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[Wukong P.O.V]
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The first thing that he had ever felt upon gaining consciousness was pain.
Pain so intense and all-encompassing that it felt like every cell in his body was screaming in agony as it was dipped in acid and summarily set on fire for good measure. Yet somehow, God knows why, the front of his face seemed to be the worse off as it felt like an explosion had gone off in that area. Everything that can hurt is hurting, even the places where he never knew it was possible to feel pain at all.
His senses seem to be in overdrive, feeling everything they could around it but dial up to 11. His brain was throbbing insistently, it felt like it was trying to escape his skull as it struggled to process all the information that it was receiving from his senses. It's like he can feel everything around him even without making physical contact with them. Too bad his brain is experiencing the blue screen of death so nothing he's feeling right now makes sense to him.
The pain and sensory overload is keeping him from even forming any coherent thoughts. Questions like what's happening, where is or why is he feeling like this is way beyond him at the moment.
He doesn't know how long he has been feeling this way but as his luck would have it, the pain seem to be finally numbing and everything is starting to fade away. Slowly and surely, his senses are getting dimmer like a fire going out and an encroaching darkness claw it's way into the edges of his mind as the fire dies out.
This feeling, is familiar yet not. He felt like he had experienced this feeling countless times before, yet it felt like he's experiencing this for the first time.
'Am I...█████?'
The word escapes him like grains of sand slipping through his fingers. He knows that he should know what it is. It should be something that he's intimately familiar with yet somehow it's not. The very concept of what he's experiencing seems to be missing from his mind.
Despite not knowing, he understood that surrendering to it would help him end all the suffering that he was experiencing right now. But instead of feeling relief from being able to stop the pain, all he felt within him was an instinctive fear. Of what he does not know. All he knows is that if he were to lose consciousness here now, he would never wake up again; that spark of consciousness that is fleeting from him will never again return.
The fear that suddenly flooded him allowed him to pull his mind together somewhat from its incoherent state, just enough for him to think slightly. With some clarity of focus, he realized that he was currently in a terrible spot and very near █████.
Using his newly regained ability to think, he uses it to analyze the state of his body and easily notices that something isn't working as it should. He hadn't been breathing. Which might explain just why everything is going black for him.
'N̴̡̡̟̅̊̓ḙ̷̠͒̇͝e̶̬̲̰̊̓d̵̡̖̎̎̽…...tofollow….breat̵̬̿͗́ḧ̵̟͆direct̷̮̓ȋ̷̲̺̥̋̚v̵̞̲͑ͅe̵̗͒̌. His thoughts came in a scattered mess like many thoughts were going on at once.
He tried to pull in the air that he desperately needed but the muscles needed to perform said action was uncooperative. It took a bit and with tremendous effort, he forced the muscles on his jaw to move and his mouth slowly opened. He was greeted with a surge of agony on his jaw as though he had just drawn a blade made out of sandpaper over every fiber of muscle that had just been forced to work.
Then, he drew my first breath upon this world.
And he regrets everything.
An onslaught of new sensations hits him and having his senses currently heightened makes everything worse. Firstly, he believes that it was air entering his mouth followed by something slimy that is definitely not air. Then, he got to experience something in his chest cavity expand.
'D̴̡̙̦̀̆į̷͓͂d̵̘͖̩̎ I j̵̮̰͎̓u̴̩͐̄s̸̘͔̤̄t̸͙̼̿̄̅͜ inflate m̴͕̐͆ỳ̴̲̝ ̴͍͚̄̑ö̷͖̤̝́̎w̴͎̽̀n̵̻͍̒ lungs?' His thoughts came with a burst of static.
Being able to feel that was odd but not the worse part of the breathing exercise that he was doing. No, the worse part was the coughing and hacking that comes after taking in his first mouthful of air and the ever increasing sensation of burning agony that comes with it.
But hey, at least the feeling of fading away is gone for now. Small mercies.
"...!"
He felt like something had just entered his ears but he couldn't tell what it was as he finally realized that his ears had been ringing this entire time. Worse still was that something loud kept assaulting his eardrums and preventing them from settling down enough so he could hear himself think properly.
All of a sudden, he felt something touch his back, and pain flared anew upon the unexpected sensation. His entire body twitched erratically in response, causing a new surge of agony from moving the muscles that he was starting to doubt had been ever moved at all. Thankfully, the touch was only for the briefest of moments but it still left a lingering feeling echoing at where he was touched.
"…..?" Something faint reached his ear again but he still couldn't make out anything.
"…...ate." He could hear something again but this time, he could barely make out something at the end.
Then came the worst experience had ever felt in his short life.
The sensation of being touched in multiple areas echoed throughout his senses and his body reacted accordingly to the new things that it was experiencing. But this time, the touch wasn't for a brief moment. It lasted far longer and he could feel my body being moved.
He found himself being flipped around and his back was greeted with the cold, wet floor.
E̷̠̕v̷̙̀ĕ̸̠r̶̬͠y̸͙̕ț̶͝h̸̛̳i̷̦̓ń̶͜g̴̺̒ ̷͙̇ĥ̴̯û̷̗ṛ̷̈́t̸̫̉ș̴̉
His brain short-circuited as it was overwhelmed by everything that it experienced in that split second.
