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Book of Darkness: Chapter 4

Decimator of Light: Book of Darkness Chapter 4: Gray World Extraction

“Alanore?” The lady asked in her charming voice. She giggled when her companion turned so suddenly that he ended up spilling the strange, foaming liquids from the beaker all over his hands. Thankfully, they were in gloves, but she knew the contents shouldn’t have been very dangerous, regardless.

“Sorry, sorry!” The man cried, face burning in embarrassment. “I didn’t get any on you, did I?”

“Calm down,” she said simply with a second giggle and waved her right hand over the spills. As her fingers hovered over the foam, the strange liquid seemed to evaporate into nothingness. “See? It is just fine.”

“What would I do without you?” The man laughed to himself before turning away to scrub the beakers in the sink. With his back to her, the woman’s smile faded. She looked down at her hands, and for just a moment, they seemed to let the light in, becoming temporarily translucent. They then went back to normal; it only lasted for a brief second, and the man didn’t notice at all.

Soon, the scrubbing slowed and then stopped altogether. “Say...Enatha,” the man fidgeted, as though trying to bring up a subject that made him uncomfortable. “Do you think that maybe it’s about time we told someone about...this?” He turned, slowly, obviously worried what the woman would think of the suggestion.

Her dark eyes softened, and a guilty smile spread across her lips.

“Soon. We will, soon,” she reassured him. “We merely need more time to study. The more we know, the more easily our peoples will accept such a drastic discovery -- the more answers we will be able to give them. And the less frightened they shall be because of it. Fear is the killer of new discoveries.”

Relief washed over the man’s face instantly. “Right! Of course you’re right!” He pulled his gloves off and slapped them onto the counter before walking towards the woman. “You’re always right! Why would we want to rush? We have all the time the Light can give, after all!” He clapped his hands onto her shoulders in excitement. The woman jumped slightly in surprise; she still had not grown entirely used to such physical contact, especially not when it seemed so out of place.

“Right,” she lied looking directly into his white eyes, feigning a small smile. He did not notice her distress, but that was the way she preferred it. The burden was hers to bear. There was no need to worry him. Not yet.

He couldn’t breathe.

Cin gasped loudly, trying to gulp down air as he sat bolt-upright in shock. His face was wet. His nose was stuffed.

“What...?” Cin touched a hand to his face and quickly realized that he had been crying.

Still groggy, he hurriedly wiped any sign of tears away from his cheeks and eyes. He was about to clear his throat when a small snore from Kazuko reminded him that his two friends were asleep on the couch beside him. So instead, he made his way to the nearest bathroom and turned on the light, hissing in pain and squinting when the room was illuminated.

Cin did his best to look at his face in the mirror. What was going on? Him, crying? He’d barely even teared up when he’d been stabbed earlier. He hadn’t really cried since the third grade, and now he was bawling because of something he saw in a dream? A dream with the two people he saw almost every night? People he saw so often that he could draw them from memory, no less?

But the emotions in the dream had been so much stronger than they usually were. Deep down, Cin already knew what was different. That had been what had overwhelmed him.

Cin had always viewed his dreams from the sidelines, as though watching a movie. But this time, he had seen everything from the woman’s point of view. He had felt her happiness around the man, the pang of fear and sadness when her hands had faded, and the horrible agony boiling inside of her as she lied right to the man’s face. She had remained composed in the dream, able to mask her feelings, but in the waking world, Cin had not been able to do the same.

Cin managed to tear his eyes away from the mirror and turned on the cold water, cupping his hands to catch it and splash it onto his face. He let out a small sigh, enjoying the cooling effect the water was having on his skin. He kept his eyes shut, not because of the light, but to try and empty his head of all other things around him. He wanted to focus on the dream now, while he could still remember.

Alanore and Enatha...So those were their names. He had never heard them before. Usually, Cin couldn’t remember or even understand a single word the two were saying. This dream, and the one he’d been woken up from in class the day before, were the only times he could remember hearing actual words, though the one in the classroom hadn’t had Alanore in it. Being able to recall their names and a good part of their conversation was a huge accomplishment.

But why had that woman, Enatha, felt so guilty? Though Cin had felt what she had felt, he hadn’t been able to understand the reasons behind her emotions, and Alanore had seemed completely clueless as to what she was actually feeling. She seemed to be have been hiding something from him, and she’d been doing a good job of it, too. But no matter how much he wracked his brain, Cin couldn’t figure out what she was hiding or why she would even want to. Those two always seemed so close in all his dreams, they always seemed to speak to openly to one another. Why would Enatha hide something from Alanore?

