Quiet.

It was quiet in the room he had been sitting in.

The walls were a bland shade of white, along with the ceiling and the floor. There were no windows, no doors, no lights even—just the plain white color that he had familiarized himself with for the past three hours. Or, what have seemed to be three hours. The silence was killing him—but he still chose not to make any action, any remark, just simply anything in general.

His attire was a formal white suit, a black tie, and some nice dress shoes. His hair was shaggy and drooped over his eyes, and he was pretty sure that his nails somehow managed to become the color black—peculiar. His lips were chapped and cracked like they normally were, and his hands felt, well, not ashy—despite the fact he had not put on lotion for the past few months. How embarrassing.

He stood up, stretching. Truly he had no plan devised to get out of this room, and quite frankly he didn't think he could break out so easily. Purple sparks emitting from his hand, he went to take a quick punch at the wall. It was hard, a material that was practically invincible. He released, the purple sparks charging at the wall for him.

Nothing—not even a dent.

He withdrew, noticing his own blood staining the wall. His knuckles were bleeding, he could see his bone. He hissed, scrunching his nose and turning around. His suit began to get stained with his own blood as he ripped off a portion of his sleeve and wrapped it around his injured hand. He chose to heal it later, he felt like he was onto something.

"There must be a way out of here," Seto figured, gazing around. "Analyzation, on."

He heard a quiet swoosh, then watched as his own vision enhance. Everything that was white had a slight purple tint to it. Everything was peculiar to say the least; he could perfectly use his Analyzation here, but outside in the "normal world," it was quite the challenge to activate and deactivate. He shook his head and focused, trying to find something, just something that he can use as a method of escape.

He saw now the walls were made of bedrock, as well as the floor. The ceiling was made up of more weaker material. Seto figured that bedrock was heavy, and it would cause the room's structure to collapse under the pressure. Outside the room was a hallway, but beyond that hallway was something Seto couldn't see.

He gazed towards the ceiling, quietly commanding, "Burn."

Within the blink of an eye, the ceiling was engulfed in purple flames. Seto dodged the falling debris, then quickly jumped out of the room. He levitated over the ceiling, watching it collapse. The room followed—falling through the floor and disappear into what seemed to be an endless black pit. Seto gulped, floating down  and breaking a hole through another ceiling. Before he had fell through, he noticed the world around him was just pitch black. It was almost as if he was in a game, a server perhaps. He was breaking the limitations of the map. He shook his head and fell down into the hallway.

Seto face forward. The hallway looked endless. There were no door, no windows, just a bedrock that was a shade of white. If he had decided to travel down the hallway, there would be no end to it—he knew it was pointless.

"So, you've managed to escape once you realized what was going on—took you long enough, Prince," a voice behind him sneered. Seto turned around. Impulsively, the purple flames surrounded him, almost like a shield, or possibly armor. He couldn't see through the flames, but he could tell there was another Sorcerer standing before him.

"Don't get so feisty," the same voice cooed. Seto  gulped, now beginning to sense the overwhelming power. Why must this happen to him, out of all days?

"Who are you?" Seto let the flames collapse and disappear. He turned to see a boy, almost about the same age as him, standing there with a calm composure.

He was adorned in the same outfit as Seto; a white suit, a black tie, and polished shoes. His suit was clean, only a few rips here and there. The male's hair was brown, and his eyes were a familiar shade of blue. His height was the same as Seto's, and a smile stretched across his tanned face. Blood dripped from his thin lips, almost hungrily perhaps.

"You should remember me," he replied. "I don't like it when those who had known me forget me."

"If I did know who you were, I wouldn't be asking these questions," Seto snapped, his right arm beginning to become engulfed in purple flames. The white sleeve was burning, eventually revealing Seto's pale skin. "Again, I ask, who are you?"

He imitated Seto's action. The male's left arm began to be engulfed in blue flames, his sleeve burning to reveal an arrangement of stitches and dried blood. Seto gulped, the other male sneered. Were they really going to fight?

In his coarse voice, the other male replied, "If you wanna start a fight, you better throw the first punch, make it a good one."

With that, both males swung at each other's heads.

***

"He's not dead," Sub signed to the others, wiping his eyes. "Ethan isn't dead."

"How do you know?" Zek muttered with concern. His raven hair drooped over his eyes.

"His body reacts to whatever Seto is doing, and it seems right now Seto is fighting someone, or possibly something, stronger than he is," Sub explained. "Ethan's just an implant that Headmaster Hayes put into Seto, after all."

Brice shook his head, "Who do you think he's fighting? It couldn't possibly be his father."

Brice watched Ethan's breathing patterns, quick and fast. His hand occasionally twitched, and his eyes seemed to be squeezed shut, almost as if he was bearing a nightmare. Sub brushed his hand over Ethan's forehead. "He's running a fever, get me a cold towel."

