The streets of Freefall hadn’t changed.
Same broken glass glittering like fake stars, same sirens howling lullabies no one could sleep to. Same hollow beat of boots on pavement echoing off alley walls. If anything, the city’s gotten colder since I left.
Fitting.
I made my way through the back end of District Nine, past where the metal and ash start to eat the brick. That’s where you’d find him. Always a flame dancing behind his eyes, even when everything else burned down.
They called him Hades for a reason.
I didn’t knock. Just leaned against the doorway and waited.
“Prince Charmin’?” a voice called out behind me, humorous yet smooth and lazy like summer fire.
I turned. He was leaning against a post, arms crossed, one brow raised, like he’d been expecting me all week.
“Nyx…,” I said, eyes shook just a little.
Nyx, Hades, to the rest of ‘em, grinned and pushed off the wall, walking slow like he had all the time in the world. That was his way. Even if the city was burning, he’d probably light a cigar and ask how you’re holdin’ up. He had been my best friend since childhood. We grew up here in Freefall together getting into loads of crap.That is until they took me away. But, even in my cursed state for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to touch his household. Maybe everything around it but not this one. Not the household of my brother.
“Been a minute, Charmin’” His voice dipped a little on the name. “You look like you been road kill more than once, homeboy damn. I see they put The Everlastin’ Rose curse on you. Was it Father Winter or…”
“I didn’t come to talk about him,” I muttered, stepping inside as he held the door open.
His place was the same as always, warm, quiet, and dimly lit by candles and glowrock. It smelled like cedar and burnt sugar, like memory.
We sat in silence for a moment. Then I spoke.
“I needed to see you. Needed to know if you were still... you. That I could still lay low here?”
He leaned back in his chair, exhaled smoke. “Still me,” he said, voice low. “Question is, is you still you?”
I didn’t answer right away.
“I’m not who I was,” I said finally. “But I know who I am now. And I know what they did to us, what they did to me.”
His jaw flexed. That fire behind his eyes flickered.
“Finally woke up huh?” he asked, quieter now. “All that time, workin’ for them, bein’ their golden boy. You abandoned us Crypt. I wanted to believe you were still in there somewhere man. You were my brother, man. You were, ”
“I still am,” I cut in.
The words hung there, heavier than any silence.
He looked at me, really looked. For the first time in years, I saw the same guy I used to trust, the same guy who had my back when the world flipped upside down.
“I’m gonna burn it all down, Nyx,” I said, voice steady. “The lies. The system. The whole damn tower they built on our backs.”
“And then what?” he asked. “We all dance and be merry?”
“I become King.”
Nyx didn’t say anything for a while. He just nodded slowly, letting the weight of my words settle.
Then he stood up, walked over, and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Well,” he said, grin creeping back in, “then I guess I better keep the fire warm. Should I order a coffin too cause I see you tryna die?”
Silence. Then we both had a good laugh.
Just as the laughter faded, the door creaked.
A low, sharp shuffle followed. Then,
“Nyx. Who’s in my house?”
I froze.
That voice. I hadn’t heard it in years, but it still had that cutthroat melody, the kind that could hush a whole room just by askin’ a question. Nyx sat up straighter, shoulders stiff.
“Ahhhh shhhiiit…” he started.
She stepped into the candlelight, head wrapped in a silk scarf, eyes sharper than a blade. Same long coat hangin’ off her frame like a cloak, the scent of jasmine and firewood trailing in after her like a warning.
Her gaze landed on me.
Silence.
Then, her lip curled.
“Oh. I know you ain’t, I just now you aint….,” she snapped. “Sittin’ in my house GUARDS!”
“Miss M, ” I started, standing up as Nyx Pulled her inside slamming the door.
“Don’t you Miss M me, boy,” she hissed. “You got some gall showin’ your face in my house after what you did. After who you became.”
Nyx stepped between us, hands up. “Mama come own man just hear me out for a sec, ”
“The hell I am,” she barked, eyes locked on mine. “He work for the same people who took your brother, your cousins, your people Nyx. He walked out that door a hero and came back a puppet. A murderer wearin’ gold.”
