Andrew's POV:
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The air was still around me. There was no sounds, like I was in a void of some kind. I realized my eyes were closed and opened them with difficulty.
I flinched at the sudden white light that assaulted my eyes.
"What…the….hell…." I say, my voice carefully echoing into the void.
I struggle to my feet, feeling a dull aching sensation in my head.
"What happened…" I murmur to myself, scanning my bodies for any problems. "I thought…"
My mind recalls injecting myself with the syringe out of impulse.
"Did I…did I die?"
My surroundings were nothing. Literally nothing. It was a vast, white void that went on for as long as my eyes could see.
I took some experimental steps, confirming my theory that I can't even hear my footsteps.
I palmed my forehead, trying to understand what the hell was going on.
"Don't be afraid, Andrew." I heard a sweet voice say to me.
I look up to see Yuri standing before me. She was wearing a black gown with long sleeves that covered her entire body. Her face was just as I remember from back at the club. Innocent, sweet and not deadly.
"Yuri, I don't understand…"
She gives me a pained smile and softly shakes her head.
"I know you don't. Just….allow me to explain. Please."
I sigh gesture her to continue with my hand.
"For one, I am so sorry that you've gotten dragged into all of this. I can't believe something like this could've ever happened. I just…" Her soft voice faltered.
"H-hey, it's okay. Just please, continue." I say to her.
She takes another deep breath as if steeling herself. Now this was the side of Yuri I really took for granted.
'Never again.' I tell myself.
"I don't entirely understand what has manifested this place, but it seems to be the realm between reality and awakening." She begins, carefully choosing her words. "When someone completely loses themselves, or even perishes, to the Third Eye, this is realm where they go."
I began to see faint traces of boys and girls materialize all around us, carefully walking up from all over. I didn't recognize any of them, although one long-haired, red-headed girl in a pink dress looked familiar.
"Part of me feels like some gentle soul put this together so we could somewhat find peace." Yuri continues. "We can see everything, well mostly, everything when it comes to people or things tied to the facility."
She waved her hand as if to bring my attention. A small image portrayed, shimmering. I recognized the Lazarus Labs. I could see Yuri and Libitina, still facing each other with the silver-haired one on the brink of defeat.
"Wait….You're going to-I mean, she's going to kill Libitina!" I called out towards the picture.
Yuri took a deep, pained breath next to me.
"Libitina is fighting on. She may not give herself enough credit, but she is very brave and strong. She will put everything she has on the line until she is no more."
I clench my fists and return my gaze to Yuri.
"So, what about me, then? Did I die or something, taking that essence? Or like, lose myself or whatever you said?"
Yuri looked me over with a calm expression.
"You…..no, you are still very much alive. Most of us have experienced this place in one way or another while finding out about our curses. Most who still stand think it was just a dream, while some of us have found to call it home."
I shake my head.
"So, I'm going to be back soon?"
Yuri softly nods her head.
"Yes. Your mind and body are becoming one with the Third Eye. You injected yourself with a metaphysical essence the lab has created, which opens up a small part of the brain that remains dormant."
"Uhhh…" I mumble, trying to understand what the fuck she just said.
She cracks a small smile at my unintelligent answer.
"They bred us from a young age until now, opening up this part of our mind. It's still such an extremely strange concept, but they managed to turn us into telekinetic killing machines. Some of us could handle it better than others, but over time they had a clear idea on where they wanted their project to go."
Yuri self-consciously rubbed her forearm.
"I became a prime specimen for them, showing off amazing resilience and growing incredibly from all the tests they implemented. It was then when I first experienced this place."
She waves her arms around and brings my attention to how there was way more boys and girls surrounding us, all with small smiles and garbed respectfully. The looks they gave me were…..hope.
"I'm sure you know, but shortly after, I escaped. I thought I was gone for good but the Awakened part in me was connected to this place, to the Speaker. I spent years and years in the normal world, adapting and overcoming everything. I met you and all the others in the Literature Club, and I thought my life was finally perfect."
I immediately felt a blanket of sadness cover me.
'The Literature Club…' I think to myself.
It has only been one, long night but it has felt like an eternity. Oh, how I longed to see Sayori, Natsuki and Monika again, feel normalcy once more.
I could sense a shift in Yuri's behavior and saw her briefly scowling, as if frustrated.
