The young technician didn’t need to be told twice. He punched in the override codes, the screen flashing a deep violet, the color of Floor Zero’s security clearance.
Leo walked toward the specialized lift at the back of the hall. Unlike the others, this one was made of a dull, non-reflective material. No mirrors. No shiny surfaces. Even the buttons were tactile rather than holographic.
Leo stepped inside. There were no floor numbers. Only a single, unlabelled button at the very bottom. He pressed it.
The descent was silent. No chanical sound followed with no vibration of the cables. It felt less like a lift moving through rock and more like a stone sinking into a dark pond. After what felt like an eternity, the lift ca to a halt.
The sound was deafening in the silence.
The doors slid open to reveal a hallway that was pitch black. Not a single light remained. Leo reached for his flashlight, but his hand stopped.
’Must not let her see you. If she was blind, a light would be fine. If she wasn’t, a light was an invitation.’ he thought.
Even though he had rejected the theory of instant death for its absurdity, he still felt like he didn’t want to take the risk.
What if it was actually sothing crazy like that? What if it was instant soul extermination? Could the ring save him?
Leo took a breath, feeling the weight of Selene’s ring on his finger, his only safety net in this void.
He didn’t turn on the light. Instead, he reached out, trailing his hand along the wall, and stepped out into the darkness of the final floor.
"Is anyone there?" he called out, his voice echoing in a way that suggested the room was far larger than the blueprints had indicated.
From the far end of the darkness, sound reached his ears.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
It sounded like soone playing with marbles. Or perhaps... rolling dice.
"I don’t like visitors," a voice whispered. It was small, lodic, and terrifyingly calm. "They always have such loud thoughts. They hurt my eyes."
Leo froze. He could feel a pair of eyes on him, even though he could see nothing.
"I didn’t co to visit," Leo said, forcing a casual tone he didn’t quite feel. "I ca to offer you freedom. I hear you’re looking for a change of scenery, right?"
He didn’t stop there, and explained to her that he didn’t have anything to do with the prison administration, and that he was also a prisoner who had taken over this place.
He didn’t want to co across as soone related to the people that locked her here. Instead, he was supposed to be the night in shining Armor.
Isn’t that a good story for a child to be impressed by, even if that child was supposedly thousands of years old? Who didn’t like a hero after all?
The clicking sound stopped.
"Freedom?" the voice giggled, a sound that sent a chill straight down Leo’s spine. "Can I see your heart first? It’s been so long since I’ve seen a new color."
As soon as the girl finished speaking, Leo felt a presence before him. He couldn’t see in the darkness, but he could feel that she was rely a few feet away from him.
For a mont, he even started to wonder if he had made a mistake by coming here.
"You’re not a cannibal, are you?" he asked jokingly, before explaining, "My heart is the sa col-"
He was still speaking when he suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his chest. He felt a hand stab through his chest, taking a hold of his heart.
He could literally feel as his heart was ripped out of his chest. At that mont, he realized it. He truly had made a mistake. This person who was locked on the lowest floor... Maybe they truly deserved to be here?
He had initially thought that most of the people locked here were innocent, especially since their files also ntioned why they ended up here, and who they offended.
"It’s red..." The girl’s voice ca, as if she was truly fascinated by the heart.
It also made Leo realize that she could truly see him, even if it was darkness. She had seen him.
Leo felt the coldness of death spreading from his chest. The sensation of his own heart being held, was a level of intimacy he never wished to experience.
"Wait... it’s changing," the girl whispered, her voice filled with a childlike wonder that felt entirely out of place in a room where she was literally holding soone’s life in her hand. "It’s... disappearing?"
Suddenly, the ring on Leo’s finger flared with a silver light.
The weight of Selene’s protection ca under effect like a physical blow. A surge of energy traveled up Leo’s arm and erupted from his chest.
The heart that the girl was holding, turned into specks of light that flew back into Leo’s chest, taking the shape of his heart.
"Oh?" The girl let out a small gasp of surprise. "Is that the energy of a Seraphim?’
She truly sounded amazed, but her expressions shifted even more as she felt another energy suddenly.
"Is that the sword of Vold-" she tried speaking when a sword ca swinging at her in darkness.
"How fascinating... You’re related to both of them? But strange... I feel sothing else from you as well? What is it?"
She seed to be lost in thought, as she failed to grasp what that unfamiliar energy was, which didn’t lack the two that he had shown.
By the ti she ca to her senses, she noticed that Leo was nowhere to be seen.
"Just what the heck are they keeping locked in this prison?" At the mont, Leo was already inside the lift that was going up.
His heart was racing, but Leo felt relieved that it was still there.
"But after eting her, I did manage to confirm it! This girl... She is familiar, and it’s not just my misconception! That feeling was even stronger when I was next to her. Just who was she?!"
....
anwhile back on the lowest floor, the girl suddenly exclaid, "Ah, I rember now! That third energy... It was faint, but it was sowhat similar to that man..."
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