ZERO's Story

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Zero came, he would get the vessel out, yes, the Monster knew it could depend on him. It reached up, attempting to break free of the suffocating cocoon of darkness. "Let go!" The Monster screamed again, pulling up with all its strength. Zero was tearing at the flesh that encased the vessel, he wanted his toy back, the Monster realized, his little Doll. She wanted him too, not the Monster of course, but the girl. It tugged with all its might, eyes wide with panic as it continued to encase it. Finally, with one last heave of effort, the Monster was thrown from the cocoon. The vessel rolled on the ground towards the door, landing within grasp of a red haired man and a strange boy. Oh yes, that boy, the one that had threatened the vessel before, the one that hated the girl.

"Zero!" It screamed, the boy taking its place in the cocoon. "No!" Emotion was overcoming it, the Monster could feel it inside. The girl was trying to break free out of desperation. The Monster bit into its thumb, ripping open a wound. Using the blood that spilled out, it formed a weapon no larger than a dagger. "Release him!" It screamed and using the last of its strength, shot a the dagger through the enemy's chest. Its eyes returned to that clear turquoise, Doll's body slumped on the ground, not seeing the results of the Monster's efforts. It didn't matter, she wouldn't remember it anyhow. Grell grabbed Doll's limp body, shielding her with his own. "We need to get out of here!" He yelled, coughing, he took off his sweater and tied the arms around Doll's mouth and nose so that she wouldn't inhale the poison.

"Save him," Doll whispered, "please, don't give up yet." The Monster was back inside of the mirror, the girl weeping outside of it. "I cannot," the Monster refused. "But you must! I-I love him," she grasped her shirt in her hand, over her heart. "It hurts, thinking of him not being there." The Monster shook its head, "pitiful to fall in love, you should know very well it's impossible for us to be with a Being." Doll shook her head, "I don't care!" She placed both hands on the mirror now, "I don't care! Please, just save him." The Monster shook its head once more, "it does not matter how much you beg, you will not be able to release me again. Now sleep, you won't remember this when you wake up, I guarantee."

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❝you can have anything in life, if you will sacrifice everything else for it.❞
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Ren attacked Vakira too, with all he had, but even that wasn't enough. She kept dodging with her own tentacles and moving with a speed he couldn't keep up. Grell had snatched him back, and finally had the girl in his arms.

The blood dagger had cracked once it struck, then it too was absorbed into Vakira. She laughed maniacally. "That won't do, I told you , I won't be defeated!" She let the cacoon finish its job and then it just dried up and fell apart. Her large tentacles swept the air, attempting to clear the haze. Now that Loretta had been removed, so too the poison. She appeared as a mere woman, her pale skin lost the scary vines. That could only mean—

"Zero!" Ren struggled against Grell's hold but the purple haze in the air made him cough.

A shot rang out. Dark blood blossomed Vakira's chest and she collapsed. Grell re-loaded. "She's down, but it won't be long, we have to—"

Levi dropped in from the giant hole at the wall, he covered his nose and met Grell's eyes.

"Grab her, she got Zero." He held on to Ren and Loretta and took the lead. They had to get out of here.

"What?" Levi approached the woman, she was a mess. He plucked her from the ground and hefted her up and over his shoulder. He followed them out and shook his head from the strange dust in the air.

"There's a confinement chamber down the west wing, we can lock her up there." Levi said, pointing as he kept close.

"We should just kill her, she absorbed Zero." Ren shook free of Grell and stomped ahead.

"That's not how we do things."

"I should've killed her a long time ago."

"But then we won't know what she's after."

"The Phantom Gene. Ring a bell?"

"That's a rumor."

"Not anymore."

The group found the west wing's chamber where Levi dropped Vakira into a cot and sealed her inside. Grell continued on ahead where he ended up clashing with a scientist intent on escaping. He forced the white coat into helping secure Loretta into a suitable room where her injuries were accessed and taken care of. He too would be questioned, naturally.

Ren stared through the dirty glass, watched the enemy unmoving on the bed. Lucky, so lucky, she was kept from him. Because the next time he got his hands on her—

"She'll answer to us when she wakes. Don't get ahead of yourself, kid."

"You don't know her like I do. She has history with us, especially Father."

Levi crossed his arms and glared at Vakira. "Great, more secrets."

---

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Doll awoke feeling that something was amiss. Her head was heavy, her limbs weak and she had the taste of ashes in her mouth. What was going on? Doll sat up slowly, head spinning like a top. It was as though there was an echo in her brain, it felt empty. Doll attempted to stand, but her legs felt week and she couldn't stand the thought of going anywhere. What was this heaviness in her heart? Why did it hurt? Doll slumped back against the mattress, there was something in her arm, a board tapped to it so that she couldn't bend her elbow. There were bandages in various places on her body and pajamas she was wearing were ripped. They were the same clothes that she had been wearing since they left home, but Doll could not recall why they would be so torn up.

