On the other side of the portal was another underground room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of smooth, high-quality wood, not cheap panels, but real polished timber. Sturdy. Clean. pleasing to the eye.
Overhaul's limp body hit the floor with a thud, rolling for a second, before stopping. I stepped through after him, letting the portal seal shut behind me.
Then, without hesitation, I opened a new one, this time leading straight to the surface. Sunlight and fresh air bled through. not to leave, but to test something.
I closed my eyes, focused, and reached out, and with just a thought, the entire world beyond the threshold… stopped.
When I opened my eyes, the portal looked like a still image. Cars hung motionless mid-drive, a bird was paused mid-wing flap, and dust particles glittered in the air. Everything was silent. Everything was still.
"Sweet, that means I can take as looong as I want," I said with a smug grin, spinning on my heel as the portal folded in on itself and vanished. "To figure out every single aspect of my new abilities. Heh, I'm so smart for thinking of this. Now, let's get started"
---
Months passed in that room for me, but outside, only a couple of days. Why not zero days, since time was stopped? Well, because training for a straight month without breaks is boring as hell. So, every now and then, I'd unfreeze things, take a breather, maybe walk around a little before coming back. I'm not Goku, I need me some me time for myself as well. Still, in the end, I was done. I'd figured out how to bend space and time in all sorts of new, fun ways.
I trained for an entire second. And look at the progress.
Yeah, I know it took me months, but shut up, it doesn't sound cool if I say that.
Now, let me tell you about a few important applications I found. The main one I wanted to test was mind reading, influencing, and control. Basically, reading every single signal in the brain and messing with it.
Most of my time in that room was spent trying my damn hardest to figure that shit out. Because yeah, it was goddamn hard. It wasn't about raw power; it was about raw control.
And as much as I want to say "I'm a genius," I ain't. But after a while, I got the reading part down. The influencing and controlling part, eh... I could do it... But it took soooo many fucking tries just to get it to work without something going sideways, inside out or just straight up turning the target into a vegetable. which was what happened alot of the time.
thank god, time powers also came with an undo button.
The last big thing I figured out was manipulating the senses, which, as you can tell, will be a pretty fun thing to troll with and use in general.
The rest of my time was spent… well… entertaining myself by creatively beating the crap out of Overhaul. Torture, and others. hey! He deserves it!
But now that I'd squeezed all the worth and info out of him, I was done with his life. So into the sun he went.
"Hmm… wait… what was the point of all this again? Oh. Oh, right. Eri." I smacked my forehead. "Well damn," got just a smidge side-tracked there.
With a flick of my wrist, I warped to the building where she was supposed to be. Of course, it was empty. Obviously, when your boss gets snatched into a wormhole by some mystery stranger, it tends to put people on high alert. and jump ship.
"Double fuck…" I sighed, scanning the dusty, abandoned rooms. "Guess I'm redoing this."
With a snap of my fingers, no flashy light show, just a soft pop, and everything rewound itself. Three days back, seconds after I first froze everything.
I was back in the room with Overhaul, him as knocked out as he was before.
"Well, that's no good," I muttered, grabbing him by the collar. "Back into the sun you go!" I cheerfully said, and without hesitation, I opened a portal directly to the surface of the sun. casually tossing him through. "Bye-bye~!" I said as the portal closed inward.
"Alright… take two."
This time, I teleported directly above the building holding Eri. Now filled with people, I scanned around until I spotted her in her room, small and hunched, wrapped up in a blanket.
which was just sad.
"Well, I'd rather not cause a scene," I muttered. With another snap of fingers and pop, I was inside, standing in front of her door. Time froze again, trapping the dust in midair. Then I shaped a bubble around her room so that, while the world stayed paused, she'd be free to move.
Perfect time to try something new. Sure, I could just blow the door open, teleport through it, or melt it, but I was not interested. Instead, I had a perfect chance to learn lockpicking, which is much cooler.
Plus, learning new skills is never a waste. How hard could it be?
I reached into the mysterious inventory space that holds any and all chaos emeralds gathered and pulled out a hairpin.
---
The girl's eyes fluttered open, heavy and slow.
Darkness.
