Lloyd was trapped inside a world of nightmares that haunted his dreams like a plague. He found himself inside a confined room, four metal walls with no windows. His bed was situated in the corner, a rusted sink that didn't even work sitting directly opposite of him. An iron door was infused to the wall, with no knob on the inside for him to escape.

Even the AC vents provided little-to-no-air in the room.

Lloyd sat upright in the bed, the sheets outlining his form. He wearily rubbed his eyes. Crust had formed on his eyelids.

He swore as a sharp, stinging pain lit up his skin. His arms were covered in blackened, raw burns.

He was wearing a familiar, torn uniform with foreign letterings sprayed on it.

His eyes widened as the realization sank in. "No… I shouldn't be here."

The door swung open, and The General nonchalantly sauntered in, a smoking cigar in his mouth. Four guards followed close behind.

Anger filled Lloyd's thoughts. In one swift motion, he leaped out of the bed, bringing the guards to attention. Lloyd had often spent days alone inside the cell, thinking of nothing but the pain and how he would plan his escape.

And every time, it ended up in failure.

The four guards formed a circle around him. Lloyd fought with all the strength he had mustered up over the days of sitting and regaining his energy. The burns on his arms still made his eyes water, but he ignored it, lashing out with his fists.

One guard struck him in the stomach, sending him doubling over. Another one caught him in the face, prompting him to collapse to the floor. He felt the stone floor as if collided with his cheek, sending splitting pain through it.

The General breathed a sigh, relinquishing smoke from his cigar as Lloyd was dragged back to his bed, his thoughts muddles and disoriented. "Every time you try to escape, it ends up the same way, Lloyd. Just give up already."

Lloyd registered The General's words several seconds late as he felt the ice-cold bite of cuffs against his wrists and the bed post. The metal was tightened on his skin until it turned white.

When the disorientation finally faded, The General was watching him with darkness in his eyes. His face was much younger, and his beret had a lower rank.

Lloyd strained against the shackles. "This isn't supposed to be here."

"You're right, Lloyd," The General smiled. "It's not. But guess what? You're stuck here until I get that loyalty, and that power."

"Fuck you." Lloyd breathed, curling his hands into fists. "Fuck you!"

"It's time you learned about sacrifice." The General gestured to his guards to bring someone in.

Lloyd shut his eyes. As if he hadn't already sacrificed enough.

The guards left and returned with someone that looked all too familiar. Lloyd's eyes widened. For a moment, he could've been tempted to think it was…

No, it wasn't.

Etrius stared back at him with a dark scowl on his face. "It was you all along…"

"He deserved to know the truth," The General turned back to Lloyd. "The truth about what you did to Josiah."

"NO!" Lloyd strained against the chains, feeling the urge to break out of them and break The General. "Etrius, don't listen to what he's saying!"

The General walked behind Etrius, but not before he placed a dagger in his hands. Etrius stared down at the dagger, then back at Lloyd. He closed his fingers around it's hilt, then closed the distance between him and Lloyd.

"Etrius, turn around!" Lloyd screamed at him. "I'm not the enemy—The General is! He killed Josiah—"

"Shut up," Etrius said, barely above a whisper. "His death was your fault. You could've stopped it, but you killed him."

Lloyd shook his head slowly. "No. It wasn't like that."

"Shut—" Etrius raised the blade high over his head, preparing to strike Lloyd down. "—Up!"

He brought the dagger down with a swift arc.

Lloyd awoke with a scream.

The casket's lid had slid open, icy mist pouring out. Frost still lingered on his skin, sending him into an immediate phase of hypothermia.

Green eyes stared at him through the mist.

Lloyd stared back at them, taking a moment to realize that he had only been dreaming. Etrius?

The eyes blinked, then turned away.

Lloyd's restrains clicked open, freeing him.

He braced his hand on the ice-cold cryo-chamber, balancing himself as he stumbled out. He collapsed to his knees, breathing in real air, not the artificial oxygen inside the chamber.

He stared up, but only white mist clouded his vision. "Etrius?" He tried to call out, but his vocal chords were covered in a layer of frost. Instead, the words came out as a rasped whisper.

The Girl wiped her hand on the next cryo-chamber, seeing a familiar silhouette sleeping within. Acting quickly, she pushed away from the chamber, searching through the mist for controls.

Her hands stumbled through the icy fog before they came in contact with a machine half-frozen underneath layers of ice. She hovered her hands over the machine, closing her emerald eyes and focusing. The ice began to melt away, as if heat resonated from within the machine. Then flames sparked to life, dancing on it's surface. Then it burst into pieces.

Each cryo-chamber in the room slid open, expelling more fog into the room.

The Girl opened the nearest door, breaking off the locked knob. She scoffed. Why would they lock the doors if the chambers were already locked?

