nevertheless.

“Good call coming to the clinic,” Lazarus said as he strolled nonchalantly toward the pharmacy. “We can turn one of the rooms back at the safehouse into a clinic of our own.”

That would be a good idea, actually. None of them were actual healers. And, if push came to shove, Lyner might be able to use some of the medicines in grathmelding. If he recognised any of them, of course.

With the door leading to the backrooms of the pharmacy locked, York chose to vault over the counters to unlock them that way. Thankfully choosing the quieter method of entry. While they waited, Lyner turned to the man that stood next to him.

“We’ll likely pick up a lot of supplies here, so that will mean we’ll need to visit the safehouse next. Was there anywhere else you wanted to visit?”

“Not in particular,” Zelos admitted. “With two places to get gas and a somewhat secure food source, there really isn’t anywhere else we desperately need to inspect. All we need to do now is to find what the hell is going on in this shithole.”

“And that’s not going to be easy.” Lyner frowned as his mind recalled back the journal he found. “It doesn’t seem the inhabitants of this town truly understood what was going on.”

“The inhabitants didn’t, but someone does,” Zelos said assertively. “Someone always does. And there is always a paper trail. We just have to find it.”

Sounded like he had experience with that. He also sounded confident. It was…honestly reassuring.

“Hey, you two,” Lazarus called out to the two of them, prompting them to turn their attentions toward the pharmacy once more. “We’ve got a full house. Not a thing is disturbed here. We can take our pick.”

At Lazarus’ urging, Lyner and Zelos made their way to the pharmacy. It was somewhat disconcerting to step from a room of chaos and destruction and into a room of quiet and order. The lighting was bright, illuminating the room perfectly. Nothing appeared out of place, the shelving units were lined up seamlessly, white bottles and packets of medicines stacked up neatly and with precision. Absolutely nothing to indicate the mayhem that had occurred just a few feet away.

“What should we grab?” York asked.

Lyner looked around at the shelves as he thought about how to answer.

Huh, Lazarus was right, it looked well stocked. It was clearly obvious that it had not been raided in the slightest. He had figured desperate humans hunting for provisions would want to stock up on bandages and medicine. So, what had occurred in the front waiting room? Had there been an attempted raid only for those inside to successfully fend them off?

…He supposed such questions did not need to be answered. The shutters likely did their job and kept them out, and there were no windows leading to the outside world from the pharmacy. He should just be grateful that they had access to such medical supplies.

Even if he did not know what any of them were.

“Bandages and ointment, I guess.” Lyner picked up the closest bottle of medicine and spent a moment to study it. But it was a fruitless venture. “I don’t understand any of these.”

“There has to be a list as to what these medications are used for,” Zelos explained as he folded his arms roughly across his chest. “Antibiotics would be a good idea.”

Lyner nodded his head idly as he replaced the medicine where he found it. “That’s true.”

“Hey, found a dictionary that explains what each medication is used for,” Lazarus suddenly announced from somewhere near the back of the room. He soon reappeared, holding a small but sizable in width book aloft in his hand. “Looks like someone must have been interning here.”

Lyner immediately perked up. “Lucky for us. Let me see.”

“I’ll leave this to you.” Zelos turned toward the door and slowly made his leave. “The keys are in the ignition. I’m going to take a quick look around.”

Initially, Lyner was not exactly thrilled with that idea. Especially after what had occurred at the gas station. But he knew and felt that Zelos himself was antsy, though he tried to hide it. Allowing him to inspect their surroundings more thoroughly, allowing him to go on a patrol of sorts would be greatly beneficial for him. And for the rest of them, in the long run.

“Alright,” Lyner relented. “Don’t wander too far.”

“You’ll be able to find me,” Zelos simply retorted as he continued on his path and Lyner just smiled to himself as he retrained his focus on the dictionary in his hands.

“Eh?” York uttered, confused at Zelos’ comment.

“I can sense your presences, remember?” Lyner reminded him with an arched eyebrow.

“Hey, about that.” Lazarus regarded Lyner with a curious tilt of his head. “What do our presence actually feel like?”

“Hm…” Lyner had to pause and think for a moment. “It’s really hard to explain. You just feel like…you, I guess.”

“What? Charming, suave, and badass?”

Lyner abruptly turned away, one arm across his stomach as his other hand flew up to cover his mouth in a desperate attempt to smother a laugh. “Pfft…”

“Come on, man, that’s harsh,” Lazarus immediately complained.

“Dug your own grave there, dude,” York said, unapologetically as he crouched down to idly look through one of the many boxes on the floor.

“Sorry, sorry.” Lyner managed to compose himself before he turned back to the blond-haired gunner. He fell silent as he spent a moment just…studying Lazarus’ aura, allowing words to just floating through his mind. “Your presence tells me that you have an air of confidence without the overpowering ego, though you can be a little bit nonchalant sometimes and will become easily bored.”

Lazarus was momentarily surprised before he smiled good-naturedly and threw his hands up in surrender. “Guilty as charge.”

“And York has a fiery personality, though you can get a little too hot-headed for your own good, and while you know that you just can’t help yourself.” Lyner gave the redhead a pointed look. “Can you?”

York bristled and graced him with a disgruntled but also embarrassed look. “I didn’t ask for a lecture.”

Lyner just smiled and looked away. “Right, right.”

“And Zelos?” Lazarus asked.

“Zelos…”

Guarded, prickly at times, but held a sense of…loneliness. The barriers around him were strong, tough, and rigid. He knew that they were. Yet, he felt that there was nothing he could do to lower them. Too late for that, in his mind…

“Zelos is a little harder to pin down, I guess,” Lyner muttered absentmindedly. “He’s a bit of a contradiction. Like I said, it’s hard to explain. I guess I’ve been around the three of you long enough to know what your auras feel like without realising it.”