The teen shook his head a bit and wiped his face off with a towel before turning off the light. He was instantly able to relax his eyes. The dream was bothering him considerably, enough to start a headache, and the light had only been agitating him further. He headed back towards the couch that he and his two friends had fallen asleep on, trying to push the thoughts aside and relax his temples enough to keep his skull from throbbing.

The television had not been turned off, so Cin knew he had definitely not been the only one to have fallen asleep before the movie had ended. He found Mark and Kazuko’s forms in the dim light from the television screen, and he couldn’t help a faint smile from finding its way to his lips. Kazuko was wrapped tenderly in a blanket as her head rested in Mark’s lap. She snored in her sleep, mouth hanging open with a bit of drool glistening down her cheek, looking about as graceful as a ruffled turkey. Mark was sitting cross-legged, one of his hands tangled in the girl’s hair; he had fallen asleep scratching her head, and still had a blissful smile on his lips because of it.

In her sleep, Kazuko turned to her side, pressing her forehead against the blond’s stomach. She closed her mouth for a moment, just long enough to smile and nuzzle him a bit, while her fingers clung unconsciously to his shirt. Cin bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. It was funny to him, how Kazuko’s feelings only seemed honest when she wasn’t awake to stop them.

But the urge to laugh stopped when he saw Mark’s face. Cin had expected the boy to melt at the girl’s touch, like it usually did, but instead, Mark’s expression was tight, strained, as though a wave of nausea had just punched him right in the gut. The blond’s breathing quickened and sweat was already pooling on his forehead, as though he was about to be sick. The blond gave a weak whimper, turning his head to the side in his troubled sleep.

Cin started to panic, eyes darting left and right to try and find anything that could help. If Mark threw up on Kazuko, she would never forgive him, and Mark would never forgive himself. But what could Cin do? Get a bucket? Medicine? Was it best to just pull Mark to the bathroom?

A small creak halted Cin’s thoughts.

The teen’s heart stopped as he whirled around, half expecting someone to be standing behind him, half expecting something to fall from the ceiling. Cin stood still, eyes darting back and forth, looking for something – anything -- that could have possibly made that noise. But nothing happened.

Slowly, Cin let out the breath he’d been holding in, the panic soon being replaced with a feeling of deep annoyance and embarrassment. He wasn’t usually a paranoid or jumpy person -- it was all because of one unlucky day and one silly dream. That sound had been nothing, probably just the house settling, and yet Cin’s heart was still drumming violently against his breast-bone. He was usually so stress-free; at this rate, Cin was sure he was going to have a heart attack before he graduated high school.

Then he heard a second creak.

Cin’s heart and breathing both stopped this time. There was no way that he had imagined the creak this time. It had been the distinct sound of a floorboard bending under someone’s foot. And it was coming from almost directly above him.

Cin’s eyes slowly moved up towards the ceiling. Above him? How could there possibly have been anyone above them? There was only one way to enter the house, and that was through the front door. Had someone broken in while the three had slept and just sneaked right past them? The thought made Cin’s skin crawl.

The windows were all locked, so there was only one way to enter the room that Cin and his friends were in. That meant that there was no way for someone to sneak up on them as long as they stayed in this room. All Cin had to do was call the police, wake his two friends, and then the three could sit together ready to defend themselves against any threat that dared enter from the corridor until the police arrived. It was a solid plan, a safe plan. Cin didn’t want to wake his friends before the police were on their way, so quietly patted his chest, looking for his cell phone. He froze, his hand catching nothing but emptiness. It wasn’t there.

Cin mentally cursed himself. He had forgotten it at home; he had actually been so desperate to leave his house, he’d dropped it and left it when Mark had come to get him. Well, there were Mark and Kazuko’s phones. He looked to his friends, but instantly realized the issue with that plan. Kazuko wasn’t really wearing something that would have pockets, so he had no idea where her phone could be. Mark’s was probably in his pocket, but Kazuko head was in his lap. Any sound from either of them could alert their visitors upstairs, and he’d rather start running for his life after the police were on their way rather than risk having to run before they even managed the call in the first place.

But how else could he call the cops? Cin looked around and saw a squarish object on the end table. Kazuko’s home still had a land line – Cin had almost forgotten those still existed. He let out a very slow breath of relief and inched towards it, quietly as he could, using the faint glow from the television as his guide.

