Suddenly, the metal door swung wide with a screech that echoed through every corner of the hideout. A slouching figure entered, sporting messy light brown hair as if he had just crawled out of a deep slumber. Yet, his bright golden eyes sparkled with a pulse of mischief and playfulness. He wore a short brown jacket over a black shirt, with a metallic necklace swinging rhythmically with every step of his long-toed leather boots.
His smile widened the moment his eyes landed on Serayn:
"Serayn! You're finally back from the outside!"
He stared at her for a few seconds, but his gaze wasn't entirely innocent; it quickly drifted to the wrong places, lighting a fuse of rage in Vanice. The dark-skinned girl lunged at him, screaming in a wild fury:
"You filthy pervert! Where do you think you're looking with those pathetic eyes? Why are you staring at Serayn like that?!"
Her hand came down on his head with a crack that filled the room. He cried out, rubbing the sore spot:
"Ow! Violent as always, Vanice! I wasn't looking at her like that... after all, Serayn is my beautiful girlfriend!"
"Your girlfriend who?! You moron!" Vanice screamed, raining down a second blow that left him no room for defense.
When the dust settled slightly, he noticed Nir. He straightened up quickly, feigning a serious demeanor, and extended his hand:
"Hey, I'm Zeff. Are you the new guy?"
Nir shook his hand with a calm smile:
"Yes, pleased to meet you, Zeff. I'm Nir Spashi."
Zeff smiled with a hint of slyness:
"Aha... you're the boy Serayn wouldn't stop mentioning. Listen carefully from the start; just because she knows you doesn't mean she's yours. Serayn belongs to me! But... if you want, you can take Vanice. I don't mind at all!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Vanice's powerful kick landed squarely on his backside, sending him to his knees in agony. She shrieked at him:
"And who decided that, you idiot?!"
Zeff raised his head, trying to joke through the pain:
"Trust me, it would be a perfect split... I take Serayn, you take Nir... together we'd look like a 'Milk Chocolate' set!"
Vanice's rage hit its peak, her blue eyes flashing with a lethal spark. She summoned a massive sword with a flash of blue Mana and pointed it at his throat:
"Do you have a final wish before I cut out your tongue?"
Zeff replied with an irritatingly cool air:
"My wish... is to caress Serayn's chest."
Vanice's kick flew toward his face like a storm:
"Shut up! Shut up, you pig!"
Nir watched the scene in utter bewilderment, whispering in confusion:
"What is even happening?"
Serayn replied with a practiced coldness:
"Don't mind them. This is just the typical weather for our day."
Nir nodded, stunned:
"Right..."
And Serayn confirmed with a faint smile:
"Right."
The ordeal ended with Zeff hanging from his feet by ropes like a piece of livestock. Vanice turned to Nir and said:
"Tell us, Nir, what happened to you? We have all night."
Nir looked at the hanging Zeff with pity:
"Maybe be a little easier on him..."
Vanice replied with icy indifference:
"If I let him walk, he'd try to look under my skirt—and frankly, I'm not wearing any underwear right now."
Nir froze, his face a mask of extreme shock:
"I'm sorry for asking... but why are you telling me this so bluntly?"
Serayn stepped in to end the awkward moment:
"Nir, just start talking."
Nir sighed and began to recount his story; from his father's debt-ridden flight to the horrors of the hospital, the encounter with the arachnid "Fros," and the death of his sister, Aika.
Zeff interrupted excitedly while still hanging:
"Whoa! Was that spider-woman's body hot?"
Vanice slapped him hard:
"Continue, Nir. Ignore this pervert."
Nir replied seriously:
"No... she was the ugliest thing my eyes have ever seen."
When Nir finished his story, a heavy sadness hung over the room. Vanice said sorrowfully:
"I'm sorry, Nir... I know what it means to lose someone dear."
Nir replied in a quiet voice tinged with honesty:
"At first, I saw things exactly as they were, without decoration. But when Aika died... I felt the true meaning of being forsaken. To lose your mother and sister and remain completely alone in this hell."
Serayn placed her hand gently on his shoulder:
"I understand... I was the same, until I found my new family with Vanice and Zeff."
Vanice supported her with a smile:
"If it weren't for Serayn, I wouldn't be here now."
Zeff shouted cheerfully:
"Me too!"
Nir looked at them with gratitude, then turned to Serayn with curiosity:
"It's beautiful that you all found each other. But I haven't heard your story yet, Serayn... I want to know everything that happened with you before we met by chance on that street."
Serayn put her hand to her head, as if opening dusty cabinets of memory:
"My story? I don't know... so much has happened."
Nir urged her with an encouraging smile:
"It doesn't matter how much it is. I want to hear it all."
Serayn sighed deeply, as if summoning forgotten ghosts, and began to tell her tale in a tone overcome by melancholy:
"Fine... it starts from that moment when my mother was pulling me violently by the hand, pushing me toward the room where my father was staying."
Serayn's memory returned to a small room shrouded in despair. An old woman burst in, anxiety gnawing at her face, gripping the hand of a young girl with lost eyes. They entered to find an old man sitting on his wooden chair, his body looking like the wreckage of an ancient ship.
