(Elizabeth) Veil Delirium.

  Two men and one woman id on the warm sand, as the air freezed and shriveled their bodies. Some of them sneezing and coughing from the sudden change in air temperature, everyone cuddled their arms around their bodies to warm themselves.

  But that wasn’t the issue. One of the men sprung around like an inftable tube man, trying to fight and spur his way out.

  (Jack) No! No! NO!! Don’t make me go through that again!

  (Miles) Just shut up and let her heal you! Besides, you're our driver, and Hope won’t reach you, meaning you have to go through this healing.

  (Jack) I don’t care you dumb bastard—AH!!

  Three clouds assaulted through Jack’s, Hope’s, and Stan’s mouths, barreling their way toward their injuries from the inside. Feeling the cloud scrape around his lungs and heart, it didn’t puncture any damage, but yet…

  He felt his insides tear each other apart as if someone was doing surgery on him without anesthesia.

  Being held down by Luna and Miles, he fpped his arms and legs around while tears sprung out from his eyes. Seeing his hirious dispy, everyone giggled, as even Luke let out a shy snort despite lying on a donkey.

  Like being summoned from the dead, Hope’s entire body twitched like a computer glitch.

  (Hope) AAAH!!

  Rolling around the sand, the pain clenched and soared through her body like she was being struck by lightning. Letting the endless grains of sand fill every gap of clothing within her body, she couldn’t shake it off, or rather she chose not to.

  Because in the end, she rather deal with the sand than the hellish pain of Elizabeth’s ‘healing’.

  Tearing out a scream, Luna pointed out her finger and began to cutely ugh. Closing her eyes, simmering her brass voice to be repced with cute shingles, it was enough for everyone to be occupied with her. Even though she held down Jack, she had him pinned with just her other hand.

  Swiping away a sniffle from her nose, she opened her eyes and noticed everyone blushing at her, except for Pacifica.

  (Luna) What? What’s so funny?

  (Miles) You ughed again…

  (Luna) What is it with my ugh? You got a problem with it?

  (Luke) There’s no problem with it. We all think it’s cute…

  (Luna) What!?

  As Luna blushed, the pain that rushed throughout Hope’s body soon ceased. Coughing out batches upon batches of saliva from her mouth, she sluggishly began to get up, seeing everyone injured yet happy.

  Simir to Hope, Stan jolted upward. Since his wounds were the worst out of everyone, he screamed so loud that he began tearing his vocals with his hellish scream.

  (Stan) AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

  Pacifica ran toward him and stretched out her hands outward so she could hug him. Wrapping around his back, she pced her chin on his shoulder, while he continued to scream into the cold night air.

  (Pacifica) Pipe down, boy…

  Hope made her way to Stan, her body already healed from Elizabeth’s hellish ‘healing’ subpower. Pcing her hands on Stan’s other shoulder, a yellowish light flowed into his body, causing him to finally relinquish his screams. The more the light glowed in the desert air, the more Stan began to close his eyes, as he exhausted his vocals as well as his body.

  Going back to sleep again, he id the back of his head on the sand, and Hope saw…

  He was missing his right hand.

  If he kept his cut-off hand with him, then Hope would’ve pced it onto the injured area and healed it. Like putting on a stitch, she would’ve made sure Stan had two hands … instead of one. During the explosion, Stan had lost his right hand, meaning that there was no way to retrieve it.

  And because she bnked out before the explosion, she didn’t know how he got that injury, but…

  She puffed up her cheeks and turned her head away.

  (Hope’s thoughts) Again!? Argh!

  The hellish torment soon stopped for Jack too, as his body loosened under the bed of sand. Even though Miles was the only one who held him down, since Luna began arguing with Luke with a pinkish-red face, Jack blinked twice before turning to him.

  (Jack) I hope you get Veil Deliriumed next…

  (Miles) Don’t tell me you're butthurt.