That was, until the light on the television suddenly turned off.

It took every ounce of Cin’s self-control to keep himself from shouting in surprise. He strained his ears, trying to hear something, anything, but to his relief, he couldn’t make out any voices or the sounds of anyone walking towards him. And then he realized he couldn’t hear anything; no hum from the heater, no vibration from the refrigerator. The power had gone out entirely.

Cin forced himself to swallow down his fear, though it definitely struggled getting down his throat with how dry it had suddenly gotten. He reached the end table he’d been aiming for and groped around until he found the familiar shape of the phone receiver. Relief washed over him as he gripped it tightly, bringing it to his ear, fingers ready to press the number nine. He held his breath, listening as he waited for the dial tone so that he could start. He waited. And waited. But it never came. There was only silence.

The line was dead.

Cin stood where he was for a moment, lowering the receiver and staring at it with disbelief in his eyes. Fear climbed up his legs, reaching for his heart and lungs, threatening to grip those organs tightly in its icy claws. Now panic had full reign over his body, numbing his muscles, making it difficult to even swallow anymore, but he forced his brain to continue thinking.

He had to wake his friends. He had to wake them up, and try to leave the house with the two of them. That was the most responsible thing to do after realizing a stranger was inside a home and the power and phone lines had been cut, right? Cin knew that. He could picture it – waking Mark with a hand over his mouth, whispering quickly to him what was going on, and the two of them doing the same with Kazuko. Then they could sneak out and run to her neighbor, an elderly woman who practically had the cops on speed dial and would love nothing more than to be the hero. They would be safe with her. It was the appropriate thing to do. He understood that. And yet...

This couldn’t have been a coincidence, not after everything that had happened earlier that day. Something was going on, something that had been planned out, somehow set up. Cin didn’t know what it was, he didn’t know why it was happening, he didn’t even know how something so strange could have all been planned out in the first place, but he knew he was the target. Only him. Fear gave his heart an extra tight squeeze as he realized it.

He looked over and saw Mark flinch in pain as Kazuko peacefully slept on, completely unaware of anything being wrong. For some reason, Cin knew, deep inside, that whatever was going on right now – it didn’t involve either of them. He didn’t know how or why he knew this. He had no logical reason to believe it -- Mark’s odd facial expression appeared at about the same time that Cin had noticed the creak, and whoever was upstairs was in Kazuko’s home, not his. But Cin was positive. He knew somewhere in the furthest, darkest recesses of his mind or soul or whatever it was, that this didn’t involve his two friends. It was as though the thought had simply always been with him, just like any other fact of life. He, Cin, was the only one in danger. And if he wanted it to stay that way, he had to get away from his friends.

Cin inhaled sharply and looked towards the corridor leading to the stairs. It was right there for him to walk through. He knew he had to walk away from his two best friends to keep them safe, but his legs suddenly feeling as heavy and stiff as lead. He looked once between the doorway and the sleeping figures, thinking one more time about his original idea. He could have still woken the two up tried to run away, get to Kazuko’s neighbor. It was a much smarter option, a much safer one, a more logical one. He had to be an idiot to listen to some weird, illogical feeling in his gut. He’d have to be insane to.

Then he tore his eyes away from his friends and sneaked out of the room.

As Cin skulked quietly away, he never saw Mark’s pained expression slowly ebb away. The agony melted away like ice, back into a relaxed state, as though the blond had never been uncomfortable in the first place.

In the corridor, Cin held his breath as he made his way up the marble staircase, glad that the stone made no sound under his socks. As he neared the top of the steps, any doubts about there being intruders vanished -- he could hear voices whispering to one another. There was definitely someone – several someones -- there. The teen stopped at the final step and leaned against the railing, straining his ears to try and hear what was going on, but no matter how he trained, he couldn’t make out any of the conversation or even figure out how many people were talking. He had to get closer.

Even as he thought it, Cin knew he was an idiot. Why was he getting closer? Why did he care? Why hadn’t he just run away, instead? Made a big fuss so these people would run after him and leave Kazuko and Mark alone? But his body was almost on autopilot. He had to see why these people were after him, no matter how amazingly stupid that decision was.