He supposed he should not delve too deeply into it. He should just be grateful that he now had the ability to sense his companions’ presences, allowing him to know their locations. So that he could assure their safety.

Lyner shook his head slightly and returned to the task at hand. “Anyway, why don’t you two search for the nurse’s room and grab all the bandages and other items necessary for dealing with flesh wounds? I’ll go through this dictionary and pick out the antibiotics and anything else I think will be useful.”

“Fair enough,” Lazarus responded, again with his usual nonchalance. “We’ll grab what we can. We can always throw it out if it proves useless.”

Hm, better to have too much stuff than not enough.

When the two gunners left the pharmacy, Lyner turned his attention to the dictionary. There were three categories that he wanted to focus on first – antibiotics, pain relief, and anti-inflammatories. When it came to injuries on and from the battlefield, those were the big three factors. Anything else were minor inconveniences.

Hopefully, Lazarus and York would get the bandages and sterilization equipment from the nurses’ office.

Lyner found an empty box on the floor and used that to store in the medicine and medication he deemed useful. He would read the dictionary in greater depth during his downtime back at the safehouse. For now, he would just grab what he could.

During his trek back to the jeep to stow away his newly gained provisions, he bumped into Lazarus and York. Thankfully, the nurses’ station appeared to be as well-stocked as the pharmacy. They should get more than they would (hopefully) need.

On his many journeys back and forth between the pharmacy and jeep, Lyner noticed that some of the papers that littered the floor appeared to be medical files. He tried not to pay too much mind to them. He knew the likelihood of meeting any of the people attached to said files were in the negatives, it still felt intrusive.

Yet, there was one file, one piece of paper that kept drawing his attention.

And on his way back to the jeep with his last load, Lyner just had to stop, put the box he was carrying to one side, and pick it up to read. Though the writing was brisk and filled with medical jargon, he quickly realised what it was that had his unusually sensitive senses tingling.

“Hey, what you got there?”

“Hm?” Lyner turned to look over his shoulder toward Lazarus, noting that the other blond also had a box of provisions to transfer to the jeep. “Oh, it’s an entry from a patient’s file. It just happened to catch my eye because of what’s written on it.”

Lazarus tilted his head to the side in interest. “What does it say?”

Lyner placed the piece of paper atop of the box of medicine and picked it up, returning to his previous task. “Well, it’s a doctor’s note about a patient’s mental state,” he began to explain as the two of them made their way outside of the clinic. “But get this, apparently the patient has been having hallucinations of ‘white skinned creatures’ and ‘beings of a starved nature hungering for flesh’ stalking him at night.”

Lazarus arched an eyebrow. “Definitely sounds like our guys. So, they’ve been seen but played off as hallucinations, huh?”

“Honestly, I’m surprised that they were seen at all.” Lyner dropped the box of medicine into the boot of the jeep, taking a moment to shimmy it into a tight space. “The ones we’ve encountered have been vicious and attacked first, before we had the chance to do anything.”

“You know, you’re right.” Lazarus dropped his own cargo and leant against the side of the jeep, cross his arms over his chest. “I wonder if those creatures were somewhat cautious at first, only to grow bolder and more ruthless with each new kill.”

“I’m not…entirely sure,” Lyner admitted, his sensing abilities not offering him any answers at the moment. Though, it could be due to the splitting headache he still possessed. “They do hold some intelligence, but it’s mostly of the brutal, aggressive kind.”

He supposed he would learn more about them with each new encounter. Unfortunately.

“Finally, I think this is the last of them,” York griped as he exited the clinic.

“Well, good, that’s all we can fit into the jeep,” Lyner said before he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Unless the two of you want to sit on the bonnet and hang on?”

York was immediately opposed to that idea. “With Zelos driving? Hell no.”

Lyner smiled and pushed away from the jeep. “Then I better go get him. You two stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for a response, Lyner turned on his heel and broke into a light jog. He immediately narrowed in on Zelos’ location. He, however, was not inside of the clinic. He had ventured outside of it. Not too far, thankfully. Just outside of it. Near the back, toward a nearby building. It would be quicker for Lyner to slip down a narrow alleyway to get to him.

Yet, as Lyner slipped into the alleyway, his pace unexpectedly slowed. A wave of unease washed over him. It…was not a sign that those creatures were nearby. It was not a sign that something terrible was to come. It was…different.

It was as though…something had already happened. A while ago. And a residual darkness lingered.

He…needed to find Zelos.

Lyner pushed aside that heaviness in his chest and quickened his pace once more. Thankfully, as he stepped from the alleyway between the two buildings, his gaze landed on the very man he had been searching for.

For a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet, Zelos himself did not look pleased. He stood at the base of a building behind the clinic, before a set of doors that led into the cellar. He held one of the doors open with his hand as he stared into the cellar below. His posture was tense and rigid, his expression grim.

From where Lyner stood, he could not see into the cellar. Obviously. He could not see what Zelos saw. But…he was able to see that the door that Zelos held open had large gouge marks into the wood. Along with other signs of damage. Damage that looked like…bullet holes?

“Zelos?” Lyner jogged over to him. “What are you-?”

Zelos snapped his head up, startled by his voice and presence. Before he turned to regard him, he abruptly slammed the cellar door shut. “You don’t want to see this,” he said, going as far as placing his boot upon the door.

Lyner stopped a few feet away from him, his gaze focused on the door. But his attention was soon drawn to the ground in front of it. Where a dark reddish substance stained the pavement and dust. A few droplets a first, but it soon evolved into a horrifying smear. A trail of red.

A trail of blood.

A vision of someone being dragged through the dark fog, their blood leaving a trail of their existence, their very last act upon this mortal plane flickered through his mind. And it made him feel sick to his stomach.

He…did not want to see that…

“That’s…blood? Inside?”

Zelos shook his head. “There’s nothing good there.”

