The breath was wet. Not like a human's exhale it bubbled, thick and wheezing, like something breathing through liquid.
Everyone froze.
Silas stood in front of Jaden instantly, the air shifting around him in a subtle shimmer. "Stay behind me, feather brain."
Jaden gripped the hilt of his short blade. "I'm not running."
"Cute. Try not to die heroically. It's overrated."
A flicker of movement came from the tunnel long, slow, and deliberate. The darkness inside writhed. Something inhuman slithered forward, dragging itself with limbs that didn't belong together. A twisted face peered out, stretched thin over bones, with too-wide eyes and a gaping mouth that hung open like a torn bag.
Aya gasped, covering her mouth.
Kael muttered, "That's not a monster. That's… someone who used to be."
The creature's body jerked as if glitching phasing between shapes. Man. Beast. Shadow. It opened its mouth and screamed, but no sound came out.
Rowan's voice was low. "It's corrupted. Not from this world."
Silas's wings flared subtly behind him, gold light flashing through the mist. "Not just corrupted. Echo-bound."
"Echo-bound?" Jaden asked.
"Think… undead, but with trauma. Something's replaying its pain on loop feeding off it. If it touches you, it'll try to make you feel what it felt."
"Empathy as a weapon," Rowan said flatly.
"Exactly. And not the fun Tumblr kind."
Silas stepped forward. The thing screamed again a soundless horror that vibrated in the bones. The glyph from earlier flared brightly. The creature recoiled from it.
"Light disrupts it," Aya whispered.
"I've got light," Silas grinned. "And sass."
The creature lunged.
Jaden's instincts kicked in. He raised his blade, but Silas was faster, a blur of golden feathers and deflected shadows. The air around them cracked like breaking glass as Silas caught the thing mid-charge and hurled it back into the tunnel wall.
Its body hit the stone with a wet crunch and shimmered.
For a moment, a man appeared in its place young, eyes wide with terror, a badge around his neck. Dam engineer. Then it flickered again. Gone.
Jaden lowered his weapon. "He was… real."
Silas nodded. "Trapped in a memory. Like an old photo album infected by a virus."
Aya stepped closer to the glyph. "It's still active."
"Don't touch it," Silas warned. "It's a memory snare. Designed to trap emotions, amplify them, replay them until they break whoever walks through."
"So we're walking into a minefield of grief and regret?" Kael muttered.
"Welcome to therapy: apocalypse edition."
They moved forward, deeper into the tunnel. The walls were damp, lined with moss and rusted valves. Occasionally, glowing runes flickered into view, remnants of some ancient script trying to warn them. Or invite them.
Jaden walked next to Silas. "You knew what that thing was right away."
"I've seen them before. In other broken places. Places the system forgot to clean up."
"And you said it wasn't angelic."
"Nope." Silas's expression turned grim. "Whatever made that rune wanted to become divine. But it wasn't chosen. So it… took."
Silence stretched between them. The air was cold, heavy with a weight that didn't belong in tunnels.
After twenty minutes of silent walking, Rowan raised a fist. "Room ahead."
The group entered a circular chamber a forgotten control room, half-flooded, cables dangling like vines from the ceiling. Screens lined the far wall, flickering with static and fragments of past lives. One screen showed a woman crying. Another, a child's drawing of the sun.
Silas tapped one. "Memories caught in digital amber."
Niko stepped beside him, face pale. "Can we… erase them?"
Silas tilted his head. "You want to?"
Niko hesitated. "If I was trapped in a loop like that, I'd want someone to pull the plug."
Silas was quiet for once.
Then, with surprising gentleness, he placed his hand against the console and whispered something in a language none of them recognized. The screen dimmed. The memories faded, like dust caught in sunlight.
"Sleep well," he murmured.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Jaden watched him. "You're not what I expected an angel to be."
Silas glanced back with a faint grin. "You expected robes and hymns?"
"I expected you to be colder."
"…I've been warm once," Silas said, and for the first time, it didn't sound like a joke.
The stillness that followed was broken only by Kael's stomach rumbling.
"…That was extremely emotional," Kael said, deadpan, "but can we eat now?"
They laughed. It wasn't loud. It wasn't long. But it was real a crack of light through the thick fog of everything they'd just witnessed.
The group gathered near the back of the chamber, away from the runes. They shared food crumbly protein bars, old instant noodles heated by a salvaged chemical pack. Aya told a story about how she used to hate instant ramen, and now it was the best meal she'd had in weeks. Niko quietly offered Kael half her portion.
Jaden leaned back against the cold wall. Silas sat beside him, spinning a glowing feather between his fingers.
"Thanks," Jaden said quietly.
"For what?"
"For making things lighter. When everything feels like it's breaking."
Silas's expression softened. "That's what memes are for. Comfort through chaos."
"Even the cat ones?"
"Especially the cat ones."
Jaden chuckled. "So what now?"
Silas glanced at the dark tunnel ahead. "Now? We rest. Next stop is the generator core. And after that…" His eyes narrowed. "Something's waiting. I can feel it."
Jaden didn't press. Instead, he rested his head back, watching the lights flicker above. For now, they had warmth. Company. Safety. However temporary.
It was enough.
Author notes :
I'm dead now