Thankfully, nothing else happened to push it further or it's quite possible that it will melt in his skull for real. With that window of calmness, he took the chance to focus on just breathing normally. With nothing else happening, he could tell that his body was finally calming down, giving him the much-needed reprieve from the constant bombardment of inputs from his senses.
His brain seems to have cooled down and is functioning better now too; he could start thinking somewhat normally again. It still hurts like a team of miners striking it with pickaxes when he thinks but at least it's not like someone turning on a blender inside his skull like before.
There are just so many questions that he wants answered but he just feels so tired. He wanted nothing more than to fall back to sleep just to escape this existence of pain and suffering that he had woken up to.
"I….every….should….now…. need…. a way….mehow." Before he could doze off again, he could hear someone speaking. It would seem that his ears were adapting to the cacophony of noises around him properly now and the ringing had finally subsided enough for him to hear something.
The tiredness that he was feeling was held at bay and curiosity slowly made itself known. 'JustEvaluate what's g̵̫͍̔ö̵́̓͠ͅï̷̝̉̕͜n̷͔̯͚̏g̴͔̽͠s̴̜̏̐i̸̝̖͗̃̚t̶̰͠ű̷̮͐̾ͅa̶͕͓̝͂t̷̖̳̂̿̀ͅi̵̟̘͎̐o̵̧̪͂n̸͇͔͔̽̄ on ą̸̬͙͗͘r̸̛̠͉͚͂̆ö̵͎́̇͌̍̚u̴̬̞̿̽̆̚͘n̷̨̞̫̬͐̂̏͝d̶̟̋̎̓ me?' He thought, sending sharp spikes of pain through his head and even more static. Gods, his head is a mess right now and it takes so much effort to think.
Still, he needs answers and he won't get it by doing nothing. He took a deep breath first in order to brace himself for whatever might come next. Then he shifted his eyes towards where he felt the touches came from and cringed at how his eyeballs and the nerves connecting them seem to prick at the movement. Despite all that effort, all he could register with his sight was darkness that was tainted red somehow.
'What's going ó̶̹̮͇̦ņ̸̒͒͗̀͌? Are the l̶̦̥̓͆̿̀̚i̶̼̱̰̜̭̾́͆͊͘ģ̸̡̭̥̝̆͊̓ḩ̴̬̥̯̎̔̈͘t̷̨̳̱͈̼̒̒̈̿s̶͇̯̆͆͛̉̇ out?' his thoughts came like a faint whisper in his fuzzy mind.
It didn't take long for him to figure out that the light wasn't the problem, he just had his eyes clenched shut this entire time.
He forces himself to relax his eyelids and slowly pry them open. They felt heavy, like they're made out of lead and chained to the floor but he persisted. In the end, his stubbornness won out and he finally got them to open.
He was greeted with a sight reminiscent of someone spilling red paint on a painting in an art exhibit and hastily tried to clean up the evidence of their crime. By that, he meant that everything is a red and smudged blur like someone tried to wipe away the red paint but only succeeded in mixing the painting together.
"Wise!….ing his eyes!" He can hear a child's voice; a female, judging by her voice. His ears seem to be clearing up nicely as he can hear her more clearly than before.
Despite his blurred vision, he could tell that someone was here with him at….wherever he was. Two someones in fact. He had been feeling their presences moving around him this entire time but his mind had been too out of it to properly tell until now.
"Hey...are you feeling? Are….alright?" The same voice spoke again while his sight slowly regained its focus. The blurs now have a more defined shape to them and he can now differentiate between objects now. There's two figures hanging above him their faces still too blurred for me to make out any distinct features.
Is she asking about him? She sounded so worried, but why? He doesn't understand….Regardless, he feels as though he should at least answer her.
He had to work to get his mouth to open before he tried to speak, fighting through the tiredness and pain in order to get his voice out. "p...ain." He cringed as the air flowed through his throat, causing needle-like feelings to stab through the sensitive walls of his windpipe. He felt that it should be enough to convey what he was experiencing to the one asking.
"Right, sorry about that. I guess falling onto your face does hurt." He heard one of the figures speak, a different voice this time. Judging by the pitch and tone, it's a boy this time. Odd, how does he even know how to tell these things? This should be his first time hearing people speak.
'Identify ç̵͎̙͉̾̔̇͒͝o̸̡̲͔̼̞̽̈́n̸̜̻͎̝̅͗͘͝ṱ̷̮͑͐a̵͚̲̓c̴̫̟̭̜̼̈́̈́͘t̸̜̋̐ş̶̥̘̊͂́͌' He suddenly thought, halting whatever he was thinking about and giving him a new focus. He should at least figure out who these two are first. He doesn't even know if they're a threat to him or not….which would be ridiculous to think of since they sound like children. Maybe he should do a little probing, just to see what they are like.
"...ain…t...ir..ed." He said to them while sounding as pitiful as he could, which wasn't hard considering he was already in so much pain. Trying to speak helped sell the act too as it felt like someone set his throat on fire just now.
"Do...do you think we can help? Is there anything we can do to stop the pain?" The girl asked him, her voice filled with concern and anxiety. He felt rather touched that she cared about him so much. No idea why she does but it warms his heart all the same. Perhaps they're not bad people after all?