  As the two men talked, Luna grabbed Luke by the colr and had her face close to his, her cheeks continuing to burn a pinkish red. Her cheeks were slightly puffed, a couple of veins spurred and purred on both sides of her temples.

  Luke couldn’t move his head away even if he tried, so he let himself be swept by Luna’s motion.

  (Luna) Don’t call me cute!

  (Luke) I’m sorry, okay …

  (Luna) I-I’m serious! I am not cute! I’m not!

  (David) ATTENTION!!

  All of their convos paused or rather dissipated like sand trickling into the ocean’s waves. Being in the center of everybody, his body shivered once from the dreaded freezing temperature, before he cracked his knuckles.

  Everyone who listened gulped, forcing their ball of saliva down their throat and into their stomach. Slowing the air from exiting and entering their nostrils, they kept it stationed inside their noses.

  (David) If you’re done acting like kids, then I suggest leaving now! I don’t want to be here when we all get hypothermia!

  They all stood up from the sand, shaking it off by kicking their boots in front of them.

  Having two vans in tow, Luke and The Dark Angels headed toward the brown van near the destroyed bridge. Bringing Pacifica, Stan, and Maxine along, they traveled in a group as they let the sand dig deep into their shoes and boots.

  While David brought along the leftovers, which were Loraine, Elizabeth, Jenny, Fred, Gary, and Diego. With Iris still cooped in the back, they also brought along two extra bodies with them…

  Luke’s group reached the brown van, with Jack opening the door to the driver's side. Followed by Miles opening the passenger side, and Luna opening the set of back doors, The Dark Angels and Pacifica and Stan entered into the old brown van.

  And they brought along the green donkey too.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I hope she doesn’t poop…

  David opened up the passenger door, pcing the exhausted Loraine onto the passenger. As the others opened the back doors, everyone piled in, allowing the soles of their boots to cnk and thud the metal below.

  In unison, the sets of back doors for both vans closed, sealing it shut with a lock. From there, the two vans rode together due North, plowing thousands upon thousands of grains of sand across all directions.

  As for the first time since they got to Haxouburg, they ughed.

  Giggled, stuck fingers at one another, and smiled; they didn’t have that luxury even during the restful nights. With gold, friends, and strong memories for the future yet to come, they felt…

  Hope.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 7, 59 / 10:14AM)

  (???) Gah!

  A man sprung out like a jack-in-the-box, as sweat drenched his forehead down to his toes.

  Wearing nothing but a white hospital gown, he had nothing underneath. Gncing to his right and his left, he saw many other sleeping men, all bruised or rashed from something…

  He let his eyes trail a female doctor, who walked toward him with a pen and clipboard. Having gsses, and a white cap that dispyed a red cross-sign, she had a neutral face once she took in the pale-faced man.

  (Female Doctor) I suggest lying down for a couple of days. You’ve inhaled a good amount of bromine.

  (???) Bromine? What the hell is that?

  (Female Doctor) It’s a toxic gas that damages the lungs. Consider yourself blessed it didn’t kill you.

  The man looked over to the side of the drawer, seeing a bck fedora pced near a mp. Being an agent for the FUC, he gnced at a chair that held his clothes, squinting into where his pockets were.

  Seeing a centimeter of a photo still tucked inside, he released a sigh and pushed his head down into a white pillow. Absorbing the impact, the cotton nestled and warmed his bed hair, leaving it static as he trailed his eyes back to the doctor.

  (Agent #1) Will I live?

  (Female Doctor) We did some tests, and we saw your lungs taking vast amounts of it like sponges.

  (Agent #1) So…

  (Female Doctor) We all thought you would die in just a few weeks, but…

  Still wielding the clipboard with her right hand, she pced her pen into her pocket before wielding the bottom of it with both hands. Skimming through the paper, she trailed every line and bold inked letter and word, taking in the huge amount of X-rays pstered on every page.

  Her tone serious, she loosened it, once she finally settled the clipboard away from her face. Being left in the dark, the man nudged his head and body forward, letting his ears perk up and his ear holes open.