“I’m not that man anymore,” I said low, meeting her stare. “And I never chose to be him. They used me. Trained me. Controlled me. But I broke out.”
“And we were supposed to wait around for your awakening?” Her laugh was bitter, cracked. “You broke out after the damage was done. After blood was already spilled.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Whether you believe that or not.”
She crossed her arms. “And what? You want applause?”
“No,” I replied. “I just want you to let me fix what I can.If you rat me out now I won’t be able to help anybody. Let me at least get Papa Bear and Brice out of prison. I owe that to you to Nyx. And to all of you.”
The room fell silent, and I could feel it in my gut. I knew those words hit her. Papa Bear’s been locked up since I was just a kid, sentenced for a crime that never should’ve cost him a thing. A simple sack of wheat, just enough to make porridge for his family. Times were tough, and he did what he had to, but it came from the wrong house, the house of a noble and his daughter, Goldi. One mistake. One wrong move, and they both ended up behind bars. A sentence that didn’t fit the crime, not by a long shot.
And Brice, Baby Bear... He was just a kid, barely old enough to understand what was going on, but he was there that night, too. They locked him up with his old man. A little boy caught in a system that don’t care about anything but power. He’s been stuck in that prison since then, and I can’t even imagine what it’s like, not for him. Not for any of ’em. Mama’s been broken ever since, can’t even look the same after that. She used to visit, but even she stopped. Can’t blame her. That kind of loss never lets go.
Then Nyx, he shows up on her doorstep right after, and she takes him in. Raised him like her own. I saw how protective she got, how fierce she was about keeping him safe. I don’t think she could bear losing another one.
She stared at me for a long moment. Her face is unreadable, like stone. Then, with a sharp scoff, she turned her back and muttered, “Do what you need to do, but you best not bring the wrong kind of war to my doorstep, Charmin’.”
Nyx exhaled hard as she left the room, muttering under his breath, “Damn… and here I thought this was gonna be a peaceful visit.”
“ How the hell did you think that?!”
~ Cindy~
The Brick Inn? Yeah, it wasn’t much, but it was warm, and that was all I could really ask for at the moment. Didn’t matter that the place looked like it’d been built with scraps from the junkyard; it had a roof over my head, and that’s better than sleeping in an alley somewhere.
When I walked in, the innkeeper, this old dude with a mustache like he hadn’t seen a comb in decades, looked me up and down and just said, “You’ll do.” I mean, it wasn’t even a question. No “What can you do?” or “Do you have experience?” Just, “You’ll do.” Guess he wasn’t hiring for brains. He was hiring for my face. Not that it made me feel any better. He winked like he was doing me some favor. “Pretty face like yours? You’ll bring in the customers.”
Yeah, ’cause I’m sure my pretty face is gonna save this dump.
But, whatever. I wasn’t here to argue. I needed a place to stay, and a job, even if it was just behind a desk, sounded better than nothing.
I started working the front desk, and that’s when I met the three pigs. No, not actual pigs, half-man, half-pig creatures. Big guys, tusks showing, and loud enough to shake the whole place. The innkeeper’s sons. They seemed to think it was cool to hang around, making noise and getting all buddy-buddy with the staff.
One of ’em leaned over the counter, looking me up like I was a prize to be won. “Hey, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he grunted, grinning like he thought he was smooth. “Usually only the worst of the worst come here, but you? You’re a breath of fresh air.”
I shot him a look and said as sweetly as I could, “I’m just here to work.”
The second one, with a laugh like a drunken pig, nudged the first one. “She’s got style, man. Gonna light up this place for sure.”
I didn’t give them anything. Kept my focus on the job. No point in feeding the wolves. Or pigs, in this case. The third one, though, the one with the tusks that looked like they could pierce a wall, winked at me like he had some secret.
“Don’t worry, darling,” he said, “I’ll keep ’em in line.”
The innkeeper was sitting across the room, nodding at me like he was proud of how well I was holding up. “You’re a natural,” he muttered. “Just smile, and they’ll leave you alone.”
I didn’t answer, just nodded. I was too tired to care.