"Zero?" Doll questioned, her words slightly slurred. A cursory glance over the room showed that she was alone. Had everything been a dream? Had Doll been inside of the Zoo this entire time? Perhaps she had been in a drug induced sleep that had made her think up all of those characters? Any minute now Doctor Atarashi would come in and take her back to her room, Doll was certain of it. Not that nice room with its book and toys and plush animals, those had all been dreamed up. Grell was fake, no doubt. There was no adventure, no travelling around the world, that was too good to be true for a human like her. No, Dr. Atarashi would come and bring her back to that little room in the rehab zoo, where she would stay until they deemed her suitable for something.

Doll tried to laugh, but it was a broken, strangled noise. It was easier to cope with a loss when you believed that it had never existed in the first place. She curled into a ball on her side and hugged her pillow, facing the wall. There was no Zero, Doll told herself, it was all just a dream, too good to be true. There was no place Doll belonged, she was a human and would never maount to anything, just like the rest of the humans. "Humans are toys, why would I be any different?" She whispered. Who would ever be crazy enough to love a broken thing like her? Another toy that had been played with too roughly, who would eventually be discarded, just like the rest of them.

"Zero," Doll whispered in a pain induced haze. Who was Zero? Zero was the one she loved, the one her heart yearned for, even if her brain said he no longer existed.

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❝Dark was the night, cold was the ground.❞
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"Kid, hey, where you going?" Levi asked. The boy didn't listen, as usual, he got some funny ideas in his head and took off. Just like his dad. "Don't make me hunt ya down."

"Focus on Vakira."

Grell returned from his check on Loretta looking worse for wear. "I called Dr Atarashi, he's on his way." Grell nodded to the glass, "She talk?"

Levi smirked, "No, but I can shock her till she does."

"Be careful."

"I can't promise that." He tapped the pane, the woman in black was draped over the rusted railing. She turned back, insect eyes glittered in the dim light. Her lips quirked into a tilted grin. "Can't keep me locked up forever, dearest."

"You got my kid, that's the only thing keepin' you alive."

"Then I propose a deal, you govee what I want and I can see about returning your son."

"The Phantom, yeah, sorry, not happening sister."

She shrugged, "Then his death is on you, it's not that difficult really. Give me the girl and I'll return Zero."

"I'm not making any deals with you."

"Then I'm afraid you'll never see him again." She chuckled and gave her back to them. "Get me something to drink at least, I'm parched."

"Nah, I think I'll let you choke on your own tongue."

Her shoulders shook with laughter. "You're the worst house guest you know, this is no way to treat your—"

He pounded at the glass, "Shup up. You're my prisoner."

"Am I?" She glanced over her shoulder, "I'm exactly where I want to be, dearest."

*

The vault door, where is it? Course Ren had remembered its odd design, like something ancient and foreign. Yet his wonderings had him going in circles and he ended up walking into her room. Father had created that darkness in her. Did it mean only she could find it? But why her? Why did he plant something so dark into a human?

There she was curled up in bed, wires and IV lines, almost a mummy in all those bandages. No one had told her, but she acted like she already knew. The air was dry and chilled. A strange weight pressed down on him and he paused.

Stupid brother and his lies. He nearly turned back, he had to find the vault, even if Zero wasn't around. But a sickly feeling made his stomach turn. He couldn't leave yet, he had to do something here. But what? He closed the distance between himself and the bed. He gripped the rail of the footboard and shook it. "Zero and I, there was something we had to do. But now, it's not just us." He had to get it out somehow, "You're apart of this family, and I know it's what he'd want. So, Loretta, come with me."

---

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A man with red hair came to see her, the familiar Grell, who Doll had been hoping did not exist. So it was true then? All of it? None of this was a bad dream, Zero was really gone. Doll felt sick at the thought that her mind had tried to discourage his existence, it continued to falsify and edit memories in what it thought was to protect herself. Sometimes her mind acted separately from her will. "Zero's dead, isn't he?" She asked very quietly, her words a whisper on the wind. Grell nodded, no words needed to be spoken between them, the heartbreak was already too much for one person to bear. Then again, so was the burden of having a hear.

If she was ruthless like Ren, then perhaps Doll would never need anybody. She could walk around with such a carefree momentum that others would relax in her wake. Doll could not do that though, Doll did not want to do that. Just like Cinderella, whose ball ended at midnight and whose glass slipper shattered, Doll's heart had broken like glass. What were the chances of Zero returning? Her heart told her many, her head told her none. Doll did not want to return to the house without him, an empty house with empty rooms, where Doll would do nothing but read. The thought made her cold, even the fact that there may be new books back home did not bring her the joy it once might have had Zero been alive. After all, he was the only reason that Doll could read and write and while she wasn't the best, she did enjoy having these skills.

"What danger is learning a dead language?" His words, not her's. Doll would have never been so bold to speak such brave words without him. "Tell Doctor Atarashi-" tell him what? There wasn't anything for him to fix, if the wound was not treatable by medicine or band aids. "That I'm ready to return home please." But what exactly did home mean without him? Doll turned away, Grell was now walking out of the room. She didn't check to see if he glanced over his shoulder. Doll curled onto her side once again and told herself that this was all her fault. If only she hadn't been here, he would have been able to fight and defend himself.

