In the dark, at an unknown hour in the hall, Gil, Kuro, and a half-asleep, complaining Greg sat a short distance apart.
Triggering his sight, Gil shifted his gaze, taking a slow moment to carefully examine his two companions.
To his left, Greg was already slumping over again, practically falling back asleep where he sat. Beside him, the strange snake wrapped around his body was resting its small head heavily on Greg's shoulder—looking just as thoroughly exhausted as its master.
Gil could almost see a literal, cartoonish "ZZZ" floating above Greg's head, and a metaphorical one drifting right over the serpent's snout.
Well, it's pretty obvious those two are completely spent, Gil thought, eyeing Greg's limp posture.
Though I still can't figure out what the hell that snake actually is...
Turning his attention toward Kuro, the contrast couldn't have been starker.
The crimson flames that had flared up around her were much dimmer now, smoldering with a low, faint glow. Yet, beneath that quiet surface, Gil could feel the sharp, coiled tension in her posture.
Those embers were burning slowly, ready to detonate into an infernal firestorm at the absolute first sign of a threat. She was constantly on high alert, her instincts razor-sharp even in repose.
Well, Gil couldn't help but think to himself, a dry sense of irony washing over him, we sure make one hell of a crew.
Greg continued to rub his eyes, looking as though he might fall back asleep at any moment.
I thought he'd have trouble sleeping, Gil mused silently, or at least risk another episode like the time I had to snap him out of it.
Guess I was wrong. He seems fine.
Finally growing impatient, Gil nudged him. "Hey. Greg, pull yourself together. We have important things to discuss."
Greg shot him a skeptical look, his tired face practically screaming: Important things? Are you sure you didn't just wake me up for the hell of it?
Gil felt a vein throb on his forehead, but he forced himself to stay calm.
I'll deal with you later.
Aloud, he insisted, "Yes, serious business."
To prove his point, Gil raised his right hand, waving it in front of Greg.
At first, the groggy guy didn't understand.
But as Gil pointed to his own wrist, then to Greg's, realization struck. Greg snapped wide awake, his posture straightening instantly.
"Oh... yeah," Greg muttered, his eyes darting to Gil's missing arm. He swallowed hard. "I didn't want to bring it up after everything that happened..."
Gil gave a dismissive wave of his right hand to ease his concern. "Don't worry about it. I'm better now."
Only then did Greg take a closer look at Gil's posture and overall demeanor. He realized that during the few hours Gil had been resting, a subtle but profound change had taken place.
Does sleep really do that for someone? Greg wondered, though he didn't voice it.
He opened his mouth to ask about the ethereal chains binding them, but caught himself. He glanced sideways at Kuro, then back at Gil, keeping his mouth shut.
Gil couldn't help but nod inwardly. Good. He's not as dense as I thought.
Kuro, ever perceptive, tracked the silent exchange between them. Tilting her head slightly, she offered, "I can leave you two alone if you want."
"No," Gil said directly. "We're all in this together—the three of us. And if things go the way I expect, you need to hear this now, once and for all."
Turning back to Greg, Gil extended his hand.
Channeling the familiar sensation he had been refining in his mental sanctuary, he sent a sudden surge of energy pulsing through the invisible chains connecting him to Greg.
The link flashed briefly in the intangible realm. Greg jerked upright, staring down at his left wrist in absolute shock.
Even without asking, Gil knew Greg had felt it.
Gil then turned his attention to Kuro. He raised his right arm, indicating the hand that shared an unseen tether to her.
"Tell me, Kuro... what do you see? Do you feel anything strange between Greg and me, or between you and me?"
Surprised, Kuro looked between the two of them with an incredulous expression.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she reached out, testing the empty air between their hands.
Nothing.
"No," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What is there to see?"
Gil smiled faintly. "Since we decided to team up..." He paused, double-checking. "We're still on, right?"
She gave a hesitant nod. "Yes."
"Then I'll make you the same offer I made Greg.
