Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The grinding sound of the railtracks… You are used to a more peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.

Your seat was rough and uncomfortable, the leather was torn in countless places, and the rumbling of the train’s engine made it impossible to sleep. At least the cabin was relatively empty, so you had space to yourself.

You wished you had something to read. It had been hours since you departed, and it would take hours more for the train to arrive at Prehevil Station. All you had to occupy yourself with was the sights outside the window and fidgeting your hands. However, that had gotten old rather quickly. So, you instead chose to look around the train cabin.

There wasn't anything interesting per se, aside from its occupants. Miraculously, the silver-haired girl with pigtails in the seat in front of you had managed to fall asleep. With the engine of the train so loud, you didn't know how she'd managed that. She looked completely at peace in her slumber, a true sleeping beauty.

The dapper man in the hat sitting across from her also appeared to be sleeping, his hat resting over his eyes to guard them from the sunlight. These people must be heavy sleepers. Either that, or the railtracks were more like a soothing white noise to them. You preferred the comfort of silence yourself, but to each their own, you supposed. You wished you were able to just turn your ears off.

You scoured every inch of the cabin in search of something to occupy yourself with, and eventually your prayers were answered in the form of a crumpled and torn newspaper unceremoniously littered on the floor. It seemed to be the front page of a recent edition, clearly after you had left Voroniya a few weeks ago. You weren't particularly interested in political ongoings, but it's not like you had anything else to do.

KAISER TO VISIT BOHEMIA
"Kaiser, the esteemed Chancellor of the Bremen Empire, is scheduled to make a sudden appearance in the newly-acquired region of Bohemia in the following weeks. The reasons for such an unexpected event and the exact destination of the visit are unknown, however it is no secret that the Chancellor put an unusual emphasis on capturing the region during the war.

While many theorize that this is an attempt at reconciliation with the native Bohemian population, this has been found to be highly unlikely due to there being no reason to do so with the Elite Guard's harsh stance against resistance."

It just seemed to be more boring political mumbo-jumbo that you didn't care enough about to understand. Somehow, you were left even more unentertained than you were before you had read it. Discarding the newspaper in a nearby disposal bin, you made your way back to your seat with your shoulders slumped in defeat.

As you passed by her, you noticed that the silver-haired girl had begun to stir in her sleep, letting out small but still audible groans of distress. A nightmare, you guessed, taking your seat. You felt a pang of sympathy for her, often suffering from nightmares as well. Though, you didn't imagine that the one she was having now was nearly as awful as yours.

They came to you frequently, but the nights which they came seemed to follow a pattern. They occurred multiple nights in a row, and then they would stop for a handful of days, only for them to come back with less frequency before starting the process all over again.

Each and every time it was the same nightmare. A little girl held your hand as you led her down a dirt path in a forest. She was covered in dirt and grime, her auburn hair was rough and unkempt, and her skin was so pale you'd think she had never seen the sun before. Yet, she looked so happy.

She looked free, liberated as her tattered gown flowed with the gentle breeze. You didn't recognize the girl, but you felt some strange, unexplainable connection to her. It was as if you'd known her all your life. Her happiness made you want to smile with her and experience the joy she felt.

Then, the dirt path came to a stop, fading into the grass until cut off entirely by the trees in front of you. You looked down at the girl, only to find that she was no longer by your side with her hand in yours, as if she'd vanished into thin air.

Without the little girl to give you drive, you were lost and left without reason in this metropolis of mother nature. Yet, though she wasn't there, you still felt her presence within you, and a phantom touch in your palm.

And then, upon turning around, you find a massive statue-like entity standing before you. The chaotic mass of arms at its base felt the ground around it, and a halo spun slowly over what seemed to be its “head.” The forest disappears from around you, and you suddenly find yourself standing upon a mountain of human skulls amongst a black void. The statue was vibrating and pulsating, as if it were trying to communicate with you.

“What… who are you…?”

The statue did not answer. The vibrations became stronger, so strong that you can feel them reverberate in your skull. You could feel its authority, both within and without, dominating your very being and forcing you to surrender yourself. You fall to your knees before it’s unwithstandable might.

Then, it begins whispering to you in the sanctity of your own mind, its voice equally incoherent and incomprehensible, yet… faintly familiar. The tongue it spoke was unknown to your feeble, human mind. Curling in on yourself into a fetal position and covering your ears, you could feel your sanity begin to seep out of your mind as you lost control of yourself.

You were suffering.

The whispers only became louder, and soon they completely drowned out your own screams. You felt so afraid and alone, and you had completely lost the ability to sustain a coherent thought. The whispers grew louder, louder, louder, and louder…

And then you would wake up. That's how it happened, every single time. Although you’ve had it more times than you can count, it never fails to make you awake with a gasp, drenched in sweat and still overcome with primal fear. You knew the dream must've had meaning of some kind, but what it could possibly be, you hadn't the faintest idea.

The little girl and your feelings of kinship with her, the dense forest, the ethereal void and the mountain of skulls, the obelisk that never failed to force you into submission… It was all so strange, but it had to mean something.

Maybe you would find answers in Prehevil. After all, uncovering the truth of your life and family was half the reason you were returning to your hometown.

Forgetting all about the sleeping girl and the nightmares, you brought your attention back to the window, watching as the landscape passed you by.

You can't help but let your mind wander. You reminisce what has lead you to this point in life…

It had been years since you'd seen the city of Prehevil, your first home and place of birth. The last time you'd even stepped foot in the city was when you left it behind with your mother at the age of thirteen. The incoming Second Great War was enough to convince her that it was too dangerous to stay, where it was so close to the fighting. You didn't quite understand why she was so afraid; your young mind couldn't yet comprehend the horrors of war that would soon descend upon Europa.

Your mother's fears were entirely valid, in the end. Some time after fleeing deeper into the Eastern Union, newspapers all across Voroniya, your new home, told stories of the fighting in Bohemia, particularly the Prehevil area. The entire western portion of the city had been nearly obliterated by the invading Bremen armies, the exact area your former home had resided in. The thought that you could've been caught in that nightmare had your mother not seen the warning signs shook you to the core.

Your mother was also clever enough to keep you hidden from the watchful eyes of recruitment officers for years to avoid you being drafted into the Voroniyan army, especially since the government became desperate enough to begin recruiting mere children, little girls included. It cost your mother everything just to keep you safe, almost even getting her killed when you were nearly discovered hiding beneath the floorboards, which would have guaranteed her execution and your recruitment.

When the war finally ended and the Bremen Empire abruptly signed for peace, a blessing for the many who had become tired of the seemingly endless bloodshed, your mother deemed it safe enough for you to return to the outside world. However, years of isolation and having no one to speak to other than your mother had a permanent effect on you. Reintegration became difficult due to your solitary nature, especially with society ravaged by such a devastating conflict.

You were an extremely reserved individual, not because you necessarily chose to be, you just didn't know any other way. You supposed that it suited you, anyways. Words never came to you easily. Social expertise wasn't something you were in the least bit endowed with. So, you simply chose to remain silent until it was no longer an option. It was safer that way. Besides, when words failed you, you had your keen eyes to rely on. A distinct ability to observe people and read them was something you’d always possessed. It was strange. You could hardly connect with others, yet just watching the way they behaved was enough to tell you all you needed to know about them.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long after your eighteenth birthday that your mother passed away from illness. Suddenly you had been thrust into an unfamiliar world without guidance. Seeking answers and with nowhere else to go, you decided to return to your hometown of Prehevil. Although it was now under the control of the Bremen Empire, you hesitated to believe that much about the city had changed. The citizenry of Prehevil were always a stubbornly traditional bunch.

They didn't let go of their ways so easily, so much so that you doubted the Empire would even bother trying to force them to. Although your solitary existence had peaked during the war, it hadn't started then. Your mother never let you interact with the townspeople, saying that they were “not to be associated with.” You knew your presence was not appreciated in Prehevil; the dirty looks you both received from passerbyers told you as much.

You believe it undoubtedly had something to do with her unstable association with the Alll-Mer Church as a nun. The fact that she had a child despite swearing a life of celibacy was controversial on its own, but she often challenged Father Domek’s sermons and decisions the best she could without being accused of heresy and facing execution. Your mother was an expert at bending the rules of her religious beliefs and practices, just ever so slightly that she was never punished for breaking them. It always succeeded at enraging Father Domek and the clergy.

Other than her life in Prehevil, you knew nothing about your mother’s past nor her heritage. You didn't know who your father was, nor did you know your grandparents. Your mother never spoke about them, and every time you asked, her response was always the same:

“Do not worry yourself with such trivial things, Persephone. You have me, and I am all you need.”

Though you eventually became content with allowing the ambiguous circumstances of your conception to remain a mystery, the sudden passing of your mother reignited your curiosity all over again. Really, aside from having nowhere else to go, it was half the reason you were returning to Prehevil. You knew there would likely be nothing left of your childhood home, but one could hope that something, anything, was left. Some answers- hell, a clue at the very least- was all you wanted.

The closest thing you had in terms of family aside from your mother was your unnaturally light blonde hair. It wasn't exactly white, but it was such a bright color that it might as well have been. It was a contrast to your mother's hair, which was an auburn red like the sunset. So far, that inconsistent facet of genetics was the only clue you had regarding your family, possibly even your father, though it could easily be from your maternal grandparents. Not that your mother ever told you.

Maybe in Prehevil you would find out more, but only time would tell.

And so, you're brought back to the present moment. On a train to your hometown with nothing more than a suitcase full of clothes and what little money you have from your inheritance. Sometime during your contemplation, a thick fog had set in outside, hiding everything without a ten foot radius behind layers of white mist. There went one of your only forms of entertainment. The silver-haired girl in front of you had ceased her unconscious stirring, her nightmare seemingly over. She'd shifted her position from sitting upright to leaning her head against the glass pane of the window. In contrast, the business man across from her hadn't moved a muscle in the last hour-

SCREEEEEEECH!

You were brought out of your stupor by a sudden lurch forward and an ear-piercing squeal, one produced by metal grinding against metal. You were almost knocked out of your seat by the motion, but you managed to catch yourself in time. The silver-haired girl wasn't so lucky. She was sent tumbling forwards out of her seat as well as her nap, crashing straight into the business man. Her head collided directly into his stomach. If he wasn't awake already, he surely was now. As the girl fell not-so-gracefully to the floor of the cabin with a yelp, the man keeled over and groaned, arms wrapping around his abdomen.

The entire scene happened so fast you could barely register what had even happened.

The girl was now sitting up, rubbing her head in pain and confusion. She looked up at the man she had unintentionally gut-punched with her skull, and like a flip of a switch, her entire demeanor changed into one of worry and embarrassment.

“Oh crap! I'm so sorry, are you alright!?’

“Y-Yes… I am quite fine.” He mumbled, clearly still in pain but apparently too polite to voice it. You took note of his accent.

“Gods… What the hell happened?” The girl said, still flustered and confused as she rose to her feet. You stayed in your seat, not wanting to draw her attention. This wasn't your problem just yet– surely the crew would solve the problem quickly. Whatever the problem was. Though she noticed you, her eyes glancing once over you for a moment, she otherwise paid you no mind and marched towards a nearby window, forming a binocular shape with her hands pressed against the glass and trying to see what was going on.

“It's so foggy… I can hardly see anything. Looks like we're in a woodland area, though.” She said. The business man sighed in response and placed his hat back on his head, which had fallen off in the commotion. Now that you could see his face you noticed that he clearly wasn't a native to Bohemia, or Europa for that matter. He seemed to be of eastern origin, perhaps from Hyuga or Edo.

“What a travesty…” He said dejectedly, looking at his watch with clear unhappiness with the time. He rose from his seat and peeked out the window over the pigtail girl’s shoulders. He sighed. “I do hope this delay will be resolved quickly.”

