[E]NIGMA | KH/FF/Other

000 × C0RRUP73D

000 × C0RRUP73D

『••✎••』

          [NAME] [SURNAME] SAT IN THE long reeds of grass that went well above her head, eyeing the black shadow figure that roamed around with a few other smaller shadows, internally panicking when a few strayed too close to her.

         Where did they even come from?! She put her hand to her mouth to stiffle a squeak when the smaller shadow passed her spot in the grass. I don't remember these things even existing in this world!

         "Axel! Over here!"

         "You mean there's more? What a drag!"

         Oh, moogles! She cursed to herself, mentally, and tried to silently shrink down into the grass even further. What to do, what to do? I can't exactly run from them...

         The sound of weapons caught her attention and she rose up to look over the grass, seeing two figures defeating the shadows she had been cornered by for the past three hours. Seeing they were almost gone, she turned around and began silently making her way through the weeds and grass, careful to make no sound. She was almost to a dirt path when she came face to face with an odd cat-like beast, with long whiskers and beige and white coloring.

         "Uhh, nice kitty," she warbled, taking small steps backwards. "Please don't hurt me — ah!"

         It pounced, claws sinking deep into her flesh, and it would have bit her face off if someone hadn't plunged a sword straight through its back and stomach. It just barely nicked her skin, the sword, but her body had a terrible reaction to it. She convulsed, gasping for breath, the pungent smell of the beast's blood sticking to her like a second skin.

         "Noct! What did you do?!" The voice held an accent that [Name] couldn't place at the moment and it grew nearer to her. By now she had stopped moving but the tingling pain in her abdomen lingered.

         "I didn't, I swear!" The male, Noct, sputtered. "All I did was kill the Couerl!"

         "Right, and possibly the woman under it," the other male said harshly. Then he sighed. "Hand me a Hi-Potion. Her wounds seem shallow, at least."

          "Uh, Iggy..."

          "What?"

          "We used the last potion on Prompto, remember? When we were fighting the Zu?"

         "It's fine," [Name] managed to wheeze out, sitting up and holding her hand over her stomach. "I think I can manage."

         "Are you alright, miss?" The male helped her get to her feet. "I apologize for his actions. He can be reckless at times."

        "Hey!"

        "It's okay," [Name] repeated and made a poor imitation of a smile. "Really, it's fine. Nothing a salve won't fix."

        The two men stared uncertainly at her as she peeled back her white lab coat, then her shirt, to reveal a black, charred burn mark the size of a basketball marring almost her entire torso. It was laced through with veins of purple, blue, and red,  pulsing in time with each wave of pain she recieved.

        "What happened? I didn't do that," Noct said, taking a step closer. Iggy, as he had called him, prevented him from taking a step further.

         "Stop. It looks as if she's been hit with some sort of ailment —" he cut himself off, however, when the wound rolled and seized in on itself, sloughing off and having a new layer of skin roll over the pink layer that formed when the scorched one fell off. "I stand corrected."

          [Name] felt the bitter tang of blood in her mouth and coughed. "I think I'll be okay. You two can leave, go and find... my unit..."

          She hadn't even taken two steps before she collapsed to the ground.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

          "So she's from... NOVACORE?" Prompto Argentum read the small card carefully, committing the numbers to memory. "What is someone from NOVACORE doing in this place? The Yulyana Woods, of all places?"

           "Beats me," Gladiolus shrugged in reply. "Far as I know, Nyx knew someone called [Name], but I don't think she was from the NOVACORE."

           "Nyx?" Prompto stuttered. "You mean, the hero? Oh man, Gladdy, why didn't you tell me you knew him?! He's, like, second to only Cor in legend!"

            "Legend?" Gladiolus lifted his drink from the floor beside his feet, furrowing his eyebrows. "They're both real, Prompto. And listen, Nyx is too busy to just come waltzing in here to see if this is the [Name] he was talking about --"

            "And if I am?"

             Both males turned around to face Nyx Ulric, accompanied by his typical companions of Crowe and Libertus. Strangely, their Kingsglaive attire was absent, leaving them only in casual clothes. Gladiolus, however, could see Nyx holding a few weapons out of sight. He was too antsy if he hadn't had a good day. And today was one of those days.

             "Sorry," Gladiolus laughed sheepishly. "I was just ⎯⎯"

             "I know," Nyx mimed him. "Just making theories."

             "Anyways... Can I see that card?" Crowe was all business, holding a gloved hand out to the slip of paper Prompto held.

               Prompto flushed red. "S-sure!" Crowe was pretty and, though not comparing to Cindy, she was still able to make Prompto feel like a schoolboy.

                "Yeah, it's her, Nyx," Crowe wagged the card in front of his face. "I'd recognize that weird dimple anywhere."

                 "How do you know it's her?" Gladiolus questioned.

                 Nyx met his gaze, one heavily guarded and scarred. Gladdy could see this was answer he wasn't going to get anytime soon. So he backed off.

                  "Who the fuck are you people?!"

                  The sudden yell was followed by a painful scream. The door connecting the patient's room to the hall burst open, a nurse staggering out and clutching her bleeding arm.  She had been bitten. And as Nyx looked more closely, through the gore, he could see the faint imprint of teeth.

                   Human teeth.

    
『••✎••』

I ended it on this
note because I was
sick of rewriting it
over and over and
over because it didn't
turn out the way I
wanted it to. I may
go back and re write
at some point. But
for now... I apologize
for this steaming hot
pile of... whatever it
is.