After swallowing nervously, Cin crouched low and inched towards the door that the sounds were emanating from. It was the office, the room Kazuko’s mother could usually be found in during her short visits to America. It was so strange, hearing so many voices coming from it, all so quiet; it was the opposite of the usual angry yells and loud threats into the receiver that came from that room. When Cin reached the entrance, his heart leaped into his throat, both thrilled and terrified as he realized that the door was slightly open, just enough for someone to peek inside.

Before proceeding, Cin tried to his best to take control of his body. Sweat was running down his back, his breaths were quick and shallow, and his heart was thumping so loudly in his ears that he was amazed that whoever was in the room couldn’t simply hear it slamming against his chest with every pump. The thought that this was all a terrible, horrible idea popped back into Cin’s mind again, but he simply couldn’t run away without seeing who these people were. He needed to know how they could have possibly been involved with the other things that had happened earlier that day. It was insane of him to think that it was even possible, but he was convinced of it. He had to see; it was as though his whole spirit was being drawn towards the door. So, he took one more strained breath and leaned forward peek into the crack left in the door.

He instantly knew he made a horrible mistake.

There were five figures. One was sitting in the center on top of the desk as though it was a throne, and the other four were standing, looking right at him with their arms respectfully behind their backs. Cin saw that each one was completely bald, and they were all wearing the same pitch-black uniforms, armor, and head-bands. The part of the headbands that touched their foreheads looked to be made out of cloth, but the part which should have been tied back into a knot was instead made of thin, metallic strings that laced through one another like little plant vines. But despite their strange, assassin-line appearance, what bothered Cin most was the fact that they had something in common with him: their eyes. He could see the eyes of three of the people, and all three pairs had black irises, just like his. Just like Enatha’s. Just like so many of the other ones from his dreams.

Cin was frozen, unable to think properly, unable to anything but stare at these people. In the back of his mind, he knew he should have run -- the black uniforms probably meant that they were some sort of robbers who pretended they were ninjas or something. But Cin’s brain didn’t completely register those thoughts. He wasn’t even processing what they were talking about, even though he was close enough to make out every word. All he could do was sit and stare, hypnotized by these people and their strange appearance, wondering if he was awake or asleep. When Cin eventually remembered how to breathe again, he finally started to pick up on the conversation.

“--Come back with us, whether he wants to or not,” the one in the center finished explaining.

“What if we hurt him?” the largest one asked in a low rumble of a voice, a voice that seemed capable of staring an earthquake if it were ever used at a louder volume.

“Well, it is p-permissible, erm, in this pa-particular case,” the thinnest replied nervously. That one was a woman, and she sounded like someone who felt that she was speaking out of place. “Any damage d-done to the body will be of little c-consequence once we Extract him, I mean. Com-Compared to what may happen, oth-otherwise.”

“It is vital that we get him now,” the leader agreed with her, getting up from his spot on the desk. Cin’s jaw dropped; instead of simply hopping to his feet, the man seemed to hang in the air for several seconds, like a slow motion movie. It was as though gravity had no real effect on him. “The Others have discovered him as well, and many humans here have been Saturated in preparation for some sort of ambush, likely a capture. Our Abilities have stopped having a clear effect through the Oval Mirrors. We have barely managed to help him survive three separate attacks, I had to physically interfere with the second. If we do not Extract him now, we risk his life. We are doing what is best for him and for our people. Do not forget this. Do not waiver.” Cine assumed that was supposed to be motivational, but the last comment sounded a lot more like a threat to him.

The group nodded their heads together with murmurs of agreement. They then continued speaking to each other in quieter voices, trying to formulate some sort of plan. Amongst all the chatter, the man in the very back, the shortest and least threatening-looking of the uniformed people, turned his head and looked towards the doorway. He looked right at Cin.

The teen’s eyes widened in horror, wondering if he was imagining this or not, wondering if he should start running. The man just watched him silently, and then gave Cin a calm, apologetic smile. Cin completely froze. A smile? Why would he be smiling at Cin?

The man then bowed his head slightly, as though asking for forgiveness, and formed words with his mouth, as though trying to send Cin a message. The teen felt his breath catch in his throat. He could have sworn that guy had just tried to tell him, ‘Your friends will be safe.’

Cin continued to stare, dumbfounded. He opened his mouth, almost ready to ask a question as though he and this man were having a normal conversation, when a second pair of eyes locked onto him. These eyes weren’t nearly as kind, and soon the other three pairs followed suit.

