Nakiea's feet touched the ground, landing directly on what could have been concrete flooring. Puddles littered the ground, creating a never ending echo throughout the entire underground world he now stood within. It was reasonably cooler despite the lack of a working cooling system, minus the air vents that circulated the oxygen down below needed to breathe comfortably. The worst, however, was the never ending darkness that stretched out before him. Even putting his hand in front of his face had failed to be seen within the shadows, that alone had fear grasping tightly onto Nakiea. He hated the darkness and not knowing what awaited him within the shadows. 

"Persus!?" 

Calling out into the darkness only created more echoes, Nakiea's own voice being reverberated around him from every direction. It was an extremely eerie feeling that made his skin crawl with goosebumps and had the hair raising up on his arms. He shivered in an attempt to rid himself of the unsettling feeling, but to his dismay, he was finding out that it only made everything so much worse. 

"Persus, where are you!?" 

"I'm right here, now stop shouting and keep your voice down. We don't know what's down here." 

Nakiea flinched the moment a bright light was aimed directly into his face, blinding him with an unrelenting white light momentarily. He instinctively threw up one arm, hoping it would shield his eyes from the bright flashlight shining in his face. Thankfully, it did help a little, but he did wish that Persus would lower it ever so slightly. It would have been more helpful in him seeing where he was going, not walking into the white light shining on him. 

"I can see that. . . or I would, if the light wasn't shining directly in my face." 

"Oh, sorry about that." 

Even as Persus apologized and lowered the flashlight enough to stop blinding him, Nakiea could still hear the annoying amusement lingering within Persus's voice. He was certain if he wasn't seeing bright spots within his vision, he would be seeing that very amusement mimicked directly upon his raven haired companion's face. 

Nakiea really wanted to say something about the attitude Persus was presenting towards him, snap back with some snarky remark of his own, but he figured it best not to anger the man that was currently protecting him in a world he didn't know. 

"Yeah. . . you wouldn't happen to have another one of those lights on you, would you?" 

As his eyes began to finally adjust to the new lighting around him, Nakiea could just make out Persus shaking his head slowly. 

"Sorry, this is the only I have right now. Stay close to me and keep an eye out though, I'm sure there's another one laying around somewhere in the bunker." 

Scrubbing at his eyes while Persus turned away from him and aimed the light down the tunnel, Nakiea wondered what was down there with them. Most of all, he was scared of what they would find once they made it through the tunnel. . . or what they wouldn't find. 

Nakiea quickly followed after Persus after the male turned away from him and began walking deeper within the tunnel. Even as they walked, their gentle footsteps echoed within the unnerving silence, making him wish the two of them could just float about. It would have made getting around more quiet far more easier. There would be less of a chance they would get detected by some unwanted person, or worse, some unwanted Sanctum officer that may have been down there. 

However, if anything was down there with them, they would have already been heard by that point. 

The walls of the tunnel that surrounded them were made of a thick concrete from what Nakiea could see within the flashlights bright beam. He could see them being made thick to withstand the pressure of the earth that sat upon the outside of the tunnel system. Nakiea thought that it went on forever, the tunnel never ending and only a means of travel for those avoiding Sanctum above. Yet, at the same time, it could have been a simple illusion created by both the darkness and the small area that the flashlight was able to light up around them. 

"So, what's your story? I mean, you just popped out of nowhere earlier and people just don't do that. They don't appear out of thin air and drop down on top of people like you did." 

Turning his attention from the tunnel they were walking through and onto Persus, Nakiea felt a sudden bout of hesitancy race throughout him. He wasn't certain if it was a good idea to explain how he ended up falling out of thin air like he did. He didn't even understand how he had gotten to where he was himself, he had only allowed his curiosity to get the better of him. 

One minute he was investigating the mirrors within the Hall of Mirrors back home, next thing he knew, he was falling on top of Persus and using him as a landing pad. 

 How did one explain that without sounding absolutely insane? Nakiea didn't want his only possible friend to abandon him just because he thought he'd lost his mind. 

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you what happened. Can't we just stick with the whole falling explanation, I mean, it's not too far off." 

Nakiea looked away, not wanting to see the way Persus would have been looking at him. He didn't want to see the 'are you crazy' look that he was certain Persus was giving him by now. 

"Wouldn't believe you? Try me, we have all the time in the world for you tell stories of insanity to me." 

Remaining silent and rather surprised he used the word 'insanity' like he had read his mind, Nakiea busied himself instead with looking around the tunnel they were continuing through.

 Regardless, he was still contemplating on telling Persus his story just so he would leave him be about it. At the same time, he didn't want his only friend and the only person he could trust believing that he was completely insane. That wasn't the case at all, despite the process of him getting there seeming as such. 

"Nakiea?" 

A sigh left the chocolate brown haired male's lips, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly as if he had was giving up to defeat. Nakiea knew Persus wouldn't leave it be, not until he explained himself in full. 

