Tomo was drowning, not in water. Not in blood.
He was drowning in them.
They stood before him—silent shadows, their faces pale and hollow, their eyes dark pools of emptiness. He recognized them all. The refugees. The ones he failed. The ones who died.
And at the center of them was Jin.
The little boy clutched his turtle duck to his chest, its feathers matted with dried blood. His small face was expressionless, but his eyes…
His eyes burned into Tomo's soul.
Tomo…
The whisper sent ice crawling down his spine.
Jin stepped forward, bare feet sinking into the void beneath them. His voice was soft, almost gentle.
"You said you'd protect us."
Tomo staggered back, his breath coming in sharp gasps. The air around him felt thick, suffocating, pressing down on his lungs.
"No…" The word barely escaped his lips.
The other refugees followed Jin's lead, stepping closer, their movements unnatural, like puppets on invisible strings.
"We trusted you."
Their voices layered over each other—dozens of whispers merging into one suffocating chorus.
"And you let us die."
Tomo clutched his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "No—No, I—"
"You watched, didn't you?" Jin's voice was closer now, right by his ear.
Tomo's body convulsed. His breath hitched. He could feel it again—
The heat of the flames.
The scent of burning flesh.
The guttural screams as bodies were torn apart like paper.
He was back there. In the massacre.
The blood-soaked ground squished beneath his feet.
His fingers trembled as he reached out, desperate to touch anything real—
But his hand went straight through Jin's chest.
The boy's face twisted. His lips curled into something wrong.
Something inhuman.
"You're just like them now."
The whispers grew louder, the refugees moved closer. Cold, dead hands reached for him—
Dragged him down, smothered him.
Drowning.
Tomo screamed.
Ariya's head snapped up as the broken, shattered sound ripped through the air.
Tomo.
His body thrashed violently against his restraints, his eyes wild, his breath erratic. Sweat poured down his face, his entire frame shaking like he was trying to tear himself apart.
Kael watched with amusement, tapping his fingers against his chin.
"Fascinating," he murmured.
Ariya clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms.
Tomo wasn't here. Not mentally. His body was in this damned torture chamber, but his mind—his soul—was somewhere else.
And she knew exactly where.
He was trapped in his own hell.
Kael smirked, crouching beside him. "What do you see, I wonder?" He tilted his head. "The bodies? The blood? Oh, I bet they're speaking to you, aren't they? Telling you what a failure you are?"
Tomo jerked violently, his breath ragged. His fingers twitched, as if reaching for something just out of grasp.
"Good," Kael purred. "Sink deeper."
Ariya felt something sharp twist in her chest.
This bastard.
He wasn't just hurting Tomo—he was relishing it.
Kael finally stood, exhaling in satisfaction. "He'll crack soon. I was worried he'd last longer, but he's already halfway gone."
Ariya gritted her teeth.
She wanted to kill him.
Not because of what he'd done to her.
Not because of the pain, the burns, the chains digging into her skin.
But because he was breaking Tomo.
And she wouldn't let that happen.
She forced herself to focus, inhaling sharply through her nose. The pain screamed through her body, but she buried it.
Pain was fuel.
Pain was nothing compared to Kael's victory.
She would not give him that.
So she smiled.
It took everything in her—every ounce of strength—but she smiled.
"Pathetic," she muttered, her voice hoarse.
Kael turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Ariya forced herself to lift her head, ignoring the sharp ache in her neck. "This is all you can do?" She let out a breathy, painful chuckle. "You think this is impressive?"
Kael's smirk twitched.
Good.
Ariya kept going.
"You're just another coward with a knife," she said, her tone laced with quiet contempt. "You want to feel powerful? You want to prove something?" She shook her head. "You're not strong. You're just… sad."
Kael's smile slowly faded.
Ariya held his gaze.
She could feel her heartbeat in her throat, could feel the fear clawing at her—but she didn't let it show.
She couldn't afford to.
