Chương 128: 127: Others

Clock continued in the same flat tone, apparently unaware of the effect his words had produced.

"I have been busy. The Syndicate turned the girl I liked when I was younger into a machine, and after that I spent most of my life fighting for humanity's survival. There wasn't much opportunity for romance." Korhess swallowed.

"I have been surviving." Her voice had become quieter.

"It hath occupied most of mine attention." She looked down at her hooves, her fingers curling slightly.

"And besides..." She hesitated again.

"My..." Her cheeks darkened.

"My body below is not human. I would not feel comfortable becoming naked with another." A pained laugh escaped her.

"Who would wish to court a hybrid such as I?" Clock's eyes shifted towards her, unblinking.

"I would." Korhess's breath caught. She looked at him again. This time, she could not immediately look away. Something fluttered beneath her ribs, strange and delicate and almost frightening in its unfamiliarity. Her ears slowly lowered as she struggled to understand what was happening to her. Ouro watched the exchange. Her smile widened.

"Mamma mia." She stepped forward and wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them closer.

"And yet, here we are." Korhess made a small sound of protest as Ouro squeezed her against Clock.

"Three broken people, holding hands in a frozen corridor, about to save the world." Clock looked down at their joined hands.

"I do not believe that was the original plan."

"It is now." Ouro's smile softened.

"Although, on a serious note, you both understand that dating humans would be... complicated, right?" Neither answered.

"Our bodies aren't exactly built for ordinary romance," Ouro continued.

"Trying to be intimate with a human can be like trying to embrace tissue paper without tearing it." Clock's expression became slightly more serious. Ouro's smile faded into something quieter.

"I'll admit it. I've been lonely for a long time." She glanced between them.

"Romance is difficult enough to find when there are fewer than a dozen people in the world who can even understand what we are." Her fingers tightened gently around theirs.

"But we have each other." The snake curled more tightly around her neck, its head settling against her shoulder. Korhess looked down at their joined hands. For once, she did not pull away. Clock cleared his throat.

"We should focus."

"Always the pragmatic one," Ouro sighed dramatically, though the faint smile on her lips betrayed how little offense she truly felt. Clock's expression remained unchanged.

"The explosion above is still suspended. Custard's detonation threatens everything we have fought to protect, and there is no time for distractions."

"Distractions," Ouro repeated, her eyes narrowing as though he had personally insulted her entire existence.

"Priorities," Clock corrected. Ouro's forked tongue slipped briefly between her teeth, her pierced tongue ring catching the light as she rolled it thoughtfully against one fang.

"We will revisit this later."

"I doubt it."

"We will."

"Absolutely not." Ouro gave him an offended look, but before she could answer, Korhess glanced between them. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Come," she said softly.

"We have work to do." She began walking, her hooves echoing against the frozen floor as the cocoon of Apis moved with her, its translucent surface pulsing gently around the three of them. Clock and Ouro followed. Their hands remained joined. After a few steps, Ouro reached across and took Korhess's free hand as well, intertwining their fingers without ceremony. Korhess glanced down at their joined hands. For a moment, she said nothing.

"By bark and blossom…" she murmured, almost to herself.

"What strange paths hath this day cultivated?" Ouro smiled.

"A very strange one, apparently." Clock looked at their hands.

"I still maintain that this was not part of the plan."

"It is now," Ouro replied. Korhess's smile returned, small but genuine. The three continued through the frozen corridors together, their footsteps falling into an almost rhythmic cadence beneath the distant hum of Apis. Around them, personnel remained suspended in place, machinery hung motionless, and the catastrophe above waited patiently for time to resume. The explosion still threatened the world. Custard's detonation still hung beyond the barriers. None of that had changed.

Yet for the first time since the catastrophe began, Korhess did not feel as though she were walking towards the end of something alone. She tightened her fingers around theirs. And together, they kept walking. — The training field was still buzzing with excitement. The Stepper suit stood at the far end, its scorched chest plate still smoking faintly from the RPG blast.

The trainees had gathered around it, their earlier awe now mingling with the giddy thrill of handling weapons they had absolutely no business touching. Sera had somehow convinced the guard to let them keep the equipment for "further research," which had quickly become an excuse for everyone to take turns firing at the suit from increasingly ridiculous distances. Liora raised a pistol, took aim, and fired. Ping. The bullet flattened against the chest plate and ricocheted harmlessly into the dirt.

