Lyon POV:

Blood trickled down Len's neck as I watched his hand graze past it. His eyes tracked me carefully, and I knew as soon as I did something he didn’t like—Len would die.

“You're running out of time. Make a choice.”

My gaze alternated between Len and Marina. I was half hoping that Jasmine would suddenly show up, telling me that the two people in front of me were fake, but I knew that wouldn’t happen.

I had been staring at the two of them for the past couple of minutes, scrutinizing their facial features and body structure, but there were no oddities to be found. This meant that Jasmine's prior assessment of Copycat's ability was either incorrect or other requirements had to be met to create a more perfect copy of a person.

‘I can’t choose between the two of them, and I can't use Ghost either. The moment I try anything, his hand would have already pierced through Len's neck before any attack could reach him.’

I was stumped. I didn’t know what to do. I felt my heartbeat quicken as beads of sweat formed on my forehead while I stood motionless before the ultimatum Copycat gave me.

‘Should I beg? Would that work?’

My teeth grinded together in annoyance while my eyebrows curved inwards. If I had to kneel and beg in order to save them, I would.

I’m sure in this type of situation, Master would forgive me. Life was far too precious to let pride get in the way of it. Just as I made up my mind and began to bend my knees, Copycat suddenly spoke.

“Too bad. You’re out of time.”

“W-wait!”

I cried out as he splayed his hand towards me. Darkness branched forward, and the world around me spun. My vision faded along with my consciousness.

***

“Leo~”

My eyes flickered open, and I felt Jasmine’s arms wrap around my waist. Her sweet natural smell drifted into my nose, confirming that I was indeed awake. I looked down, quickly realizing I was sitting in the lotus position.

‘...’

I had fallen asleep while meditating.

My head throbbed slightly. Sweat ran down the side of my forehead while I recalled fragments of the crazy dream I had just experienced.

“What’s wrong, Leo?”

Jasmine had circled to my side and sat down. I heard the worry in her voice paired with the deep concern that coated her hazel eyes. I let out a small sigh as the corners of my mouth rose.

‘It won’t do any harm to let her know.’

I told her everything that happened in the dream. From Ness running downstairs to tell us that Len and Marina had been captured all the way to my encounter with Copycat. She listened to me intently while occasionally twirling around the lollipop in her mouth.

“And then I woke up. I’m just glad it was all a dream.”

Jasmine silently studied my facial expression for a while. She leaned forward and pressed her soft lips against my cheek.

“Since you’re that worried, you should just go and check. They’re upstairs, you know~”

‘!’

That’s right. I could just go upstairs to check for myself; I’d easily be able to dispel the doubts at the back of my mind that way. I thanked Jasmine and was about to leave when she pulled me into a deep hug.

I managed to break away before she could have another euphoric episode and quickly made my way up the basement stairs. I reached the top, gripped the doorknob and took a short breath.

‘Wake up.’

I spun around and looked downstairs, but no one was there. A sharp pain shot through my head as I placed my hand on the wall in order to steady myself.

A strange voice and painful headaches—I made a mental note not to fall asleep during meditation again.

I stepped through the open door. The bar was empty, while the many tables and chairs were perfectly arranged neatly within the large space. Ness stood behind the counter in her waitress outfit—her lips twitching slightly as her eyes met mine.

“Ness, did you like the large teddy bear I got you last time?”

Her cheeks flushed faintly, matching her reddish-brown hair, while she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from rising. I observed her deep hazel eyes turn a little softer as she parted her lips.

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“Yes. Thank you.”

I never expected Ness to like cute, fluffy things, but it was always nice to see her smile. I nodded my head and left her by the bar as I made my way through the back doors behind the restaurant area.

I climbed the stairs, quickly reaching Len and Marina’s room at the end of one of the corridors. Beads of sweat formed on my brow as I stood in front of the closed door; fragmented parts of the dream from earlier flashed through my mind, forcing me to clench my teeth.

A throbbing pain soon followed, assaulting my mind once more as I winced from the slight tremors emanating from the nerves.

‘Wake up.’

That strange voice again.

I pondered over what was going on when I heard voices coming from inside the room. I opened the door in rush, wanting, no, needing to confirm that everything I had seen wasn’t my reality—that it really was just a dream.

“L-Lyon...!”

“Lyon?”

Len and Marina were sitting on the bed talking to each other normally. They weren’t bound. They weren’t tied up. They weren’t hostages. They were safe and sound.

My emotions got the better of me as I dashed forward, hugging them both tight while a few tears escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheeks.

“W-wha?”

Len's face turned a light shade of red as she looked away embarrassed. Whereas Marina held me tight and buried her face deep into my chest. We stayed like this for a while before I reluctantly let go.

“What was that all about?”

Len avoided making direct eye contact while Marina hummed cheerfully as she looked around the room. It had been a while since it was just the three of us together like this.

“I just missed you both.”