"Then, like some sort of sick curse, I started to feel my powers awakening again. I was doing so well, containing and hiding them. But the Speaker knew how to get to me. He knew how to draw me back, to draw Her back.."
She punctuates this other visage, making her Awakened self a separate entity.
"As I returned, my powers fully took over and I was no longer myself."
Her voice quivered and her hands fell to her sides.
"I've been here ever since, knowing that my paradise of a normal life was now over, and now I'm forced to watch as my corrupted self completely destroys everything I could've cared about, starting with my sister."
I stepped forward and pull Yuri into a deep embrace.
I could feel her breathing hitch, but she immediately relaxes and squeezes me tight.
"Andrew…..please save Libitina." She whispers to me. "She deserves a life. The things I've done, I can't take back. But I can try to set the path back on course."
I pull back to look at her once more.
"But…..what about yourself? Or the Yuri down there? If I can stop her and, I don't know, somehow rid her of the power, can't I bring you back? Like this?
She softly shakes her head and leans up to place a soft, gentle kiss to my cheek.
She backs up and gives me a small, sad smile, holding her hands gracefully in front of her.
"It's too late for me, Andrew. My mind is already too corrupted. Besides, I have amends to make with the others here."
She turns her head and I see Ilia step up, her short, brown hair bobbing to her steps, her brown eyes sparkling.
"We'll get through this, Yuri." She says, flashing a toothy smile to her. "And you."
I flinch slightly as she jabs a finger towards me, her red, sleeveless dress bouncing in rhythm.
"Promise me that you will take care of Libitina and Allison. When you make it out of there, of course."
I nod my head, still reeling from seeing this girl look so full of life in front of me.
"Of-of course." I say awkwardly.
"Besides, I'll be watching from up here. So, no pressure."
She giggles softly and falls back a little behind Yuri.
I felt a weird shift in the air, like a breeze slowly growing around me.
"Your time has come, Andrew. Use your newfound curse and prevent the rise of a dark queen. Keep care over the others and remember….." She flashes a beautiful, confident smile at me. "…I will always love you."
The winds grew exponentially, engulfing me in a white light, dragging me out of the void before I could respond.
….
My eyes opened and everything was coated in a crimson red. I could see the outlines of objects, structures, doorways, everything. I could hear heartbeats, following the sounds like echolocation.
I spring up to my feet, feeling an incredible power flow through my veins. I could sense a need, a hunger, to cause destruction to everyone and everything.
I could smell fear, goddamn did that smell good, and traced it to a small, cowering girl.
I grinned hungrily towards her, excited to see what pained sounds she can make.
I took a step towards her until…..something stopped me.
No. Not her. I have…..I have a mission. I have a target already.
Frustrated with my own moral decisions, I pivot to see a purple-haired woman standing tall, staring with confidence towards another.
'That's…..that's Yuri…' My mind tells me, like another voice is speaking out to me.
I walked closer and scanned the girl before me.
She was tall and sexy, with her powerful aura so potent, I could ride that high for hours.
I saw her visibly shudder and her gaze turned to mine, surprised.
"Andrew? Why…..I was unaware that you were going to take it upon yourself to transcend. That makes me so…"
Her breathing altered and I could see her eyes focus. Her aura was permeated with a hormonal change, making me realize this woman was in a sort of heat.
I smirked to myself at the realization that I get to utterly fuck such a dangerous, intriguing specimen.
Her heartbeat was beating sporadically, her breathing labored. I could sense her losing focus from her previous victim, who I just realize was standing to her feet.
She, too, had a powerful aura around her. Not nearly as potent as this Yuri, but definitely no one to trifle with. She caught me smirking and I met my gaze with her fiery-blue eyes.
"An-Andrew." She stammers out, me noticing a change in her aura. She was slowly being dragged out of her Awakened state, her energy depleting from what I assumed was a battle.
A piercing pain shot into my mind for a split second, eliciting a growl out of my mouth.
"Libitina…..protect Libitina….destroy Yuri…."
I locked my gaze on the powerful being in front of me. I cracked my neck and clenched my fists.
She could sense the change of energy off me and frowned at me.
"Andrew….what's the meaning of this?" She calls out.
My head pulsed with power and I felt a strange sensation in the small of my back. In the corners of my eyes, I saw a flowing tentacle-like essence. I could sense in my mind that there were four of them. They were the equivalent to extra appendages, granting me additional ways to use my strength.
