Jacob entered the classroom and sat in his usual seat, next to Tomás, who was already there, along with almost all of their classmates, to be honest. Jacob was not one for arriving early.
“And this?” he asked, puzzled when he saw a letter on his desk.
“I don't know, but I got one too,” Tomás replied. “It was on my desk just like yours. I didn't touch yours, obviously. I suspect it says the same thing as mine.”
“Bah, I'm not interested in whatever stupid prank you want to play on me. Whatever it is.”
“No, Jacob, I didn't…” Tomás began, but stopped when his friend tore the letter into several pieces without even opening it. “It wasn't me, Jacob. Look, read mine. It's something mysterious and interesting, just like those stories we used to make up when we were kids and…”
“I said I'm not interested. Leave me alone,” Jacob said, putting on a pair of headphones, not caring that the teacher was entering the classroom at that very moment to begin the lesson.
At some point during the last class, he fell asleep. Despite the bell announcing the recess waking him up, Jacob continued pretending to be asleep so that Tomás would give up on his nonsense and leave without exchanging another word. Deep down, he was curious, but he had spent too much of the last year trying to distance himself from the boy to ruin it by showing interest in one of his games.
Tomás and he had been friends since their first day of school. It hadn't taken them long to become inseparable. They did everything together: watched the same shows, played the same games, and even reached a point where they ate the same things. The perfect friends… Until Jacob decided that his life was worthless and deliberately set himself down the wrong path.
He was the youngest of three brothers. The youngest and the least competent. His older brothers, twins, were perfect at everything they did, while Jacob was… pretty normal. At first, he tried to compete. He wanted to feel whatever it was that his brothers felt whenever their parents celebrated their accomplishments, but he never managed it. No matter how hard he tried, he always remained beneath their enormous shadows. But there was one thing he could compete at, and that was ruining his own life.
When he turned sixteen, he began sneaking out of the house at night. He met many gang members, followed them in their misdeeds, and eventually built himself a reputation. A reputation that didn't fit with remaining friends with the kind-hearted Tomás. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he had also distanced himself to protect Tomás from his new exploits.
A blow to his head made his face slam into the desk.
“Have you lost your fucking mind, fatass!?” he shouted as he stood up and ripped off his headphones, ready to confront Tomás for daring to do such a thing. But standing before him was the only other student in the classroom who surpassed him in height and toughness.
“See? I told you he was awake,” James said to Tomás, mocking him. “Look, our friend here says you tore up the letter. And my master put so much effort into writing it to make it sound interesting to you.”
“I don't give a shit about your—”
“Hey! Show some respect, excuse for a delinquent. I'm the one person who doesn't hesitate to knock people like you back into line.”
“Pffff, I'd like to see you tr—”
James interrupted him with a slap that nearly knocked Jacob off balance. He, who had never felt more humiliated and furious in his life, didn't know how to respond and ended up saying nothing.
“Very good. That's how I like it,” James said. “Come on. My master is waiting for you.”
But that was where the memory ended. Jacob opened his eyes. Everything hurt, and the white light of the room felt even more intense.
It didn't take him long to remember where he was. The screams of pain from his friend were enough to make him react.
Sarah fell when Mica finally struck her with an attack that left a huge gash across one of her thighs.
“Thou must avoid any further attacks!” Andros exclaimed inside her head with a sense of urgency she had never heard from him before.
She tried to get back up as quickly as she could, but Mica knocked her back down by stepping on her chest. His eyes were now completely red, and darkness enveloped him up to his shoulders. His hair also seemed to have grown.
Mica raised his sword and pointed it at Sarah's neck.
He said nothing, only panting, panting as though his chest were about to burst.
“Finish her!” Rose shouted, her tone shifting between her own voice and the narrator's. “Do it! Destroy her!”
Mica's sword didn't move. Sarah tried to free herself, but couldn't. Mica was applying pressure against her like a wall.
“Do it!”
“N-No,” Mica managed to say, only to begin panting even more violently.
“What do you mean, no!? She's responsible for all of this! You know it! She took your future away from you! She turned you into a soldier! Just another piece on her board! On her path toward self-destruction! You know it!”
“I-I… know. B-But…”
“But!? You can't hesitate! YOU ARE THE VOID! YOU CANNOT DISOBEY!”
Mica struggled to pull the sword away and eased the pressure of his foot against Sarah. She managed to lift her leg completely and roll to the side, getting onto her knees in a position ready to attack or continue fleeing.
“N-No… I don't… I-I don't want to hurt anyone…”
“It can't be…” Rose's voice said, filled with disappointment. “Well, I thought I'd already succeeded. It doesn't matter. I have all the time in the world to rid you of those kinds of thoughts, Mica. There is no will that cannot be broken.”
As if a restraint had been released, Mica suddenly managed to change position and fell to his knees as well. The red in his eyes began to fade, and the darkness consuming his arms receded.
