(Sorry for abandoning this for a bit. I had lost all motivation for this, then decided to write a couple of new fics... and then doubled the size of two other ongoing fics. Then, exams came up, and I realised. Oh, this. Whoops, but i am back. also, reading back on my previous chapters, kinda shitty, but oh well. i won't promise to re-write them or make them better, cause im a lazy bitch)
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On the other side of the portal was another room underground. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of smooth, high-quality wood. Sturdy and clean.
Overhaul's body was flung through the portal, slamming hard onto the floor. I stepped through after him and closed the portal behind me.
Without hesitation, I reopened it to the surface and glanced around. I wanted to test something.
I closed my eyes, focused, and froze everything outside this room.
When I opened my eyes, I looked back through the portal. Everything beyond was completely still, frozen in time.
"Sweet, that means I can take as looong as I want," I muttered, twirling around as the portal collapsed inwards, closing behind me. "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, while outside, only a couple of days slipped by. Why a couple of days if time was stopped? Because training for a month straight gets boring, so I took little breaks every now and then. But now, I was finished. I had figured out how to apply both space and time in many new and fun ways. All it took was technically zero seconds of training.
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 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. aka reversing all my mistakes away.
The last main one was manipulation of the senses, which, as you can tell, will be a pretty fun thing to troll with and use in general.
The last big thing I figured out was manipulating the senses, which, as you can imagine, is a pretty fun tool for trolling and general use.
The rest of the time i spent, Just having fun beating the shit and torturing the bastard. Honestly, it was fun.
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, what was the goal of this anyway? hmmm... OH! oh... oh right eri. damn" i face palmed as i got very side tracked. "well, damn."
With a lazy flick of my wrist, I teleported to the building where Eri was supposed to be. Of course, it was empty. Obviously. When your boss gets yanked through a portal by some stranger, it tends to put people on high alert.
"Double fuck…" I sighed, looking around the abandoned place. "Well… at least I can just redo this shit."
With a snap of my fingers - no flashy light show this time, just a soft, unimpressive pop - everything rewound itself. Three days back. A couple of seconds after the first time, I'd frozen everything.
I was back in the room with Overhaul. him as knocked out as he was before.
"Well, that's no good," I said with a sigh, grabbing him by the collar. "Back into the sun you go."
Without hesitation, I opened a portal directly to the surface of the sun and casually tossed him through. "Bye-bye," I said, as the portal closed inward.
"Alright… take two."
I snapped my fingers again, this time teleporting straight above the building where Eri was being held. The place was filled with people this time, and after a little bit of searching, I found the little girl in her room. which was just sad.
"Well, I'd rather not cause a scene," I muttered to myself. With another snap and a soft pop, I was inside the building, standing right in front of her door.
I froze time again, watching dust motes hang motionless in the air. Then I created a little bubble that surrounded the room and around it, making it free from the time freeze.
Right now seemed like a great time to learn how to pick a lock. Not because I couldn't just rip the door off its hinges or teleport inside, or blow it up, but because… well, it sounded cooler. Plus, we love learning experiences
Pulling a random hairpin from where chaos emeralds are usually pulled from (heh) I started picking.
---
The girl's eyes fluttered open, bleary and heavy. Darkness greeted her, the kind she was used to. Her room.
Well, it could be called a nursery, technically. It was small, too small for a child's room. A bed, a colored rug, a plain stool where people sat when they watched her. Three toys: a tiny yellow ball, an incomplete set of block letters, and a doll in a blue dress she hated.
This was where she spent half her time. The other half was in the cold white room, strapped down in a chair while they took from her, over and over, until there was nothing left to take.
Thinking about that place made her shiver under her blanket.
Sleep was never safe. Dreams of her grandpa had faded, replaced by the same nightmares she lived through awake. The pain, the terror — it was the price she paid for being a Curse. Something broken, something that ruined people. It was what she deserved.
She curled up tighter beneath the thin, rough blanket. She could feel the pillow beneath her cheek, and just enough room for her nose and eyes to peek out from under the cover. She always did this. It made no difference now. They could get her anyway. They always did.
Her gaze wandered, as it often did. There was always a small, ominous red light in the top corner of her room, watching her. A reminder that even here, in the dark, she wasn't alone.
But tonight… it wasn't there.
Her breath hitched.
The dot was always there.
She slowly raised herself a little, still swaddled in the blanket, curiosity fighting against the ever-present fear. It was dangerous to notice things. Dangerous to hope. But she couldn't help it.
Something was happening. She could hear sounds at the door — clattering, like a key, but not quite. Longer. Off. Different.
Her stomach twisted. Was it time for a checkup? No… no, it was too late for that, wasn't it? She was supposed to be asleep. It was dark. Was it punishment? Did they find a reason?
She buried herself deeper, eyes peeking over the edge of the blanket, trembling.
She wasn't allowed to feel this way. She was supposed to be helpful. To let them do what they had to. She was the monster. The Curse. She deserved this. But no matter how many times she told herself that awful, churning dread never went away.
