Chapter Text
This is my first ever novel I’ve written. So enjoy!! (There are probably spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes, ignore em.)
A dark, cold shadow braced across the seemingly never ending hall ahead. You’ve been at it for hours, your lips parted to let your shallow breath escape. You’re breathing, but it doesn’t feel like it. Like it’s a never ending chase to catch your breath, to catch a glimpse of yourself.
Your heavy boots thud against the floor beneath you, every step making you flinch as your head occasionally whips to look behind you. But nothing except the same doors you opened. Your body seems shaken with fear and paranoia, but whenever you’re in the moment to catch something-nothing comes. It feels like the universe is playing some sick joke on you, every glance behind, or flinch, or sudden halt is just another laugh for the crowd you imagine around you. Hey, it’d better than being alone.
But you know you’re not. The sudden flicker reminds you why you’re here. You flinch fully this time, your hands shaking. No matter how many times you’ve crawled back into that locker-it just gets scarier. You peek from throughout the holes of the locker, having to stand on your tippy toes. Your shaky, big eyes catching onto the glowing ones that emit from outside your hiding place. The grey, black mist fades, leaving the room in darkness so you’re unaware of what’s now lurking in it. Stumbling out of your locker, you push forward. Your legs aching with dread as you open one door after the next. A familiar voice swarmed your head. For a second you thought you were going crazy, but fixed your gaze to realize you were in Sebastian’s room. With a sense of dread you crawl through the tight, dirty vent, eventually locking eyes with the large experiment. Sebastian flicks a finger at you absentmindedly-another reminder that you basically are alone down here. At least in the sense where nobody is gonna care for you.
You ignore Sebastian’s condescending greeting, every word from him feels like another threat. You scan his tail, then yourself. You weren’t carrying any items, hell you weren’t even checking cabinets so you were stuck with maybe 67 bucks worth of research. You could see Sebastian looking eager, just for your documents though. He only cared about damn research. You go to speak to him, but as you let out a breathy gasp that meant to be words-you’re reminded that you can’t. He noticed quickly, eyes dropping as if expecting you to continue that wordless sentence. You gesture to his tail and shake your head, refusing business today. Sebastian narrows his eyes, hesitating before leaning away coldly. “Alright, don’t come crawling back to me for a medkit.” Sebastian teased harshly, but you didn’t react. You stopped reacting a long time ago.
The vent thudded around you as you crawled, shaky hand still clutching the keycard. How long would this last? The farthest door you’ve gotten without dying and respawning back into that cold submarine was 68. But it’s felt like months you’ve been here. Without food, without water, without sleep. You could feel all of it, but it never actually harmed your body. It felt like your insides were curling up tighter with each day. About 8 doors later you stepped tiredly into a room, but you didn’t get much time to relax as the familiar beep of turrets filled the room. The machine buzzed as a long, red light scanned the room for any signs of life. You froze up, but slid behind a bundle of crates, your eyes scanning the room for the turn off lever-but you only saw a large hole in the wall that hid behind a locker. Curiosity spiked-nothing interesting has surprised you down here for a while. Carefully maneuvering past the red light that tried finding your body, you slipped into the large hole that opened into a new room. A server room. You stepped in, rubble crunching below your feet. You halted on about your third step, eyes locking onto the familiar face. Painter. Except he was behind a locked room.
“You’re about as ugly as the last time I saw you.” Something about that ticked you off. Especially after eavesdropping on his and Sebastian’s conversation. Painter apparently felt-..evil for killing you and supposedly other expendables that you have yet to meet. Except you don’t, because none of them are immortal. You’re just stuck being loppees favourite. You notice the door connecting to his little room requires a keycard. A keycard that was on the cabinet next to you. You take it without thought, opening the large door and stepping in. The computer was something you’d see up at the surface. But older-a lot older. Nostalgic though, a spark of your past ignited in your brain. Flickering a loss that passed through your eyes. You wish you could remember yourself, remember who you’re fighting for. But you weren’t even sure if you had anyone wondering where the hell you are. “Hey, wanna see what I’m painting?” The shift in painters personality caught you off guard. One second you had his turrets after your ass-the next he wanted to show you his work. You scanned the artwork, your tired eyes immediately locking in on the landscape-the blue sky that you forgotten you loved so much. The soft, green grass that you remember sitting in while in elementary. Your fists clench, knowing you didn’t belong in this hell hole. You deserved freedom, justice, care. You just wanted someone to care.