The door opened slowly, Doll had no interest in talking to anyone. She sat up slowly, appearing almost robotic in her motions. "Family...." Doll whispered, "there's no chance of him coming back to us, is there?"

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❝there was a bird of many colors, one that wanted to fly. But it's wings were broken.❞
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"Look at you, a shapeless ghost with no tether. You're making it worse." Vakira's voice echoed agaisnt his brain, rattled every nerve in his body. Or, what was left of it. Where was he? Why was this place so...? He couldn't see anything passed the stormy horizon, the flash of light, its low rumble. Nothing but stone and high-risen cliffs that pierced the sky. Vakira sat on a throne of withered bones and intricately carved marble. She sampled a red vino from a goblet and wore what looked like a gown crafted from cob webs and moonbeams. "Watching you fade, slowly, agonizingly has been the most entertaining thing all day."

Zero peered down at himself, she was right. Half of him cloaked in black, a black so deep it absorbed all the light, not that there was much. He lost feeling from the waist down, and the numbing frost spread. Inched closer and closer. Would it kill him once it reached his heart? He didn't ask.

"See, if your 'dad', Levi was a smart man, he'd listen to my terms and make that deal. Save you, but I guess he doesn't care what becomes of your pitiful existence." She smirked and tilted the goblet to her lips.

Levi was more a dad than their own dad ever was. But a deal? What did that mean? Wait, was this still about the gene? Loretta... Was she—

"Amazing isn't it? That little brat is still alive, but she won't last. If anything, Levi will become desperate and—heh, not so threatening when you're just mist—He'll always choose family. His boys."

"Loretta is family, I l—"

"You can't love anyone if you barely love yourself, your sense of self-worth is nonexistent." She scoffed and a sense of bitterness flared, if she could read his every thought, it went both ways. "You can't even reform yourself. We were created to destroy, not love, dearie."

"Levi won't give her up, he wouldn't ever give up an innocent person."

"Not everyone is trying to redeem themselves, but you," She shook her head, "your heart is so tainted, there's nothing that can save you. You're apart of me now..."

Zero blinked at the shadowy ground, his vision swam with color. A voice from a distance, no, several voices. What?

"Tell him that I'm ready to return home." Loretta. Her voice, her sight, it was like dropping into a swimming pool. Where the shadow realm had been, replaced with a small room. Machines beeped and whirred. There was Grell, he looked so miserable. And the more Zero focused, the clearer his, no, her senses. Loretta moved, something soft, her hair, her cheek pressed into a pillow, her body so incredibly warm.

Then there was Ren's voice, he called her family, asked for help locating the vault. Zero reached out to him. Then remebered.

"What are you, fantasizing?" Vakira asked.

"Yeah, just... Reliving my greatest hits." He let his hand drop and blinked away the room, Ren, her warmth seeped from him and he shivered at the loss. He gripped at his chest, it was hollow, but seeing her again—well, feeling her alive. That was all he needed. She was okay. He had saved her after all.

"I can help you."

"How?"

"This," She refered to the goblet. "Whatever is left of her blood from the last crystal meant to kill me. Take it, give yourself some time."

"What's the price?"

"Not a price," She sat up in the throne, her eyes glinted. " You take this, it'll keep you going a little longer, ease your pain, but ultimately you'll die, or, give up and live forever, without this limerance you've clung to." She held out the goblet, "Dealer's choice."

"I want to live and be with her."

"There is no door number three. But don't be hasty, you have time to think it through."

"I hate both options."

"Like I said. Think about it."

*

Was there even a snowball's chance they'd ever see Zi again? The Ren she thought she knew would've deflected, or brushed off her question. His vision blurred. It was that bastard's fault they were in this mess—no—his fault for not killing Vakira when he had every opportunity. "I don't kn—" For a brief moment, her eyes had bled from turquoise to argent. Eyes that reflected his own, ones he knew. He shook his head, and her eyes were normal again. Great, now he was hallucinating. He rubbed his eye and cleared his sight. But the sting held.

Loretta was like a machine, the light in her eyes dimmed. She was hope. Had been. That's what the other had hated about her.

That's what Zero cherished.

He held his hand out to her, with Vakira around, there was no way. But if they found what they were looking for, if dad left a clue. It was better than nothing. "You aren't human, Loretta." He said, his voice steadier, solid, "you're more human than human, if that makes sense. You're special, powerful." He lowered the rail from the bed, she could do this. They both could. "Zero sacrificed himself for you, are you just gonna sit there feeling sorry and give up? What do you think he'd do if you were there and he was out here?" He wasn't doing this without her, because she was the key, even if she didn't think so.

---

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Ren didn't know, but Doll, Doll didn't want to lose hope. While her eyes said differently, her heart spoke that there was still a chance and that it was still too early to give up. Even if Zero, wherever he was, seemed gone, Doll knew differently. What was this strange attitude change? Maybe it was knowing that if Doll had been the one to disappear, like she had before, Zero would never stop looking for her. Ren affirmed this, he brought Doll back, saying that Zero would never give up, he would never hesitate to sacrifice himself for her. "How can I help?" Doll asked, pulling aside the blanket. The IV was the problem. She slowly peeled off the tape, her legs feeling stronger than they had in ages. Why? Doll didn't know, but she had a feeling that it had to do with the gap in her memories.

