Raya stands surrounded by a handful of guards with their rifles fixed on her. She drops the dagger in her hand and shrugs her shoulders as she glances at the five bodies on the floor.

They must be Chevo or Vlad's goons. She's so badass!

Raya raises her hands in the air and Kita calls out whilst printing in Raya's direction, "Princess!"

Raya's blue eyes glance up at Kita as she sprints, and a soft grin peels across her face. Kita sprints straight through the guards, bumping two of them over as she dives into Raya's arms and hugs her.

"I'm sorry," Kita says.

"For what?" Raya stammers awkwardly as she watches the guards get up.

"Scaring you… My memory is still hazy, but I know I've hurt you before,"

"Oi!" A guard yells as he grabs Kita's shirt and yanks her out of Raya's arms. "What do you think you're doing?"

Without hesitation, Kita turns with the momentum of the pull and bumps into the guard- Placing her hand on his face and consuming his soul. The three remaining guards hesitate and raise their weapons. But, Kita already has a shield up and steps in front of Raya to block the gunfire.

"I need you to tell me what I did," Kita raises her voice, competing with the barrage of gunfire. "I don't want to make you feel that way again,"

"Now's not really the time-" Raya stutters as her eyes remain fixed on the bullets gathering in the shield.

"Oh," Kita chuckles, "Fair enough,"

The moment each of the guards run out of rounds, Kita flicks three of the bullets in her shield- each of them whips through the air and flies through the foreheads of the guards.

Kita lowers her shield and glances around her, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Raya nods, "That was pretty cool,"

"Right! It just came to me,"

"How many souls do you have left?"

"Forty-seven, I think,"

"You think?" Raya raises an eyebrow.

"I took one of those pills Ms Eeve made," Kita says scratching the back of her neck, "They're hard to count, but they felt sooo good"

"You know that means you failed, right?" Raya crosses her arms.

"Failed?"

"I'm pretty sure all of those souls were innocent people once," Raya shrugs.

"Ah shit," Kita knocks her fist against her forehead, "I didn't even think about that,"

"Of course you didn't," Raya chuckles, "But since we're being honest, I stole that pill for you to eat anyway,"

"Woow, and here I am feeling bad about myself," Kita laughs.

"Technically, you should," Raya laughs.

"We need to get moving," Caity says as she pushes through the crowd of people with a firm grip on Ms Eeve when Kita notices the crowd gathered around them, staring.

"You're welcome," Kita yells, promoting a gasp from the viewers, "Your idiot guards shouldn't open fire indoors,"

"This isn't exactly indoors," Raya mumbles under her breath.

"Whatever," Kita grunts.

"Let's go!" Caity yells, using Ms Eeve as a wedge to shove her way through the crowd.

Kita and Raya follow Caity's lead and shove their way through the crowd to get to the red district of the second floor.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Where are the kids?" Kita asks.

"They're with Reiku. So is Alex," Raya responds. "I came up here to slow Chevo down but he slipped past me,"

"And Vlad?" Caity asks.

"Vlad's on his way too?" Raya stammers.

"Yeah. He arrived as Chevo was leaving," Caity adds

"This isn't looking good," Raya sighs.

"We got this," Kita says.

"Level zero is about to be a warzone," Raya responds, with a weary expression on her face. "I can't watch another city die,"

"Then we get the kids and get as far from Level Zero as possible," Caity says.

"Where?" Kita adds, "We haven't prepared to leave the city,"

"I don't know, then we go up a Level?"

"Yeah, they want the kids so we keep them chasing," Raya says. "If we leave Level Zero, the guards will have to get involved,"

"The guards on Level Three couldn't even do much," Kita says, "We need to kill Vlad and Chevo,"

"It's the best plan we've got right now," Caity responds, "We can adjust it as we go,"

"Yeah," Raya adds, "We'll have to improvise from there,"

The three of them arrive at Reiku's rundown store with the elevator and Kita's stomach drops at the sight of the rickety tin can.

"I think I'll take the stairs," Kita sighs.

Both Raya and Caity chuckle as the elevator doors open and the elevator pings to life with the brief flash of its light bulbs.

* °•°•°•

As Kita, Raya and Caity reach level zero, the mini-city of tents that once occupied the floor has largely been packed away as a swell of people queue to make their way out of the exit.

"Looks like they haven't found it yet," Raya sighs with relief.

"It won't take them long," Caity grunts as she shoves Ms Eeve from the elevator.

"So there's an elevator that goes straight to this putrid place," Ms Eeve scoffs, "Why bring me here?"

"Shut up," Caity barks as they all make their way through the half-empty floor.

As they walk among the tents, Kita notices the inhabitants of level Zero all seem panicked and afraid. Chevo and Vlad were prepared to make a mess on Level Three, so only god knows what would take place on Level Zero. There's no security here- it's no wonder all these people have to leave. It's their only option.

As they arrive at Reiku's large tent, it is busier and louder than it was before. With scattered pieces of old technology all over the floor, as some are packed away by some of Reiku's assistants, others are scrambling to aid families or individuals who are struggling to navigate the situation.

"It's tense in here," Kita comments.

"Saving everyone is quite a tense job," Raya responds, glaring at the hasty workers.

When Caity and Ms Eeve enter behind them, the tent suddenly falls to silence when everyone turns their heads to Ms Eeve. Nobody says a word, and some of the Level Zero residents have a worried look growing.

"I brought Reiku a gift," Caity announces to the room.

"We," Kita coughs under her breath.

Caity pushes Ms Eeve forward and she stumbles into the centre of the room, where those on the second floor can also see her. As Ms Eeve regains her footing, she raises an eyebrow before scanning the room with a narcissistic grin slowly growing on her face.

"What's the matter?" She chuckles, "You all seem rather scared,"

"Who wouldn't fear a monster?" Reiku asks from the second floor, leaning against the railing.

"You think I'm a monster?" Ms Eeve shrugs with the grin still plastered on her face, "That's hurtful, Reiku,"

"Ignore this one," Raya says, staring at Ms Eeve with a look of disdain, "She indulges in the suffering of others,"

"You are quite right," Reiku nods his head before tilting it at Ms Eeve with curiosity, "I think it is time we indulge in hers,"

"Oof," Kita grunts loudly, catching Ms Eeve's attention, "Immortality and torture are an awful mix," She chuckles.

"Good thing she isn't immortal," Caity folds her arms.

"You kept your end of the deal," Reiku addresses Caity, "I'm impressed,"

"Just add it to my tab," Caity sighs, "Where's Alex?" She asks.

"With the black-eyed children," Reiku responds, "They're all safe,"

"We need to get them out of here," Kita says.

"I'm aware Chevo and Vlad are on their way," He says, "But, I believe it is best to hide the children here,"

"What?" Kita and Caity both ask.

"How is that the safest option?"

"I looked through the city for more black-eyed children," Reiku says, "I found four others,"

Kita's heart drops as the thought of the dark one consuming more souls sends a surge of discomfort down Kita's back. The thought of whether or not she's in control of the situation slowly dawns on her- she still doesn't understand what the dark one is doing, or why.

To hurt me? The memory of the dark one echoes in her mind.

"Four?" Raya stammers.

"Correct," Reiku confirms, "Majority of the inhabitants of Level Zero have elected to aid us in protecting them,"

"How?" Kita asks.

"The evacuation is a decoy," Reiku confidently announces.