The words you threw at yourself felt like bullets, making you focus in on painter again. That face-that everlasting snark. He only cared once you were dead. But laughed when killing you. Part of you wanted to just crush him, for every run he’s made more difficult for you. But, you knew he was just like you. A desperate being trying to escape-trying to gain freedom back. You sigh, unable to produce words to compliment
The sudden smug, almost casual smile that painter emitted ticked you off. How could he be so happy?-well, you knew he wasn’t based off his and Sebastian’s conversations. But how can he pretend so easily? You’ve tried, but with every threat, you falter. Even imaginary friend had commented on how your face almost always stays the same. It felt unreal, like you were unreal. A flicker of hatred crossed your vision, you gazed down at Painter who just seemed happy to be there. But…sympathy? You knew he wanted to get out just as badly as you did. As much torment as he put onto your body, you knew he only wanted out, we all just wanted out. You stepped forward, your body seeming to literally move on its own. You were sure what your body drove forward for until it was too late.
A strangled scream emitted from Painter as he cried out for Sebastian. Your hand shattered his glass screen, making the pieces fall weakly and pierce your trembling hands. You didn’t stop, your fingers really digging in the insides of his computer until you pulled something out. You yanked yourself away, seeing to snap back into your own body. You let out a shaky, confused breath. Why did you do that? You repeated until you glanced down into your bloody hands. Inside was a mother code chip, painters mother code chip. You weren’t trying to kill him…you were saving him. But nobody else knew that. Suddenly a blare sounded around the hadal black site, making you flinch strongly. “This is a site wide announcement! The parasite has been exterminated!” N.A.V.I read out proudly across the intercoms as if they had done it themselves. But no, your hands were bloody. Your hands were framed for murder. The sudden screech and static of a walkie talkie caught you off guard. “Kid?-..kid?! Kid I’m coming!-i-I’m coming hang in tight!” Sebastian’s voice blared with a mixture of fear and dread. Your heart dropped. You couldn’t-you couldn’t explain yourself. Sebastian wouldn’t listen even if you could talk, glass pierced further into your hands, the insides of that computer empty, clutched between your shaking fingers. You fled the scene, red droplets splattering the flood behind you as you stuffed the chip inside your pocket, not bothering with your bloody and scratched knuckled. After a long couple of doors you continued your usual routine. Hiding, walking, hiding, walking, fending for yourself, the regular. You noticed many things, no more turrets, no more gauntlets, not even search lights showed up! It made everything seem-calm. The only fury rustling your work suit was the curious angler variations. You couldn’t exactly blame them, they were animals-literally. Door 0 reached closer and closer, the end? really the end?..it felt unreal, maybe it was. But you didn’t care, you were at the end.
As you entered the door number 0 you were met with heavy duty equipment and doors. You walked anxiously along a large bridge/path, your eyes locked onto the angler passing by on the bridge beside you. A groaning door churned open, you entered it before entering another large room. This one was different, energy thrived within it. You stepped in, eventually opening a door that led you to the exact middle of the room. Your eyes locked onto the glowing orange crystal floating in your gaze. Even from afar you could tell that thing held life beyond we were capable of understanding. With careful steps you made your way to the console, your bloodied hand gripping onto a lever before yanking it down. The cage the crystal was trapped within sink down. You stepped forward, your hand locking onto the crystal. You tugged, struggling as the energy compelled the crystal back into its carrier. But you held that fight up, tugging it until it snapped into your hands. The lights around you flickered, making your heart begin to rapidly beat. Before another thump could pass through your body, the lights went completely out. The darkness nearly drowning you. You slipped the glowing crystal into your container, sliding it back into the holder on your lower back under your oxygen tanks. You began to walk, unsure of where you were headed but you managed. You travel through the seemingly abandoned, almost pitch black area. Your eyes gazed up at the flickering green light above you, casting a haze over the walls around you. You assumed green meant good to go, so you continued down that hall cluelessly.
God, this was worse than everything. You were already a few doors through but it was..it was something else. Anglers passing by in the dark, no warning. The increase in entities seemed concerning. Eyefestation showed up like routine, all on herself. Her seemingly thousands of green eyes trying to melt your brain away. But you pushed forward, too determined to give up now. The wall dwellers down here were insufferable, each one lurking door after door as if they haven’t been fed for years. The squiddles were no better, fear basically radiating off of them as they defensively lit themselves up as you passed by or even tried to give yourself a little bit of light. After 8 near deaths, an aching headache, and nearly a chunk taken out of your shoulder you entered a door, running up a path to one of the large doors. The doors churned open again, you stepped inside, quickly closing the door before any more entities could trap you within. The doors groaned as they closed, a sense of freedom and pride coursing through you. You had forgotten what you did, the glass between your fingers..but you didn’t forget for too long.
