[Aiko]

"Hey! Aiko!"

A hushed voice called my name as I groggily opened my eyes. It took a moment to register Gradient kneeling next to the bed,

I yawned. "G-Gwai-dent?" Akhet told me not to go near him anymore, but this time he came to me. Was that against the rules?

"Sorry to wake you up," Gradient apologized. "But I couldn't find a time during the night to slip you away. I haven't fulfilled my promise yet, Y'know?"

The statement pulled a memory from my mind, and I immediately shot up and started jumping up and down.

"Pwaygwound! Pway-"

"SHH!"

He snapped a warning as I started my excited chant, and, suddenly quite terrified, froze and looked at him.

His strict expression softened. "You've gotta be quiet, Aiko. I'm not supposed to be doing this."

"O-Kay!" I whispered loudly, saluting dramatically. Gradient chuckled, and helped me off the bed.

-=+=-

I skipped along the sidewalk, barely able to contain myself as Gradient walked me towards the magical living place that was the playground. The sun was bright, the birds sang in the autumn breeze, and brown and orange leaves from trees drifted through the air and danced in the soft wind. I could see it in the distance - kids in their coats and scarves going down the slide and climbing the climbing wall and swinging.

It looked very fun.

Eventually we made it, and I looked up at Gradient. Gradient looked back at me.

"What?" He said. "Go on, go play. No one sees you, so you're good."

Immediately I broke into a smile, and raced onto the playground.

-=+=-

I don't know how long I ran around and played on everything, but it was a while. The sun was between riding and mid-sky when we got here, and now it was beginning to dip down and touch the tips of the trees in the west.

I didn't even realize until I heard Gradient's call.

"Aiko! Time to go!"

"Awwww," I pouted. "I wanna keep playingggg."

Gradient looked at me with an annoyed expression. "If you want me to take you here again, we have to get back before the others wake up so they're not suspicious!"

I sighed, looking at the playground one last time before slowly waking back to Gradient. The playground wasn't as full as earlier, so it was easier to walk without accidentally walking through another kid. Gradient was leaning against a lamppost, to me looking like just another one of the adults watching their kids play. I walked up to him sadly and hugged his leg.

"I don't wanna go yet..."

Gradient looked down at me with a small smile, and knelt down to my level.

"You know..." He said, looking at the ground for a moment before meeting my eyes. Something changed. He didn't seem as innocent as before. There was a sharp glare in his pupil that made me a bit scared. "You don't have to."

I tilted my head. "I don't? But you said we had to go back!"

"I did," Gradient shrugged. "But... that's just conformity to the rules, you know? Their mistrust of me is the only thing keeping us from staying here. So why should we listen to them?"

"What do you meeeaaaan?" I was
confused. "Akhet, Cwyan, and Pwaxus are nice..."

"They're nice, according to you," Gradient pointed at me, tapping my chest with finger at the word "you." "But think about it. Why do you think they've never taken you here to play? Why do you think they always try to keep you with them and not let you do anything without their permission?"

I found that he had a point. I looked to the ground, thinking over what he was saying.

"They may not like you," Gradient said, brushing a bit of hair out of my face. "But I do. I'll take care of you. You don't need them."

I don't? "I-I don't u-stand..."

"Of course you don't. It's hard for someone your age to understand things like this," Gradient shrugged. "But to put it simply... they don't love you. I do."

My heart sunk in my chest as I looked to the ground. I didn't know what to do. Was he right? Did they not love me? I thought they did. I always thought they did...

"So," Gradient looked at me expectantly. "I can take care of you. You and I can make a better life together, and I'll care for you like you should be raised. Or you can run back to the others like the child you are and face the consequences. Your choice, Aiko."

I wanted to cry, wanted to curl up in a ball and cry forever and ever. I didn't like this. I trusted Gradient, and I trusted Akhet and Xyan and Praxus, but now Gradient says not to trust them...

So who do I trust?

While most of me seemed to want to go home, there was a small, pulling urge to listen to Gradient. A part that told me he was good, and willing to help me.

A bit too much. It's like that part of me wasn't... me. Wasn't my actual thoughts, but a separate me, trying to get me to do what it wants.

I felt that part of me poking its way into my brain, trying to take control and do what it wishes with me. Do I let it?

What do I do, what do I do...

"No."

I blurted the answer out, afraid of thinking over it too long. Immediately I felt angry at myself for choosing it, and my stomach twisted as the possibility of it not being the right decision hit me like an arrow.

Gradient's soft smile faded. "No?"

"No," I nodded in confirmation. My palms were sweating, everything was sweating, a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. "I wanna go home. They do love me, I know it!"

Gradient stared at me for a moment before smiling as a dark chuckle escaped his throat. But quickly it turned into a scowl as he said darkly,

"Wrong. Choice."

My eyes widened in shock and fear as his hands turned to claws, one of them diving into my chest and grabbing hold of what felt like my heart. Pain shook me, a scream forcing itself out of my throat. Cold tears began to spill down my face, and I began to choke on a cold liquid. As Gradient began to withdraw his hand, the strength drained from my body, and I fell to my knees. I shook violently, both from fear and pain. My vision was blurry from tears, but I managed to look at Gradient.