Lyner swallowed thickly to push back the nausea and nodded. “A-any…?”

“No. Just blood and chaos,” Zelos replied emotionless as he removed his boot from the door. “That’s all.”

“I see…”

Those poor people…

“Those creatures made it into town,” Zelos remarked as he turned away from the cellar and turned his back to the blood stained.

Again, Lyner nodded his head. It was…unsurprising. With how quiet, how empty the town was, something had to have driven the people out. But were they driven out? Or were they…? Could they be responsible for the desolation of the town?

…He hoped they simply evacuated. And that there was nothing else that could have been responsible.

Zelos suddenly stepped directly in front of Lyner, blocking his view of the blood stain and cellar. “You done in the clinic?”

“Y-yeah, we’ve collected everything we think we might need.”

“Then let’s head back to the safehouse. We should also make a trip to the grocery store before it gets dark.”

“Right.”

There was still a couple of hours before nightfall, but Lyner was not going to complain. He felt Zelos’ protectiveness. And in all honesty, he himself would feel better in the security of their safe house.

“It’s not a surprise,” Lyner agreed, equally disappointed.

The museum, the house he and Zelos had sought shelter in during that first fog, and the gas station all showed signs of attempts at security. Other residences around the town were sure to be the same.

Still, there had to be something they could use.

“What should I look for?” Lyner questioned. He had never had the need to turn a place of residence into a safehouse before.

“Anything at this point,” Zelos said simply, using his fingers to count off the products. “Timber boards, plywood, metal sheeting. We’ll also need tools and equipment like nails, screws, hammers. That sort of thing.”

“Er, right.” Everything, then.

With the light fading outside, the two of them went their separate ways to cover more ground. A lot of the shelves were empty, however. Well, he supposed he would just have to deconstruct the shelves. Whatever it took to get the materials they needed.

He inspected the closest shelf to him and noted that it had a slight defect. Something for him to exploit, to make it easier for him to pull apart and retrieve the pieces of wood forming the ledge. To his left, on the ground laid a large wrench. Perfect. Just what he could use to leverage apart the metal struts…

With a slight creak, the metal ruts holding the wooden boards in place popped loose. As did the boards. Great. He grabbed the boards and dropped to the floor with a loud clatter, startling himself as he did so. It should not have been surprising that the sound echoed. The hardware store was as quiet and empty as the town itself.

The sound, though, went straight to his head. The slight headache he had when he woke up was starting to get worse. He supposed it should not be a surprise. The stress, the pressure, the tension. He was also pretty hungry, not to mention thirsty. They all factor in. He might have to make a quick detour to the kitchen when they return to the safehouse.

With one shelving unit gone, dismantling the others should be easy. So, he got to work on the other shelves. He did not know how much he needed and, honestly, it did not matter. Having too much material was better than having too little.

The worse part was having to lug his haul back to the entrance where the jeep was.

Lyner bent down and grabbed an armful, and with a huff, straightened his posture and balanced the wooden planks on his shoulder. Lucky he was not wearing his armour. That would have made things so much more difficult. Armour was not made for menial labour.

“I hope this is good enough,” Lyner stated as he delivered the pile of wood to the jeep, where Zelos happened to be also, seemingly placing his own haul of plywood into the backseat.

Zelos looked up and was mildly surprised that he happened to find some useable material. “Where did you find those?”

“I dismantled some shelves.”

Zelos smirked at that. “Now you’re thinking outside the box.”

“I’m a fast learner,” Lyner replied, shooting him a smile in return before he turned on his heel and headed back into the store.

Now that he knew that what he had gathered was good enough, he returned to his haul, eyeing off potential other shelves he could plunder later. He also noted a few tool kits and fully equip belts along the way, so he made the mental note to snatch a couple of them up on his journey back to the jeep.

His back and arms were sure to ache later, but that was something to be dealt with then.

After a few more trips through the hardware store, the jeep was starting to each its limit and with it being their only vehicle, they better not push it too far.

“How should we bar the windows?” Lyner asked as he handed Zelos a couple of cases of nails to be placed into the nearly over-filled trunk. “Like what we had seen at the museum?”

“From the inside?” Zelos queried, getting a nod of affirmation from Lyner in return. “It might be for the best, making it easier to make repairs at night. Though, I am weighing up options on how we should do it.”

Hm? Zelos was being rather open with him. Well, that was a good thing. They needed to rely on each other to get through this strange ordeal.

“What do you mean?”

“The claws on those things look fairly strong,” Zelos began. “We may need steel reinforcement rather than wood. Though, wooden planks will make it easier for us to escape should the need arise.”

“That’s true.” Lyner had not considered that. They were lucky to have someone like Zelos with them. “Perhaps steel on the first floor and wood on the second?”

“That might be our best option.” Zelos still seemed rather dissatisfied, however.

“We do have the security wall, as well.” Lyner unconsciously brushed his fingertips over the marking that marred his forehead and closed his eyes. “Something…something in me tells me that despite the fog, one of the senses those things hunt by is by sight.” He opened his eyes, and his arm dropped listlessly to his side. “Covering the windows might help.”

Zelos leaned against the jeep in silence, taking careful consideration of his words. “I don’t like the idea of being totally blind to the outside world. But the second floor does allow us to overlook the town.”

“Maybe some thick curtains or something similar to block out the light over the boards, allowing us to look out but nothing to look in,” Lyner suggested.

That seemed to ease Zelos tension. For the time being, at least. “That sounds more preferable.”

Lyner nodded and turned back toward the store. “I’ll see if I can find anything. The inhabitants were likely more focused on boarding up their windows rather than blocking out the light.”

“Be quick, it’s getting dark.”

“Give me a couple of minutes!”

Lyner jogged back inside and quickly checked every aisle. Hm…tarpaulins, mesh, some netting…Black out curtains. Perfect! Just what they needed!

