Leo was restrained against a tree, bound by huge coils of thick, strong rope that bit into his skin. Every knot had been tied with intent, not haste. All of his power had been drained after his previous ordeal, leaving him too weak to struggle as he was taken captive, dragged through mud like a dangerous animal that had already been tamed.
The man he had bitten was cursing for what had to be the seven hundredth time as he applied disinfectant to the wound Leo had inflicted.
Leo honestly could not blame him. If he had encountered a monster that wore the shape of a man and tried to make a meal out of him, he would have gone mad with fury too. Perhaps even worse.
The young man cursed again as he wrapped the wound with a long strip of white bandage. Seeing it now, with a level head and no haze of bloodlust clouding his mind, made even Leo want to avert his eyes and vomit. The torn flesh, the uneven bite marks, the faint tremor in the boy's hands-- it was all too real.
'I did that?' Leo asked himself for the first time since regaining his senses.
'Should I apologise?'
He wondered what weight an apology would even carry in their current situation. There was also the far more pressing problem of what the young man might do to him next. Could he negotiate? Bargain? If there was one thing Leo was terrible at, it was lying, and this was hardly a situation where honesty felt safe.
After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Umm… sorry for almost biting your leg off."
Leo gave himself a mental kick to the gut.
'Crap. I actually apologised.'
The young man looked up at him with upset grey eyes, his face twisted with simmering rage that hadn't had time to cool off.
"Did you just say what I think you did, you demon child or whatever it is you are?" he snapped. "You did almost bite my leg off."
Leo rolled his eyes despite the ropes cutting deeper into his wrists. "Cut the crap with the over-exaggeration already. I already apologised. What more do you want?"
The young man visibly gritted his teeth. He pulled out a tablet pack, popped a few pills into his mouth, and washed them down with water from his bottle, his jaw clenched the entire time.
'Seriously, what is his problem?' Leo thought, finding the entire image to be greatly disturbing. 'It's not like I did it on purpose…'
He searched his mind for something or anything that might shift the balance.
"Why are you even out here alone in the first place?" Leo said coldly. "Don't you know how dangerous these woods are?"
The young man attempted to stand, only to scream in pain and stagger forward, nearly collapsing again.
"Damn you, you demon," he hissed. "I hope I don't get infected."
He shuddered at the thought, clearly imagining a blade cutting through his own leg.
"Quit calling me that," Leo snapped. "It's pissing me off."
He struggled against the ropes, muscles screaming in protest, but the bindings didn't budge. Whoever tied them had known exactly what they were doing.
The young man crouched before him, closing the distance until slowly they were only a few feet apart. His expression was puzzled now, curiosity bleeding through fear. "Then what the hell are you?"
Leo didn't hesitate.
"How the hell should I know? It's my ability. I'm still working out the kinks."
The young man studied him in silence, his gaze sharp and unsettling. After a moment, he reached out and pressed all five fingers against Leo's forehead.
Leo stiffened for a second.
The man's eyes shifted, a soft glow emanating from their depths.
"What the hell are you doing to me?" Leo growled, struggling uselessly. He didn't feel pain, there was no invasion of thought or body but that somehow made it worse. Not knowing was far more terrifying than actually being able to predict what would happen to him.
Several seconds passed before the young man pulled back and collapsed onto the ground, landing on his backside. He gasped for air as if he had just run a marathon, sweat beading on his brow.
"My sphere ability," he said between breaths, staring at Leo, "lets me see auras. People's auras. It helps me navigate them."
"Gee," Leo replied flatly. "Sounds like a real treat."
The young man managed a weak smile. "I can see yours. And it's not entirely human."
Leo's chest tightened.
"I've only been in Glory Base for about a week," the boy continued. "I've seen a lot of people lie. Auras rot fast when they do."
He paused, then smiled again-- this time without warmth.
"Yours is different. It isn't rotten. It's just… confused."
The tension between them eased slightly, but the dread did not. Leo swallowed hard. He knew it was a long shot, but he still had to ask.
"So," he said, "are you going to untie me?"
The young man stared at him, something strange spiralling within the inner rings of his eyes. It looked twisted and unnatural.
"I might consider it," he said slowly. "It's not like I'm in any condition to defend myself if you try to kill me again."
"I already apologised," Leo said coldly.
The young man's posture shifted, his presence becoming distant despite standing so close. "I figured something out recently," he said quietly. "About the sphere. About how it works."
Leo opened his mouth to speak, then chose silence.
"It's true that only the chosen can cross into Hellscape," the boy continued. "We awaken sphere abilities to survive."
He paused deliberately.
"I wondered why I got mine. As a kid, I was happy. Carefree. That changed the day I learned my parents weren't my real parents. My real ones died when a Hellscape gate opened above them."
Leo's breathing slowed for a moment.
"I later realised most of my friends never cared about me," the boy went on. "I was being used. When I heard the call of the sphere, I thought it would use me too."
He looked up with a sense of pride and a grand esteem, his voice becoming much bolder.
"But after awakening, I noticed a pattern."
Leo said nothing.
"Do you think someone like me would want to trust any human again?"
The silence stretched.
"I don't give a bloody damn about your backstory," Leo said at last. "Untie me, or I'll do it myself."
Strangely enough disappointment flickered across the boy's face.
"Right. You shouldn't care," he said quietly. "After all, I believe the abilities we receive are just extensions of who we already were. Or who we were meant to be."
Leo's eyes widened.
Golden luminescent sparks began to fall between them like silent rain.
"Curses," Leo muttered. "Are you saying I'm a beast because of my ability?"
The boy nodded slowly, his eyes dark, hollow, stripped of emotion.
"No," he said. "You were always a beast. This is just your true nature."
The rain of golden sparks extinguished itself, leaving behind a long, curved dagger made of dry bone.
The artifact hovered before Leo's eyes.
He began to thrash violently against the ropes.
He didn't need more signs.
It was painfully clear.
He was going to die.