'I̸̥̬̜̓̄d̷͍̓͛̕e̴̲͛͋͛n̴͙̠̪̊ẗ̴̝͈́i̸̞̾f̷̳͍̆͠͠ÿ̴̢́ contacts.' His mind? Reminded him. Right, he knows that they're not bad but he still has no idea who they are. His throat still hurts like hell from just speaking just now and he doubts he has the strength to speak full sentences right now. Looks like he'll just have to be as concise as he can without speaking too much. "...wh...o?" he asked while he slowly shifted his eyes between the two figures in front of him, hoping that they would understand what he was trying to ask"
"Ah, are you asking for our names? I'm Belle, this guy over here is my brother, Wise. I don't know if you knew but we're your siblings." The moment he heard their names, something in his mind seemed to click in place. Like a switch being flipped, his mind which had previously been a loud static-filled mess instantly quieted down. His sight that had been blurred snapped into focus and he could finally see the faces of the two children that were before him.
He didn't know why but just hearing their names caused his brain to jolt slightly as though a current had just run through the stems 'Their names…..targetsthey sound so familiarfound somehow.' He thought and winched slightly as a stab of pain made itself known when he thought. He doesn't know why but his thoughts just felt….wrong. It felt like there's someone else's thoughts were intruding into his mind, yet it also felt like they were his own, only somehow different.
'Follow directives: K̷̞̄̈́̓͝P̵̨̺̟̹͛r̴̩̤̲͌̆̕͠o̶͙̙̝͍͆̇̀̀̕ỉ̷̯͔̯̠̀̓̇̈́t̵̪͒̑̃͠͠ĕ̸͓̳̗̌̄͜͝͝c̶̠̍̚͘l̶̙̍ť̴̳̪͒̅l̶̟̗̠͐̈́ Belle and Wise' His head was hit with a sharp burning stab, as though someone had stabbed a flaming lance into the organic matter between his skull. Then a foreign desire to do….something, swell from within him like a surging wave. But all that feeling did was cause a sense of loss and confusion. It's almost as if he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do. Without any leverage to latch onto, the feeling dissipated easily enough and he was left wondering if he had just imagined it.
He chose to push aside that confusing experience for the moment and focus on the two before him. Their faces looked haggard, covered and dirt and dust as though they had been through quite an ordeal. The boy's face was wet, with some droplets of water dripping down from his chin. No, it's not water. The scent of iron coming from him told him that it was something else. Is he bleeding? "W...is..e….Be...ll..e..?" He rasped for confirmation, his face slowly shifting to a frown. Something about their names just screams familiarity but he can't quite put a finger on why.
"Yes, that's right. That's our name. Do you have one of your own?" The boy-Wise asked him.
His face morphed into one of confusion upon hearing the question before he closed his eyes. His eyebrows then furrow together as he tried to think of an answer but his attempts to do so were met with illegible static filling his brain. Unbeknownst to Wise, his question had caused his mind to just blank out and fill itself with random noise as he tried to recall his name.
'What is my name?' He wondered. But every time he tried to reach for the answer, he felt like he's trying to grasp at wisps of smoke in a void. Barely tangible and fleeting. Somewhere deep down, he knows that he has one but he just couldn't quite reach it as he is right now.
He would've frowned if he could, but the static filling his mind made even that hard. As he helplessly tried to find an answer to his question, he could feel an unpleasant emotion swelling within his chest. Could it be...irritation? Is that what he's experiencing right now?
'Follow directives: K̷̞̄̈́̓͝P̵̨̺̟̹͛r̴̩̤̲͌̆̕͠o̶͙̙̝͍͆̇̀̀̕ỉ̷̯͔̯̠̀̓̇̈́t̵̪͒̑̃͠͠ĕ̸͓̳̗̌̄͜͝͝c̶̠̍̚͘l̶̙̍ť̴̳̪͒̅l̶̟̗̠͐̈́ Belle and Wise' The foreign thoughts made itself known again, cutting through his static filled mind and sending another sheering lance of pain through his head. Surprisingly, it was just what he needed as the wisp of smoke that he'd been trying so hard to grasp consolidated into a single word.
"Wu...kong?" He told them slowly and tested out the way the name sounded. Somehow, this name sounds right but yet it doesn't feel right. He let out a soft sigh as he decided to stop thinking about it. It really doesn't matter whether or not it's his real name, he just has something to address himself so it'll do.
"Wuk...ong." He told them again, this time more surely as he opened his eyes. This time, he finally noticed that the entire room they were in seemed to be tinted in some kind of red lighting, making everything look reddish.
"Wukong... It's nice to finally meet you." Wise said to him with a smile.
"Welcome to the family Wukong." Belle told him with a smile of her own.
"...fa...mily…?" Wukong said, unsure as to what that word meant. Like before, he feels as though it's something that he knows but the concept seems foreign to him. His head is still a jumbled mess, it's like someone had taken a pickaxe to his mind and took whatever pieces that it could from the carnage leaving him to clean up what's left. At the very least it seems that his body is slowly recovering. He could feel the pain that was wrecking his body slowly diminishing as he lay unmoving on the ground. Either that or he's just getting used to being in a constant state of pain.
"It means that we're a close group of people that support and care for each other, treating each other with love and respect and wanting the best for each other," Belle said happily while placing her hands on her hips.