There were a few on the shelf, but he did not know how many windows there were in their new safehouse. He supposed he would just grab as many as he could carry. Surely, some of the windows already had curtains. If not, they would just have to keep the lights off in those rooms until they could return to the store to pick up some more.

“Anything?” Zelos questioned the moment Lyner returned to the jeep outside.

“I found some blackout curtains,” Lyner replied, his arms full of said materials. “But I don’t know how many to get.”

Zelos retrieved the items from him and deposited them in the back seat, amongst the wooden boards and planks. “We’ll probably need to come back, so we can get more then.”

“Right.”

“We need to get back,” Zelos said as he quickly moved to the driver’s side of the jeep. “We got a lot of work to do.”

Lyner jogged over to the passenger’s side, momentarily glancing up at the sky as he did so, noting the soft pinks and oranges that were already blending in with the sky blue. “Hopefully it’s not an all-nighter.”

The drive back to the safehouse was a thankfully quick one. Lyner jumped out to push open the gates as Zelos backed the jeep into the driveway. Hopefully, the garage was relatively empty, allowing for them to park their vehicle inside, so that they could just grab what they needed out of the thing rather than having to unload it there and then.

“Hey, you’re back!”

Lyner instinctively looked up, to where there was a balcony on the second floor, situated over the front entrance. And where Lazarus lounged lazily against the banister. “Hey! Can you open the garage for us?”

“Sure, give me a sec!” Lazarus pushed away from the railing and disappeared back inside.

With Lazarus needing time to make it back downstairs and into the garage, Lyner wandered back over to the jeep and stood by the driver’s side door, leaning his hand against it as he bent down to speak with Zelos. “What should we do first?”

“Let’s focus on the first floor,” Zelos immediately replied, likely having thought about it long and hard. “For tonight, we’ll keep the lights off and curtains drawn on the second.”

Lyner nodded his head in acceptance. “Sounds good.”

Immediately after, the double garage door rumbled and began to open. It revealed a mostly empty space, saved for a few boxes and seemingly old exercise equipment stacked in one corner. Once the door was fully raised, Zelos backed the jeep inside. Lyner waited until the vehicle was fully inside before he followed.

He noted that Lazarus stood in the doorway that led back into the house, and as soon as both he and the jeep was safely inside, he activated a switch located near the door next to him. And the garage door descended, falling shut.

“Welcome back,” Lazarus greeted cheerfully after the garage door fell silent. “How’d you do?”

“We grabbed what we could, but the place had already been ransacked of supplies,” Lyner explained. “We had to make do.”

Lazarus hopped down the step and into the garage as York appeared behind him. “Ransacked, huh? Yet, the general store wasn’t. Odd.”

Hm, that was odd. Did the demand for home security suddenly outweigh the need for provisions?

“Stop overthinking and get ready for some home repair,” Zelos scolded and abruptly popped open the trunk of the jeep. “We got a long night ahead of us.”

“You don’t expect us to bar up all the windows?” York asked, disgruntled.

“No, of course not,” Lyner promptly replied.

“Good.”

“Just the first floor.”

York looked downright disgusted. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

With an armful of materials, Zelos pushed past York in the doorway. “Matchstick, move your ass. Tonight, you’re going to get some muscles.”

“Match-?” York spluttered before he whirled around and stormed his way back inside. “What the hell did you just call me?!”

Lyner sighed and shook his head. “Those two are so alike but so dissimilar, aren’t they?”

Lazarus shrugged dramatically. “I don’t think they’ll ever get along.”

He had better get inside and make sure the two did not get into another fight. They were two very proud individuals, after all. Besides, Zelos was right. They needed to get to work. The sky was darkening outside.

With his arms full of materials, he moved inside and under Zelos’ instructions, immediately set to work. It was best to simple knuckle down and do what needed to be done. After the house was secure, they could relax and get something to eat. And perhaps finally sit down and discuss what they needed to do.

As time moved on, Lyner noted that the sound of hammers hammering was…extremely loud. Each sound pierced his skull. He should take a quick break. To fix the hunger and thirst side of his headache. But it was really important to secure their safe house…

“Watch it!”

Lyner snapped his head up to find Zelos leaning over him where he pushed back a board that seeming became loose from the window he had been working on. It took him a moment to register the situation, what he assumed had occurred – that very same board that Zelos had in his hand would have literally struck him upside the head if he had not caught it.

That was the last thing he needed.

“S-sorry,” Lyner spluttered, slightly ashamed of his own complacency. “Thanks.”

“What are you zoning out for?” Zelos asked, rightly cautious.

“Oh, nothing sinister,” Lyner immediately reassured with an awkward smile. “I just have a headache. I’ve had one since I woke up here. Again, I blame this thing.” And he flicked his own forehead for added effect.

While he was glad for the forewarning and the ability to sense where his companions where, he just knew that there was going to be some unforeseen side effects. There had to be.

“Hm? You have a headache?” Lazarus suddenly interjected himself into the minor conversation. “Why don’t you take a break upstairs? Funnily enough, there’s four bedrooms. Just pick one and take a quick nap.”

That was indeed a very tempting suggestion, but Lyner glanced over at the window he had been working on and frowned. “But we need to secure the windows.”

“Man, we can handle it down here,” Lazarus immediately replied, as though he knew he would object in some way. “From the sounds of it, you’ve been pushing yourself all day. Sensing things can’t be easy.”

Well, he was not exactly wrong and Lyner really did not have it in him to argue. Still, he glanced over at Zelos to at least get his approval, whether willing or begrudgingly. Thankfully, Zelos just gave a short, sharp nod of his head and Lyner uttered a small sigh as he reached round and removed his toolbelt.

“Alright, alright, I’ll take a break. I’ll be able to tell if there’s a fog coming, anyway.” He passed his toolbelt to Zelos. “But come get me if anyone else happens.”

