The briefing room was filled with the shuffling of feet and restless chatter from the Initiates. Flak stood with his fists clenched, nervously looking around the room. He caught sight of Kiehra at the back of the room, where she was leaning against the wall, her eyes distant and her expression troubled. He felt his stomach churn. Kiehra had unsettled him since the spirit capture, and though he couldn't exactly remember what happened that day, he was certain she had something to do with the destroyed spirit and the catastrophe that came with it. Each time he saw her since then only hinted to the presence of something inside her that just didn't make sense.
In front of the room stood the newest Sentry Officer, Riona, her head high as she watched the squad with a cool, disdainful gaze. With her fur rippling slightly and dark, narrowed eyes, she already looked every bit the Lieutenant she was destined to become. Next to her, Rhys strode into the room, her cold gaze focused on the Initiates before settling on Kiehra for a split second.
"Today, we're sending a team of four out into the Black Grove. Your task is delivering the latest special grade equipment to the Fortress Squadron," Rhys announced, her tone flat and emotionless. "As most of you know, the Grove is an area that requires the utmost caution. Its spirits are extremely volatile, and the trees…well be careful with them. They don't like to be touched by just anyone."
A murmur broke out through the room. Flak's anxiety worsened at the mention of the Black Grove. Century-old stories had been passed around about the Grove's obsidian trees, their branches sharp as razors, singing otherworldly melodies whenever the wind passed through them. The shadows never stayed in one place, hiding hazards even the most seasoned members of the Sentry dared not face on their lonesome.
Rhys continued, her voice level, "Deliver the equipment, and leave the Grove without delay. This isn't a mission with any room for recklessness. Do you have any questions?"
Kiehra's hand twitched, like she was about to raise her hand and ask a question, but a flicker of hesitation crossed her face and she stopped. Flak noticed—he always did—and felt his unease deepen. She looked tense as usual. Normally he'd assume she was nervous about the Grove, but it was hard not to think there was something else eating away at her.
Rhys finished giving instructions with a curt nod. "Dismissed. Stay together, and remember, no foolish behavior. "
---
As they entered the Black Grove, the somber melody of the trees greeted them, a low sound that seemed to manipulate and shake the air around them to make it more suffocating. The high obsidian branches hung overhead like the skeletal remains of a twisted creature, gleaming in the eerie light coming from somewhere above the forest. Flak felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as they moved in a single file. He kept his eyes focused on the forest floor, avoiding the shadows that shifted with every step.
Ahead of him, Kiehra trudged forward, her head tilted down, eyes glossed over her lips as she mumbled to herself, her words inaudible but rhythmic, almost like she was chanting. Flak shuddered, trying to ignore the feeling of dread he got from her. Her presence was startling to feel like a curse. He did his best to ignore her, glancing at the other two Initiates behind him, catching some of their whispers.
"Just look at her. You think she'll go back to normal if she stopped taking those freaky enhancers Riona said she was one?" one muttered.
The second one scoffed. "Nah. She'd go into withdrawal instantly. I mean, she's already losing it, talking to herself all day like a maniac. Stuff she's on must be rotting her brain from the inside out. Can't believe she made it through the exams…"
Flak's heart ached. He had never been close to Kiehra, but the things he had heard them say about Kiehra…it never sat right with him. Once Riona started accusing her of using performance enhancers, it was only a matter of time till all the other Initiates as well as some Sentry Officers and Lieutenants started talking about it too. Sure she was strange, but the rumors felt downright cruel. As far as he knew, there wasn't any proof. Yet, he knew that there was something obviously unnatural about her.
As they continued along the path, environment got stranger—shadows stretched and shortened like they were breathing, the trees seemed to whisper unintelligible words to them, and the ground pulsed as if the forest itself was breathing. Flak's mind wandered, reliving the events of the weeks since the application exam. Her presence and the dispappearance of that high-risk spirit couldn't have been a coincidence right? And their mission in Vivaria…just a slight movement from her created a shockwave that shook the whole warehouse. Not to mention the conversation she seemed to have with…something…when he was passing through the Hollow Wing. Everything was pointing towards her being so much more than what she made herself out to be.
Then, without warning, there was a sharp crack, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Flaks's focus shot forward, eyes wideneing in shock. Kiehra's hand was closed around one of the obsidian branches, the black structure splintered cleanly where her fingers had clenched. The sound of the break echoed through the Grove, sending a chill down his spine. Kiehra froze, a look of panic flashing across her face as she glanced around, her eyes darting around in search of an unseen observer. She quickly dropped the shattered branch, hurrying away as if nothing had happened.
