6
"Kai?"
He rolls over, blinking sleepily at his sister, who had climbed into his bed. Despite their windowless room, he can tell it is the middle of the night. "Nya, why're you up?" he yawns, rubbing his eyes.
"We need to talk." He spots an uneasy look on her face as she nibbles on her lower lip. "I was talking to the other hybrids and they... they haven't even thought about of. Most of them can barely remember being outside of the Laboratories."
"What does this have to do with us?" Kai whispers back, sitting up and copying his sister's cross-legged posture.
"I dunno..." Her ears flick uncomfortably. "I just... I don't want to spend the rest of my life here. I mean, it's nice knowing other people who don't want to kill us for a change," her eyes flit to Jay's bed, "but... I can feel this place wearing me down. It's... unnerving."
"I know. We're going to get out of here," Kai promises, but this doesn't seem to soothe her.
"Skylor told you about how there are five people in every Cluster right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"That means one more person is going to be dragged out of their life and shoved into this nightmare with us. Doesn't that... I dunno, feel wrong to you?"
Kai blinks at her uneasily, choosing his words with unusual care. "We can't afford to think about, Nya. It... won't end well. Only the toughest are going to make it out of this place. If they aren't strong enough in here, they won't survive out there."
Nya shakes her head so hard her ears flap. "No, Kai. I refuse to believe that. You're telling me, if you and I had the chance to get out of here, you'd just leave everyone else without a second thought?"
He knows what she wants him to say, but he has to think about it. He thinks about Jay, proud of being what most people think of as a monster. He thinks about Cole, quiet and solitary, who barely says a word and yet managed to get him out of one of the darkest places his mind has been. He thinks about Skylor and the way his heart flutters when he thinks of her teasing smile, golden laughter, and scarlet hair. Then he thinks about the scar running down his face, of the snarl of fury on a farmer's face as he jabs with his pitchfork, ready to wound Nya without a second's thought. "I'd have to," he whispers. "I'd have to, Nya." For you, the sentence finishes in his mind.
Nya looks disappointed but acceptant, as if she was expecting this answer. "Alright. Well, if you change your mind... please tell me." She leans closer until her lips are barely an inch from his left ear. "I think Cryptor's listening so... if something goes wrong, and we have to escape... our code word is 'red'."
He doesn't know how to feel as his sister slides quietly back into her own bed, leaving him with his tangled thoughts. He decides he isn't ready for this and curls up in his blankets, waiting for sleep that is surely a long time coming.
The next thing he knows, it's morning, and Cryptor's voice is repeating the message from yesterday through the tiny box. He can smell chicken as he clambers out of bed. Cole nods to him from where he's digging into his own plate. Nya murmurs about blueberries as Jay shakes her awake, a half-hopeful, half-fearful expression on his face. Kai shoots him a glare and the monkey hybrid hops away, blushing scarlet.
As they eat breakfast in complete silence, Kai can feel his sister's eyes boring into him, but he ignores her, trying not to think about their whispered conversation the previous night.
"Sooooo... what do you think we're going to do today?" Jay asks, pausing his meal of berries and apple slices. "More stuff with the Pearl Cluster?"
"I hope so," Cole says quietly, setting his plate aside.
"Do you think it's strange their Cluster has five people, not four?" Nya asks, her eyes on her hands which are clasped tightly together.
"Yeah. I was thinking about that," Cole answers, his eyes narrowing. "I guess that means we're going to get someone new in our group." Silence. "I wonder who the poor fellow is."
"Well... just so you know, I'm glad I'm in your group," Jay murmurs, face still red. "It's... nice having other people like me, y'know? Makes it all feel a little easier." Cole nods, a gentle look in his eyes.
Suddenly, Kai realizes they're all waiting for him to join in as well. Say something, the voice in his head orders, so he opens his mouth without a clue of what's going to come out...
Just as Harumi swings the door open yet again. He sighs with relief, but it's short-lived because the bright smile on the teen girl's face looks impossibly forced.
"Your new teammate is here," she informs them with a lack of her usual cheerfulness. "He's, um... just down the hall." She fiddles with Kai's cuffs and sighs. "It's only me today; Kate had... had to take sick leave. Can... can you just cooperate?"
The Cluster shares a look, and Kai is glad to know he isn't the only one feeling uncertain. He wants to run past her, to try and find a way out, but... Harumi looks so nervous, and she's been so nice to them, and he doesn't want her chewed out for their escape attempt. "Fine," he growls, because he doesn't want to sound like he's going soft. It looks as though he's made the right call, because Cole nods and Jay flashes a tiny smile. Kai doesn't glance at his sister as they follow Harumi single file through endless white hallways lined with heavy metal doors and flashing button panels, likely locks of some kind. Even if he was trying to break out or form an escape plan, there are far too many different paths to choose from. He wonders how the teen in front of them manages to navigate. Finally, she places her hand on a door and opens it for them. Kai walks forward, taking the lead even as he knows he's turning his back on what might be his only chance at freedom.
