Chapter 9; Eos; Hemhir 26th, 329SR; 7:52

"Eos… Run!" Zeus shouted.

Eos’s leg shook uncontrollably, his teeth rattling even faster. He looked at Zeus, who glared at the man fiercely. 'Wubble!' A golden horn extended off of Eos's head. He turned around and ran away at full speed. In just a few steps, he had zoomed through the hallway, he hit the wall on the right and tumbled. ‘Ah!’ Eos scrambled to his feet, skipping off the ground and running at top speed again. 'What the heck was that thing! Was that a person? No, it didn’t have a face! It’s a monster!?' Eos’s shoulder slammed into the wall at the end of the hallway.

“Yycan!” Zeus yelled out loud.

Eos saw a door on the left, and ran through. He found himself on another metal bridge. He looked around, but it was dark to see anything. He breathed frantically, shaking as he ran across and through the next door. Eos stopped in shock and gasped. The door led to an identical corridor, but to his horror there was another tall monster wearing white robes. ‘Huh!’ The monster in white turned around, and his gold face came into view.

"I told you I'll check this- Huh…" the gold mask tilted, it frightened Eos so much he turned. "Hey-"

Eos ran back the way he came before the door closed. At top speed he slammed his shoulder into the door, he kept going straight and burst through another door across from that one. 'Huh?!' Eos felt his stomach sink as he found himself in another hallway like the last one. The only difference was the lack of a red light, the light in this hallway was white and the bulbs buzzed. ‘Where do I go?! Where do I go?!’ The four year old breathed in and out heavily as he felt like every hallway looked the same. ‘How do I get outside?!’ A strange thought gripped him, his chest felt tight as he had no idea how to comprehend it. The feeling of endlessness flashed into his mind, the idea that there was no way out haunted him.

"Hey kid! How'd you get down here! This place is off limits!" the guard shouted from behind. "Huh… Hey… Roger! Roger what happened, are you alright!"

The guard was about to pursue Eos, but instead, turned and headed down the previous hallway. Eos took a left and barged through another door, this time finding himself in a massive stairwell lit with similar buzzing lights. 'Keep running!' Eos zoomed to the top in just two steps, reaching the door at the top and barging through. He found himself in yet another stairwell, this one much darker than the last.

"Ah!" Eos yelped as he tripped on a stone step, his voice echoing through the stairwell.

‘Ah! Ow!’ Eos landed on his elbows, blinking repeatedly and catching his breath. It was difficult to see, he looked back through the lit stairwell, but as it closed he was left in the dark. Eos shut his eyes and cowered next to the wall. 'Where am I… How do I get back to the house… Is Zeus alright?' Eos breathed in and out repeatedly. The darkness around him frightened him. Wubble left his body and landed in front of him, the gold rabbit tilted its head and squinted at him.

"How are we going to get back there… Wubble… What was that thing… It looked like a person… But…" Eos shivered. "Was it a person? It's face… It had no nose or mouth…"

Wubble suddenly jumped onto his shoulder, he almost looked angry. 'Huh…Ah…' Eos winced slightly as the rabbit slapped him. It didn't hurt, but he was confused as he looked Wubble in the eyes. Only for it to lift its tiny arms and start smacking him repeatedly over and over.

"Ow… Stop it… Stop hitting me…" Eos pulled him off.

Wubble slipped out of his hands and ran up his arm. ‘Ah!’ The rabbit kicked off his forehead. Eos stumbled backward, and his head hit the wall.

"What the heck?!" Eos stood up and shouted at the spirit.

As his heart beat quickly, he noticed wisps of white light float off of his skin. 'Oh!' He looked down and released his energy, the white light lit the stairwell a soft blue. He didn’t feel as cold with the flame around him.

"Ah! I can see now!" Eos smiled.

Wubble smacked its own forehead with both hands. Eos giggled and scratched his head.

"I forgot this made me brighter…" Eos laughed. "Guess you couldn't really say it…"

Wubble ran up the steps, then jumped onto his shoulder. 'I went up some stairs, so maybe if I keep going down I'll get back to the house…' Eos walked down, his flames lighting the way. There were several unlit candles on the walls, as well as other doors that had no handles. He didn't think much of them. As he reached the bottom, he noticed the ground felt weird. Small beads of dirt stuck to his foot, it was rough and grainy in texture. ‘It’s like dirt, but really really dry…’

"Huh…" Eos whispered to himself as he kicked the stuff around.

