As I gazed up at the starry sky, my heart raced with a whirlwind of excitement and anxiety. In the blink of an eye, everything had changed. Just a day ago, I was living a peaceful life with my friends, and now the world had turned upside down. My mom, Ailing, was in grave danger, and it was up to me to save her.

"Ready to go, petal puff?" Jade asked, playfully punching my shoulder, her gruff exterior a testament to her resilience. "We're burning starlight."

She winked, but the nervousness in her eyes was unmistakable. She knew that tonight's mission was a matter of life and death for the Faraday Kids. The weight of that knowledge hung heavy on my shoulders as well. Everything hinged on our plan's success.

In just a day and a half, my life had transformed from mourning the end of high school to joining forces with Jade, a fierce scout with a mysterious scar on her hand. Alongside us were Frisa, a dungeon imp who had grown into a close friend, and Geddes, a fatherly figure who had witnessed the world's end but chose to keep going.

Despite the risks, I felt a surge of confidence. Mama was near a location that was known Grimm territory. Venturing into the darkness to find her was our only option.

"Spirotree to LYN, Lyn, are you reading me?" Jade asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I nodded, determination etched on my face. "Let's do this."

The plan was simple. Jade and I would head to the Faraday market to find my mother, starting at the place where she had taken the picture of the "jagged-glowing-crack thing." From there, I would retrace my steps from memory to locate the store where mama and I had summoned the pocket dimension. Meanwhile, I handed the dungeon bead over to Frisa, who could power it and summon a dungeon sprite to guide her and Geddes to the next portal. They would scout out the portal and prepare the dozens of Faraday kids for an emergency evacuation when Jade and I returned with mama.

The night air was chilly, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins kept me warm as we ventured into the post-apocalyptic city. The remnants of civilization loomed around us like silent witnesses to humanity's downfall. Even so, there was a strange beauty to the desolation.

Jade led the way, each of her steps deliberate and precise. Her familiarity with the treacherous terrain was evident as she navigated the twisted metal and rubble with ease. Her keen senses and agility made her the perfect guide for our mission.

We moved through the city in silence, the only sounds our footsteps and the distant howls of unseen creatures. Jade's eyes scanned the surroundings, never missing a beat. She seemed to have an innate understanding of the landscape, making split-second decisions that led us along the safest paths. She was entirely in her element. Despite the speed and perception my superhuman body granted me, I could barely keep up. I felt like I was chasing a panther, her instincts guiding her effortlessly around collapsed buildings, through narrow alleys, and over the debris that littered the city.

As we moved through the darkness of the streets, the eerie silence only intensified my sense of unease. Even the relatively remote temple I lived in back in Japan was plagued with the distant roar of the city, but this place was unnaturally quiet. It was the quiet of a predator stalking its prey, the quiet of a forgotten victim's cries at the edges of the world. It was unsettling, and according to Frisa, these very corridors would be overrun by a horde of monsters within the next dozen or so hours, as creatures rushed in from the new portal and were ushered away by the ever-vigilant Grimm.

We scaled a makeshift bridge between two buildings, Jade's agility and poise allowing her to traverse the precarious structure with ease. I followed closely, doing my best to mimic her movements. As we reached the other side, Jade paused, scanning the area before giving me a reassuring nod.

After about 15 minutes of dashing through the city, Jade abruptly halted, motioning for me to come closer. She pointed at an odd flower poking out from the rubble. Curiosity piqued, I stepped forward and reached out to touch its delicate petals.

The moment my fingers grazed the flower, it burst into a puff of fluffy seeds, smothering my face and hair with soft, feathery bits. I blinked in surprise and attempted to blow the puffs off my face, but only succeeded in creating a miniature cyclone around my head.

Jade burst into laughter, unable to contain herself. "Haaa! You should see yourself right now.” She said in a recklessly loud voice.

I pouted, feigning offense as I brushed the soft puffs from my hair. "Let me guess, is this...?" She chuckled and pointed, reaching out to tap my shoulder. "Heyaaa! Petal Puff!"

"And here I was, thinking it was some super-secret code name or something," I retorted sarcastically, somewhat irked by her relentless teasing.

"Nope, it's just that you kind of reminded me of that flower - all delicate and innocent," Jade replied, her grin wide and mischievous, as she gave me a gentle nudge. "But you know what? I think that's a good thing. Maybe when we finally find a place safe enough to sleep through the night, the Kids and I will soften up too, you know."

I couldn't help but grin and pout simultaneously, still swiping away the remaining puffs stuck in my hair. "Great, so I'm delicate and innocent, yet here I am, sneaking around a monster-infested, post-apocalyptic city with you, Miss Jade, a tough-as-nails enigma who was totally hostile the moment we met, which happens to be barely over 36 hours ago."

Jade's laughter subsided, but her warm smile remained. She sighed and gently placed a knuckle on my shoulder. "You're one-of-a-kind, Petal Puff. Embrace it." She paused for a moment, bringing her hand to her chin and raising an eyebrow. "But stop calling me that... Whose idea was it to call me 'Miss' anyway? It freaks me the fuck out—ugh, that little demon said it too."

