Splish.
With gentle, tiny, and slow steps, a young maiden walked through the vast shallow sea. Its water was as black as its skies.
Her hair was short but white. It glowed like a moon in the night.
Guiding all those who followed her.
Behind her, a man scurried. His hair was purple and eyes yellow. His breathing was rapid.
"I can still go on! I haven't lost yet!"
The man extended his right hand, trying to catch her.
SPLASH! As soon as the man touched her shoulders, her body burst into droplets, and the light in the dark sea vanished.
Instinctively, the man closed his eyes, but when he opened them, the black sea and the dark night had changed into the middle of a road.
A road covered in thick snow, and the same could be said for the nearby buildings, all swallowed by the snow.
Just as the man was looking around, he could hear a faint hum in the background.
"It's...too...early," a strange whisper echoed repeatedly like a chant.
That's when the his's eyes fell on the silhouette of a woman. Her stomach was protruding, or was it something else?
Behind her was the moon, clearly visible and bright, despite it being a day rather than night.
"W-wait for me," the man said as he turned toward her. With his first step, the man's shadow grew. With the second step, the shadow changed from its natural form.
And with the third step,Thousands of shadowy hands all gripped the man tight and swallowed him into the snow below.
He returned to the same dark sea as before, but unlike last time, the one in front of him was a humanoid shadow,a tall silhouette of a man? Or a woman? But one thing was clear: it's pupils were glowing red.
"Akira..." the silhouette spoke to the man.
"Break...It..." he continued.
The voice of the shadow was gentle, and it felt familiar, yet more harmless than any other. "Akira?" the man replied as he raised both of his hands in front of him.
He inspected the scars, the matured muscles, and most importantly, something below his waist. "It got bigger?" a flash of thought raged in his mind as he glanced at the shadow's eye.
CRACK! With a loud, ear-bursting sound, the entire world shattered into pieces, like a ball hitting a glass jar.
"Eaagh,my head!" Akira opened his eyes and immediately grabbed the back of his head. "It s-sSmells like tHe city canals, but wWorse!" he murmured.
"H-how long was i out.." Akira was barely able to see anything in front of him.
"Bwaoy! Bwaoy you got a strange color of the hwair!" An old man with barely any teeth and matted hair laughed at Akira.
Tap* The old man knocked Akira's head with his fist.
"Eauhgh!" Akira flinched. He crawled back and hit a rusty, metallic wall behind him.
"D-don't come near me!" Akira yelled, his eyes barely open.
The man smiled, his remaining showing his teeth, and Crawled back. His clothes were covered in excrement.
Akira stared at the man,and when he was sure the old man wouldn't come back again.
Slowly, he looking around. "Just where..am I?"
"I-I was at the city center.."
But then as he started to regain clarity, Akira's eyes trembled. He couldn't believe it.
The room was as small as his classroom, but the walls were rusted beyond repair, and there weren't any windows, so the only light came from the ceiling, which had some holes in it.
But what made it worse was the ground.
There were a multitude of people, mostly old, thin, and fragile, and some who were the fattest the sanctuary had ever seen.
Akira compared his appearance to a gutter pig, but even the pig could move better.
"Never thought you'd wake up so soon," a familiar voice came from the left.
Akira quickly turned his head towards the voice.
"K-klein?" Akira murmured, his eyes still drooping.
Klein was sitting, his body resting on the wall and his head bandaged with white bandages where the stain of blood was still visible.
"Murderer..." Akira whispered, staring at Klein's eyes
Akira took a deep breath and he could swear to God that was the dumbest thing he did.
"It stinks, doesn't it? It's fresh," Klein giggled.
But Akira didn't have it. He grumbled and distanced himself from Klein.
"Don't give me that look, Akira, I-I had no choice... And either way, that man has killed people... a lot more people," Klein said.
"Don't talk to me... Murderer...I never thought you were like them..." Akira said before turning his head away while still trying to get the smell out of his nose. "It went higher," he thought.
Klein's eyes dropped, and his lips shook as if he wanted to cry.
He placed his hands on Akira's shoulder and said, "I thought you would understand me, Akira...I really did...I had to kill him...to protect... someone."
"To protect your mother..." Klein said as he tightened his grip on Akira's clothes.
But Akira was silent. He did not reply. He simply looked away.
Seeing Akira's stubbornness, Klein released his hand from Akira.
"Y-you won't be able to ignore me much... I am the only friend you got here..a...mentor perhaps..."
For a while, Klein peeped over at Akira every few seconds, then every few minutes.
As time passed, Akira sat curled up, not talking to anyone, trying his best to cover his nose and to take as little breath as possible, even going so far as breathing through his mouth.
Klein watched as tears filled Akira's eyes. Klein decided not to annoy Akira any further. "You have suffered so much," he whispered, far from Akira's ears.