"Still nothing," she muttered. Gideon stepped beside her, hefting a rifle.

"Try the armour-piercing rounds."

"Hell yeah." Liora shrugged, swapped magazines, raised the rifle and sighted down the barrel. She blinked. Three figures were walking across the training field. They had not been there a moment ago. There had been no approach, no opening of a door, no flash of light, and no indication that anyone had entered the field at all. One instant the space ahead of them had been empty. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The next, the three figures were simply there.

Liora slowly lowered the rifle. Gideon followed her gaze. Milo, who had been idly swinging a sword nearby, gradually lowered the blade as well.

"Uh… guys?" Sera turned. Her grin disappeared.

"What the hell?" The three strangers continued across the field with eerie composure, their footsteps unhurried but purposeful. At the centre walked a woman with antlers branching from her temples like the crown of an ancient forest. Her hooves pressed softly into the dirt, and her mismatched eyes moved across the training grounds with quiet, almost clinical assessment. Korhess. To her left walked a white-haired man with violet eyes, chess-piece earrings swaying faintly with each step.

A translucent cast shimmered around one arm, while his posture carried the restrained confidence of someone who had long since stopped needing to demonstrate his strength. Clock. To Korhess's right walked a woman dressed in dark orange, the slit of her dress revealing one thigh beneath a black corset that cinched her waist. A wide-brimmed hat rested atop her head, while a large black snake coiled comfortably around her neck.

Its scales were black with white and violet markings, and its orange eyes drifted lazily across the field as its forked tongue flickered between its fangs. Ouro. Chains and cowries woven through her long black hair clicked softly with every step, while another chain rested around her waist, ending in a heavy mace. The trainees stared. Nobody moved. The three continued forward as though the sight of a training field filled with armed teenagers was perfectly ordinary.

Around them, the air seemed subtly distorted, a faint shimmer marking the boundary of the little pocket of moving time that had somehow expanded far enough to include the trainees. Sera swallowed.

"Are they… moving?" Kasina squinted at the figures.

"Wait. Is time frozen and only them and us can move?"

"It looks like it," Milo whispered. He glanced towards the Stepper suit. Nothing moved. The chains hanging from the punching frames were perfectly still. Dust remained suspended in the air. Even the smoke curling from the damaged armour had stopped halfway through its ascent.

"But nothing else is," Kasina whispered. Clock's violet eyes shifted towards them. His gaze swept over the trainees for barely a second, analytical and detached. Whatever assessment he made, it apparently satisfied him, because he looked away without a word. Ouro noticed them next. Her silver eyes widened slightly. The snake around her neck lifted its head, its orange eyes narrowing as it tasted the unfamiliar air with a slow flick of its forked tongue. Korhess followed its attention.

Her mismatched eyes settled upon the trainees. She stopped. The other two stopped with her. For several seconds, nobody spoke. Korhess's ears twitched. The trainees collectively stiffened. Sera's voice dropped to a whisper.

"Guys… I'm scared."

"Don't move," Gideon muttered through clenched teeth.

"And whatever you do, don't make eye contact." Liora swallowed.

"Too late." Korhess was already looking directly at her.

"My," she murmured, "what curious little saplings hath sprouted within this grove?" Nobody answered.... The antlered woman stopped a few metres away. Her mismatched eyes moved across the group with quiet curiosity. Her gaze lingered upon the rifle in Liora's hands before drifting towards the scorched Stepper suit behind them.

"Art thou exercising caution with those weapons?" Liora opened her mouth. Nothing came out. Gideon cleared his throat.

"Yes. We were just… testing them."

"Testing," Korhess repeated. She tilted her head slightly, the branching antlers shifting above her.

"And what conclusions hath thy testing yielded?"

"The armour's really strong," Milo blurted.

"Like, really strong. We shot it with an RPG and it barely left a mark." Korhess's ears twitched.

"An RPG."

"Yes, ma'am. I mean…" Milo's face reddened.

"Yes. We did." Her gaze returned to the scorched chest plate. Her expression remained composed.

"And thou art unharmed?" Sera stepped forward, some of her earlier bravado returning.

"Of course. We were careful." Korhess studied her for a moment before glancing towards Clock.

"They appear to have survived their own recklessness." Clock's violet eyes remained fixed upon the frozen horizon. He seemed to be listening to something none of them could hear.