That sharp, black grin was the last thing burned into my mind before the word faded to black.

-=+=-

[Xyan]

Something felt wrong when I woke up tonight.

The room was cold. Really cold. Colder than it should be. I found myself shivering as I opened my eyes, though it ceased as I felt Praxus pull me close to him. I exhaled.

"Is it... colder than usual in here?" I asked him.

"Well, the temperature does seem... lower than normal," Praxus replied. Both of us got up, and abnormally quickly the feeling was gone.

Maybe it was just... I honestly couldn't think of anything it could be, considering temperature doesn't change often in Limbo. But I shrugged it off anyway and continued into the hall.

Immediately I ran into Akhet, running from her own room. She nearly knocked me over, as she hadn't tried to actively phase through me because of my sudden appearance in her path. I yelped in surprise as I lost my balance, and Akhet immediately apologized. Her expression was panicked, worried.

"Akhet, what's wrong?" I asked, regaining my balance.

"I don't know, but something is!" Her voice was urgent. "I need to check on Aiko."

And quickly she phased through us before Praxus could open his mouth to speak.

A feeling of dread made my heart sink. "Well... that certainly can't be good."

We both ran after Akhet to find her standing frozen in the doorway to Aiko's room. As soon as I looked around the doorframe I felt exactly what she must have felt - cold, shocked dread.

Aiko's limp body was on the bed, nearly completely transparent but impossible to miss. The black that used to only reach her finger joints was now thick darkness that faded at her elbows. The same black filled her eyes with empty void, black tears that I recognized as spirit blood streaked like dried tears from them. Similarly, it also came in a steady, slow stream from her mouth. Her chest looked torn open, as if something had been yanked from her chest cavity violently without care.

I could almost hear Akhet's mental cries of anguish as she bolted to the child's side, faint, transparent tears starting to fall from her eyes as she carefully cradled Aiko. The child didn't stir, and Akhet's hands sank slightly into her transparent form.

I could only stare. My heart was heavy, my lungs seeming to be crushed in my chest. Praxus slipped his hand into mine, softly squeezing it in comfort. Usually that would make me feel better in upsetting situations. But this was more than upsetting.

Aiko can't be gone. No, no, no, she can't be. This is some bad dream. Wake up, Xyan, wake up! WAKE UP!

Alas, this was real. No matter how many times I closed my eyes and reopened them, Akhet was still devastated with Aiko beyond death in her arms.

As I stood there, shocked, I met Akhet's eyes. I could tell both of us thought the same thing.

We both knew what happened.

"Hey, guys, what's up?"

And speak of the devil.

I didn't look at Gradient as he approached me. I only said one thing, even though I knew the answer.

"Did you do this?"

Gradient tilted his head. "Do wha-"

A sudden spike of anger snapped my head around to look at him, and immediately I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the doorway aggressively. I gestured to Akhet and Aiko.

"Did. You. Do. This?!"

Gradient blinked, looking at the scene without emotion. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."

"That's not an answer."

"Okay then. Yes, yes I did."

I knew it was true, but still his words shook me. "Gradient. WHY?!"

"Hey, I can't help myself," Gradient shrugged casually, not at all bothered at the child's murder on his conscience. "I needed a soul. She was right there. Worked itself out."

"What do you mean by that?!" Fury began to rise steadily inside of me, my blood boiling in my veins the more I looked at him. "You killed her- or- or whatever the hell you did to her! She's gone because of you!"

"Okay." His reply was a shrug. "What's the problem?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I couldn't hold back the outburst as I almost tackled him in pure fury. Praxus managed to hold me back, however, so I only struggled in his grip as he tried to calm me down, all the while shouting at Gradient:

"You SICK SON OF A-"

"Hey, chill!" Gradient rolled his eyes, only triggering me further. "It's fine, stop overreacting!"

"I am not overreacting!" I snapped back. "You murdered Aiko! This is the perfect time to yell at you, you psycho!"

"Y'know, all of this is really making me sound like the bad guy here," Gradient said. His expression showed what looked to be perplexion, but I knew it was deceiving.

"Making you sound like the bad guy, huh?! Ever thought about the fact that maybe you are the bad guy?!"

"Really?" His tone quickly turned bitter, though a somewhat pleased grin broke across his face. "So you want me to be the bad guy, do you?"

I tensed, realizing the mistake of my words. "T-that's not what I meant-"

"Keep telling yourself that," Gradient sneered. "I see you. You all hate me. And I won't stay where I'm not welcome. You want me to be the bad guy? Fine."

Suddenly Gradient's fingers grew black claws, the same black overtaking the grey of his limbs. His right eye changed to a black sclera, the other seeming to tear itself open as what looked to be an animated scribble covered it entirely. His teeth sharpened, now resembling a shark's, except they were now black. Suddenly he was much more terrifying than he was half a second ago.

His grin widened as he finally said,

"Now I'm the bad guy."

Giving his tail one last, angry lash, he spread his wings and suddenly flew upwards through the ceiling, disappearing from sight.

I only stared at where he had disappeared, feeling satisfaction at his flee before a terrible, heart-sinking dread replaced it.

Because now there was a psychotic murderer on the loose.

And we had no way of stopping him.

-=+=-

Child is dead, cry about it.

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