A sudden bang from outside of the little container like room you were in emitted. You glanced back, turning to the closed door curiously. You took a couple of steps forward, curiosity genuinely spiking you as always. A bang, and another, and another. Each one more violent than the next. A sudden screech made you flinch back as suddenly the closed doors were being torn open. Large, clawed hands yanking them apart, ones that you recognized. The doors continued to be ripped open, the figure being present as your pupils shrunk in fear. More than fear, more than you can comprehend-more than anyone could. “You!-“ a snarl sneered from the figure-Sebastian. He glared at you, those two small, blue pupils holding a hatred more than ever before. You twisted around, beginning to run. But only in seconds Sebastian had caught up. Large, clawed hands gripped the back of your jumpsuit. Sebastian lifted you up to your height, considering the significance in size. Your face was emotionless, well-to others it was. You wish you could portray the things you felt. Guilt, anger, most of all exhaustion. Sebastian spat out words like fire, each one coming out more violent than the next. “You entitled brat..” he snarled, lips curling back to reveal his intimidating, sharp teeth. Your face twitched with emotion, eyes large, pupils small but sharp as you looked back at him. You wanted to scream, yell, you had been through enough already. He just didn’t get it, nobody did. A wolf will always be seen as violent, even if it’s just as scared as everyone else. You were a criminal, an expendable. You were nothing. Sebastian continued to yowl out words like fury, the words affected you, but you only dangled from his massive hand, almost pitiful, but no one would forgive you. Not even from protecting yourself. “And I’ll be enjoying every, last, second of this..” Sebastian growled, hand lurching back before shooting forward. A ringing filled your ears, eyes rolling back for a minute before snapping back. A pain ripples through your body, like being struck by lightning. You convulsed, not flinching as much as Sebastian had expected you too. It took a long moment for you to regain regular vision, your breath becoming short-you couldn’t..you couldn’t breathe. Your vision fixed, your eyes locking onto the bloody lump in Sebastian free hand. It wasn’t just a lump of nothing. It was your heart. You god damn fucking heart. You’d been through a lot, but nobody understands the extent to seeing your own insides in someone else’s hands. You wanted to let out a rippling scream, you were someone’s baby. You just wanted to protect yourself. Sebastian threw you carelessly to the ground, your body didn’t even flinch-but you did. You did mentally. Everything hurt even if you didn’t show it. Sebastian muttered crazily to himself, his emotions uneasy and struggled. He seemed to be contemplating things, his mind racing. He let out a grunt that shifted into a snarl, “you are NEVER getting out.” He yowled, lashing up as his tail held him high. His hand with your ripped out heart smashed against the floor. You felt the blood and chunks splatter, the walls, the floor, Sebastian, yourself..you only watched. Your head jerked weakly to watch him move, your breaths beginning to die out as your vision blurred little by little. Sebastian growled lowly, suddenly standing back up on his tail as he whipped his massive head to look behind him. “WHAT?! WHAT IS IT THIS TIME!?” Sebastian let out a scream, his voice piercing your ears even more. You watched as suddenly his entire body glowed green, his ligaments and muscles detaching as he disappeared right before your eyes. Pupils enlarged as your terrified eyes glazed over. Despite everything, an aching yearning of Sebastian’s cold hand gripping your jumpsuit made you sigh breathlessly. You wished someone would curl up next to you, tell you this was all a dream. You could imagine yourself a child again, someone’s baby. Someone with hopes and dreams, with goals and interests. You were a person, but restricted into someone tied by strings. A final breath emitted your body as tears welled your eyes-never spilling over as your body went fully limp.
You ended back in that same room, the room you find yourself whenever you die. This time it was different, not blue glowing eyes staring back at you, instead, a presence. “You’re more worthy than you think.” A low, opposing and almost-glitchy voice spoke to you. Your face remained calm despite your mind racing with emotions and questions. “Don’t doubt the things you’re capable of, stick to the script.” A head leaned over your shoulder, turning to look at your much smaller stature. The figure locked eyes with you, the green eyes that stared into yours made you connect the dots immediately. Of course, it was lopee. “Don’t fail me mhm?..” he almost hummed out, an arm curling around to squeeze your waist. You sank desperately into the touch, wanting more. But before you could ,you snapped back awaked in that same submarine. Your eyes blinked open, the sounds and music stirring you back to your senses.
