My mother's body fell.
First to her knees - then forward into the earth, beside my father.
The sound was small, but it thundered through me anyway. The sound of an innocent body, falling to the ground.
"No… no, no… NO!"
My voice cracked so hard it didn't even sound like mine.
Her last word kept ringing in my skull.
Run.
Run away from the corpses.
Run away from the shadows.
Run away from the truth that just tore my world in half.
And right then, my body finally obeyed.
I didn't plan. I didn't think. I just ran.
I sprinted through smoke and ash, through screams that blurred together, toward the only gap I could see between burning homes and collapsing walls.
Suddenly, my feet caught on something - a plank half-buried in the dirt.
I fell down hard. Pain snapped up my arm as my hand landed on something sharp. Wood? Stone? I didn't know.
I hissed and yanked my palm back.
Blood slicked my skin instantly.
I stared at it for half a second, like that did something.
Then I forced myself up. I didn't have time to care about pain.
Behind me, the Nyxes were still moving through the village.
They didn't need to rush. They were certain, absolutely certain that they were the strongest.
But none of them came for me.
That was the part that made my stomach twist.
They were... Letting me go.
Like my escape had already been decided.
One of them moved with such speed my eyes barely caught it. Wherever it passed, things died. Roof beams split. Stone cracked.
It didn't struggle.
Destruction followed it simply because it existed.
I didn't look back. The edge of the village came into view - the wall between me and the forest.
I ran for it.
I shoved through the gap and stumbled into the trees, clutching my bleeding hand to my chest.
Behind me, smoke rose into the clouds.
Flames burned whatever was left, as my home was becoming ash.
Something buzzed at the edges of my mind.
Not a thought.
That same cold, inhuman presence from before.
And this time… It wanted to lead me somewhere.
This way.
My feet moved before I understood why. My body turned through the trees like it already knew the path.
Branches whipped my face. Wet leaves slapped my arms. The world smelled like sap, smoke and dirt.
Finally, my legs gave out.
I braced myself against a tree and dragged air in like I was drowning. My vision was shaking and blurry.
I blinked hard.
And then…
I saw her.
At first, I didn't think it was real.
A pale shape between the branches. A body curled on the forest floor.
Time felt as if it was slowed down.
She was beautiful:
Bright blonde hair - the ends black like they'd been dipped in ink. It caught what little light there was and almost shimmered. Her face was calm. Too calm. Like she wasn't sleeping in such a cruel world.
She didn't look older than me. Fifteen, maybe.
A simple white dress covered her - impeccably clean.
Not mud-stained. Not torn. Clean enough to feel wrong.
I stepped closer, kneeling beside her, brushing a strand of hair back.
She exhaled faintly.
My chest clenched so hard it hurt.
She was alive.
Unconscious - but alive.
The whisper slid through my mind again, soft and absolute.
Take care of her.
It wasn't a suggestion.
It was an order.
And in the wreckage of everything, it gave me something
A reason to live.
I slipped an arm under her shoulders and lifted. She was lighter than she looked. My injured hand screamed anyway, but I ignored it, gritting my teeth as I pulled her against my chest.
Holding her felt like holding something the world had tried to erase that night.
Hope - fragile, terrifying, real.
Through the trees, I caught sight of something distant.
Neoshima.
Even from here, it didn't look like a city.
It looked like a colossal lotus shaped like a fortress, metallic petals rising like walls.
I'd never set foot there in my life.
But right now, it was the only shelter I could imagine.
I looked at the miracle I was holding.
"I won't let anything happen to you" I whispered.
My voice shook.
"I promise."
For the first time since the village fell, hope felt real.
Then the air vibrated faintly - not thunder.
Something stronger.
I looked up.
An aircraft cut through the clouds, lights blinking blue beneath its wings. It moved fast. Very fast.
Then, two silhouettes recklessly dropped from it.
Someone was heading toward the hell I'd just escaped.
"Just… a little farther" I grunted.
---
I don't know how long I walked after that.
My legs trembled. My vision wavered. Every few minutes, I lowered my ear toward her chest just to hear the fragile heartbeat. As long as it was there, I kept moving.
I stumbled into a field cut by concrete paths. And beyond the swaying grass -
Neoshima rose higher.
At last, the iron walls loomed in front of me.
Cold metal. Sealed lines. No warmth, no welcome - just a barrier built to keep the horrors out.
I staggered the last few steps, driven by one thought and one thought only.
Keeping her safe.
The whisper repeated it like a heartbeat.
Keep her safe.
I was a coward.
I was weak.
I couldn't protect my own family.
But this time - this time I had something in my arms that still breathed.
I couldn't lose her too.
My knees hit the ground.
My breath came out in broken pieces.
"I swear…" My voice scraped, more like a hiss than sound. "I will kill… all Nyxes."
That was my vow, absolute and unwavering.
I collapsed against the dirt and gravel, still clutching her.
Even as sleep took me, my arms didn't loosen.
Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision.
--- A few hours later---
A pair of heavy leather boots stepped onto the path.
A faint metallic clink rang out - the quiet hum of a mechanical arm.
The man walking towards Neoshima's walls carried war like it was stitched into his posture. Broad shoulders. Measured movements
His grey-streaked hair was tied back loosely, strands falling over a scarred face.
He stopped.
Because someone was there.
A boy sprawled in the dirt and gravel, unconscious, blood dried dark on his hand.
And in his arms - a girl held like she was the last thing in the world worth saving.
For a long moment, the man didn't move.
His jaw tightened, but his expression remained unreadable.
Then something flickered in his eyes - not pity, not softness.
Memory.
Like he'd seen this before.
And then a voice slipped into his mind.
His mechanical fingers twitched instinctively toward the pistol at his side.
He didn't hear it, the whisper was... Somehow already in his mind.
Too sharp to ignore. Too calm to fear.
You failed your family once.
Don't fail again.
As if the darkness already knew what he'd buried his whole life.
The man's hand froze.
His gaze dropped to the boy, then to the girl.
He felt… Watched.
Like something had led the them here on purpose.
Like something was still guiding the path.