  (Female Doctor) Either God had given you divine protection, or the man behind the creation was a genius; because your rashes are injuries are only short-termed.

  (Agent #1) Then that means…

  (Female Doctor) You, and every agent that inhaled it, are going to be fine.

  The light from outside preyed its way onto the window to his right.

  Lighting the cold room like a bnket, the man looked down at his right hand, seeing his rashes still lingering on his pale skin. But on his left, it looked like it was already healed, making him glitter his scleras withheld tears.

  Digging them back into his skull, he cleared his throat and nodded softly at the miracle given to him.

  (Female Doctor) I’ve given the tests to some of the chemists from the government, and all of them were saying the same thing. Whoever made the gas somehow made it unlethal.

  (Agent #1) Wait…

  (Female Doctor) This is boggling even the smartest of chemists! We need to find the person who created this Bromine and now!

  Her eyes sparkled under the bring sun to the left of her. Unconscious, they all sustained non-life-threatening injuries, despite Bromine being one of the most lethal gases to inhale.

  Snapping her left-hand fingers, she turned around and walked out in a hurry. Just as she was on her way to exit out the door, the bedridden agent broke through her gleeful mood like gss. And he only did it with just a simple sentence.

  (Agent #1) Sorry to say this doc, but the man behind that potion is Luke Fenix.

  She halted right where the room and hallway merged, and turned around to face the agent. His face pushed down, his eyes glued to his hands and fingers, he kept his stare as his eyes twitched. Hearing the man to be none other than Luke Fenix, who happens to be one of the world’s most dangerous criminals, she gripped the back of her head with her fingers.

  (Female Doctor) Fenix? That man!?

  (Agent #1) Yep… and he’s not fully a man yet. The kid’s barely turning 19…

  As she stared at him with horror, he turned his hands around so his palms faced him. Slowly lifting them, he let his pupils scour the endless lines streaked through his skin, seeing clumps of sweat stuck in them. All the while he thought to himself.

  (Agent #1’s thoughts) Come to think of it … why are we hunting him down anyway…?

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 9:27PM)

  Another man woke up.

  The scenery was much different, as a silver-haired man let his eyes flicker when looking around his surroundings, all the while it was night time. Seeing nothing but dunes, tall as most buildings, flood the ndscape, he tried to bulge his arms and legs…

  Until he saw he was wrapped up in a straw of rope.

  Not only him, but another agent, followed by two other women, were wrapped by this group rope.

  (Agent Eren’s thoughts) Wait a minute…

  (Spartan Gabriel) You’re finally up.

  Eren only had to turn to his right, letting his eyes take in a middle aged man having a man bun. Wearing the same clothing as him, the only difference was the little gold zippers and buttons, since most agents had silver.

  Unlike the others, Gabriel wasn’t tied up, but he sat down in between him and Ada.

  (Agent Eren) Did we … did we—

  (Spartan Gabriel) Lose? Seems like it. And I’m afraid I made a deal with an old friend.

  (Agent Eren) What deal?

  (Spartan Gabriel) We won’t be hunting them down anymore.

  Eren widened his eyes, as he let the rope scrounge against his body.

  The more he saw Gabriel’s face, he noticed a few bruises and scars stretched along the spartan’s body, leading Eren to flow one or two droplets of sweat from his nose. Leaving his lips open a centimeter apart, a batch of dry air breezed out of his mouth.

  Seeing his breath, Eren zipped his lips and lowered his head.

  (Agent Eren) I always thought you were the strongest…

  (Spartan Gabriel) In this world son, there’s always a bigger fish.

  (Agent Eren) But what do we do now?

  (Spartan Gabriel) Even I don’t know at this point…

  Gabriel soon began to stand up, all the while his hands were inside of his pockets. Taking out a pocket knife, the bde swished out from its prison, his fingers and palms gleaming the handle with a slight shiver.

  As if he was cutting apart paper, the rope that bound the four of them tore apart.