Her room.
Well… the place they called her room. A nursery, technically, but far too small for any child's comfort. Four close walls. A narrow bed. A colored rug that had long since faded to dull patches. A plain wooden stool where people sat when they needed to watch her. Three toys: a tiny yellow ball, a set of block letters missing half the alphabet, and a stiff doll in a blue dress she couldn't stand to look at.
This was where she spent half her life. The other half was in the cold, white room, s̶t̶r̶a̶p̶p̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶i̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶,̶ ̶u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶e̶f̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶.̶
Just thinking about that place made her shiver under her blanket.
Sleep wasn't safe anymore. Dreams of her grandpa had faded, replaced by endless replays of what she already endured while awake. The pain. The terror. It was the price she paid for being what they said she was: a Curse. Something wrong, evil. Something that hurt k̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ people. And she… she deserved it.
She curled tighter beneath the thin, scratchy blanket. She could feel the worn pillow under her cheek, leaving just enough space for her nose and eyes to peek out. She always hid like this. It didn't help. If they wanted her, they'd take her. It made no difference; it never did.
Her gaze drifted upward (like it always did) to the tiny, red light in the corner of her room. Always watching. Always reminding her that even in the dark, she wasn't alone.
t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶i̶t̶e̶r̶e̶d̶
Except tonight… it wasn't there.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The dot was always there.
Slowly, still wrapped in the blanket, she pushed herself up just a little. Curiosity warred with fear in her chest. It was dangerous to notice things. More dangerous to hope. But she noticed anyway.
Something was different.
From the door came a faint sound
A metallic clatter. Not quite a key turning. Something longer. Off. Different. f̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶n̶i̶n̶g̶.
Her stomach twisted. Was it a checkup? No… it was too late for that. They only came during the day for that. Punishment, maybe? Had she done something wrong without knowing it?
She sank lower, only her eyes visible above the blanket. Her heart pounded.
She wasn't allowed to be afraid. She was supposed to be helpful, to let them do what they needed. She was the monster. The Curse. The punishment was what she deserved. But knowing that didn't stop the dread from curling tight and heavy in her chest.
Light would come soon
harsh, white light flooding in. Then the footsteps. Heavy. Angry. White shoes scuffing the floor, curses spat under their breath. Maybe a toy kicked aside. She braced herself.
But it didn't come. w̶h̶y̶?
Instead… there was a small, clean click, and the door swung inward without a creak. Footsteps followed — light, careful, not stomping, but silent. They stopped near her bed.
And then… a voice.
Soft. Higher-pitched. Warmer. Unfamiliar... and Feminine.
"Hi… my name is Shiro. Sorry if I woke you."
Eri froze.
It wasn't the kind of voice she knew. Not sharp. Not cold. Not meant to frighten. It was gentle and understanding. Nobody spoke to her like that. Nobody ever had. She didn't deserve it.
...but she liked it anyway.
Eri turned slowly, still hiding most of her face behind the edge of the blanket.
In the faint, soft light that shimmered around the figure, she saw a girl. Not one of them.
Her hair was long, snow-white with pale blue tips, the colours blending together like morning mist on ice. Her eyes were a piercing yet dazzling magenta pink that gleamed in the dimness, not with disgust, not cold, and neither empty nor angry, but with something else. something Eri couldn't give a name. f̶o̶r̶g̶o̶t̶t̶e̶n̶. But warmth, and maybe even curiosity, was something she could see.
But the most unusual feature was...
She was smiling. T̶o̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶?̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶?
And not just a fake one.
A real one. Not hidden behind a mask, not stretched thin by cruelty. Not given by gloves waiting to hurt. T̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶l̶e̶c̶t̶
Just… a face. A person.
.
.
.
Her eyes lingered on that smile a moment longer. It made her chest ache in a way she didn't understand. It reminded her, faintly but unmistakably, of Grandpa, the way his face would light up every time he saw her. Gentle. Kind. Not like the smiles here. Those were sharp, cruel, or hollow, twisting into expressions that never reached the eyes.
This girl's smile wasn't like that. It wasn't meant.
