Zay gave the Moonlit Spear one last glance, then cracked his neck to the left, the stiffness creeping into his joints after too long in the oppressive stillness of the chamber. A dull yawn slipped from his lips as [Predator's Hunting Grounds] activated. He lunged right without hesitation. The twin bands of deep violet sliced through the air behind him, missing by inches before twisting in mid-flight and snapping toward his right shoulder. They struck a heartbeat later.
On contact, a blistering heat surged into his body. Zay screamed loudly, painfully, and ragged. As his blood began to boil beneath his skin. The bands burned straight through his tunic, searing into flesh and sinew as the scent of cooked skin filled the air. His body jerked violently as the brands carved themselves into his arm, glowing brighter with each second.
[Unholy Regeneration] triggered instantly, but there was no relief. The pain didn't fade, it became a constant loop. His flesh charred, melted, mended, and then burned again in a cycle of endless agony. Blood gushed from his arm, dripped from his fingertips, and soaked through the shredded fabric of his sleeve. His dirtied brown tunic clung to him in tatters, soaked with sweat and blood. Blood poured from his nose, his mouth, even the corners of his eyes. His pants were soaked dark along the thighs and knees, the fabric stiff with drying blood. His entire body trembled violently.
Hallucinations bloomed across his vision. The walls seemed to breathe. Shadows crawled where there were none. Flowers bloomed beneath him, wrapping him in vines. Voices whispered just behind his ears. His senses unraveled into chaos. He collapsed to his knees, fingers clawing at the floor, nails splitting as he screamed causing more blood to flow from his body. The sound echoed through the chamber—desperate, inhuman even.
"F-FUCK!" he roared, chest heaving.
The heat exploded into his chest. It boiled his heart. Adrenaline rushed through him like acid. His aura flared out, unstable and violent, surging in wild bursts of violet and midnight-blue. His eyes bulged. The pressure in his skull built until his eyes burst with a sickening pop, spraying blood across the ground.
A moment later, his regeneration forced them to reform... only to rupture again. His heart burned and rebuilt. His lungs spasmed. His body writhed, twitching in a pool of his own blood. The pain was infinite, layered, looping. His clothes were stained dark red, the original color of his uniform nearly lost beneath layers of torn, burnt flesh and dark crimson.
Rei and Naomi burst into the room, weapons drawn, drawn by the screams that had sounded more demon than human. The scent of blood, scorched flesh, mold, and burning cloth hit them like a wall. Rei stopped cold. His blade fell from his hand and clattered against the stone as he dropped to his knees beside Zay.
"Zay! What's wrong?! Are you okay?!" he shouted, voice cracking with panic. Naomi's aura blade dissolved as she knelt beside them. Her face twisted in horror at the sight of her master's body—blood-soaked, blistered, torn apart, repairing, and still twitching from the constant agony. Tears fell from her cheeks without hesitation.
Zay raised his head slightly. His face was soaked, his teeth clenched with blood. His eyes ruptured again, spraying Rei's chest with fresh blood. He collapsed with a strangled cry, his body giving out. His regeneration kept him alive, but unconsciousness finally claimed him. His form slumped into the thick pool of his own blood, twitching occasionally as his body refused to die.
Rei pressed a shaking hand to Zay's wrist, summoning his aura. A soft azure glow began to pour across his fingers, meeting the unstable violet shimmer rising from Zay's skin and the deeper midnight-blue of Evershade. All three auras collided violently around the seared bands burned into Zay's arm, fighting back against whatever foreign force had caused this.
...
For hours they waited. Zay's body twisted, seized, bled, healed, and repeated it all over again. Sweat soaked Rei's back. Naomi never left his side while blood continued to pool and spread until the stone beneath them was slick and dark. Then, at last, Zay's eyes opened.
His body jolted upright. Every muscle screamed in protest. Blood seeped from reopened wounds. His arms shook uncontrollably. His legs trembled beneath him. But there was no scream. There was No cry, there wasn't even a reaction.
Zay stood on his feet, as if possessed by something as his body began to radiate a divine heat before quietly fading out of existence. His eyes narrowed as they glowed a bright gold for half a second before changing back to his dark amethyst. He walked forward, towards the Moonlit Spear.
Rei turned around, not noticing at first but saw Zay as he was reaching for the spear on the wall. Rei stood up abruptly, running up to him, "Are you.. alright?" he asked slowly, unsure if that even a question he should be asking.
His eyes dropped to the blood-stained floor beneath them. Zay's tunic was completely torn to pieces, not a single piece remained on his skin. Blood dripping off his skin as dried blood remained connected. The two deep violet bands had faded but scars lingered across his shoulder, and a scar above his heart, on his chest lingered where his heart had burst open an hour ago before forcefully returned by [Unholy Regeneration].
Zay turned to Rei, his eyes looked darker, deeper, colder in a way. He ignored Rei's question, well, maybe he didn't ignore it but just didn't know how to reply to his question. Was he suppose to say he was fine? That he was okay? That maybe he can just move past this? After experiencing this, it brought back memories of the chamber where he was tortured by the Angel of Winter for days, upon days. His eyes dropped to his hand, shaking violently before grabbing it with his other.
He swallowed hard, bit his bottom lip and turned his head back to the spear before reaching out with his right arm. His eyes squinted as he felt some soreness in his muscles before his fingers wrapped the base of the spear and lifted it. It felt light to him before he placed it into his Arbiter: Vault and walked past Rei, almost ignoring him completely but gave a small nod, ensuring him not to worry.
Rei turned, looked at the back of Zay and saw scars running down his back, they were small, but they were there. The first time he had ever seen scars stay on his body after his regeneration, besides the scars on his shoulder and chest.
'What a load of shit...' is all Rei could thought before walking behind Zay, watching him closely and walking close behind him in case he needed help.
The two began to backtrack through the tunnel before finding Naomi and she wiped her eyes from tears before running up to Zay, hugging him instinctively, without even realizing it.
Zay looked down at her, turned his gaze back to Rei and blinked before hugging her back slowly. "Everything's.... fine." he said, attempting to force a smile but failing to do so. He closed his eyes, felt tears on his chest but didn't complain. He just stood there, allowing her to cry for a few more seconds before slowly letting go of her.
"We've spent a lot more time here than it was needed. Let's leave." he said, before walking away from them both.
Rei turned to face Naomi, "It seems... that the torturing from that room... did more damage than we thought. From what I've gathered, it appears to be a form of PTSD resurfacing. Let's just give him some space but make sure to be there. If he asks anything weird, it might be due to an hallucination."
Naomi wiped her tears away, nodded and began to walk beside Rei. The two of them followed behind Zay. None of them muttered a single word of what happened as they walked and they probably would never utter a word about what happened ever