Aiko woke up slowly, wherever she was laying it was cold, and hard. Slowly sitting up she noticed she was no longer in the other room, and along with that she was no longer in her mer form. She also noticed that both her hands were cuffed together and that one of her legs was cuffed to the floor, her hand cuffs attached by a chain to her foot cuff.
She let out a long and deep groan, she was in Taekjoo's words, in deep shit. She tried to lift her hands up but the cuffs were too heavy. She huffed and let her hands fall back down into her lap, the chains rattling with the movement.
How long had she been out? Was her first thought as she looked around the room… well room was a bit of a stretch. It was more like a cage or prison with how three of the four walls were made of concrete and the last being made of metal bars. And to add to it all there was no toilet or bed in with her, actually nothing at all. Nothing except the three walls, the metal bars, the cold concrete floor and herself.
Aiko pulled her legs up to her chest, ducking her head between her knees and started to cry. She was all alone, upset, confused, angry, scared, and a whole other bunch of emotions that she could not name if she tried. She continued to cry for god knows how long before she heard someone speak.
"Hello?... Is there someone there?"
Aiko stiffened, was someone here to take her to another place to get burned with the pink stuff again? She slowly looked up, preparing to once again see fuck face but was met with no one on the other side of the bars. Confused she looked around her cage again, seeing if in her earlier confused state she missed seeing another person in here with her.
"Hello?" called out the voice again, seemingly coming from the left wall. Curiosity taking over her mind she replied back.
"Hello? Who are you?" she asked, shuffling closer to the left wall. It was a struggle to make it over to the wall with all of the chains and cuffs, but she made it happen. She could hear similar shuffling on the other side of the wall.
"The names Nikolai, and you?"
"Aiko," She simply replied, "Are you trapped too?" she suddenly asked. Wanting to know if this Nikolai person was friend or foe.
"Yeah, I am," there was a slight pause before the man continued, "Could you perhaps tell me where we are if you know?"
Aiko thought for a moment, she had no idea where she was, but considering the fact that she was trapped and chained up, it was most likely that she was still in the NIS building. (Yes she remembered the name)
"I'm pretty sure where somewhere in the NIS compound," she said, looking down solemnly.
It was silent for a moment, the only sound being the sound of the chains when either Nikolai or Aiko moved slightly. The silence was suddenly broken when Nikolai spoke.
"Wait, you said your names Aiko right?" Aiko nodded, before realising she had to give a verbal response.
"Yeah,"
"Aiko Tanaka?" She froze, what was with random strangers knowing her last name?
"Yes, I am Aiko Tanaka," She said, annoyed. She heard a sharp gasp, confused she faced the wall as if she would magically see the person on the other side.
"Oh.. my god," she heard Nikolai whisper, "Oh my god, I found you!" He quietly exclaimed.
"Is everything ok Nikolai…?" she gently asked.
"Yes! Yes! Everything is ok! I can't believe I actually found you!" There was a slight pause before Nikolai spoke again, "I'm with Taekjoo, and we've been looking for awhile now, although I did not expect to find you so quickly,"
The two fell into another lap of silence, a gentle peace rolling over them, with the found knowledge that they were on the same side. The silence continued to stretch with neither Aiko nor Nikolai making any move to break it. With the silence, Aiko's mind became loud with thoughts. So Taekjoo had been looking for her? Warmth swelled in her chest, the fact that she now had proof that someone had been looking for her. A small smile graced her lips as she pictured Taekjoo pacing back and forth around his house.
"How long have I been captured for?" she asked, suddenly remembering she had no concept of time at the moment. Nikolai was silent for a few moments, most likely counting in his head and fingers to figure out how much time she had been captured.
"Most likely one to two days, although I'm not entirely sure about that,"
Aiko hummed, so she hadn't been here a super long time. That was good… well she hoped that was a good thing.
The two fell back into silence for a while, their minds taking them in different yet similar directions. Aiko wondering how to escape and Nikolai… well she didn't know. How could she know, she only just met the gut today and had just found out he was on her side of this dilemma.
She continued to ponder on her predicament until an idea popped into her head.
"Hey Nikolai," she called out.
"Yeah," Nikolai replied.
"Are you a siren or mer?"
She was met with stunned silence for a moment before Nilokai replied.
"No,"
She figured that would be the answer but she was nonetheless disappointed in the answer she received.
"Are you able to reach the bars?" she then asked.
She received no verbal reply, but in the sound of chains moving around. After the chains stopped moving she then received her verbal reply.
"Yeah, but why do you ask this?" Nikolai asked, clearly suspicious of what Aiko was wondering.
"I may have a way to escape, but it's going to require you to steal the keys off of the person who will most likely come by soon," She paused for a moment before she continued, "I'll also need you to cover your ears as soon as the guard comes in," She could feel the confusion radiating off of Nikolai through the wall.
"Ok, sure, but why do I have to cover my ears?" He questioned, probably thinking of all the possibilities of why he had to cover his ears.
"It's because I'm going to sing," She replied easily. She felt the confusion intensify before she felt it recede back and disappear, as Nikolai most likely figured out why he had to cover his ears.
The two sat in silence for a while before they heard heavy footsteps ring down the hallway, slowly becoming louder as the person got closer and closer to them. Aiko steeled herself. She hadn't had to sing for a while now, but she still should be able to do it.
Well she hoped she still could.
The footsteps became louder as the figure approached, once she heard the footsteps reached the front of Nikolai's cage and began to sing.
"Come to me, come to me,
You're the only one,
Give me love, give me love,
From dusk till dawn"
She stopped singing once she heard a thud. Once she stopped she heard Nikolai move on the other side.