Wukong doesn't know why but her explanation seems pretty…. whimsical? At any rate, he literally doesn't know any better so he'll just have to accept her explanation for now. But still, family huh….it does sound rather nice. "….hm…" He simply let out a grunt in acknowledgment to her words.
"Alright, Wukong doesn't seem to be in danger of anything happening due to coming out of the pod early for now. Belle, we need to work on getting out first so help me dig. Wukong, you just rest up. We'll get us out in a jiffy." Wise said as he stood up from his position and walked off.
"Alright brother. Wukong, you just wait for us okay? We'll get you and Eous out safe." Belle said as she went to join him.
"….Eo..us…?" Wukong muttered in confusion as he wondered who that was. But the two didn't reply to his question and hurriedly moved away towards a pile of dirt and debris that seemed to be blocking a doorway.
The confusion within him grew when he saw them digging through the pile with great haste, looking almost desperate in their actions. Wondering just what's going on, he finally took the chance to take in his surroundings in hopes that he would be able to figure out just what's going on.
His eyes scanned the room and it didn't take him long to piece together the situation even with his ability to think being impaired by his headaches. They seem to be in some kind of metal structure underground, how and why is still unknown. The worst part is that it's in the process of falling apart since parts of the room are filled with dirt and rocks. Who knows just how much longer they have before the rest of the room follows? It would explain just why the other two are in such a hurry to dig a way out of this place.
His eyes quickly look back towards his two siblings who seem to have made little headway in creating a path. A part of his brain seemed to fire up as he began to calculate how much time it would take for them to do so as he took into account their speed and how much debris there was blocking the way.
The conclusion he came to is 'not fast enough'. He can hear the metal above them straining with tortured groans and coming closer to falling with each beat of his heart. 'They won't make it.' Wukong thought as he came to the grim realization that they just might be buried here underneath all the dirt.
A sense of helplessness seems to permeate his being upon this realization and he dislikes that feeling immensely. Somehow, the notion of being stuck under the ground seem sort of familiar to him. Just feeling it gave him the impression that he had experience being in a state of helplessness for a very long time while being under a heavy oppressive weight. He didn't know why but the word 'mountain' kept appearing in the back of his mind.
He looked at the back of the two kids doing their best to survive as he thought about what would happen once the supports keeping the ceiling up failed. 'They'll die.' The thought struck him hard as he suck in a pained breath. He feels oddly fine when it's him alone that's going to be buried under all the rubble but the thought of it happening to the two who claimed him as their sibling sends him into a state of aggravation.
They looked so young. Are the lives of these two children just going to be snuffed out like this? 'No, it can't.' A sense of fierce protectiveness seems to surge in his heart as he grits his teeth. He refuses to let it happen.
'Follow Directives: Protect Belle and Wise' For the first time since his awakening, the voice inside his head is clear.
Before he knew it, he was trying to sit upright as he pushed his body to move, ignoring how painful it was to move. It's odd. They had just met and already he felt deeply attached to the two to the point where he desperately wanted to keep them safe from all harm.
As he sat up, he could feel something falling off his body. He looked down and found a piece of clothing resting on his lap while noticing that he seemed rather bare at the moment. As he stared at his nakedness, he suddenly had a feeling that he should at least cover his groin so he went and did so even though he didn't know why yet.
He took the clothing and began tying it around his waist. As his hand moved behind his back, it touched something behind him. Said contact caused a jolt of electricity to shoot up his spine as he let out a small hiss of pain and confusion.
He slowly turned his head around and caught a glimpse of something long and twitching. He blinked before turning back to look at his crotch and then back at the thing behind him again. 'I've got two? No wait, that's a tail.' He thought as he stared at the extra appendage behind him. It looked so bizarre and he's pretty sure he's not supposed to have one. Or at least he felt that he shouldn't have.
He narrowed his eyes and tried to move it without using his hands only for it to twitch slightly.
He frowned at the failed attempt and closed his eyes, hoping that with fewer things for his brain to process, he would be able to feel his tail and move it more easily. With his eyes shut, he could sense his tail like he would his arms and legs.
With a mental command, he told it to move.
His effort was rewarded with something slamming into his face like a boxer throwing a haymaker. He fell forward but managed to catch himself from crashing onto the floor again by planting his hands on the ground. He could feel his brain rattling inside his skull from the blow and his eyes began to water slightly as he opened them.
'Not the face again!' He complained as he shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. In hindsight, he should've thought about which direction to move it first. At the very least, it would seem that his body had recovered enough that he could move but the pain was still there. He had more or less adapted to the pain and is ignoring it now. That's good, that means he won't be hindered by it when he's trying to help his siblings escape this place.
"Wukong! What are you doing!? You're not supposed to move yet." He heard Belle's voice called out and his eyes widened slightly.
'Ah crap, did they see?' He thought in a panic. He hoped that they didn't because it would be embarrassing. From the look of things, they didn't seem to notice him hitting himself with his own tail.
"Me….he...lp." He said, hoping to move things along so they don't ask just why he's on all fours.
"H-huh? What do you mean by help? You're in no condition to do anything right now." Belle said as she crouched down next to him, he could feel her hands keeping him steady so that he doesn't fall again.