" Nothing overly complicated. You've already proven what you're capable of in the arena, so I'll keep it brief. It's simple: we help each other out, share whatever information we gather, and back each other up when necessary. No forced obligations. If a situation is too dangerous, there won't be any hard feelings if you can't step in. It's a moral contract more than anything else. Or... it was."
Gil reached his hand out toward her. "So, what do you think?"
Kuro frowned slightly, her eyes brimming with disbelief. Her entire body language screamed: Is a promise made like this supposed to be taken seriously?
"You don't have to accept," Gil added, his tone sharpening slightly. "But let's just say I'm offering a gesture of good faith. And one of the reasons that bastard Hector was so interested in me..."
That caught her attention. Her mask of indifference cracked.
She opened her mouth to agree right away, but as her hand neared Gil's, she hesitated for a fraction of a second.
An instinct deep inside warned her that this simple handshake carried weight—far more consequences than she could currently comprehend.
Yet, a second later, she pushed the feeling aside and grasped his hand firmly.
Gil smirked at her decisiveness. "Alright. We're partners now."
As if sealed by his words, the ghostly chains materialized in the subtle plane once more. Intricate, heavy links manifested, weaving together and adding a new set of spectral chains that bound Gil directly to Kuro.
Kuro herself remained completely unaware of the physical manifestation taking place.
As the connection solidified, Gil felt a slight drain on his energy reserves. But unlike his first attempt with Greg, he wasn't left exhausted or hollowed out.
My reserves seem to have grown, he realized, thinking back to his stolen loot and his mental training, though he didn't dwell on it.
Withdrawing his hand, Gil channeled another deliberate pulse of energy—this time driving it straight through the newly forged bonds connecting him to both Greg and Kuro.
Instantly, Kuro perceived the weight of the chain wrapping around her.
She gasped, leaping backward in a sudden, violent motion.
"What the hell is this?!"
Her voice turned ice-cold, radiating pure aggression.
The crimson flames surrounding Kuro exploded outward on pure instinct.
Sizzzzzzzzz—
They crashed against the spectral chain coiled around her wrist.
Clang.
The links trembled.
"Hngh..."
Gil winced.
A faint, familiar ,burning sensation shot through his own wrist but he was more surprised at the sudden pain than truly hurt.
As for the link it holds on but....
Gil could feel it immediately: if he didn't offer a crystal-clear explanation within the next ten seconds, his brand-new ally was going to turn hostile.
In hindsight, Gil understood her reaction completely.
Being bound against one's will without warning would set anyone off—he would have reacted the exact same way.
Instead of speaking, Gil tried a different approach. Sending a gentle, steady flow of intent back through the chain, he projected his thoughts directly into her mind: Calm down. It's a link between us. It won't hurt you.
The fiery, crimson aura that had begun to spark violently around Kuro faltered. The threatening radiance dimmed, the oppressive tension easing as the message washed over her.
Kuro froze, looking deeply at Gil, processing the sensation that had settled in her mind. Slowly, the hostility faded a bit but didn't disappear from her eyes, and she sat back down, her gaze never leaving his.
"Explain," she spat.
Seeing that she had calmed down—at least for the time being—Gil bowed his head slightly in an unspoken apology. It hit him then that not everyone would react like Greg.
In fact, Greg was the anomaly here; it was almost bizarre how understanding he'd been, not blowing a fuse upon realizing he was bound by ethereal bonds.
Honestly, I still wonder why he took it so well... but whatever.
Turning back to look Kuro straight in the eyes, Gil allowed his genuine sincerity to flow straight through the chain to reinforce his words.
"Sorry about that. I should have been clearer before starting," he said, keeping his voice steady. "Let's just say... there are certain things about me that even I don't fully understand yet. Things that caught the attention of that cloaked bastard. And well, these chains are now part of that list. The last time, when I made a deal with Greg"—he gestured toward the slumping figure beside him—"they just appeared automatically. I didn't even know what was happening at the time."