The girl responded with a grunt of acknowledgement and stepped away from the window, maneuvering past the business man, seemingly lost in thought.

“I'm gonna go see what's going on.” She suddenly said, already making her way towards the door to the next car. The business man watched her cautiously for a moment, but decided to follow her. They both went through the door, closing it behind them and leaving you alone in the passenger car.

At some point you had brought your knees to your chest and wrapped your arms around your legs. You weren't too sure what to do now. While staying in the train and waiting seemed like the best option at the moment, you were struck with a sudden bad feeling. The fog outside felt ominous, almost alive and filled with malevolence.

You tried to block out those worrisome thoughts, bringing your legs even closer to your chest and hugging them tightly. Settling with staring out the window once more, you rested your head against it. The glass was cool against your scalp. Not in a way that comforted you, but in a way that made you want to flinch away from it as if you had touched fire. Nothing felt comforting.

Just as you were about to close your eyes and get some rest, you heard the sound of a door creaking open. Not the door the odd pair had just left through earlier, but the one on the opposite side of the car. Slowly and cautiously, you turned your head towards the corridor, seeing that the door had opened only a few inches.

At first, nothing was there. Only the darkness of the car could be seen through the crack between the door and the frame. Then, you saw an eye. Just one. The iris shone in the darkness surrounding it, reflecting a light gray. It peered through and studied the car you resided in. It seemed to not notice you. If they were attempting to be subtle, they weren't doing a very good job.

Then, the eye turned into a full head as it emerged from the doorway. It was a girl. You immediately noticed how her pale, almost sickly skin deeply contrasted with her long, jet black hair, bangs messily cropped and one side tucked behind her ear. It would have been considered graceful were it not so unkempt. In spite of the wrinkled bags under her eyes and her rough, malnourished skin, she couldn't have been any older than you or the silver-haired girl from earlier.

Then, she locked eyes with you.

“K-ka!” She yelped. Her tired eyes turned to saucers as she practically leapt into the air.

And then she was gone. Her head pulled back into the darkness and the door slammed behind her. You needed a moment to process what just happened. Truthfully, all you felt was understanding. You knew what it was like to fear the presence of others. You were in no place to judge. Whatever she was doing and whoever she was wasn’t any of your business, so you decided to let it go and pretend it didn't happen.

At the very least, the strange event helped take your mind off of the unfortunate circumstances you’d found yourself in. While you weren't exactly in a rush to get to Prehevil, you hoped that the train would start moving again soon. The way the fog made you uneasy was difficult to explain. Something just felt off about it. From what you could remember, fog was not a common occurrence in the Prehevil area. In fact, it almost never happened.

It didn't feel right.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since the girl and the businessman left to find out what was happening. It was peculiar that they hadn't returned yet. Maybe the issue was worse than you'd thought…? 

Sighing, you unraveled the knot you'd tied yourself in with your limbs and rose to your feet. You might as well see what's going on, it couldn't hurt. It's not like you had to speak to anyone. Passing through door after door and making your way through the passenger cars, you realized that all of the other passengers as well as the crew were gone. Did everyone else have the same idea? You couldn't deny the uneasy feeling in your stomach.

As you finally arrived at the train’s exit, you found the business man from earlier standing in the corner, looking at his watch and impatiently tapping his foot. His knuckles were white as he gripped the handle of his briefcase, like it was going to run away if he even slightly loosened his hold. He glanced up at you as you entered before his tense expression transformed into a polite, if not strained, smile.

“Oh, hello! I am Kida Tanaka. It's good to see you out and about,” he introduces himself, “That young lady and I were somewhat concerned when you didn't come with us…” He spoke in a polite, formal tone, which complimented his eastern accent. While most who spoke like that usually sounded artificial, he actually seemed genuine. 

Now that you got a better look at him, you saw that he appeared far younger than you initially thought. Most likely somewhere in his early thirties.

Realizing that you've been staring blankly, you're hit by a wave of embarrassment. You curtly nod at him and give an acknowledgemental hum. If he felt you were strange for staring, he either was too polite to bring attention to it or simply didn't mind. He returned your nod, albeit with far more poise.

“All of the others are attempting to repair the train. At least, the Oldegårdic woman is.” He says, “It doesn't seem that there’s been much success, if at all…” The man stares at the exit door, his eyes a million miles away. The tapping of his foot slightly increased in speed and he returned his gaze to his watch. He seems to be losing himself in thought, mumbling something about being “already so late.”

Deciding to leave the nice businessman, who you now know as Kida Tanaka, to his worries, you turn to make your leave and investigate what the other passengers are doing.

Opening the metal door and stepping down the stairs to the ground, you are met with the smell of wet grass in the humid air. 

“…So that must be the best course of action for now–”

Your arrival interrupts a man in checkered pants and an eyepatch, who spoke to a blonde woman in a brown jacket. The others seemed to have been listening as well, though their attentions were now squarely on you. All of their eyes stared at you inquisitively, studying you. The sudden attention made you distinctly aware of your own existence, a feeling not at all pleasant.

Before the silence became awkward, the girl in the silver pigtails from before spoke up.

“Ah! The quiet girl is here. I was wondering when you'd decide to come join us.” She says, cheekily grinning at her own comment. 

You didn't know what to say, as usual, so you simply hummed, hoping that would suffice. The girl seemed confused by your answer, or lack thereof, but quickly returned to the picture-perfect example of serenity as she smiled at you.

Suddenly, the man in the eyepatch and checkered pants began speaking again.

“You must be as confused as the rest of us,” he began, “The train left us all here, at the outskirts of the city. All the personnel, everyone, gone. No explanations.” The man spoke grimly and with seriousness, leaving little room for any kind of alternative answer.

The revelation left you befuddled. All of the train crew, just gone?

“So… we're stuck here?” You speak, for what must have been the first time since you thanked the attendant at the train station ticket booth.

“Seems so, for the most part.” He responds, “Your guess is as good as mine as to where the train personnel went, but it looks like they were desperate to leave, given that they left everything behind.”

The man takes a puff of his cigarette, blowing smoke into the air as it dissipates and blends into the fog. He continues.

“We decided to stay and wait here for a while. Someone has to come for the train sooner or later. So if you're not in a hurry, I recommend just taking a seat inside and trying to relax.”

The man in the eyepatch takes yet another puff before crossing his arms and turning away from the group. He was intimidating, in a way. Not that he seemed dangerous, his presence simply made you feel almost inferior. He had the aura of someone who has seen too much to be shaken by anything.

The girl in the pigtails looks at you again.

“What's your name, anyway?” She asks you. You open your mouth to speak, but your mind goes blank and no words come out. For a moment it's as if you can't remember your own name. You close your mouth and attempt to regain your senses.

“...Or just stay as a mystery person. That's completely fine too.” She says, voice laced with snark. Dang it, you weren't refusing to answer or anything, she just caught you by surprise!

“N-no! I… Persephone…” I finally say, “My… name is Persephone.” The girl visibly tries to stop herself from snickering at how you stumbled over your words, but then she smiles warmly at you.

“My name is Marina.” She says. Marina looks over at the others, an open invitation for them to introduce themselves as well. Now that you look at your fellow passengers, there appears to be about eight of them. 

“Oh, that's right!” Said a brunette girl in glasses, who sat on her knees in the grass, “We didn't all properly introduce ourselves, did we? My name is Olivia. Lovely to meet you all!” Olivia spoke with shy enthusiasm. She was clearly, though perhaps only to you, trying to mask her nerves behind a facade of cheeriness. She seemed genuinely nice, though.

The next to speak was an older gentleman with a handlebar mustache in a gray suit jacket. 

“You can call me August.” He said simply with a friendly tone of voice. He said nothing beyond that, so everyone moved on. However, your gaze lingered on him. One would likely underestimate the man, who you now knew as August. He seemed polite and formal, much like Tanaka, but his tall, muscular build and the certain roughness in his eyes said that he is no mere gentleman. 

August side-eyed you, catching your stare. The look in his eyes made you freeze. It was almost predatory, but most of all it was subjugating. As if to say “stop staring if you know what's good for you.” You realized then that you weren't the only one who knew the benefits of being aware of the people around you. You were observant, but so was he.

“Karin Sauer - journalist on duty.”

A woman's voice snapped you out of your stupor. Specifically, it was the voice of the blonde lady in the brown jacket. Karin, apparently. Ms. Sauer had her hands buried deep in the pockets of her jacket. She had an air of authority around her; her stance- although short- was assertive. Although willing to participate in introductions, Karin didn’t seem too interested in the people around her. As soon as her turn to speak was over, she began surveying the surrounding area.

A blonde man in an orange vest cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. He seemed to be groomed and laid-back, though the way he noticeably shifted his weight from one foot to the other suggested he was far more nervous than he intended to let on. 

“Hey! I’m Henryk,” he said, before gesturing down next to him to a dark-skinned man in yellow robes who sat in a meditating position, “And this mystic gentleman over here is O’saa… It was O’saa, right?” He questioned.

O’saa, the man in the yellow robes, didn’t so much as acknowledge Henryk, continuing with his meditation. Henryk scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“...I’m pretty sure it was.” Henryk added with a self-conscious chuckle.

The two were a deep contrast to one another. O’saa was notably a foreign man, likely of Abyssonian origin. You recognized the robes he wore as that of the Yellow Mages, which you knew from your mothers teachings on ancient religions. The Yellow Mages were servants of Gro-Goroth, though in modern times they were small in number and scattered across the world, only traveling in search of greater knowledge. With that in mind, what was a Yellow Mage doing all the way in the middle of Bohemia?

The only three who hadn’t yet introduced themselves were a muscular man in a green jacket, who leaned against the side of the train with his arms crossed, and a red-headed woman who you couldn’t see the face of, on account of her back being turned as she inspected the engine of the train. She must have been the “Oldegårdic woman” Tanaka had mentioned earlier. The man in the eyepatch also hadn’t introduced himself.

Henryk spoke once again, returning your attention back to him.

“O’saa and I were the first to wake up. We talked about that ‘dream’ everyone apparently had. Yeah, he can talk. Crazy, right?” Henryk snickered at his own joke at O’saa’s expense, before realizing that no one else was laughing and cleared his throat, "Anyways, that’s when all of you started pouring out of the train.”

Dream? You thought. This “dream” they were talking about was lost to you. You hadn’t even fallen asleep on the train. Marina must have noticed the confusion on your face because she offered an explanation.

“Before you came out, we were talking about this,” She began, “You saw the dream too, right?” Somehow, you were even more confused.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about… I wasn’t even asleep.” You said, your voice trembling a bit and struggling to maintain a volume loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Really? Everyone of us randomly fell asleep on the train and had that dream. Me included, and I wasn’t even tired!” Olivia said. Marina nodded along with her. Henryk, however, had his own introjection.

“See! Nothing happened to her . I mean, c’mon, you can’t all believe this means anything, right?” He said with a look of dismissive amusement on his face, though the uncertain furrow of his brows betrayed his true feelings.

“How can everyone having the exact same dream not mean anything?” Olivia interjected before turning back to you, “It’s true, everyone saw the same dream before waking up on the train! The moon, the girl in a pink dress, the ‘Festival of Termina…’ It all felt too real to pass off as a dream! There must be some special reason why you’re different.” Suddenly, a frustrated groan brought everyone’s attention to Karin.

“Not this talk again. We should’ve asked that army pig! That Bremen pig! He was in way too much of a hurry to leave. I bet he knew something! This smells like a sadistic army experiment, exactly the kind of thing the Bremen army would do! They had similar hallucinogens experimented on war prisoners. Now that their war is over, they have to get their guinea pigs elsewhere!” You struggled to not tune her out during her rant, and though you were lacking information far more than anyone else, you still found yourself doubting the conclusion she’d come to. The man in the eyepatch made a sound that seemed like a cross between a scoff and a laugh.