Light would flood in soon. The heavy footsteps would follow. White shoes, growling curses, a toy kicked across the floor. She braced for it.
But it didn't happen.
Instead… there was a faint click, and the door eased open without a creak. Light, careful steps approached her bed - not stomping, not storming. And then… a voice.
Soft. Higher, warmer, and unfamiliar... feminin.
"Hi... my name is Shiro. Sorry if I woke you."
It was… gentle. No one ever sounded like that. Ever. Not to her. She didn't deserve it. But… but she liked it.
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.
Long, snow-white hair with pale blue tips, the colours blending together like mist over ice. Sharp, silver eyes gleamed in the dimness, not with disgust, not cold and empty, but with something else. Something Eri couldn't quite name. Warmth… maybe curiosity.
And a smile.
A real one. A smile she could see. No mask, no beak, no gloves meant to hurt.
Just… a person.
Her eyes lingered on that smile a little longer. It made her chest ache. It reminded her, if only faintly, of Grandpa. The way he used to smile every time he saw her. Soft and kind. Not like the ones here - tight, cruel, or indifferent.
This girl's smile wasn't mean either. Her eyes were so… pretty. Beautiful, in a way Eri hadn't known people could be. Pure, bright silver, like polished mirrors reflecting stars. Way better than her own awful, cursed eyes.
And the girl was looking right at her. No frown. No sneer. No anger. No fear.
Her hair, white as fresh snow, shimmered faintly in the gloom, and those blue-tinted ends reminded Eri of water. Clear, clean water she once saw in a book. Not the cold, dark liquid in the laboratory.
It felt unreal. And for a second, Eri almost wondered if she was still asleep.
The girl crouched down, her movements gentle, and smiled a little wider.
Eri opened her mouth, beginning to form words on her tongue, before a finger was drawn to the girl's lips, as she made a soft "shh" sound.
"We don't want the bad bird people to see us, so just whisper like me, ok?"
Shiro spoke softly, still with that kind, easy voice, like she was trying to make Eri feel safe. But it wasn't like when he spoke kindly, when he pretended to be gentle just to make her obey. It wasn't cold. It didn't feel wrong.
It felt good.
That thought made Eri's chest squeeze. A tiny, surprised gasp escaped her lips before she quickly forced herself to whisper, just like she was told.
"Y-You are not with Overhaul?" she breathed, almost too afraid to say it. It didn't make sense. How could anyone not be with him? Everyone here was bad here. Weren't they?
But Shiro just shook her head, her smile never fading, not even for a second."No. I'm a hero, Eri. I've come to take you away from here."
Eri's eyes went wide. Panic shot through her small frame.
"N-No!" she blurted, remembering just in time to keep her voice down. "H-He'll hurt you! He hurts people who're nice t-to me! A-And I'll hurt you too, b-because—"
"Eri," Shiro interrupted gently, her tone never sharp, never angry, just soft and calm. "May I come closer?"
Eri blinked.
Why was she asking?
No one ever asked. No one needed to. They just did what they wanted.
Slowly, hesitantly, Eri gave a tiny nod.
Shiro stepped forward, moving quietly, carefully avoiding a block on the floor without kicking it aside. Every step was light, careful, until she kneeled by the bed, those shining silver eyes now level with Eri's crimson ones.
Close enough to reach her. Close enough to touch.
"Do you want to leave this place, Eri? To no longer be hurt by him anymore, to have him be stopped? to see the sky outside?"
She was saying so many things, but that wasn't possible, was it? She couldn't escape. He would hurt people. She would hurt people!
"I-I c-can't he-he w-will-"
Her chest tightened. Words failed as the storm of old, heavy fears began to drown her thoughts.
No, no, no. She was a Curse, a Curse- and- and-
Tears blurred her vision before she realized they were even falling.
And then warmth.
Arms gently circled her, pulling her small, trembling frame into a gentle embrace. Silken hair brushed her cheek as Shiro held her close, her touch careful, her hold familiar. Someone had once held her like this before.
"It's okay, Eri," Shiro whispered, her voice like a lullaby, soft and steady. "You won't hurt me. And I'll never hurt you. I'll never leave you, or let you go. I promise you that… on my life."
A hand stroked through her hair, slow and soothing. Not rough, not forceful.
It felt nice.
And before Eri could stop it, the dam inside her broke.
A soft sob escaped her, then another, and another. Her small arms clutched Shiro's shirt tightly as she buried her face into the crook of the girl's neck, trembling, crying, every tangled, aching, terrified emotion pouring out after so long trapped in the dark.
"It's okay," Shiro murmured again, holding her tighter, gently wrapping the blanket around Eri like a shield. "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're never coming back."
The warmth, the embrace, the steady heartbeat against her ear…
It made Eri's eyelids grow heavy. Drowsy. Safe.
She fought to stay awake, to stay with the warmth, but sleep was already pulling her under.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
And for the first time in a long, long time, her final thought before sleep wasn't fear.
It's… so nice.
A/N hope you enjoyed. sorry for very long wait.