She rushed back to Etrius' chamber, breaking away the cuffs.

Etrius' eyes shot open with a gasp. He doubled over, coughing up smoke. His hair was frosted over with white ice. He looked up with bloodshot eyes. "Josiah?" He rasped.

The General stirred, still ensnared by the pipes of ice. He groaned, lingering under the surface of consciousness. He forced his eyes open, seeing the feminine silhouette of a girl through the fog, leaning over a familiar shadow. Etrius.

Overhead, Lloyd was on his knees, trying to make his way through the fog.

Once Etrius registered it was really Josiah the Girl, he threw his arms around her, not caring how much energy was drained from him. "I can't believe it's really you. How—how are you alive? I thought you were—"

"I thought so too," She scratched the back of her hair, which was perfectly—strangely—clean. "I don't know how I ended up here."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Etrius inquired.

Josiah thought for a moment. "Nothing. It's all a blank, empty space."

"How did you find this place?"

"I didn't. All I know is that I woke up in front of this facility, and I found you guys trapped inside here."

Lloyd caught sight of Etrius and Josiah through the fog. His eyes pierced through theirs like knives. "I still can't believe you named her Josiah."

"You named her what?" The General coughed.

Etrius scowled at him. "None of your business, old man. Look what your bullshit has just put us through."

Lloyd's eyes slowly widened. "Where's Nox?"

Each of them turned around to face a particular cryo-chamber, whose lid had not slid open.

Etrius swore, forcing himself to his feet. Black tinged his vision, working the edges in, but he fought of away. Lloyd followed him, and they both grabbed either side of the cryo-chamber.

Etrius shouted, "On the count of three—one, two, three!"

With all their strength, they yanked the cryo-chamber lid off it's hinges.

Nox lay inside, her skin a pale porcelain, her hair crystallized, her eyelashes covered in ice. She looked lifeless.

A knot formed in Etrius' throat as he yanked the restrains apart. Josiah felt a touch of nostalgia.

"Nox," Etrius lightly tapped her face. "Nox!"

Nox remained silent, her breath shallow. Etrius held her in his arms, Lloyd helping him pull her out of the cryo-chamber and onto the floor. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Hang on," Josiah made her way into the group. "I can help." Her hands were set alight with a pure silver light, and she hovered them slightly over her form.

Nox's eyes popped open with a jolt. She sat upright, her vision darkening, but she coughed up pieces of ice that made home in her lungs. Her eyes scanned the room, glaring at The General before coming to a stop at Josiah. She blinked several times in confusion, but still couldn't speak.

"I know," Josiah nodded. "You're surprised to see me alive. So am I. Now let's figure out why."

As soon as Nox recovered using her advanced healing abilities, Josiah led the team through the doors.

"Forgetting someone?" The General rasped, then coughed.

"No." Etrius responded with a scowl.

"Etrius, are you insane?" Nox growled at him. "We can't just leave him here. He still has those powers. God knows what he'll do when he's out of our sight."

Etrius considered the options, looking at Nox, Josiah, then back at The General, who returned the look with a scowl.

"…Alright. Nox is right. We need to keep this bastard in our sight." He walks towards him, pointing a finger in warning. "Just remember, you're our prison. Not our comrade. Never our comrade. Not after what you've done."

The General gave a solemn scowl. "Believe me, I want The Three Elders defeated as much as you."

Those words sent Etrius' heart to plummet. Not from his words, but he was just reminded of something. "Josiah, what year is it?" He asked, then slowly turned around to face her.

Josiah frowned, hesitating. "Etrius, I… I don't think you should—"

He closed the distance between then, staring her into silence. "What year is it?" He repeated.

Josiah gulped. "2315. You're in the year 2315."

Nox and Lloyd stared at her in disbelief.

"We've been out for two hundred and fifty years," Lloyd echoed. "That's… No. No, it can't be too late."

Etrius glared at The General with even more hatred than ever before. Anger boiled up inside of him. He pointed at The General. "This is your fault, you sick son of a bitch. Don't set a waking date," He repeated The General's words from so many years ago, even if they felt like only seconds to him. "You're lucky I'm not tearing you apart alive right now. But believe me, once we're through with this, I'm not finished with you. I swear to God, I will tear you apart limb from limb!"

"Etrius! Enough!" Nox extended an arm, releasing The General of his restrains. "We have more important matters to take care of. Like finding out where the hell we are? And what happened to the rest of the team?"

"What if they're dead?" Lloyd cast his gaze to the floor. "They're not here."

"They're not dead," Etrius retorted. "The Wise One granted us immortality. Death isn't an option anymore, remember?"

"Then let's move." Nox said quickly to avoid any more hesitation.

The team made their way outside.