Hours passed, dragging on like molasses. Every time a guest walked in, I smiled and handed them their room key, keeping it professional and not thinking about anything else. Just get through the day, Cindy, that’s all you gotta do.
When my shift was over, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The innkeeper handed me a key, gruff as ever. “You earned your bed for the night,” he said. “Hope you sleep well.”
I didn’t say much. Just grabbed the key and went up the stairs to my room. My legs ached from standing all day. The room was small, barely enough space for the bed and a dresser. The walls were cracked, and there was dust on the mirror. But it was mine. For now, it was mine.
I shut the door behind me and dropped my bag on the bed. The silence hit me immediately. Too damn quiet.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the walls. The emptiness in that room felt... wrong. Too much like when I was back at the Pumpkin Patch, before everything changed. Before he showed up.
I hated that I remembered it all. That I remembered him. But here I was, alone, again. And that’s the thing about loneliness, it creeps in when you’re not paying attention.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and muttered, “Get it together, Cindy. You don’t need anyone. You don’t need him.”
I said it like it should’ve made me feel better, but it didn’t. Didn’t make the empty room feel any less suffocating.
I closed my eyes, but all I could think about was how the city felt alive, buzzing, full of noise. The hustle and bustle of it all. And then, him. I hated that I missed him. Hated it. But damn if I didn’t.
I pushed the thought away. No. I wasn’t going there. Not now. Not after everything. I didn’t need him. I didn’t want to need him.
But, even as I stood up, walking to the window, looking down at the city, I couldn’t shake that feeling. Like something was missing. Someone.
I turned my back on the window, the cold air hitting me as I stared at the bed again. But before I could figure out what to do next, there was a knock at the door.
I froze.
I didn’t answer at first, but the knocking came again, slower this time. I dragged myself to the door and opened it just a crack.
The innkeeper stood there, staring me down. “Everything good? You settlin’ in okay?” he asked, his voice rough but not unkind.
I didn’t have much to say. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”
He looked me up and down like he was trying to figure me out, but then he just grunted. “Alright. Just holler if you need anything.”
The door clicked shut behind him, and I leaned against it. The silence rushed back, only this time it felt heavier. Thicker. I wanted to scream just to break it. But I didn’t.
I didn’t want to think about him. I didn’t want to care. But hell, the more I tried to shake it, the more I missed him. The voice. The way he made me feel like I wasn’t just another face in the crowd. Like I mattered. Like maybe... maybe I was worth something.
But no. I don’t need him.
I sighed, laying back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. I tried to focus on something, anything, but it didn’t come. The weight of missing him was too heavy, like a boulder on my chest.
I closed my eyes, but it was no use. That feeling, that thought, it wasn’t going anywhere.
For the next few days, it was the same damn thing. The inn wasn’t great, but it was warm enough. I’d wake up, drag myself down to the front desk, fake a smile for the pigs, and do my job. The hours dragged, everything feeling like I was stuck in the same damn loop.
But even in the quiet, something inside me was restless. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something, that there was more to my life than this, this routine of working at the inn, keeping my head down, pretending to be fine. And no matter how much I told myself to forget about him, Crypt was always there, lurking in the back of my mind like a ghost I couldn’t shake.
That night, I lay in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, counting the creaks in the walls, trying to ignore the silence. But it was hard to sleep. My mind wouldn’t stop racing. He wasn’t there anymore. That much was clear. But it still felt like his presence haunted me.
I was just about to drift off when I heard it. A voice.
At first, I thought it was my imagination, some leftover fragment of him that I was forcing to exist in the quiet. But then I heard it again. His voice. Low, rough, like he was speaking to someone in the street below.
My heart thudded in my chest as I sat up in bed, the sheets falling off me. My mind started to race. Was I hearing things? Was I just imagining his voice in the darkness?
I crept to the window and peered through the cracked curtains. The city was dark, the streets quiet save for the distant echo of footsteps. And then, I saw him. Crypt.
There he was, walking down the street with that same damn purpose in his stride,one I’d seen before. He looked like he was on a mission, moving through the night, not stopping, not even glancing up.
