Outside the Sector 7 hospital, the shadow of a haughty architectural pillar shrouded part of the garden, casting a stark, pitch-black darkness against the backdrop of a crimson moon that dominated the sky. Fortunately, the septic stench in this open area was not as suffocating as it had been inside the medical ward earlier.
In front of a solitary red flower growing all by itself, Ariella stood frozen. Her eyes were fixed on the petals, which were currently swarmed by various nocturnal insects, as she tried to find a sliver of solace amidst the haunting silence of Sector 7.
"You are lucky, Flower... you are always surrounded," Ariella whispered softly, her voice barely audible over the cold whistle of the Sector 7 night wind. "Even if they only use you, at least... they come because they need you."
Her slender fingers moved slowly, intending to touch one of the petals. However, she quickly withdrew her hand upon realizing that the insects immediately scattered, sensing her intrusion. Ariella pulled her hand back, flashing a bitter smile at the silence of the night. Even insects refused to share a space with her.
"If only... he would come to me like those insects..."
The measured sound of footsteps approaching from the hospital corridor gradually shattered the garden's silence. The footsteps sounded too graceful, yet they carried a heavy rhythm—a cadence unique to someone who had just shouldered a massive secret in their head.
It was Scarlett.
The Lady had just emerged from the hallway door. Her face was still as pale as chalk after the intense internal conflict triggered by Nugia's words inside. However, her steps suddenly locked beneath the shadow of the pillar as her eyes caught the figure of Ariella standing under the glow of the red moon.
The biological mother and daughter were now in the exact same area, separated only by a distance of a few meters and an invisible wall called 'neglect.'
Ariella inadvertently turned toward the source of the footsteps that were so familiar to her senses. Instantly, the air in the garden seemed to freeze. The mere distance of a few meters felt like an unbridgeable chasm to her. Her body trembled slightly.
Scarlett halted her steps. For one fragile second, the eyes of the mother and daughter locked onto each other. However, the silence shattered instantly when Scarlett resumed her stride, passing right by Ariella as if she saw nothing there. As if the figure of her own flesh and blood standing beneath the crimson moon was merely an insignificant gust of wind.
Ariella clenched her fists so hard that her nails turned white. "Am I nothing but an obstacle in your life?!" she screamed, her voice cracking with raw hoarseness. The rigid mask she had worn in front of the world for so long now crumbled into pieces, along with the tears that began to flood her face.
Scarlett's footsteps paused for a fleeting moment. Yet, she chose to keep walking away.
Ariella would never know that on the reflection of the hospital window glass Scarlett had just passed, something the woman deliberately hid from the world was revealed; the Lady was shedding tears far heavier and more painful than those of her own daughter.
"Forgive me, Ariella... you would understand if you were in my position," Scarlett whispered inaudibly, her voice completely drowned out by the roaring din of the district machinery that never slept.
Beneath the rising glow of the crimson moon, Scarlett vanished around the corner of the corridor, leaving Ariella to collapse to her knees on the cold ground. The girl's sobbing broke out, mourning the red flower petals that were now entirely abandoned by the night insects—completely alone, no longer needed by anyone.
However, the sorrowful lament from Scarlett's inner voice outside could only manifest as a silent echo bouncing off the cold window glass. The regret evaporated into nothingness, never able to pierce through the thick walls of the medical ward—the place where the innocence of those children was forced to endure, and the place where the helpless figure of Amae had now transformed into the center of gravity for the entire destiny of Unit 009.
◇ ◇ ◇
Inside the room, the three girls guarding him were like lifeless statues slumped in dejection, letting their tears fall in a torturous silence. On the left and right sides of the bed, they vied for space, insisting on staying close to watch over the foolish young man who had yet to open his eyes.
Meanwhile, Nugia stood frozen at the foot of the bed. His gaze was straight, cold, and sharp, as if trying to pierce deep into the subconscious mind of his messy-haired friend.
The silence of the night inside the isolation room was suddenly broken when Nugia's eyes caught a subtle movement. Slowly, Amae's pale lips trembled slightly—a detail Nugia observed with profound intensity.
With the residual strength he had left at the brink of death, a faint, breathy whisper escaped from the gap of Amae's lips:
"Nugia... Don't... die..."
The fragmented whisper hung in the air, triggering a suffocating pulse of anxiety inside the isolation room. However, in another dimly lit corner of the corridor, the atmosphere moved far colder.
From behind the wall across the thick glass of the isolation room, Snake's eyes stared straight inside. The corner of his lips curled up, forming an eerie, twisted smirk as he witnessed the children's despair.
"I won't give up, Darling... I'm leaving now," Snake whispered ever so softly. The palm of his hand pressed against the cold glass surface, directly aligned with Nugia's head. "When I return... you will be entirely mine, Nugia."
A low, raspy chuckle escaped his throat, leaving a faint mist on the glass before his shadow turned and vanished, swallowed by the silence of the corridor.
Far from the silence of the hospital hallway that radiated the filthy obsession of Snake's mind, a far more brutal reality was brewing in another part of the district.
⚡ ⚡ ⚡
The Abyss Glosum instantly transformed into a bloody bounty arena. The air there suddenly grew thick with the smell of gunpowder and the bloodlust to kill. The massive manhunt for Tiger and Lina was officially underway, raging relentlessly from the very second the pair of fighters managed to escape while carrying Black's dying body.
Not a single dark corner of The Abyss was safe anymore; every faction and bounty hunter was sharpening their weapons, moving greedily for the massive reward placed on the fugitives' heads.
❄ ❄ ❄
Inside a sacred forest that held millions of ancient mysteries and predatory monsters, Tiger tightly gripped Lina's neck, pinning her body against the trunk of a colossal tree. A thick fog combined with snow that slowly fell in the hue of blood—a gruesome reflection of the crimson moon hanging ominously in the sky, as if intentionally worsening the escalating tension.
"Why did you let him go, Lina?!" Tiger snarled with a fierce glare that looked ready to skin her alive.
Instead of showing fear, the sweet girl in front of him merely flashed a teasing smile without saying a word. For a few fragile seconds, their eyes locked, their remaining breaths mingling in the freezing air.
Around them, the chirping of night birds—far more terrifying than a horror movie soundtrack—echoed, blending with the distant growls of monsters sniffing out their prey.
Feeling his emotions spiraling out of control, Tiger shoved his hand away. He turned his face away, panting heavily as white steam billowed frantically from his lips amidst the freezing grip of the night air.
"Don't you want to kiss me like you used to?"
Those words escaped Lina's lips, cutting through the whistling of the snowy wind.
"Leave, Lina!" Tiger barked without looking back, his voice heavy and strained, holding back the turmoil he desperately suppressed within his chest.
Lina stepped forward, narrowing the distance Tiger had intentionally created. "Before you returned from that village, you still loved me. Why have you changed now?"
"Leave! What happened back then... it was a mistake!" Tiger snapped his body around, glaring at Lina with eyes full of hurt and wrath.
Yet, Lina merely stared back at him with a sorrowful, demanding gaze. "You speak as if you don't want me anymore, Tiger... What did you find over there?"