He noticed a light on the floor, it came out of the window in a door. Eos hurried toward it, and looked through the glass. There was a strange structure on the other side, Eos opened the door to get a better look.

"Woah…" Eos looked up in awe.

The room was massive, far bigger than the one he had seen with Zeus earlier. Directly in front of him, hanging above a pit leading to a big steel wall was the strange structure. It looked like a sphere, surrounded by horizontal white pillars, three on each side. Eos and Wubble paused as they stared at it, but a noise echoed through the large space and made him duck under the closest railing.

"Hey! Hey guys! I thought we were alone down here!" a familiar voice shouted.

Eos poked his head out of the cover, along the right side of the room was a wide open walkway. Various boxes and trolleys surrounded a small group. They wore white robes. ‘Monsters! There’s more!’ Eos could see their frightening gold faces from a distance.

"What?" another monster replied, Eos couldn't tell which.

"We just ran into two kids and a dog!" he shouted in a panic.

"Huh? No way…" someone else laughed.

"Shut up Joe! The dog even bit Roger, you think I'm making this up!"

"Eugh… That looks bad… Roger, where did you see them?"

"I was outside the restricted area! I shit you not the door opened at complete random and these kids just wandered into the hallway!" the one named Roger shouted. "They looked like they'd seen a ghost, so I asked if they were okay! And the one with black hair sicked his fucking dog on me!"

"The restricted area? What? That's spooky… No one should be back there… And they had a dog?"

“Wait, hold on, if no one is back there, what’s the deal with that weird theatre?” another asked.

“I don’t know, I heard the Lightbringers hold events there sometimes… But like, rarely…”

“Seriously? That makes it even creepier…”

"Yo! I need someone to check my shoulder! It might be infected!" Roger yelled.

"Okay, okay, calm down… We should wait till the end of the shift though," said Joe.

"End of the shift? You slug!"

"It'll take time to get back up, and our shift isn't even done… Also… I don't really know who to go to… No one ever really gets injured on this job…"

"And who do we even report this to? This place is classified info…" another added.

"A fucking doctor?! Are you people stupid! Stop putting your contracts before my well being!" Roger shouted.

“Stop getting emotional, it's your fault for getting hurt on the easiest job in the world…” Joe sighed.

“Hahaha!” several of them bursted out into laughter.

“Oh piss off!” Roger cried.

Eos slowly pushed the door open as the monsters argued, slipping back into the stairwell he came from. 'How do I get back to the house… Maybe if I find those stairs from before…' Eos ran up the dark steps, his blue light illuminating the way for him. 'Here…' Eos reached a door on his left, he reached for the handle but paused for a moment. 'Where is the handle? There is no handle… Why is there no handle!' Eos’s heart sank.

"Maybe… Maybe it's further up?" he tried to remember.

Eos ran up the steps, his heart beat frantically as he turned right at a corner. He sprinted up the next steps and took another right. All he saw was an identical set of steps, and another right turn. Eos breathed heavy again. He ran up the next set of steps, turned the corner, and to his horror, there was another door with no handle. Eos ran toward it, and smashed his fist into the cold metal.

"Someone! Anyone! Zeus! Mom!" Eos huffed in and out.

Eos ran up more steps. "I definitely passed the door! Did I?" After four more corners, he arrived at another door lacking a handle.

"Ah!" Eos continued up the steps in a full sprint.

Eos pressed on through the dark stairwell. ‘There has to be a way out!’ He kept going, sprinting up the narrow path as fast as he could. Confused and scared, he started to hyperventilate. Tears fell out of his eyes. ‘Is this some kind of nightmare… Am I gonna wake up?! Where am I?! Mom! Help!’

***

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It had been hours. Eos's stomach growled as he limped up another step. His feet ached, his eyes were dry from the numerous times he had broken down into tears. Every few minutes he tackled with the despair of never finding his way out. Being trapped in the dark for the rest of his life. Eos breathed in, he looked up, and continued forward. But his foot refused to rise up the next step, and he stumbled on the step and fell.