He took a quiet breath before continuing. "So no, I don't know everything about them. Just that they act as a link between us. I can feel his state of mind, know roughly where he is, and it makes it easier to back him up—or for him to help me when I'm in trouble."
Greg tilted his head in complete confusion. "Wait... when did I help you?"
"Up in the arena," Gil replied smoothly. "You might not realize it, but you really bailed me out in that moment. Maybe I would've snapped out of it on my own eventually, but who knows if those creatures would've been unleashed on us first? So, once again... I owe you one."
"Ah... right. Okay," Greg muttered.
He scratched the back of his neck, clearly not grasping the full weight of what he'd done, but he nodded anyway.
Well, Gil thought dryly to himself, I'll just have to make it up to him properly some other time.
Turning back to Kuro, Gil focused a tiny trickle of energy through the spectral link, causing the phantom metal to pulse with a faint, low light.
Noticing that her pulse was still running a bit fast and wanting to ease her lingering doubts before things got off on the wrong foot, Gil decided to clear the air completely.
"You know," he added softly, "they can be taken off at any time."
Putting his money where his mouth was, Gil focused his mind and willed the spectral link to release her.
Let her go, he willed.
On command, the ghostly chains around her wrist uncoiled and vanished into thin air.
Feeling the strange weight lift off her, Kuro visibly relaxed, her guard dropping a few more inches. She looked up at him, far more open and willing to listen now.
"See?" Gil said, holding his palm out. "It's your call. Anytime you want it off, I'll take it off."
Pausing a bit,he continued.
"As you can see, the chain isn't pulling tight. That means our alliance isn't heavily restrictive—at least, that's how I interpret it. Like I said, I don't have all the answers, but I know this is a strength, not a weakness."
He leaned in slightly, his tone serious. "For instance, when that girl walked over earlier... if we had already been linked, I would have felt your tension straight through the chain. I could've been on guard instantly without her getting the jump on us. We have no idea what's coming next in this place, but with this, we can at least check on each other's condition in real time."
Kuro listened silently from beginning to end, her sharp eyes studying his face as she pondered his words. Gil didn't push; he kept his mouth shut and gave her all the time she needed to process it.
Kuro stared down at her bare wrist, her eyes darting back and forth between her arm and Gil's open hand.
She hesitated for a long moment, carefully weighing her options in the quiet darkness of the hall.
Finally, after realizing that he had willingly given her full control over the link and sensing no malice, hidden traps, or immediate downside, Kuro relaxed her guarded posture.
"Fine," she said, her tone softening just a fraction. "But if there's a next time... warn me beforehand."
Knowing he was entirely in the wrong on that front, Gil accepted the condition without hesitation. "Fair enough. I won't do anything like that again without giving you a heads-up first. Again, I'm sorry."
The harsh edge in Kuro's expression melted away, replaced by a subtle nod of acceptance.
Understanding her silent approval, Gil channeled his energy once more, and the spectral chain rematerialized, wrapping loosely around her wrist to seal their agreement on her terms.
"Alright then," Gil said, a faint, wry smirk touching his lips. "I guess the first official meeting of our little crew is officially in session."
He extended his right fist into the center of their small circle.
Greg looked at Gil's outstretched fist, then down at his own wrist tethered by the ghostly chain, and quickly bumped it with his own tethered hand without hesitation, smiling.
Kuro rolled her eyes at them, hesitated for only a fraction of a second, before extending hers as well, completing the strike.
Satisfied with the moment, Gil let out a low breath and was about to continue.
"Right. Now, as for what comes next—"
He cut himself off mid-sentence.
His brow furrowed as a subtle pulse along his senses—heightened by his recent training—warned him of incoming movement.
Through the dim light of the hall, he could feel multiple figures shifting in their direction, stepping out of the shadows and closing in on their small corner.
What is it with everyone tonight?
Gil let out a long, weary sigh, his newly forged bond with Greg and Kuro instantly humming with quiet vigilance.