Reaching out, Nakiea gently grasped Persus by the upper arm and stopped him from continuing forward. He wanted to make sure he had the man's full attention when he did explain what was going on. So, he turned and faced his raven haired companion, worry and a sense of nervousness swirling deep within the depths of his mossy green orbs. 

Nakiea could see the curiosity in Persus's midnight gaze, it was so obvious his appearing out of nowhere had been on his mind the entire time they had been together. Nakiea didn't blame him either, not when he himself would have been curious as well. It wasn't every day that someone fell out of the air and landed directly on top of you, ruining any plans you may have had that evening. 

"You have to promise me you won't leave me alone if I tell you what happened." 

"Leave you? Why would I leave a-" 

"Promise me Persus. You're all I have here in this world and I can't lose you because my truth sounds absolutely insane. I'd never survive here if you do." 

There was a moment of silence that lingered between the two males, their eyes locked on one another as if they were having a silent conversation. 

Nakiea watched the confusion drift across Persus's midnight black gaze. However, it was the reassurance that he was looking for within those mesmerizing eyes staring right back at him.

Persus must have realized the full extent of his younger companion's distress, because he placed his free hand upon his shoulder and became serious within a matter of seconds. 

"Nakiea, I may come off as an ass at some points, but I promise you that no matter how crazy you sound, I'm not going to leave you." 

"Okay. . ." 

Nakiea nodded a tiny nod, his mossy gaze dropping down to the floor as he worked through the nerves that had built up within him. Even though Persus had just promised him that he would never leave, he still barely knew the man and what he was capable of. He barely knew what was going on in the world or the kind of person his companion truly was. For all he knew, Persus could just up and leave him at any second without warning, could break the promise he had just given him. 

Even through all his worrying, Nakiea still knew that Persus was the only person he knew in that world. He was the only that he could lean on and was going to have to put some form of trust in the man if he was ever going to survive and find a way home. 

"I'm not from here-" 

"Okay, most people aren't. That still doesn't-" 

"No, you don't get it. I'm not from this world, period. I'm from a different world." 

Looking up from the ground, Nakiea was practically begging with eyes for Persus to be somewhat understanding no matter how confused the male may have looked right now. 

"I'm from a more peaceful world, one where machines are rarely ever used. I saw your world through a mirror in-" 

A high pitched scream coming from the direction they had been initially walking in echoed through the tunnels like a haunting wind blowing through the trees back home. However, the scream was followed closely by quickened footsteps and the clanking of metal on concrete. Both sounds were coming in their direction at a rather quick pace, drawing both Nakiea and Persus's attention from one another and the conversation that had just been having. 

"What in the world was that?" 

Nakiea questioned, despite not wanting to find out exactly what it was that raced towards them in the darkness. 

"It's sounds like one our group mates, Ayla. Ayla!" 

Persus had completely disregarded Nakiea's question upon the realization of who the familiar scream was coming from. He removed his hand from the younger male's shoulder and took a step towards the darkness as if it would help him see a little more. 

"Persus! Help!" 

The woman's voice was filled with unbridled terror and anyone would have been able to tell she had been crying as she ran away from whatever was after her. She was breathless and panic raged deep within her as she rushed towards where Persus had been calling out to her from. However, as she got closer to them, so did the sound of whatever metallic being was rushing towards her. The sounds alone were so ear piercingly terrifying, a shared glance between Nakiea and Persus was enough to confirm to both males that neither of them wanted to find out what was on the other end of all that noise. 

"Persus! Persus, please! Pers-" 

It was in that very moment, everything around them seemed to slow down to an absolute crawl. Everyone was moving in slow motion as their attention turned towards the woman calling out for her friend. 

The woman emerged from the darkness, terror filling her eyes as streams of crimson tears trailed down her cheeks. It was obvious she had been fighting off whatever was chasing her for quite some time now. Crimson stains mingled with that of a thing black substance upon her clothing, creating this dark diluted mess all over her. 

To Nakiea and Persus, they believed it must have been some form of oil or grease from whatever was behind her, the substances mixing with her own blood that was splatter upon her being. 

"Ayla! This way!" 

There was no use in being quiet anymore, not when the silence they had been trying to keep had been broken by terror filled screams and the sound of stamping feet as the woman ran in their direction. 

Ayla's eyes met with Persus's midnight black ones as she finally emerged fully from the shadows of the tunnel. 

However, she didn't make it very far. 

Only making it two steps towards Nakiea and Persus, a curved blade mimicking that of a guillotine was rammed into her. It quickly protruded from her abdomen, spilling crimson all over the nearby walls and floor as the machine that owned the weapon lifted the young woman up off the ground.  

Deep crimson bubbled up from within her throat, pouring passed her lips and down her chin. The fear that once coveted its sanctuary within her eyes, was now vanishing at lightspeed as death began to take hold of her. 