She wasn't a human? Doll swallowed, what was this supposed to mean? She was more human than humans? "That doesn't make any sense," Doll said warily, she was always wary around Ren, the brother, the boy who had called her useless and pathetic. What had changed his attitude towards her? Doll didn't know, but she was grateful for it. "Ren, if there's a way to save Zero then, then I won't give up!" She ripped the IV out the rest of the way, the pain making her wince. Doll peeled off the monitors, not minding the rapidly increasing beeps. "Alright, let's go." Where were they going? How were they going to save the being that Doll was so enraptured by?

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❝if you don't wanna drown, start swimming.❞
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And just like that she was on her feet, ready for action. Ren clasped her hand, "Simple. Means you're special." Enough for Father to choose her to possess something incredible. Something no one but her can ever have. "Ok, let's go." Then they were out, racing down familiar paths. Levi and Grell were too busy questioning Vakira to notice.

"This is where it gets tricky. Father planted clues, but it wasn't just for Zero and I." Ren came to a pause at the clearing, there were several doors all leading to different rooms each one he'd checked several times with his dark sight. Maybe he'd missed something. "Zero could open this place, or me, it's sealed with our blood." He started, "Father left the image of the vault entrance on freakkin data sheets. Hidden in plain sight. But now, the door itself is somewhere around here, and I think it all depends on you to find it." He let her hand go, "Follow your instincts. I got your back."

*

"What guarantee do I have that you'll even return him alive?"

Grell nudged Levi, he tugged the bandana down, "What are you doing?"

"Just, let me hear her out." He kept his eyes on the monster who was sitting with her eyes closed and the wicked smile she so loved to wear. She slit those eyes open, "Considering our deal?"

"If I can get the gene, you let him go?"

"Of course, I'm only here for one thing and that's what belongs to me." She licked her lips and rose her brows at his expression, "What? Did you really think that power belonged to a frail shrimp like Doll? Please."

Grell stiffened, "What is she talking about?"

"She's lying, she doesn't know Al. I know her kind."

"That's where you're wrong, see, you don't know me. Aleron and I have quite a history. And it's a damn shame he didn't listen to me when he had a chance. He could have saved himself all this trouble."

Levi slapped the glass, it shook. "Shut up, witch. Al is many things but he's no traitor. He'd never work for you."

Vakira giggled, "More like partnership. Where do you think all this," she gestured their surroundings, "came from? He was a lost researcher with dangerous ideas. Fortunately, I was invested in his secret projects. We were a team, until he screwed me over."

Levi shook his head. "Whatever happened, you deserve it."

"You don't get to decide what I deserve you flannel-wearing idiot." She crossed her arms, "I will take much pleasure, toying with Zero. He's much fun. But you better decide what you'll do, he doesn't have much time left."

"What are you doing to him?" Levi moved to the door, but Grell cut him off and shook his head. "Don't risk it."

"I gave him a choice," Vakira closed her eyes, "What he'll decide will determine just how the game plays out. If you don't give me what I want, he will. All a matter of time, dearie."

---

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She was special? No one had ever called her special before, except Zero and Doctor Atarashi, both for different reasons. Could it be that the two of them could get along? Doll was hopeful, she followed him, bare feet padding softly along the tile, then metal floor. Grell and the other man were too busy to notice two little birds flitting away into the belly of the beast. What could either mean great danger or success depended on where this strange little adventure led the two o them. As of right now, Doll chose to believe that it would lead to success. If she thought otherwise then her feet would stop moving, her breathing would become swift as a rabbit and her heart would ache beyond repair. It was dark down this path and Doll was scared, but once her eyes began to adjust, things weren't as bad. She was doing this for Zero, she was being brave for Zero.

And it was with these words etched into her hearts that she plunged further beyond where the depths of her vision could distinguish furniture from walls and Ren from doors. "He expected someone to be with you then?" Someone along the lines of a trusted friend no doubt, not some arbitrary human who couldn't remember the difference between her right and left. "So we have to find the vault?" He had her back? Such thoughts were comforting. Doll had never thought that anyone, much less Ren, would ever "have her back." Still though, Doll chose to believe that this was not a cruel joke. He too, had lost someone important to him today. The door closed behind them, Doll's hands balled into fists. She took in a steadying breath and closed her eyes for but a moment, "I will do my best." Determination renewed, Doll looked around the room.

"Where do we start?" Doll wondered aloud, feeling around the room with her hands. No, this didn't feel right, her stomach told her so. "I don't think we are in the right room," the human went back to the door and opened it up. She stood stock still for but a moment, then headed to the left, three doors down. How did such a large venue exist underneath that medium sized house? Doll didn't know. She reached for the handle of the door, the knob falling off in her palm. Somehow that was not comforting, but even so, Doll headed inside. The room looked as though no one had stepped inside of it for years. "It's around here somewhere, I-I can feel it." Doll didn't know how or why, but this space seemed so familiar it was scary.

