Niko couldn't take his eyes off the scene, off Xiao. His limp corpse swaying slowly, head down and hair covering his face.
The blood from the nail had made a trail across his naked body, collecting a few meters below at the floor. It was no longer dripping, he had been there for a while, the blood formed streaks.
Niko couldn't breathe, his hand instinctively coiled around Aina's, who was equally horrifed. He held on tight, and she responded with equal force, grounding one another to reality.
A decade of memories flooded Niko's head, his times with Xiao, good, bad, ugly. He was a traitor who threatened Aina, he was one of the closest friends I ever had. Niko' mind and heart were at odds.
Immediately he turned towards Aina. A terrifying thought hit him, Xiao's dead and now his threat...
She was there, eyes widened, horrified, pale, but alive. His eyes scanned the surroundings, for any threat. Everyone was equally stunned, silent and unable to take their eyes off.
Niko tried speaking, but he couldn't find his voice. After a few attempts he finally managed to choke out.
"W-we should go."
She silently nodded and he took off, holding her hand and pulling her. It took all his will to not turn back, one of his closest friends was brutally killed and shown but he had other priorities, his close-est friend.
.
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.
Finding an empty room, Niko barred the door behind them, collapsing on the floor.
He hugged his knees and began rocking. He couldn't think, he wasn't sad, he couldn't cry, but he wasn't there. Nothing looked real, even Aina was a distant apparition, a distant, trembling apparition.
She bent down to his level and slowly grabbed his head next to her chest, holding him close and tight.
She'd never really known Xiao, it was just a formal acknowledgement of existence, but she did know Niko and him were extremely close.
Seeing someone in the same squad, even at passing glances, brutally strung up like that would be horrifying. One of your closest friends being the one? She held Niko tight, she knew what loss was and he was beside her when it mattered, and it was her turn.
For a minute Niko sat breathlessly in her arms, before he tried pushing her away, trying to get up. His eyes lacked focus, there was clear confusion on his face, yet he tried getting up.
She let him, and he stood with shaky legs, back against the wall, taking support from the door knob. "Stay here." He kept whispering the same, he had nothing more to say.
She simply nodded, still in her place, as Niko opened the door and began walking outside, closing the door behind. She could stay here for a while, if it helped him.
He felt like a hypocrite, he was ready to give up Xiao to the overseers, knowing he would be executed. He wanted Ji to kill him, he was ready to kill him. But now, he hated existence, he wanted to hear Xiao speak, whatever it was. He wanted to laugh with him, spar, watch him breathe.
He wanted all this to be a dream.
After reaching a certain distance, where nobody was, he began speaking, quietly, his voice shaking. He could see nothing, but he hoped that homunculus was there, one could never know.
"Why? Now Aina's in danger, you killed him knowing he promised she'd die if he did. Why couldn't you kill him silently instead of... Displaying him? Why?"
No response, nothing that could even hint something heard him. Yet he waited, eyes closed tight, breath shaking. He felt a rustle, his pocket felt heavier, a page heavier.
He grabbed the letter with shaking hands, the letters were in black ink, large, shakey, rushed
'I did not execute him.'
A thousand questions began whirring in his mind, but a single word was enough.
"What?"
Before the word could reach the end of the hall, another letter was in his pocket. This time more text, but the same ink and shaky writing.
'Not me. Did not speak to him. Spoke to nobody, gave no order. He was killed by his own people.'
His blood ran cold, executed by his own people? He partly felt relief it was the cultists who did it, part fear that they were so well connected, and part rage at his desecration hidden as a just execution.
Who could even string him up so quick? He was clearly there for a while, and was noticed only a few minutes ag-
He ran as fast as he could without his bones breaking with the sheer force of the steps. Izzhoga was at max capacity, adrenaline surging throughout his heart, organs and limbs.
Aina! One word rung throughout his mind, he was hyperventilating as he desperately ran for the room where she was now.
He skid to a stop, his shoes scratching the floor. He saw the door, and a hand on it.
A boy, similar to the Homunculus of Ji, but with short cropped hair, and those eyes, those damn eyes.
He twisted the knob, the door creaking open. Before any words could leave Niko's mouth, a blur and a hand grabbed the boy's face and pushed him away.
Ji's 'thing' was here, face just as emotionless. His hand encompassing the other thing's face, pushing him with a powerful shove, sending him tumbling.
The other boy didn't react, and he began moving, a blur replacing his position. Ji's thing responded in kind, now both weren't at their positions, but around. Not visible, constantly moving, only a blur giving any indication of their position 5 seconds ago.
Niko tensed his eyes, blood rushing, attempting to track either one. He caught the line, the other boy's hand for a moment was slowed compared to his body.
Niko didn't dare blink, his neck, eyes and head moving as much as they could. A biting pain began building at his cervical spine as it struggled under the whiplash, combined with the previous damage that didn't fully heal yet.
But it was working, he was able to grab on to the boy's face and torso in movement, and soon both of them. Across the billions of positions they held each moment, Niko noticed something.
They absolutely sucked at fighting.
Amateurish movements, lack of martial skill and poor ability. They made it up with sheer speed, making them virtually untouchable.
Neither one could throw a good punch, their guard was pathetic, and had 0 instinct in terms of dodging. Their long winded punches and kicks, scratching... DID HE TRY BITING HIS ARM?!
It hit him, they were children after all, freakish, inhumanly fast, empty eyed children. He used to fight like this as a kid too, not as fast, but just as badly.
And he, was a grown, trained soldier. Their movements were extremely fast, but obvious. Kids don't subvert attacks, they rush in. He could track a path and he predicted.
He was right, 3 seconds too late each step but the path was precise. In the next 12- no, 9 seconds, they would be in his arm's reach.
He tensed his arm, as much power as he could pack.
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7
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3
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.
He attacked a second earlier, but it was the right call. The punch connected with a rib and the thing was sent skittering across the floor.
The blur calmed as the enemy was vanquished, the victor was standing (thanks to Niko).
The short haired boy stood tal-
Huh?!
This was impossible, he perfectly predicted the path, he felt his fist connect-
The Goddess blessed him with divine insight, the divine truth rattling his bones.
Ah, wrong one, sorry Ji.
He didn't see the boy's fist barreling towards his face, the momentary pain as the only proof of its existence.
Darkness.