Greyson was certain that he was going to tear his gloves with how strong his grip he had on his bag was. His legs were already burning from running too much, and it felt like he was going to pass out sooner or later. The sound of fighting fortunately died down as he ran further from the lobby, which at least gave him a sense of relief and soothed his nerves. He didn't know what to do if he had to fight.

Heavy breaths left his lips, and his glasses were starting to fog up. He wanted to rest, but he also didn't want to risk being followed. Besides, he could rest in the control room later. Once he reached it, he would have nothing to worry about. No one could follow him there.

A smile formed on his face as he reached the end of the hall, and he felt his ears perk up. The moment he reached the elevator doors, he removed both gloves from his hands and placed them on the wall. Electricity surged in his veins once more, and yellow lightning sparked at his fingertips. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened.

Greyson turned around and looked at the hallway once more. No one was following him. He had nothing to worry about.

Even if there was a sickening feeling in his stomach that said otherwise.

Still, he entered the elevator and repeated the same process inside. The doors closed, and the last thing he saw were the empty halls.

"Empty." He slumped his back on the wall as the elevator descended. "No one's there."

He always knew that the elevator was slow, but it felt like an eternity passed before it dinged again and reached the basement. Just like the floors above, this one was empty as well. The only sounds he could hear were the air conditioning around him and his footsteps echoing on the metal floors. He lifted his head and looked around, pinning the areas of the walls where the cameras hid. Hopefully, Lucinda and Azul could see him walking towards the control panel.

His fingers gripped his bag once again. Everything was going to be fine. They were going to find the person responsible for this.

As soon as he reached the control room, Greyson placed both hands on the keypad. The door opened, and he let himself fall to his knees when it closed behind him. Just when he thought he was finally feeling calm, the sight of the red-lit room made his heartbeat quicken once more. Heavy breaths left his lips; he placed both hands on his ears, his fingers reaching for any strand of hair that they could grab.

"Greyson, can you hear me?"

Greyson stood up and slowly walked towards the control panel. Multiple monitors showed nothing but static, while others showed some parts of the building. He tugged one of his gloves onto his hands, then pressed one of the buttons. "M- Mom?"

"Oh, thank the Guardian." His mother sighed. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Almost everything's dead on our end here," Azul added. "The only thing we can see are the basement cameras and maybe a few things you'll be able to send. What does it look like on your end?"

He lifted his head and looked around. "Some are working, while some aren't. And another one just died again."

"Do you think you can see if the computer has some of the data from the dead ones? Maybe tell us which ones are down, too. That way, we can pinpoint where the person is heading to."

"Alright, give me a minute to enter the control panel."

He placed his ungloved hand on the keypads. In a flash, his subconscious traveled to the computer. Everything was pitch black, and he wasn't sure if he was standing on a platform or if he was floating in the void. He clapped his hands twice, making multiple static screens appear in front of him. Greyson placed an arm over his face as he flinched back from the bright light. He wished they didn't look like they were glaring at him.

He was so glad he couldn't feel his heartbeat right now, because he was certain it was beating faster than before.

"Th- there's a lot of them," he said. "Here's one from the entrance."

Greyson stretched one of his hands. As soon as the monitors stopped in front of him, he slowly clutched his left fingers and twisted it to the side. The monitor kept shifting between static and normal screens. Even so, he didn't manage to catch anything that looked strange. Multiple people were running inside, so it was hard to tell.

"See anything on your end?"

Lucinda hummed, her voice slightly echoing inside the computer. "No, everything's too crowded. Can you send more?"

He nodded and repeated the same process for a few more cameras. All of them showed nothing that could help. The monitors in the lobby showed fighting, the ones in the hallways showed people running, while others went empty before dying.

"Damn it," Azul whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this, and I hope I'm wrong."

Greyson furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"Greyson, you remember the Underworld, right?"