For almost ten whole seconds, there was a deathly silence as the five strangers stared at Cin, and Cin stared right back. Neither side seemed to know what was supposed to happen next; neither had planned to get caught. No one moved, no one seemed to even be breathing. Finally, the leader of these people seemed to snap out of it.

“Sterk! Grab him!” the leader shattered the silence with an order. Everyone seemed to snap out of their stupors, and the largest man hurled towards Cin, amazingly fast for someone his size. Cin’s legs lifted him back to standing automatically, and what seemed to be an instant, he was bounding down the stairs and then forcing the front door open with his shoulder. Cin only realized that he was running when he felt the snow crunching beneath his socks. He and Mark had jogged together more than a few times in their lives, and at that moment, Cin regretted every sarcastic and whiny remark he had ever made during those sessions.

The teen looked back, trying to see how close these people were, and his heart leaped into his throat. The leader was floating out from the second-story window like a feather dropping from a bird’s wing. Beside him, landing not quite as softly, but just as safely, was the largest one with the deep voice. The other three burst out of the home’s front door only a few seconds later, the same door Cin had used. The four underlings started running after him; the leader floated through the air like a superhero instead.

Cin turned his eyes in front of him again and picked up speed, but he knew that he wouldn’t last long just running from them. That big guy was fast, and that skinny woman looked to be just as quick. Cin wasn’t a real runner like Mark; there was no way he was going to make it to somewhere with a phone without them cutting him off, first. Even worse, Cin didn’t know if these people were violent or not, so he didn’t know if heading into some place crowded like a bar or a gym was a good idea. What if they had guns on them? It was impossible to tell with the armored plates they had on.

“AAH-!” Cin’s thoughts stopped as he suddenly jerked forward, almost falling onto his face. His foot was stuck on something. For a terrifying moment, a feeling of defeat welled up in his stomach, telling him that this was the end, that he was caught, that he wouldn’t be able to free himself in time with those people at his heels. But his foot was released before he even had time to look down, and Cin ran, not bothering to figure out what had happened. They were right behind him -- he could hear their feet crunching against the snow and their panting breath. The big guy and the woman were right behind him, while the others trailed behind them, the leader still in the air.

Suddenly, his foot was caught again. Cin jerked so violently that he swore his foot must have come unhinged for at least a second. This time he looked down, positive that something was going on there. His entire foot was encased in ice, a sort of ice he had never seen before. It looked less clear, much more like tightly-packed snow, but it had a frozen, icy sheen to it. Cin would’ve never thought it would have been as hard as it was if he hadn’t had his foot trapped inside it, unable to pull it away no matter how much he yanked. But just as quickly as Cin had felt his foot get incased in it, the strange ice fell apart, turning into snow and allowing Cin to pull his foot free.

Unable to believe what he had just seen, he looked back, hoping that he was just hallucinating this entire time and there weren’t really people chasing after him. But there they were, the two quickest ones only twenty feet away. For some reason, the woman was aiming her index finger right at his feet, as though she was able to shoot some sort of beam from the tip. The large man smiled encouragingly.

“Good aim, Frio! Keep at it, we’re catching up! Don’t stop!”

“I have t-to be careful! I cannot hit his foot -- it d-does not work well with organic matter!” She responded, her expression filled with worry and her finger retracting partially into her first.

“That is no excuse! Our Reversers shall fix him if necessary!” The leader’s voice rang from the sky. Upon hearing that voice, the woman’s thin body stiffened with shame, slowing her run. “Keep going, Frio. That is an order!”

“Y-yes, Captain Veder!” The woman called behind her obediently, pointing her finger at Cin once again, but this time with much less precision and care.

Cin ran faster than he ever had in his life. Whatever she had done to the snow, he knew he didn’t want done to his foot or any other part of his body. The fear was an amazing motivator; he didn’t even care how cold he was anymore, and he couldn’t remember ever being colder. His feet were too numb to feel anything anymore, even through the holes he had ripped into his socks. All he could focus on now was running and how close those people behind him sounded; Cin was past wondering if what he was doing was safe for others or not.

The teen made a sharp turn, ducking into the garden behind someone’s house. Just as he passed a large oak tree, the tree made an odd sound, like something between someone squeezing a cork out of a wine bottle and snapping a twin. His eyes automatically shifted towards it, never having heard such a sound come from anything before. A moment later, a thunderous snap echoed throughout the area as splinters exploded from the center of the tree. There was no longer enough wood to support the trunk, and the tree toppled over with second a thunderous crack, right onto the roof of the shed in this person’s backyard.