You stood up just as the submarine came back to a complete stop. Your head was dazed, heart thumping uncomfortably loud. You stepped out of the submarine, grabbing the keycard and opening the first door like a programmed robot. You’ve been down here for too long, you were done, sick of this. A flicker of the lights didn’t help, you fought back emotions. Everything felt overwhelming at the moment, you wanted to sob, be held in someone’s arms again-but nobody would hold you. You were a monster, a monster in a facility full of entities. Door after door, everything felt robotic. Like you didn’t control yourself-but you could feel EVERYTHING. You’d barely realized you reached Sebastian’s room, only crawling into the vent and jumping back a bit when you finally locked eyes with him. His cocky smile, flicking tail-twitching ears. He didn’t remember..maybe he did? Maybe he was hiding it. You couldn’t tell behind this intense glowing eyes. “Well if it isn’t my best buddy!…” Sebastian cheerfully greeted, sarcasm dripping from his words. You felt tired, your eyes more baggier than usual, your shoulders slumped. Everything just hurt. Sebastian seemingly didn’t anything, but he knew what happens to you-he knows you respawn. He knows you’re different compared to the other expendables. You carried yourself around the shop, eventually finding the radio and fiddling with it. “Don’t be nosy.” Sebastian said simply. After a moment painters voice crackled through Sebastian’s walkie talkie. The sound of painters voice-it only reminded you of his screaming and begging as you smashed him into pieces. His voice made you physically jump, your eyes going wide and wild as you stiffened in alert. Sebastian seemed to notice, his eyes narrowing suspiciously down to your small body for a moment before answering something to painter. “That reminds me, shouldn’t you be going, friend?” Sebastian basically snarled, his words snapping you back. Something inside you broke-no-..not broke. Like a gear switched, fixing your emotions, your actions, your body, your feelings. Everything surged on you life once. You weren’t supposed to be down here, you weren’t supposed to live after that first death, this isn’t okay. You stare back at Sebastian, your face basically nothing before it shatters into a tsunami of emotions. Your tears are spilling over, lip curled back in a snarl but the corners of your mouth twitch into a fed up smile. You collapse into a series of sobs and yells. You can’t-..speak. You can only cry, scream, gasp, pant. You basically on the ground, flailing like a damn baby bird as you kick and scream.
Sebastian was extremely lost. Never had he seen anyone act up this much, not even himself. Especially not the expendable. Hell he rarely saw them crack even a slight smile or frown. You basically had a lifeless face whenever you were here. No, whenever you were anywhere. “What’s that-..what’s that noise? Sebastian are you okay?” Painters voice crackled through, making you freak out even more. Sebastian stammered out, his voice actually puzzled for the first time in ages. “S-shi-..painter I need to go.” And with the Sebastian slammed down the walkie talkie, shutting it off quickly. You continued to scream, cry, sob. Your body was shaking violently. The lights around you, the cold concrete beneath you, and the ambience bouncing off the walls weren’t helping one bit. Everything felt so-so scary. You were scared, and you wanted to respect Sebastian’s need for alone time. But you couldn’t go back out, you couldn’t. Nothing was safe, nothing out there to talk to you. God, Sebastian could rip out your beating heart again and you’d rather that than go out there again. “Get-..get up-“ Sebastian tried to say firmly, but his voice cracked a bit. It’s been a while since he’s had someone act so-humane. Especially an expendable. You wanted to listen to his order, you really wanted too. But you couldn’t, your body felt sick. It ached and throbbed with every sob and writhe. You wanted to die, die and NEVER come back. You wish you get to speak your feelings out, but you couldn’t. “Fu-..fuck-cmon..just-c-calm down or something..” Sebastian’s tail slid down from the wall, nudging you. You flopped onto your back pathetically, still crying as you shook violently.
Minutes past of this. Whenever you felt empty of tears more continued to spill over. Sebastian became a bit ticked off, but also unsure. He hasn’t felt any pity for you until now. And it wasn’t a lot, he still hated you. But he could still be a bit concerned. “Dude I-..uh-“ Sebastian stammered, unsure of how to handle any of this. You let out a shaky sob, a bit of your voice peeking through for a moment. Sebastian looked more intrigued. “Shit just..god come here dammit.” Sebastian growled, his massive hand leaning down to grip your leg. You didn’t react much, just let him drag you.
