Jin opened his brilliantly shining eyes to a familiar but dimly lit room, furnished with only a metal-framed bed and a steel desk with a cylindrical white nightlamp
'That idiot...'
Jin's face slowly twisted angrily as he hopped off the bed.
'That brainless dumbass!'
Jin ran to the door swiftly, busting it open with his shoulder on his way out of the room.
"Skouter!" Jin shouted then jumped down a flight of stairs, slamming into a wall as he landed.
With a raging bruised scowl, he turned to the side to see Skouter staring at him with a surprised look and open mouth while holding a bag of cookies.
"How many times do I have to-!" Jin rushed to him and swung his arm with all of his might.
But Skouter ducked in the nick of time, causing Jin's fist to audibly whoosh by as it whacked into a wall painfully.
Jin gritted his teeth and quickly countered with a swift kick, but Skouter was already jumping away before Jin's leg moved an inch, so he missed.
Skouter fell on his butt and aimed two fingers at Jin tauntingly.
"Hah! I avoided both of your attacks!"
"Easy there, hotshot! Relax those fists," Sadie quickly slid in front of Jin with her hands stretched outwards.
"Easy!? How can I take it easy when that idiot's trying to get himself killed!? He could've escaped a long time ago if he didn't stand there gawking! And this isn't the first time he put himself in danger like that!" Jin slammed his fist on the wall next to him, visibly boiling over.
Sadie's guarded expression changed to a concerned look and she turned back towards Skouter quizzically.
"No, Listen Sadie, I only stood there because I was confident of Jin's abilities, so honestly... he should see it as a compliment..." Skouter shrugged with a soft chuckle.
"If you can't contribute to the fight then run away, you're just pointlessly putting more stress on me when-!"
"Please stop fighting!" Emilia's voice boomed through the bar, drawing everyone's attention to her tearful face.
Jin's eyes widened momentarily but then softened just as quick.
"We're... not fighting, Emilia, I'm just trying to explain to this idiot that he shouldn't throw his life away, why don't you scold him too, huh?"
Sadie turned around and pressed her foot against Skouter's chest, pushing him down on the ground.
"Yo country boy, Jin has a point. What the hell were you thinking?" Sadie glared at Skouter.
"I told you, I was confid-"
"S-Skouter! Why do you keep doing reckless things!? If you die... Then we'd all be-... Then you'd-... I don't want to lose anyone..." Emilia's lips trembled before she sobbed and tried to desperately wipe her tears away.
'Not again...' Jin sighed deeply but then his eyes drifted to a map behind the bar counter, a map with several islands and shapes drawn on it. Every shape had a small maroon lightbulb on it and one of those circles was glowing a bright scarlet.
Jin's face grew tense but he quickly replaced it with a smile as he walked to Emilia.
"Hey, you're not going to lose anyone while I'm here, alright? You heard what Skouter said, he was confident in my skills, right? And he's back in one piece so it's all fine, hm?" Jin gently caressed her head with a confident smile.
Emilia sniffled and looked at him with trembling lips that slowly turned to a faltering smile, trying her best to power through it.
Jin patted her head a few times then turned towards Sadie with a grim expression.
"Punish that idiot while I go out and welcome our guests."
"Got it, Jin," Sadie nodded then stomped on Skouter's stomach.
"Oogh! Too hard..."
***
Outside, within the shattered world, a short woman walked on a small island with a faint smile and lusterless cerulean eyes. Her neck-length silver hair was messily handled, leaving rough tufts of hair jutting out in all directions akin to a wolf's fur. She wore a sky-blue hoodie jacket, gray pants and she carried around a large earthy-colored backpack behind her.
"This place doesn't have stores either..."
Her eyes drifted down to a dark glass cube half buried in the dirt next to a trash can, covered in a scattering of grass to disguise it.
"What's this?" she kneeled down next to it and pulled it out, exposing all the wires connected to it from underneath.
"Oh... Something tells me I shouldn't touch this..."
She placed it back in its hole then turned to her right and noticed Jin who calmly stood two islands away looking at her.
The woman stood up and moved to the edge of the island.
Jin stared at her silently then kicked a nearby folding chair off the island, but rather than it falling all the way down subjected to gravity, the object suddenly drifted forward following a current.
Jin jumped on it then hopped again to the island in the middle.
The woman watched him silently then pushed the trash can off the edge, doing the same thing as him to get to Jin's island.
She walked closer to him, seemingly uncaring of his potential danger. Now that they were close, she appeared to be shorter than Jin, judging by her height she was even shorter than Emilia.
"Are you going to kill me?" the woman spoke with her faint smile unwavering, but there was no life behind her eyes to give her lips their radiance.
"Is that supposed to be your greeting?" Jin's gaze was sharp, running through her attentively for any bit of information he could perceive.