Yuri could see this and growled towards me, clearly feeling threatened from my power.
I gave her an evil smirk, hungry for a fight.
"Something inside me is saying I need to kill you." I excitedly tell her.
Her face contorted into anger and she screamed at me, a sonic wave blast flying at me.
Without thinking, my extras limbs propelled me into the air, dodging the attack. At the apex of my jump, one of the appendages whipped down, wrapping onto Yuri. I felt my body being yanked down towards the foe with great speed, slamming my feet into her and grounding her into the floor.
'Oh, this is going to be fun.' I excitedly tell myself, laughing out loud in the process.
Yuri seemed stunned only for a moment, before emitting a pulse that knocked me back, allowing her to regain her footing.
"You were supposed to rule beside me." She hisses at me.
Oh, I love it that she's angry. Makes killing them that much more satisfying.
"Trust me, you're a such a fuckable piece of meat. Unfortunately, I feel there is more harm in keeping you alive. Just call it a gut feeling."
She flashes in front of me with lightning speed. Before I could react, I felt a shockwave blast me backwards, sending me airborne.
The world seemed upside down and I felt myself crash into an object, breaking through it. My momentum finally stopped, with my back being lodged into some sort of container.
I felt a hum in my brain and clenched my fists, an energy wave projecting me out of the small hole I was in.
Apparently, the action was more powerful than I could've realized, because the several structures lined up along the walls shattered, glass and liquid flowing out onto the floor.
Red lights over head began the shine, alerting us of an emergency.
'Perfect ambiance for this fight'
I crack my neck and laugh.
Yuri stood staring at me, a smirk on her face.
"You're strong, dearest. Too strong for someone who has just awakened. That poses a problem."
I laugh and feel my tentacle-like appendages quiver with energy.
"You talk too much, bitch."
Two of the limbs dart out towards Yuri, who was expecting the attack. She ducked and dodged with amazing speed over and under the relentless attacks.
Growing bored from the interaction, I start to step closer to my enemy.
She senses this and senses a shockwave towards me.
Unfortunately for the witch, I expected much.
My mind buzzed and I felt an aura cover my hands. With ease, I thrust my hand out and absorbed her blast. With a chuckle, I return the burst back to her.
Her eyes widen as she sees the attacks and kicks to the side, dodging the blast. Unfortunately for her, my extra arms were extremely hungry for blood and latched onto one of her legs.
With great force, Yuri was whipped around and slammed into the ground several times, the room quaking with each slam.
I gave out a booming laugh of excitement, walking up to the girl.
She lay in a small hole that was dug with her own body, staring up to me with hatred.
"You…" She starts.
Not wanted to hear her speak, I swung down with thunderous force and deliver a blow directly to her face.
A little unorthodox from the gifts I have currently, but effective.
I reach and grab her by her throat, dragging her off the ground and to her knees.
"Bleh, I grow bored from this." I muse to her. She looks up to me and hisses at me.
"You bastard. You were supposed to walk by my side. To follow me to our new world."
One of my extra appendages slapped her, causing her to gasp and effectively shut up.
"Listen, shut the fuck up." I tell her. "All I know is that your sexy as hell, but I have to kill you. Nothing personal."
I felt a ping in my mind and shrugged.
"Okay, maybe it's kind of personal. But you were a lot of fun." I coax to her.
I feel the one silver-haired girl walk up beside me.
I had my additional powers hold Yuri in place and I turned my attention to the girl, who seemed to be holding onto a green vial of sorts.
Her tired, blue eyes met with mine and I knew what she wanted.
"Go for it, hon." I tell to the girl.
Yuri's eyes flare as she recognizes the girl and the vial.
"Libitina, you wouldn't dare. You will never have the life you portray in your weak mind!" She calls out, malice coating her voice.
Libitina takes a deep breath and opens her eyes.
"This is for Ilia, you stupid bitch."
She stabs the syringe into Yuri's neck and injects the emerald-green essence into her.
My tentacles tighten around the bitch's body as she screams into the air, thrashing all around, fighting my grasp.
I began to roar in laughter at the spectacle.
"Yes! YES! Fight! Struggle in my grasp. Beg for mercy." I call out to the dying girl.