Cin only saw this through the corner of his eye and was mildly surprised to find that he was actually more frightened than he had been a second ago. So that was what the woman had meant about her pointing-thing not mixing well with organic matter. It wasn’t like Cin had doubted her words, but it was nice to have a demonstration and not wonder about what sort of fate awaited him.

The boy forced his way through a small opening in a wooden fence, feeling some splinters embedding deeply into his arm and stomach as he squeezed past. He was so cold and panicked by then, though, he barely recognized the feeling as pain. He simply kept running, mind racing as quickly as his feet, trying to think of some way out, any way out. Usually, ideas came to Cin out of nowhere. He had always been able to think of a way out of any tight situation; he almost had a sixth sense for it. No matter how dangerous life had been, he had always been able to count of sudden flashes of wisdom to get himself to safety.

But now, there was nothing. His mind wasn’t giving him anything. It just kept repeating the same thing over and over: that he was in danger and that he had to run. No suggestions as to where, not telling him which direction, just that he had to run, and nothing more. Nothing new was coming to him, not a single way to weasel away from these people, no way to distract them, no way to hide from their attacks. Out of all the times for his mind to fail him, why did it have to be now?!

A tree right in front of him suddenly burst as the last one had. This time, though, he couldn’t avoid the splinters, and he had to bring his arms up to shield his eyes as the pieces of wood blasted out and dug into his skin. Amongst the many smaller pieces, one the size of his finger embedded itself three inches into Cin’s forearm. All the cold in the world couldn’t have kept him from feeling that one, and Cin staggered back, hissing in pain, blood dripping to the ground, staining the snow.

They were close. Cin had lost the pursuers momentarily by ducking through that fence, but now he was on a dark road with nothing but trees to his left and right -- nothing but ammunition for that finger-pointing woman. If he were to duck behind one, he’d only get hit by more splinters. But he couldn’t go back towards the houses; they would block off his path easily. There was no way he could run around all five of them, especially when one could see him from the air.

“There he is!” he heard the Captain cry from the sky. “Frio, Sterk! On the black path!”

“Yes, Captain!” The two said in unison. Cin swallowed deeply, took a moment to think over how stupid of an idea this was, and then ran off the road, into the bright snow, ducking between trees.

He had hoped for at least a few seconds of avoiding them, but that had been too much to ask for. Cin realized his mistake all too quickly.

Frio could send those blasts faster than he had thought, and within five steps, he had tree bits flying at him from all directions. He instinctively protected his face, feeling the wood embed itself into his arms, his legs, his stomach, his chest and his back, tearing right through his thin sleep-wear. The splinters came in waves, causing more searing pain just as one set was about to give him a second of reprieve. He let out a loud cry of pain, reeling backwards, and falling to one knee. His body shook violently, not only from the sudden agony washing over his body, but also from the exhaustion of running this entire time. Now that he stopped, his whole body was screaming for more oxygen and energy, going still from overuse. Blood dripped from almost every inch of his flesh and his breath was causing the air all around him to steam up as he gasped to breathe. And worst of all, the adrenaline was beginning to fade as the inevitable realization began to sunk in.

This was it. He was caught. Not only did he not have the energy to keep running, but if he tried, he would leave a rich, red trail leading right to his location. There was no way to escape.

But instead of being scared of what was to come, Cin just found himself bitter and angry. This was all because he had been unable to think clearly, all because panic had overtaken him. His mind had forsaken him completely and he’d ended up running like an animal with its head cut off instead of doing anything worth-while with his energy. He couldn’t even believe it. The sting of being betrayed by his own mind was even worse than the fear of what these people were going to do with him.

“I got you!”

Before he could react properly, Cin’s felt someone’s hand on his shoulder, jerking him backwards, and a rough cloth covered his mouth. He tried to yelp in surprise, trying to struggle against it, but when he breathed in, the world suddenly became fuzzy. His vision narrowed into a long tunnel, and then tilted violently one way, then the other, making him light-headed and dizzy. He was so tired, so very exhausted, almost incapable of keeping his eyes open in this world anymore.

“Pila, where did you get that!?” The Captain’s voice rang out, echoing slightly inside of Cin’s head as the teen began to succumb to the urge to sleep.

“It’s safer than anything else we could have done! It really doesn’t feel right, any of us hurting the Decimator.”

This other woman’s voice was the last thing Cin heard before he drifted off into darkness.