Zelos, however, waved him off dismissively. “Just go. I’ll make sure these two idiots don’t burn the place down.”

Lyner was oh-so tempted to make some kind of quip about someone keeping an eye on Zelos to prevent him from killing the two but held his tongue. Instead, he gave Zelos a quick smile, patted Lazarus on the shoulder and offered him a quiet ‘good luck’ before he headed toward the foyer to grab the bag containing his personal items. He also took a quick detour to the kitchen to grab a bottle of cold water before he headed up stairs.

The second floor of their new home base had a very simple layout, with four bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small nook serving as a seating area. All with large glass windows, perfect for surveying nearly three-sixty degrees around them.

He purposely kept the lights off, navigating by a couple of lamplights located in the hallways. He glanced in each room but felt drawn to the bedroom with the balcony. It was likely the master bedroom or something, so probably the largest, if the double bed was any indication. But it looked comfortable enough for him to lay down and get a couple of hours rest.

Before he plopped down onto the bed, though, he wandered over to the large glass doors leading to the balcony and grabbed the curtains in preparation of drawing them shut but paused. He realised that the balcony would allow him the perfect view upon the town and noted that while the streetlights dotted the streets, the other buildings were dark. And though the door was closed, he could not hear a single noise. Not an insect. Not a rustle of the trees outside. There was no roaring of engines of other vehicles.

Nothing.

It was so quiet and still.

Even at night, a town should not be so still.

With a sigh, Lyner pulled the thick curtain closed and plunged the room into pitch darkness. He wandered over to the bed and sat down on the edge to kick off his shoes. As he did his mundane tasks of readying himself for sleep, his mind wandered over recent events.

They truly were in a different world now.

He was separated from his friends and companions, leaving them in a strange world of their own, on the cusp of needing to face a dangerous enemy on their own. Worse still, he was in a world he knew nothing about, a world that knew nothing of his own world, a world that knew nothing of his abilities, and a world that seemed to be experiencing something that was considered abnormal.

And he had no idea how he had entered this world or how to leave.

Lyner sighed aloud and flopped onto the bed on his back. He supposed he should be grateful that he was not alone.

York was worried about Miko and wanted to get back to the World of Souls, and to her, as soon as possible. That was understandable. Lyner was worried about Ayatane and the others, too. He truly was. But he also understood that being frantic and overly emotional was not going to help their current situation one little bit.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what would help their circumstances.

…All they could do was survive, he supposed.

Those creatures…they had to have something to do with why he and his companions had been pulled into the Human realm.

Lyner idly trailed his fingertips over the marking that marred the centre of his forehead. Something…something told him that if, no when they discovered the secret of those things, they would be able to return.

He…had to believe that.

He hoped Ayatane and the others were safe. They must be worried about them. Had it been a day for them, too? Was time linear with them as well? Or did time flow differently? Lyner should ask York if the dates matched of that he remembered before entering the World of Souls.

Lyner uttered another sigh as he rolled over in bed. His head hurt too much. He needed to try to get some sleep to ease his headache. Thinking too much was not going to get him anywhere. He, they, just needed to go through the motions, do what they needed to do, defeat who or whatever brought them to this realm, and they would return to the World of Souls to finish what needed to be done there.

Yeah…

… … … … …

Despite circumstances, with his jumbled thoughts and his foreign location, Lyner still managed to fall asleep rather easily. And stay asleep to get some useful, actual rest. It was still dark when he roused from his slumber, and it took him a minute or two to wade through the haze of post sleep. He was nevertheless grateful that it was his normal body clock that awoken him and not the disturbing chill of incoming danger.

He hoped that, for whatever reason, those creatures only roam about during the day. Or they had yet to reach the town.

Lyner pushed himself to sit up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. While he did not feel that dreadful, bone rattling chill of forewarning, he still felt a slight chill. But he knew that it was just from the cold of the room. A light throw blanket rested at the bottom of the bed, so he grabbed it and wrapped it around his shoulders.

As he took to his feet, he felt himself drawn to the balcony once more.

It should be fine. He sensed no danger.

He crossed the room and quietly pulled the curtain aside. He unlatched the lock with a loud click, a sound that made him wince, but did not stop him from drawing open the door. The night air was cool and crisp, and he pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

Once more, he was taken aback by how…quiet everything was.

There was…

Lyner was abruptly pulled from his observations by the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, and it was then that he realised that he could sense Zelos’ presence fast approaching. He made no attempt to leave the balcony, however. No attempt to hide what he had been doing.

“Zelos?”

After a few seconds to pinpoint his location, Zelos popped into his room. And despite the low lighting, Lyner saw the scowl on his face when he realised he stood outside on the balcony. “Should you be out there?”

The scolding tone was just for show, however. “It’s fine. I can’t sense anything dangerous,” Lyner dismissed, and instead beckoned the other man to join him. “It’s actually a good view over the town. Come see.”

Zelos needed no more coaxing, the mercenary far more curious than he wanted others to know, so he stepped out onto the balcony with him and stood before the railing, his gaze focused out over the town.

“How’s it going downstairs?” Lyner asked, simply making some small talk.

“Done everything we could for now.”

“York whined the whole time?”

“When isn’t Matchstick bitching about something?”

Lyner laughed.

He was not entirely sure when it had happened but conversing with Zelos had grown significantly easier. Back in the World of Souls, he had always found the mercenary to be abrupt and sharp with his words, hard to read, dishonest, and even a bit too rude. Maybe it was due to the marking on his forehead or perhaps it was simply the situation they had found themselves in, but something had changed.

And he did not mind.

“The town’s bigger than originally thought,” Lyner commented as he turned his gaze back toward the horizon, too.

“Hm.” Zelos leaned forward to rest his elbows upon the railing, his gaze initially focused forward before he turned to give Lyner a quick glance. “There’s no one here?”