"...can….help." Wukong gritted out as he tried to stand. With Belle so close, he can finally see that her hands are already wounded from all the digging. The skin on her fingers is starting to peel off and is bleeding slightly due to all the sharp rocks in the dirt pile. Thankfully, her nails are still intact and haven't been pulled off. The state of Wise's hands is likely worse seeing that he had been working way harder than Belle. He can't imagine how painful it would be for them right now and yet they keep on putting on a brave face and are worried about him instead. How can he stay lying on the ground when they're pushing themselves to the point of self-harm?
An ugly feeling made itself known in his chest as he gritted his teeth in frustration. This isn't right. He should be the one protecting them instead.
Wukong's eyes gaze between Belle and Wise and he saw a silent conversation seem to take place between them. Belle looked anxious and concerned as she looked at Wise while Wise himself looked conflicted and contemplative as he looked at Wukong.
"We should let him help. The more hands the better right?" Wise eventually said, sounding hesitant about his decision.
"Alright, if you say so." Wukong heard Belle reply before he felt her grab his left arm and place it over her shoulder. "Hrump!" Belle let out a cute sound as she tried to drag him to his feet. He didn't let her do all the work and put some strength into his legs to prop himself up. His was a bit wobbly when he stood up but with Belle by his side keeping him stable, he managed to stay upwards without much issue.
Wukong's gaze turned to the pile of dirt blocking their way and got ready to remove it. His body moved on its own and he raised his right hand towards his ear and dug his pinkie in. He froze once he did so and a sense of wrongness and confusion took over as he tried to reach for something in his ear.
"What's wrong Wukong? Is there something in your ear?" He heard Belle ask while he removed his hand and stared at it.
"May….be?" Wukong replied as the sense of confusion wasn't leaving. Why did he do something like that in the first place? It felt so natural like he had done this action many, many times before. 'It felt like something is missing….but what?' He thought before he shook his head to get rid of the feeling. 'Right, this is not time to be confused.' He thought before pointing at the rubble.
"Le...t's….go." He told Belle, they needed to move fast. Once they're out then they'll need to find some medical supplies to clean Wise's wounds and stop the bleeding. The wound doesn't look deep despite the amount of blood that Wise seems to be losing. The only reason why there's so much blood is because the head is an area with a lot of blood vessels, causing more blood to be lost when wounded. So blood loss is still an issue so the quicker they can stop the bleeding the better. Judging by Wise's size and the rate he's losing blood, he estimates that Wise has approximately 15 or so minutes before he starts feeling the side effects of blood loss.
Huh...that's an oddly specific thing to know about the human body.
Belle began leading him towards the pile while Wise watched them approach with some worry. Wukong started thinking about how to go about making a path as quickly as possible since digging would take too long.
For some reason, a part of his brain kept telling him that he could just punch his way out but another part kept saying that that's not physically possible. 'Well, might as well give it a try right? It's not like I've got any better ideas at the moment. If it fails then I'll just have to think of another way.' He thought to himself as they reached where Wise was.
Wise turns around and is about to continue digging but Wukong acts first. He clocked his arm backward and threw it forward with all the strength he could muster. Just as his arm shot past his face, he had a thought. 'Wait, what if I break my hand instead?' He suddenly thought and had a split second of panic before his fist made contact with the rubble.
The area where his fist struck burst open as though an explosion had occurred, revealing a way out of their predicament. Wukong's entire arm exploded in a new intensity of pain but he managed to hide it from the other two and didn't react to it other than the twitch on his face. He felt as though the bones in his arms were breaking from the recoil.
Wise and Belle stared at the open path with their jaws hanging and Wukong couldn't blame them. 'Holy crap, I didn't think that would work!' He thought, feeling a part of him in disbelief while another just basically shrugged and told him to get used to it.
Wukong noticed that his siblings were staring at him now and with a sheepish smile he lifted his fist and said. "Me….help."
As soon as he finished speaking the entire area started to shake, likely unstabilized due to his explosive punch. 'Oops….' Wukong thought as he realized just exactly what he had done. Explosive force in an unstable underground area usually results in a spectacular cave-in.
"Right, no time to stare in shock. We need to get moving to safety now!" Wise took charge and got everyone to start moving.
"O-okay! Wise, grab Eous! I'll support Wukong!" Belle agreed with Wise and started leading Wukong out of the door and into a hallway while Wise went further inside the room.
Wukong could only do his best to not slow Belle too much and tried to jog with her as best as he could. His body isn't moving exactly like he wants and there are still occasional twitches and shakes that he had to suppress so he doesn't hinder Belle when they're moving. He has a feeling that she notices how hard it is for him to move but doesn't bring it up. He could tell that she was picking up most of the slack and was almost carrying him along by dragging him forward.
Belle brought them to an elevator further back in the hall and they got in.
"Hurry up Wise!" Belle called out from inside the elevator as they watched Wise coming their way while carrying some kind of strange-looking doll with rabbit ears. Well, rabbit ear since one of it looks damaged and is dangling on its head, barely connected.
"I'm trying." Wukong heard Wise reply as he ran, his movement being hindered by the doll in his hands. Now that he's closer, he can see some mechanical parts from the exposed portion of the doll. So it's some kind of machine then?
