The beast is hungry again. It looks at its next meal - two people this time. Perhaps master is attempting to give the same amount of flesh as the previous meal had cost, or perhaps this is a treat for being a good accomplice. The two are identified by the beast as Solana and Amaris Rodriguez-Soto, younger twin siblings to Futures University hopeful Estela Rodriguez-Soto. The beast is a bit disappointed to see that they're both small.
Amaris shakes more visibly than his sister. His lower lip trembles and his head turns violently, as though he doesn't realize he has a blindfold on. He makes no attempt to free himself, only to move his head back and forth.
The younger twin, Solana, on the other hand, is fighting tooth and nail against her restraints. Her movements are less panicked, more calculated, as though she had been in this situation before. The sound of her wrists rubbing against the rope behind her chair fills the room. She occasionally mumbles to herself, but doesn't seem to realize that she's trapped alongside her dearest brother.
The beast decides that it's better to go after Solana first. Amaris seems the type to be more desolate after seeing the death of his protector, while Solana might take the tragedy as a means of motivation. It slinks quietly over to where she sits, and sinks its teeth into her leg, leaving nothing but a jagged stump in its wake.
The young girl lets out an anguished squeal, and it immediately makes Amaris perk up. "¡¿Qué esta pasando?!" he asks, his tone constantly trembling.
She seems to recognize her brother's voice, and so Solana replies. "¡¿Mar?! ¡Mar, tienes que salir de aquí!"
There's a moment of pause, as the shadow relishes the small moment of hope, waiting for exactly the right moment to tear into her again. The boy turns his head toward his sister's voice, and cries, "¡Sol! ¡¿Dónde estás?!"
She opens her mouth to tell him, and the creature takes her other leg in its mouth, leaving the sound to come out a strangled scream. Her blindfold goes wet with tears, and when the beast turns to face Amaris, his is too. They run underneath his blindfold and down his face, leaving small, pitiful puddles on the concrete floor.
The beast chews and swallows, making quick work of the muscle and bone. Solana is not nearly as defiant as she had been prior, now that her blood is pouring out of her wounds and onto the floor. Her skin, once tanned and glowing, is now pallid. Her head hangs low, and it smiles as it watches her breaths become shallower and shallower. It takes a long, scaly limb and reaches to where her brother sits, paralyzed in fear, and its talon hooks below the fabric of his blindfold, lifting it so he can get a good look at the dying form of his twin.
She will never know that he got to see her like this, and he will never know how hopeless it would have made her feel.
Galaxy finally sees other people after what feels like hours walking through the endless, sterile labyrinths of the building they're trapped in. Bite guides him the entire way, but he seems just as exasporated as Galaxy by every dead end and every rerouting that they do.
The room is large and circular, with high ceilings and couches. There are a few plants on the floor, but Galaxy is too far away to be able to tell if they're real or not. Nevertheless, they provide a very welcome pop of color to the otherwise completely white room. There are seats where some people are sitting, but the majority of people are standing, and almost everyone is in conversation with another person.
The collective seems to have split itself into 4 separate groups, and Galaxy ponders which to join first. He looks to Bite, who gives him an encouraging smile and then walks over to where one group are seemingly in deep conversation, save for one of the two girls, who looks mostly lost.
He decides that it's best to go around the room starting with the group that's closest to him, which consists of five people, mostly just talking quietly among themselves, save for one person that seems to be at a much higher energy level. He can already tell that he's going to have a rough time with them, since he's also usually self-contained.
The group reacts to his footsteps approaching in different ways. The tallest man jumps a bit at the sound, the man with pink hair just turns to face him, the energetic one's smile widens and they flap their arms in excitement, the woman in the beanie puts her arms across her chest, and the woman with the eyepatch huffs after giving him a once-over.
He stops once he's a fair distance away from everyone, and finds himself face-to-face with the energetic girl. Her skin is a warm-toned tan, and there are freckles all over her face, and presumably on her shoulders as well, from the way they come down her neck. Their black straight hair goes all the way down to their calves, and their bangs cover their eyes completely, only stopped by the curve of their nose. Her outfit seems normal enough - a sleeveless, olive green button up shirt, black denim shorts frayed at the hems, and black boots with silver studs across the straps - but the accessories make it just as eclectic as she is. She wears black and green galaxy print tights and multiple green hairclips shaped like stars. The most outrageous accessories however, are the long, knitted sleeves they wear; the sleeves are green and black striped, and hang way past their hands and down to the floor. There must be a bracelet underneath one of those sleeves, because he can't see one over them.
"Hi! Glad to see you're not dead!" she coos, the smile on her face still as wide and mischievous as before. "I could use another conversationalist around here, anyway! What's your name and pronouns, if you please?"
