Surprisingly… she laughed.
Drex had just told her no, he had just thrown her so called contract back in her face and instead of getting annoyed like before. She just laughed. It was very low at first, sounding almost like she couldn't believe it, then it grew louder. Echoing in that endless black void.
"You're telling me no?" She said, her voice now dripping with that same arrogance as always, "I gave you the chance to see your family again, and you're rejecting it?"
The moment Drex heard that word "family" his whole expression twisted. Even though he didn't have a face on, it felt as if he was frowning hard and it hit him in the chest. That single word. "Family"
He snapped back at her instantly, "Didn't you say I'd be living another life… on another world? What the hell are you talking about with family then?"
She didn't hesitate this time. Her voice was calm like she had been waiting for him to ask that question. "Yes… in fact you will. But who said you couldn't travel between worlds once you get strong enough? Who knows… maybe you'll one day become powerful enough to cross that distance and single-handedly save your family."
The words just hung there.
Drex went completely silent.
If there was even the tiniest truth in what she was saying, then this wasn't just some random "contract." This was another shot, a real shot, a chance to see them again. To maybe hold them again.
He thought about his mom, her tired face, all the nights she'd spent worrying about them. He thought about Vex and Vox, their little smiles when they weren't scared, the way they still somehow managed to laugh even in that broken world. He thought about Tony too, the old bastard always carrying more weight than anyone else.
If she wasn't lying, if he could really get strong enough to reach them again, then he'd be the biggest idiot in history to say no.
Finally he said it, his voice shaky but clear. "Yes… I'll accept."
He could almost feel her smile even though he couldn't see her. She paused for a short time before speaking amusingly, "I thought you would need more persuasion. But the mention of your family was enough."
Drex gritted his teeth. She wasn't wrong. That was all it took.
"You better not be joking about it!"
She laughed again slowly this time, then he quickly asked, "Alright then, how do I sign it? What do I do?"
And that's when she dropped the last bomb on him. "You already signed it."
"Huh?" Drex blinked into the void, completely confused. "What do you mean I already—"
He didn't get the chance to finish, suddenly everything shifted, the darkness itself started pulling at him, twisting, sucking him into some kind of whirlpool again. It was like his whole consciousness was being ripped apart and thrown somewhere else.
He would have screamed, but no sound came out.
———
When his eyes opened again they felt heavy. He could barely lift them, like two giant weights were pressing down on his face. Everything was blurry, and then he realized he was lying in something wet and slimy.
He forced himself to move and when he did he felt a chill went through him. He wasn't in the black void anymore, he was somewhere else. He could see trees, leaves, he could smell the dirt, the grass, the sound of bugs clicking faintly. He was in a forest.
A freaking forest.
He tried to sit up but a pain stopped him, a sharp dull pain in his stomach. It was not enough to make him scream, but the pain was enough to make him grunt. His hands went to his stomach, they were very shaky and unsteady.
And then he saw it.
A dagger.
It was lodged deep into him, it sticker right out of his stomach, his eyes widened in shock as his whole body froze. He expected to feel unbearable pain, maybe blood gushing everywhere, but instead it just hurt him dully. It was a steady throb and not the mind numbing agony he was bracing himself for when he saw it.
"What the hell" he muttered weakly.
His first instinct and honestly his only instinct was to yank it out. Back on earth he would never have dared tried this. A knife wound like this one? That would have been death sentence instantly, pulling it out would just make him bleed out faster. But here, in this strange weird place, his body felt different. The pain wasn't the same, even his mind wasn't the same.
So he breathed heavily as his fingers wrap around the hilt and he prepared to rip it out.