The group slid down the walls until they reached the floor.
They slipped through the shadows, hiding from the workers.
The sun beat down on their faces, but they couldn't stop until they were safe.
They kept walking until they saw an open door.
They quickly went inside and entered a room labeled "warehouse."
They moved cautiously, closing the door behind them just enough to keep it from making a sound.
There was some kind of motor, strange machinery, and some common objects like buckets, mops, and brooms with logos of unknown companies.
What are these brands? They seem to be everyday products from the west side.
Nero walked around the warehouse, looking at and touching all the new objects he saw.
"Phew, it's hot," he said, taking off his hat.
He turned to look at a luxurious mirror, almost the kind you'd find in a wealthy home...
Driven by intrigue and greed, he approached the mirror.
He moved his hand slowly along the frame... but by a simple mistake, he touched the glass.
Nero's body was completely absorbed by the mirror.
...
Nero's face showed confusion as he felt the wind rush through his body.
He flew through the gray sky, pelted by hail and ash.
Nero crashed into a black ground so dark he could barely see it.
His blood splattered the ground, filling the lifeless blackness with vibrant color.
But... strangely, he didn't die.
Slowly but surely, he rose, feeling every bone in his body shatter.
His breath was ragged. Inside, he could feel his broken bones stabbing his organs.
The atmosphere felt heavier. As if reality itself had shifted.
W-Where the hell am I?
Nero shook his head desperately, but with almost imperceptible movements.
He could only see that the sky was gray, there was... white rubble, which seemed to form houses and walls, and the ground was black like a bottomless pit.
It looked like a destroyed city...
"Do you like what you see?"
Nero tried to turn around, but a burst of gunfire knocked him back.
He fell about 5 meters away. The stranger in front of him moved as fast as lightning.
Nero tried to stand, but another burst of gunfire forced him to his knees.
He slowly raised his head until he saw the figure of a young man, no more than 25 years old.
He wore a robe... something very common among saints in churches.
"W-Who are you?" Nero's voice broke with pain.
"You can know me as..."
"The breath of life... the first and the last... what everyone needs and no one sees..."
"I am... the embodiment of the wind itself... Zephyr..."
Nero froze. His mind couldn't process so much information all at once.
A-a... God.
Nero took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
"What do you want? And why me?" Nero murmured.
Zephyr smiled. That smile was macabre, almost malevolent.
Damn it!
Nero felt the air slowly leave his lungs.
No! I can't die now... if I die... Rose.
Zephyr grabbed his chin and said:
"I only came to see..."
His voice echoed off the white walls...
He seemed to enjoy the expression on Nero's face and continued:
"One of those who are going to destroy the world."
I'm going to die? But my life has been a mess!
This is what I get for being greedy!
His body twisted. He opened his mouth gasping for air, but Zephyr wouldn't let a single breath into his lungs.
Nero began to blame himself:
I was just a mirror, you idiot. And I didn't even look that good!
Tears began to flow, filling his face.
"Goodbye... wanderer," Zephyr waved.
Slowly, Nero's body shut down, as if he had died.
...
He woke with a start, clearly panicked.
He touched his entire body, sweating profusely...
He put his hand to his head and vomited to the side.
Gravity returned to normal.
Was that real?
Nero cleared his vision and could see the entire group.
Rose looked at him worriedly, while Sunday checked his pulse.
"What happened?" Axel asked.
Before he could answer, he felt invisible hands tighten around his neck.
He could feel Zephyr's sharp gaze still fixed on him.
His body tensed, and fear spread through him.
He swallowed and, with feigned calm, said:
"Nothing happened... just exhaustion."
Axel looked at him suspiciously.
"We found you unconscious, under a broken mirror."
Nero got up as best he could. "We need to go to the center of the west zone."
The group left the warehouse carefully, making sure not to make any noise with the objects they had touched.
The sunlight continued to hit their faces, but none of them stopped.
Nero walked slowly, still trembling from the vision Zephyr had shown him, with the feeling that someone invisible was still watching him.
will I destroy the world?
What is a wanderer?
How did Zephyr bring me to that world?
So many questions...
I can't start overthinking; it's bad for my health.
Axel stopped in front of a room.
He went in quickly and came out in no more than 30 seconds, with a folder in his hands.
They left the factory, leaping over the brick walls.
The group advanced cautiously through the low trees of the small forest.
The branches creaked beneath their feet, and the sun's rays filtering through the leaves cast unsettling shadows on their faces.
Nero's mind was elsewhere, feeling Zephyr stalking him from some invisible corner of reality.
Every creak of a branch or whisper of wind made him shudder.
Sunday led the way, his eyes scanning for any unusual movement in the undergrowth.
Lux walked behind him, observing the surroundings with his usual silent vigilance.
Kōri kept a prudent distance, her muscles tense, ready to react to any threat.
Rose, still worried about Nero, maintained a steady but cautious pace, while Axel constantly checked the folder he had taken from the room: something important was waiting there.
Finally, the forest began to clear, revealing the perimeter of the western zone's center.
Large buildings loomed high above.
Crack!
A branch snapped in the undergrowth...
The group prepared to fight...