“Big bro, big bro… will we… will we stay alive? Are we all going—”

A small trembling voice, fragile as glass, broke the suffocating silence. Tiny fingers clung to the frayed edges of a worn-out sleeve, knuckles pale from the desperate grip. Rio's wide, tear-brimmed eyes searched frantically for reassurance, for something—anything to hold onto, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths.

A warm hand ruffled his messy hair, gentle yet firm, a touch that tried to soothe even when the world around them was crumbling.

“Shh,” came a calm but weary voice, laced with exhaustion yet carrying a quiet strength. “Yes, Rio. We’re going to survive this. Trust your big bro.”

Rio sniffled, wiping at his damp cheeks with the back of his sleeve. His lips trembled as he tried to believe in those words, to let them wrap around him like a shield against the creeping dread inside his chest.

“But… but Mom, Dad, and…” His voice cracked as the name of his little sister—so soft, so familiar—died in his throat. He couldn’t bring himself to say it. It hurt too much.

His brother’s hand faltered briefly, fingers tightening against the fabric of Rio’s shirt. Then, without a word, he pulled Rio into a tight embrace. No explanations, no false promises—just warmth. The steady beat of his brother’s heart against his ear made Rio feel safe for a fleeting moment, even as the world outside crumbled into ruin.

Then, the world shattered.

The heat came first—blistering, suffocating, wrapping around Rio’s small body like an unseen beast with fiery claws. Smoke thickened the air, choking his lungs with the acrid stench of burnt flesh. Fire crackled hungrily, devouring buildings as if they were made of paper. The sky, once vast and blue, was now smothered in black smoke, swallowing the stars and turning night into an endless void.

Screams tore through the chaos—desperate, fleeting. People ran, their silhouettes flickering against the raging inferno. Some stumbled, vanishing beneath the crushing weight of collapsing debris, while others were swallowed whole by the relentless flames. The ground trembled, walls groaning as they buckled and fell, sending embers spiraling like dying fireflies into the air.

Rio staggered, his young body barely able to withstand the madness around him. The world was ablaze, a nightmarish hellscape of fire and despair. The heat pressed in from all sides, merciless and unrelenting.

His brother grabbed his hand. "Run."

The word barely had time to register before Rio was yanked forward, his feet stumbling to keep up. The world blurred—a frantic mess of blazing ruins and fleeing figures. The smoke stung his eyes, making it harder to see, harder to breathe. His lungs burned with every inhale, but he ran.

Then—

The world tilted.

A blast shook the ground beneath them. The impact sent Rio lurching sideways, his fingers slipping free from his brother’s grasp.

The warmth—his only anchor—was gone.

Rio staggered, his small hands reaching out, grasping at nothing but empty air. Panic clawed at his chest as his eyes darted around wildly, searching.

"Big bro?!" His voice cracked, raw with fear.

Bodies rushed past him in the chaos—panicked figures, their faces contorted in terror. The air was thick with cries, but none of them belonged to his brother.

Tears welled up in Rio’s eyes, spilling down his cheeks as he spun frantically. "Where are you?! Please—don’t leave me alone!"

The thick smoke curled around him, suffocating, blinding. For a horrifying moment, he felt as if he was disappearing, fading into the fire’s endless hunger.

Then—

A shift in the haze.

Through the shimmering waves of heat, Rio saw him. His brother’s limp body dragged across the rubble-strewn ground, his head lolling to one side, a crimson trail following in his wake. Blood dripped from a deep gash on his temple, staining the earth beneath him.

A man held him by the arm, his grip unrelenting. The flickering firelight distorted his features, turning his face into something twisted, something monstrous. His presence was a smudge of darkness against the inferno, his form shifting like a ghost within the flames.

Rio’s breath caught in his throat. His legs moved before his mind could catch up.

"Let him go!" He ran, stumbling over debris, his small hands reaching out, fingers stretching desperately toward his brother. "Please! He’s hurt! Stop!"

The man didn’t stop. He kept walking, dragging his brother further into the chaos.

Rio’s chest clenched. His feet burned with every step, but he pushed forward—until something seized him from behind.

Cold.

Unnatural, bone-deep cold.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Hands, icy as death itself, wrapped around his arms, wrenching him backward. The contrast against the fire’s blistering heat sent a violent shiver through him. He struggled, thrashing, but the grip tightened, unyielding.

"Let me go!" he choked out, his voice breaking. "He needs me! I have to—!"

The hands moved—one clamped over his mouth, silencing his cries, while the other slid around his throat.

A crushing force.

Rio’s body convulsed as the icy grip squeezed. His lungs screamed for air, his limbs spasmed. The fire still raged around him, its embers licking at his skin, yet his throat felt like it was trapped in an eternal winter.

His vision blurred. His muscles grew weak. But even as the darkness crept in, his trembling small fingers reached out toward his brother.

His arm stretched desperately forward, trying to grasp the only thing that mattered—

His Big Bro.