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❝You know it when you've found your telomere.❞
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Her threat, it almost sounded convincing. Grell leant against the wall, his hardened gaze nothing like the man he'd met that first night. Couldn't blame him, they'd been through a lot.

But Levi. Hadn't it been for the glass, he looked like he'd strangle Vakira with his bare hands.

Their images wasn't as clear, but sky-vision was better than nothing. Maybe the connection wasn't that bad.

"Well, Zero, make up your mind?" Her voice like smoke, rose up behind him. How was she here and out there at the same time? Able to divide her consciousness like that?

"Tch- like they'd buy your crap." Zero turned to her, she was back on the throne with the same slick grin. "You can't catch a phantom."

"I love it when there's a challenge, but trust me. I will." She swirled the blood around in the glass, "The question is, what will you do about it?" Her eyes glinted in excitement and anticipation. Like it's a game and she wanted him to play with her or against her.

A game, huh?

Then there's that choice: live with the anxiety that he'll end up dead soon, or exist through her and forget Loretta. Either way, a place without Loretta in the end.

A place without Loretta...?

He reached for the glass, taking it from her. The slight drop of her smile was enough satisfaction. What did she expect?

"I don't trust you with my life." He tipped the glass and downed the rest of the blood, then hurled it at their feet. Glass shattered to pieces. Back at the edge of the cliff, he watched the horizon bleed.

Loretta is my life itself.

*

Course it's around here. Ren had gathered as much. Except father had designed it so that she was the only one who could not only locate the vault but open it. Why? Maybe 'cause it's something meant for her to discover. No way of finding out till they got down to it.

"You know what this means, Loretta?" Ren glanced up at the wavy golden runes scrawled across the walls. "It means you're family. So you're stuck with us."

---

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Her entire life, or at least, as far as she could remember, Doll had been dancing to the tunes of whatever strings the Beings pulled. She would kneel when told, bark when ordered, and danced until her feet ached and toes bled. It was Zero who had offered to change all of this. From the moment they had met her entire world had been rocked, changed forever in the best of ways. Throwing the collar, teaching her to read, offering protection, these were all things that had made Doll feel a sense of belonging. She had always been an outsider looking in, but at the Atarashi household she was included. No one ever made Doll feel as though she truly had a place by their side, not until Zero held out his hand in those first few minutes of their first meeting.

"Family," a word so foreign and yet, so impossibly familiar. Had Doll ever had a family? She didn't think so, not until this moment. A dream she had never realized she wanted, until Ren accepted her, had mentioned that she was now stuck with them. Tears welled up in her eyes, but Doll didn't want to cry, she wanted to be brave for Zero's sake. Surely the answer lay somewhere within this mystery maze of twists and turns? The ghost of halls that were vaguely familiar which Doll had once walked herself but could no longer recollect except in vague puzzle pieces that would make no senses until they were all locked in place. Even now, standing before Ren, Doll had no clue as to how they were going to save Zero. Would the information left for them by Ren and Zero's father be the final piece to the puzzle?

"I always wanted a family."

Doll's feet led her in a way her memory never could. A strange thought occurred to her, that perhaps the loss of her memories was a purposeful act. Perhaps she had been erased? Erased and yet, Doctor Atarashi had found her. Had she been meant to choose what sort of life she wanted to live? To exist within the confines of human or being rather than balancing the staunch tightrope society had laid out upon the first discovery of Beings. "It's in here," Doll gestured to the space they stood inside of. Golden runes were scrawled across the walls that carried no significant meaning to the blonde. "But I don't know what any of this means," Doll ran her hand along the wall, coughing as dust particles filled the air and entered her lungs. The runes glimmered in what little light was provided by a singular flickering bulb. "Can you read it?"

Ren stared up at the characters, each one tugged at him deeply, because it was their "tongue", it was their sight. Every dip and bend, rise and fall pushed and pulled and yet it didn't move him anywhere. Because there were fragments meant for him to see, and accept the rule. The rest enough for her to comprehend. Clever. Truly. But had it been thought-out? Ren doubted. They were in a boat, caught by raged seas, and a lightning bolt above them. What if she couldn't do this? What if she ran out of time? Why did she have to be the one? And why was he just gripping that boat and tossing her the oars?

He glared at the golden fragments, partially wishing he hadn't understood it. Because that was the easier route. Then he glanced back at her, she only learned and latched onto one form of communication. It made sense. And that he got. But... ❝Stop staring like some lost tourist trying to decypher Greek. Open your eyes, see it.❞ He averted his gaze and kept a comfortable distance, all this was strange and new. Course it wasn't that new, he'd been around others, but she was something else. Something he couldn't name. And why father kept planting these seeds was beyond his scope but he wasn't entirely against it. Part of him wanted to just go with it. The other part ignited against the bolt. Who'd strike first?



