The investigation room was cold.
The kind of cold that made Rei feel like he didn't belong here, as if the walls themselves were judging him.
Restrained in the chair, Rei stared at the two figures in front of him.
Who… are these people?
The man with blue hair flipped through a thick file, with pages filled with images, data and reports concerning Rei. He looked up suddenly and smiled.
"Hey buddy."
Rei flinched.
"Name's Dr Aoyama Mirai,"
The man said cheerfully, tapping the file.
"And my scary, emotionally distant friend over here is Captain Tsukishiro Aoyuki."
The woman beside him didn't smile, she didn't even move at all.
"You can think of us as government employees,"
Mirai continued.
"You're here because of the… incident at your school."
Rei's heart raced, slamming against his ribs.
The hallway. The screams. The air breaking.
His palms dripped with sweat.
Mirai noticed immediately and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Relax kid. We're not here to hurt you,"
He paused, then added lightly.
"Hopefully not…"
Rei swallowed hard.
"We're going to ask you a few questions,"
Mirai continued.
"You cooperate, things go smoothly. Deal?"
Rei nodded stiffly.
Captain Aoyuki finally spoke, her voice calm but sharp.
"Answer honestly."
Her eyes lingered on Rei.
For a split second, something flickered in them. Deep blue, almost electric.
She turned to Mirai.
"He's interesting."
Mirai smirked.
"Right? Okay, okay. Let's begin."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Rei. First question. Do you know what a Somniarch is?"
Rei stared at him blankly.
"No,"
He whispered.
"I don't."
Mirai scribbled something in his notebook.
"Second question,"
He continued.
"Are you aware of what caused the incident in your school's hallway?"
The memory slammed into Rei's mind.
The pressure. The distortion. People collapsing.
"I… no,"
Rei said panic creeping into his voice.
"I don't know what happened. Everything just… changed. The air warped, like reality bent."
His breathing sped up.
"I don't know how and why I wasn't affected,"
He continued shakily.
"Everyone else almost died and I just… I just couldn't move."
"Whoa, whoa,"
Mirai said, raising his hand.
"Easy Rei. Breathe."
Mirai glanced at Captain Aoyuki, then closed the file.
"We'll cut this questioning short,"
He said.
"This environment isn't helping."
Rei's heart sank.
Captain Aoyuki stood, already moving towards the door.
"Testing time."
Rei's eyes widened.
"W-wait, testing?"
The door slid open.
Cold hallway lights spilled in as Captain Aoyuki stepped forward and took hold of the sack barrow.
Mirai stood up and stretched lazily.
"Let's go somewhere more… exciting."
As they wheeled Rei back into the corridor, dread slowly settled deep in his chest.
This wasn't an investigation anymore.
This was an evaluation.
And whatever they were about to test… they weren't even sure he'd survive it.
---
The room was blindingly white.
Smooth walls stretched endlessly upward, broken by recessed cameras that tracked Rei from every angle. Their lenses adjusted softly as he shifted, following him like unblinking eyes.
Across from him, embedded into the wall was a massive glass observation window.
Behind it stood Dr Aoyama Mirai, Captain Tsukishiro Aoyuki, and several researchers in white coats. Holographic screens floated around them, streams of data scrolling endlessly, heart rate, brain activity, neural output and anomalous energy fluctuations.
In the center of the room, Rei stretched his fingers.
For the first time since being taken, he wasn't restrained. But that realization only made his chest tighten.
He stared at the observation window.
What am I doing here?
Captain Aoyuki's voice cut through the silence.
"Release Subject 124."
A ripple of anticipation ran through the control room.
Dr Mirai's lips curled into a smirk as he stepped forward, fingers hovering over a console.
"Let's see whatcha really are, Rei."
He pressed the button.
Behind Rei,
BOOM.
A massive reinforced door slammed open.
Steam burst outward, flooding the room in a thick white haze. Rei spun around instinctively, heart hammering so hard it hurt. His breath caught as a shape emerged from within the fog.