Her eyes… they were so pretty. Beautiful in a way Eri had never imagined people could be. Deep magenta, glowing softly like polished crystal lit from within. So much better than her own awful, cursed eyes.
She was looking right at her, too. No frown. No sneer. No anger. No fear. N̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶t̶e̶
Her hair shimmered faintly in the gloom, white as untouched snow, the pale blue at the tips soft as watercolour. It reminded Eri of a picture she had once seen in a book, clear, flowing water in sunlight, unlike the dark, cold water in the laboratory.
It all felt too perfect, too unreal. For a second, Eri wondered if she was still dreaming. t̶h̶a̶t̶ s̶h̶e̶'̶d̶ ̶w̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶u̶p̶,̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶.̶ ̶o̶n̶.̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶.̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶i̶r̶.̶
The girl crouched down, moving slowly, her hands relaxed at her sides. Her smile deepened, just a little.
Eri opened her mouth, unsure what she was going to say, when the girl lifted one finger to her lips and made a soft "shh" sound.
"We don't want the bad bird people to see us," she whispered, her voice gentle, careful, almost playful. "So just whisper like me, ok?"
Shiro's voice didn't have the weight of false kindness. It wasn't like his, the kindness that pretended to be soft just to make her obey. This voice was warm, like a blanket on a cold night. It felt… nice.
That strange, unfamiliar warmth tightened in Eri's chest, stealing her breath. A tiny gasp escaped before she could stop it, but she forced herself to whisper, just like she had been told.
"Y-You're not with Overhaul?" she asked, the words trembling, almost too small to hear. It didn't make sense. Everyone here was with him. Everyone here was bad.
Shiro shook her head. Her smile didn't fade, not even for a moment. "No. I'm a hero, Eri. I've come to take you away from here."
Eri's eyes went wide. Panic burst through her small frame.
"N-No!" she blurted, then quickly dropped her voice. "H-He'll hurt you! He hurts people who're nice to me! And… and I'll hurt you too, b-because-"
"Eri," Shiro interrupted softly. Her tone was calm, not scolding, not harsh. "May I come closer?" a request.
Eri blinked at her.
Why was she asking? No one ever asked. They didn't need to. They just did whatever they wanted.
Slowly, she gave the smallest nod.
Shiro moved forward, each step careful, quiet, avoiding a block on the floor without kicking it aside. She stopped when she was kneeling by the bed, her silver eyes now level with Eri's crimson ones.
Close enough to touch. Close enough to reach her.
"Do you want to leave this place, Eri? To never be hurt by him again? To see the sky outside?"
It sounded like a dream. But dreams didn't come true. If she tried, he would hurt people. She would hurt people.
"I-I c-can't… he w-will-"
Her chest seized. The words tangled in her throat, crushed beneath the weight of every memory, every fear.
No, no, no. She was a Curse. A monster. And- and-
Warmth.
Arms wrapped around her small body, slow and careful. Shiro's embrace was steady, her hair brushing against Eri's cheek. It felt… familiar. Someone had once held her like this, long ago.
"It's ok, Eri," Shiro whispered, her voice low and steady, like she could chase the fear away with sound alone. "You won't hurt me. And I'll never hurt you. I will never leave you, or let you go. I promise… on my life."
Her hand moved through Eri's hair in slow, gentle strokes. Nothing rough. Nothing cruel. Nothing painful.
It felt so... nice.
The wall inside her cracked. A small sob slipped out before she could stop it. Then another. And another. Her tiny hands clung to Shiro's shirt as she buried her face into the crook of her neck, trembling, crying, letting all the pain spill out after so long in silence.
"It's ok," Shiro murmured again. She pulled the blanket around Eri like a shield, holding her closer. "I've got you, Eri. I'm here now, and I won't ever let you go. We're leaving this bad place, and you are never coming back."
The warmth of the embrace, the quiet heartbeat beneath her ear, the scent of something clean and soft…
Eri's eyelids grew heavy. Safe.
She fought to stay awake, to keep the warmth with her, but the pull of sleep was stronger.
Her eyes closed.
And for the first time in so very long, her last thought before sleep wasn't fear.
It's… Warm.
A/N hope you enjoyed.
see ya!