Even though he couldn't feel anything, he swore his blood turned cold and a shiver just traveled through his spine. His eyes widened, and one of his hands fell to his side. He did remember the Underworld, but nothing about them was pretty. They weren't exactly a criminal organization, but they also acted like one. They were responsible for most, if not all, of the serious crimes in Portia, and Viktor hypothesized that they were the ones responsible for the string of murders over the past months.

"I... I do." He nodded. "You don't- you don't think that they're the ones who did this, do you?"

"If Viktor is right, then it only makes sense that they are. First, they kill a journalist that has nearly figured them out, then they attack the organization she has connections with."

Greyson clenched his hands into fists. In front of him, one of the screens shifted from static to the recording in the hallway. He was about to let go of the recording, but something in it caught his eye.

There was a man walking. At first, he thought it was just someone from the DUO that he didn't recognize. But the moment he stepped in the middle of the screen, the feed died.

"Mom! Kuya Azul!" Greyson called as he felt a smile form on his face. "Did you see that? I think I found something!"

"I... I did..." Lucinda replied. "Greyson, can you replay the feed and pause to his face?"

Doing what he was told, Greyson reversed the recording once more and stopped just before the man could step in the middle of the screen. The man's face was slightly blurry, but he could see some of his features. Black hair, a white coat, his skin was a light shade of brown, and it seemed like he had silver eyes.

"Greyson!" A loud clang echoed inside the computer, and he assumed that Lucinda had banged her fist on the panel. "Whatever happens, don't move! Don't leave the control room, don't do anything! Stay where you are, I'm going to--"

Whatever Lucinda had to say, he didn't hear it. The microphone became fuzzy, making him cover his ears. Greyson furrowed his brows, and he reached his arms to grab a signal from her side once again. The only thing that met him, however, was an even louder and more annoying feedback.

His eyes widened as he lifted his head. He had been so focused on trying to reverse some of the cameras that he didn't even realize what had happened.

Every monitor in front of him was dead.

Greyson pulled himself out of the control panel. The moment he did, a loud gasp left his lips, and he placed a hand on his burning chest. His heart was pounding so fast that it felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Sweat fell from his forehead, clinging onto his glasses, and his breaths were quick and shallow.

"Oh, so you're not dead."

He held his breath and turned around. The door was still shut. It didn't look like it was forced, nor did the panel look broken. Everything was just like how he left it earlier.

So he had no idea why the man from the cameras was leaning on the wall.

"I was worried that you had died," he continued. "A dead kid in front of me is the last thing I want to see."

The man pushed himself from the wall and took slow steps forward. He grabbed something from his white coat's pocket, though Greyson wasn't exactly sure what it was. It looked like a touch screen phone, but at the same time it was too small to be one.

"Don't bother calling for help," he said as he placed it back in his coat. "I've managed to cut all of your signals. You can try, but no one will reach you."

Greyson wasn't sure if he could, even if he wanted to. It felt like he was inside a computer again. Every inch of his body was numb. The only thing he could do was stare at the man walking towards him.

Now that he was closer, Greyson could see his features better. Grey strands lined the top of his black, messy hair, which reminded Greyson of his own if he had given up trying to style it. His glasses made it hard to tell if the lines on his eyes were wrinkles from age, or if they were dark circles.

And the man's ears weren't pointy. He was just a human, a non-wielder. It never occurred to Greyson that some devices could cut signals and feed. He didn't even know such a thing existed.

"So." He pushed his glasses back and stopped in front of Greyson. "You're the kid that can enter devices."

Greyson didn't reply. The man's sharp silver eyes felt like they could kill him if he made a wrong move.

The man hummed and lowered himself to his height. This time, Greyson whined and took a step backward.

"And here I was worrying that I had to deal with an experienced wielder." He stood to his full height once again. He was tall, maybe even taller than Azul. Greyson didn't even reach the man's shoulders. "What's your name?"

Greyson gulped. "N- Nathaniel."