“I wish I had your capacity and feist, but… I have a hard time believing every conspiracy theory floating around.” He said, his words unapologetically dripping with sarcasm. Karin clearly did not appreciate his use of the term ‘conspiracy theory,’ an angry expression overtaking her face as she stepped closer to the eyepatched man.

“I’m a journalist, I’ve covered wars you know!” She said, pointing towards herself with her thumb, “I don’t need some flaky eyepatched foreigner telling me what’s possible and what’s not. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen these past few years.” The man finally made an expression other than aloof stoicism, replaced with annoyance as he rolled his eye. He turned towards Karin and dropped his cigarette on the ground, putting it out with his foot.

“I’ve covered wars too, you know ,” He sardonically parroted her words back at her, “All men and women for the past decade or two have covered wars. What’s your point again? I might not be one to talk about the predicament we’ve found ourselves in, but I’ve seen my fair share of hallucinogens as a doctor. I can tell from first-hand experience that there are no known chemicals that create visions that vivid. Especially visions that are identical with this many people.”

Karin sighed in frustration and stuffed her hands back into the pockets of her jacket, brusquely turning away from the man. Everyone else was silent. The tension between the two was almost palpable; it could be cut with a knife. Marina just seemed to be annoyed, simply tuning them out as she idly twisted a wood carving knife in her hands. You were listening to the two intently.

“I take it we’re done here?” Karin said, “As much as I’d like it, I don’t have time to play happy campers with you people. I have a job to do. Which way is the city?” The man was silent for a few moments before deciding to answer her.

“Look, up there over the forest top…” He said, pointing towards the skyline of Prehevil, which was dominated by the presence of the colossal Moon Tower above all the other buildings, “Can you see the tower standing erect in the mist? The tower marks the center of Prehevil. You can hike through the forest to get there. It’s not that far away.” Karin nods in response, though noticeably begrudgingly.

“Alright then. If I see anyone, I’ll let them know you guys are waiting here.” The eyepatched man gave her a sardonic smirk as he lit another cigarette.

“Well, have fun finding a scoop from that sleepy town. You know where to find us if anything comes up.” Karin only glared at him in response before marching away, around the train and eventually disappearing into the fog. Even with her gone, the tense atmosphere hadn’t gone away. The man went right back to aloofly staring off into the distance with his arms crossed as he smoked his cigarette. 

“So…” Marina began, “What’re you going to do?” She asked him, likely just in an attempt to break the ice. He shrugged, not turning to look at her. 

“Wait here I guess. I’m not in a hurry.” He said. Marina hummed in response. Her attempt to prevent a heavy silence from falling over the group had failed. No one seemed to know what to say. Only the sounds of clanging metal coming from the red headed woman's workings on the train could be heard. Fittingly, it was her that eventually broke the silence. She rose from her crouching position, wrench in hand as she approached the group.

“Bad news,” She began with a heavy northern accent, “Something's not right with the engine.” Henryk scoffed.

“Well we could've guessed that.” He said mockingly.

“No, I mean there isn't anything obviously wrong with it. It isn't broken, it simply won't start.”

Chapter Text

“Won't start? What do you mean?” Marina said, her tone a mix of exasperation and inquisitiveness.

“I don't know!” The red haired woman said, frustration clear on her face. She stuck her free hand in the pocket of her yellow overalls. “I did everything I could, I really did, but nothing worked! It might not be a problem with the engine itself? Maybe if I had some spare parts I could try a thing or two…” The woman began mumbling to herself thoughtfully, forgetting that she was in the middle of a conversation. Understandable, given the pressure she seemed to be under.

Then, she saw you, and her worried face lit up into a friendly grin.

“Oh! You're awake too. You were the last one off the train, ja? What's your name?” She asked as she hopped down from the metal platform of the steam engine. You fumbled to answer for a moment.

“P-Persephone.” You croaked out, fiddling with the cloth of your cloak. The woman seemed to take note of your anxiety and the cheerfulness of her voice lowered to a more caressing timbre.

“Well… I'm Abella. Nice to meet you, and good morning.” She said with a comforting smile, to which you returned with your own hesitant one. Her gentleness reminded you of your mother. Nothing else did though. Where mother was lithe, the red headed woman in front of you had the frame of someone who’d seen years worth of physical labor. The sleeveless overalls and tank top she wore certainly didn’t leave much of her build to the imagination. Her muscles almost rivaled the man in the green jacket below her. 

The man in the eyepatch dropped his cigarette butt on the ground and squashed it underneath his weathered dress shoe. You started to become concerned for the man's poor lungs with how quickly he seemed to burn through cigarettes.

“I guess that means we're stuck here until help comes, then.” He said, “It's Daan, by the way. My name. Almost forgot to mention that.” Daan chuckles, but there's not any real humor in it. Just noise to fill the unbearable silence.

“Damn. I was ready to just call you ‘patches’ in my head. I liked that better.” Marina said, but the snicker that follows is far more genuine and lighthearted than Daan's low chuckle. 

“Sorry to disappoint.” He responded blandly. The group once again fell silent. Except for O’saa, who had begun humming in addition to his lotus pose, presumably as a part of his meditation. The air was still tense, but now more so from stress, the lack of certainty, and a sense of foreboding. You were worried, admittedly. The mysterious fog was thick and impossible to see through, everyone except you had some strange dream- minus your frequent nightmares- and now the train had broken down without a discernible cause. Maybe you should just head to Prehevil on foot. If the tower was anything to go by, it wasn't too far away. 

The sound of the train door swinging open broke the silence before it could settle in. It was Tanaka, the man in the suit.

“Oh, it's the businessman! Hello!” Olivia said with a wave. Tanaka seemed shocked that someone had noticed his arrival, but quickly composed himself. He tipped his hat to the lady in the grass, giving her a polite smile.

“Hello there. Has any progress been made?” He directed the question towards Abella, who frowned and shook her head.

“Nej. Still completely in the dark about what's wrong with this thing.” Abella sighed, and Tanaka held back one of his own.

“Ah... How unfortunate,” He said, checking his watch before mumbling to himself, “I suppose there's no point now…” Tanaka stepped off the final stair and adjusted his tie.

“Since there's nothing that can be done, my recommendation would be to just stay here at the train and wait for help. But if you want to go to the city on foot, I won't stop you.” He said. Mostly everyone nodded or otherwise vocalized their agreement, with the exception of the quiet, muscular man who had yet be introduced, O'saa who seemed to not care about what was happening, and August who looked to be lost in thought.

“I'm going to head there myself to see if I can buy some parts from the locals. You know, for the train.” Abella said, latching her wrench to a ring on her overalls and putting her hands in its pockets. Daan nodded at her. With that, the conversation seemed to come to an end. The group dispersed, and a few of the passengers started to talk to one another, but most just kept to themselves. Abella had clambered back onto the metal platform and began gathering her things and neatly organizing them in a red toolbox. Glancing over, you noticed Henryk’s eyes lingering on Abella in a place far from appropriate… You would hit him yourself for Abella’s sake were you not so avoidant of confrontation.

“Would you look at that behind…” He said a bit too loud for someone trying to be subtle. Abella threw her head in his direction and scoffed, and you noticed how she almost instinctively reached for her wrench, but stopped herself.

“Are you dead serious!?” She yelled, causing Henryk to flinch at the realization that he'd been caught, “Morrapuler! If you keep that up, I’ll come up with a better use for this wrench!” This time she actually unhooked the wrench from her overalls, pointing at Henryk with it. “How about you go make yourself useful instead of lazing about? Far away from me, preferably.” Henryk made a half-scoff, half-laugh at her statement.

“Maybe I’ll do just that,” He said with an insecure smirk thinly-veiled as confidence, “Just wait and see, Ginger. If you’ll excuse me.” Henryk suddenly began stomping off away from the train, presumably towards the city. To do what, only the Gods knew.

“Ja, ja, go make me proud.” Abella said, watching him march away into the tree line, “... Fitte. ” She added under her breath. Abella made her own way towards Prehevil not long after her altercation with Henryk. Over the next half hour, a few departed to make the trek to Prehevil while others stayed in or around the train. You didn't even see O'saa leave, he simply disappeared. He was there one moment and gone the next. You elected to stay at the train yourself, though you pondered on eventually seeing if you could make it to the city as well. 

It must have been around noon now. You sat in the leather seat with your legs pulled close to your chest, your arms wrapped around them. Tanaka sat next to you with his legs primly crossed while Marina was in front of you carving... something... on the wooden floor of the train. It looked to be a ritual circle, but it was too early to tell, and you didn't have the courage to ask. You watched Tanaka fill out the squares of his crossword puzzle with impressive speed, and he didn’t seem to mind letting you watch. Half of it was already finished, reading ‘morning has gold... ’ It looked to be torn from some old newspaper, but it didn’t appear to be a local one. 

In the car to your left, Olivia and the man in the green jacket, who curtly introduced himself as Marcoh, sat in an uncomfortable silence. You had to awkwardly watch Marcoh bridal carry Olivia into the train after she reluctantly revealed to you that she was paraplegic and that someone had stolen her wheelchair, which thoroughly perplexed you. What could someone possibly have to gain from stealing some poor paraplegic woman’s wheelchair? Why? You’d be angry for her if the reasons for doing such a thing weren’t so confusing. In any case, Olivia attempted to strike up a conversation with Marcoh, but was met only with one word answers and forced sentences. Eventually she got the hint that he wasn’t interested in talking.

Eventually your suspicions on Marina’s carving were confirmed when she proudly announced her completion of the ritual circle.

“And that’s that. Now all I need is a piece of chalk… which- damn it- I forgot! Do either of you have any chalk?” Her question was asked with notable insecurity. She was well aware of how unlikely it was that either of you would say yes. You stared blankly at her while Tanaka shook his head.

“I do not. My apologies…” He said sympathetically. Marina huffed as she got up from the floor.

“Well great, that was all for nothing.” She said plainly, “It was mostly just to kill time anyways, I guess. Oh well…” Marina began to pace around the room. “I knew I should’ve brought a book to read.” You were both of the same mind on that. Ignoring the inexplicable feeling of dread that ate away at you from the inside, the boredom you felt was almost painful.

“Hey,” Marina said, and you took a moment to realize it was you she was speaking to, “You really didn’t have that weird moon dream, huh?” She asked. You shook your head in response. Marina hummed and sat on the floor next to you. “I can’t stop thinking about it, or what it means I guess.” Marina began talking about her thoughts on the dream. She recounted how she was almost killed by a ugly naked man, followed a girl in a pink dress into some strange wooden labyrinth, and spoke to a man in a weird pointy hat. Personally, that just sounded like a normal dream so far. Or... maybe that's just you. Who knows. She recounted her interaction with the man in the pointy hat, who introduced himself as "Per'kele" and said that all 15 of the train's passengers were now part of some kind of festival. Not only that, but we all had to kill each other until only one remained.

"That... sounds insane." You said. Marina just laughed and tiredly rubbed her eyes with her thumb and pointer finger. 

"Yeah, it does. At first I thought it was bullshit, but... everyone had it, y'know? Well, except you, I guess." She was right. Whether or not the dream was important was a dumb question to ask at this point. 14 people having the exact same dream at the exact same time would be an impossible coincidence. Something was absolutely going on, but for some reason you were... excluded. You certainly had strange nightmares of your own, and they always felt like they had some kind of meaning. Was this dream everyone had tied to your own nightmares? If not, then why didn't you have that dream too? 