"Would surprise you how many people answer that question honestly," the woman's lips parted further, faintly showing off her teeth.
'A scavenger... but alone... That's a big bag, so she's probably going from world to world through Fissure islands...'
Jin's eyes landed on her hips, to a holster holding a handgun.
'Then she's probably used to killing people...'
"You must have a crazy powerful Wish if you lived long enough to say that," Jin spoke while trying his best to keep his face and emotions guarded.
"Mhm. I can make people explode by looking at them. Boom," the woman gestured with her hand to mimic an explosion.
'She wouldn't need a gun if that was true, but saying that would keep most people on their toes.'
"I've seen so many different colored worlds, but I've never seen this shade before... It's yellow above but golden below... So beautiful... which makes me sad... How can this sea look so magnificent despite its danger?" the woman pointed down at the radiant magma and continued:
"I've seen my friend slowly drift down on a wooden wardrobe... screaming for me to help him. But I couldn't do anything except watch as he sank slowly, shouting and crying while his legs burnt under him... and I kept watching until his tears evaporated and nothing remained of him. Even after that, I still think it's so beautiful, " the woman smiled at Jin yet her eyes shimmered with tears that she held back.
Jin stared down, recalling all the moments where he jumped off islands as if he was going for a casual swim, not giving the burning sea any care. Yet to many people it was something worth fearing.
"That aside, business man, I don't see a backpack on you... Do you have a base around here somewhere? I'm looking for water and I'm willing to trade."
Jin kept his gaze towards the glowing ocean while doing the math in his head; giving her water wouldn't cost him anything but she'd know the location of his base, and in case she was faking being alone they could raid Nexus at any given moment.
"If you give me water, I can trade you food. Uhm... I have some tools too, ammunition as well and... a couple of sweets, my last two. Oh, and some junk and scraps... I'm sure there's something you want," her cheeks moved up to widen her smile but her lusterless eyes didn't help her image, it was clearly forced.
Jin glanced at her but then stared back at the ground silently, mostly because of his inner dilemma.
'She's a nobody, another stray soul like me fated to die. A waste of a water bottle.'
As if reacting to his words and hesitation, dredged from the sea of his memories, the bouncy giddy image of young Seiya beamed at him with blinding radiance.
"I want to help the nice people in the village!" her voice echoed in his head happily.
Jin had no reason to help the stray woman, but he was erasing those who had that reason. Taking away their warm smiles and leaving nothing in their place, it felt wrong. It was just water, it wasn't going to cost him anything. If he felt like she was lying and had a group somewhere, he could kill her anytime. A bottle of water was the least he could do compared to the evils he forced himself to accept.
Jin sighed deeply and looked up at her.
"If it's just wat-"
The woman was unzipping her hoodie while moving her elastic white top aside, revealing her shoulder, collar bones and the upper part of her modest chest.
"I'm... very open to negotiation," she moved the zipper lower and lower, her expression unchanging.
Jin quickly walked to her, grabbing her hand and the shirt she was pulling away.
"Wh-What? Right here, right now?" her eyes widened and her cheeks radiated a sharp scarlet as she stared at Jin's scowling face, his cheeks a soft crimson as well.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jin adjusted her top and zipped her hoodie back up.
She watched him with a perplexed look before her features dimmed down to her faint smile and narrowly-opened eyes.
"What else am I doing? Negotiating since you didn't seem interested in anything I had. My life's on the line here, after all," the woman chuckled softly.
"Tsk... We'll get you some water. I'll look at your stuff later... Just follow me for now."
"Okay. Lead the way then."
***
Jin landed on the larger island which held the Nexus bar on top of it then looked behind him at the woman who fumbled her landing and tumbled on the ground, which popped open her backpack, spreading a plethora of junk and empty cans on the ground.
"Ah... My stuff..." she sat on her knees, looking at cans and scraps with a frown.
Jin stared at the mostly empty goods she had with her then took a deep breath to shout.
"Sadie! We have a guest! Saaadiiie!" Jin yelled while looking at Nexus.
The Nexus building was a large two-story ivory structure with sharp edges. The front had Nexus graffitied masterfully on it with violet highlights and an ebony base, and under it were double doors with a dark umber hue to them, surrounded by opaque single-panel windows appearing more like tinted mirrors than see-through glass. On the right side of the building was a small garden with colorful flowers, with one abnormally larger than the rest.
Sadie kicked the door open, her steel bat held over her shoulder as she glared at Jin.
"What's the threat level, Jin?" she asked while cautiously walking to him, her eyes glued to the woman putting her loot inside her bag.
"Level Caution. She wants water and is... very willing to trade."
"What's happening?" Skouter poked his head out of the door with a grin.