"I got them!" Nikolai quietly yelled, the sound of cuffs falling to the floor joining in on the small celebration.
"Just give me a hot second to uncuff myself and then I'll come uncuff you," Nikolai said, followed by more chains falling to the floor.
It took a few minutes for Nikolai to uncuff himself before she saw him in front of her cage. She must have looked pitiful, or at least like shit, because as soon as Nikolai laid his eyes on her, his face contorted into a sorrowful look.
"Jeez, you look like shit," he said quietly, kneeling down towards Aiko.
"I've looked worse," she replied, and it was true. She has looked way worse. The two stared at each other for a moment before Nikolai gently grabbed her cuffed wrists, slotting the key into the hole with a small clink. Once he turned the key the cuffs fell to the ground with an even larger clank.
Once her hands were free she could really start to feel the burn left behind from the cuffs. Although she had only had them on for probably not even two days, her wrists were rubbed raw. Her skin itched and burned, it was almost like the pink stuff from earlier was permanently burning underneath her skin. Once the cuff around her foot was taken off, she felt the exact same burning sensation there as well. But after a few moments her holy body started to really burn. Like really burn.
A small whimper escaped her lips. Every muscle, every nerve, burned so bad. Her body slumped, not being able to withstand the pain without support.
"Hey, hey, are you okay?" Nikolai asked as Aiko, slumped against his side. Aiko had no idea what was happening to her, had no idea why this pain only came back after the cuffs were off. She was completely lost. But one thing she did know was that she needed the ocean, now.
"O…cean…" she tried to say, but it came out as a ragged whisper, the word just barely making past her lips.
"I'm sorry, but what did you say?" Nikolai asked, as he leaned in closer.
"...ocean…" It came out slightly louder this time, her voice still hoarse. But her message was heard.
Nikolai froze for a moment before he steeled himself.
"You need me… to take you to the ocean?" He asked, obviously confused. Aiko weakly nodded, another wave of pain flowing through her body. She whimpered once more, curling further into Nikolai's body as if she could sink in further, her pain would go away.
Nikolai nodded to himself, the two fell into a thoughtful silence, the silence being interrupted every known again, as Aiko whimpered. Aiko knew exactly why Nikolai was so silent right now. He was thinking of a way to get them out of here and to the ocean, but how was he meant to get them out of here, if Aiko couldn't even walk, let alone even talk right now?
The silence continued to stretch on for another few minutes before Nikoali's face steeled into one of confidence.
"I have an Idea to get us both out of here," Aiko turned her head towards the sound. When did her hearing deteriorate?
"Are you okay with the fact that I'm going to have to carry you?" Aiko nodded, letting out a small whimper again as the pain intensified once more.
Nikolai nodded, and then gently slid his arms underneath Aiko's legs and back, picking her up in a bridle carry. The contact burned her skin even more, but oddly enough it didn't burn as much as it did before. It was almost as if her pain eased with contact. Once Nikolai had made sure Aiko was comfortable with how she was being held, the two made their way out of the cell and into the hallway. Like the rest of the building, the hallway was painted all white and had no decoration at all. It was just as bland and clinical as the rest of the NIS compound.
The two walked around the building for a while, walking down corridor by corridor, until they finally found one with a door at the end of it. The two looked at each other, both giving a small nod. They then started to walk towards the door, hoping with all their might that it would lead outside.
They pushed through the door, as was immediately blinded by light. Not just any light, sun light. The two let out a small whoop, as they walked through the door. Surprisingly there were no guards in front of the door. Making the most out of the situation, Nikolai bolted towards the fence gate.
Once they made it to the gate, the gate was open? Surprisingly. Taking a quick glance around, he noticed four guards standing at the gate. Two on the inside, two on the outside. Not being able to think of any good plan, Nikolai just bolted past the guards as fast as he could. He could hear the guards shout at each other, to start chasing them. And start chasing them they did.
The guards chased them for ages. Nikolai tried to lose them by ducking down side streets and alleyways, but they always seemed to find them. How they managed to do that Nikolai had no idea.
It was after he ducked into a very small alleyway and behind a dumpster, did he finally lose them. He took a breath of relief, as he saw the guards run right past them. That was most likely the most running he had ever done in his life, and he hoped he did not have to do that again. Never again. After he deemed the guards to be long gone, did he look down at Aiko? She looked worse than when he freed her from her cuffs. A worried expression crossed his features, what was he meant to do? Was taking her to the hospital the best choice? Or did he fulfill Aiko's wish and bring her to the ocean? He mulled it over in his head for a while, before his thoughts were stopped by Aiko's pained whimper, he looked down once more and watched as her complexion paled even more.
Knowing what he had to do now, Nikolai took off towards the ocean. There was now no doubt in his mind that this was the best course of action for her. Although he had no idea how any of this siren and mer stuff worked, his gut told him this was the right thing to do.
It was after he ran down a few blocks did he realise. He had no idea which way the ocean was. Scowling at himself he ducked down into another alleyway, and gently placed Aiko down on the concrete floor. She winced as she was let go, Nikolai felt bad, he really did, but he needed to put her down.
Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he pulled up google maps. Once google maps was open he looked for the blue, the tell tale sign of the ocean. It wasn't hard to find the vast blue. Once he found it he pocketed his phone and gently picked up Aiko, and took off towards the ocean.
While he was running he kept looking down at Aiko when he was about halfway to the ocean. Her skin was as pale as ever, small dark shadows nestled under eyes. She looked sick, deathly sick. Not only did he notice her complexion, he also noticed that she wasn't fully with him right now. Like she was in some sort of limbo between passing out and staying awake. He really did hope she could stay awake a bit longer because he had absolutely no idea what to do once they got to the ocean.