"Statistically, their survival is preferable to the alternative." Ouro gave a soft laugh.

"They look like frightened little mice." Korhess's ears twitched again.

"Thou art trainees, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am," Gideon managed. Korhess regarded them for another moment before speaking.

"Then I shall impart unto thee a single piece of counsel. When thou dost acquire weaponry beyond thy station, thou wouldst be wise to seek instruction before discharging it." Milo slowly lowered the rifle. Kasina, one of the younger trainees, swallowed nervously.

"Y-yes, Mommy." Silence. The word seemed to hang in the air. Korhess's brow furrowed. Clock finally looked away from the horizon. One eyebrow rose. Ouro's smile widened.

"…Mommy?" she repeated, her Italian accent making the word somehow even more devastating. Kasina's entire face turned crimson.

"I—I meant—I didn't mean—I was just—" Korhess raised one hand.

"Peace. I take no offence." Her expression softened.

"Thou art young. Thou dost not yet comprehend the weight of the weapons placed within thy hands. That ignorance is not thy fault." Kasina nodded rapidly.

"Yes, ma'am." Ouro tilted her head, and the snake around her neck mimicked the motion almost perfectly.

"They have good instincts, though. Jumpy, sì, but alive." Clock glanced over the trainees. His eyes settled briefly upon the damaged Stepper suit. Korhess nodded. She looked over the group one final time.

"Remain cautious. This frozen moment shall not endure forever. When time resumes, thou wilt need to be prepared for what follows." Her gaze lingered upon the damaged armour.

"And perhaps refrain from discovering its limits with weaponry thou hast only recently learned to hold." Korhess turned and began walking. Clock followed without another word. Ouro lingered behind for a moment. Her silver eyes swept across the trainees, and the corner of her mouth lifted into an amused smile.

"Good luck, little mice." Her tongue slipped between her teeth, the pierced ring catching briefly against one fang. The snake flicked its tongue at them. Ouro turned and followed the others. Korhess's spear hovered behind her, as though guided by an invisible hand. Its blade glimmered faintly as it followed its mistress with effortless precision, never drifting more than a few feet from her side. The trainees watched it float after her. Nobody spoke. Milo slowly lowered his rifle.

"Her spear is flying." Liora stared after the weapon.

"Yeah." Kasina blinked.

"Is… is that normal?" Gideon shook his head slowly.

"I don't think anything about them is normal." The three figures continued across the training field, Korhess at the centre, Clock and Ouro beside her, while the floating spear glided obediently behind them. The shimmering boundary of moving time travelled with them, carrying the trio deeper into the frozen facility while the rest of the world remained utterly still. The trainees continued staring long after they had disappeared from view. — For a long moment, nobody spoke.

The instant the three figures disappeared from sight, the training field erupted.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

"Did you see her? She had antlers! Actual antlers!"

"She had hooves! I've heard about her, but seeing her in person is something else entirely. The energy coming off her alone…"

"I almost peed myself." A pause.

"Oh, wait. Scratch 'almost.'""The snake! Did you see the snake? That thing was alive!"

"It was staring at us!"

"It was judging us!"

"I swear it understood everything we were saying."

"And that spear!" Milo exclaimed.

"Did you see it? The green leather on the haft, the ornate goldwork, and the spearhead itself was enormous. That blade wasn't even visible properly. It was just shimmering like it was cutting through the air."

"Did she say 'frozen moment'? What does that mean?"

"She said, 'When it ends.'""When what ends?!"

"I don't know!" Kasina slowly lifted her head from her hands.

"I called her Mommy." Silence. Every head turned towards her.

"You called her Mommy."

"I panicked!"

"You looked her directly in the eyes and called her Mommy!"

"I WAS SCARED!"

"She seemed nice, though."

"She seemed like she could kill us with a look."

"She eats Apis." Everyone went quiet. A trainee swallowed.

"A blink from her could probably kill us." Gideon shook his head slowly, his eyes still fixed upon the empty space where the three had disappeared.

"The antlered one," he said quietly.

"That was Korhess. The First Antler." Everyone turned towards him.

"The Final Obstacle," Sera breathed.

"I've heard stories about her. She's been around for decades." Liora's eyes remained wide.

