In a sleepless wake, a soul drowns beneath the surface of truth.
There are eyes, there are lies.
Nevertheless, there are pure hearts.
The pure waits at the very edge of despair. Awaiting for a seemingly never-ending sleep.
Sleep.
Which to the pure was synonymous to peace.
Peace.
Where they could forever lay, knowing that the world's goodness was everlasting.
Truly, how naive.
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"Tha-thank you, Violet," the purple-eyed glared at the youth, which was the reason for Yuki's notable stuttering.
He stole a glance at the woman; the vice-like grip clutching his throat, preventing Yuki from confessing how arrogant she was.
Yuki found his eyes and feet both rooted to the ground, brought down by the indomitable force that was fear.
Fear.
Without hesitation, Violet sauntered away from the nervous boy. Not even uttering a single "Goodbye," Yuki murmured.
Her silhouette deliberately vanishing with the distance.
Room 1023, Daedalus Quarters.
Shiro read aloud.
Although, he had only one thought.
Violet reminded the boy of someone he truly despised.
Yuki thanked the heavens; the sheer separation prompted a dreaded memory that he had chosen to ignore.
"Quickly, Shiro. We're finally having our own room again!" The once nervous boy was no more, enthusiasm had triggered a joy that wasn't able to succumb to the twilight that led to darkness
Yuki deliberately opened the knob.
Ow!
I thought you opened it!
The poor cat whined, a hint of dissatisfaction in its tone.
"But, I did," Yuki insisted.
Shiro veered his head around. It was indeed agape, revealing a rather ample-sized room. Which for the boy was precisely what he wanted-a room that could house both Shiro and him.
Yuki stepped forward but was seemingly stopped by the ether that hindered them from entering their room.
"Hello!" A feminine voice chirped.
Yuki was instantly frightened, genuinely surprised that someone was trying to talk to him.
The boy was unable to speak, paralyzed by the endless thoughts that brought a sense of anxiety into his mind. He felt utterly powerless and scared.
"Hello?" The girl repeated again.
The poor lad wished for his anxiety to begone. Begging to whosoever he could in his mind for it to finally stop.
"Shy aren't we?" She muttered, smiling to herself.
"It's okay, by the way, my name's Leana," she approached the boy, trying to lighten the mood with a handshake.
Yuki shook her hand, his anxiety slowly eating him away.
"Your cat, it's injured. Can I help?" Yuki stared at her for the longest time, though it was as if he didn't notice, not until Leana broke his trance with a slight cough.
Shame lingered in the boy's abyss, ultimately making him look down in awkwardness.
"I'm ve-very sorry, though pertaining to your question, Shiro, and I would like that very much, but h-how?" The boy felt stupid when those sets of words passed through his lips. The horrendous anxiety that clouded his very existence, rendered his abyss somehow foolish.
For what was not possible anymore?
Everything about the world he had entered defied logic, opposing the very concept of reasoning itself.
It was somehow mindboggling.
Leana giggled, a whiff of amusement springing from her subtle laughters.
The black-haired lolita-like girl smiled at the boy, showing her pearly whites. Her eyes were of different colors, the other a light shade of gray, the other a splash of greenish leaves. Her height perfectly comparable to Yuki's, she was very generous, moreover, her face reminded the boy of a doll. Not the creepy one but rather the gorgeous doll-like specimen.
For what was of a fresh prey in Axiom?
Predators do toy with their prey, after all.
Her helping was all too questionable, yet generous. A friend or a hidden foe?
The boy did not want to know.
This made Yuki wonder, for the time being, how did he deserve such acquaintances. Those who gleefully help without hesitation.
Her right eye, a pigment of grey, slowly turned leafy. Though, seemingly nothing had happened.
The oddness that the boy was found upon.
"Here's Shiro," Yuki shyly said.
"Come here, kitty! Oh my Glock! It's so freaking adorable!" She caught Shiro in a tight embrace, not caring if there was a gash.
Weird.
"No, Le-Leana, wo-wound," Yuki managed to let out, despite his horrid anxiety.
Although, Leana only smirked.
"Oh, hehe, sorry, I kind of healed Shiro when you were staring at me," she shyly scratched her scalp in a tomboyish manner.
Out of character.
"Back to the kitty! You're so adorable, so fluffy, so white, I wuv you. Yes, Leana wuv wuvs you!" She cooed the poor kitty whilst sounding maniacal.
Human! Help me, please get me inside of the room, now!
The feline pleaded. Yuki, however, was enjoying the sight, his anxiety gradually drifting away due to the ludicrous circumstance that Shiro got itself into.
"Oh! By the way, Ms. Leana? Why can't we enter our room?" The boy naively questioned, the ghost that once plagued him gradually becoming non-existent.
Burn.
The boy clasped his chest; it was tightening with each agonizing second.
He felt two hands clasping him, trying to aid. For what seemed like an eternity of agonizing pain, though, it had somehow subsided.
Yuki could only grimace at the nothingness. Was he really going to die?
Despite so, despite the bitterness, trying to swallow him, it was those eyes who had hated him.
Was it fate that had done this?
He hated it.
Though what could he do?
Complai-
That was out of the question.
After all, he was just a new prey here in Axiom.