Zek was the first to stand up and walk to the sink. Brice repeated his question, "Do you know who Seto's fighting?"

"Our contract was broken by Headmaster Hayes, I can't check," Sub shook his head. "I also doubt that Seto's fighting his father, it's too early for that."

"Fine, then do you know any Sorcerers that are more powerful than Seto?" Brice questioned.

"Isaac might know, go ask him," Sub signed. Brice cringed.

"Isaac? Are you sure I can ask him?" Brice gulped. "He's not doing so well, he's still hooked up to those oxygen tanks. Why don't you go ask him?"

"Go ask him." Sub was stern. Brice shook his head, got up, and went to leave the room.

Brice hadn't talked to Isaac in a couple of days, weeks perhaps. The last time he saw witness to that purple haired male was when Ethan first collapsed. Brice remembered that day as the first time fear was truly instilled in his mind.

Fear for Seto's life.

Isaac was slowly dying, everyone had known that. With his Eye Ability to see death dates came a series of health problems—the biggest being a problem in Isaac's lungs. He recalled Isaac mentioning that he had COPD, or in other words Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It was hard for him to breathe, especially with the pains in his chest. The only treatment he took was medication, but now he was on strict rest with an oxygen mask, and tank, by his side.

Brice made his way down the hall in a search for Isaac's room. The base was large, being four stories high and housing many people. He didn't remember where Isaac's room was, but he assumed that it was probably near the entrance of the base. Isaac was always the type who had tried to protect people, rather than hurt them. It was such a shame that there was a "burden" on him.

Brice hastened his pace, eventually reaching the exit to the outside world—the forest where the base hid to be specific. Just as he predicted, Isaac's room was to the right; it was labeled ISAAC after all. Brice gulped, gathering his courage as he walked up to the door. It was slightly open, there was a crack and Brice could peak in. Holding his breath, he took a look. Isaac appeared to be talking to someone.

"There's no point of you being here," he muttered, frowning. "You're not going to convince me to do anything."

"But really Isaac, do you want to stay in this dumpy base with all of these Hybrids?" Brice recognized that voice anywhere—Dawn.

"I do want to stay here, and as I said earlier, get out."

"Don't you wish to have your old life back? Don't you wish that Surok, Ken—all of you friends were still alive? Or maybe you could have played Cards Against Humanity with them one last time?" Brice could see Dawn inching closer to his bed. Isaac shook his head again.

"I—" he was swiftly cut off by Dawn continuing to plead.

"I remember when the Headmaster killed all your friends—their screams of terror was truly hilarious. They tried to protect each other like pathetic fools, but alas they couldn't keep up. They got arrested and had a nice execution in the center of town—tortured and killed by Headmaster Hayes himself. They even worried about you and how would you react to this news, it was so posh."

Isaac gripped his bedsheets. Brice could hear the heart monitor racing—Isaac's own anger. Brice wanted to enter the room, but it was too early for that. Isaac could handle these things, right?

"If you help me take down this base, these pathetic Hybrids that call themselves Humans, I'll tell Seto to revive all your friends and family, I'll even tell him to cure your little disease. Doesn't that sound like quite the deal?"

"It's incurable, I'll die anyway if I do what you request. There's no changing it," Isaac snapped.

"With Seto's new profound power under the Headmaster's training, anything is possible, darling. You don't have any choice now, Isaac. You're crippling, so weak and fragile. I know what you want; I know you don't want to hold this burden and die off, just like everybody else. You want to do something important in your life, and have your friends always by your side, you act like such a Hybrid sometimes."

Isaac bit his lip, head tilted down and facing towards the floor tiles. Gray.

"What do you say, Isaac? I know you are very tempted by this deal, I can see it in your eyes. Would you like to join back to our side? There's no consequences for you, I'll explain everything to Seto and Headmaster Hayes. If we both work together, you'll be praised, and you shall take witness to no more pain."

"I—" his voice trailed off, "I decline."

Dawn gritted her teeth, beginning to become impatient, "Isaac, you don't have any choice. Don't you see? I told you all this information, and if you decline then I'll have to kill you. Now, do you agree, Isaac?"

"I told you," Isaac's hands were glowing purple. "I said no!"

Brice backed away from the door, feeling a shift in power. A light purple blast of smoke emitted from the room, followed by a shade of pink. Brice kicked the door open, an electricity ball clenched in his shaking fist. He wheezed, the smoke being too thick. He wasn't able to see anything.

"Isaac!" Brice called out, coughing. "Isaac!"

There was no response.

"What's going on?" Kyle came running.

"It's Dawn—she did something!" Brice shouted. Kyle nodded, pushing Brice aside.

A powerful wind gust emitted from the fuchsia haired male. The smoke cleared. Brice took another peak into the room.

Isaac was gone, and so was Dawn.