The woman said in a trembling voice:
"Dear... what are we supposed to do now? The world is closing in on us."
The man replied with a resigned calmness, as if reading his end in the void:
"Nothing... there is no move left to make."
The woman pleaded bitterly:
"But our daughter! Are you going to let her live alone in this monstrous world? Is this the fate we accept for her?"
The man replied with bitter hopelessness:
"There is nothing in our hands, Katherin... Death is crawling toward us inevitably."
The woman whispered, placing her hand on her chest with a painful look of betrayal:
"Jota..."
Serayn paused for a moment, then continued in an internal voice, whispering to Nir:
(At the time, I didn't understand what death or despair were. But shortly after, my father and mother left this life together, snatched away by that cursed "Saba" disease... that ailment that makes cells age in the blink of an eye. People grow old at a frantic pace, losing their health until they wither and die.)
(I grew up alone and found myself working in the sewage sector. Yes, Nir—thanks to my ability to control water, clearing any blockage was a trivial task for me. On one of those ordinary days, I met you. I felt an aura of energy radiating from you, unnaturally stable, which piqued my curiosity. I approached you, we talked, and it was the first time I'd ever had a real conversation with a boy my age. I was so engrossed in our talk that I forgot my work. When it was time to leave, I was deathly embarrassed to tell you I was a sewage worker... so I claimed I was going to an 'important meeting.' When you asked for details, I had no escape but to say it was a 'secret.')
Serayn's voice turned sharper:
"Then everything collapsed... monsters occupied the city. I was at home, watching horrors beyond description from the window."
Serayn saw terrifying monsters slaughtering passersby. Suddenly, she spotted a little girl hiding in terror inside a trash bin.
(Damn it... she's a child. Do I just let her die?)
Serayn rushed out of her house, running down the stairs, her heart thumping like war drums. She stopped at the gate, saw a monster pass by like lightning, and held her breath behind the wall. As soon as it moved off, she bolted like an arrow, snatched the girl from the bin, and carried her in her arms. She ran back up and locked the door behind her with a hundred locks.
Serayn said to the girl, holding her tightly:
"Don't worry... don't worry, little one. You're with me now; everything will be okay."
The girl didn't say a word; her blue eyes told stories of endless horror.
Serayn brought her speech back to the present:
"Since that day, I've lived with Vanice. We protect each other from this cruel world."
Vanice said with a warm smile, interlacing her fingers:
"Definitely... you're the big sister I never had."
Nir smiled and said:
"And what about Zeff? Why didn't you mention him in your heroic story?"
Serayn replied with a playful, teasing smile:
"He's not important."
Zeff erupted in a loud shout, still dangling from the ceiling:
"Whaaa?! I'm not important?! Saving me was the most exciting part!"
Nir asked curiously:
"And how did that happen?"
Zeff said with false pride:
"They found me when I was broken... completely relapsed!"
Vanice quickly covered his mouth with her hand and said to Nir seriously:
"Trust me, Nir, the details of finding him are very humiliating. You don't need to know."
Nir nodded with an embarrassed smile:
"Alright... I get it."
Serayn stood up and headed toward the door:
"Time for some rest. Follow me, Nir, I'll show you around... you'll like the design."
Nir walked behind her, while Zeff shouted pitifully from behind them:
"Vanice! Am I going to stay hanging here like a chandelier all night?!"
Vanice ignored him and walked out, closing the door. Zeff was left comforting himself with teary eyes:
"Serayn... Serayn will take pity on me and untie me... she won't leave me like this... right?"
In the long corridor, Serayn pointed the way:
"Here is the dining room, and there's the kitchen. The bathroom is split; one for boys and the other for girls. The hideout is designed as an underground disaster shelter, which is why it's so large and fortified."
Nir asked curiously:
"Strange... if it's an emergency shelter, why are we the only ones here?"
Serayn shook her head in confusion:
"A question we haven't found an answer to yet. It's as if the world forgot this place existed. Anyway, this is the bedroom; you'll be sleeping with us from now on."
Nir replied with relief:
"Good. My body is demanding a quick wash."
Serayn said:
"Clean clothes are in the room right next to the bathroom."
Nir headed off in the opposite direction, while Vanice watched his silhouette with her blue eyes:
"He's a good person, isn't he, Serayn?"
Serayn said thoughtfully:
"Yes... it seems so."
"What do you mean 'it seems'?"
Serayn smiled lightly:
"I don't know... at first, I thought he was another version of the perverted Zeff, but it turns out I was just overthinking it."
Vanice laughed in surprise:
"Really?! Nir looks like Zeff? You're so unfair!"
Vanice put her hands on her waist and said playfully:
"Whatever. I'm going to shower."
"Me too," Serayn said.
Vanice winked mischievously:
"How about I wash your back for you, Serayn?"
Serayn replied with a simplicity the other didn't expect:
"Fine... deal."
Vanice stopped in mock astonishment:
"Huh?! You didn't object like usual! You're no fun today, Serayn!"
Vanice walked toward the bathroom, grumbling cutely, while Serayn's faint laughter filled the quiet corridor.