The air inside the ruined lab was deathly still. No alarms. No running footsteps. Only the sharp breaths of three women echoing off sterile tiles and shattered glass.
Their bodies ached, bruises blooming beneath the skin like forgotten war paint. The battle had ended, but the fatigue hadn't. Now all that remained was the craving—for heat, for silence, for the illusion of safety that only a bath could offer.
Frieda was the first to break the quiet, spine straightening as she caught the sound of soft, methodical footsteps. She glanced at Evie, who nodded silently. Both turned just as Maya emerged from the corridor, her expression unreadable.
"So?" Frieda asked, not bothering to hide the edge in her voice.
"Showers," Maya replied curtly, eyes scanning the corridor behind her.
Frieda groaned and flung her head back, hair damp with sweat. "I swear, if I don't get to soak in an actual tub, I might commit a minor war crime."
Evie raised an eyebrow. "Showers sound perfectly fine. We just need to clean up."
Frieda's head snapped toward her, eyes blazing. "Evie. I've been killing things for like 9 hours straight. My boots are soaked in blood that's not even mine. If I don't get five minutes of peace with a lavender-scented bath bomb and my bare ass in hot water, I will lose what's left of my sanity."
Evie blinked. Maya snorted. Without another word, Frieda spun on her heel and stalked down the hall. The others exchanged a weary look and followed.
Room by room, they searched. The lights flickered, broken screens buzzed with static, and automated voice systems looped emergency warnings in languages none of them recognized. Most rooms were medical—cold steel, biohazard bags, and broken tech.
Finally, after the fifth disappointment, they found it.
A forgotten executive lab. Spacious, polished, too clean. As if untouched by the chaos outside.
And in one corner—gleaming like salvation—was a massive hot tub.
Five-person capacity. Heated water. Rows of scented oils, scrubs, and long-abandoned feminine care products lined the shelves.
Frieda didn't hesitate. She yanked off her tattered clothes, tossed in a handful of pastel-colored bath bombs, and sank into the water with a groan of genuine pleasure.
Maya followed, dipping in with the quiet grace of someone used to moving without being seen. Her eyes never stopped scanning the room.
Evie lingered at the edge, arms crossed, biting the inside of her cheek.
They laughed. Joked. Talked about things Evie didn't know how to join in on—shampoos, shaving creams, the absurdity of scented lotions during war. It was… girlish. And Evie suddenly realized she didn't know how to be a girl.
Not like this.
Fighting alternate versions of herself? Easy. Staring down monsters? She could manage. But this?
Naked vulnerability? Shared skin, shared softness? It made her chest ache.
Maya looked up, expression softening. "You coming?"
Frieda cracked an eye open. "We're this close to dragging you in."
Evie hesitated. Then, with a deep breath, she peeled off her bloodstained shirt. Her skin was pale beneath dried gore, mottled with bruises. But the moment her body hit the water, all of that melted away. She let herself sink beneath the surface, eyes closed.
"This feels… amazing," she murmured.
Frieda smirked. "Told you. Hot tubs are holy."
"I've never done this before," Evie admitted.
"Obviously," Maya said dryly.
Frieda snorted. "Girl, I've seen more skin in the locker rooms of death matches than a damn beach resort. You'll live."
They laughed. Together.
For a few precious minutes, the war didn't exist.
Then—
A sound.
Subtle. A rustle, like cloth brushing metal.
Frieda's eyes snapped open. Instinct flared. She was out of the tub in a heartbeat, water sloshing as she grabbed a robe and a concealed blade. Maya and Evie followed, grabbing whatever they could as makeshift weapons. Silence fell again, heavy and electric.
Maya's skin prickled. Something was watching.
She turned. Nothing.
Her eyes landed on the table littered with documents—she drifted closer, unable to resist.
"Girls," she said quietly, flipping through files. "This is... an experiment. One i wasn't told about."
Frieda joined her. "Must be major if even you didn't get the memo."
"Look at these vitals," Maya whispered. "Strength output's insane. Neuro-sync off the charts. Whoever she is… she's not human, maybe she is but she looks advanced, more so than even you and your brother Evie."
"Oh, that seems strong could be a problem if she's not out down early you know". Frieda said her voice quiet.
"That's why we need to find her, maybe she can be of help to us somehow" Maya replied.
"Where is she now?" Evie asked.
Maya followed a notation to a tarp-covered shape in the corner. With a steady hand, she pulled the cover back—
A large, cylindrical pod sat beneath it, filled with a clear, viscous fluid.
Empty.
"Duck!" Frieda screamed.
Daggers exploded from the shadows.
---
Meanwhile...
The darkness was thick as ink. Cold. Unreal.
Jarad stood in a place that wasn't a place—fog twisting beneath his feet, faceless beings towering above him like broken shadows.
He reached out. The Shadow Fang Shard pulsed in his hand. He pictured an odachi—sleek, elegant, deadly. The shard responded, growing into a gleaming blade. Then a greatsword—wide, heavy—and the metal shifted again, seamless.
"Oh yeah," he muttered, testing the weight. "This'll do."
A voice echoed through the void.
"Well now that you know how it works, time to send you back."
Jarad turned. The first faceless figure stood motionless.
"What's the rush?" he asked.
A second one stepped forward. "Can't change the past. Or maybe we can. But either way, if you stay too long, someone might get hurt."
"Idiot," the first muttered, slapping the second across the head.
A third voice, smoother and older, joined them. "Jarad. Try to remember what you've seen. You'll need it."
Jarad opened his mouth. "Wait—what do you —"
Light swallowed him.
---
He blinked.
Back in the bathroom. Cold tiles. Steam. Leon's voice cutting through the haze.
"You good, bro?"
Jarad shook himself. "Yeah. Was just... thinking."
Leon gave him a look. "You were zoned out hard, then said something about a shard or sword."
"Don't worry. I'm good."
They stepped out of the shower, dried off, and changed into leftover worker clothes. Jarad summoned the Core of the Abyss.
[You have equipped: Core of the Abyss.]
The voice of the System in his head whispered like wind through a graveyard.
Leon stared. "Bro. What the actual fuck?"
Jarad shrugged. "Just felt right."
Leon held out his hand. "Let me try."
Jarad handed it over. Leon's eyes widened as the System pinged.
[Relic: Core of the Abyss. Type: Armor / Growth. Rank: Awakened. Soul Possibility: 10%.]
Leon whistled. "This is cold. Literally. Jealous already."
"There's more to show you. But first... the girls."
Leon handed the relic back.
Jarad re-equipped it.
"Let's move, Sir Knight in Shining Armor," Leon teased.
"Dumbass," Jarad muttered.
But he was smiling.