A bird landed softly on the balcony where Charlotte still slept. Its message would have to wait.
Elsewhere, a carriage rolled through dim alleys, carrying Hide and Kyoko deeper into the unknown. When it finally stopped, masked men dragged them out and led them underground.
Bags were pulled from their heads. Hide blinked in the dim light. They were in a holding room. Before they could speak, a man approached—spectacles, a leering smile, and a predator's aura.
The man studied Kyoko, grabbed her arm like inspecting livestock. With a snap of his fingers, a woman arrived and led Kyoko away.
Hide was next. The man got close, sniffing him with a twisted grin. Hide recoiled, struggling against his restraints. But a rope yanked him back by the neck. His world went dark.
He awoke in a cell with another boy.
"You too?" the boy asked.
Hide played along. "Alex. Rookie soldier. From Drogen."
"Xander. From Sunvale."
Xander told him the truth of the place: a human trafficking warehouse, full of torture, violence, and death. People were sold, broken, or killed for sport.
That night, Kyoko was placed in another cell, learning the same dark truth from a fellow captive. She crafted a paper spider—a magical scout—and set it loose into the ducts.
Morning.
The bell tolled.
Xander shook Hide awake. "Get up, or they beat you."
Hide followed the others, but a guard pulled him aside, dragging him to another chamber.
The Killing Floor.
An arena of screams and steel. The crowd roared.
A masked brute entered with a butcher's blade. Hide ran, but there were no weapons. A bear trap snapped onto his leg. Pain blinded him.
He escaped the trap, bleeding, limping. The man caught him. Cheers erupted. But as the killer raised his weapon, a bell rang. His collar shocked him unconscious.
Hide survived—barely.
He patched his leg with torn cloth and was dragged into an office. The man behind the desk smiled darkly.
Balthier.
Hide recognized the name. The one who once sold him. The one who broke him.
Balthier approached, reeking of perversion and power. He sniffed Hide, licked his neck, unwrapped the bandage and smelled the blood like fine wine.
"That scent... I want it," Balthier whispered.
Gas hissed from the vents. Hide lost consciousness.
Meanwhile, Kyoko found Xander and another girl in the cafeteria. When she asked about Hide, Xander looked grim.
"If he's not here, he's with the boss. And that's never good."
Kyoko's worry deepened. She needed the Zodiac gang to hurry—or she would act herself.
Her paper spider reached Chronos.
"This is it," Chronos said. "Zodiacs, prepare for war."
Hide awoke strapped to a chair in a twisted dungeon. Three other victims were bound nearby—a girl on a table, another against the wall, a boy to a pole. They were blindfolded, gagged.
He couldn't use his powers. The drugs paralyzed them.
Balthier entered.
"Welcome back, Alex. Let's play."
He placed a sharper bear trap beside Hide's uninjured foot.
"Scream for me."
The trap snapped shut. Blood sprayed. Hide's muffled cries echoed off the stone. Balthier laughed, inhaling the scent like perfume.
The night was filled with agony.
Charlotte returned from a short mission and noticed Hide's absence. A bird waited on the balcony.
The note said:
Charlotte, I'll be gone a few days. The King requested a mission. Please wait for me.
-Cyrus
She grumbled. Then saw something on the table: a teddy bear.
Twinkles.
She hugged it to her chest. "It smells like Hide..."
Blushing, she found his dirty clothes. Temptation overtook her. She grabbed a pair of underwear, inhaled his scent—then threw it back, embarrassed.
She hugged the bear tighter.
In the dungeon, Balthier whipped Hide until his back bled. He tortured the others too. Hide witnessed it all.
Eventually, gas put him back to sleep.
Morning came. Guards talked casually as they redressed Hide.
"He won't be walking for days," one muttered.
Back in his cell, Xander greeted him with tears.
"I'm sorry... the boss is a monster."
Hide barely nodded. He was too weak.
The alarm sounded: shower time.
Hide limped to the farthest corner of the communal shower. Water poured over his wounds. He stared at the floor, quiet.
Later, at the cafeteria, Kyoko found him.
She grabbed his hand, pulling him aside.
"Cyrus. The Zodiacs are attacking tonight. Be ready."
She looked shaken.
"Kyoko..." Hide asked softly. "Did they...?"
She nodded.
He looked away. "Me too."
They held a moment of silence.
That night, they returned to their cells.
And waited.
The storm was coming.
To be continued...