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Darkness had enveloped the lands, the night that had kissed the earth had lasted for a whole while. The crickets sang in all their joy whilst the near sea had reflected the stars in all its beauty.
It was now nearing midnight, the ticking of the timepiece brought a sense of relaxation for the young man that sat on the furthest side of his bed.
For once, Yuki felt contented.
Though, he could not help but contemplate about things that were beyond the limits of his mind.
This was his genuine reality. Unknowingly, questions had boggled his stale mind.
"Aunt Criselda, wherever you are in heaven, I hope you're doing well. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you. All of the knowledge that you've shared with me was what got me here, and for that, I'd like to thank you." Yuki rambled, talking to no-one in particular.
A subtle snoring disturbed the boy's thoughts.
It was the cat, it was in a bizarre position. Shiro was lying on its back, sleeping like an actual human.
Remarkable.
But in Yuki's mind, he had already lambasted the poor sleeping feline, though it was within the same lines of his initial thoughts. Shiro was indeed weird.
He fixated his eyes on the nearby forest, the vast darkness spanning to no end. Leaning his head on the glass to further take in the view, until a human-like figure came within his sight.
The figure cautiously pranced onto the nearby forest. Arising his curiosity, that damned inquisitiveness that he had once come to despise.
Instinctively, the boy plotted to follow.
The eye scanner that Leana had told him to use in order to enter and exit their rooms was still unusual to the naive boy. Despite this, he still got out of his room rather hastily.
The fifth floor was a rather silent hall, there were no souls that were present except for his which made the trip even more so eerie. He tip-toed quietly towards the elevator that was at the very end of his hall, making sure not to awaken anyone during this preposterous undertaking.
Unbeknownst to Yuki, the darkness of night had already held him captive, curiosity still getting the better of him. He was still trudging towards the nearby thicket, dismissing all fears within his heart.
The boy was indeed brave, but the bravest still lose to their fears.
The darkness masked the vision from Yuki's eyes. Yet, he pressed on, still with only a single thought in mind.
The forest started to unnerve the boy, eyes were entailing, following his every movement.
The moonlit trail revealed itself to the boy, at the edge of the pathway, a body of water glistened, he could vividly see the magnificence of the stars' reflection on it.
"Where could that person be?" He mumbled to himself. The sound of crickets drowning his ability to hear.
Yuki's feet stood on the white sand that was in itself a marvel, a picturesque sight. Not far from him, an abandoned ship prevailed from rotting which caught the latter's attention.
The boy's mind was instantly hooked to the idea of investigating the shipwrecked vessel.
After all, it was calling him, like a dream.
The doors were shut tight, it wouldn't budge however Yuki tried.
Time went all too slow, crunching away the beasts of the forest's cries. Masking the danger that lurked within that darkness.
Yuki immediately darted his head towards the sound, the bush was rustling, the dead of night masking what crept behind it, danger imminently awaited the young boy, or so he thought.
The shadow of the cryptid he had once seen surfaced in his mind, it quietly seeped into the boy's mind. Though, he was too busy attempting to find the cloaked figure.
Enter.
A whispy voice murmured in his ear. The enticement of curiosity proved to be the boy's problem. Almost instantly he was drawn by the-wisp that called onto him.
The once immotile door disclosed the gloom that had rusted the walls of the vessel.
Hath the door disappeared? The boy wasn't sure, his awareness had somehow fiddled with his thoughts, or it could've occurred all too simultaneously, weaved by the fabrics of his mind.
Nonetheless, he pressed on.
At the end of the murky decaying ship was a room that was ostensively calling out to Yuki. A cry that resonated within the rotting hallways of the deserted ship, this made the boy's heart rattle in fear, though he persistently pressed.
"Hello!?" Yuki ignorantly yelled, the boy's echoes reverberated back to his ears, being the only answer to his call.
End.
The sandpaper-like voice in his mind spoke, dragging each syllable, suffering with every word it spoke.
End!
The naive boy was frightened, his strides slowing down with each call. Like a prey walking towards its untimely death.
"Hello!" Yuki called out for seemingly the hundredth time.
In front of the minuscule boy, a grand wooden oak contraption sealed within the voice that was calling his name like an ethereal lullaby.
Yuki!
The calling became more and more human, becoming the phantom that he hadn't known that he would fear.
"Aunt Criselda! Is that you?! I'm getting you out." Yuki cried, his heart flaring with the desire to meet his beloved once again.
He banged, and slammed, and jabbed the door to no avail. His tears cascading with the cold and bitter grasp of darkness.
His fragile arms sprinkled with gashes that tore through flesh. Unsightly, though he continued.
"Stop, Yuki, please," Criselda mumbled.
Yuki did stop, but not because Criselda told him, it was solely because his stamina had given up.
Now sprawled on the floor, his tears began to patter against on the timber.
"I couldn't save you back then, I couldn't even save you again. I'm truly sorry, Auntie," his exasperated breaths became less prominent, in likeness to dying but quite different.
Yuki, forgive me.
This isn't me, but only a fragment of my consciousness.
Me and your family, we've been trapped, if you hear this, please-
He cried until there were no tears left.
Indeed the boy was frail for he had passed out during this disastrous endeavor.
Unfavorable.
I am warning you do not come find us, you will die!
Unlucky, he had not heard, the only warning that mattered.
Truly unfortunate.