Movement from beside you jolted you from your thoughts. Tanaka slid the crossword puzzle into his briefcase before standing up from his seat.

“I don’t see much reason in staying here any longer,” He said, “I have some business in the city to attend to.”

“Really? We might see each other there. I got some stuff I need to do too, but…” Marina said, scratching the side of her head, “It'll probably be a while before then.” She seemed almost… sad. A little bit afraid too. What kind of "stuff” did she need to do? Nonetheless, Tanaka nodded before making his way to the door. 

As you watched him, you wondered if now would be the time for you to get going as well. It didn't seem like help was coming any time soon, and although you didn't like company, traveling alone was even less favorable. Making up your mind, you spoke up and got Tanaka's attention.

“W-wait, uh…” You were already a stuttering mess, “Could I… come with you?” Tanaka seemed surprised at your request, as well as the fact that you spoke. For a moment he studied you cautiously with a blank face. Maybe he wasn't one for company either. He was polite and kind, sure, but he didn't seem like the social type.

“I… suppose I don't see why not,” He said, tugging at his tie, “Having a traveling companion to sightsee the local fauna with on the way could be nice.” Tanaka beckoned you to him with a thin, polite smile. You rose from your seat and walked towards him.

“See ya! I'll tell Olivia and Marcoh that you left.” Marina said. You turned and waved at her shyly as you followed Tanaka out the door, once again hit with the smell of wet grass. 

The fog hadn't cleared even a bit. If anything, it may have gotten thicker. Tanaka observed the surrounding trees as he stepped down from the stairs and onto the ground. His fingers twisting anxiously around the handle of his briefcase. You couldn't hold it against him, doing so would make you a hypocrite with the strange sense of dread that continued to grow within your own chest. 

You turned to watch the train disappear into the mist as you walked further and further away from it, and eventually you were far away enough that you could no longer see it. The forest around you was imposing. Even though you knew the trees weren't sentient, you felt a malicious aura around them. 

“Ah, buildings!” Tanaka suddenly said. Focusing your gaze to see what he was looking at, you realized that he was right. There were buildings… Well if you could call them that. As you got closer, the structures in question appeared to be more along the lines of abandoned shacks. Observing your surroundings, you saw that the wood was rotting, and half of the roof on one of them was caved in. Grass was invading the ground where a dirt path once seemed to be. A few barrels, some knocked over, were scattered around the area. 

“Hm… I don't think we'll find anyone here.” Tanaka said uncomfortably, adjusting his tie, which you now recognize as a gesture for calming his nerves. It didn't take a genius to put together that the only things living in these rundown shacks were ghosts and rodents. As you and Tanaka began to walk away and further along the path, you thought that it was strange that they hadn't been demolished yet. Why would the city just leave them here to rot?

Shaking those thoughts from your head, you continued following Tanaka. You looked up at the tower that rose above the fog and into the sky. Without a map, this was your only guide. Though there had been maps on the train, everyone took them for their own journeys before you could. The tower would do for now, though.

“All of this fog… I can hardly see where I'm going.” Tanaka mumbled. He kept at an even, measured pace, cautious but calculated in every step he took. You were seeing a lot of things in people that reminded you of your mother lately… but maybe that was just your grief flaring, forcing you to remember that she's gone at every turn. You stopped that line of thought when you noticed that you'd fallen behind Tanaka, and lightly jogged to catch up to him.

Tanaka glanced at you with slightly furrowed brows every now and then, like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure what. You avoided his gaze every time. 

“So,” He finally said, attempting to break the ice, “What brings a young lady like yourself to Prehevil? Visiting family?” Family… If you had any in Prehevil, however unlikely that would be, you wouldn't know them. You hummed in thought, trying to come up with an answer that didn't relay too much information.

“No. Just… looking for something, I guess. I'm from here.” You said, not knowing if you were even loud enough to be heard. Tanaka gave an uncertain ‘ah’ at your ambiguous answer, recognizing your hesitation to elaborate further. 

“I wouldn't have taken you for a local. You don't look very… Bohemian, to be frank.” He said, choosing his words carefully as to avoid offending you in any way. You couldn't say he didn't have a point. Although you were born here, you clearly weren't Bohemian by blood, and nor was your mother. She never told you where exactly she was from, so ‘not Bohemian’ was all you could say in terms of your ethnicity. Some of your physical features were predominantly Rondonian, while others were Bremen. All those years of living in Voroniya also had affected your accent and behaviors. You felt like some strange, mysterious concoction of everything.

Your identity was confusing and hard to decipher. Some sleepless nights you would wonder if you even had an identity at all, or if you were just a shell of a person that was never supposed to exist in the first place. You felt so disconnected from the world around you and the people within it, like an extra puzzle piece that mistakenly found its way into the box and had no place in the finished product. The concept of “belonging” was foreign to you, it always had been. When your mother was there, she filled the void and gave you all the love she could give in spite of the circumstances. But your mother was all you had, and now she was gone. 

You felt a hand on your shoulder. Startled, you almost leapt into the air.

“Ah- sorry, sorry!” It was Tanaka, who quickly pulled his hand away, “I didn't mean to frighten you. It's just… are you alright? You seem perturbed.” He said. Rubbing the shoulder where his hand had been, you curtly nodded and looked down at the ground.

“I'm fine.” You weren't, but you didn't want to spill all of your existential woes out in front of a stranger you barely knew. Tanaka's concern didn't seem to dissipate, clearly not buying your attempt to shrug him off.

“If it was my comment, I apologize. It wasn't my intention to upset you.” Tanaka looked like he was trying to refrain from putting his hand on your shoulder again, so it instead just hovered awkwardly in the air. You were quiet, mind blank as you tried to force out words.

“It… wasn't you. Don't worry about me. Please.” The last thing you wanted was somebody doting on you, especially when there are more important things to be worrying about. “...Let's just go.” You marched away from Tanaka and further down the path. You weren't looking at him, but you could feel his worried eyes on you as he watched you walk away. Eventually you heard Tanaka's footsteps following behind you.

And so, your journey continued.

Soon after, you came across a forked path in the road, the right leading further towards the city, and the other leading to the outline of a small building in the mist. Although you thought the right path was the obvious one, Tanaka stopped you before you began to the right.

“Wait. Do you see that?” He asked, his voice a low, shaky whisper as he pointed to the silhouette of the building ahead. You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah… the building.” You said simply. Tanaka shook his head and beckoned you to follow him, and you did so cautiously. As you both approached the building, which now looked to be a shack not too dissimilar from the ones before, you noticed what looked to be a man sloped against the wall. 

“W-What is that…?” Mumbled Tanaka.

No. Not a man. A corpse.

“What on earth is going on!?”

Two corpses. A man and a woman. 

The man's leg and arm were hacked off. Splatters of dark red littered the wooden wall of the shack and the grass around him. The woman was pinned to the side of the shack by two sharp metal bars impaled into her torso, blood staining her white dress and dripping to the ground.

You wanted to scream, throw up, run away, and faint all once. But you didn't. You did nothing. You couldn't move.

“They're d-dead…” Tanaka whispered. At least you think he did. You were completely disassociated from reality. Your senses of sound, sight, and smell were all blocked off. Their blood, gore, and lifeless eyes were all you could see.

Eyes.

Their eyes were wrong. Their faces were all wrong. Deformed.

The man barely had a left eye while the right was practically at a vertical angle, his oversized nose took up most of the space on the front of his head, and his mouth was on his chin. The woman was no better. Her jaw hung open unnaturally wide, and her eyes were absurdly asymmetrical. It looked like the wrapped cloth around her head was grafted onto it, stuck there. 

Were these people even human...?

Chapter Text

“W-what do we do? Do we contact the local police…?” Tanaka said anxiously. You doubted he was asking you specifically, more or less just talking to himself. It's not like you had any clue where to go from here, anyways. You couldn't stop staring at the two corpses in spite of how the voice in the back of your mind screamed at you to look away. Horror, morbid fascination, whatever it was, it wouldn't let you tear your eyes from the scene. 

Whatever happened here, it was more than just murder or a simple wildlife attack. This was an act of sadistic brutality. The man's severed arm and leg lie mangled next to his corpse. They weren't just cut off, they were ripped from his body. He likely just bled to death after that. With that, you'd assume it was an animal of some sort, but what kind of animal would pin a woman to a wall with metal spikes? Hopefully she passed quicker than the poor man below her did, but it was impossible to know. 

No, a person did this, and whoever did it took pleasure in the act. 

Their nature was a mystery too. Their monstrously contorted faces could be some kind of deformity, but they were far too misshapen to be simple birth defects. The boils and burns on their skin suggest that it may have been the result of an injury of some kind, but again, you couldn't be sure. But regardless of who or what they were, surely they didn't deserve such a brutal fate…

Tanaka cleared his throat, getting your attention pulling you away from the massacre.

“We… we should go. We'll report this to the proper authorities once we reach the city.” He said, taking off his hat and respectfully placing it against his chest as he glanced at the bodies. You gave him a despondent nod, and Tanaka began walking back towards the path, placing his hat back on his head. Giving the corpses one last look, you followed behind him.

The silence was heavy once you both passed by the fork in the road you came across earlier, this time heading down the path on the right. There was a heavy silence between you and Tanaka. Though you'd left the bloody scene behind, you could still see it in vivid detail in the back of your eyelids each time you blinked. And the smell… the putrid smell of iron that you will surely never forget… 

You couldn't stop thinking about who would do such a thing, and why they did it. A vendetta? Malicious desire? Pure insanity? Maybe it didn't matter why. All you knew is that no human being in their right mind would do something so heinous. Suddenly, Tanaka stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at you. For a moment, he just looked at you with sad eyes.

“I’m… so sorry you had to see that,” He finally said, “Nobody at your young age should have to see such a horrible thing.” Tanaka, in spite of how clearly shaken he himself was, did his best to console you. You didn't know how to respond to him. The shock from what you'd just seen still lingered, and combined with you being so unused to kindness, you hadn't a single idea how to reciprocate his comforting words.

“Try to think about something else, maybe? Something that makes you happy.” Tanaka said, placing his free hand on your shoulder. You avoided his eyes, looking down at his polished brown dress shoes. Attempting to take his advice, you tried to focus on thinking about all the things you enjoyed doing, all the nicest memories that you had.

“Something that makes me happy…” You mumbled.

The small space beneath the floorboards of your home had become a familiar environment. Though the dirty gray carpet your mother placed down here kept your bottom from being pricked by the rocky ground below you, it still felt rough and uncomfortable. Whenever soldiers marched through the streets looking for recruits or the inspection officers came knocking on your door, your mother would rush you down to the hidden room below the floorboards and keep you there until it was safe again. You were used to the process enough that she could trust you to do it yourself at this point. You'd like to think that all those years of watching and listening for soldiers is how you developed your attuned ability to observe your surroundings.

The last time you'd even been outside was when you first arrived in Voroniya. Since then, your mother never allowed you outdoors for fear of being caught. When you arrived two years ago, you didn't have to hide so frequently. The war was in its early stages then, so the Eastern Union government wasn't so greedy for manpower. Eventually though, they began taking younger and younger children for the army as the war escalated and the situation became more desperate. The inspections and army recruitment drives became almost daily. You started spending more time in the hidden room than without. The only person you ever interacted with was your mother.

Taptaptap… tap tap…

Speaking of whom, she was home. The knocks wrapped against the floorboards in a familiar rhythm, the one which you'd both decided to signal when she had come back home from work. You pushed yourself off the ground and to your feet before making your way over to the loose floorboard above you. You pushed against it and moved it to the side, revealing your mother staring down at you, a soft smile on her face and warmth in her eyes.

