The Serpent Inside (A Karmagisa Fanfiction)

19: Silence

It was suddenly quiet.

Takaoka's screams died out.

Karma had fallen unconscious from the stress. A mental protection of sorts, to stop him from seeing Nagisa when the gas faded away.

Iyuka was making inaudible whimpers, and shaking terribly.

Seizon was curled up on her side.

He looked around as the gas began to clear, taking a deep breath in and releasing it slowly. It had been painful. Not the fear of death or the beating he had been given- no.

It had been hearing Karma's screams that caused him the most agony.

He supposed he deserved it, after all he knew full well what he was doing, and where it may lead. Of course there was always the chance his gamble would have left him dead as expected, but what was life without risk.

The tortured corpse of Takaoka was visible now, the gas merely leaving the room clouded in a blue haze instead of blocking out sight entirely. The man was dead to right, just as planned. Boils and burns had taken hold all over his skin, patches of flesh having appeared to have melted and rolled down his arms and legs. A particularly gruesome mark was left on his forehead, the wound so deep a small speck of white skull could be seen from within it. Some blood dripped slowly from the wound, but it appeared the gas had left most of it non-existent. Takaoka's eyes had burst in on themselves, optic fluid falling from their places like salty tears. Blood and mucus streamed from his nose and into his foul mouth, where most of his teeth were shattered, chipped, or missing entirely. Blood and saliva drooled from the corner of his lips.

He was impressed. He knew the gas would torture in the most sadistic of ways, but he never had imagined this. But no matter- he had more pressing matters to attend to. He reached into the man's pocket and pulled out a set of keys belonging to a lock attached to some chains.

Yes, his first mission would have to be Karma. Iyuka was safe, merely scared and traumatized, some scrapes and bruising here and there, but she would live.

Karma thought Nagisa died.

Karma was so sure Nagisa had died that his brain shut itself off by the look of things. Some tears found their way down his pale cheeks without his warning as he approached the glass box and placed a delicate hand on it.

Scanning the edges, he found the place in the wall where the door was placed, and stepped through a hole in the building to get to it.

The door was quieter than expected. It appeared the whole world had been caught in this vacuum, as even the birds outside had stopped chirping, and the leaves no longer rustled in the wind.

He took a breath and crouched down by the girl first.

"It's alright, you're safe. You're going to take a little nap for a while, okay? And when you wake up, everything will be perfect. Like a magic spell."

The words were uttered softly, and accompanied by the pressing down on a pressure point on the small girl's body, her frame going limp in response. He moved her to lay flat on the floor instead of remaining curled up.

The key taken from Takaoka earlier was threaded into the lock which held the chain ropes around Karma together. With a single clicking noise, the redhead fell limply into the awaiting arms of his savoir.

"I've got you. I'm here."

A smile came onto Nagisa's face.

"Let's go home, Karma."