I could feel her aura fighting to stay inside, emitting several weak bursts. Libitina was knocked back off her feet. I stood my ground, my power overwhelming hers.
A few moments pass and Yuri stops struggling. I could sense her life energy falling, her essence of power gone completely. I chuckle softly to myself, loosening my grip.
"Thanks for the fight. Didn't last long, but it's fun taking out someone who's essentially an apex predator."
I felt an excited buzzing into my mind and willed one of my appendages to raise above my head, aiming with a piercing gaze at Yuri.
"There's only one last thing I craved for this. Blood."
I squeeze my fist and the weapon pierces straight through Yuri's head, completely driving a melon-sized hole into her face.
Pulling back, her body fell limp to the floor, her ichor oozing all around her head.
I took a deep breath and feel the high of my kill flowing through my lungs.
"Goddamn, that was refreshing."
I snapped my eyes over to Libitina, who stumbled to her feet. Another, smaller girl jogged up to her, hugging her.
"Allison…" I hear Libitina say softly.
The world around me pulsates for a moment, my muscles feeling fatigued out of nowhere.
Both girls look at me, their helpless eyes piercing mine.
I started to feel my energy wane, my focus and bloodlust fading.
I drop to a knee and grunt, palming the side of my head.
"What is…." I started to say before my crimson vision fades to black.
…
Libitina's POV:
Andrew was propped up on one knee, mumbling incoherently.
'He did it. He actually did it.'
I run up to him and kneel down, shaking his shoulder.
"Andrew, Andrew." I call to him, shaking his shoulder. "Please be okay."
He mumbles something once more and brings his head up to meet mine. His hazel eyes were vacant and empty.
I stood up and dragged him to his feet, where he barely stood. His whole body practically fell onto mine, feeling like dead weight was thrust onto my body.
"Urg- Allison, please help." I grunt out.
The smaller girl speeds up and wraps his other arm around her shoulder. He was taller than us, more so Allison, so our already-taxed bodies were working overtime.
I looked around and became acutely aware of our surroundings. The carnage from the two's shorter fight was apparent, with the walls and containers mostly destroyed. There were small fires littered throughout the room and red siren-lights flashed overhead.
"Andrew-" I start, trying to get into his head. "-if you can hear me, we need to get out of here. Me and Allison have ahold of you, but we need to start moving. The labs are falling apart. We're going now, okay?" I plead to him.
He mumbles something barely audible.
I nod my head to Allison, and we start forward, pulling him with us.
Although we practically were carrying him, I could faintly make out his feet trying to take steps with us.
'He's still in there, somewhere.'
We push onward, avoiding fires and broken rubble, careful not to drop Andrew.
Once we got to the elevator, I scanned the flashing panel, unsure of what to press.
"Uh, uh…" I stutter, anxiously stuttering.
I began to press any and all of the buttons, knowing one of them show work. Sure enough, the doors screech open.
We drag our hero into the small box, and I press the single, amber button. The doors struggled to a close and we began to ascend.
I met with Allison's eyes, which were filled with fear.
"It's okay, Allison. We're getting out of this place. For good."
How? I have no idea. Where? I don't fucking know.
After a few moments and praying to dear life that the rumbling didn't knock our ride off center, the doors opened.
After counting to three, I used my strength to once again lift the taller man up to move.
This time, his feet were hitting the ground and walking with us, making it easier to move.
"Libitina…" Andrew softly groans.
"It's okay, Andrew. We're getting out of here." I softly tell him, grunting and pushing through the pain.
We exited through the main office of the directors and out into the hallways.
The red lights flashing overhead along with the quaking of the facility what kicking my stress into overdrive. I narrowed my eyes and tried to read any signs that could point us to an exit.
"There!" Allison calls out.
I turn to her callout to see one of the section's courtyards up ahead.
With determination, I shoulder the man and press onward.
We were twenty feet from our freedom when I heard a loud scream that made my heart stop.
The double doors slammed open, and a battered, bloodied man stood in front of us, blocking us from freedom.
In his hand, a green syringe with a crack in its glass.
His white doctor's gown was tattered and bloodied, his prior wounds still fresh. His spectacles he has were broken and off-center, sitting wrong on the bridge of his nose. His eyes bore straight into me, fueling me with anger.
"Doctor Winters." I spit at him.