I knew what I wanted to call her, but I almost lost my nerve before saying it. "Uhm," my cheeks burned with embarrassment. Jade was undeniably cool. She wasn't just a badass survivor in a post-apocalyptic world, but she was also second-in-command, moved like a ninja, and genuinely cared for her comrades. "How about, Big Sis?" I suggested with heartfelt sincerity. It felt right. She could be the fiercely protective and effortlessly cool big sister I'd always wanted.

"Damn, Petal Puff. Ya dork." She turned away, unable to maintain eye contact. "Fuck that, call me Miss Jade instead," she quipped lightheartedly. “Oh and before I forget… Thank you, for bringing me back from the brink when Geddes mentioned the rotation. I kinda lost my cool there, and I guess I need to get my shit together if I want to be a proper. Big—"

She strode off, not looking back. I smiled to myself and trailed after her.

***

We arrived at a sprawling alleyway, flanked by the skeletons of once-thriving storefronts and offices. The path before us was eerily clear, an unmistakable sign of the survivors' efforts to remove debris and litter. Makeshift signs and graffiti adorned the barren walls, hinting at the stories that lingered in this desolate place.

"Hey, big sis Jade, what do these say?" I asked Jade, gesturing to the cryptic messages scrawled across the walls.

She paused abruptly, her expression darkening. "Slime ahead. Do not trust the line, do not stop until you reach the wall. Do not stop," she recited, her voice heavy with foreboding. Clenching her fist, she gritted her teeth, and a grimace clouded her face. "It's a fucking understatement!"

With a guttural yell, Jade unleashed her fury on the wooden sign, splintering it into fragments, her eyes ablaze with anger. "At first, it fooled us all. It would shift things around subtly, so we wouldn't notice,” she chuckled to herself, a hint of regret appearing on her face. “Ya see, Lyn, sometimes the line marking the start of the null spot would move just a smidge, and nobody but the craziest fucking watchers would even notice. You're just seeing things, everybody else would say, but eventually people started going missing. Fucking missing."

Jade's voice softened, tinged with nostalgia. "Caster was sharp, always questioning everything. He conducted tests, never accepting that people were just vanishing into thin air. He caught that slime fiend in the act, manipulating this very corridor. Damn, you should see the video..." To my astonishment, tears streamed down her cheeks. "Caster would've adored you, Lyn. He would've been fascinated by your tales of 'school' and all. Fuck, I miss him. Fuck that shitty Grimm!"

She was afraid. I could feel it. I was too, but I also felt a connection forming between us. It was a spark in my core, an idea, an inspiration. Part of me knew that I could could help Jade.

I reached out, touching Jade's bloodied, splinter-filled fist. At first, she recoiled, but she soon surrendered to the embrace. As she wept into my shoulder like a lost child, something within me stirred. I felt the spark in my core shimmer, as if beckoning me. Softly, I whispered, "It's okay, I will make the pain stop."

My mana heeded my call, revealing runes along my forearms and casting a gentle radiance upon Jade's injured hand. The wounds closed, leaving nothing but smooth, unblemished skin in their wake, and a slight dizziness in my head.

Jade blinked in surprise, staring at her now unblemished hand. She looked up at me, her eyes a mix of awe and disbelief. Then, with a lopsided grin, she wiped away the remnants of her tears with the back of her hand.

"Well, shit, Petal Puff, you're just full of surprises, aren't ya?" she snorted, trying to regain her gruff demeanor. "I guess I owe you one. But let me tell you, you'd better not get used to me being all mushy like this, alright?"

She gave me a firm punch to my shoulder, her tough exterior returning, but her eyes still glistening with half dried tears.

"Now, let's get moving. We've got a job to do, and we can't afford to waste any more time."

***

As I was led out of the Kid's settlement like a lost boyzoe, I couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole situation. The worst part was that I couldn't quite grasp the magical jargon Lyn had used while explaining the "dungeon bead" thing to Frisa. Before I knew it, Lyn had switched to that bizarre, wispy language that only she and Frisa seemed to understand, leaving me utterly lost.

"Do you really know what you're doing, Frisa?" I asked the impish creature, who seemed to delight in my growing apprehension about venturing into a null spot. She floated in the air beside me, her mischievous grin widening by the second. "Oh, Geddy, you're so tense!" she teased, her voice lilting and sarcastic. "Are you really that scared of a bit of magic?"

I grumbled under my breath, trying to shake off her teasing. "Cut the crap, Frisa. Just explain what you're doing. We've got a mission to finish, and I ain't got time for this."

She rolled her eyes, letting out a theatrical sigh before raising her hands and murmuring a spell in her fluttery-ass laguage that seemed to freeze the air around her with each syllable. "Firla naylayla! Hya!"

A radiant sphere of light darted towards us, hovering in the air like a playful, otherworldly will-o'-the-wisp. "Follow the shiny ball, big guy," she smirked, giving me a playful wink. I shot back a groan and a shrug, and we set off.