"R-R-Run Per-Persus." 

Nakiea and Persus could only watch in horror, frozen to the spots they stood as the bladed appendage tossed Ayla's body to the side. She hit the wall with a loud crack, only to fall and hit the concrete floor with a sickening thud like some ragdoll being disposed of. Her lifeless eyes stared directly at the two petrified males, watching them from beyond her final resting place within the stone tunnels. 

Mossy green and midnight black eyes shot towards the shadows once more as the clanking of metal resumed suddenly. Within seconds, the beast of a machine that had taken the life of an innocent young woman, now stood within full view of both males. 

Glowing red eyes pierced through the darkness as the thin, snake-like body emerged from the tunnels in the distance. Thin, yet powerful legs were attached to the lower portion of the snake-like torso. They appeared to be built with more of a spring action mechanism, making them quicker and allowing them to catch their prey much faster than if it was used with just speed. The jumping power those legs must have had would have been absolute insane with how the legs were built. 

However, it wasn't the legs that were the problem. 

Two arms protruded from the torsos upper half. The right side appearing much like a normal robotic arm. The only disconcerting portion of the right arm was the long pointed, knife-like fingers that protruded from the hands itself. Those alone could easily claw someone to death or just as easily pierce the heart for a quick and nearly painless end. 

Even that alone wasn't the worst of the machine. 

What everyone had to watch out for was the bladed left arm. It was the very same blade that took Ayla out just seconds before and now her crimson lifeforce dripped down the sharpened appendage. 

The blade itself didn't even begin till it hit the machine's elbow joints, creating a large crescent moon shape to the unneeded weaponry. Both ends came to a deadly sharpened point, making for quick work of its enemy from either the front or back. The machine before them had undoubtedly been created to hunt and eliminate anyone that may be within its path, regardless of any given targets. It was built for both speed and power, two things once combined, became a difficult combo to both avoid and stop. 

While Nakiea's eyes were widely locked on the large, monstrous machine, Persus couldn't pull his eyes away from where Ayla now lay. He was shaking with absolute rage, the anger rising deep within him with every second that seemed to slip by them. The rage he was feeling had begun to make its way across his face at the same time he pulled the gun he carried free from its holster at his side. Without a second thought, Persus clicked off the safety and began unloading the entire magazine into the machine stalking towards them. 

"DIE YOU BASTARD!" 

Persus yelled, pure anger and rage fueling his actions. 

Nakiea flinched at the first initial explosion of the gun, his hands flying up to cover his ears. Despite doing so, he could still hear the bullets hitting the metal that made up the machine and bouncing off of it as if they were no more than tiny pebbles being thrown at it. Persus's attempts at injuring or taking down the mechanical beast was failing in so many ways. 

Needless to say, despite the efforts at fighting the machine, they needed to get out of there before they ended up like Ayla. Their only chance of survival was to get back up the ladder and run as long and as far as their legs could carry them. 

"Persus, we have to go!" 

Nakiea yelled over the gunfire, his terrified gaze turning to his enraged companion. 

As his eyes landed upon Persus's face, his heart nearly broke into a million pieces instantly. Pain, anger, unadulterated rage, it was all found upon his raven haired companion's face. 

Reaching over and resting both hands upon Persus's arms, Nakiea attempted to get the male's attention off of the machine. Thankfully, his simple touch distracted him long enough to spare Nakiea a single quizzical glance of his own. It was enough for the younger male to convey the sane thing to do and get out of those tunnels. 

"We have to go, now. If not, we're going to be next. Don't let her death be in vain, survive for your friend." 

Persus stared at Nakiea as if he wasn't really understanding what was being said to him. However, it was quite the opposite really. He understood very well what needed to be done, his emotions were just stopping him from doing the rational thing. 

His midnight black orbs moved towards Ayla and where her body lay, still and lifeless. There was no denying she had been fighting alone down there for quite some time, probably ever since the scouting party had left to find supplies. Persus regretted not taking her along with, but there was also no time for him to feel such regrets, not when their mechanical enemy was moving towards them. 

For a split second, Persus gaze the hunting machine a single side glance as if contemplating what to do and where to go. 

"Dammit-" 

Persus stated,  turning back towards Nakiea; 

"Stay close to me." 

There was no waiting for an answer, let alone giving Nakiea a chance to even respond to what was said. Instead, Persus took hold of the younger male's hand with his free one, turned and began running back towards the ladder they had climbed down. If they were able to once more make it to the surface and run back towards the small town, just maybe they could find a place to hold up and lay low until the hunter bot gave up on them. 

There was but a single problem with that plan. Metallic footsteps clanked and crashed behind them, echoing like thunder within their ears. The hunter bot was going to be on them every step of the way. There was no guarantee they would make it back to the desolated city, their chances of escape were no more than minimal.