Once Wise entered the elevator with them Belle quickly slapped one of the buttons on the panel. He watches as they both let out a sigh of relief once it closes and the elevator starts moving upwards. He could hear the sound of things collapsing from the other side of the door, indicating that the hallway that they were just in was no more.
[WARNING: FACILITY IS CURRENTLY BEING ENGULFED BY A HOLLOW!]
"Urgh!" Wukong let out in pain as he clutched his ears as they started rigging from the loud assault. The loud sound came out of nowhere and he wasn't prepared at all for it. Belle let out a surprised yelp as he removed his arm from her shoulder and she gazed at him worriedly before paling when she registered what she had heard.
[WARNING! PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!]
"Arrgh!" Wukong squeezes his hand against his ears harder and clenches his eyes shut. He was briefly aware that something seemed to have washed over him before all his senses started going haywire from all the information it was getting.
He doesn't know what's going on but he can tell that his surroundings is disobeying the laws of reality as it shifts and bends in ways that it never should. The entire thing occurred in a split second but it still proof too much for him to handle and he promptly blacked out.
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"….ong!…..Wu….Wukong!" When Wukong came to he was greeted with the sound of his sister calling out his name and the painful sensation of being frantically shaken around like a rattle. He ignored just how painful being touched was and focused on the more immediate thing. Namely, finding out just where they are.
"Wah?" He let out a confused sound as he blinked the blurriness away from his eyes and took in the surroundings.
They were still inside the elevator but the doors were opened, revealing the madness outside. Because that's the only thing Wukong could say to describe what he's seeing. The sky itself was filled with auroras as though someone had projectile vomited rainbows all over it. Buildings were upside down and hanging from the sky alongside tons of debris, looking completely innocent as though something like this was perfectly normal. There's this strange crystal-like growth growing all over the place, jutting out from buildings, streets, vehicles, and whatever surface that it wants to like a bad moss infection.
It looked like reality itself had been upended, chewed up, and spat out likesome kind of giant reality eating entity had just found it's meal distasteful after taking a bite.
Then there's the sounds.
It's coming at him from all directions, piercing through his skull in a ceaseless bombardment. He can hear them coming from miles away, the sound of people screaming in fear and panic before being silenced abruptly, strange roars and growls from some kind of animal, firearms discharging, people's desperate plead to survive, children crying and some souls going at each other's throats like the world had gone mad.
All this is happening all around him, he can't see it but he sure as hell can hear everything that went on around him.
It's all too much.
Make it stop.
Make it stop…. Make it stop!
Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop-
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[Belle P.O.V]
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"Wukong! What's wrong!?" Belle shouted as she watched her newly acquired sibling curl up and start shaking and whimpering as he continued to cover his ears. She has no idea what's going on with him and it scares her. He seemed to be just fine moments ago but everything went wrong the moment the Hollow was about to wash over them. He seemed to be in pain when the Hollow alarm rang out inside the elevator, he was blocking his ears as hard as he could before passing out when the Hollow engulfed them.
Wise quickly set down Eous and came over to their side. Like the reliable older brother that he always is, he seems to be calm and level-headed all the time even when the situation is in complete chaos, something that Belle is always grateful for. Seeing how there's a trail of blood on his face wretched her heart as she can't help but wonder if that was somehow her fault.
Wise crouches down next to Wukong and tries to see what's wrong.
"Belle, what happened?" He asked her as he looked over Wukong with a worried look.
"I dunno! He was fine until the Hollow caught us and fainted. I managed to wake him up just now but he started to have some kind of panic attack afterwards." Belle quickly told him what she knew.
Wise frowns and Belle recognizes the look as the one he has when he's thinking hard about something. "He seems to be trying to block his ears. Maybe there's some kind of sound that's causing him to be like this?"
Belle tried listening but all she could hear was the distant sound of some explosions going off faintly. "I can't hear anything."
"Well, me too. But Wukong seems to have better hearing than the both of us so he's probably hearing something that normal Humans can't. He's a Thiren after all, though I have no idea what species of monkey would grant better hearing."
Belle scratches her chin thoughtfully. "Then….all we need to do is to block whatever he's hearing and he'll be fine?"
"If that's all that's causing this then yes, it should work." Wise replied.
With her answer received, Belle promptly turned around and slammed her palm on the close button on the panel. She watches as the door slowly closes shut, sealing them within the elevator once again.
"Good thinking Belle, nice job." Wise praised her, causing her to puff up her chest proudly.
"Hehe, thanks, bro." She replied happily before she noticed something. "You alright Wise? You're breathing a bit heavily." She said as she observe him more closely now that they're so close to each other.
"Yeah...yeah I'm fine. Just a bit out of breath ya know?" He told her before gesturing towards Wukong. "Come on, let's go check if closing the door helped or not." He quickly said, a bit too quickly. Belle narrowed her eyes at him as he moved back to Wukong's side and she followed with a feeling of suspicion that her brother might not be as fine as he had claimed. She can't prove it or anything so she could only put her suspicion aside for now and check on their other sibling.
Wukong's condition seems to be getting better now that the doors are closed. They could see him visibly relaxing as he opened his eyes and met theirs. This might be the first time they could see what he looks like without the dim red emergency light hiding most of his details.