“Hello, little one. Do you have everything you need? I know I was gone for some time today, I'm sorry for that…” She said, reaching down to stroke your blonde hair. You shrugged. A bath would be nice. All the dust and grime down there had started to stick to your skin. But you knew you'd have to wait a little longer before you could come out.

“...It's cold.” You croaked. Your mother hummed and looked to her left, presumably out the nearby window.

“It is quite chilly out. It is that time of year, after all.” She said, placing her thumb and pointer finger on her chin in thought. Then, she lit up. You could practically see the lightbulb above her head.

“Ah! Wait here just a moment, I have an idea.” Then, she left your line of sight. You could hear her open a nearby door and start rummaging through things, mostly cloth and cardboard from the sound of it. She was back in no time, something yellow in her hand.

“Here, this should help you keep warm.” She handed it to you, and you quickly realized that it was a yellow hooded cloak. It was cottony and soft as you took it into your hands. On the back was a symbol you immediately recognized sewn onto it. Reminiscent of two of the Rondonian letter M stacked on top of eachother, it was the symbol of Fear and Hunger, worn only by followers of the God of Fear and Hunger. But… your mother worshiped Alll-mer. Why did she have this?

“I've wanted you to have that for some time now, but there was always something distracting me from bringing up the subject.” She said, still eyeing the yellow cloak as you draped it around your shoulders. Nearly reaching as far down as your knees, it must've been about two sizes too large for your adolescent body. However, it provided you with a comfortable shield from the cold air. You looked back up at your mother. Strangely… she had a solemn look on her face. Your mother leaned down to place a kiss on the top of your head, stroking your hair once more as she did so. 

“This world is so cruel to you, Persephone. Not an ounce of compassion and love your way, and all due to events not of your choosing…” She said, “One day, my dear, you'll have more than this. You'll be more than this. That I promise you.” You didn't know why, but the both of you were crying. Tears ran down your cheeks and you couldn't stop them. They weren't tears of sadness or joy, just tears.

“But… Why is everything so unfair now?” You forced the words out. If things would get better, why later and not sooner? Why did the world seek to punish you when you’d done nothing deserving of punishment? Why must you suffer? Your mother was silent for a moment. She anxiously fidgeted with the Alll-mer cross pendant around her neck, as if she were trying to figure out a way to explain things to you without really explaining anything to you.

“It is not in the nature of this world to be kind,” She began, “It is hateful, bitter, and merciless. It propels the strong to the greatest heights, but abandons the weak and leaves them to die. This is why the strong must protect the weak, Persephone. Because eventually, they can be inspired to become strong too.” Your mother grasped the cross pendant on her necklace as her face became solemn once more, “This, I once misunderstood. It is not the duty of the strong to dominate the weak… but to protect and uplift them, so that one day they can stand side by side as equals. That is the duty of the strong.

“But the journey towards strength is perilous. To stand up and establish yourself as something greater than what you were told to be, you must suffer. It is unfair, but it is unavoidable. This is why I choose to love and protect you, Persephone, so that one day you can become strong too, and protect the people you love. After all, my dear, you were born with the Shepherding soul for a reason.”

Just like everything else, your mother never elaborated on why she had the cloak, nor did she explain where it came from. Nonetheless, you kept it. Although you didn't understand much of it when you were younger, you never forgot what your mother told you. But you doubted your ability to “become strong” as your mother said. You were a fragile girl, physically and mentally. How could strength ever rise within you? Still, it remained one of your happiest memories. Feeling calmed down, you took a deep breath, in and out. Tanaka was watching you carefully. 

“Are you feeling better?” He asked, attempting to soften his voice but still noticeably anxious. You nodded, not looking up at him. “Alright… good, that's good…” He said, removing his hand from your shoulder. Adjusting his tie, he looked to his left at the path that lay ahead, then back at you questioningly. You sighed, but nodded, ready to move forward. 

The fog seemed to only become thicker as you both continued down the gravel path. It seeped in from the forest as if it were generating it with the malicious intention of making it harder for you to see. Eventually, the path began to widen as the forest opened into a wide grassy area. In the plain, the silhouette of what looked like a large house emerged from the mist as you approached. You breathed a sigh of relief. Surely someone lived here. Then again, given the nature of Prehevillian citizenry, you doubted they would invite you inside for a cup of tea. Still, it would be nice to see some kind of a sign of present civilization, especially after what you just saw.

“Oh! Look,” Tanaka said with a nudge to your arm before pointing towards something, “A man! We can ask him for help.” Looking closer, you could indeed see the outline of a figure in the mist. He wasn't facing you, but you could see that he had an average height and build. Tanaka began yelling and waving at the man as you both approached him.

“S-sir! Sir, excuse me!” Tanaka yelled, trying to get the man's attention. The man didn't so much as twitch, still just standing there doing nothing. A bad feeling began to sink into your gut. When you finally got close enough to see him through the fog, you immediately felt that something was off about him. His white jumpsuit was dirty with all kinds of colors, primarily red, black, and brown. The man's posture was hunched, his arms hanging loosely at his sides with what appeared to be a farming sickle in his right hand. Tanaka also seemed to realize that something was wrong. He'd stopped yelling, and his footsteps became quieter and more cautious as he approached. You stepped on a twig, producing a loud crunch from under your foot.

Then the man turned around.

Deformed. His face was hideously deformed, just like the two corpses from before. His jaw was incredibly thin and rectangular, and his mouth was small and lopsided to the left. His right eye was swollen, taking up most of the space on his face's right side, while the left side of his face seemed to… stretch a contort around his misshapen skull. His left eye sunk deep into its socket, practically an inch behind where it should've been. 

But unlike before, this man was alive . Alive, and ready to kill. He raised his sickle in the air as he began to shamble towards you. You took an instinctive step backwards, only for you to trip on a rock and fall onto your back. Tanaka gasped when he saw you fall, and was obviously torn between saving you and running away from the disfigured man.

However, he didn't need to make the choice, as blood suddenly burst from your would-be attacker's head. In your shock and confusion, you barely noticed the tall, imposing figure behind him, as well as the arm that swung a large ax into the disfigured man's head. He fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, but he wasn't dead yet. The tall figure ripped the ax from his head, and swung down once more. Again and again, it was brutal. You watched in horror as the tall figure hacked the disfigured man to pieces, first his arm, and then his head. One by one, his limbs were severed from his body as gallons of blood stained the ax, the figure, and the grass around him.

Finally, the figure stopped. But that was long after the man had already stopped moving. Now that they were still, you inspected the figure closer. It was a tall, burly, bearded man in a trench coat. He was coated from head to toe in blood, some new and wet, and some old and dried. His face was disfigured like the man he just mutilated, but not to the same degree. It was gruff and intimidating, his brow pronounced and his nose large. There was a silent rage in his eyes. Looking down at his lower body, you realized that… He was naked. Very naked, he wore absolutely nothing underneath his coat. You would have wrinkled your nose in disgust were you not thoroughly horrified by the strange, almost alien appendage attached between his legs. He huffed and breathed deeply from the physically taxing and bloody act he'd just committed. Raising his ax into the air, pointing it towards the sky, he yelled...

“ TERMINA IS UPON US! ”

His deep, gravelly voice must have boomed and echoed across the entire forest. He turned to you and Tanaka, and began to approach ominously, with nothing motivating him other than the thoughtless desire to slaughter. You were paralyzed by sheer, primal fear.

"No! Please, stop!" You begged, forcing yourself to step backwards away from him. However, your words were in vain. He is clearly out for blood.

The woodsman stands tall before you!

Tanaka moved quickly, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you to your feet. He yelled something at you, but you were too panicked to focus on his words. Nonetheless, you understood what he was telling you to do.

Run .

And you did, you ran. On instinct you beelined towards the large house, narrowly avoiding a swing from the Woodsman’s ax. Turning to see if Tanaka was following behind, you saw that the Woodsman was now standing still… and the appendage on his crotch was missing. Just then, you felt something against your leg. And when you looked down, there it was. Like an abominable hate-child of a snake and a spider, it slithered up your skirt, making its way to your face. Screaming, you tried to swat it off, but to no avail. Just as it made it as far as your neck, Tanaka appeared next to you and grabbed the creature with both hands, a disgusted look on his face as he did so. He ripped it off of you and quickly threw it into the fog. Grabbing you by the wrist, he pulled you towards the large house.

Practically bursting through the door, you made it inside, with Tanaka entering after you and slamming the door behind him. After looking around the room for a panicked moment, he grabbed a nearby chair and placed it against the door, rendering it unable to be opened from the outside. You watched as the sound of the Woodsman grunting and slamming against the door rang through the house. Tanaka was breathing heavily.

“That ax… I find it unlikely that he won't think to make use of it on that door.” He said grimly. You realized that he was unfortunately right. It was only a matter of time until he attempted to break it down. Not only that, but you were sitting ducks in there. Tanaka urged you into another room, and you followed him without question. Hiding behind a nearby wall, you both waited with bated breaths for the Woodsman to inevitably barge in. The slamming of the door grew louder and louder, until eventually…

…It stopped. Silence. You and Tanaka shared a look, and he peeked around the wall, raising his arm in front of you protectively. 

“He's… he's gone…” Tanaka said, his voice trembling. Although you were relieved, it could easily be a deception tactic. You doubted that he would simply give up because of a barricaded door. Looking at Tanaka, you realized that the sleeve of his suit jacket was torn, and blood trickled down his hand as he clutched his arm. He was injured. Noticing that you'd seen his wound, he plastered a nervous smile on his face in an attempt to alleviate your concern.

“Ah, i-it's nothing. Just nicked my skin… nothing to worry about.” He said. From the looks of it, he nicked more than his skin, and it was most definitely something to worry about. Tanaka winced from pain and slid to the floor, leaning against the wall. You crouched beside him, and you felt like you were hyperventilating. His right arm was drenched in his own blood, and his sleeve was stained a dark red. Tanaka looked like he was trying to maintain his composure despite the blood loss as he scanned the kitchen. Suddenly, he seemed to have an idea. He turned to you.

“I-I need you to find something for me…” He began, and you listened intently, “Cloth… A rag, something I can use as a bandage. I feel too dizzy to search myself…” You nodded, trying to stay focused and stop yourself from crumbling under the pressure. You rose to your feet and began searching around the kitchen. If any room was most likely to have a rag of some kind, it had to be the kitchen. You frantically pulled out each drawer one by one, rummaged through all the cabinets and cupboards until finally, you found a long towel below the sink, just the size you needed. You grabbed the towel and immediately rushed back to Tanaka, whose skin was starting to grow pale. 

When you showed him the towel, he removed his arm from his jacket and rolled up his sleeve, reveally a wide, nasty gash just below his shoulder. He raised his injured arm to you in an affirmative gesture. You'd never done something like this before, but that didn't matter right now. Acting quickly was imperative. He winced as you began wrapping the cloth around his arm, covering the wound. You ensured that the faux bandage was as tight as possible, tying a knot when you finally finished. Tanaka sighed in relief when you stopped, but still held his hand where his injury was.

“Thank you… I believe you've just saved my life…” He said, breathing heavily. You felt a hint of pride that you'd managed to help Tanaka. Though he still seemed a bit woozy from the blood loss. Sitting on your knees, you did not have the will to care about dirtying your dress any further at this point. You gestured to his legs and gave him a questioning gaze, he studied you for a few moments to decipher what you were asking of him

“Oh, yes… I can stand. I just need a moment, that's all.” He said before grunting from the pain in his arm. You observed him with a worried expression. It hurt seeing him in such a state, especially when he'd been so kind to you. Tanaka noticed your concern and gave you a thin smile. The both of you decided to rest there for a short while and plan out how to try and escape the Woodsman. After all, the likelihood that he was just waiting for you out there was high. Tanaka suggested that you attempt to break one of the glass windows and escape through there, but they were far too small for either of you to fit through. Eventually, you both began searching the house for some kind of back entrance, but came up with nothing. Although you found an ominously chained up door near the stairs to the second floor, you lacked the keys for them.