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart skipped a beat. What the hell was he doing here? Why was he out at this hour?
I told myself to look away. To forget it. He was probably just doing his thing. Probably didn’t want anyone to know he was here.
But that damn curiosity ate at me. Every part of me screamed to stay in that room, to just leave him to his business and not get caught up in whatever he was tangled in.
But damn, I couldn’t help it. I was already pulling on my boots, grabbing my cloak from the chair. I couldn’t let him slip away without knowing what he was up to.
I crept quietly down the stairs, my boots making barely a sound against the creaky steps. The pigs were probably sleeping by now, or at least too drunk to notice, so I didn’t have to worry about them. I slipped out the back door, into the cool night air. The street was lit by the flickering glow of a few lanterns, shadows stretching long across the cobblestones.
I kept my distance, keeping low as I followed him through the alleyways and side streets, making sure I didn’t get too close. But I didn’t want to lose him, either. Not when I finally had the chance to see what he was up to.
He didn’t seem to notice me following. He just kept walking with that same set, determined look on his face. There was something about the way he moved, like he was hunting something, or maybe running from it. I couldn’t tell.
We crossed through a couple of streets, my heart pounding in my chest, and then he stopped. Just like that. He came to a dead halt in front of a door I didn’t recognize.
My stomach flipped. Was this it? Was I about to find out something I shouldn’t?
I stayed hidden in the shadows, watching him closely. He knocked, hard, three times. The door creaked open, and a figure stepped out from the dark, someone tall, someone familiar, but I couldn’t see their face from where I was standing. They exchanged a few words, too quiet for me to hear, and then the door shut behind them.
Crypt turned to walk away, his expression unreadable, but I could feel the tension in the air. Something wasn’t right.
Before I could even think about what to do next, he started walking again, moving faster this time, as if he was on a mission and didn’t want anyone to follow.
But damn it, I wasn’t done yet. I wasn’t about to lose him now.
I stepped forward, trying to keep quiet, but my feet were heavier now, my breath shallow. I was so close, but I couldn’t mess this up. He had to know I was here.
~Crypt~
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7k8dAdgegg
The moon hung low, cloaked behind clouds like it didn’t want to see what we were about to do. Good. It didn’t need to.
Nyx and I moved fast through the shadows, ducking past searchlights and silent alarms, the scent of damp stone and blood lingering in the air. The prison wasn’t just any old jail, it was a fortress. Steel, spells, and silence. Exactly the kind of place they’d throw someone like Papa or Brice and forget the key ever existed.
“They really stacked this place up like it’s Fort Never-leavin’,” Nyx muttered, flames faint at his fingertips, eyes scanning the walls. “You sure this is the right move?”
“I made a promise,” I said coldly. “I don’t break those.”
“Yeah, well, neither does my spine. Let’s make this quick.”
We were just about to scale the west wall when I heard a scuffle behind the towers. I signaled Nyx to pause. Footsteps. Voices.
“Stop right there!”
I tensed. Boots hit the gravel. I peered around the corner, and there she was.
Cindy.
Fighting off two guards, wrists bound in cuffs but still swinging. Her knee landed square in one guy’s stomach before another guard slammed her against the wall.
“Let me go!” she snapped, eyes wild. “You’ve got the wrong, okay, you probably got the right girl, but still, let me go!”
Nyx’s brows shot up. “Well, this just got interesting.”
I moved without thinking. Two quick steps. One guard went down with a punch to the gut, the other found himself flipped over my shoulder. Clean. Precise. I yanked the cuffs off her and tossed them aside.
“Didn’t expect to find you here,” I muttered, looking her dead in the eyes.
Then crack.
She slapped me. Hard.
I didn’t flinch.
Nyx let out a sharp breath. “Whew, girl, you tryna break your own hand?”
Her eyes blazed as she glared at me. “That was for leaving me in that dump. For scarin’ the shit outta me. For yo ies, betrayal…, ” Her voice faltered, but she clenched her jaw and looked away. “Forget it.”
I stared at her, still calm. “You done?”