He limped towards us, gripping his vial.
"You will not leave here alive. You have ruined everything. All our tests, all our experiments, everything."
He lungs at me, vial in hand.
"Die, you worthless creation!"
Before I can react to the situation, I heard a war cry from next to me.
"Stay away from her!"
Winters was knocked to the side from an invisible force, his back lowered against the wall until he was sitting on his rear.
Allison slowly walked up to him, a strange aura emitting from her.
"You have caused us too much harm." She spits to the man, her energy dangerous. "No more with you bring pain to the world."
She reached her hand out and Winters screamed out in pain. His head was slowly pushed into his body until only his scalp remained visible.
Allison turns to me, her brown-red misted eyes to me.
I can already feel her power waning, like she just had a small burst of evil energy. She took a deep breath, and I could make out tears flowing down her face.
"I….I did it. Ilia was right, I could do it."
I flinched when a hoarse voice next to me gave a pained chuckle.
"I had a feeling you could." Andrew says.
Me and Allison both gasped. Allison runs over and squeezes his arm her chest.
"You're-you're okay!" She exclaims.
"Of course I am," He jokes. "All I did was inject some demon sauce into my body."
We were brought out of our trance when the facility quaked once more, jerking us to reality.
"Let's get the hell out of here." Andrew groans.
I nod at Allison to once again help carry Andrew.
We limp our ways through the double doors and into the outside world.
We stumble halfway into the courtyard before collapsing onto the grass.
A few moments pass until Andrew breaks the silence.
"That…..that feels so damn good."
I went to ask him what he meant until I felt the soft breeze that flowed through us.
"Look at that." Allison says wistfully.
My eyes squinched as I looked up, seeing the slow rise of the sun, painting the sky with beautiful pinks, purples and yellows.
"It's…incredible." I say, stunned.
"It sure is." He says, sitting up.
"How are….how are you feeling?" I carefully ask him.
He winces and rotates his arm, holding onto his shoulder.
"I um, I think I'm okay. I have this weird aching in the back of my mind but other than that, I think I'm okay. Just like extremely tired." He answers.
I sigh in relief.
We fucking did it.
I sat there, staring at the beautiful sunrise and felt like I could cry. Like exhausted body was finally relaxing for the first time for hours.
The wind blowing into my hair gave me a sense of serenity, something I very rarely ever felt.
I turn my gaze to Allison, who seems to be going through the same feelings.
"I know we're all tired and the sunrise is beautiful, but we should get somewhere safe. Somewhere we can call home." He points out.
I pursed my lips.
"How….how are we going to do that?" I ask.
He turns to me and sighs.
"Well, I think Yuri got us here, and you being her younger, powerful sister, maybe you can do the same."
I shake my head meekly.
"I don't know if I can."
Allison crawls up to us.
"What if we….pool together our powers? Maybe we can create an energy or something and Andrew can take us somewhere instead…" She suggests unconfidently.
I pondered what she said.
"You were really powerful, Andrew. More so than anyone I've met, and that's after one time with the powers. Maybe you having a strong head on our shoulders was why you were chosen in the first place."
He closed his eyes like he was thinking.
"Hm, maybe. I felt a tickle somewhere in there when I thought about it. It could be possible."
We perked up from the information and scooched closer to him.
"Let's….focus on something calm. Something that keeps us grounded but strong at the same time. It feels….like the right thing to do." Andrew says.
I ponder for a moment before my eyes fell once more to the beautiful sky.
"The sunrise." I say, pointing out. "It's amazing, and a reminder that we are now free. That we made it. For us. For everyone."
I feel a ping at my heart at realizing Ilia isn't here and felt a hand grip mine.
I look up to see warm, hazel eyes staring into mine.
"I need you both to know that they are here. They can see us, and they know we are safe. Trust me." Andrew softly says.
I gaze to Allison and I knew she felt the same thing I did.
"Besides, they might be helping with this."
I took a deep breath and squeezed Andrew's hand, concentrating onto the sunset before me.
"Let's get out of here." I confidently say, feeling a strange sensation grow in my mind.
It began to overwhelm me, making me feel weak, but I welcomed it. I knew, that if I was with Andrew, everything would be okay.
I took one last deep breath and smiled. My first real, authentic smile. A strange sensation fell over me and I felt my conscious fade.