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10:19 P.M
– Castle's Lockup –
Rehan shot up when he heard the fast, nearing footfalls echoing through the dark area. Discerning what sounded like heavy, labored breathing, he looked up just in time to see Kazuo digging in his back pocket and quickly pulling out the hair pin. He fumbled with the padlock, inserted the key into the hole, and twisted it after a few futile attempts.
The raven head stumbled inside and hurriedly fastened the lock and hid the hair pin. He did everything so fast that neither Rehan nor Zen were able to speak a word. Kazuo ran a hand trough his damp hair and sighed audibly, already knowing he had to explain everything. The boy walked to the nearest corner and plopped down on it, curious eyes following him silently as he panted.
"Unscratched and alive," he said then looked up to find Rehan on the verge of tears whilst Zen was trying to hide his panic by annoyance.
"Really?" Zen said which made Rehan and Kazuo look at him, "You stole a book out of all things?"
"No, no. This is crazy. You need come see," Kazuo said breathlessly and Zen looked at him like he had gone mad.
The ash blond came around and sat behind the raven head, although he need to support himself with his heels since Kazuo was taller. Zen observed them for a while before he also walked closer and sat next to Kazuo. They looked at the cover and before long, the redhead discerned it.
"I've seen that same book with Omi before," he commented, "Where'd you get it from?"
Kazuo touched around the cover which read 'World Disasters' and glanced at the redhead, "No other than Omi himself," he panted slowly.
Zen stared at him for a moment longer then spoke, "You stole it...from him?"
"Please be more specific," Rehan groaned and covered his face with his palm.
"I'm still processing everything myself too," Kazuo shook his head and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to calm down before he explained everything to the two.
"What the actual heck?" Rehan said in disbelief, "We should not make the same mistake of trusting that guy again," his voice sounded unsure, but hard as he recalled memories of the curly head betraying them.
"Give me that," Zen muttered and snatched the book out of Kazuo's hand. A frown was drawn permanently on his face as he read the cover one last time before flipping it open.
On the first page, there was a message written in a messy handwriting style:
Chapter 7: D.I.M 2 The noxious universe.
"I think it's a bookmark," Kazuo spoke first after examining the page, "Look at all the other chapter titles, they're just ways on how the world could end. Chapter one says meteoroid, two says the return of the Mesozoic era, which basically means dinosaurs, but chapter seven is what we're looking for. Open it," he explained.
Zen nodded and flipped a couple pages hastily before he opened chapter seven. As they read through the chapter, everything was coming together. Every unusual event was reworded and paraphrased into a story. It was like going through a flashback as they read and recalled the whole lot.
The chapter was slowly coming to an end near the part where they were sucked into the black hole and entered D.I.M 2. This was the part where Omi betrayed them, but it was different in the book. Following the storyline, the curly head actually stayed by their side. Briefly, results were horrible: They never found out the truth about Micheal. Prince Veldra managed to steal their powers and use them to become the king. Everything that followed was complete torture for them until they died. Veldra ruled the two dimensions all by himself after killing his brother and mother, leaving only heartless underlings and fearful citizens under his shoes.
"This is—this is terrifying," Rehan said in an unsteady voice, looking at Kazuo, who looked deep in thought and at Zen, who was starting to tear up. His eyes followed the place where Zen was looking at and he noticed the paragraph that unfolded Cicero's death.
Cicero Sager knew he'd have to face his death soon as his breathing became labored. If he were to meet such a gruesome fate, then he could see all of it clearly. His death was written all over the sharp blade from its deadly tip, painted with his blood that dripped to its handle, standing tall and strong and it showed just how persistent it was and how strong of an impact it could cause on weak humans, affected or not. Everywhere his emerald eyes looked, he'd find it. It was unavoidable.
The ash blond felt a dark feeling of dread pull on his heart and settle in his stomach as he swallowed. He shook his head then quickly closed the book and gave it to Kazuo. There was a moment of silence as Kazuo and Rehan exchanged worried looks at the sight of the redhead covering his face as his shoulders shook lightly. They could only watch as he grieved.
"Zen, you have stay put. This isn't real. None of it will happen because we still have a chance to alter the future," Kazuo said.
"I know, I know" Zen dismissed in between sniffles. He gulped before adding quietly, "I just miss him."
"Then you have to make an effort to see him," Kazuo encouraged, "We were granted a second chance and mustn't let it go to waste. We will get out of here and defeat those criminals."
Zen wiped his cheeks and coughed whilst nodding in agreement.
"Kaz, you didn't tell us whatever happened to Micheal," Rehan reminded the raven head about the missing part of his story.
"Oh," they watched as Kazuo's face slightly fell and he clearly became restless thinking about it, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but he....passed away. Cesal was behind it."
Rehan put a hand over his mouth to stifle a scream. He backed away slowly from Kazuo, eyes wide whilst repeatedly saying 'no, no, no, no' under his breath. His head started to hurt again and he could barely breathe.
As for Zen, he just froze there. A cold wave embalmed him as the hairs rose on the back of his neck and his mouth ran dry. It was like his heart froze and everything in him couldn't function anymore, not even the muscles on his face as he remained still. This caused Kazuo to get closer to him and touch his shoulder. He almost winced from how bitter it felt.