He pulled you up to his tail-being wary about touch yet he kept you close enough you could feel his body heat. It reminded you of the heat that radiated off the dead expendables you’d find lying around the hadal blacksite..you just want to feel human warmth again. You let out a hic as you try to curl up onto him, yet he pushes you off with a sneer. “Pull yourself together.” He snapped, harsher than intended. You choked back a sob as you snapped back to reality. Your eyes blinked-clearing the blurry tears that flooded your vision. You sat on the floor like a pouting child, staring up at Sebastian who had a mix of disgust and pity in his eyes. You remember that’s not that warmth you want-only the warmth you wanna believe is human. You stand up, wobbling slightly. “Just-g-get out….” Sebastian muttered, his blue eyes turning into tiny pits of anger. You stare back, visibly exhausted. Yet you didn’t fight it and only crawled out, your body trembling as you did so. You’re basically shaking as you walk-so paranoid yet so out of your mind. You barely register your movements, your body moving on its own to make it to doors and get keycards. You don’t bother research or items-you’re gonna die anyways.
“Better hope you’re bullet proof buddy!!” Painters voice echoed through the eerily large room. You could see his cocky face on one of the door signs-watching for movement. This time you don’t feel anger-you knew his situation. You know he’s just as trapped as you are. You just wished him and Sebastian thought the same for you. You slipped past the turrets with practiced ease, finding that same hole that connected to a room. You stepped in, painters voice filling the room once more yet you weren’t focused. You grabbed the purple keycard excitedly ringing for your attention. As you walk into Painters room his screen flickered-a sudden image of beautiful scenery, a landscape if you’re correct. You overheard painter and Sebastian taking about painters art, his backstory was pretty sad-sadder than…you don’t remember.
You wonder what you were just thinking, the thought seeming to vanish and become unable to reappear. Whatever, maybe it’s meant to be unknown. You drop to your knees gently, staring at the colourful landscape. God you missed home-missed the surface a lot. You wanna compliment painters work but-it’s like an invisible hand is keeping your mouth shut. You stare for a second longer-about to crack a smile yet suddenly the walkie talkie next to painter crackles on. “Painter? Who are you talking to there kid?” Sebastian’s voice left the walkie talkie. “The person you were talking about earlier! They seem kinda…lost.” Painter replies. Meanwhile, your eyes flicker between the two with profound curiosity. “Yeaaa well..they aren’t exactly the brightest Urbanshades has to offer..” The sickening words left the walkie talkie, making your earlier small smile disappear. Painter didn’t notice, only snickering and giggling as Sebastian followed suit. A rage flickers through you again-aggression that you knew was unnecessary. You stood up to your feet suddenly, the sound loud enough for Sebastian to hear even through the talkie.
Why did they have to ruin everything? Why can’t you be happy too…emotions flood your system again. You just wanted to be loved. You stepped forward, fist growing concerningly tight. Painter seemed to remember you were there-his face growing slightly nervous because of your state. “W-..what’re you doing there-…” he stammers, meanwhile you cock your fist. But the sound of Sebastian’s panicked voice helped you catch yourself. “L-let’s not do anything unnecessary there, bub.” Sebastian’s voice held a panicked yet stern urgency, a warning you didn’t wanna experience for the second time. Instead of walking away entirely, you grabbed the talkie and with a switch turned it off. You could see painters screen flicker to one of fear-but you weren’t mad at him. Only the actions Sebastian influenced onto him. You sat back in front of painter-face calm yet not a smile. You nodded and jerked your limbs-trying to motion him to show more of his landscapes. He seems to understand after a second or two and carry on with what seemed like a little slideshow. Each drawing held a lively passion to it-despite being made by an AI. You were quite impressed-even you weren’t as good. Well, as far as you could remember. you spent a good few more minutes like this, a steady flow of yearning came to your senses. You missed the feeling of the sun beaming down onto you-looking up and seeing the bright blue sky. As you fawned over painters art-a suddenly crash made you jump. You nearly fell into painter just by standing up so quickly. You whip around, ready to fight, hide or die. Y’know-the usual routine. But you were only met with Sebastian and his crazy eyes. He was panting heavily, seeking to be runni-sorry..slithering over to this room. You didn’t loosen up, worried he was gonna rip your heart out or something..again. He just stood there, slowly slumping his tense shoulders as he took in the scene. The expendable he despised the most, and his best friend. He was suspicious still, obviously not happy with you despite you did nothing wrong. “Get out.” He huffed, voice raspy. You glance around, as if he was telling somebody else-but it was obviously directed towards you. Painter spoke up, voice nervous. “S-Sebastian’s it’s okay…they were just looking at my ar-“ he tried to finish but Sebastian growled, slithering forward slightly. You stepped back, but there wasn’t much room between painters tiny chained up room and massive Sebastian. “Painter, they’re a fraud. They probably just want your information to give to urbanshade..” Sebastian growled-you wanted to argue, but you couldn’t. Both physically and mentally. You tried to shake your head, stand your ground. But Sebastian scared you more than you wanted to admit. “Sebastian really-t-they’re okay here. I kinda like the compa-“ painter tried to finish again, but Sebastian snapped.