Lyner shook his head. “No. I can’t sense anything.”

Nothing.

Zelos’ expression darkened with a scowl. “Where the hell did everyone go?”

That was a very good question.

Lyner wished he knew. That would make the silence so much more bearable. If he just knew that everyone just up and left, evacuated or something, then he would feel better. He did not want his mind to wander to other possibilities.

“Do you truly believe we’re in some kind subworld?” Zelos suddenly asked him.

Lyner did not immediately answer. “Truthfully, I don’t know. What I do know is that we’re not in the World of Souls. I can’t…sense any of our companions. Not even slightly.”

In a way…he was reassured by that. That it was only the four of them. No one else. He knew who was in the world with them. It was easier for him to keep track of three people than if there was more.

“I’m naturally worried about the others back in the World of Souls, but I know that they’re not alone,” he continued. “They have each other to rely on. So, we need to concentrate on ourselves. On this new situation. I don’t know why we’re here or how we got here, but we’re here now.”

“And it’s up to us to figure it out,” Zelos finished, his gaze focused out over the town.

Lyner nodded his head.

“It’s empty,” Lyner murmured.

“Can you sense anything?” Zelos asked him.

Lyner cast his gaze over his surroundings for a moment before he shook his head. “No. Nothing.”

Not a single thing.

York grabbed the back of Zelos’ seat and leaned forward. “Sense?”

“Oh, ah…” Oh man, where should he even begin?

“Show them the mark,” Zelos stated, as if responding to his inner thoughts.

Lyner pivoted in his seat the face the two behind him and lifted his hand to push aside the bangs from his brow, revealing the strange symbol now residing there. “Do either of you recognise this?”

“What the hell is that?” York asked, destroying any hope Lyner had that he may have been able to identify it.

“I take it you didn’t have that before?” Lazarus questioned.

“No. Apparently, I woke up with it here,” Lyner answered as he let his hair fall across his brow once more. “I didn’t know I had it until I had this strange…feeling of impending danger, I suppose. It’s hard to explain. But something in me told me that something was coming and that Zelos and I needed to seek shelter. And shortly after we did, this strange greyish-black fog rolled in. And with it, monsters.”

“Monsters?” York repeated, his face twisted into a mixture of emotions. “What do you mean monsters? Here?”

Safe to say, monsters were indeed not a common thing in the Human Realm.

“We can’t say it any plainer,” Zelos retorted sharply as he turned around in his seat to scowl at their two companions. “There was a fog and then monsters appeared, and they attacked us. Want me to draw you a damn diagram?”

“Zelos, easy,” Lyner tried to soothe. He was empathetic to York’s disbelief. He remembered him saying once in conversation that monsters, creatures like those they had faced in the World of Souls, were not something he had dealt with back in his world. To learn of such things had to be a shock.

It was much easier for he and Zelos to accept as they had such occurrences back in their world.

“Wait, so you…predicted the appearance of this fog and these monsters?” Lazarus asked, clearly curious about this new piece of information.

“In a way, I suppose,” Lyner answered honestly as he idly trailed a fingertip over the marking on his brow. “I think this thing here is the cause.”

Lazarus looked away and held his chin in thought. “Interesting.”

“Let’s look around,” Zelos said as he swung open the door and stepped out. “We need to start considering proper shelter and a food source.”

Lyner slipped out of his own seat. “Don’t wander too far,” he could not help but fuss. “I don’t want us to be separated if another one of those fogs happen again.”

“We’ll be good,” Lazarus promised, good-naturedly.

With his companions seemingly choosing a random direction that piqued their interest, Lyner wandered toward the sidewalk that the others did not. He passed a few cars and like back at the gas station, they were empty, holding nothing of interest or note. They were simply parked to the side of the road, as if the owners just stepped out with the intention of returning at some point.

He wandered along the footpath, noting a few novelty and specialist stores. Nothing that would prove useful to them, unfortunately. The path soon ended and as he stepped out onto a new road, his gaze drifted to a house located at the end of it. Many of the buildings and structures that he had seen appeared old, a good few decades at the least, but that house looked new. No older than a year. With a tall security wall and steel gate and was two stories in height. It was located on a slight elevation, allowing it to overlook the town.

Hm…that might be a good place to take up residence. He should suggest it to Zelos when they met up again.

Speaking of the others, he noted that he could tell the location of his companions. They were close by. Zelos a little to the west of him, York not far from Zelos, and Lazarus was a little aways to his east. He could not instantly set his gaze on them, but he knew where they were.

That…had to be due to the symbol on his brow. Yeah, obviously. He was never able to do such a thing before.

With Lazarus the closest to him, Lyner decided to see how he was doing. It did not take him long to find his fellow blond just down the street, looking up at a tall, large building. “Hey, Laz. Anything?”

Lazarus turned to him and nodded his head toward the very building that had his attention. “This place looks promising.”

With large glass windows that were surprising still intact and steel trolleys scattered throughout the parking lot, it gave the distinct sense that it was a store of some kind. A rather large one at that. One that was still functioning with power, as the doors were automatic, opening with a slight creak and a groan as they approached.

A distinct smell of rot hit their noses as they stepped inside and at first glance, they saw rotten fruit and vegetables, causing their hopes to sink. But with their hands over their noses, they pushed on, bolstered by the sight of shelves beyond the fresh produce.

Packed and canned goods lined numerous shelves, making up fifteen or so aisles easily. There were even frozen foods and goods, still viable in working freezers and fridges. The whole store was surprisingly in good shape, unlike the previous other buildings Lyner had encountered.

“Ah, good,” Lazarus said with a satisfactory grin. “It’s a general store.”

“Well, it seems we’ve found a good source of food,” Lyner added. “That’s one essential need down.”

Lazarus snatched a bag of cookies off a nearby shelf and opened it up with a slight pop. “Much easier than having to hunt for food.”