Etrius expected a city to surround them.

Lloyd expected to find themselves underground.

Nox expected the world to explode.

Josiah expected them to stop expecting the unexpected.

Yet more ice flogged into their faces the minute they pushed past the doors. The entire area was covered in snow that blanketed the ground like pure white velvet. Ice darted from the heavens, pricking their skin like needles.

Etrius shivered. Even in his long-sleeve camouflage uniform, the ice bit into his bones like claws. He turned his eyes to the skies, covered in gray clouds. His breath was crystallized into the air. "C'mon." He began to make his way through the snow. "There's got to be some Humvees out here."

"Shouldn't we stay inside?" Nox inquired. "Where it's warm?"

"I'm leading the team here. Besides, we're immortal. It's not gonna kill us."

Nox sighed, her breath vaporizing in the air. "Fine." But she was only going because she didn't want to stay here alone without him, but she didn't mention it aloud.

The rest of the team followed the two.

Etrius' silhouette trudged through the snow overhead. Nox blinked away snow that had formed on her eyelashes, clearing her vision. Her senses picked up something alarming overhead.

With a gasp, she ran to Etrius' side, putting an arm across his chest. He scowled at her. "What the hell?!" He shouted over the screaming winds.

Nox narrowed her eyes at the ground in front of them, concealed by the mist. She passed her hand through it.

Some of the fog cleared away, revealing a dangling cliff. Icicles hung off it's edge.

Etrius' breath was stolen. Nox had saved him from falling into unbearable pain, if not certain death. But he said nothing.

Behind them, The General, Lloyd and Josiah stood watching the scene. Lloyd never removed his glare from The General. Josiah could read his thoughts as if they were written on his face.

"What?" The General finally said after Lloyd glared at him for the fiftieth time. "You think is my fault?"

"It is your fault, old man."

The General rolled his eyes. When will they stop calling me that?

Something clicked in Lloyd's brain. "Josiah, go check out the plan with Etrius and Nox." But he didn't remove his eyes from The General.

A frowned performed on her face. "Are you—?"

"I'm sure. Just go."

Josiah scooted away, not wanting to get caught in an argument between Lloyd and The General.

Lloyd's eyes moved from The General, to the cliff, then back to The General. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get rid you right now."

"Etrius said it himself. You both know you can't afford to have me running lose when The Three Elders are still out there. How do you know I won't join forces with them?"

Lloyd closed the distance between them, causing The General to back away.

"Do you take me as a fool? Before I was put to sleep, I saw what they did to you. Etrius and the others may not have seen it, but I did. I know they'd never join forces with you. There's nothing stopping me."

The General gave a nervous laugh as he glanced back at the edge of the cliff, then at Lloyd. "Lloyd, think about what you're doing."

"As if you ever did. As if you ever gave me the chance."

"Etrius doesn't look so mad about what you did."

"What you did. What you did!" He grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, shoving him back until he was two feet from the edge.

Something clicked together. The General's eyes narrowed. "You never told Etrius. About what really happened." His eyes flicked to the faintest silhouettes of the team through the blizzard. They can't hear us from here. Now's my chance.

The General seized Lloyd's arm, throwing a sharp uppercut into his jaw. Lloyd stumbled back, momentarily disoriented by the cold and sharp pain.

The General used this to his advantage. He delivered a series of blows, but Lloyd recovered uncannily quick, taking the hits with little damage. He grabbed The General's shoulders, forcing the two of them to the icy ground.

The edge of the cliff grew impedingly near, always a threat through the entire fight.

The General managed to throw Lloyd into the snow, the back of his head dangling off the edge. His ponytail waved in cadence to the wind.

The General wrung his hand around his throat, screaming words at him, but Lloyd could barely hear him over the raging blizzard.

Crack!

The ice rumbled beneath them.

Lloyd's eyes widened.

The section of the cliff they stood on was beginning to break apart from the rest. The edges crumbled.

Lloyd felt gravity die away as their section broke away.

He shut his eyes…

Then they popped open.

They hadn't fallen.

Nox was behind them, extending a hand. Power rolled off it, supporting the ice they stood on.

She brought them towards them, away from the edge. Etrius crossed his arms, glaring at The General with hatred. "I thought we settled this."

The General quickly stood to his feet and brushed himself off, fixing his beret into place. "He attacked me first. I was trying to defend myself."

Josiah shook her head. "Didn't look like it."

"Well let's just keep moving. Nobody's dead, that's what important."

Lloyd scrambled to his feet, breaking heavily in rage with darkness in his eyes as he watched The General continue walking.

He assumed that Lloyd never told Etrius about Josiah's death.

If he didn't act soon, The General might turn the blame around on Lloyd.

Lloyd had to tell him first.

But how could he do that to Etrius?