Sebastian’s huge, clawed hand gripped the entire front of your jumpsuit.-close to ripping it off. You bit back a strangled whine of panic as he lifted you slightly. Painter watched in horror and worry. “You fucking pawn.” Sebastian hissed before throwing you out of painters space. You landed outside of the tiny room, hitting the floor roughly. Your body jerked as you landed on the cold stone-you felt your knees scrape as the hit broke through your jumpsuits flimsy material. You twitched, sitting up weakly. Your body trembled, both from pain and trauma. “Painter are you okay?-“ Sebastian urged, not bothering to look at you. Painter seemed uncomfortable, he didn’t wanna speak back to Sebastian but..he also didn’t wanna just let him get away with doing that. You stood up, tears welling your eyes again. God you were so sick of this-you couldn’t have one good thing in this god damn facility. “Y-yea I’m fine!-..” painters voice cracked, hiding his uncomfortable feelings with amusement.
As they spoke, your ears were mangled with a loud-squeaky song..or music! God you couldn’t tell. You wobbled, falling back on your butt. Your eyes adjusted to the view in front of you-but your features twisted into horror as you recognized the person. Mr. Lopee. That only meant one thing, you did something wrong. You felt your gut wrench with fear, tears blinding your vision momentarily. You noticed painter and Sebastian had gone silent, only to realize they were staring too. “Didn’t I tell you to stick to the fucking script?” Mr. Lopee asked with an aggressive calmness. You scrambled back slightly, your feet pushing against the concrete floor to try and shove yourself further back. Mr. Lopee strides forward quickly, almost glitching forward just to grip the collar of your jumpsuit. He lifted you up to your feet with a terrifying roughness-leaning in close as he spat out the words. “Get back to walking-serve your god damn purpose.” His words cut you like knives. It wasn’t a confidence drop you felt-rather..fear. He disappeared just like that, making you stumble back nearly into Sebastian. Sebastian followed by flinching back-you were unsure why but it made you all the more sad. Tears were rolling in again now-you were being punished for looking at god damn art for a few minutes-by both Sebastian and Lopee. You glance back at the other two also trapped down here. Sebastian and painter stared back-an awkward silence passed. Sebastian held a hint of guilt..? At least you think. Painter looked like he wanted to be sick. You were unsure if he knew of Lopee yet. You scrambled to your feet, basically choking on your tears as you bolted out of the main room. You didn’t even bother being spotted by the turrets as you just bolted for the door to the next room.
You were tempted to find a harbringer and just end it all again. Death was-okay. Not amazing for that split second of body numbing pain. But after that..there was a strange calmness. At least for a few seconds you didn’t feel like you were being hunted-or hurt-or yelled at. You felt..safe..warm. Your trembling body cuddling up in the puddle of you warm blood as everything turns black. Of course after that it wasn’t as much fun. You had to deal with Sebastian mocking comments and Lopee staring daggers at you from behind him. But-it was better than the black site. You thought about this, not even realizing you had gotten to door 90. Jesus-that’s the farthest you’ve gotten aside from the experience of killing painter way earlier. You stared up at the slightly flickering lights that shined green right into your sleepy eyes. You felt a surge of confidence, completely scrapping the earlier incident with Sebastian, painter and Lopee. You sighed, stepping forward and continuing. The last few doors were a breeze. ‘99.’ The door bulged, you weren’t cheering or anything. Just a bit confused-why does time fly so quickly down here…yet at the same time go so slow? Whatever, that’s only something Lopee could know. You walk in, being greeted with a long bridge into huge doors. You stepped in, turning your head to peer at the familiar angler crossing the bridge next to you.