  Creating a snapping noise, it jostled Ada, who flickered her eyes intensely. Waking up from her long slumber, she looked around with half-awakened eyes, her eyelids shrouded in pale darkness.

  (Agent Ada) W-Where are we?

  (Agent Eren) Chill out, Ada. We’re in the middle of the desert.

  (Agent Ada) Wait … what about the train?

  (Agent Eren) Luke and his group won.

  All of her fingers dug deep into her palms.

  Her knuckles stressing out stress from her pent up bones, a hint of blood flowed from her fingers. Having it drop down to the sand, painting it red, she clenched the back of her mors as well as her body.

  Tightened, with every muscle squeezing against each other, she prowled the words from her throat.

  (Agent Ada) Those bastards…

  (Agent Eren) Rex. Let’s consider ourselves lucky that we’re still alive to begin with.

  (Agent Ada) The moment I get my hands on that bitch…

  She let the fight with Miles and Hope py in her mind. Feeling her knuckles sm and pierce through their bodies like cardboard, they quaked relentlessly like they were freezing. Her whole body started to shiver, and all the while her mind trailed the memories that pyed on repeat.

  She tried to make her father proud but failed in the end.

  (Spartan Gabriel) That’s enough.

  Her body loosened from those two words.

  Uncurling her fingers from her palms, she let her nails and blood freeze against the chilling night desert wind. Lifting her head, she gazed up at the stern voice in front of her, with Eren doing the same.

  (Spartan Gabriel) There’s no point sulking and talking here in the first pce. We have to report this loss to President Reed.

  (Agent Eren) What do you think he would do?

  Gabriel turned his body away from the two agents, as he pced his hands back into his pockets. Warming them up, cozying them like they were pced under a bnket, he exhaled a rge breath of air out from both his nostrils and mouth.

  The cold desert turned his CO2 visible, as it grazed past his parched lips.

  (Spartan Gabriel’s thoughts) Even I can’t understand a man like him…

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 8:57PM)

  Inside the confines of a brown van.

  With Jack being the driver, and Miles riding passenger, the rest of the Dark Angels were stuck in the back. On the left row of seats, sat Stan, Pacifica, Sean, and Benn, who all fell asleep with their heads lifted. Pacifica, who had her head nudged against Stan’s shoulder, also had her hand covering his right—

  Well, he didn’t have a hand; not anymore. Grasping the imaginary air, she let a little case of drool from her right lip, staining his leather jacket with her saliva.

  Meanwhile…

  (Luke’s thoughts) I’m surprised she fits…

  He had to acknowledge the donkey in the van. No pun intended.

  Barely managing to fit the rge green donkey, it y down on the metallic floor with its jaw resting on it. Its eyes closed, Maxine had her ears pushed up, as her little snores breezed through her dark rubber-like mouth.

  As for Luke, he id down next to her, while two pairs of boots were on the other side of him.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Damn Burro…

  (Hope’s thoughts) I just hope she isn’t that protective…

  Luke had charmed a third girl, and like the other three, he didn’t even know how he did it. As his right hand rubbed its coarse green fur, he soon turned his head to face up at the two women.

  Hope had already healed his wounds, considering the back of her head was pressed firmly on the metallic wall. Her body drained again, her eyes flickered relentlessly to try to stay awake.

  Luna caught her trying to stay up, so she… Gave her a can of Vampire?

  (Hope) Huh?

  (Luna) Just take the damn can.

  She scoffed at her demand, before snatching the can from her hand. Without opening up the lid, she lowered the can so that it sat on her thigh, her face covered in sweat as she looked up at the ceiling.

  Luna had her back straightened along the wall, her wrists stationed onto her knees.

  (Luna) For a chick who blushes and acts innocent, you sure act like a brat.

  (Hope) You have no right to say that about me…

  (Luna) At least I admit that I ain’t a saint.