We hesitated, reluctant to advance. Before we pressed on, I felt compelled to clear the air. "Frisa, I know you've been hiding things. You knew about the Dungeon Nexus and the fate of this world." She tensed up, turning to face me, her eyes locked on mine. "When you joined the Kids a few years back, Jade and Mells wanted you out. They believed you were just another cunning monster waiting to turn on us. But I disagreed."

I paused, letting the weight of my words sink in. "You see, I know who you are. A fighter, trapped in an apocalyptic nightmare, who's lost family and home, only to face loneliness over and over. But above all, you've endured, defying the constant threat of annihilation from an unforgiving world. You needed to find others to share this miserable existence, to stay sane and keep moving. When I first saw you, I recognized that same ferocious spirit in you that I saw in Jade. You're a survivor, Frisa, and you'll always be one of the Faraday Kids."

"Now, be straight with me. What do you know about Spike?" I asked, hoping for some valuable intel before we delved deeper.

Frisa's voice took on a somber, grave quality. "Be cautious, Geddy. Avoid tight corners. Despite its size, Spike's a master at laying traps." It made sense—victims we'd found were often caught in brutal contraptions, usually involving...spikes.

"Despite its size? Just how big is this thing? Have you seen it?"

“Yes, it is roughly the size of one of your multi-human carriages. You know, one of the rotund ones.” She mimed out a shape, but I tell what she was referring to for sure. She could be talking about a sedan, a double decker bus, or something in between, so I pulled out my sketchbook and penciled in a few outlines. “Which one?” I asked. She pointed at the double decker bus—fuck.

"So, it sets up traps and waits for victims to stumble into them. It's probably not that fast, right? We could avoid the traps and stay far enough away from the portal not to provoke the thing directly, couldn't we?"

“No, no, no.” She said almost giggling as if I had said the dumbest shit she had ever heard. “Oh, Geddy! The creature uses traps, despite its size, because it enjoys using traps, not because its slow. Our only hope is to both avoid the traps, and remain unnoticed.”

Frisa's eyes narrowed, determination radiating from her as she glided past the barricade. I trailed close behind, entering a cityscape that, on the surface, looked almost normal—streets cloaked in dust, littered with debris, the occasional skeletal remains, and twisted metal. Home sweet home, I thought. But the instant I stepped beyond the barrier, an unnerving change in the atmosphere washed over me. My gaze darted back and forth, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. We managed to identify several traps along the way, but they seemed too damn conspicuous. Beside me, Frisa's tension was palpable, her body rigid and breaths shallow, like a rabbit that had just locked eyes with a fox. The sweat pooling in my palms as I clutched my rifle only served to amplify our shared unease.

Our ethereal guide led us to a park, its rust-covered playground standing out like a sore thumb amidst the surrounding decaying apartments and shops. The once lively play area now resembled a forsaken wasteland, a haunting reminder of the world that once was. The sprite danced erratically around a playhouse at the playground's core, its movements signaling that we had finally located our portal.

"Looks like we made it," I murmured, casting a sidelong glance at Frisa. Her fists clenched, as though ready to wrestle the very air that surrounded us.

Our relief was short-lived, however, as the unsettling silence of the park was abruptly torn apart by a menacing creak. Every muscle in my body tensed, my instincts screaming danger. Although I'd been anticipating an encounter, witnessing it come to life sent a bone-chilling shudder through my core.

Spike burst forth from the shadows, its monstrous form towering more than 15 meters high. Composed of thick, sinewy vines that intertwined like living muscles, the beast radiated both raw power and unnerving agility. Its horrifying visage, somewhere between a lion and an elk, was ripped straight from the darkest recesses of my nightmares, and the calculating glint in its eyes sent ice through my veins.

Detecting the imminent confrontation, Spike's twisted features contorted into a malicious facsimile of a grin. Heart pounding, I sprang into action, years of hard-fought battles fueling my movements.

Gunfire echoed through the air as I squeezed the trigger, my bullets tearing into Spike's grotesque form. "Damn it!" I yelled, realizing my attacks were having little effect on the beast. "Frisa, we need to get the fuck out of here!" I turned, expecting to see the impish figure by my side, But she was gone, vanished into the shadows, leaving me to face the abomination on my own.

As I stood, disappointed but unsurprised, a spine-chilling sound pierced the air. The monstrous creature let out a hideous, guttural laugh that seemed to reverberate through my very soul. The chilling sound was a perverse mixture of delight and malice, as though it relished the prospect of our deadly dance. It was a horrifying reminder that this beast, this twisted, terrifying monster, was not only intelligent but sadistically enjoying the fight.

I shuddered, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me, and for the first time in a long while, I felt truly afraid.

Gritting my teeth, I felt the adrenaline surge through my body. There I stood, isolated in a null spot notorious for its deadly, capricious traps—a place where countless comrades had met their gruesome demise. I was ensnared in this treacherous landscape, locked in a lethal dance with a creature that reveled in its own twisted game.

In that heart-stopping moment, an inner voice roared, fortifying my resolve. I would survive this hell. Death and I had stared each other down more times than I could count, and I refused to yield now. I would make it out alive, no matter the cost. This time it wasn’t just my life on the line.

Emboldened, I turned tail and fell back from the monster, each step a testament to my unyielding will to live.