“You won’t some more cause I got it?!” she snapped looking me up and down like Nyx’s mother used to when she thought I was being a bad influence. I simply had to smirk.
Nyx leaned in, chuckling under his breath. “Man, you attract the weirdest type of loyalty.”
Cindy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I don’t even know why I’m doing this, but if you’re really about to bust someone out of this place, you’re gonna need someone who actually knows the layout. I worked here… for like, a week under my Step Mama. Don’t ask questions.”
I didn’t. I just nodded.
Nyx blinked. “So let me get this straight. You slap the man, insult him, and then offer to help him break into the most locked-up joint in the city?”
She smirked. “Yeah. You got a point?”
Nyx threw his hands up. “I swear, girls make no damn sense.”
“And boys is stupid as hell!” Cindy shot back, already storming ahead.
I watched her for a beat. Still wild. Still unpredictable. Still… her.
Nyx elbowed me. “You good?”
I didn’t answer. Just followed her into the dark.
Time to finish what we started.
The prison corridors were cold and tight, lit by flickering torches and haunted silence. Cindy led the way, keeping low as she moved through the maze like she knew every step by heart. Nyx stuck behind her, fire pulsing lightly in his hands, eyes sharp. I trailed last, checking our six.
“This way,” she whispered, pointing to a stairwell half-hidden behind a rusted gate. “Brice was in Level Two when I was here. Security’s lighter down there.”
We moved fast, ducking past the few patrols that wandered like sleepy ghosts through the corridors. At the bottom, Cindy cracked the door open, and there he was.
Brice.
Not the boy I remembered. He was older now, broad-shouldered, jaw squared out, but those same sharp eyes burned behind the bars.
His head lifted, disbelief painting his face. “...Charmin’?”
I stepped forward, unlocking the door with one of the guard keys Cindy swiped. “It’s me. You alright?”
Brice nodded slowly, standing up, his chains clanking. “I’ve been better. But I knew you’d come out of that one day I knew man. I saw it in your eyes everytime I saw the television. I prayed… we prayed for your return…brother”
I clapped his shoulder, tight, like an anchor holding me to the moment.
But the look in his eyes changed. “Papa’s not here,” he said quietly. “They moved him months ago. Said he was causing too much ‘resistance.’ They took him somewhere deeper. Seclusion block. Nobody comes back from there.”
I froze. My heart stopped moving in my chest.
“Where?” I asked.
Brice didn’t answer with words, he just pointed. “Bottom level. End of the hall. Behind the black door.”
Without another word, I took off.
Nyx cursed behind me. “Yo! Charmin’, !”
But I was already gone.
Down winding stairwells and past more guards, fast, silent, violent if I had to be. My blood was lava in my veins, and my chest hurt the closer I got.
Then I found it. The black door.
It took everything I had to tear it open.
And there he was.
Papa Bear.
Thin. Frail. Chained to a bed. His once-proud face slack with exhaustion, his skin pale and bruised, lashes fluttering over empty eyes. He didn’t even flinch when I stepped inside.
He didn’t even know I was there.
I dropped to my knees.
“Papa…” My voice cracked.
Nothing.
He was breathing, barely, but he wasn’t there.
Scars ran across his arms and chest. The scent of burnt flesh, old sweat, and metal filled the room. He was bones in skin now, nothing like the lion I remembered.
I reached for his hand. Cold. Limp.
I lowered my head, every inch of me breaking.
“I’m sorry…” I whispered. “I should’ve woke sooner.”
I stood, slid my arms beneath him, and lifted him off the bed. He was weightless. Too light. It felt wrong. Like carrying a ghost.
I turned, clutching him to my chest like he was still whole, like I could still protect him.
When I made it back to the others, Nyx and Brice’s eyes widened.
Cindy’s hand flew to her mouth.
Nyx took one look and muttered, “What the hell did they do to him…”
“I’ll kill them all….,” I said, voice low, steady, dangerous.
“No time,” Cindy said, snapping back to the moment. “We have to move. Now.”
We moved like shadows, sticking to the blind spots, slipping through guard rotations like water through cracks.
Twice we had close calls, guards stepping too close, but Nyx handled them, quiet, controlled bursts of flame sending them crumpling without a sound.