Eventually, it was clear that the only way out was back through the way you came. The front door. You peaked out a window at the front lawn, surveying the area. There was no sign of the Woodsman, aside from the mutilated corpse of the man he killed earlier lying fresh in the grass. The sight nearly made you gag. Sure, the man attacked you first, but… to see someone be murdered in such a barbaric way… you shook those thoughts from your mind and focused on locating the brutish man who'd killed him. Yet, he simply wasn’t there. Maybe he lost interest and left? There wasn't any way to be sure.

You couldn't stop thinking about that… thing that came off of him. It was certainly a part of his phallic organ in some way, but it also seemed to be its own independent creature. It was disturbing, to say the least. What was it trying to do? A part of you was thankful you didn't have to find out.

“All clear?” Tanaka asked. You turned and gave him a half-nod, half-shrug. 

“Dunno… he's not there…” You said. Tanaka hummed and peaked through the window himself. After scanning the area, he seemed to have come to a conclusion.

“I believe we should go while we have a chance. If he is simply attempting to deceive us, we have no choice but to take that risk.” He said, making his way over to the front door and moving the chair out of the way. He placed his hand on the door knob before turning to look at you. You nodded, and he opened the door and peeked out. He gestured to you to follow him. As you both made it out the door, you were shaking with fear. Although you didn't see him anywhere, that didn't say much with the fog keeping you from seeing beyond just ten feet. Tanaka stopped in the grass, noticing something at his feet. He made a noise of triumph when he reached down to pick it up, and you saw that it was his briefcase. It was a tad bloody, but Tanaka didn't seem to care. He turned to you.

“To the right. I believe I saw the path continuing that way…” He said as he began making his way in that direction. You followed him cautiously, still afraid that an ax could swing down and behead you at any moment. Passing by the corpse of the disfigured man, you tried not to look at him. Eventually, you and Tanaka came across the gravel path that he mentioned, and began lightly jogging to get as far away from the house as possible. You finally started to calm down, deciding that the Woodsman had simply lost interest in the both of you. However, you still thought about the events of the last hour. What in the name of the Gods was going on? You hoped that things would be safer in the city and you'd eventually be able to find what you're looking for. Tanaka also seemed to be incredibly shaken, but the determined look on his face said that he was trying to power through the fear. In any case, you returned to your journey to Prehevil.

As you continued along the path, you started to feel uneasy. Of course, you felt plenty uneasy before, but now it wasn't just the trauma and fear. You distinctly felt like you were being watched. Every once in a while, you swear you heard footsteps, the crunching of leaves, and the crack of a tree branch. The more you tried to ignore it, blaming it on paranoia, the more it forced itself to the forefront of your mind. But when you saw the shadow of a figure move from one tree to another, you couldn't deny it anymore. 

Someone was following you.

Tanaka didn't seem to notice anything beyond your present agitation, giving you worried, questioning glances. Waving him off, you decided to try and look as unaware as possible. Panicking would only make it obvious that you knew you were being followed, which had a 50/50 chance of either causing your pursuer to back off, or turn it into a chase. With your legs, that wasn't a risk you were willing to take. After p assing by a dead horse, which Tanaka stopped to momentarily stare at, you came across a forked path.

“Oh…” Tanaka sighed. While usually you would just choose the path that the tower was closest to, this time the tower happened to be exactly in the center. You and Tanaka shared questioning looks, and you shrugged when he raised an eyebrow at you.

“We could simply split up, but that means one of us would likely get lost…” Tanaka said, “But on the other hand, if we both walk the same path, we might both get lost.” You hummed in response. Tanaka placed his free hand on his hip and switched his gaze from one path to the other. Sighing, you decided to just start walking down the path on the left. Decisions like these were best treated like ripping off a bandaid. If you just stood and thought about your options despite having no way of knowing what lies ahead, you'd never get anywhere. Seeing your sudden departure, Tanaka quickly caught up to you. 

“This way, I suppose…” He said cautiously. As you continued walking, you saw what looked to be a military truck coming into your field of view, and a gate right behind it. You stopped in your tracks and looked up and down the gate, seeing no way through. Well, so much for that. It was a dead end. But when you looked at the ground right next to the truck, you saw what appeared to be a hatch of some sort. Tanaka approached it first, peering through the glass window on top of it.

“It's dark. I can't see anything…” He said. When you looked into it yourself, you saw he was right. It was pitch black down there, though whether it was a result of the glass itself or the poor lighting was unknown. You and Tanaka stood staring at the hatch for a moment until you heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the way you came. Agitated, you flipped around to see who- or what- it was.

It was Abella, the red headed mechanic lady from the train!

“Oh, it's you two!” She yelled, picking up the pace into a slight jog. Abella seemed genuinely relieved to see you and Tanaka, or perhaps just another human face in general. If she'd also seen what you have, you understood why. She immediately noticed Tanaka’s bloody bandaged arm, but didn't seem surprised.

“Looks like you've met the locals, eh? They're not the nicest of people, it turns out.” Abella said. Tanaka chuckled nervously, putting his hand on the bandaged wound the Woodsman had given him.

“Yes, we've noticed.” He said before asking Abella a question, “What exactly is going on? Surely the entire city isn't like this…” Abella sighed and shook her head.

“I wouldn't know about the city itself, but the old village outside of it is a nightmare! The people there attacked me on sight.” She said, recounting the events of her short-lived visit to the Old Town. You knew what village she was talking about. As a child, you remember that the Old Town was where the poorest and most destitute of Prehevil lived. Ex-farmers bitter about losing their farms to the city, religious zealots preaching about the will of the Gods, and addicts looking to buy and sell made up the majority of the population of the Old Town. All around, the residents of the village were never the friendliest people, but they'd never outright attacked anyone before. 

“How did you manage to escape unharmed? I imagine there'd be quite a few of them.” Tanaka inquired. Abella said nothing, just patting the wrench attached to her waist with a smirk on her face. That's when you noticed the blood on her wrench and overalls.

“Their heads are softer than they look.” Abella said simply. 

Chapter Text

“Oh? What's this?” Abella asked, noticing the hatch you and Tanaka were previously inspecting.

“We're not quite sure. I was pondering on exploring a bit down there for something useful, food or weapons perhaps. It does look like it belonged to the military…” Tanaka said, looking through the window again. Abella hummed thoughtfully, obviously intrigued by the prospect of poking through an abandoned military installation. 

“Let's do it!” Abella said, “Maybe it's a safehouse of some sort. Then there's sure to be survival supplies. If not, then there's gotta be some good scrap I can use to fix the train.” Abella didn't hesitate before putting her hands on the handlebars of the hatch and pulling as hard as she could.

“Do you need any assistance-” Tanaka was cut off by Abella successfully lifting the hatch open, seemingly without even putting all of her strength into it. Tanaka's lips pressed into a thin line, visibly both impressed and a little intimidated. Abella swatted the dirt and grime off of her hands. She looked at you and gave you a questioning gaze with a smile.

“Hvad med dig? Are you coming with us? You don't have to if you don't want to, but I'm not sure you should stay out here alone.” Abella said. You looked down into the darkness of the bunker. While you wouldn't normally claim to be a nyctophobiac, the pitch blackness made you anxious. She was right, though. It would be safer with them than waiting out here like a sitting duck. Turning to look back up at Abella, you gave her a hesitant nod.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!” Abella’s enthusiasm was simultaneously contagious and suffocating. She was the first to go down, practically diving into the hatch before sliding down the ladder, not even bothering with the metal bars. Tanaka was more cautious and calculated, carefully sitting on the edge of the hatch and stepping on the first bar of the ladder, then slowly climbing down it bar by bar. He grunted and faltered every time he used his right arm. Finally, you went down the ladder yourself. Having never climbed down a ladder before, you struggled to maintain your grip on the bars. Being so skinny and lacking in muscle certainly didn't help either.

It wasn't as dark down there as you thought it would be. Dim overhead lights just barely illuminated the rusty, metallic corridors of the bunker, which extended from the left to the right down two hallways. The dust in the air made you cough, and Abella patted your back comfortingly. You waved her off with a hand to tell her you were fine.

“Looks like this place hasn't seen use in some time…” Tanaka said, running his hand over the rust of the wall. Abella shrugged.

“Eh, it depends,” Abella explained, “You can never tell with these Bremen bunkers. They're always pretty poorly maintained, and most bunkers like this can start gathering dust in just a few weeks without proper ventilation.” You weren't surprised that Abella knew so much about this kind of thing. Aside from her trying to fix the train, her rough, calloused hands and muscular build were dead giveaways that she'd been in that line of work for years. She was an experienced mechanic. What was strange is that she'd specified “these Bremen bunkers.”

“You seem to know quite a lot about this sort of business. Have you worked with the military?” Tanaka inquired. Abella’s eyes widened for a moment.

“Ah- Well… yes. Something like that.” Abella said, a mix of panic and embarrassment lacing her voice. Tanaka seemed to either not notice or pay it no mind, giving her an ‘ah’ before going back to looking around the hallway of the bunker. You remained suspicious of Abella for a moment, but decided to let it go. It wasn't any of your business anyways. The three of you began your exploration of the bunker, and eventually you started to become tired of the repetitive corridors and hallways. Abella didn't seem to have lost any of her previous enthusiasm.

“This place is fascinating, ja!?” She said, “It must have taken some time to build it. It's definitely seen recent use, but it must be quite old. Possibly predating the First Great War…” What she said made some sense. It definitely looked old enough, and if a bunker of this size was being built when you still lived in Prehevil, you surely would have noticed it when you were younger.

“I wonder what motivated the Bremen army from building this bunker in the first place…” Tanaka said.

“Well, that's assuming that it was Bremen that built it; it could have been the Eastern Union. But yes, this bunker is pretty interesting… The technology doesn't look like it would have any obvious militaristic purposes, and these tunnels are far too narrow for transporting troops…” Abella responded. You idly listened to them chat about the bunker, not entirely interested but polite enough to listen. This political stuff was all the same to you. Eventually, they did start talking about a topic that interested you.

“So, what are your thoughts on this awful situation we've found ourselves in?” Tanaka asked her. Abella thoughtfully scratched the back of her neck. 

“Eh, I don't know…” She began, “It's all pretty confusing isn't it? The dream, the “festival,” the bloody mess all around us… it's horrible. Whatever's going on, I just want it to stop.” Abella said, sighing in frustration. Tanaka nodded in agreement.

“It is truly vile. Still… I can't help but think it all has some sort of meaning. I would never claim to be a religious man or a philosopher, but that dream was clearly an evil omen. Greater powers are at play here, it's just a matter of why and to what ends.” Tanaka said, his gaze distant and deep in thought. This reminded you of something that happened earlier, after the Woodsman murdered that disfigured man.

“Earlier… W-when that man with the ax attacked us… he yelled “Termina is upon us.” Why? Does it have something to do with the… the dream?” You asked them. Considering that you were the only one who didn't have the dream, you needed to gather whatever you could about it. Missing out on what could be critical information was in no way desirable. Abella and Tanaka looked surprised that you spoke. 

“Hmm… I recall that strange man from the dream mentioning something like that. The Festival of Termina…” Tanaka said. Abella huffed, putting her hand on her hip.

“Some festival! If I woke up on the train right now and was told it was all just a horrible nightmare, I wouldn't doubt it for a second.” Abella said, becoming more frustrated as she spoke. Then, Tanaka stopped when he noticed an open door on his right.