"What….happened?" He asked them, sounding tired and confused. He looked like a mess. His amber eyes were bloodshot and his skin a sickly pale, his wet brown hair was everywhere, sticking to his body and covering some of his face.
"You passed out the moment we entered the Hollow." Belle started explaining, causing Wukong's brows to scrunch up in confusion, looking as though he wanted to ask questions but refrained from doing so.
"When I finally managed to wake you, you just started having a panic attack all of a sudden. Are you feeling alright? Do you need to lie down for a while?" Belle gently asked him, not wanting to stress him by being too overbearing.
"'m fine. It's more. Bearable now." He muttered as he gazed at the door.
"Can you tell us what's wrong?" Wise asked him.
"Can hear…. everything." He mumbled before taking a deep breath and she could visibly see him forcing his body to relax more.
"Huh? By everything do you mean…" Belle started but didn't finish as her mind thought about the implication of such a thing.
"Everything. People dying. Fighting. Screaming. Strange animals. Killing people. Loud. Too loud." He replied, his words more pronounced and clear but he was pausing every few words for some reason.
"Hey hey hey, you're not well. Don't force yourself now." Belle quickly told him as she tried to help him but Wukong managed to sit up just fine on his own.
"That sounds...horrible." Wise said, likely thinking about how it is to experience something Wukong did. "Will you be alright? We still need to leave the elevator and find a way to escape the Hollow somehow." He asks him in concern.
Ah right. She had been so focused on Wukong's condition that she momentarily forgot that they were still inside a Hollow. This is bad. Very bad. Their Ether aptitude isn't the highest so they can't stay inside a Hollow for long or they'll end up with a fate worse than death. They need to find a way out and quickly.
"Mn. Should be fine. Got overwhelmed. Wasn't prepared. Am now. Can ignore. The sounds. Now that I. Know what. To expect." He told them resolutely as he stood up on his own power. Belle was ready to catch him if he kneeled over when he suddenly stood up but thankfully it wasn't needed. He seems to be recovering and gaining strength quickly. It wasn't a few minutes ago that he couldn't even move when they released him from his pod.
"Why are you speaking like that?" Belle couldn't help but ask, her curiosity finally winning over.
"Throat hurts. Talk less." He deadpanned before he started to move his hair away from his face, letting them see his face clearly.
"Ah...I guess that's understandable." Belle nodded in understanding, remembering what it was like to have a sore throat when she had a cold before. Yeah, she doesn't blame him for speaking like that at all if that's the case.
He looked fairly annoyed with his hair as he kept trying to keep it away from his face. Seeing how much he's struggling with it she quickly takes out a spare rubber band that she has in her pocket for whenever she wants to tie her hair up. She started taking his hair into her hand and he let her, raising a curious eyebrow at her. With a deft hand born from experience, she easily tied his hair into a ponytail and took a step back to admire her work. She was immensely satisfied with how he looked now. Less of a caveman and more of a feminine boy. If he weren't so pale, he would've easily passed off as Teacher's son with how much he looks like her.
Wukong simply let out a grunt before turning to face Wise. "Will be. Fine. What now?"
Wise looked concerned but nodded. "Alright, if you're certain. Then I suggest that we should move out soon and find a way out of the Hollow. We can't stay inside it for too long or we'll get corrupted." Wise's words just cause Wukong to look confused.
"Yeah, we're also lucky that there aren't any Ethereals nearby. We're like like sitting ducks inside this elevator." Belle agrees with him, causing Wukong to look even more confused.
"Ethereals?" Wukong spoke up with a questioning look.
"Erm...you know. The monsters that roam the Hollow. Extremely dangerous creatures that will attack anyone on sight." Belle replied a matter of factly before she stopped short as she remembered that this might be one of the things Wukong hadn't learned about yet. He did look awfully confused when they mentioned the Hollow earlier.
"What is. Hollow?" And he proved her right when he continued asking. Belle and Wise turn to look at each other as they both realize that they might have to give Wukong an impromptu lesson about Hollows and Ethereals so that he won't get into trouble.
"It's...going to be a long explanation. I'll just quickly condense it down to the important bits to save time. Maybe when we get out we can take the time to properly explain the things that you don't know." Wise said and Wukong nodded in agreement.
"To begin with Hollows are supernatural occurrences that started happening centuries ago and no one knows how or why. From the outside, they look like giant black domes but the insides are a maze created from whatever it managed to engulf." Wise began explaining, seemingly adopting a teaching pose that had his left arm crossed and his right hand sticking upward with his index finger sticking out. Wukong was nodding along as he listened attentively, the frown on his face growing the more he heard.
"If I remember correctly, during the early hours of a Hollow manifestation things are the most unpredictable since it's still forming. People and objects left inside Hollows are subject to deadly Ether corruption which will turn them into monsters known as Ethereals. How long it takes for someone to turn into one will depend on their Ether aptitude, the higher your aptitude is, the more resistant to corruption you are so it'll take longer for you to turn."
"What are. Yours?" Wukong asked them.
"Low. Very low." Belle answered sadly. "We might have a few hours at best before we turned."
"Yeah….we also don't know what your Ether aptitude is so you might be in danger as well. Which is why we need to get out of here as quickly as possible." Wise added.
Once Wise finished talking, Wukong narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, adopting a contemplative look as he seemingly process the information that Wise gave him.