  She let her eyes continue to sink onto the green donkey fur, allowing her face to rest on the creature. Staring bnkly at it, she slowly hunched her back forward, putting herself in a much harder position to breathe.

  Having her body tilt 45 degrees, the strands of her hair stalled onto the tips of her shoulders. Her cheeks pushed down to her jaw, making her look like she was on the verge of falling asleep.

  (Luna) He’s not like the others … some men boast, some men try to look cool, but Luke … he’s—

  (Hope) He doesn’t put up a facade. What we see is what we get, and that’s ok. Most of the men in this group are like that…

  (Luna) Aren’t we both lucky…

  Luna let her eyes trail Benn, who had the back of his head rubbed onto the metallic wall behind him. As well as looking toward the little open hole in between Miles and Jack, she couldn’t see them, but she knew where they were.

  Keeping her eyes where Jack was, her cheeks felt a slight tingle of pink, but she kept those feelings deep down to her heart. Letting her knuckles shiver once, she stopped for just a second and tightened her jaw.

  (Luna) But I guess some men are more annoying than others.

  Hope’s body shot up once, making it clear to her and Luna that she was ready to sleep. Her eyelids finally winning the battle, she closed them softly, before opening her mouth while loosening her body.

  And because of this, the can of Vampire that sat on her thigh soon dropped to the floor, cttering the aluminum and riling up the carbonation.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Guess it’s just me.

  She let her eyes trail Sean, who used the big bags of gold as pillows. His right cheek brewing red, she turned her attention to the still awake Luke, who continued to rub Maxine’s fur. Looking like he was invested in taking care of her, he failed to take in the conversation from up top.

  But he did take in the sounds of boots thudding in back of him. Turning around, he caught Luna…

  Lying down right beside him.

  She didn’t have a smile nor a frown, but a fttened face with a neutral expression graying her forehead and cheeks. Still having no shirt or jacket, the tip of her chest barely touched his clothes, making him squirm as he moved away an inch.

  And crimson his face red.

  (Luke) Uhm … What are you doing?

  (Luna) Going to sleep, why?

  (Luke) You know you sleep alright sitting down…

  (Luna) Don’t care.

  Even being a leader, he couldn’t fully take reign over Luna. And since he didn’t want to argue, considering her temperament, he shyly nodded and pced his head on the metallic floor.

  His fingers coarse and dry from rubbing the donkey’s fur for too long, he pulled it away, as the donkey snored quietly. His hands on the edges of his jacket, he kept them there, while staring up at the ceiling and its basicity.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Just when is he going to make a move…

  Like Hope, she let her eyelids shut her eyes from the world, leaving her to jerk her body one time before she slept. No less than three seconds ter, Luke’s left ear was grazed heavily by the sounds of her loud snoring, her mouth opened wide as she strangled her vocals.

  Instead of feeling annoyed like most people, Luke lit up a soft smile.

  Sitting himself up, he started to take off his jacket, as his shirt was the only thing keeping him warm. Grabbing the shoulders of the jacket with his palms, he turned to where Luna slept, and like a bnket…

  Covered Luna with it, unletting anyone from seeing her chest, not even the audience.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Rest Luna … you did amazing.

  Not only did he do that, but he reached toward the can of Vampire that Hope dropped. Picking it up with his right hand, he snuggled the can and gnced at Hope who had strands of hair blocking her eyes.

  (Luke’s thoughts) You too Hope … sleep tight.

  Twisting his body straight again, he snuggled on the floor with the back of his head. His arms and legs ft to the ground, while pcing the can next to the sleeping donkey, he stared bnkly at the ceiling yet again.

  But he turned to where Luna slept, seeing her lips parched and dried as she snored. Despite looking zy and mean … she looked pretty. Yet he controlled his desires, by swaying his head right and left.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I’m no prince from a fairytale…

  Closing his eyes, he allowed the confines and metal of the van to shake the more it barreled through the desert. As everyone slept including Miles, Jack had the van by the reigns; leaving him to be the one to bring them back—

  Home.