"Who told you to come out!? Back inside!" Jin instantly glared and yelled at him, after the last near death experiences Skouter went through, Jin wanted him nowhere near anything remotely dangerous.
Sadie walked out to the woman but then stopped when she kicked something small and light. She looked down at a plastic cartridge on the ground with a picture of a muscular blond man wearing scarlet fingerless gloves.
Skouter walked out to Jin.
"But I don't see any threats, just a tired-looking girl," Skouter chuckled and leaned aside to look at her.
"Everyone's a threat in this world, you idiot," Jin sighed but didn't do anything to stop Skouter from walking to her, probably because part of him didn't feel as threatened by her as he tried to be, and the other half was because Sadie seemed relaxed.
While Skouter was their radar and hunting hound, Sadie was their danger alarm and a capable guard, and if she wasn't detecting anything then Jin had no reason to be too wary.
Sadie walked to the woman while offering her the cartridge back.
"Angry Streets, huh? That's a game I haven't seen in a while," Sadie smiled at her.
"Ah... So that's where it was... I thought I lost it. I keep that around for sentimental reasons, since it's practically worthless without electricity. I hoped to find a power generator to play it eventually, but I suppose just surviving is a blessing... Oh, if you want it then I don't mind giving it away for water... or maybe you want something else?" the woman adjusted her bag then opened it at an angle, hiding its contents from Sadie while rummaging through it.
Skouter walked to them with a frown.
"You kept it for sentimental reasons but will give it away for water?"
"Mhm... Water's important to survive, this is not. Uhm... I have canned meat, canned tuna, and I... think this is tomato soup? It doesn't have a label so I'm not sure... Is there something you want for water?" she smiled at them faintly like a desperate salesman while pulling out different canned goods to show off.
Jin furrowed his brow and tilted his head, thinking back to how empty the cans looked earlier.
Skouter scratched his head then ran back inside.
Sadie watched him go into Nexus, a soft knowing smile forming on her lips as she did.
"Heh... Don't worry, you don't need to trade anything. We have enough water and food to last us and we keep refreshing our stock steadily so we're never short," Sadie couldn't help but grin.
Jin watched them as he leaned against a wall.
'Giving away water for free, huh? Well, Skouter and Sadie are the ones who usually go out to search for stuff, so I can't say anything here.'
Skouter ran back out to her with a small brown bag.
"Here! I brought you some wat-aahh!" Skouter stepped on a can and slipped, accidentally hurling the bag off the edge.
Sadie and Jin tensed up, ready to instinctively run after it but then the woman whipped her head towards it and snapped her eyes open as they glowed silver, causing the bag to freeze in the air, as if time stopped.
The three of them watched the suspended bag and how it became no different than the floating islands, apart from its heavy stasis.
The woman calmly walked to the bag and grabbed it before turning around with a sigh.
'She can stop gravity? Or maybe she can just suspend things?' Jin grimaced.
"That was so cool!" Skouter looked at her with a wide grin.
"That was close..." the woman smiled faintly then opened the bag to see eight bottles full of clear liquid.
"Oh? This is... This is a lot..." her eyes widened in awe, as if she was looking at treasures from beyond the realms.
Sadie chuckled and raised the cartridge up.
"Instead of just water, why don't you join us for a round? You said you wanted to play this game, right? We have electricity inside."
"Huh? You have electricity? But how?" she looked at them with a skeptical and confused look.
Skouter pointed at Jin with a smirk.
"When even my amazing nose failed me, our dear Jin managed to nab some pretty colorful crystals with strange magics. The rest was trial and error to get the right amount of juice pumping into the devices and consoles... But that's not important, if you haven't played anything for so long then why don't you come inside?" Skouter beamed with a loving radiance.
"What are you two talking about? Water's all she needs, that's as far as we'll provide," Jin sighed audibly.
"It's fine, Jin. Let the poor girl rest a bit, she looks like she's been through hell," Sadie smiled at Jin then looked back at the woman.
The woman's eyes moved between Sadie and Skouter's welcoming smiles, then to Jin's cautious glare.
"N-No, this is enough... This is all I wanted," the woman placed the smaller bag inside of her bigger one.
Sadie scratched her head with a frown but then grinned again when she seemingly formed a plan.
"We'll give you two more bottles of water if you beat my high score," Sadie smirked smugly.
"Hahaha! That's unreasonable," Skouter laughed and shook his head.
The woman glanced at her bag than at Sadie.
"Just like that? I just play and win? Well... There's no reason for me to say no..."
"Perfect! I'm Skouter by the way!"
"Ah, I'm Aroa."
"I'm Sadie, how long has it been since you-"
Skouter and Sadie crowded her with joyful expressions and inquisitive questions as they slowly guided her inside.
Jin had stopped paying attention to the conversation and instead peered closely at the woman's face.