"Ah!" Eos's chin hit a step, he held on to keep himself from sliding down.

The golden horn and the light around his body disappeared. He knew he had passed the stairwell he had come from by now, but at the same time he didn’t know how to get back if the door had no handle. 'How long has it been… I'm so hungry…' The touch of the cold stone was nothing compared to the chill of loneliness. Wubble bounced out of his body and landed on the next step. Eos glanced up at the rabbit. Even Wubble was exhausted, it wheezed just as much as Eos. 'I can't stop… I'm not alone… I have to keep Wubble safe… But… I can’t even walk up another step…' Eos pushed himself up the step, then scooped up the rabbit, he gulped as cradled it close to keep it warm. He was barely hydrated enough to swallow his own saliva. It felt like he’d been here for an eternity. Eos teared up, as he thought about being trapped here forever once again.

“Help…” Eos called out.

His throat was too dry.

“Help!” Eos cried, but it wasn’t loud.

It hurt his throat to yell so loud, but the thought of losing Wubble because of his own mistake made him grit his teeth. He swallowed some of the tears that dripped over his lips, and then breathed in.

“Help! Somebody! Help!” Eos screamed at the top of his lungs.

Eos huffed in and out, he coughed raggedly as he wheezed. His cheek planted against the stone, his eyes barely staying open. His throat hurt too much to breathe properly. A door's latch clicked somewhere further up, Eos looked up as he gulped. It was the first noise he had heard that wasn't his own steps or breaths. 'What was that…' Eos held Wubble tightly to his chest. He heard a pair of steps coming down.

Eos's heart started to pound against his chest, he could barely muster the energy to turn and run. Even if he could, he didn't know where to go. 'Someone's coming…' Eos hoped it would be one of his siblings, or his mom. But part of him felt dread at the thought of another person with a gold mask. Eos huffed as he released his energy. The dark stairwell lit up bright blue again.

"What the…" someone spoke from around the corner.

Eos didn't recognize their voice. 'I have… To run…' Eos tried to get up, but stopped as the person turned the corner. It was a man, they weren't wearing a mask, but Eos didn't recognize him. He wore tight black pants secured to his waist by a belt. His full-sleeved shirt was white, with red details along the edges and a neatly folded collar buttoned up to the top. His face was slightly wrinkled, he had small sunken eyes and a thick moustache that covered his top lip. The two just stared at each other with nearly equal confusion.

"A child?" he muttered to himself.

"You… You have a face…" Eos croaked, his throat was too dry to speak loud.

The man reared his head back at Eos's comment, even raising an eyebrow. 'Wait… If he's not a monster… Maybe he can help Wubble…' Eos slowly moved his hand down, revealing the exhausted spirit. He looked up at the old man who had become even more puzzled.

"Is that… A gift?" he uttered as he stepped back.

"Wubble… Wubble needs help…" Eos uttered.

The man rushed down the steps, crouching next to Eos as he cowered. 'Ah…' The man gently held Eos's chin and tilted his head up. He had big hands, but despite their size he seemed gentle. He touched Eos's head.

"Young lad, how did you get down here? Where are your parents?!" the man asked with a concerned tone.

"Mom?" Eos uttered.

"Yes, your mother, or father, where are they? Did you get lost? How long have you been down here?"

"I… I was with my brother… We snuck out… And then… We ran into someone with a gold face…" Eos slowly explained.

"Gold face? You mean, a guard? You met with a Lightbringer guard down there? You have a sibling?! Where is he? Is he still further down? How far down?" the man asked as he looked down the dark stairwell.

Eos nodded. The man stood up and took off his coat, he wrapped it around Eos instead. Eos felt a warmth from the clothes.

“When did you last eat? You look malnourished… Which district are your parents from?" he asked quickly.

"District?" Eos squinted as he looked at the man's moustache. "We live in the mountains…"

The man tilted his head.

"You must be delirious, come on," the man lifted Eos onto his back. “I'll get you out of here…"

Eos leaned against the man, practically falling on him. The man held Eos’s legs up as he stood, easily lifting the child. Eos’s arms dangled over his shoulders, his forehead resting on his back. The man turned and started up the steps.