He's confused at first because there's nothing in this room, no scent to speak of, and then he spots another door in the wall, but this one has no locks or handles. He pushes against it, but it doesn't give.
"Maybe it opens from the other side?" Jay whispers, shivering slightly and twisting his ginger tail in his hands.
Suddenly, a shriek splits the air, sharp and pained and fearful, making Kai's tail bristle. He can sense alarm from the others in the way their ears flatten against their heads, fur bushing out larger than normal. He grits his teeth, preparing for whatever is about to face them. The door swings open and two men in black step out, quickly slamming it closed behind them.
The others' snarling mingles with Kai's as they recognize one of the men as Cryptor. The urge to rip and tear is so strong, Kai is moving before he even realizes it. Cryptor smiles, a cold smile that sends shivers down his spine, and taps something on his wrist. A sharp stabbing-like sensation zings through Kai's ear, blisteringly hot and he has to muffle a yelp as his limbs slide to a stop, tensed with pain. He hears Nya's panicked cry, can feel her shaking him, begging him to say something, but the heat is digging into his bones and skin until the world blurs around him and he can't tell her what's wrong -
And then the sensation fades.
He collapses on top of his sister, and he feels her lower him gently to the ground, supporting him into a sitting position. As he blinks back hot tears of pain, harsh laughter floods his already aching ears and he winces.
"That's what you get if you are a little too rambunctious," Cryptor's smooth voice echoes around the room. "Not much fun, is it, Kai?" He clenches his teeth, refusing to answer. Cryptor shrugs, a disappointed look on his face. "Never mind, we have something else in store. Pythor, would you show yourself to them?"
The other man pulls back the hood shading his face and Kai's gasp is matched by everyone else in the room because the person standing next to Cryptor is a hybrid. A milky blue gem is set in his forehead and purple scales snake from that point and down behind his head. Two fangs are poking out from beneath his top lip, set in a honeyed smile.
"Who are you?" Nya spits, still helping Kai stay upright. "Cryptor's little pet?"
Cryptor laughs at that, placing a hand on the snake hybrid's shoulder. "Oh, no, little fox. Pythor has been one of my most loyal advisors for years! He helps run this whole operation." Nya's eyes are narrowed with disbelief, but Cryptor ignores her. "Now, Pythor, why don't you bring out our little friend?"
The snake man nods before tapping the metal door in a certain pattern. It glides open and he disappears into the darkness behind it. There are several weighted breaths of silence before he reappears again, holding something under one arm, and Kai has to suck in a breath, so he isn't sick all over the floor because -
It's a kid.
A literal child, who can't be more than four years old, is hanging limp from Pythor's scaly grip, clearly unconscious. Tiny golden horns and floppy green ears poke out of their fluffy tousled blond hair, which is all of them that is visible. Kai hears the others' shouts of protest as Pythor drops the child onto the floor and the only thing keeping him from trying to catch them is the shaking in his limbs. A whimpering groan escapes as the kid moves weakly, revealing a golden tail ending in a sharp point and small green bat-like wings that twitch feebly before going still again.
"Wake up," Cryptor orders, and the playful tone in his voice is gone, replaced by something eager and dangerous that makes Kai's hair stand on end. He prepares to kick at the child's side and Kai hears Cole and Jay start forward, but before either can act, the tiny hybrid struggles to their feet. Kai catches a glimpse of tearstained cheeks speckled with golden and green scales before the child glances up at Pythor with vividly glowing green eyes, and oh, that's what heartbreak looks like.
"Y-you..." The kid's voice is high, but clearly male. "Y-you s-said..."
"That I'd take you where you belong," Pythor says coldly with a hint of an accent as his tongue flicks between his teeth, and though Kai is expecting it, he's thrown by the fork in it.
The child's face crumples before he stumbles, turns on his heel, and runs for the door across the room. Before he can make it far, Cryptor presses the thing on his wrist and the boy screams, a horrible, heart wrenching sound and Kai suddenly realizes who they heard earlier. Cole makes it just in time to catch the boy as he collapses again. "Have Harumi carry him back to the room for you," Cryptor orders as the door the child was trying to escape through clicks open. Before anyone can move, he and Pythor disappear through the door they had come from.
Nya helps Kai all the way back to their room, her teeth grinding so hard, he can hear them. Kai's too shocked to register what Cole and Harumi are arguing about, or what the sound Jay's making means, or the fact that a small child was knocked unconscious in front of him, and he didn't do anything.
As Cole gently lays the new member of their team on the bed below his own, the group exchanges a look that sums up the storm of thoughts whirling through Kai's brain: What are we going to do about this?!
AUTHOR'S NOTES
YESSSSSS WE HAVE LLOYD! Okay, I'm guessing y'all don't want to listen to me fangirl over Lloyd but... he's my favorite. 'Cause he's an absolute cinnamon roll and deserves all our love!
Zane and Pixal fans, I'm gonna get those two written soon, I promise! *types frantically while eating gummy bears in an unhealthy quantity*