That was for sure.

“Lyner, mind if I ask a bit more about this…forewarning of yours?” Lazarus asked him, his tone serious, even as he offered him a cookie.

Lyner quirked his head to the side, gladly taking something to eat as it had been hours since he had anything. “I suppose, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to answer. It’s only happened once.”

“Hey, sometimes once is enough,” Lazarus smiled good-naturedly once more as the two of them began to trek out of the general store. “What did you sense, exactly?”

“As I said before, it’s hard to explain.” Lyner broke a piece of cookie into his mouth and chewed on it slowly as he spent a moment trying to find the right words. “It’s more that my body responded to this impending danger before I truly understood it. Like my fight or flight instincts activating or something. You know what I mean?”

“Hm.” Lazarus fell silent as he contemplated Lyner’s words. “I suppose all warriors have that ability, but yours may have somehow been amplified. Any physical reactions?”

Lyner nodded. “I did get a sharp pain in my head and a cold chill down my spine.”

“Interesting.”

Lazarus appeared as if he wanted to ask him more but was interrupted by the sound of raised voices outside of the convenience store. Lyner snapped his head up in alarm, immediately wondering if there was somehow someone else in town and he did not notice them. But he soon realised that the two voices belonged to Zelos and York.

And there was anger in their presences.

Lyner immediately hurried outside, knowing full well how tense the two hotheads could get. He had witnessed and endured how volatile York could get firsthand. And he had seen how destructive Zelos could be. The two together was not a good combination.

“The world doesn’t revolve around you, dumbass!”

“That’s a lot coming from someone like you, asshole!”

Zelos and York were located near the jeep, standing near toe to toe. They had not gotten physical. Yet. But it was clear that a tussle was imminent.

Lyner instantly knew what the two were arguing about. He did not need to know the context of their argument. What brought them to their current state. He knew.

“Stop it, both of you!” Lyner immediately pushed his way between the two, forcibly separating them. “Right now, both of you are acting like assholes! And I understand why. I truly do. But we’re in no state to argue amongst ourselves.”

They needed each other. They were all they had.

“I feel that Zelos has the most experience in this situation and we should listen to what he has to say. I trust his judgement and believe in his decision-making skills. And York, you’re not the only one who has left people behind in the World of Souls. I have, too. But they’re not alone. I have faith in Ayatane and our companions back in that world to take care of each other long enough for us to return.”

And they would return. They had to.

“But how can we be sure that no one else is here?” York retorted, turning his frustrations toward him. “What if Miko or someone else is here and one of those creatures you mentioned-”

“I don’t feel that anyone else is here,” Lyner quickly interrupted.

York scowled, looking wholly sceptical. “You don’t feel?”

Lyner understood how bewildering that sounded. “I don’t truly understand it myself, but since coming to this world, I’ve been sensing things. Those entities, that fog. I even sensed yours and Lazarus’ presences before we found the two of your walking alongside the road.”

He still did not understand it. The innate knowledge that came to him. But…he was in no position to question it. Not yet.

“I truly believe, I truly feel that it’s just the four of us here.”

“Are you sure?” York continued to question, still not satisfied. “How can you be so sure?”

Lyner was rendered speechless. He was not sure what else he could say to reassure the redhead. He had no physical proof. Nothing to offer him.

“Oh, for the love of…” Zelos suddenly seethed behind him, frustration and exasperation rolling off of him in waves. He then took a step forward, to stand next to Lyner and to level York with a steely glare. Which, for a moment, made Lyner fear that he would start another argument with him. “Listen, would this guy really just shrug and ignore the possibility of others being here if he wasn’t? No, even if there was the slightest chance of someone else being here, he’d be the first to insist we look for them.”

Lyner was momentarily taken aback by Zelos positive characterisation of him. But he was not wrong. Not remotely. “That’s right. I’d be rather obnoxious about it, too. York, trust me, I feel it deep in my chest that it’s only the four of us here. If, for some reason I am wrong, you are free to take your anger and frustration out on me.”

York fell silent, seemingly not ready to fully accept feelings over cold hard facts, but he also struggled to formulate some kind of counter. Perhaps he even realised that arguing, out in the open, was pointless. “…Fine.”

The conversation was likely far from over, but it was subdued for the time being.

“With that settled,” Lazarus began as he finally joined the group, still munching from his bag of snacks. “Want a cookie?”

York just looked over at the blond and rolled his eyes at him.

Lyner gave Lazarus a small smile at his attempt to break the tension before he turned his attention toward the man next to him. “What should we do first?”

“First, we need to find shelter,” Zelos immediately replied. “Suitable shelter. These things might only come in a fog, but that could still occur at night. We need a sturdy building to barricade ourselves in but also offer free-range should we need to fight. A place that’s two-stories.”

Lyner immediately perked up. “I may have already found a place. It’s up on a slight hill and it’s close to the general store.”

“Alright, show me in the jeep,” Zelos ordered.

Lyner simply nodded and the four of them wordlessly climbed back into the jeep, with Lyner naturally taking his place in the passenger seat next to Zelos in the driver’s. York, however, purposely chose to sit behind Lyner, likely still pissed at Zelos and wanted to keep his distance. Thankfully, Lazarus seemed unconcerned where he sat and simply lounged lazily in his seat.

With the potential safehouse being so close, they were only in the vehicle for a few minutes at most, and with Lyner’s instructions, Zelos had the jeep pulled up and stopped, with everyone out on the sidewalk once more.

The house looked more promising up close, with a double wide garage to store the jeep at night should they feel the need.

Zelos walked over to the security gate, which was thankfully slightly ajar, and pushed it aside to allow for greater access. He began to scrutinise the area and building more closely, which was a hopeful sign as he did not outright object it immediately.

“Well?” Lyner asked as he and the others joined Zelos on the front lawn.