"It's so dark… But this place seems constructed… There’s even candles… And the stone work resembles Owen's… Young lad, what was that light that came off of you… Is it something to do with your gift? When did you receive your gift?"

"Uh… A few days ago?"

"A few… Days?" the man muttered to himself. "Are you an angel? You aren't from Hiria right? Are you from Kamino? What is your name?"

"What?" Eos groaned in confusion. “My name? My name is Eos…”

"Eos… Eos… I’ve never heard a name like that before… I'm responsible for the registry of all Celestial gifts, but I've never seen your gift before…" he explained.

"All Celestial gifts?" Eos repeated.

"Yes, I may be old, but my memory still serves me well enough to know I've never seen yours, haha…" the man huffed as he skipped a step.

The man got to one of the doors that lacked a handle. Eos looked up and noticed a black rod, it kept the door open. The man pulled the door open, and the black rod glowed red as it fell through. He didn’t hear the rod hit the ground, Eos was shocked to see it turn into a red light that bounced into the old man.

"You… You have a gift too…" said Eos.

The man set Eos down against the wall next to the door. He crouched down and reached into his pocket.

"Yes, of course I have a gift… Wait…" the man looked at Eos's blue eyes. "Hang on… You don't know who I am?"

"No?" said Eos.

"Oh… Well, that's… Not something I'm used to, but you're young so it's not very far fetched… My name is Shinra Pendragon. I am one of the four nobles of Helios."

"Pen… Dragon?".

"Yes… Here, eat this," Shinra pulled out a paper wrapped package and opened it. "This cereal bar isn't much, but it’s high in calories, it should fill you up for sometime… Here."

Eos looked down at the cereal bar as he held it. It was made of a light brown mix of sticky oats, and coated in smooth chocolate. He bit down on it, and chewed. The sweet and grainy cereal and chocolate coated his dry mouth, he shut his eyes as he swallowed it.

"After I get you somewhere safe, I'll return here to find your brother and family," said Shinra.

"You're going to find Zeus?" Eos asked weakly.

"Zeus is his name? Zeus… Zeus…" Shinra muttered to himself. "I don't recognize that name either… Nevermind that, I promise you, I'll find him…"

'Wow… I ran into someone really nice…' Eos felt a wave of relief shower over him as he closed his eyes.

***

Eos felt incredible warmth, all around him. But overtime, it became an overwhelming heat. He opened his eyes.

“Huh…” he uttered.

The sky was shrouded in dark grey clouds. The sun was nowhere to be seen. Eos blinked as he looked around. In every direction, there was nothing but grey stone pillars, charred black by streams of bright orange liquid that cut through the rock. The liquid was thick, but boiling viscously. It gave off a heat unlike anything Eos had ever felt before. The grey stone pillars were each placed upon differently shaped isles of black stone. Each isle was surrounded by the hot orange liquid. Everywhere he looked, there were more and more pillars. They seemed to go on forever. But in the distance, one pillar of stone was bigger than all the others. That pillar reached high into the sky, like a tower that pierced the heavens.

“Wubble…” Eos called.

Nothing happened. Eos squinted and looked down. ‘Wubble? Where are you?’ Eos turned around, he saw a similar pillar. He walked around it, but couldn’t find Wubble. Eos looked back to the tallest pillar. Something about it made him curious. However, the only way to reach it was beyond the streams of boiling orange liquid. Eos approached the edge. The jump was at least a meter long, he didn’t know if he could make it. However, before he could try, a bubble of liquid popped near his foot, setting it ablaze.

“Huh? Ow, hot! Hot! Ah-”

***

“Ah!” Eos kicked his foot up.

The quilt covering his foot, rolled down, showering his bandaged barefoot in soothing cold air. ‘What the?!’ He found himself on a comfortable surface, his head resting against a cotton pillow. A warm and inviting smell came from somewhere else, he could hear people talking in the distance outside of the building. Someone cheered, another person laughed. A woman called out a name. Eos held his ears to block out the noise, he breathed in and out as he only now realized his foot wasn’t on fire. The ceiling was lit orange, as he turned his head he noticed a bright light spilling through a window, it was the brightest thing he’d ever seen. He had to squint because of how bright it was. However, he noticed a familiar shape, someone else’s foot.