But his brother's bloodied form was slipping away into the flames.

Fading.

Gone.

----------------------------------------

Rio jolted awake with a violent gasp, his body lurching forward as if breaking free from unseen chains. His chest heaved erratically, lungs dragging in air like a drowning man breaching the surface. He could still feel it—the icy grip around his throat, squeezing, suffocating. The ice-cold touch. The helplessness.

As his ragged breaths slowed, the room around him came into focus. Sunlight streamed through the slight gap in the open window, dust motes drifting lazily in the warm glow. The air was still, almost peaceful. Yet the suffocating pressure on his throat remained.

Something was pressing down on him.

His body tensed. His hands shot up, fingers trembling as they clutched at his neck, expecting to find those deathly cold hands still wrapped around him. But instead…

His palm met something warm.

Something solid.

He turned his head stiffly, eyes narrowing as they landed on the culprit.

Asper’s leg—draped across his neck like some cursed, misplaced scarf. He was sprawled out, snoring softly, a goofy smile twitching at his lips. Then, in his sleep-filled daze, he muttered, “More sauce… yeah… extra cheese… perfect,” his voice trailing into a satisfied hum.

Rio’s eye twitched. His exhausted brain scrambled between relief, residual terror, and a rapidly growing urge to throw Asper out the window.

Then, with all the strength his sleep-ridden body could muster, he shoved Asper’s leg off him, sending the dreamer rolling onto his side with a startled grunt. “You absolute, pea-brain menace,” Rio rasped, rubbing his sore throat. “Even in your sleep, you’re trying to kill me.”

Asper groaned, shifting slightly but not waking, his hand lazily swatting at the air as if shooing away a bothersome fly. “Let me eat... in peace…” he mumbled.

Rio stared at him, deadpan. His throat still burned from the lingering chill of his nightmare, his skin slick with sweat, and here Asper was, dreaming about food and suffocating people in his sleep.

“I swear,” Rio muttered, pinching Asper's leg, “one day, this idiot is actually going to get me killed.”

Asper stirred slightly, but instead of waking up, he shifted, his limbs stretching out—then promptly kicked Rio in the head.

A dull thud.

“Ow! You brain-dead..” Rio seethed, his voice breaking into a sharp hiss as he grabbed his forehead. He shot Asper a murderous glare, shoving his leg away with an irritated growl. “Maybe I should blast you off to another planet?!”

His frustration reaching its peak, Rio crawled forward on all fours, his eyes burning with vengeance as he neared Asper’s face. Asper's lips were parted slightly, his breath slow and even. But just as Rio was about to grab him—

Asper mumbled.

“How… the kick… pony… tail…”

Rio froze. His irritation flickered. His mind, for a split second, tried to make sense of the nonsense spilling from Asper’s mouth. But before his mind could try to understand anything, something in him snapped.

Smack!

A sharp slap rang through the room.

“OW! What the—” Asper jolted upright with a yelp, clutching his cheek. His eyes darted around wildly before locking onto Rio, who was still glaring at him, hand raised and ready for another strike.

“Why’d you hit me?!” Asper demanded, utterly bewildered.

Rio took a deep breath, his fingers twitching. “Because you deserve it,” he said, voice hoarse from both his dream and his very real near-death experience.

Asper blinked, rubbing his cheek. “You could’ve just woken me up, you psycho—”

“Shut up before I make sure you never wake up again.”

Zenji stirred with a low groan, his fingers instinctively reaching up to his head. The moment they brushed against the side of his skull—just above his ear—he winced as a sharp sting jolted through him.

“What… what’s going on?,” he muttered, eyes cracking open to the sight of Rio and Asper glaring at each other. Their argument echoed through the confined space, their bickering as sharp as the pounding in his skull.

“This buffoon nearly strangled me in his sleep,” Rio snapped, sitting back on his heels.

Asper blinked, his expression morphing from confusion to indignation. “That’s not fair! I was dreaming about food. How could I be strangling you?”

Rio raised an eyebrow, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize your culinary adventures involved suffocating your friends.”

With an exhausted sigh, Zenji forced himself upright, his movements sluggish. “Do you two ever shut up? My head feels like it’s been split open.” He glanced around the room, taking in the chaotic state they were in.

“You do realize,” he continued, pressing his palm to his temple, “that your endless chit-chat might just alert someone outside?” He inhaled slowly, willing the throbbing pain to settle. “We need to figure out how bad we’re stuck and, more importantly, how we’re getting out of here.”

Rio nodded, his expression hardening as he pushed himself to his feet. “Agreed. But first, someone needs to keep an eye on this food-obsessed lunatic,” he said, pointing a finger at Asper.

Asper pouted, crossing his arms. “Hey, that’s uncalled for.”

“So was almost choking me to death,” Rio shot back, rolling his eyes.

Zenji let out another weary sigh, already regretting waking up. “This is going to be a long day.”