“Sarah… What's happening?”
“I don't know, Mica,” she said, somewhat relieved. “But I promise we'll get out of this.”
“Don't make empty promises, girl,” Rose said. Sarah searched for her with her eyes, but she was nowhere to be found, hidden by the darkness or simply no longer physically present. “The rules are clear. This is a duel to the death. One of you must die for the other to leave. I trust you, Mica. Maybe you're not the Void yet, but I know you'll be able to handle this defenseless fool.”
“Rose?” Mica asked incredulously. “Why…? What do you want from me? I refuse to hurt Sarah!”
Rose sighed.
“As you wish. Rot here, both of you. This is getting very boring. Bye-bye.”
And silence fell.
“I accept you, Ilivissa!” Jacob shouted, spitting blood.
He felt a torrent of energy surge through him and leaped with strength he shouldn't have possessed in his condition. Daggers materialized in his hands as he moved, and he struck the black-armored giant's arm with overwhelming fury, managing to deflect the blow aimed at the already badly injured Tomás.
Jacob glanced at him and nearly lost all his momentum when he saw how badly his friend looked. Tomás was lying on the floor, covered in blood from head to toe, with one leg twisted at an impossible angle.
“Ugh, another Angelino,” said the narrator's voice, now less mechanical and strangely similar to Rose's. “Change of plans, Samanael. Kill the boys, but take Catherine. I need her alive for what's coming.”
“Your. wishes. are. my. commands. Master,” the giant replied in a deep, deafening voice.
Jacob desperately searched for Cat with his eyes. If she was the monster's new target, he had to protect her, make sure that… With horror, he discovered that the creature already had her in its grasp. Cat dangled from the creature's powerful fist, her right arm trapped inside it, her shoulder positioned unnaturally compared to the rest of her body. She was also drenched in blood.
“Mica, I don't want to fight you,” Sarah said, still crouched on the ground and alert. Although she was relieved to see the boy come to his senses, part of her couldn't rule out the possibility that he might fall into a trance again and attack her.
“Neither do I, Sarah, but… We need to go save the others. I don't know where they are, but they must be here, in this Dimension. Tolmoch says he can sense Jacob, but…”
“What is it, Mica?” she asked a couple of seconds later when she noticed that the boy wasn't speaking and was beginning to pale. “Mica.”
“He also tells me that Rose was telling the truth… We won't be able to leave while we're both alive.”
“Andros?”
“Thy squire speaks the truth. Thy power is inferior to that of the Hunter. Nothing canst thou do but yield to her conditions.”
“Useless stuffed animal,” Sarah whispered. “Mica, let's think and…”
Mica raised his sword. The dark blade beside his face made him look a thousand times paler. Almost ghostly.
“Mica, stop…”
He began breathing rapidly once again. But he didn't move forward. A tear ran down his cheek.
“Sarah… Save them.”
“No!”
Jacob leaped again as soon as he landed, this time heading toward the arm holding Cat. He had to make it let go. Then he would pick her up and carry her away… But if he did that, he would leave Tomás alone…
He didn't hesitate. He continued in his direction, focused on damaging his opponent's left arm. He would think about how to get both of his friends somewhere safe afterward. Ilivissa would give him enough strength to do it.
Suddenly, his advance came to a halt.
Surprised, he looked down at his legs and realized that Samanael had just grabbed one of his feet.
He bent his torso to attack the fist holding him with his daggers, but the blade of light wasn't even enough to scratch the armor. The impact against the floor came quickly.
The first impact against the floor left him dazed, seeing stars amid the brightness of the room.
The second impact made that brightness disappear. In his head, his thoughts struggled to become clear and turn into actions, but he could only think clearly of the name of his Angelino.
The third impact didn't hurt. He only felt the vibration running through the few bones in his body that remained intact. He didn't hear anything else either, except for the voice in his head that had been asking him for months to accept it, promising him strength, promising to help him in his fight. Now it said only one word.
I'm sorry.
The fourth impact caused darkness to overtake him as his life slipped away.
A fifth and sixth impact followed before the monster released his foot and crushed him one last time with its fist. But Jacob felt none of it. He, or whatever remained of him, was in the absolute and eternal nothingness.
Mica screamed, trying to drown out his fear and Tolmoch's voice ordering him to stop. With a deft turn, he changed the direction of his sword and drove it into his own stomach.
There was no blood, but there was pain. So much, much pain.
Sarah screamed beside him, but he didn't hear her. He couldn't hear anything anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.
Not convinced that it would be enough, he pulled the sword out with supernatural will force and drove it into himself again, this time a little higher.
More pain. Far too much pain. And the sound of shattering glass.
The last thing Mica saw was the red evening sun shining in his face, Sarah screaming in front of him, and, behind her, Hugo sitting beside the other girl he'd just met that day. Then the floor of the building's rooftop. And then darkness.