Inviting her inside was risky, she could learn so much about them and use it against the group, but if she truly was alone and as mentally worn as she looked, there was a chance to recruit Aroa.
'And with her Wish of stasis or suspension, we'd have a solid defense... I just hope it all works out...'
Jin sighed then walked inside Nexus while pondering it all.
***
In the dim and spacious bar, Aroa sat on the velvet couch across the tv set with everyone surrounding her.
Aroa's eyes were fixated on the screen while her fingers tapped the buttons of the game controller with calculated presses, her body tensing up and relaxing in rhythm with the intensity of her button-mashing.
Emilia was standing behind them with clenched fists, appearing more visibly tense than Aroa.
Sadie chuckled, sitting next to Aroa, while Skouter stared at the screen with wide eyes near Emilia.
And in unison they all reacted to Aroa's defeat with sighs, laughter and groans.
"Y-You almost made it..." Emilia spoke softly and giggled.
"Not bad for your first time playing this," Sadie nodded with a pleased look.
"Aaagh... You almost destroyed Saddy's score..." Skouter sighed deeply.
Even though everyone had animated reactions to her, Aroa herself was silent and simply stared at the screen with a strange look bordering between surprised and dejected.
"You can play again, it's fine," Sadie chuckled then nudged her.
"Huh? I can?" Aroa looked at Sadie like a child awaiting their parent's permission, her expression growing more pleasant.
"Yeah, except you only get one bottle of water if you win, so better not lose or it's going to be zero next time," Sadie winked and laughed then leaned back against the couch.
Aroa gripped the controller tighter and started another match.
Watching them enjoying themselves like that made Jin smile, his mind comparing Aroa's crestfallen expression when they first met to the focused determined glint in her eyes right now.
'It's not a bad feeling to do something good for once...'
***
Sometime later, Emilia had moved to her room to rest while Jin was talking to Walter, leaving only Skouter and Sadie watching Aroa who tapped the buttons on the controller with added aggression, her gaze burning through the monitor in irritation She suddenly clicked her tongue as the screen outputted "You lose!"
Sadie laughed.
"A-Again..." Aroa glared at her.
"Are you sure? You already lost your fifth bottle, you're going to bet another one on your victory?" Sadie smirked.
But Aroa's eyes dimmed down, as if those words woke her up from the pleasantly irritating trance.
"Ah... No... Having three's enough, I shouldn't lose more than that. I should've stopped earlier," Aroa bent down to pull her bag closer.
"Tsk... It's fine, you entertained me so I'm giving you five more bottles, so it evens out, alright?" Sadie grinned.
Aroa paused then glanced at Sadie in surprise, but her eyes betrayed her true feelings as she quickly looked at the screen again, her face full of yearning.
Skouter noticed her gaze and laughed a little before he leaned over the couch to look at her better.
"Say, why don't you join us, Aroa?" Skouter grinned radiantly.
"Join you?" Aroa stared at him with slightly parted lips.
"Yeah. You can play all the games you want, drink all the water you want, and because I'm around, you can literally eat anything you want! And trust me, the company here's the best around so you won't have any problems with anyone! Even Jin's pretty cool when he's not so irritated, but you can't blame him when's he's working so hard to make sure we survive," Skouter pointed at Jin.
Jin noticed Skouter's gesture and walked to them curiously.
"You called?"
Aroa looked at everyone carefully.
"Scoot's right. You don't even have to do anything if you don't want to, just keep Emilia company when we're all outside gathering stuff and that's enough," Sadie nodded.
"But why...?" Aroa looked at Sadie with a furrowed brow.
"Just offering," Sadie shrugged and looked at Skouter.
"Why should there be a reason? I don't think people should wander over a flaming sea risking their lives for canned beans. You don't seem like a bad person, Aroa, so why not join us? Honestly, there's nothing to lose and we'd absolutely love to have you," Skouter offered his hand to her.
Jin sighed, but a part of him knew this would be the outcome. It meant more work on his end, but the result could be worth the risk.
Aroa stared at Skouter, tears slowly welling up her surprised eyes.
"Why are you saying this...? Why now...? Why couldn't we have found you a year ago...? Why did I only come here after all my friends had died...?" her eyes flickered as she looked at him with faltering lips, visibly on the verge of breaking into tears.
Her words instantly darkened Skouter and Sadie's faces as they stared at her silently with grim looks, unable to react.
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't say that... I'm a hard worker, so... -hic- so I'm pretty useful if you have me..." Aroa's lips quivered but she bit them, trying to stifle her sobs as she nodded while wiping her tears using her sleeve.
"Then it's settled! Welcome to Nexus, Aroa. To the center of our world," Skouter smiled at her brightly.
Jin smiled faintly, a warm feeling spreading inside of his chest.