“Oh, look! It's a locker room.” He said, peeking through the doorway and surveying the room carefully, “Perhaps we can find something useful here…” Tanaka entered the room, and you and Abella followed behind him. There wasn't anything particularly eye-catching, just scattered papers all over the floor and a few lockers tipped over. Tanaka and Abella began rummaging around, raiding the lockers and sighing when they ultimately came up with nothing. However, Tanaka was rewarded for his efforts with a pocket knife! That was something, at least.  But all in all, the locker room was practically barren.

“I guess they left in a hurry, practically tore this room apart trying to gather their things.” Abella said, looking around the aforementioned sorry excuse of a locker room before leaving through the door, “It's weird, though. Obviously Bremen had some military presence in Prehevil, so… where'd they all go?” Normally, you wouldn't care about this kind of talk, but you couldn't help but agree. It was strange. Prehevil was in chaos from what you've seen so far, why wasn't the Bremen army doing anything about it? Maybe that journalist lady's theory had some merits…

“Hmm… that reminds me,” Tanaka began, following Abella out of the locker room, “This is a military installation, correct? Wouldn't it have some sort of radio we could use to contact the army?” Abella looked interested at the prospect for a moment, but her face quickly fell when she seemed to come to a realization. She sighed.

“Nej… From the look of the lights, this place is just barely running on backup generators. Even if we found a transmitter, I doubt it would have any power.” She said, craning her head to look at the dim overhead light above her. Tanaka’s hope visibly collapsed.

Wandering through the tunnels once more, the three of you stumbled upon what looked to be an office, but the rusty machine in the center of the room made you think otherwise. Abella chucked when she saw it, drawing a confused look from you.

“Speak of Sulfur and he will appear, ja? It's a generator!” Abella said, knocking twice on the metal with her knuckle playfully, “Looks like it needs fuel, though…” She crouched down and inspected the different meters on the generator, most of which you couldn't understand for the life of you. Tanaka lit up, something returning to his memory.

“Oh! I remember spotting a green canister somewhere near the entrance. Perhaps that's what you need?” Tanaka questioned. Abella nodded at him and began to look enthusiastic once more.

“If there's any gasoline in it, definitely! Oh, but the generator needs two canisters worth… I guess I could help look around for another one.” Abella said, standing from her crouching position. Abella looked at you.

“You just go ahead with Tanaka, I'm sure I can find one on my own.” She said, smiling, “Someone needs to look out for him, eh?” Abella chuckled, glancing at the bloody bandage around Tanaka's arm. Tanaka just chuckled nervously with her, visibly embarrassed at the idea of being reliant on someone.

Truthfully… it felt nice to be recognized as helpful. 

Abella marched off without another word, leaving you and Tanaka in the generator room. Tanaka adjusted his tie and looked at you, gesturing towards the door wordlessly. You nodded, and the both of you made your way out and back into the tunnel halls. There was an unexpected lack of awkwardness around Tanaka. He wasn't very talkative, though of course not to your extent, but most of the silences between the two of you were comfortable ones.

You both eventually passed by the ladder you entered the bunker from, and soon after ended up in an office with the familiar sight of papers and documents randomly scattered around the floor and desktop. Tanaka immediately locked eyes on a green gas canister in the corner of the room and walked straight towards it before realizing that he'd have to carry it with his injured arm. He made a noise of mild frustration before turning to you.

“Would mind… well…” He didn't need to day any further. You walked over to the canister and picked it up by the handle, quickly taken aback by it's weight but not any bit deterred.

“Got it…” You mumbled at Tanaka, and he nodded, obviously sheepish at the fact that Abella was right about him needing your help, but not necessarily upset about it. Together, the both of you began making your way back to the generator room. On the way, you began to feel confusingly… anxious. You felt an inexplicable presence in the tunnels around you, something sinister and malicious, yet ethereal at the same time. Your vision also had a strangely green tint to it. It felt 

“Tanaka…” You began, getting the man's attention, “Do you see… that green hue?” Tanaka looked confused at your words.

“Wh-what do you mean? What green hue?” He asked, notably concerned. Your mind felt blank, and you stopped walking. Tanaka stopped in his tracks and turned to you, worried. The green was doing something… changing something. You could tell. You put your hands against your temples, a sharp pain suddenly striking your mind. Tanaka put his hands on your shoulders, steadying you.

“What's wrong? Are you alright?” You heard him say, but you barely even registered his words as the green hue clouded your vision, blinding you. Every few seconds, for only a split moment, you see the visage of a pale face in the night sky looking down upon you. An empty, lifeless face that had long since been abandoned the entity that once resided within it, leaving only an empty shell behind. A husk.

The moon.

Suddenly, it stopped, and you could perceive once more. At some point you had fallen to your knees, your hands still pressing against the sides of your head. Tanaka was crouched down in front of you, his face filled with worry. You dropped your arms to your sides and looked around, trying to regain your senses. Tanaka looked relieved to see you had calmed down and helped you to your feet.

“What was that just now?” Tanaka asked, his voice laced with concern. You shook your head and put your palm against your forehead, pain still throbbing through your skull. 

“I don't… I don’t know…” You said, your voice small and weak. You looked down to see that although you dropped it, you fortunately hadn't spilled the gasoline canister. When you reached down to pick it up, Tanaka stopped you.

“A-are you sure you're well enough to carry it? I'm certainly not, but we could simply wait for Abella if you're not feeling well.” He said. Although you still had a headache, you weren't feeling particularly weak. You were certain you could still carry it.

“No… it's fine. I'm fine.” You said, picking the canister up by the handle and looking up at Tanaka. He hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. Then, the two of you got back to walking to the generator room, but you didn't fail to notice Tanaka’s wary eyes glancing at you once in a while. On the way, Tanaka suddenly stopped in his tracks, and you realized why soon after. Abella was standing in the middle of the hallway, unmoving with her face obscured in shadow.

“Oh, Abella, it's you.” Tanaka said, approaching her before gesturing towards the green gas canister in your head, “We found the fuel you required for the generator. Did you have any luck?” Abella didn't respond, continuing to stand there in silence. Something was clearly wrong, and Tanaka was starting to notice that. He moved closer to her.

“Abella… are you alright?” He said cautiously. After a few moments, Abella began taking deep, heavy breaths. Finally, she spoke.

“...I'm so sick of it.” She said, her voice low and bitter. You realized that she was shaking. After stepping closer to her, a sharp pain in your head made you wince, and you stepped away from her. For some reason, your headache worsened whenever you tried to approach her…

“Sick of…?” Tanaka said. Abella ignored him as she looked down at the floor.

“Do you hear it…?” She asked lowly. Tanaka looked at you, and you both shared a look of confusion.

“Hear… what?” Tanaka asked. Abella was silent for a moment.

“The elephant…” She mumbled before falling silent once more. You and Tanaka just looked at her. Suddenly, she raised her arm and-

BANG!

She slammed her fist into the metal wall to her left, the sound echoing through the tunnels. You and Tanaka stepped back in shock, seeing the dent her fist left in the wall in comparison to her relatively unharmed hand. Abella was breathing heavily as she looked at the floor, putting one hand on the wall in front of her and bunching the fabric of the front of her overalls in the other. Her hair hid her face as she quietly mumbled something in her native language.

“No matter how much I try…” She suddenly began, her voice becoming a deep growl, “I can't get away from it. I can help as many people as I want, but it won't change how they see me. A brute… a failure of a woman! ‘A lady shouldn't have muscles,’ they said, ‘A lady shouldn't work in laborious conditions like the men!’ It's… just so…” She began to shake even more, anger clear on every strained muscle on her body. You and Tanaka could only watch as she further degraded herself without a care for who was listening.

“Maybe they're right. Maybe I'm not a woman at all, not even a person… Just another mindless brute, only good for destroying everything around it and hurting everyone it cares about.” She said. You could feel your heart squeeze at the things she was saying about herself. Sure, you didn't know her very well, but you knew enough about her to know that none of it was true at all! You couldn't help but say it out loud.

“That's… not true. You're very smart, a-and caring! You've done nothing but be kind and helpful since we met…!” You said, raising your voice to a volume level you weren't used to as you stumbled over your words. Abella fell silent, the shaking of her shoulders went still. 

“I just… can't stand it when all the people I love get hurt, and I'm left perfectly fine. My brothers all died in the war while I was just hiding behind a wrench… I'm a selfish monster whose only purpose is to scream and destroy when things don't go it's way.” She said, the shaking of her shoulders returning. She wasn't being fair to herself. At all. You quickly gathered your thoughts and came up with a retort.

“B-but when the train broke down, all you could think about was how you could fix it and help everyone!” You said as Tanaka put a cautious hand on Abella's shoulder.

“Abella, you need to snap out of it! You are not thinking straight…!” He said, slightly shaking her shoulder. Abella once again fell silent and her hands fell carelessly to her sides. She looked up at you and Tanaka, her eyes hazy and distant.

“I…” Was all she managed to say. She let her face fall into her palm as she rubbed her eyes. “I’m so sorry, I… don't know what came over me…” She said before looking at the dent she left in the wall. “Did I do that?” She asked, looking at the two of you as she pointed at it. Tanaka nodded.

“What happened to you? Persephone was acting similarly just before.” Tanaka said. Abella rubbed her arm nervously as she gathered her thoughts.

“I don't know…” She began, “One second I was looking for a second gas canister, and the next… it was like something was trying to claw its way out of me.” That didn't sound familiar to you. To you, it more or less felt like an overwhelming feeling of inferiority, Like something greater than you was within your presence. It was difficult to explain. Abella sighed, looking at the gas canister in your hand.

“Let's just get back on task, ja? I want to take my mind off of things…” She said, and Tanaka nodded affirmatively. “I did find another canister, actually. I think… I think it was this way.” Abella began walking towards an open doorway, you and Tanaka followed behind. Sure enough, another canister was nestled between two cylindrical-looking machines, and Abella promptly picked it up.

“Well, this should do it. Let's head back to that generator.” Abella said, a familiar enthusiastic smile on her face. It was… a bit more strained than usual, however. The walk back to the generator room was eventless and without words. The only sound filling the silence was the echo of your footsteps bouncing off the walls. When you all returned the generator, Abella wasted no time in popping the cap off and dumping the contents of both canisters into it. Once both of them were empty, she took hold of the startup handle.

“Moment of truth!” She said before pulling on it once, then twice, and then finally a successful third time, signaled by the sound of the generator loudly revving up before settling into a low hum. The overhead lights suddenly became a lot brighter. Abella let out a ‘whoo!’

“Now all we need to do is find that transmitter, wherever it may be.” Tanaka said.

“Actually, I think I remember seeing some kind of elevator while looking for that second canister. Maybe it'll work now that the place has power!” Abella responded. Tanaka adjusted his tie.

“Are you sure we should wander deeper into these tunnels? I'm not too keen on the idea of getting lost down here…” Tanaka said, to which Abella just chuckled in response. 

“Is it a good idea? Maybe not, but we'll never know if we don't take a risk. Besides, it's not like curiosity ever killed a cat, eh?” She said. You were pretty sure that wasn’t even the correct saying. Feeling your stomach twist into a small anxious knot, you took the edges of your cloak in both hands and pulled it closer around you. Nonetheless, you and Tanaka followed her to the elevator she mentioned. The green lights around it gave it an ominous air about it. Abella pressed a button on the wall, and the elevator gates opened, allowing you, Abella, and Tanaka to step inside. Abella subsequently pressed the ‘down’ button with no hesitation.

The rumbling of the elevator was a strange and foreign feeling, but fortunately it didn't last long before the elevator gates opened once more, introducing you to an entirely new floor of the bunker. The three of you stepped out, and observed the surrounding room. It wasn't too dissimilar to the tunnels above, but something just felt different about it. Tanaka paused as he looked down the hallway to his left.