Eos looked up and noticed a man with silver hair tied back into a ponytail. He had a bit of hair on his face, a small layer of fuzzy hair under his chin. He had a long nose but small ears, his green eyes stood out. He was a lot older than Eos, and looked a lot bigger and stronger. He wore grey pants and a white sleeveless shirt. He held a black and gold book in his hands. He was staring directly at Eos with wide eyes, seconds away from biting into a red apple. ‘Who…’

“Let me guess…” the man broke the silence. “You were underwater and a weird monster made of seaweed tried to pull you into the depths… Then you kicked your leg free and woke up…”

Eos just blinked at him for a few seconds. “What?”

“Okay, second try… A massive winged beast was outside your house, and everytime you tried to kick him out, it just kicked you out… Much to your frustration…”

Eos just squinted.

“And then you decided you’d go talk to the neighbor about it, and then a giant angry mole pushed you back to the front of your house and forced you to kick the beast.”

“Who are you? What are you talking about? Where am I?” Eos whined.

“Ha… Hahahaha!” the man bursted into laughter, he chuckled in his chair to Eos’s confusion. “Sorry, sorry… I like trying to guess what people are dreaming about… My name is Rukard, this is my family's church, the Church of Lielos. Shinra brought you here a day ago… You’ve been asleep the moment you got here…”

“The… What?” Eos’s eyes widened as he remembered his dream. “Wubble…”

“Bubble? What was that?” Rukard asked.

A golden horn sprouted off Eos’s head.

“Oh… Uh, I think I should say this now but-”

Eos threw the quilt off, and rolled off the side of the bed away from Rukard. He stood up and fell backward. His feet were covered in bandages, still aching after hours of running. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran out the door.

“Hey! Slow down! You’re still hurt!” Rukard shouted.

Eos limped, his foot ached and he winced.

“Rukard! What was that?!” a woman somewhere else in the building shouted.

“The kid woke up, grandma!” Rukard yelled.

Eos reached a door where the light spilled through, he ran to it. ‘Outside! There’s a way out-’ Eos stopped as he saw what awaited him. The front of the building consisted of a yard surrounded by a small fence. The grass was a faded green, its hue dominated by the dying yellow strands tangled amongst them. The sky was a beautiful bright blue, Eos turned to the right and saw the bright sun. It looked so far away for some reason, but despite that, it was even brighter than ever. ‘The sky is so bright…’ What confused Eos more, was the lack of any trees in sight. There was nothing but buildings. Beyond the fence was a street, where multiple people were walking by, too many to count. ‘I’ve never seen so many people before…’ Eos froze as he looked at the tallest structure. He blinked repeatedly, as he looked straight up. A giant tower stretched into the sky, it looked like it was passing through the clouds. It reminded Eos of what he saw in his dream.

“Hey! Come back!” Rukard called as he turned the corner.

Eos turned and stepped back. Rukard raised his hands, he held an apple in one of them.

“Cool gift… Pretty crazy for a kid your age to have a gift, but… Shinra told us you shouldn't use it often… He said using your gift harms you… And you’re apparently a huge trouble maker…”

“Huh…” Eos uttered.

“Oh yeah, here… Shinra wanted me to give you this… He said it belonged to you…”

Rukard reached into his back pocket, pulling out an orange sash. Eos squinted at it. The tall man tossed it forward, and Eos cowered. However, nothing happened. He looked down and saw the orange fabric on the ground, he reached down and picked it up. It was smooth, the orange color was vibrant. The pattern was strange, but familiar for some reason. The pattern on the top was a single solid line, on the bottom it was two wavy lines intersecting back and forth across the length of the sash. Eos's stomach suddenly growled. He curled forward as he felt the uncomfortable emptiness in his stomach.

“Are… Are you hungry? We have some extras from breakfast… And fruit…” Rukard pointed to his apple and smiled.

Eos gulped. He didn’t know where he was, or where his mom was. However, the hospitality from the man in front of him was inviting. The gold horn on Eos’s head disappeared. Eos slowly nodded as he held his stomach. He felt too weak to even run, but at the same time he didn’t feel like he needed to. ‘He’s not one of those monsters…’

“Grandma is a great cook, you’ll love it!” Rukard grinned. “Come on. Let’s get you a plate!”