"And the woman with the snake… that was Ouro. The Chain Serpent. She's… she's one of the experiments." The word settled over the group like a blade. For a moment, nobody spoke. The weight of it gradually gave way to something else. Sera's gaze drifted towards the corridor where the three had vanished.

"Did you see how tall they were?"

"Korhess would probably be at least six feet if her legs weren't bent like that," Milo said.

"Ouro too," Liora added.

"And the white-haired guy was even taller."

"They were all so…" Kasina searched for the word.

"Beautiful."

"Unfairly beautiful," someone muttered.

"I wish I looked that good," another trainee sighed.

"And tall. I just had to be five-six."

"Korhess has heterochromia," Liora said excitedly.

"That's so cool. Did you see the green streaks in her blonde hair?"

"Ouro's eyes were insane," another trainee said.

"And her figure…"

"I'm more interested in her dress," Kasina said dreamily.

"That dark orange dress with the slit? She looked stunning."

"Her accent too. Italian, right?" Sera nodded slowly.

"I think so. It was… soft. Almost warm."

"The snake was cool, but Ouro herself was…" Milo stopped. His face reddened. Several heads turned towards him.

"Was what?" Milo stared resolutely at the ground. He said nothing. Liora elbowed him.

"Say it." Milo hesitated.

"She had big boobs, okay?!" A collective groan erupted across the training field. Sera smacked him on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"Focus, you idiot."

"I'm just saying!"

"I can't even argue," another trainee admitted.

"Are experiments required to be that attractive? Like, all of them? It's almost unfair."

"Well, obviously," someone else said.

"If I'm going to be put through torture and strapped to a laboratory table, they'd better at least make me beautiful. Increase the boobs, increase the ass, make me the pinnacle of human perfection, and get rid of acne while you're at it. Otherwise, I'm attacking the scientist." Another trainee, a freckled girl with wide eyes, clasped her hands together.

"That voice was like poetry."

"Her accent," another agreed.

"It sounded like something out of an old storybook."

"She seemed ancient."

"Like she'd been alive for centuries."

"Maybe she has." Liora looked towards the empty space where the three figures had disappeared.

"The white-haired one," she said.

"That was the guy from the video. The one surfing on the guitar while fighting Ankou."

"That's Clock," Gideon said.

"Clock," Liora repeated.

"Right. He's Butter's brother."

"Butter's brother," Milo echoed flatly. Sera frowned.

"They were all working together. Korhess, Ouro and Clock. They were moving together, walking together…" She glanced towards the corridor.

"But why? Aren't Ouro and Korhess our experiments? Why are they with him?"

"Maybe he surrendered."

"His nails were cool," someone said.

"And those violet eyes…"

"His teeth! Those grills were fire!"

"Seriously. And that wavy hair."

"I was more interested in his guitar. I wish I'd asked him to let me play it."

"They smell good too," another trainee added.

"Is that an experiment thing? The smell, the height, the looks… Just wow." Kasina suddenly looked thoughtful.

"They were holding hands." Everyone turned towards her.

"Did anyone else see that?"

"I saw it."

"Korhess was holding Clock's hand," Kasina continued, "and Ouro was holding Korhess's." Milo's eyes widened.

"…They're a trouple."

"A what?"

"A trouple. A relationship between three people." Sera stared at him.

"You just made that up."

"I did not make it up! It's a thing!"

"A thing you just made up."

"It is not!"

"Trouple," Liora repeated, testing the word.

"That's… actually a word?"

"It is now." The trainees fell silent, collectively processing the revelation. Kasina sighed dreamily.

"Korhess and Ouro and Clock… together…" Gideon stared into the distance.

"He's lucky. Or should I say they're lucky? Every one of them is ridiculously attractive." He glanced down at himself.

"Damn. I'm ugly."

"You're not ugly," Sera said.

"I appreciate the lie." Liora looked towards the corridor again.

"They were terrifying in person, though. Like… like they could destroy everything."

"Like?" Milo scoffed.

"I heard Korhess could split the planet with a tap."

"Honestly, after seeing her move around while time itself appears to be stopped, she probably could."

"Scary," Milo agreed. Sera finally looked around at the others.

"So what do we do now?" Nobody answered for several seconds. The frozen training field seemed suddenly enormous without the three strangers standing in it. The impossible encounter had left them with nowhere to direct the adrenaline still buzzing through their veins.