"Um, I'm Galaxy, he/they. It's nice to meet you all."
She smiles. "Ooh, that's a fun name! I'm Clover, she/they! I'm a novelist, published three times before I even got the call from Futures! I specialize in mysteries, but I like to read and write in pretty much any genre. What do you do, Galaxy?"
He takes a second, trying to process just how quickly they talk. "I'm a voice actor, but most of my recognizable stuff is from before I started my transition. I'm sure I've maybe read something of yours before, though. It'd help if we remembered our actual names instead of these fake ones, though."
Clover shrugs. "Eh, I like mine. Yours is cool too! I might take inspiration from these for a pen name or something."
Galaxy smiles at her, then turns to face the tall man near him. He's dressed almost completely in black and red. His skin is pale, save for a large burn scar that covers the left side of his face and runs partially down his neck. His hair is a deep red velvet color, and his eyes match. He wears what appears to be a respirator mask over his mouth, so Galaxy assumes that any words that come from him will be muffled. His clothing style is actually pretty fashionable, despite how timid he appears. He wears a red shirt under a black leather jacket with a few patches, black baggy pants, and some chunky red sneakers. On one hand, he wears a bright red fingerless glove and the black bracelet everyone else wears, and the other sports a brown leather glove.
The man doesn't make eye contact with Galaxy, simply saying, "My name is Ice, he/him. I do pyrotechnics."
Clover giggles, elbowing Ice in the side, which causes him to flinch back. "Oh man, isn't that funny? The weirdo that gave us random names had fun with that one, huh? A guy named Ice that works with fire, what a way to pick 'em!" Their words would normally be said sarcastically in a situation like this, but there's absolutely no sarcasm in their tone. She seems genuinely chuffed at the blatantly contradictory nature of Ice's codename.
Ice simply gives her a confused, anxious stare back.
The man standing next to Clover shakes his head. "Ignore her. As far as I'm aware, she's just like that. Anyway, my name is Blossom, he/him, and I'm a therapist by trade. I specialize in family counseling, but I take all clients."
Galaxy's attention turns to him, and he looks up into Blossom's dark pink eyes. His skin is tanned and smooth, and he has a dashing, almost heroic look to him. His hair is mostly gelled back, and a light pink at the roots, but on the left side of his head, his hair becomes more curly and disheveled, and fades into a dark red color, leaving Galaxy to wonder which color is natural, if either. His clothing appears just as contradictory as his hair, with the simultaneous appearance of professionalism and chaos. He has a spiffy pink satin blazer on, but the collar is popped and sticking up to curl inwards towards his cheeks, the white dress shirt underneath it is ironed out and crisp, while the dark gray tie he's wearing is loose and crooked. His suit pants are a different color than his blazer, which is just noticeable enough to be annoying and yet fits just enough to seem intentional, with pinstripes that more closely match the light pink. And finally, the most contradictory part of the whole outfit, he's wearing bright red sneakers, but his suit pants seem to cover them up just enough to where the color doesn't stand out enough to clash.
The thoughts of how this man could stand to be so completely paradoxical do not go unnoticed in Galaxy's head, but he figures it best to not get on the bad side of a guy that knows the way other people tick.
Clover's voice pops up and gives a welcome distraction. "Isn't that such a cute name? It's like we were meant to be best friends, you and I. Plant name pals! Ecological besties! Uh... nature dudes?"
Blossom's eyes narrow at her, his jaw clenching a bit. "I don't plan on making friends with anyone until I'm sure none of you are responsible for what's happening here."
Galaxy nods along with what he's saying, feeling a similar way. While he's grateful that not everyone is acting as coldly as Blossom is, it's most certainly the more logical approach to the situation.
The girl in the beanie standing next to Blossom seems to nod along as well, which caught Galaxy's attention. He turns to look at her, and gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. A few seconds pass by with nobody speaking, the woman only looking him up and down, as if assessing him for some unknown reason.
Clover clears their throat and mutters, "Awkwarddd," in a singsong voice, ever chipper.
"Whatever. I'm Eureka, I use she/her, and I'm a logician."
Well, that would certainly explain why she seemed so in sync with Blossom's approach to things.
He takes in her features, just in case she never speaks to him again, because from what little he can gather from her demeanor, that's a very real possibility. She has a dark tan, making her vivid orange eyes stand out. Her hair is much duller in comparison, though still a ginger color, and it hangs loosely around her face, with some strands seemingly tying themselves behind her head, from the glimpses he catches under her dull gray beanie. Her outfit's not nearly as interesting as the others in her group, consisting of a dark red jacket with gray accents over top of an orange tank top with a bright sky blue star decoration on it, shredded blue jeans, and chunky brown boots. She wears a thin brown belt with a silver buckle diagonally over her waist, and a string necklace with a dulled silver charm, but perhaps her most notable accessory other than her hat is the unlit cigarette she holds in her mouth.
