A tall figure towered over a young one who knelt before him, blood dripping slowly from the corner of his mouth.
Prime stared down at Null coldly, the fury in his eyes barely restrained.
'Dang it… what do I do now…' Null thought as waves of pain pulsed violently through his entire body. Even though the world seemed to despise him, even though survival screamed at him to look away, he could not bring himself to watch the other children be sacrificed.
He wasn't a monster.
And more than that, he refused to be used by Prime.
Freedom was the one thing Null had never experienced, yet craved above all else. That was why he had ordered the others to be teleported away first, and now, staring death in the face, he was beginning to regret it.
As Null scanned his surroundings desperately, his thoughts racing for a way out, Prime's voice cut through his panic.
"How…" Prime muttered, his tone shaking with restrained rage. "How did you control the Spirit of Chaos…? That's not possible."
His right hand pressed against his face, fingers digging into his skin as if physically holding his fury back from exploding.
By sheer luck Kaelith and Raizen , the only survivors , had already opened the magically sealed entrance and were fleeing the chamber. The exit stood wide open.
'An escape'
All Null needed now was a distraction.
"How about you beat it out of—" Null coughed violently before he could finish the sentence, blood splattering onto the floor.
Prime's eyes darkened.
Knowing magic would not work on him, Prime grabbed Null by the collar and yanked him upward, their faces inches apart.
"Fine," Prime snarled, and spat angrily "If you won't join me, I'll kill you here and now."
Before Prime could act however, Null's hand shot forward, faster than he could react.
A sharp, blinding pain exploded between Prime's eyes.
Prime stumbled back with a shout, releasing him.
Null collapsed to the ground, gasping, but he didn't stop. The jagged rock he had used earlier to cut the ropes binding him now lay near his hand. He had driven it straight into Prime's forehead.
Null scrambled up and bolted toward the exit.
"Dang! I was actually aiming for his eye," he muttered breathlessly, hurling the rock aside as he ran. "Thank you, rock."
His lungs burned. His body screamed.
He was exhausted, hungry and in excruciating pain.
But the adrenaline flooding his veins was stronger.....for now.
Null sprinted through a long, narrow tunnel that slanted gradually upward. He didn't know if Prime was chasing him.
He didn't care.
He ran for what felt like an eternity, until a faint glow appeared ahead.
Finally.
With the last of his strength, he burst out of the tunnel and froze..
Dust.
Rocky islands.
Endless emptiness.
Somehow, he had emerged onto the only deserted land in Abyssline.
As his mind desperately searched for a plan, his body gave out. The adrenaline drained away, leaving only pain and exhaustion. He collapsed face-first into the ground, unable to move.
'No… no, no…'
Panic surged through him as he tried to force his body to respond. Prime would be close. Too close.
"I can't die like this," Null rasped, his voice shaking. "I haven't achieved my free life yet."
A shadow fell over him.
Lying face-down, Null couldn't tell if it was human or something far worse.
Then a cracked, unfamiliar voice spoke.
"So… you fancy freedom, huh?"