Zero's chest tightened at the hazy glimmer of reflective gold. It was Father's hand. His message hidden among the outer layers of meaning. He wished he'd been there, he'd shatter the request and just take Loretta's hand, carry the burden anyway. Why was Ren just passengering? Why listen to Father? Why throw away every survival instinct drilled into them? Why didn't he enforce it himself? He shook away the cloud of an impending storm and grasped at the only tether he had. He was as a much a passenger as Ren. More viewer than participant. If anything went sideways, it would, it always would, he couldn't do anything trapped in the in-between. He shouldn't have done this, he shouldn't have made her wonder like this. But if he hadn't she'd be trapped too, wouldn't she? So, was it that bad? And they were searching like it was a grand treasure hunt. They couldn't just give up, even if all he wanted was for Ren to just take her away from all of this.

He dropped his head into his hands, the frost spread through him gathering, burying, smothering. He shook with the inability to escape it. The heaviness of its approach tempted the coiled ball of will. It was the cliff's edge and his arms trembled because he was half-way there, but the drop meant what, defeat? Vulnerability? Fear? Or something else he didn't want to name?

❝Why are there parts of you I can't reach?❞ Vakira's voice dripped and saturated his thoughts with a doze of heat that offered so much and promised little. She was sun and summer, sweet and inviting, with a pull that magnetized him bit by bit.

Her scent cloyed at him, tendrils smoking through his defenses and reaching deeper for the bits he clutched on to. She didn't like secrets she couldn't partake in. She was a nasty floral in bloom, each petal exposing more than she could hold. That's the thing about absorption, you take and you're forced to give. It all just prys apart and you can't filter. Not really. But you can try, with effort, try to hide with all your will. And that's what he could do. Hold on to the fragment. The one thing that held the spotlight of all that was worth keeping.

She stirred and flared with an icy burn. She liked a challenge, it played on her lips, but her eyes held a hard edge to them, adamant. But he kept two moves ahead, if this were a game would she be rattled by the aspect of losing when it seemed like she won?

---

╔╗
With a touch of a hand against the wall she was transported. No longer was Doll contained by four walls in a small,
but quiet room. She stood in a meadow, the wind whistling through dandelions and wildflowers that grew around her feet. TThe breeze whipped her dress and blonde hair and standing there for if only a moment was him. With an outstretched hand he reached for her and before Doll knew what she was going to do she ran, fingertips grazing his. His body burst into a bundle of florals, wildflowers that drifted to the ground as they they were dozing, the wind picking them up a causing them to spiral around her in their own miniature whirlwind. "Zero," the word left her lips the same way one spoke of their favorite memory.

Doll turned, no longer in the meadow but contained in that very room with none other than Ren. He was telling her to look, to top being daft and see beyond what the words wanted to tell. "I don't understand," Doll murmured, touching the wall once more. She felt more than lightly confounded by the puzzle etched in stone. What Ren was asking of Doll was impossible, to read a language she had never learned, to speak in a tongue she could not understand, but Doll would try. With a shuddering breath she closed her eyes and replaced her hand along the wall, walking, feeling, attempting to speak with her heart rather than with her eyes. If the proof was in the pudding, then surely she was the pudding the proof was in? Referencing her genetic code of course.

Wait a minute, that was it, wasn't it? "I think I've found a way to save Zero," Doll gasped, prying her eyes open. She walked towards the beginning of the room and placed her hand along the cold gold stones, taking in a deep breath and running her hands across the stones that could either vastly help or hurt them. "Vakira has a weakness, a fatal flaw," yes, Doll could see it clear as day now. "She can absorb others, correct, but what if she over absorbs?" Doll's eyes snapped open, crinkling at the edges. "I'm not sure if that will work, I read it in a book once, about when you overload a computer with information it begins to corrupt and shut down." Could they possibly shut Vakira down in the same manner?

"As for these words..." Doll trailed off, disappointment ringing in her head. "I have no idea what it means, it's not anything I can understand." But they had one theory, if they could bring Vakira down, would it bring Zero back to them?

Caught by its pull, her stance and gaze seemingly far away. She got it now, didn't she? She claimed she didn't get any of it, but she already did. Then she felt the wall again, what had she seen? Would she she's it again or was she searching for something more?

Ren swept the room, his eye flitted between the cracks along the walls, to the strewn papers and crumbled metal table shoved against the far side of the room. There were lines falling parallel he followed them down to the ground, disappearing under pile of rubble and shards of dusty glass. He tapped the floor, uneven tiles, he tipped one over, the hard lines continued its jagged route.

"A door." Ren bent low to the ground and overturned more tiles. Most of them loose and easily moveable. He searches for its center and then found the empty stone. It was a clear azure color. He glanced up at the girl. She was speaking again. She mentioned a possible theory, overloading Vakira? He cut into his palm and fed the stone his blood. Nothing happened. He figured as much. He stood and kicked away more stones. More jagged lines, and others circling them. Jeez, dad and his puzzles. What was this for? "I think Vakira is keeping Zero until you give her what she wants. Maybe you can bait her, then overrun her absorption with a lethal dose of poison—the only problem is Zero will go down too. I think Zero had that in mind, taking her out from the inside." He punched at the wall, his strike made the stone crumble but nothing else budged. If Zero had gone with him they would have been able to gank the bitch by now. Why did he think he could do this alone? "What happens if this doesn't work Loretta? Any plan B? I've spent months with Vakira, she's not going to be tricked so easily, she can smell deceit. She'll know. We only have one shot at this and—" The room suddenly shuttered into darkness. The hum of electricity died to an eerie silence. Ren blinked into his night vision and crossed the room toward her, he took her hand in his. The only bit of light source came from the golden symbols scrawled on the walls. "Don't let the darkness fool you, you can see past it." He told her.