You shuddered-remembering the incident with painter. Poor soul, they’d figure themselves out. You continued forward, eyes locked onto the heavy doors in front of you. Once you were in arms reach the doors opened themself. You got in, gazing ahead at the massive room ready just for you. You followed the same path as you did last time, making your way to the middle where the crystal was kept. Really? You did it? You know you still had 15 doors in the dark left and well-whatever is after that. But..you did something. You did it. You.
Your hands grasped desperately onto the crystal once you had pulled the lever to open the containment. You greedily yanked it from its source, keeping it close to you. You felt energized for the first time in a long time-it regenerated a tiredness in you that couldn’t even be fixed with sleep. It was over. Sorry, you THOUGHT it was over..hah! “Put it down.” The familiar voice behind you called out. The energy you once had shattered like glass. You stood there-frozen, clutching that crystal like it was your life. “What did I say?” The voice growled, and the barrel of a shotgun dug into the back of your head. You flinched slightly, beginning to tremble as your small smile straightened into nothing. After a long moment of silence, and a shotgun grinding into the back of your head, you placed the crystal reluctantly back into the containment. Lights around you flickered to life as the energy restored into the hadal black site.
“Exactly what I thought.” Sebastian huffed, tucking his shotgun back behind him. He slithered back slightly, letting you breathe. But you couldn’t. Jesus, you hadn’t even done anything this time! Painter was intact, hadn’t bothered Sebastian aside from sobbing inside of his shop…and you’d done your task. “I just…I can’t let you do this. It’s not-fair.” Sebastian’s voice was strained, but he didn’t feel bad for you. He was pitying himself, and painter of course. Your breathing cut into something heavy and ragged. You were so-so sick of this. You needed freedom just as much as them. And unlike Sebastian and painter you had NOBODY. Nobody wanted you-hah! You were expendable anyway. You swing around, meeting Sebastian’s casual yet tired eyes. He seemed to hold a slight aggression behind them, but you weren’t scared of him much. You opened your mouth to talk-no, yell. Maybe scream? But you only let out a gasp before remembering you couldn’t speak. Fuck fuck fuck..why couldn’t you yell-fight. Maybe snap some sense into Sebastian. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, slightly confused yet knowing. He knew you were angry-you were expendable though! Why did it matter?! “Y-…you’ll be fine.” Sebastian’s voice cracked slightly, he wasn’t too sure. Even he knew it was bad for you-of course he wouldn’t admit that. Of course he wouldn’t share that pity to painter. You glared daggers at the experiment, tears welled but didn’t spill over. You were too angry to feel sad. Sebastian stared back, visibly uncomfortable. Even for him, he felt guilty. He had somewhere to go…but..”just-go back to…uhh-hah uh..” Sebastian muttered, slithering back slightly. Not that he was scared-he just wanted to get out of the situation so he didn’t have to bother dealing with it. You shook slightly, not moving. You waited for him to finish but—he couldn’t. “Find something to do?-..I, uh…” he hesitated. “Be quicker than me next time?” He said so carelessly it made you feel like your lungs were flooding with water. You snapped in that moment, spinning around to stare at the empty pits underneath the crystal containment. Without hesitation-without fear of death..you climbed over the railing and sent yourself off. You heard Sebastian yell something. You expected to be dead before even hitting the ground-but instead a large hand grabbed the back of your jumpsuit. Sebastian yanked you back up onto the platforms, huffing and panting heavily. You snapped back-surprised as you stared up at him wide eyed. He looked hesitant, a bit embarrassed-but part of him looked guilty. Did he feel bad? Wow, surprising. Sebastian stared down at you for a long moment-contemplating something. He finally
Let out a groan-his tense shoulders dropping suddenly. “….come stay in my shop until whatever else happens.” Sebastian offered measly, looking hesitant. You could blame him but also-you were pretty damn weak. You don’t think you can do much. You follow him back to his shop, suddenly the 50 doors doesn’t feel like anything. For Sebastian it’s easy too. His tail drags him quite well, and he’s strong as fuck anyway. As much as the man would never tolerate you, you actually admired him. Only a bit-and only sometimes. You thought his determination was really nice, and also his ability to try until you get it. He definitely wasn’t your average entity. Well, he was human. Humans fight to survive, everyone down here is human in their own way.