Leo took his first steps in the strange darkness, with Neo supporting him on one side as his body was still very weak from awakening his abilities.
What seemed like a short distance to the ruins stretched on endlessly. They'd walk toward a broken pillar that appeared close by, only to find themselves no closer after several minutes of walking.
"The distance here isn't normal," Kaori said, her voice full of frustration. "But we need to keep moving forward, even if it doesn't make sense."
They pressed on through the darkness, hoping to find something further in.
Out of habit, Leo checked his H-phone, which was just a thin blue screen that floated above his wrist whenever he tapped his watch, but like everything else electronic, it remained dead.
Without any way to track time, he could only guess they'd been walking for about an hour when they finally reached the outskirts of the ruins.
The ruins was a beautiful sight, especially due to the contrast with the surrounding darkness.
Broken towers hung in the air, some tilted at odd angles, others split in half and some turned to rubble. The stone was dark gray, almost black, covered in deep cracks that ran through the structures like veins. A few feet away, a dark grey river flowed upward, its droplets rising into the darkness above instead of falling down.
"This doesn't seem real," Leo muttered, watching the liquid defy gravity.
"Stay alert," Neo warned, her grip on his arm tightening. "Something's watching us."
Leo turned his head slowly, scanning the darkness around them. He couldn't see anything, but he felt it too – that sensation of being observed, like eyes following their every move.
A familiar burning sensation on his arm made him wince. He rolled up his sleeve to see the strange marking he'd gotten years ago during a bad childhood memory.
When he was ten, traffickers had tried to kidnap him, planning to sell him off to Venus.
During his escape through an abandoned factory, something had happened, he never quite remembered what, but he'd woken up with this mysterious mark on his arm.
Since arriving in this place, the marking would constantly give him a light itch, nothing to strong but still uncomfortable.
As they entered the ruins, Leo noticed strange markings carved into the walls. He stopped, staring at them with growing unease. The glyphs looked exactly like the one that had appeared on him when he was a kid.
"Those symbols," he said, pointing at the wall. "They're the same as—"
"The ones on your arm," Neo finished. "We noticed."
It was then that he realized something.
Someone had changed his clothes during his unconscious state at the underground hospital, but Leo was too 'cool-headed' to actually bring it up.
Still, as the cautious person he was, he tried to get some information out of the two woman but before he could, a sound could be heard from behind them.
A low growl echoed through the ruins. Kaori walked ahead without hesitation, while Neo guided Leo forward. Despite his distrust, Leo followed them. Better to stick with the devils he knew than face whatever was making those sounds alone.
As they navigated through the broken buildings, Leo decided to get some answers. "So, why did you really take me? What do you know about these powers?"
"We've been watching you for a while," Kaori said over her shoulder. "Your investigation and espionage skills are impressive for someone so young."
They passed through what might have once been a grand hallway, now split lengthwise with one half floating above the other. Along the walls, Leo noticed deep scratch marks that looked fresh.
"You didn't answer my question," he pressed. "What do you know about these powers?"
Neo sighed. "We know they're different from normal abilities. When you manifested, you created this... space. No one's ever done that before."
"And how exactly do you know so much about me?"
"You're not exactly low profile on the dark market," Neo replied. "Youngest journalist to ever make the Solar System's Most Wanted list. Rank ten most wanted among non-awakened targets. Multiple organizations want you either working for them or eliminated."
Leo frowned. "To think you saw through my disguise and multiple fake identities. You've done your homework."
"The mercenary guild, the Underground Echo was just your starting point," Neo continued. "In two years, you exposed three major corruption scandals, uncovered two illegal experimentation facilities, and somehow got access to classified GPA documents. You made powerful enemies quickly."
A louder snarl interrupted their conversation. They all froze, and Kaori raised her hand to signal them for silence.
Behind them, in the darkness, a large red eye opened. The snarling grew louder, and they slowly turned around.
A massive creature emerged from the shadows. It stood taller than a car, with grey fur that seemed to glow faintly. Its single red eye fixed on them, and curved tusks protruded from the corners of its mouth. The beast's form vaguely resembled that of a dog, but wrong in ways that made Leo's skin crawl.
"Don't move," Neo whispered. "Don't make any sudden—"
The creature lunged forward with frightening speed, its massive jaws opening to reveal rows of sharp teeth. Kaori shoved Leo and Neo aside as the beast's tusks slashed through the air where they had been standing.
"Run!" Kaori shouted, attempting to create crystal barriers, but they shattered as soon as they formed. "Head for the central tower!"
They sprinted through the ruins, the sound of heavy footsteps and snarling close behind them. Leo's newly awakened powers began spreading through his veins once again, cause black lines to appear all over his body, responding to his fear, making the darkness around them swirl and make a whooshing sound as if it were the wind.
The beast's roar echoed through the ruins, and Leo could feel its hot breath getting closer. Whatever this place was, whatever his powers had done to bring them here, he had a feeling they were about to find out exactly how dangerous it could be.
"Hard left!" Neo yelled, pulling Leo around a corner. The beast crashed into the wall behind them, buying them precious seconds as they raced deeper into the ruins, hoping to find some way to escape both the creature and this dark realm that seemed to be closing in around them.