Galaxy feels his hand rising to point it out, but a hand clasps over his wrist before he can finish the gesture. Looking at it, he's met with a pale hand with gold rings all over it, nails painted with black polish that's starting to chip away. Trailing up the arm, he sees the same bracelet everyone else had, then a full sleeve of pink and green traditional-looking tattoos - swirling dragons and crashing waves - leading up to the woman with the eyepatch.
"Don't talk about it. She'll go into a pissy withdrawal phase. Better leave it unsaid." Her voice is dark and soothing, something that definitely fits her intimidating aura, although you wouldn't get that simply from looking at her clothing style.
The eye opposite her all-black eyepatch is similarly dark, and she wears heavy silver eyeshadow with sharp eyeliner wings. Her hair, on the other hand, is stark white and straight, styled with bangs that swoop to the left, and pulled back into two long pigtails. She has what appears to be a perpetual blush to her cheeks, and faint freckles on the apples of them. Her outfit is cutesy and pastel colored, with a white crop top over a white undershirt, a pastel rainbow tutu skirt, and tall white wedge heels with black pom poms at the top. To complement her outfit, she wears black and white striped thigh-high stockings and a spiked headband. You'd mistake her for a very tall young girl if you stood far enough away.
She lets go of Galaxy's wrist and gives a curt nod. "Winter. She/her. Florist."
Galaxy tries his best to give her a smile, although from the suddenness of her stopping him combined with the threatening aura she gives off, he knows it looks insincere. "Cool. Uh, do you two know each other?" he asks, looking between Eureka and Winter.
They both nod, with Eureka being the only one to speak. "Yep. We've known each other for a couple years now. Grew up in the same town, went to the same secondary school and everything. Winter moved in the year before we graduated." She slings an arm over Winter's shoulders, although it looks extremely awkward considering the distance between their heights. Eureka must not be over 5'4", while Winter is nearly 6'0" without including her shoes. It definitely lessens the intimidating vibe the two girls let off, much to Galaxy's relief.
"That's cool. So, do you two know each other's real names then?"
That question makes the two of them break apart, their faces turning thoughtful. Eureka puts a hand to her chin, while Winter rubs the back of her neck. They look at one another, eyes scanning their friend as though trying to place their face with a name, and this goes on for a few seconds before the two of them look back to Galaxy and shake their heads in unison.
Winter says, "I'm sure we do in the back of our minds, but for whatever reason, we can't remember right now."
Clover covers their mouth with their sleeve and gasps. "Oh no, that super sucks! Kinda messed up that whoever brought us here would do that to a pair of friends like that. Why do we even need codenames anyway? What's wrong with our names?"
"I presume it's so that we don't know the true name of the person that did this to us, if it's one of us," Blossom replies, putting one hand in the pocket of his blazer.
"Then why would they put themselves in our situation? What would they possibly hope to gain from being trapped here with us?" Eureka counters.
Blossom shrugs. "Perhaps they wanted to take some suspicion off of them. After all, who would think to accuse one of the people that woke up here with no memory of their name?"
Eureka opens her mouth as though she wants to argue more, but stops. "That... actually isn't a bad justification."
"But then why kidnap us in the first place, if there's not anything more to this?" asks Winter, putting a hand on Eureka's shoulder. Eureka looks up at her friend in awe, and Galaxy almost immediately notices the chemistry between the two, and makes a mental note about it.
Blossom shrugs. "Won't know until we get to that point."
"Well, it better not take too long, I'm dying of suspense here!" Clover huffs and crosses her arms, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.
Galaxy looks to Ice, who looks like he's going to be sick, and debates whether or not it'd be okay for him to reach over and put a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. He decides against it, and instead gives a sympathetic smile, hoping that it'll help him feel at least a bit better, before turning to look at where Bite was standing with the group he had joined.
Bite's laughing at something, presumably said by the person with a bag over their head. Galaxy feels his cheeks getting warmer as he continues to look, waiting a few seconds before Bite looks in his direction and gives him a thumbs up.
He takes this as a sign to break away from this group and introduce himself to a new one, but which one?
Hello, everyone, this is the author checking in to say that there's a poll for which group(s) to talk to next on my profile! I also have a Discord server with beta designs for each character, small trivia pieces about them, and eventually channels for discussion and predictions! Feel free to ask for an invite via PMs!
Thank you for reading, and may the beast's burden be light.