"Okay." He simply said with a nod and let his arms down. "Let's go."
"Huh, that was quick." Belle pointed out. It hadn't even been a few seconds since Wise finished explaining. You would think that he'd need a bit more time to digest everything. "Don't you have more questions?"
"I do. Later. Escape first. Time limited." He replied.
"Right. You good to go Belle?" Wise asked her.
"Y-yep. I'm all good." Belle replied, trying her best to hide how nervous she sounded. The look Wise and Wukong gave her told her that she failed in that regard. Seriously, how did they manage to give her the exact same look? Is it a brother thing?
Wise didn't say anything and merely placed his comforting hand on her head and gave her hair a little ruffle with a small smile.
"Hey!" Belle cried out in protest as she tried to remove her brother's hand. "You're turning my hair into a mess." She whined and Wise stopped only to suddenly pull her into a hug. "e-eh?" Belle let out in surprise as she was hugged.
"We'll get out of here, I promise you. So be brave and keep close okay? We'll keep you safe." Wise murmured comfortingly into her ear as he rubbed her back in a soothing manner.
Without thinking, Belle's arms wrap themselves around her brother and she holds him tight and she presses her face into his chest. Truth be told, Belle is barely hanging on to her composure. She had been trying her best not to drag Wise down and not complain but try as she might, she still couldn't hide how she was feeling from her brother. She has no doubt that Wise could feel just how much she's shaking right now. "Okay." She replied, hating how weak and useless she feels right now.
"Door broken." Wukong's voice cut though, causing the two of them to stop what they're doing and look towards him.
"Huh?" They both let out.
Instead of repeating himself, he simply showed them by pressing the open button on the elevator panel but nothing happened. It seems that while Belle had been busy being comforted by Wise, Wukong and already tried opening the door.
"That's odd. It was working fine just now." Belle mused, looking a bit concerned that they might be stuck.
"It might've broken down because of Ether corruption. See the Ether crystals slowly forming on the walls, that might be the cause." Wise said as he pointed at the corner. Belle looked over towards where he was pointing and true to his words, she could see the black glowy crystals making their presence known, slowly creeping along the surface, jutting outward and spreading like an infestation.
"We really can't catch a break can we?" Belle let out an exasperated sigh at being faced with yet another problem.
"I guess we'll just have to pry the door ope-" Wise said but cut himself off when the Ether crystal suddenly formed over the door, covering their only escape route. "….or Wukong could bust it open like he did with the rubble earlier." He added before turning to face Wukong, silently asking if he could.
Oh right. Wukong did bust them out of trouble before with his unnatural strength. With everything happening one after another, it kind of slipped Belle's mind that he's ridiculously strong for his size.
Wukong narrowed his eyes at the crystallized door and nodded. "Can try."
"But if we open this door, you might hear everything again. Will you really be fine Wukong?" Belle asks him in concern.
"Prepared now. Will be fine." Wukong nods, giving them a look filled with resolution before walking towards the door. Belle and Wise watch with bated breath wanting to witness the extraordinary feat of strength once more.
He slowly crouched into a stance that looked so natural when he did it and immediately shot forward.
The entire elevator shook as another explosive boom rang out. Belle and Wise watched wide-eyed as the crystal blocking the door was removed rather violently by flying outward, taking the heavy looking elevator door with it.
The moment the door was gone Wukong winced and buckled as he brought his hands up towards his ears in order to block them. But he stopped halfway, hands clenched into trembling fists as he slowly forced them down and stood back straight. "Good to. Go." He turns his head around and gives them a small smile.
Belle took the chance to look outside the door. She didn't have a chance to properly look outside because of Wukong but now she can. The elevator had brought them smack in the middle of an open street instead of an alley that it was supposed to. But that's to be expected when you're in a Hollow. The entire area had been turned into a deadly maze where every path you took may lead to your demise.
"Something coming. Many something. Best go. Now." Wukong suddenly said as he gazed into the distance, eyes narrowing with caution as his body seemed to tense.
"Looks like the ruckus we've caused attracted some unwanted attention." Wise noted with a worried frown. "Let me pick up Eous and-"
"No need." Wukong interrupted and proceeded to pick the Bangboo up easily with one arm. "Focus on. Running. I carry." He simply said, causing Wise to nod in agreement.
"Looks like it's time." Belle said softly to herself as her apprehension rose now that they had to leave.
She can't help but be nervous about stepping into a death trap but they'll get through this. Somehow. They have to. Suddenly she felt her hand being held and she quickly looked to the side and saw Wise there, giving her a comforting smile.
Belle took a deep breath, letting out the negative thoughts and feelings as best as she could or just pushing them aside.
They'll survive. Whatever it takes.
She smiled back at Wise and nodded.
Without further fanfare, they stepped out into the open.
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AN: Bad news people. After asking around I found out that Khros Belobog wasn't present during the time the old capital of Eridu fell. He went down as an unsung hero the night before to keep a Sacrifice sealed. That means we won't be seeing him and his super cool mecha at all.
The good news is that Astra is (maybe). So….yay?
Well, thanks for reading this chapter. It's short and nothing much happened in it so I'm going to speed things up starting the next chapter. Like really speed things up since I realized that I might be falling into old habits again and keep dragging things out without progressing the plot much.