“It looks good enough; a security fence, sturdy foundation, and walls looked reenforced,” Zelos replied honestly. “Looks newly built, unlike the other structures in town.”

“And it looks like we have a few hours of sunlight to reenforce it further,” Lazarus added before he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “There’s a small hardware store not far from here. I noticed it on the drive in. That should do the trick.”

Perfect. They had found their shelter and their main food supply. “We just need to get inside.”

A smirk slipped across Zelos’s lips. “I can fix that.”

“No explosions,” Lyner immediately chided, giving the gun-toting mercenary a firm look. “And no shooting out the lock.”

Zelos immediately frowned, clearly displeased. “Then how are we supposed to get in?”

“Look for a key? There’s probably a spare one hidden somewhere in the garden.”

“Are you serious? What kind of idiot would-?”

Lyner interrupted him with a poke to the centre of his chest. “And don’t pretend like you don’t know how to pick a lock.”

That caused Zelos’ irritated stance to falter. “Yeah, well…”

Of course, he knew. He knew how to hotwire a car. He probably knew how to crack a safe when necessary. He just chose not to because explosions were easier and faster. Which Lyner could understand. But, seriously, have some restraint!

“Found it,” Lazarus suddenly announced.

Zelos turned his head toward him. “What?”

“The key,” Lazarus replied with a triumphant grin, holding a simple silver object between his thumb and forefinger. “It was hidden under a rock in the garden.”

Zelos comically deadpanned “You’ve got to be kidding…”

“Knew it.” Lyner beamed as he retrieved the key from Lazarus. “Great job. Let’s get inside and see what we’ve got.”

Lyner walked over to the front entrance and slid the key into the lock. And thankfully, the lock opened easily with a single turn and the door popped ajar. With his senses telling him that there was nothing to fear within the building, Lyner pushed the door further open and stepped inside, the others right behind him.

The interior was slightly dark and there was a light musty smell, as though it had not been lived in for a few weeks. But it appeared clean, everything orderly. Not quite lived in. Indicating how new the structure truly was.

“What do you think?” Lyner asked Zelos as he quickly moved through the first floor.

“Yeah, this place will do,” he replied back, soundly satisfied.

York walked over to a switch on the wall and flicked it casually, prompting light to flood into the room from an overhead light source. “Hm? Electricity still works.”

“That means the kitchen appliances are still working,” Lazarus stated as he moved straight over to the kitchen. “Hope there aren’t any nasty leftovers in the fridge.”

“I hope they’ve got some decent video games at least,” York instead mused as he wandered over the entertainment room.

Zelos looked at the two with distain and sighed aloud. “And I hope there’s some alcohol…” he muttered under his breath. He then straightened his posture and turned his attention straight toward Lyner. “Let’s empty the jeep. We’ll need the space when we eventually get to the hardware store.”

Lyner nodded. “Sure,” he said simply as he followed the mercenary outside.

As he helped Zelos unload the jeep, Lyner’s mind wandered to other essentials they might need. The general store was close by, but he would rather not risk travelling anywhere at night. And they needed to secure their new residence as soon as possible. He and Zelos had managed to get their hands on some water and light food, so he supposed those would have to do for the night and the next morning.

Hopefully, there was something eatable stored in the kitchen they could use.

…He needed to stop thinking about food. He craved a funbun or six right about now.

They deposited everything (minus the bag that held their weapons to which they left in the jeep as they obviously may need them in the future) in the front foyer of their new abode and went in search of their two companions. They found both of them in the entertainment room, with York sat on a red coloured couch and with Lazarus stood behind it, leant forward with his elbows resting on the back of said couch.

“Yeah, internet is out and so is the satellite,” York said as he turned off a large monitor with a remote control. “Can’t get anything.”

“Likely the same all over town,” Lazarus added.

Lyner quirked his head in curiosity and walked over to the two of them. “What does this internet do?”

“Ah, well, it’s like…” York struggled for a moment. “An information network, I guess. Where computers and electronics can interconnect and share information from across the globe.”

“Oh, like an information database?” That sounded useful.

“Ah, yeah, something like that.” Oddly, for a moment, York looked somewhat cynical. As if that ‘internet’ was not used how it was intended or something. That expression soon dissipated into a look of look concern. “Unfortunately, we can access it here. So, we can’t get any information on what could be happening. If…this is regional or across the country. Or worse…”

That…that was indeed a truly frightening prospect. York had every right to be fearful and was doing well to hide it.

“I’m sure it’s just a local, isolated event,” Lyner tried to comfort. “We may not even be in the Human Realm. For all we know, we could be in some subworld based on your world, which is why we can’t connect to this internet.”

York did not look entirely convinced. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Lyner might be onto something,” Lazarus piped up, attempting in his own way to offer comfort. “Since it’s so quiet and there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around, maybe we’re in some kind of strange subworld. Connected between realms. We just gotta sit tight, figure out what secrets this place has, and then solve them.”

“I guess so.” A flat, empty response. A silent request to drop the subject.

He was unnerved. Scared even, though did not want to admit it. Mostly out of pride, but also out of stubbornness. As admitting it made it real.

“Lyner,” Zelos unexpected called out to him, using his name, prompting Lyner to jump slightly before he turned to him. “Let’s head to that hardware store.”

“Ah, right,” was all Lyner could utter in response as he made his way back over to Zelos, the two of them turning to leave.

But not before Zelos turned to look back into the entertainment room once more. “You two idiots keep yourselves from burning the place down while we’re gone.”

“Hm? Just you two?” Lazarus questioned.

“We’ll need the backseat of the jeep to carry supplies,” Zelos said simply as he turned his back to him and walked toward the front entrance.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Lyner promised as he turned to follow, waving at the two of them. “If a fog suddenly rolls in, stay inside and aim for between red glowing eyes!”

“The hell does that mean?” York demanded.