"D-Dispatch the emergency sphere! The black tsunami is coming in now!" A blonde-haired middle aged woman yelled to her subordinates of the Deep Research Association in a frantic hurry.
The research association had many computers and CCTV cameras around the area, which each employee was in charge of checking every ten minutes for any anomalies or unusual occurrences. Today there was a flurry of anomalies, specifically in their region. Sphere 23B was located specifically by a danger zone of The Deep, and this had been a brewing problem for years which was never noticed until now for unknown reason. Keyboards clicked, modules flashed rapidly, and metal slates were loaded out across the city in an attempt to stop the breakthrough of The Deep spreading. But, there was someone who was eerily calm during this whole situation. And that person was Malyna Thynos, a senior executive within the association. She was hard at work with a stern expression painted on her face, but then she remembered something in a quick sign of shock.
"Cinder!" The realization was such a shock for the woman that she blurted it out loud. However, nobody cared to turn their heads to her in such a dire situation. The woman was so caught up within her work, that she completely forgot about the person she held above everything else; her son. Malyna rushed out the room, pushing past multiple people in her way as she made her way to the large and reflective elevator door, punching in some buttons as the once blank and depressing number inputs flashed multiple different colors, as this allowed the metallic door to open in a slow haste.
"THYNOS! GET BACK HERE, THIS SITUATION IS DIRE! YOU WILL BE FIRED IF YOU EXIT THIS BUILDING!" The blonde-haired manager of the association who earlier screamed at her employees had jogged in an aggressive manner to get Malyna.
"Like I care.. You never liked me anyway. Plus, there are people out there in need of saving. So why don't you get off your ass and do something productive instead of screaming at the top of your lungs every damn day?" The calm and collected woman spat where her boss stood as the metallic door slowly closed in on her face, leaving her manager speechless in the moment.
"I had to breach into the full CCTV database aside from my frame in order to find where Cinder was.. Apparently, he's at the hospital. I hope nothing bad happened to him. Athen's at home too, but, he's definitely asleep. I'll get Athen first, since Cinder is safe at the hospital.. for now at least." The woman formulated her plan in her head, as the metallic door opened to complete and total disaster. Some houses were already sent flying off the street and into the air; she had to be fast and alert.
She took off at full speed, looking at the disaster, along with various monsters in the air. "How did everything go to shit in only ten minutes...? Has all of our progress been destroyed? Is The Deep back what to it originally was when it first struck our world?" Malyna thought. It wasn't always like this. Before tragedy had struck, Malyna had a loving family.. and a husband. When the pandemic hit, he sacrificed himself for his sons and her. It was like a switch flipped on the entire world. On that day, there were monsters with wings, infected humans, and worst of all... a large black sea which had a consciousness of its own. Nobody knows what happens to those who drown in The Deep, and nobody dares to find out. Ever since then, Malyna's been living with Cinder and Athen in Sphere 23B, barely getting by and protecting her sons, just as her husband would want her to.
As Malyna thought about how everything came to be, she was nearing their family home.. She was close to reuniting with her youngest son, Athen Thynos.
Fifteen minutes of exhausted running only fueled by adrenaline and determination had passed, as she made it to their family home. "ATHEN! COME DOWN! MOMMY'S HERE TO SAVE YOU!" The woman had tears welling up in her eyes as she was worried for her son. Had they taken him too? She did notice that there were various pieces of the house gone, and those creatures of the deep had flew past this area. Her thoughts were proven false however, when a young boy with a red cape tied to his frail body jumped out his two story window into his mother's arms.
"Mom! I-I woke up and heard bad things around the neighborhood.. Is everyone okay?" The boy was crying. She could tell that he was afraid of being alone in that house by himself.
"I'll.. explain to you later. We have to get Cinder, c-come on..!" Malyna held her youngest kin close to her chest, as she trekked through the nearing destruction of Little Way. The heavy winds swept back her silver hair, as she began losing all strength to move. Memories of her family had flashed through her head, as she began crying. Malyna despised herself. She always thought she was too weak or frail to be the guardian figure her kids needed, so she adopted a tough and "cool" exterior. This often led to people distancing themselves from her, but she was fine with that, as long as it protected her kids. "Markus... Please, give me something." She called out her deceased lover's name out in a desperate tone, as she walked. Every step felt like carrying millions of shackles, but she believed she had to proceed. To advance forward despite challenges and walls is what it means to be human to her. After another fifteen minutes, she made it to the hospital. She managed to avoid those wretched creatures who took shadow-like appearances by the skin of her teeth. If there was anything to know about Malyna and Athen, it's that they were masters at Hide & Seek. Hiding from these beasts was no problem for them, as Malyna opened the door to the facility, taking the elevator to Cinder's room. As she opened the door, the woman and her small son looked at the various doctors around the room, who had a solemn but surprised expression on their faces. "I'm Cinder's mom." The woman with dirt on her face and a rough exterior had finally spoken. That tough outside look of her had forced the doctors to tread lightly with her, as she walked to the bed of her son slowly.
