The clouds rolled over the skies, thick, tenebrific and turbulent as if to ward all good omens. The winds blew unrelentlessly, harassing the thick trees and dust that layered themselves around the area. It looked like it was going to rain soon.

"Hurry up, we gotta double our time, everyone!" Lynx shouted! They hurried up clearing the rubble and debris from the streets and organized all the rocks before them. Every now and then, one of the ancient, unmaintained buildings and towers would crumble. The rusted iron bands of each tower slowly deteriorated one by one and eventually gave away. Lynx had a keen eye for watching these things, so he was able to scout out possible dangers as well as just naturally cognize the directions buildings will fall and at what speed.

The clean up took only an hour, after which the sun began to set. In the middle of all the rubble they cleaned, a stone cobbled tower stood. This tower was initially utilized as a policing and prison building prior to the nationwide catastrophe. The first floor was where officers stayed and kept files maintained. The other 5 floors were all cells used for holding inmates. Once the plague hit, the jails were entirely neglected and not eventually the keys were lost in the chaos that ensued. As a result, all 119 of the prisoners died of hunger. Though some of them did contract the plague, most of them all died before they could feel experience the effects. Their howls carried through the night for several years after; or so the legends say.

Lynx stood at the entrance of the door to the office. This was the last place on the southern end of the buildings that they had to clear out. This would create more room for everyone if it was cleared out. His hands shook at the thought of having to enter in there. Aside from that, he was the only one brave enough to enter. Because of his keen eyesight and intellect, he could easily spot areas of danger and worn out spots on the buildings. With a deep breath, he opened the door. The room was chilly and though in complete organization, it gave off an eery vibe to it.

The metallic floors seemed to have remained untouched by the caress of time and weather. Several desks dotted themselves around the room with papers and files everywhere. They appeared to be prisoner reports and criminal investigations. Lynx was shocked. To think, there was a time when Sei’O operated like a functioning government.

“First floor…safe.” He walked forward to the only door remaining and opened it. A long winding stairway revealed itself, looping around the building several times before leading to the 2nd door. Lynx closed his eyes and gulped. “Here goes…” He opened the door, almost expecting something to jump out at him, but when the room remained silent, he slowly opened his eyes. An unnerving sensation crawled up and down his back, and his hairs stood on end. “H-how horrid.”

Skeletons dotted themselves throughout the room. The decayed corpses were in several different arrays of positions. Some curled up in a fetal position, some died holding hands with each other through their cells. Other’s remained clutching to the door ways as if they would give. Those were the ones that refused to give up until the very last moment.

“…I promise. I will bury you all. So that you may all rest peacefully.” In Sei’en culture, it is an unbreakable rule that one must bury the dead. No matter who it was. Be it enemy, friend, foe, or even stranger. If one were to discover a corpse and refuse to bury them, it is believed that the two shall quarrel in the afterlife for eternity.

“Hmm..so before we clear out this building. We’ll need to find a way to open these doors. Then we’ll dig graves for each prisoner.” He walked throughout the building counting the amount of bodies in each cell. Like that, he went to the next set of stairs and the next levels. Each level was much the same scenario. He studied the bars and realized that many of the bands could be broken due to the age of them. If not, they could probably use Alil’s relic in order to take apart the bars. He made a mental note 65…78…90… He stopped suddenly. His sense of danger rose up tremendously, and he immedaitely pulled out a small kitchen knife from his belt. A Noise. Just now he had heard a noise. The sound seemed to be resonating from all over and his. “whoever you are…whatever you are. Don’t think for one second I won’t cut you down.” Steeling his resolve, he faced the door to the next floor. All the sudden he was struck behind.

Someone had collided with him, sending them both tumbling. He had dropped the knife, scurrying to get it before he realized who it was. “Aren!” He exhaled. Aren tumbled around on the floor before getting up. “OW JEEZ THAT FUCKEN HURT.” His head had collided with Lynx’s shoulder. He was panting hard. He must’ve ran all the way here through all 4 floors. His arms were trembling. “What the hell are you doing here?” Aren was a short kid from the children’s recon unit lead by Alil. They usually left the capital city and traveled to nearby villages to try and find more plague children to bring to the sanctuary known as Essen Sei’O. “We got back yesterday...No one was alive in Eris’Seo.” By no one he meant plague children. Smaller villages like that tended to be a lot harsher towards Plague Children. Because of that, the recon units were all clad from head to toe in clothing and revealed very little skin. “More importantly, Aries is with you right? Tell me she’s with you.”

Lynx blinked. “Huh?”

His eyes widened once he realized what this meant. “No. She isn’t with me. I haven’t seen her in the past 2 days. I thought she was with Ora.” Aren cursed and banged his fists onto the ground. “WHAT THE FUCK!!” He got up and immediately started running down the stairs. Lynx got up with him and ran right after him. Aries was one of the newest plague children to be brought to Essen-Sei. Aren had brought her here and since she arrived, she immediately bonded with Lynx. They were both red haired, so she took to calling him Aniki. Because of this, many of the others took to nicknaming him Anniki.

If she’s missing that could only mean one thing… she’s in danger…or…or... He clenched at his chest tightly. He couldn’t shake off the horrid feeling he had. The feeling that this was Déjà vu…it eerily reminded him of the terror he had witnessed just the night before.

“No…this was…exactly how it started.” He ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

“I wanted to tell you…The truth about that dream.”

“Truth is…”

“I’m scared.”

“I’m so scared it hurts.”