Something tall.
The steam thinned.
An eight foot figure stepped forward, its skin burned a deep unnatural red as if scorched from the inside. Jagged yellow teeth jutted from a twisted grin, saliva hissing as it hit the floor. Long, razor sharp claws scraped against the ground with a sound that made Rei's body lock up.
It's eyes, yellow, empty.
Not intelligent or emotional.
Just hungry.
Two curved horns stuck out from the sides of its head, scarred and cracked like they'd been broken and regrown countless times.
Rei's legs moved before his mind did.
He stumbled back.
"What… What is that…?"
The creature inhaled.
Its chest expanded grotesquely as it locked onto Rei.
Then Captain Aoyuki's voice rang through hidden speakers, echoing throughout the chamber.
"If you want to survive,"
The creature took a step forward.
"You need to fight."
Rei's mind screamed.
Fight?
His breath turned shallow, vision tunneling as memories rushed him uninvited.
Water crashing. Waves towering. Screaming fear.
His feet refused to move.
"I… I can't."
The creature lunged.
Rei fell backward, barely scrambling out of the way as claws slammed into the floor where he stood. The impact cracked the surface, spiderweb fractures spreading outward.
Behind the glass, alarms flickered.
"Heart rate spiking,"
One researcher called out.
"No manifestation detected,"
Another added.
Dr Mirai's smile faded slightly.
"Come on kid,"
He muttered.
"Do something."
Rei pushed himself up, shaking violently.
Nothing happened.
No power. No energy.
Just fear.
The creature roared, as it charged again.
Rei turned and ran. But the room was too small.
The creature caught him.
Pain exploded across his back as claws tore through him from behind, the force alone sending him crashing into a wall. His head slammed hard, vision tunneling.
He coughed, gasping.
I'm going to die.
The thought came calmly. Almost peaceful.
And then, something stirred.
Not in the room, but inside him.
A familiar cold seeped into his chest, curling around his heart like a patient hand.
A voice.
Not through sound. But thought.
"Pathetic."
Rei's eyes widened. The room blurred.
"You always freeze."
The Demon in the chamber raised its claws for the final strike.
"But you don't have to die."
Rei's breath hitched.
---
Time slowed.
Not gradually but violently, as if reality itself hit the brakes.
The creature's claws hung inches from Rei's chest, frozen mid strike. Dust and fractured concrete hovered in the air. The alarms behind the glass were silent, everything locked in place.
Rei couldn't breathe.
The pressure around him multiplied, crushing down on his lungs, his thoughts and very existence. His vision tunneled, the world narrowing until only darkness remained.
Then.
Someone was standing there.
Not in the room.
Inside him.
A towering silhouette emerged from the void of his mind, its form wrapped in smoke. Flames crawled along its outstretched hand, burning without heat and light.
Its presence alone made Rei tremble.
Its voice didn't echo.
"Survive."
Rei's body shook.
"Do you want to disappear?"
The question pierced deeper than fear ever could.
Memories flooded his mind.
His sister, screaming in the ocean.
His parents, running past him into the waves with hesitation.
The water rising.
His legs refusing to move.
The weight of watching them die while he stood there.
Useless.
Rei clenched his teeth as tears streamed down his face.
"I…"
His voice cracked.
"I don't want to run anymore."
The silhouette waited.
"I want to live."
He reached out.
The moment his hand grasped the burning one. Pain and warmth surged through his entire body, not consuming him but binding him.
A window shattered into existence across his vision.
---
COVENANT ESTABLISHED
Entity: The seventh Prince of Sloth
Status: Sealed / Active
Condition: Mutual Survival Clause Accepted
Notice:
Your souls are now bound.
Conceptual pathways unlocked (restricted).
Mental autonomy compromised.
Warning:
Agreement is irreversible.
---
The words burned themselves into Rei's mind.
The flames wrapped around his heart.
And somehow deep with him.
Something smiled.
The Covenant has been formed.