Akira wasn't a loud person,he was often quiet but troublesome when he felt alone. Klein knew that no matter what, Akira despised solitary. Klein could notice Akira fidgeting, anxious perhaps, or just filled with a lot of questions.
Creak!.
A giant metallic door carved into the walls slowly slid open, and a soldier came inside. "We are grateful for your help in saving the people from hunger," one of the soldiers said.
Akira was wringing his hands together, there was clear evidence that he was about to panic.
A great opportunity, Klein thought, to reconcile their issues. Klein trusted Akira. How long will they stay away from each other? he wondered.
Klein inched closer to Akira.
"You don't have to fear them...they won't do anything to you... For now, at least," Klein whispered.
Just as he heard Klein, Akira looked back at him, his hands shivering. "W-what is this place?" Akira whispered back, but his voice had a tone of hesitation.
Klein noticed. "I told you...you won't be able to ignore me much."
"This place is one of Murad Xie's prized ideas... this room served as a prison until he turned it into a pig pen for humans," he said with a gentle smile.
"I remember... he called it the pit," Klein continued.
Before Klein could say anything further, the two soldiers in armor started inspecting the humans inside the pen from a safe distance.
They would look around at the fattest, give a nod to each other, and then reach near Akira.
Akira lowered his head, trying to hide his face and avoid eye contact. He was about to panic, but Klein's hand gripped Akira's shoulders. It gave him a slight form of relief.
The soldier passed through Akira before pointing his finger at an old man whose hair was barely visible. "That man... that man!" The soldier said.
Without a delay, the second soldier rushed and grabbed the old man, forcing him to bend on top of the fence.
Akira peeked through the gaps between his fingers. He watched the old man being fed some green mesh straight out of a bucket.
"They are feeding him Hyrae's algae," Klein said to Akira.
"It's the belief that eating Hyrae's algae will make the man fatter and more food for others."
Akira did not respond as he was nearly at his limits. "Geh," a burp, and Akira almost instantly vomited in the place he sat on.
There wasn't much content in the vomit, just some saliva.
Klein rubbed Akira's back, but the soldiers ignored the disgusting noises Akira made. "I-if there was enough algae to feed all... why are they eating humans?" Akira asked Klein.
Klein nodded. "I've wondered about that too... it might be the belief..." Klein replied. "But the algae itself isn't sufficient for a man's life... but ironically, the man who consumed it becomes a livestock." He continued.
Upon hearing that, Akira had an itch go down his throat. "M-my mother... was she fed... this?" Akira asked.
Klein kept his eye contact and shook his head. "She was taken for her sin... the sinners aren't fed, and we won't be fed too." Klein replied.
Hearing that, Akira sat down in relief. For a few seconds, not even the smell affected him.
The soldiers eventually left, carrying the old man they had just fed. With another slow creak, the door closed.
"Ever since the day my mother was taken by the chief... the only thing in my mind was to bring her back, even if I had to conquer this city, I would've killed Murad Xie as well." Akira said to Klein, both of them staring at the beam of light from the ceiling.
"But Murad Xie... he is not a man," he continued.
"In a city where a person has all the power and no one to oppose... has the ability to write their own laws, and that's why he comes off as a god." Klein replied.
"He is not a god... he is a Monster... he took MOM!..." Akira's voice got louder.
His energy was returned by Klein.
"And he fed ones brothers to themselves... he is worse," Klein yelled back.
"You'll be the next on his menu." Akira said.
"He can eat my shit" Klein replied in a serious tone.
A silence followed, and it broke with a chuckle from both of them.
"You forgave me so soon," Klein said.
"I will never forgive murder," Akira replied.
"But my mom taught me to make peace with people who can be trusted," Akira continued.
They both came into agreement, and their behavior despite the place brought attention from all the others.
Klein smiled gently. He brushed his hands against Akira's hair. "You and your mother, it's not just the eyes you share..." Klein said.
"More and more people will be eaten every day until none will be left alive... I showed you how the people of this city don't even care whose flesh they consume... don't be angry at them, Akira. They have lost their hope." Klein continued.
Akira crossed his arms tight. "But... we can't do anything... Murad Xie... he is-."
Klein stood up. He extended his hands towards Akira. "Get up..." Klein's voice was heavier than usual.
"He is a monster, yes... a human monster,but Akira, even the gods can be brought down to their knees when the people wake up." Klein said.
Akira's eyes shook watching Klein. He was different from before.
"W-what can we do?" Akira whimpered.
Klein put his hands inside his pocket and took out the same letter that was stained with blood.
"We can always obey your mother!" Klein said.
Akira's eyes widened at the letter before him.
"H-how did you, the chief, had it!" Akira replied.
Klein pushed the letter onto Akira's chest, and Akira grabbed the letter with both of his hands.
"I miscalculated Murad's speed last time... but today... I will make sure..."
"You leave the bunker!"
Klein smiled.