"Cute."

He didn't know what happened. One moment, he was standing up. The next, he felt air leaving his lungs. He caught a quick glimpse of the man's knee as his glasses fell on the floor. Greyson tried to reach for them, but he felt the man grabbing his collar and lifting him up, followed by his back hitting the monitors behind him.

"I was hoping you'd give me your real name," the man hissed as he inched his face forward. "But it seems like you're not interested."

Greyson placed both of his hands on the man's wrist. He wasn't wearing his glove on one of them. One wrong move, and he might accidentally touch the control panel. Dragging the two of them inside sounded like a good idea, but he didn't want to know what that device of his could do.

He gritted his teeth as he felt tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. The only thing he could do was shoot him a glare.

The man responded with a scoff. "Listen, I'll cut to the chase. You're a kid, and I don't want to hurt you more than you already are. The only thing that I ask is that you do as I say, and I'll let you go afterwards."

Gathering all of his strength, Greyson replied, "O- Or what?"

"The Underworld is powerful."

Greyson felt his heart drop at the mention of the organization. So Viktor was right.

"We're looking for something," he continued, "and it's here in the DUO. We just need you to scan the computers until we get what we need. After that, you can go run back to your parents and continue living your life as an ignorant child. If you don't do as I say, the Underworld has placed bombs around your precious little headquarters. So--"

Someone laughed.

The man's eyes widened. With both hands still on his collar, he turned around. Greyson's vision was still blurry, but he could make out Lucinda standing at the opened entrance. One of her hands was on her mouth, while the other was on her stomach as she doubled down. He couldn't remember the last time he heard her laugh that loud. It was as if what she heard was truly hilarious.

Still, the sight of her made him smile. "Mom!"

"Luce?"

Greyson turned to the man. His eyes were still wide, and his jaw slightly dropped.

Did... did Lucinda know this guy?

"Alright." She sighed. "I'm done laughing."

"Luce," the man whispered again. "Is- how long have you been standing there?"

"Depends, how long do you want me to say?" Lucinda placed both of her hands behind her and shrugged.  "I gotta say, Deimos. It's been a while since I last saw you. I didn't think you'd pursue a different career, but a comedian fits you! At least you know more jokes than yourself now."

The man, Deimos, switched his gaze from Lucinda, then to Greyson, then back to her again. "Is... is this kid..."

"I was planning to watch and see how long until you realized, but then you made that joke." She shook her head and raised an arm in the air. "Deimos, you're cute, but I don't condone child abuse in this household. Not to mention that you ruined a perfectly good entrance in my head."

Greyson furrowed his brows. Was she flirting with him?

Before he could think more, he felt himself falling down, and his back hit the floor. Even though his body was still aching, he wasted no time in grabbing his glasses and running back to his mother. Lucinda wrapped her free arm around his shoulder. He didn't see it earlier, but Lucinda wasn't wearing her gloves, and blood fell down her arms. The sight of it made him wince, but he knew it was the only way she could wield her abilities.

"I'm sorry I'm late." She turned to him and smiled. "I had to find someone else who can access the elevator. How are you?"

"I- I'm alright." He placed his hands on her braid as he felt his ears drop down. "M- Mom, what's going on? Who is he?"

"Greyson." Lucinda clenched her hands into fists. The blood in her arms trailed upwards, and he already knew that there was nothing he could do to change her mind. "I need you to do something."

"What is it?"

"I need you to go up and don't look back."

"But--"

"Someone's waiting for you in the elevator." She placed a hand on his head and patted it twice. "Go, Sweetheart. I'll be fine."

He didn't want to leave her alone, especially since he knew that, like him, she wasn't much of a fighter. But at the same time, he also knew he couldn't do anything. He would just drag his mother down if he stayed.

He was hesitant, but Greyson turned around and ran out of the control room.

And so it begins. That's all I have to say because the next chapter is a fun one.