"Loretta?" That voice, it made Ren pause. Because it sounded too much like his own. "I've been looking for you and Zero—" Then the clone appeared, he stood at the only exit, his shirt torn and bloodied. Apparently Levi hadn't killed him. He locked eyes and his entire body shifted. "Loretta, get away from him, he's not me."

Ren held his guard, he glanced back over his shoulder, guess this was where they parted. She had to get to Vakira. Now or never. "That's not the matter here, is it?" He cocked his head, hopefully she'll get it. Then he charged toward the clone.



"So boys, what will it be?" Vakira walked from end to end, her gaze shifting from the red-head to his newest partner. She hummed, the tune carried a message to its listener. It was time. "If you can't make up your mind, I'll just have to do it for you." She hesitated before the foot of the bed and faced the glass. "Mr White coat, not far from here has set up a nifty little present. One that won't do you any favors. He's doing so as we speak. If I can't get you to hand it over, I'll just take it. And this entire lab will go poof," she gestured with her hands, giggled, "Oh and if you try to stop him, he'll give a signal. That signal will bring Armegeddon down in this hell hole, so, you have ten minutes to get me the Phantom. Or you'll all join the dead Mr Kisaragi."

Levi glared through the glass, his features a mixture of loathing and doubt. My, he looked rather sexy with those brooding shoulders. She just might make him hers too. Dealing with clones and old scientists got boring. And Zero was just a smudge of ink on her prestine mirror. In her eyes, the world shined, at least that was the future. A perfect world. All hers.

Levi gripped Grell by his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Grell made a mad dash for the door. Send in the pitiful one to fetch Loretta? Or on a failed hunt for the scientist? He wouldn't be stopped, Vakira made sure of that. Levi also turned the opposite direction and without a word disappeared out the hall.

Vakira settled on the bed, soon, soon she will have the Phantom. Then she would be complete.

❝I'm gonna follow you
to the ends of the world,
no more looking back.❞

Ren swept the room, his eye flitted between the cracks along walls. There were lines falling parallel, down to the ground, disappearing under pile of rubble and shards of dusty glass. He tapped the floor, uneven tiles, he tipped one over, the hard lines continued its jagged route.

"Is this…?" Ren bent low to the ground and overturned loose tiles. He searched for its center and something glinted—a stone. A clear azure hue. He glanced up at Loretta, the same color as her eyes.

He paused, overloading Vakira? That could work.

He cut into his palm and fed the stone his blood. Nothing happened. Of course.

“Zero’s buying us time, it’s crazy as hell." He returned his attention toward Loretta, “But I think you're right. She’s far too obsessed with power and will take whatever she can.” He smirked, now, they just had to come up with a plan. They had to act fast.

He shook his head, “You picked up something didn’t you? That's pretty much it.”




❈


Where was his strength? Where had it gone? Did he forget what kept him going all this time? Why he needed to keep fighting?

‘You can't fight,’ His thoughts were venomous, unsurprising. The monster wanted to break free, not just destroy everything but his sanity as well. And all this time, he'd been trying si hard to keep it at bay. But his hold was slipping.

No. Zero lifted his face from his hands. What was he doing? What was he waiting for?

'They won't save you. You're not worthy.’

He was sick of just surviving. He wanted to live, dammit.

He exhaled sharply, his breaths were ragged, his body struggled against her beckoning.

'Don't ignore me!’

Zero grit his teeth, oh, he wasn't ignoring it. Not by a long shot.

Vakira’s entire realm shook violently, as though sensing his own push. She appeared then, a mass of black webbing and inky matter reforming and flourishing. “Ah, my little monster is active.” She cast him a sharp smile, “Oh, and what's this, you've got some fight left in you, how exciting.”

Zero reached down, his fingers trembled as his body slowly fell apart. He let his vision shift and the colors deepened. He plunged his hands down to the ground, clawed into it. And a surge of energy struck through his limbs. It jolted sharply through him, made his chest burn with the overwhelming fire now raging within.

‘If you can't handle me, you can't handle her!’

Zero manipulated the bend of flow of power, shifted it by sheer force so that it was his. He learned from the best.

Vakira chuckled, “I see what you're trying to accomplish, but it won't work,” she crossed her arms, “You forget I control everything here. You’re out of your league, child.”

Zero smirked, the blinding inferno colored his world into deep red. Only her outline stuck out in edges, his thoughts smoked, only one taking shape: kill.

'Yes, set me fr—'

Zero raised to his full height, the ice that'd once nearly engulfed him died under the growing maelstrom. A heat so potent, that his entire body exulted in it. He looked death right in the eye, this time, he wasn't gonna back down.