I grinned while watching Len struggle to find something to say. She turned a deeper shade of red and whispered a few words underneath her breath.

“Missed you too...”

She looked away in embarrassment while Marina playfully poked Len's arm. The three of us spoke about many different things. Time passed by, and evening came quickly. I wrapped up my conversation with the two of them before closing the door behind me.

“...”

I rested my back against the door and stared at the ceiling. The uneasy feeling I had before had vanished, yet... It felt like something was missing.

After heading downstairs, I looked over the restaurant area before my gaze rested on the side door near the entrance of Comfort.

‘That’s right. I haven’t spoken to Mr Cruiser ever since we all came to Comfort together. Maybe I should check in on him.’

I approached the door and opened it slowly. Ness looked at me with an odd expression but didn’t stop me from entering.

*Click*

The familiar sound of the door locking behind me rang out in the short stairway. It automatically did this when the door was closed, but I was caught off guard slightly due to not visiting Mr Cruiser in a long time.

The stairway was as narrow as I remembered, and the brick walls cold. I didn’t think much while I ascended the stairs, but every now and then, a sharp pain would bolt through my head, followed by the same strange voice.

‘Wake up.’

It was starting to become rather annoying, so I planned on talking to Jasmine about it later. I finished climbing the stairs and was about to open the door when a sudden urge to look back grabbed hold of me.

‘!’

I saw the stairs gradually sink into the darkness as a strange, black mist approached me steadily, swallowing up everything in its path. I didn’t want to confirm whether my eyes were playing tricks on me or not, so I flung the door open and rushed inside.

“What...?”

There was nothing there. No Mr Cruiser, no desk; no stacks of paper reaching the ceiling—nothing. The office no longer existed and what stood in its place was darkness.

I quickly turned back around, but the stairway was already gone. The only semblance of proof left behind in this now empty space was the doorframe and myself.

“Another dream?”

I couldn’t see anything in either direction, so I decided to go forward; through what used to be Mr Cruiser’s office.

I walked amidst the absence of light until I lost track of time. The constant headaches assaulted me; the intensity of each one seemingly magnified by my depth into the abyss.

‘?’

Something strange began to form in the distance. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the unknown object that looked like a massive grey slab of rock. As I drew closer to it, the details slowly became clearer, and my heart jumped into my throat.

A large, triangular arch was etched into the middle of the rock. Its colour—blood red, dripping slowly out of the surrounding shape like teardrops.

Two bodies hung on either side of the bloody arch. Their arms and legs were pinned to the rock with a large nail while bloody patches marred their skin. I couldn’t see their faces clearly as a dark shadow covered them.

The strength in my legs weakened, and my knees buckled. I struggled to stay upright when a stabbing pain pierced through my head.

“Ugh!!”

It felt like a large sword had impaled itself inside my brain. The excruciating agony forced me to grind my teeth together as blood trickled out of the sides of my mouth. I refused to lose consciousness here.

“Lyon, save me!

“L-Lyon... S-save... M-me...!”

My head creaked upwards at the sound of the familiar voices. The dark shadow peeled itself away, revealing the badly wounded faces of Len and Marina. My strength instantly left my body as I flopped to my knees.

‘W-what is this...?’

My pupils dilated while I stared at the sight in shock, belatedly noticing that it was their blood that had painted that dark red, triangular arch plastered on the rock above. Tears streamed down their faces as they begged me to save them, but my legs wouldn’t move.

Every time they opened their mouth to speak, it felt like a new sword impaled itself into my head, adding to the unbearable pain I was already in.

I tore my bloodshot eyes away from the scene and tried to cover my ears in order to make sense of just what was going on when two more familiar voices cried out.

“Save us, son!!”

At that moment, my heart stopped, and my body froze. I felt the blood drain out of my face as the tips of my fingers suddenly felt numb. My eyes widened while I reluctantly turned to face the direction of those voices.

My gaze slowly shifted upwards from the large nail pinning their feet to the rock to their limbs outstretched and finally to their faces.

“M-mum...? D-dad...?”

The pain in my head multiplied as blood gushed out of my nose. The distress and desperation on their faces hurt me in a way no physical pain could. They cried out for me—for my help while memories of me leaving them behind flooded my mind against my will.

“N-no...!”

I shook my trembling head violently, refusing to give into the despair of the past. New voices abruptly entered my ears, continuing to assault my mind as I sat there helplessly.

“Run, Lyon!”

“Choose me!”

“Save us, Lyon!”

‘Keuk!’

My head felt like it was splitting apart—the pain shattering my mental barriers as my thoughts soon became a blur.

‘Wake up and fight.’

The strange voice from earlier rang out clearly amidst the hundreds, differentiating itself from the sea of cries around me. I heard it, but I didn’t understand. Fight what? What was I supposed to do?

‘?’

I saw something flash in the corner of my blurry vision. I was barely able to turn my head in time to see two vibrant golden eyes peer down at me. Not knowing what else to do, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.