Broken Symmetry (NTB Book 2) (A Socksfor1 AU)

Zara Opor

(TW: Slight Blood Description)

(????? PoV)

I woke up lying on the beige desert sand.

I sat up and looked at my surroundings. A hill stood in the distance, and atop was a large white building with a medicinal cross on the front. I recognized it. It was MedBay, AKA Meme's Medical Center.

But... that would mean that I was back on Earth.

I remembered the sea-blue vegetation of the hybrid planet, Xero. Someone, I can't remember who, was talking with me. I was angry, we were arguing. I had turned around, and something curled around my neck as I plummeted towards the wall. I caught a glimpse of something orange before I blacked out...

Oh.

Oh.

I looked down at my hands. They were nearly transparent, and tinted orange through a furious glowing pattern of red.

A Netherlandish-accented voice spoke behind me.

"Took you that long to figure it out?"

I turned around to see a green figure, his neck swallowed by the same red glow that covered most of my body. A reptilian tail swayed behind him.

"Dino?" I said, shocked to see my dead friend standing right in front of me.

"Yeah, it's me," Dino said, rolling his eyes.

"But... you're... am I...?" I stuttered.

"Yes, idiot, you're dead," Dino explained, "And killed quite violently, by the looks of it."

"Well, if being slammed into the wall is violent, then I guess so," I said.

Dino looked at me skeptically. "It was a bit more than that, by the looks of it."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough," Dino said, "Now just to be sure, do you remember who you were? Or do we have to play the memory game?"

"I'm Oompa," I recalled, "Yeah I remember. Why wouldn't I?"

"Something about becoming a ghost makes you sometimes forget your past life," Dino shrugged.

"Ah."

Dino cleared his throat (even though he doesn't really have one... what the heck-). "Anyways, we should probably get moving. Staying in one place for very long isn't a great idea in the afterlife."

"Why?" I said, suddenly concerned.

"I'll explain later. Follow me."

(Akik PoV)

As we exited the underground chamber and went back around to the front of the complex, I could immediately see the damage from the earlier battle.

Corpses were scattered at random everywhere, most covered with blood. As was the ground - the blue grass below was stained dark by it. There were a few Xentonials as well, although most of those had been spared. The ones that had fought back lay on the ground, probably killed by their opponent. One of the surviving felines was nudging as the body of what was probably their former rider, whimpering like a puppy and its tail swishing anxiously.

Poor thing, I thought.

I saw multiple surviving Hybrids grouped up on one end of the clearing, all of them bloodied or injured in some way. Some Angels were checking injuries and healing them. Some other Hybrids were guiding a few others, probably Demon soldiers, to where I knew a prison was built under the complex.