Gears grinding.

Chimes whistling.

Machines hissing.

These are all sounds she was familiar with. There were times when she had to sit still in silence, just listening to them.

Her eyes were covered. Her limbs were tied. All she could do is listen. Listen and count. Count the seconds as they tick by.

Seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to hours... But she had lost track of it days ago.

Then, she heard footsteps approaching.

"How fate likes to toy with children like you."

She recognized that voice. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She closed it again.

"You gave us quite a bit of trouble, you know. Well, that's all in the past. All that matters is that we have you now."

Something above her was shifting. She could hear its whirs getting louder and louder before finally locking in place behind her.

"Make youself comfortable. You're going to be here a while."

Something happened. Something loud. She couldn't tell what it was. Her ears were filled by a strained voice. It was screaming, crying.

It was hers.

~~~~~

Mizel sat in the air, staring blankly out the window. He hadn't played much of a role in the recent events and it was starting to get to him. Especially since that last message.

They had been working so hard for so long. Did it all just went to waste?

It couldn't have. He wouldn't let it. He wouldn't let her give up either.

A sigh escaped his lips as his eyes darted over to his current caretaker. He was barely asleep. His breathing was ragged and the slightest sound could wake him.

Just next to him was a desk with a picture frame standing. It was them from four years ago, that day on the beach. That was the day they finally got his pieces back together. He was, once again, placed into the Killer Droid, before the siblings helped him create his own body the day after.

The blonde girl had a large smile on her face. Everything was perfect.

Was.

If only she wasn't the one to take Seredy away. If only she hadn't dug deeper. If only she hadn't gotten so much information.

Maybe she would be right here with them now.

~~~~~

"How much longer are we supposed to stay here?!"

"Asta! Calm down!"

"Like hell I will!"

"Getting angry won't do anything! And nee-san's-"

"I'm fine, San. Don't worry about me."

"Damnit, Fran! You should be the angriest one out of all of us! You're the one they kept experimenting on!"

"Thank you for your concerns, both of you, but I'm really fine. I'd rather it be me than the two of you..."

"Nee-san..."

"Fran..." The boy clenched his fists. "Damnit... Damnit!!" He kicked a ball towards the wall. What none of them expected was for it to create such a large hole. Open sky was right by their side.

Alarms rang out from all over. They know they're in danger. Punishments for defiance was bad enough as it was, they did not need to know the consequences for attempted escape.

So they didn't attempt. They will escape.

They jumped out of the building and hopped from tree to tree. The forest seemed endless and they weren't able to find an exit at all. There were times when they'd take a break, but couldn't rest for more than a minute as footsteps of others seem to be catching up.

"How do they keep finding us?!" Asta growled.

"These collars probably have tracking devices."

"What?!"

"Keep your voice down!" San hissed. "Yours probably broke because you were able to use your ability, right? Nee-san and I on the other hand..."

"We need to take them off as soon as possible." Fran tried to pull on them as she ran, but it was no use. San had no luck either. "Come on...!"

"Need some help?" The appearance of an LBX made the trio jump. A chuckle could be heard. "Don't worry, I'm on your side. My name is Eva. I'm part of a group called Seekers."

"Seekers?" San blinked. "Isn't that the group that stopped the Mizel incident four years ago? The one Yamano Ban led?"

"That's right. I'm flattered that you've heard of us."

"Hey! How can we trust that you're really a Seeker and not a World Saber member?!" Asta interjected.

"Hm... That's a bit tricky at the moment. If things went along with my original plan, I could've just snuck the three of you away and no one would notice until tomorrow. But you just had to break the wall, didn't you?"

"Wha- You mean-"

"I was the one who broke your collar, yes. I was about to break the ones for the other two too, but all that happened."

Asta's was flushed pink. "Well... How was I supposed to know?!"

"Oh, nevermind. I can do it just as easily from here. Excuse me." The LBX held a hand out and touched Fran's and San's collars respectively. Both devices blinked off and fell to the ground, left behind as they continued to run. "Now, follow my exact instructions. I promise I'll get you out of here, and the World Sabers will never lay a finger on any of you ever again."

And she did just that. Evangeline Hope Avalstone saved them that day. The World Sabers had never managed to find them, and they still haven't either.

The three sat in their shared room, staring down at an orb before them. It glowed purple and a face appeared. The boy was quite shocked to see them.

"The magnet kids?"

"Itan Kyouji." Fran spoke, her tone deeper than usual. "Eva-san has been captured."

"Really?" He continued to chew on his broken lollipop. "That sure took a while. The bosses must be getting old."

"Eva-san told us not to act if she was captured. She doesn't want the rest of the Seekers to put themselves in danger either." San stated. "What should we do?"

He rolled his eyes. "Knowing how much friendship, rainbows, and butterflies mean to those people, they'd probably go out and try to find her anyway. Even if it means charging in blindly without knowing why all this happened."

Asta leaned back on a table's leg. "Does that mean you know something the rest of us don't?"

"Of course. After all," A devious smirk appeared on his lips. "I'm the one who got her into this mess."

~~~~~~~~~~

Breakout: An escape from confinement