Scarlet eyes trailed over Zen's face and Kazuo was getting scared from the lack of response, so he shook Zen's shoulder. The redhead's body felt limp, unmoving, and it was as cold as an iceberg.
"Hey," Kazuo touched his cheek and then tapped it repeatedly, "Fuck—Zen, snap out of it!" his voice raised as the redhead's breathing slowed.
"Rehan, come look at him. He's not—" It was frantic, his voice and it shocked him. The ash blond hurried over and looked at Zen.
"I-Is he breathing?" He squatted down next to the raven head who repeatedly tried to talk to Zen.
"Yes, but very slowly. Touch his skin, he's freezing," Kazuo said, "I knew I shouldn't have told him."
When Zen's eyes shifted to Kazuo's face suddenly, the raven head's breathing hitched. His face was slowly coming alive as he looked in between Kazuo's eyes.
"He's—h-he's dead? Micheal's dead?" he whispered the word like it was something he still couldn't bring himself to even hear properly. Kazuo and Rehan fell silent as Zen looked between them. The redhead's lips quivered and he hit down on his bottom lip, his lungs fighting for air as he whimpered.
"He's gone? Just like that?" Zen urged as eyes started to get glossy from the tears building up. Kazuo's eyes flickered downwards, finding it hard to look at a pained face for the first time.
"Tell me you're joking, Kazuo, please," Zen's voice cracked as he drew in a sharp breath. He was trying so desperately to believe anything but that.
Zen took one last look at Kazuo's solemn face before he chuckled bitterly, "What am I even saying? There's no fucking way that you would be joking about something like this," his eyes closed shut as he grit his teeth, "Fucking hell, why's all of this happening to me? Why is this happening to us? I didn't even get to—fuck, fuck, fuck!" Zen cried as his hand tightened into a fist that he slammed on the ground once then twice before Kazuo held both of his arm tightly, halting his movement. Zen didn't even struggle against him as he sobbed.
"Kill me!" Zen trashed around in Kazuo's grip, "Just k-kill me already!" he choked in between sobs. Zen heard a pained scream and didn't realize it was his own until much later because his chest hurt and his next breath was very hard to intake.
Kazuo looked at Rehan as he skillfully handled Zen's outburst, "Hide the book. Someone might come down," he referred to the redhead's loud crying.
Rehan got up on shaky legs and hurriedly ran to the book. He took it and and placed in a corner then sat infront of it. It wasn't a really good hiding spot, but the place was basically empty.
"Let me go!" Zen screamed at Kazuo with a rough voice. Kazuo grabbed him more tightly in response.
"No, you will hurt yourself," Kazuo told him. After a while, Zen stopped fighting and he only cried brokenly. Kazuo loosened his grip, but did not let go, in fear of the redhead possibly having another outburst.
Kazuo sighed.
Losing hope will get them nowhere.
—————
"I have to stop that imbecile's plans," Veldra hissed as he put a finger over his mouth in thought. His brother had left his quarters about two hours ago and he couldn't be any more grateful. Cesal stood next to him whilst the prince sat on his throne, clearly annoyed and debating on what his next move should be.
Naomi, E.A, and Omi were present as well as they stood on the sidelines of the carpet.
After staring off into space for a while, Veldra shot Naomi a look and nothing was more terrifying than his icy eyes.
"Reb, what are Slater and Aria up to?" he asked, gesturing to her tablet.
"I'm not quiet sure, your highness, but Aria Lixen isn't in this dimension," Naomi answered.
Veldra sucked his teeth in response and ran a hand through his multi colored hair. He turned his head to look up at Cesal and asked, "What could your sister be doing over there? Any ideas?"
"She could be helping the police force," E.A suggested.
"That could be possible, but I didn't ask you, E.A," Veldra said angrily, quickly getting an apology from the creature.
"Aria is over there helping Cicero Sager," Cesal stated bluntly as he looked at the prince with uninterested eyes.
Veldra cocked his head to the side and lifted a brow, "Positive much?"
Cesal dismissed him with a disdainful nod as he looked away before continuing, "I heard Slater talk to her on the phone and they were discussing his behavior. Aria is currently informing Cicero all about our plans and his friends' predicaments. She's most probably training him on how to defeat us because I'm a hundred percent sure they're going to come here sooner or later."
"So, they got to him before us," Veldra nodded to himself, "This makes things easier for me."
They all, except for Cesal, looked at the prince with questioning faces, ready to hear his plan.
"That boy, Cicero," the prince started with a low tone, "It won't be hard to turn him agaisnt them. After all, Slater and Aria don't really care about our poor victims. They're only doing this because it's the only way to overpower me."
"I'm going to break their future teamwork. I can't have Slater and Aria team up with the targets, so I'm going to make my most powerful target go against them," with that, Veldra's cold eyes shifted to Cesal as a villainous smirk threatened to appear on his face, already showing that his mind has formed a horrific plan, making the blue head feel as though something has walked through him and left him numb, shaking just by looking at the prince and sensing his dark aura,
"I'll need you to assassinate Cicero's parents and falsely incriminate your sister."
———