When we burst out the side gate into the dark woods beyond, the stars above us looked like freedom.
Brice kept pace behind me. Nyx brought up the rear.
Cindy ran beside me, throwing one glance at the man in my arms.
“I didn’t know he meant that much to you,” she said quietly.
“He helped raise me,” I said, never slowing down. “He was the only real father I had.”
Cindy looked away, but I saw it, the guilt. The grief. The flicker of something deep behind her eyes.
We didn’t stop running till the prison disappeared behind the trees, swallowed by the night. I promised myself.
Whoever did this to Papa was gonna pay, dearly, Crypt Keeper style.
They laid Papa on the cot in the back of Mama’s hut. It was one of the only safe places left, tucked far outside the city, where the wind whispered through tall reeds and the stars felt closer than the sky.
Mama dropped to her knees the second she saw him.
“No…” her voice cracked, trembling as she crawled to his side. “No, no, no, my love, what did they do to you…”
Her hands shook as she brushed his hair back from his sunken face, murmuring words only he could understand, soft, broken things, the language of soulmates who didn’t need full sentences. I watched in sadness and deep regret.
She kissed his forehead like she was trying to breathe life into him. “Come back to me, baby... Please... come back to me…”
We gave her space. We all stood back, silent.
Nyx didn’t joke.
Cindy had no words.
Papa didn’t stir. He just breathed. Barely.
And that was the last moment of peace we had.
Because after that, I stood, turned toward the open night beyond the door, and said, “I’m going.”
Nyx looked up, jaw already clenching. “Going where?”
“Back to hell.”
I started strapping my gear back on, tightening the gloves, checking the blade at my side. “I need to set the rest of the lost souls out there trapped in it,free.”
Nyx scoffed. “You say that like I ain’t already grabbing my coat.”
“No,” came a stern voice behind us.
It was Miss M, Nyx’s mama. Arms folded. Standing tall like a storm at the edge of a cliff.
“You’re not going anywhere, boy.”
“Mama… I Have to.” he exasperated.
“Look at your father, Nyx,” she snapped. “I just lost him, and you think I want this for you!?”
“Papa is still alive Mama, it’s not over!” he shouted. “And if…when he wake up Mama you think he ain’t gone feel like me? You think he finna stay here or join this war! This isn’t just Crypt’s war Mama, It’s affecting all of us don’t you see?! It’s affecting me and mine. So it’s mine too!”
The air went still.
Miss M stared at him for a long, long moment. Her lips thinned, her throat bobbing with unspoken fear and surprise. I knew why. Her son was always funny, respectful, but something had snapped in him. And she knew, if he wanted to go, she wasn’t going to stop him. Finally… she sighed.
“Just promise me you’ll come back Nyx. Please”
Nyx stepped forward and hugged her tight. “I will Mama. I will.”
Brice stood at the door, arms crossed. “I’m staying. Someone’s gotta protect them while you two lose your minds.”
I gave him a nod of respect. He returned it.
Then I turned to the last one in the room, Cindy.
She was leaning against the wall, arms folded, eyes on the floor. Silent.
I walked over, slow. Didn’t say a word. Just reached out my hand just in the light of the moon, where she could see it.
She didn’t move.
Didn’t look at me.
Until I spoke:
“It seems this world’s forsaken us all,” I said quietly. “But if you come with me… I’ll build a kingdom where the lost, us lost and broken, are never forgotten.”
Her breath caught.
That line… it hit her somewhere deep. She knew I meant it. Every word. And more than that, she knew I believed it. This wasn’t just vengeance anymore.
It was purpose.
She looked at my hand. Then into my eyes as we stood in a silent connection only we understood.
And slowly… she took it.
Not a word. Not a smile. Just a quiet promise between two scarred souls who were tired of surviving without meaning.
Behind us, Nyx chuckled. “Man… girls don’t make no sense.”
But even he smiled.
We stepped out into the night. Together.
The world was still broken. Still burning.
But this time… we weren’t walking through it alone.
We were gonna set it right.
One Lost soul at a time.
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