---

╔╗


Blood, it dripped in crimson circles that arced towards the ground, touching the beautiful azure stone. The rock glistened in the low light of the space containing the two, sending glints of color dancing off of the walls It was reflected in her eyes as she knelt before the stone, biting into her thumb to assist in the blood letting. If Doll was right, they could either save Zero or doom them all.

"He's still out there," she whispered. "I can feel it," Zero had not been absorbed by another Being's ability, he was far too strong to be overtaken so easily. "Zero, if you can hear us," Doll began, clearing her throat. She bit down hard on another finger, attempting to keep from crying out. She had experienced far worse pain in her life, however the fingertips were especially sensitive.

"Then please, come back to us. We're waiting for you." Something within her stirred, demanding her attention. Doll ignored it, both fearful and surprised. She couldn't afford to black out now, not with so much on the line. Doll was not a believer in higher powers and yet, she found herself praying, hoping for a miracle. If Zero returned to them-if Zero returned to her- her breath caught in her throat dangerously.

She was not a human, that much had become startlingly clear to her, but Doll was not a Being either. Her heart beat so swiftly that it echoed in her throat and for but a moment the child feared it would burst from her chest. "Do you think it's working?" Doll inquired to Ren nervously, her stomach fluttering with something a bit heavier than butterflies. Birds perhaps, or maybe wasps. The thought was so grotesque that as soon as she thought it Doll wished she could take it back.

╔╗╚╝

---

---

She already knew what to do. Ren approached, took her hands into his own, he shook his head, "Just a touch." He then glanced down at the stone now stained with her life essence. He stepped away, as the ground beneath them trembled. "It won't stay open for long." He looked back at her and managed a small smile.This was meant for her to find. She was the key. He let go of one of her hands, the other held firm.
The entire room emitted a soft whirring sound, the tiles clinked while the once solid ground parted. Interconnected panels gave way to a set of steps leading into another level below. On the steps, smaller stones glowed, perhaps marking the path. "After you." He gestured she lead the way.

╔[right]╗



╚╝

---

---

Zero tore at her. She came away in his hands, a webbing of blood and flesh. Her laughter echoed on and on. She'd just reweave herself a new form for him to play with. And he'd shoot after her image, ridding her in seconds. This would continue several minutes longer. Up until it hit him like a wrecking ball. Breathless, running low.
She didn't attack. Just stood there. Her sinister grin answered the unspoken question.
"Wow, I'm a little disappointed it took you that long." Vakira's form bedecked in a hideous red outfit. Blood armor. Must be a metaphor.
Zero latched onto her throat, squeezing hard. But she didn't even flinch. Her thoughts vibrated through him, she enjoyed watching him flail.
He'd tear her apart a million times if he had to, if he— A voice struck through his vicious thoughts. It cancelled out Vakira's cloying web. He froze.
"Zero, if you can hear us," That voice... It's... "Then please, come back to us. We're waiting for you."
The fragment, their link. It throbbed in his chest, a warmth unlike the fire scorching through him. That's right, they're... He released Vakira and backed away. What the hell? He shut his eyes and reigned in the anger.
This isn't about the player, it's the game.
"Kept you waiting long enough, sorry." If she could even hear him, hopefully.
Vakira drew close, she dragged a single claw across his chest. "Nice trick, too bad no one can save you."
He struck back, instinctively going for a head shot. If he could distract her long enough, Lore and Ren can finish what they started. Meanwhile, he'd do exactly what he came for. With that in mind, he obliterated the spawn and ran. This was her world and she made the grave mistake of letting him in it. Zero took alternate routes, reabsorbed where he could and demolished any new spawns that tried to stop him. What he must do, what it took, it wasn't something he could back down from, either way, Vakira had to be stopped.

---

╔╗


It was familiar in an unfamiliar sense. That feeling of nostalgia one got that was on the tip of their tongue, unable to identify the reason they were being taken on a trip down memory lane. Doll rose to her feet, still bleeding. She balled her hands into fists as the tiles clinked into place, moving to reveal a winding passage. Ever the gentlemen, Ren insisted that she go first. Doll smiled, nodding, "Okay," she whispered, taking the first step. She wobbled slightly, managing to catch herself. Doll shook her head, she needed to remain focused, she couldn't injure herself now, before the big battle. "Where do you think this leads to?" Doll trusted him, Ren could have been leading her into a trap for all she knew, but she had confidence that he too, wanted to save Zero.

To Ren, Zero was a brother but to Doll... well, what was he to her? The feel of his hands, warm, strong, the thought of it made her blush. Doll looked down, hoping that her blonde hair would obscure her face. Stolen whispers, a quiet lesson, freeing her, saving her. She was nothing but trouble and yet, Zero kept her around. Why? All she ever did was cause him pain and it made her heart ache in ways she did not understand. Perhaps the answer lay in her missing memories, or maybe down this twisting dark hallway that made her skin shiver with goose flesh while her eyes worked to desperately adjust to the darkness.