"Do you think this will break him?" she asked, nodding toward Tomo's shaking form. "You think his rage will just disappear?" Her lips curled into something cold, something dangerous. "You're just feeding it."
Kael's fingers tensed against the hilt of his knife. Ariya knew she was playing with fire, but she didn't care.
Kael circled Ariya, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "You still think you're strong, don't you?"
Ariya's swollen eye barely opened, but she still managed to smirk. "Stronger than you."
The laughter in Kael's throat cut off for half a second. Then he grinned wider. "Oh, I love that spirit. I really do." He stood in front of her, grabbing her chin roughly. "That's why I enjoy breaking people like you."
Ariya spat blood at his feet. "Then you're terrible at it."
Sho twitched slightly.
Kael let the silence stretch. His grip on her chin tightened, nails pressing into her skin. "You want to be clever?" His voice was a whisper now, dangerous. "Fine. I'll let you choose. Do I break your fingers first, or your ribs?"
Ariya grinned despite the pain. "Surprise me."
Kael laughed. The sound was cold and empty.
Then he slammed his fist into her stomach.
-----
The chains dug into her wrists, biting into skin rubbed raw from hours of hanging. The weight of her own body pulled at her shoulders, sending sharp jolts of pain through muscles that had long since given up resisting.
Ariya kept her head down, strands of blood-matted hair falling over her face, hiding her expression. If she looked up, if she met Kael's eyes, she knew he would see it. The weakness. The exhaustion. The part of her that was fraying at the edges, dangerously close to unraveling.
She would never let them see it. The moment she let them see—truly see—that she was close to breaking, it would be over. And so, she smiled. She smirked. She taunted Kael even when she could barely breathe. That was the only way she had left to fight.
But here, alone in the dark, the cracks in her armor threatened to split wide open.
She was so tired.
Not just from the beatings. Not just from the hunger gnawing at her insides. She was tired of fighting, of pretending, of holding herself together with nothing but sheer stubbornness. She wanted—gods, she wanted—to cry. To scream. To just let go.
But what then?
She knew what came next.
The moment she let herself collapse, there would be nothing left to put back together.
Her breathing was slow, measured—each inhale burning, each exhale a silent act of defiance.
Her fingers twitched, aching from lack of circulation. Her body swayed slightly in the chains, too weak to stay completely still. She forced herself to focus on something else—anything else. The cold bite of the metal around her wrists. The slow drip of water somewhere in the distance. The rhythmic pounding of her heartbeat, steady but weak.
She was still here.
She had to hold on to that.
But for how much longer?
She clenched her jaw, forcing the thought away. She couldn't afford to think like that.
Then, slowly, she lifted her head.
Tomo hung beside her, his body limp, his head drooped forward. Blood stained his tattered clothes, fresh cuts lining his skin. His breath came in shallow, uneven gasps.
For the first time since they had been captured, she couldn't see the fight in his eyes.
A hollow weight settled in her chest.
Tomo had always been reckless, sarcastic, a walking act of defiance wrapped in bad jokes. Even when things were at their worst, he had never fully surrendered. There had always been a fire in him, burning at the edges of his suffering, refusing to go out.
But now…
Now, she wasn't sure if it was still there.
Ariya looked at him, at the slow rise and fall of his chest, at the empty way his head hung forward, and she felt something unfamiliar.
Panic.
She had never feared for herself. Not really. She had accepted long ago that she would die in chains, that her defiance would carry her to a bloody, inevitable end. But Tomo—Tomo wasn't supposed to break before her.
Because if he did… then what the hell was she still fighting for?
Her throat tightened, but she swallowed hard, pushing the panic back down. No. She wouldn't think that way. She couldn't think that way. Because if she did, if she let the hopelessness seep in even a little, it would consume her.
And once it did, there would be nothing left of her to fight back.
Tomorrow, she would smirk again. She would taunt Kael like his blows didn't hurt. She would act like none of this mattered, like she was unshaken, like she was still Ariya.
And they would believe it.
Because that was the only choice she had left.