Chapter Text
You didn't die in car crash, but you did end up in the N109 zone.
Staggered away from your surprisingly okay car, you looked around to see an abandoned graveyard. Blinking your dizziness away, you locked your car ("I'll come back for you, baby," you said to the old car that had been with you for ages), and stepped towards the nearest structure.
Well, it... wasn't a good idea to go to a place like that, but you had to cross it anyway to go to the centre of the zone. There should be a charger for your dead phone or something there, right?
But by the broken cathedral and its still working bell, two figures in pointed masks caught you and started talking about the Aether Core.
Your (frankly strange) first reaction was laughter.
The Mask Boys went silent.
"Uh, sorry. I don't know what you're talking about, but I've been through quite a lot today my brain is a bit cuckoo," you told them politely.
They looked at each other.
("Weren't we informed that the Aether Core informant would be here, kidnapped?"
"Is this not her? This should be. That informant is extremely reliable.")
Then, another figure joined, jumping from the front of the bell that menacingly tolled in the crushed church's tower.
He...
He could change into red mist.
What a scary looking Evol.
You trembled as the figure came closer, stepping on a pair of Oxford.
But then you looked him in the eye, his fingers on your chin, and his right eye seemed to... glow?
"Tell me, what do you desire?" he passively gazed at you.
Discomfort swirled inside of you before you muttered, "Uh... a cottagecore life."
There was another silent, though the Mask Boys seemed to be less surprised than the Oxford Shoes because their shoulders just slumped.
"No. Really," hummed the Oxford Shoes White Hair (was that his real hair?), "What do you truly desire?"
You couldn't help but to look at his eye again, "With... pets..."
Oxford Shoes squinted.
You gulped, "A cottagecore life with pets."
He frowned.
"And a small garden with herbs."
He half-shoved you to the ground and glared menacingly at the Mask Boys, "Are you two sure the information is... correct?"
"We're very, very sure, boss," they near-squeaked.
So Oxford Shoes returned to you, "And you don't fucking know anything about Aether Core?"
He was... growling. Like those abusive but painted as hot male protagonists in confusing romance books you saw often on the bookstores in Linkon City.
"Please don't swear," you chuckled sheepishly.
Oxford Shoes' eyebrows raised.
"But I really don't. I... all I have on me is a dead phone and a wallet with twenty bucks."
Oxford Shoes sighed...
... But then he touched you, on the neck, and a little down, making you grabbed his wrist in attempt to pull him away.
Then he hummed and smirked, "So you do have an Aether Core with you."
You didn't like that smile, "Um... no, I really don't." Was he talking about, like, secret computer chip? A digital processing core?
"Doesn't matter, we'll figure it out," he released his hand off you.
You slumped to the ground but it didn't feel too painful.
If anything, you felt comfortably sleepy...
Well, you might die. This was N109 Zone, after all.
But at least Oxford Shoes was very gorgeous, albeit in an intimidating sort of way, so you let heaviness of your eyelids claimed you.