“Hello? Are you alright?” He said. When you looked down the hall to see who he was talking to, you saw… nobody. Abella approached to see what was going on and also seemed to spot something.

“Hey… it's that girl. The one from the dream.” She whispered to Tanaka, leaving you even more confused. No matter how hard you squinted down the hallway, you saw absolutely nothing.

“I don't see anyone…” You whispered to them. Tanaka and Abella looked at you, confused. Suddenly, Tanaka gasped.

“Hey, wait!” He said, abruptly taking off down the hallway as if he were chasing after something. Abella followed right after him, and you were left standing alone and completely perplexed. What… just happened? After a few moments of hesitation, you followed Abella and Tanaka, although making your way through the tunnel far more cautious and slowly.

“She was just here…” You heard Abella say. As you emerged from the hallway and into the next room, you saw Abella and Tanaka looking confused and out of breath, looking all around the room for signs of… whatever they were looking for. Tanaka took his hat off to wipe the sweat from his brow before sighing.

“What was that about…?” You said, completely dumbfounded, “I didn't see anything.” Abella and Tanaka again looked at you with confusion.

“The girl in the pink dress! You didn't see her?” Abella asked as if there was no possible way you didn't. You shook your head ‘no,’ and Abella sighed.

“How strange… Her colorful appearance should've made her quite hard to miss.” Tanaka said, pinching his chin with his thumb and pointer finger. Abella looked around the room once more before abruptly letting out a gasp.

“Dritt!” She yelled as she stepped away from whatever she saw, backpedaling into Tanaka, who grabbed her by the shoulders before she could topple the both of them over.

“W-what!? What is it!?” Tanaka asked in a panic. Abella pointed down to the floor near the corner of the room, and sure enough, there was something there.

Another corpse.

This one, however, looked relatively normal… and fresh. It was a young man with pale skin and black hair in a Bremen military uniform, suggesting that he was likely a soldier of some kind. He was clutching what looked to be a key and a piece of paper in his hand.

“This technology…” Abella whispered, approaching a large, pipe-esque machine that stretched from one side of the room to the other, “I've never seen anything like this!” She said, practically having forgotten about the corpse on the ground. Abella ran her hand over a keypad on the machine, inspecting it. Unlike the metal walls around it, the machine was notably not very rusty, hinting that it must've been a newer addition to the bunker. Abella pressed one of the many buttons on the keypad, and the screen above it lit up.

“What is it…?” Tanaka asked, a bit confused on why the machine was so special when a dead body lay right next to it. Abella seemed to not register Tanaka's words, too distracted by the machinery in front of her.

“This is… incredible.” She said, “...’Telectroscope’... ‘Logic’... I have no clue what any of this means, but… it's lightyears ahead of anything I've ever seen before!” Abella stared intently at the screen in awe. You carefully stepped around the corpse of the soldier and peaked over Abella’s shoulder. Although you couldn't understand what it meant, the technology was clearly impressive.

“What is it supposed to be? I'm not much of a technician…” Tanaka said, to which Abella just shrugged.

“Really, I couldn't tell you. This is way beyond my level.” She said, “There has to be a proper manual somewhere around here though.  If we found something like that or a document about this machinery, I'm sure I could piece it together!” Abella said cheerfully and full of confidence. A document, huh? You looked at the corpse that lay just a few feet away. Yeah, you had an idea of where to find one.

“Um… what about that paper?” You said shyly, hesitantly pointing a finger towards the paper crumpled in the dead man's fingers. Abella cringed but nodded nonetheless.

“It's a start…” She said, walking over to the corpse and trying to pull the paper out of the man's grasp without touching his dead, colorless skin. When that didn't work, she had to resort to prying the man's fingers open, gagging at the smell as she did so. You and Tanaka looked on with pity. Finally, she managed to retrieve the paper, taking a look at the key before handing it to Tanaka. 

“Here, could be useful.” She said. Tanaka inspected it in his hand for a moment. Getting a closer look at it, you saw that it had the symbol of an eagle on it. Tanaka promptly stuffed the key into his breast pocket. After that, Abella began looking over the crumpled document while walking back over to the machine.

“ ‘Activate the Telectroscope to connect it to the Logic. ’ Well, it explains how it works , but nothing about what it actually does .” Abella said, scratching her head, “Appearantly there's two more of these things… more bunkers too…” She laid the document flat down on the surface on top of the screen. 

“What was Bremen doing here…?” Tanaka said, dumbfounded. Abella shook her head.

“I don't know, but I definitely don't have any good feelings about it.” She said, turning back to the screen, “I guess there's only one way to find out, eh?” Abella began typing away at the keys below the screen. Tanaka looked like he wanted to protest, but stopped himself, subjecting himself to watching Abella warily. Eventually, the machine wirred to life, letting out a sequence of beeps before settling into a low hum. The three of you waited for something more to happen, but nothing did. Abella sighed.

“I guess the other two telectroscopes need to be activated for… whatever it is these machines do to happen.” She said, putting her hands on her hips. You looked back down at the corpse of the dead soldier, trying to process the implications of all of this. Did Bremen have something to do with what was happening in Prehevil? 

“Well…” Tanaka began, “I suppose we should get going then? It has to be well into the afternoon by now…” He said anxiously. After staring at the screen of the telectroscope for a moment, Abella hesitantly nodded.

“Ja… let's go.” She said. With that, the three of you returned to the elevator, went back up to the first level of the tunnels, and began your walk back to the ladder. Abella looked to be lost in thought while Tanaka fidgeted with his tie, his face one of stress. You, on the other hand, were wondering why any of this was even happening. It felt as if you had no control over your life, like everything you were and could be were being stripped away from you. All you wanted was to discover more about yourself, yet here you were in a dank, rusty tunnel with two people you barely knew, trapped in some sadistic death game you wanted no part of. Even then, you were left entirely out of the loop. 

An odd one out, the piece that didn't belong. Despite the blood on your blouse and the grime on your skirt, had anything really changed?

A noise ejected you from your mind, a faint yet still audible sound. Abella and Tanaka seemed to notice it to. It was like a… jingling sound. Like someone was shaking a bag full of coins. Small pieces of metal clanging against one another. That wasn't the only sound you heard though, not at all. The next was a bone-chilling voice humming a tune, echoing through the tunnels. Heavy footsteps soon accompanied it, approaching from the darkness. 

“ La-dada-lada…~ ” The voice emerged from around the corner, revealing itself. A tall figure clad in a white cloak looked down at you, a syringe in one hand and a whip in the other. Above all, what really caught your attention was his clowney face. His mouth was stuck in a perpetual harrowing grin, and his eyes were narrowed with malice and sadistic intent. His face was halved blue and white, and his lips were black, giving him the appearance of a depraved clown.

When he locked eyes with you, he giggled. Before you could process it, he had started speed walking towards the three of you.

Needles came waltzing in to greet you!

Abella retrieved her wrench from her waist in a panic, and Tanaka seemed paralyzed by shock and fear. Then the next few seconds were a blur. You just barely dodged a swing from Needles’ whip, while Abella hit the clown over the head with her wrench. Although blood poured from the wound she gave him, he seemed to be barely affected by it, continuing as if nothing had happened. In a swift motion, Tanaka kicked Needles in the stomach, causing the clown to take a few steps back. No matter how much pain he was in, Needles just kept grinning. He regained his composure and looked down at the suited man in front of him, eyes filled with amusement. Noticing the pause in the fight, Tanaka attempted to speak with the clown. Abella stood cautiously, wrench in hand and ready to swing.

“Who are you!? What do you want!?” He yelled. Needles just looked at him for a moment, as if he were studying Tanaka. Then, he just shrugged with his arms out wide, his grin growing wider. Somehow, the fact that he was aware of what he was doing made him even more terrifying. In the pause, you took a moment to inspect Needles’ whip. You realized that it was more reminiscent of a cat-o’-nine-tails, but with multiple syringes were attached to it, painting a not-so-pretty picture of what would happen were anyone hit by it. 

In a single instant, the fight was back on. Needles swung his whip at Tanaka, only to be interrupted by a bash to the shoulder by Abella's wrench. Turning towards her, Needles kicked Abella in the chest, knocking the air out of her and sending her to the floor. You felt completely and utterly helpless, having no idea what to do. You didn't know how to fight, let alone someone as strong as the clown clearly was, nor did you know any magic. Useless as always. 

As Abella rose to her feet, Tanaka pulled out the pocket knife he acquired from the locker room earlier, ejecting the blade with a click. Needles looked at the tiny weapon and just… stared. Suddenly, he put a hand to his stomach and bellowed out in intense laughter, pointing a mocking finger at the pocket knife and almost dropping his whip. Using Needles’ distraction to his advantage, Tanaka raised the pocket knife and plunged the blade directly into the left eye of the clown, causing him to stumble backwards. Needles immediately took hold of the pocket knife and ripped it out without hesitation. 

Despite the blood pouring from his eye socket, Needles just laughed and laughed, seeming almost… excited by his injury. Dropping the bloody pocket knife on the ground, he turned his attention to you, the only one who had so far not participated in the violence. Abella stepped closer to you protectively, much to Needles’ amusement.

Needles twisted the syringe in his left hand, seeming all too eager to put it to  use. He looked you up and down. The look in his eyes turned to something… primal, and he licked his lips unapologetically. You felt a chill run down your spine and you instinctively took a step back. Seeing this, Abella's expression turned to disgust as she stepped in front of you, while Tanaka looked downright pissed, taking a step towards Needles. The clown just hee-hee’d at your reactions. Needles looked at the three of you one at a time with his one remaining eye before turning to look at the darkness of the tunnel behind him, then turning back to look at you. He giggled, fidgeting his syringe in his hand.

“Toodaloo~...” He said, his voice full of sinister anticipation. Then, he simply backed away into the darkness. He just… left. Abella and Tanaka watched him cautiously as he disappeared into the tunnel, as well as confused about his abrupt departure. Eventually, Abella spoke.

“No point in looking a gift horse in the mouth… let's get out of here.” She said, taking off down the hallway. Not needing to hear it twice, you and Tanaka followed after her to the ladder. Somehow, you knew that the clown hadn't spared the three of of you out of the kindness of his heart. No, he was saving you for later. Drawing it out to derive as much sick enjoyment from the chase as possible. It was clear as day that he was barely even trying during the fight, practically letting Tanaka take his eye, and it frightened you to think about what he was really capable of. 

Abella and Tanaka allowed you to be the first to climb up the ladder, and although you struggled to maintain your grip on the metal bars as expected, you managed to make your way up to the surface without too much turbulence. You emerged from the hatch and clambered out into the grass, with Tanaka and Abella following behind. Looking up at the foggy sky, you took a deep breath of the fresh, chilly air. It felt like when your mother allowed you outside once every few months. The cold air against your face and the gentle breeze was a sensation you'd almost forgotten in those years.

Turning around, you were shocked to see an unfamiliar face standing right next to the hatch, looking at the three of you. Or rather, studying the three of you. It was a relatively short, yet quite toned man with blonde hair. He was wearing what appeared to be a military uniform, including a peaked cap with the insignia of an eagle on it. His shirt was unbuttoned unceremoniously, revealing his scarred, muscular chest.

The moment he laid eyes on you, a look of shock, anger, and panick, washed over his face. He seemed particularly caught by the bright yellow cloak you wore. His hand flew to his holstered pistol, causing you to step back in fear. However, when he took a closer look at you, he seemed to calm down, his shock replaced with humor. His hand returned to a resting position at his side. You, Tanaka, and Abella were left shocked and confused. The man payed no attention to them, his gaze trained solely on you.

“Well, this makes things interesting…” He said, voice laced with amusement.