Flak was dumbfounded. That branch had been obsidian, a mineral that was nigh-indestructible on Gehenna. It could literally withstand anything, and she shattered it like it was dry-wood. He forced himself to stay calm, but his mind was full of questions he couldn't begin to answer. Who—or what—was Kiehra Ashbluff?
"Damned freak," the Initiate behind him hissed, their tone dripping with scorn. "The crap she's on is breaking her mind, making her stronger…but crazier too…"
The words rubbed him the wrong way, but he coudln't dismiss the fear and uncertainty that churned inside him. What they had just seen was impossible, wasn't it? Could Riona actually be right about Kiehra using drugs to juice up her strength? He forced his gaze down, his mind spinning with possibilities and nervous thoughts. He prayed his internal worries weren't so visible on his face. The Black Grove was already creepy enough, and an unknown variable like Kiehra walking around made it worse.
After what felt like hours, the group finally reached the outpost in the heart of the Grove. The trees parted to reveal a small clearing, where members of the Fortress Squad waited to receive the equioment. The exchange was quick and silent, like there was an unspoken but shared understanding that there was no need for words in this place.
Flak sighed in relief when the transaction concluded, his adrenaline-full body ready to run from the Grove's oppressive shadows. But as he stole a glance at Kiehra, who still looked mildly panicked. The dread in his gut solidified into a strong certainty: she was unsafe, a danger to everyone around her as well as herself. He pitied her, he genuinely did. Her isolation, the judgement she faced from everyone else—it all made his heart ache, but his personal feelings were insignifiant next to the overwhelming fear her presence stirred in him.
The journey back to HQ was quiet, and Flak avoided all of Kiehra's occasional glances in his direction. How he wished he could help her. Unfortunately, his mind was already made up.
---
Back at the Headquarters, Flak sat alone in the locker room, his fingers brushing over his Emitter as he gathered his courage. The unique phsiology of his species, the Retrominds, granted them the ability to capture their memories in video format so long as they were touching a compatible technology—a trait that many others coveted but couldn't wrap their head around.
He always had a strange pride in it, but now that power felt like a curse. His mind replayed the images of Kiehra with him at the Field of Fallen Gods, her impossible showings of strength, and the haunting crack of the obsidian branch. He watched it all play out on the device's small screen over and over again, before he finally saved it to the Emitter's storage.
Slowly, he lifted it up, fingers twitching in prepararion to send a message to Rhys. If anyone could help with this, it was probably their Supervisor. She needed to know—Kiehra wasn't safe to be around. There was simply no denying that fact now.
As he gathered his courage, his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden bone-chilling presence of a shadow that loomed in his peripheral vision. The moment his eyes focused on the spirit standing in the doorway, his blood froze as he was overwhelmed by an intense dread.
The entity before him defied all sense of coherence or stability, its appearance a chaotic mix of raw spectral energy, and a smoky darkness that radiated from its frame. Its body was interlaced with fragments of old machinery, gears and wires that seemed to act as veins fused with the spirit's own essence. The spirit's face was the strangest part of all. It floated upside down, twisted into a horrifying smile filled with jagged, uneven teeth. Its eyes were two hollows that glowed faintly from within, shining with malice that sunk into Flaks' bones. Around it, an aura of thick, black tar oozed and pooured into the unseen cracks it seemed to form in reality. Each drop of its aura splashed unto the ground and promptly vanished, leaving behind a horrid smell that stained the air he breathed, filling his lungs with an almost cosmic horror.
Flak's breath stopped completely. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound emerged. The spirit's hollow gaze pierced straight into his soul, its eyes sinister and unforgiving. It reached its fetid arm out and blocked the rest of the door, inclining its upside-down head, giving the alien boy a knowing look filled with unsettling wisdom from years past. It knew things he couldn't hope to comprehend—and it seemed almost too eager to share.
Then it spoke, voice low and soft, like it was talking to an old friend.
"What you're doing is noble," it murmured, the words wrapping around him and threatening to swallow him whole. "But…it does not align with our wishes. How…unfortunate."
The spirit's voice seemed to echo in the empty room, filling the silence with a chilling resonance. Flak felt himself being pulled in by the entity's words. His courage melted away, replaced by fear unlike anything he'd felt before. The spirit spoke again.
"You Retrominds…always such a hassle…"
In that moment, he realized he was trapped, caught between the truth he knew and the silent, oppressive command of the spirit before him.