As she made her way to the white bed, a glove lightly grabbed her shoulder. "Ma'am, you mustn't interfere with medical manners. I do understand he is your son but-"
"Shut the fuck up." Malyna looked back at him and forced his hand off of her, before giving her unconscious son a deep hug. The thoughts of what could've happened to him were washed away, as she was just happy she was able to reunite with the two things she swore to protect once more.
Athen frantically looked around the room, before suddenly pointing outside. "Mommy, there's a-" The softspoken boy's finger stretched outwards before blood splashed on his face, as the violent winds from the rage of The Deep suddenly felt all too rememberable once more. The window was shattered entirely; it was all too quick to see. The doctor behind them whos only form of identification was a certification badge that said "MANGIONNI", had a velvet colored hole within his face, which eclipsed the entirety of his appearance. The hole in his head was so deep that it nearly let in a bleak fragment of light from the area behind him.
"A-ATHEN! GET YOUR BROTHER AND-" Malyna's warning was halted unforgivingly, as the rough gusts of hellish wind elevated her body out of the window. But, something stopped the mother of two from completely flying out the room. It was a hand.
Athen was always a boy of mystery. He was quiet, softspoken, and always refuted making friends. He thought life with his mother and brother was all he needed, even at the young age of eight years old. "...I wanna save you this time, mom." The amber eyed child gripped his mothers hand with a red cape which flowed gracefully in the wind, like a maroon colored bed of flowers on a calming spring day. "I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE..!" Emotions flared up, allowing the boy to hold onto his mother for a bit longer, as his mother looked onwards in shock, blood from the now deceased doctor painted on her face in lash-like patterns.
"..Hmgh..?" The colored eyes of the wounded boy opened slowly, as he looked over. The winds had knocked his body into the wall on the opposite side of the room, and this is what woke him from his prolonged coma.
"CINDER! HELP YOUR BROTHER!" The woman Cinder recognized all too well didn't give him a hello, a welcome, or a good luck. Just one simple order; to save them.
"BROTHER..I...CANT HOLD ON..!" The quiet child spoke with burning emotion in his vocal chords, as the strain from combating against these unforgiving winds had taken a toll on his child-like body.
Without a word, Cinder rose up into a quick spring of action. This is what everything came to for the teenager. Humans move forward despite challenges and walls that block their path, and that is what it means to live. These words his mother always repeated to him replayed constantly in his foggy mind, as he grabbed the red cape of his brother, pulling with all his might in that singular arm he had available.
"I GOT YOU GUYS! DON'T LET GO JUST YET!" The boy watched onwards with a determined expression in his golden bright irises.
Black dragons flew through the sky as if it was their territory, picking off the bodies of any stray humans, as the black sea of void laid beneath Malyna. In the face of such danger and adversity, the woman couldn't help but smile. "Did I do good, Markus? For our kids?" The woman felt her grip slipping, as she had already long accepted of what was to come. She had already heard the agonizing cries of the black shadow creatures of The Deep nearing, so she was fully ready to sacrifice herself for her kids. "..Hey, Athen."
"...Huh..?!" The crying boy looked onwards with a hint of surprise in her calm voice, and warm smile.
"Let go." The smile stayed eternally, as if it was stitched onto her face. The greatest smile one could imagine; it was pure and transparent.
"O-Of course not! Keep holding on and stop talking that that!" The boy didn't know how to react to such a bold claim in a dire situation like this, so all he could do was encourage her to hold on while he himself pulled her into his arms. But, she rejected.
"..." Cinder looked forwards, his thoughts unknown. He fully knew that smile. The boy remembered the nights where he and Athen ate food that she bought, while all she did was give them a warm smile while having a stomach which growled like a ferocious beast. No. The boy could not let this happen. He was supposed to be the protector after his father died in The Deep. Why is he abandoning his role here?
Without a warning, the shadow dragon which Cinder already made himself aware of earlier came closer to the three, as it held its piercing teeth out in full display, ready to destroy and rip all three of them like a paper figurine.
Since Cinder already made himself aware of the problem beforehand even before his mother, he was able to react the quickest. In a final burst of all the strength he had left, he pulled both of them in as the red cape his brother wore tore like some thin substance, as he was stabbed in the shoulder by one of the dragons many teeth.
"..GUAGHHH!" Cinder coughed blood, as his vision dimmed. He held his frantically shaking hand out to his family, as the dragons tooth budged and twisted aggressively in his shoulder, ripping tendons and separating bones. The arm fell, as the boy only looked onwards with a smile.
"C-CINDERRRRRRRR!" The two called out, as they ran up to grab the arms of the boy, but it was already too late. The after effects of the dragon sticking its head into the hospital window had fully came into effect as it ripped its shadowy snout out, causing debris and collateral to fall like wildifre onto the window opening. And just like that, Cinder was gone.
Malyna and Athen cried out one last time for Cinder, as he heard it through the debris just enough to force another smile onto his face. And there The Deep laid, his eternal tomb finally coming to claim him, just as it did his father.
"....Get....them...back." This was Cinder's last thought before his injured body plopped into the black death that washed over Little Way and Sphere 23B.