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The rest of the night went by slowly. Harper was trying her best to get enough sleep, but Hyde kept walking around the room with Arnest and talking. She was surprised that Yanpu hadn't woken up.

Harper got out of bed and rubbed her eyes. By the time she got into the bathroom, she noticed how out of place her hair was. She rubbed her coils down and spritzed them with sink water to tame it.

Then she fluffed it out into an afro.

"Wow." Hyde let himself in without knocking. "Is it normal for it to be that wild?" He pointed at her hair.

"Is it too much to ask for a little privacy?" Harper grumbled.

"You'll get privacy when you earn it."

"And how exactly do I do that?"

"You're on a hot list labeled under 'to kill' after last night." Hyde tied his hair back into a ponytail and began washing his face. He turned the sink off and grabbed a nearby face towel. "If you try anything crazy, today will be your last. I mean it this time."

"So you didn't mean it all those other times before?"

"Believe me, Vixen. Testing me is not how you want to start off this morning." Hyde stepped forward and backed Harper into a wall. "You have 5 minutes to get ready."

"5 minutes?"

"More than enough time for you." Hyde stepped out of the bathroom.

Harper quickly splashed water on her face and checked her breath. She scowled in disgust and downed an entire complimentary bottle of mouthwash conveniently placed on the sink.

Then she checked her hair one last time and rushed out of the bathroom.

"Harper." Yanpu greeted her as she approached.

"Good morning, Yani." Harper smiled.

Hyde sunk his feet back into his shoes and secured his belt around his waist. There was a cloak in a wardrobe that he grabbed, and it fit him perfectly.

"You ready to head out?"

"Are you?" Hyde glanced at Arnest and studied him apprehensively.

"I made another batch and packed it away in the car. I'm keeping one with me just in case."

"No need." Hyde stormed by Arnest out of the room and down the stairs.

"Hyde, wait!" Arnest darted after him. Harper grabbed onto Yanpu's hand and followed them.

"Before we go, let me measure your blood level—"

"I said, there's no need." Hyde quickly dismissed him. "Lead us to the Mines. The sooner we get this done, the better."

"Okay." Arnest was hesitant, but he decided to start walking anyway. He was extremely worried about Hyde.

The four walked along a muddy and oily path. Hardened parts of the soil, the dried and sharp stones were poking out of the ground.

Some were easily visible, and some weren't. Harper occasionally checked the ground to make sure that Yanpu was safe from scraping his legs against the jagged rocks.

The light grew dimmer the further they went down the road. The air became thinner.

Visible masses of gas clouds began to fog up Harper's vision. Because of it, she slowed her pace. Each step she took there was a silent prayer that she wouldn't step on anything sharp-edged.

Hyde, walking ahead of Harper, noticed how slow she was after a while. "Keep up, Vixen."

"I can't see."

"Don't give me that bull."

"You don't see it?" Harper frowned. She pointed to a large cloud of gas fumes beside her. If she were to take off her mask, the gas would kill her instantly.

"How long until we get there, Arnest?" Hyde disregarded Harper's worry.

"Not long now..." Arnest pulled out a small block-like device, similar in shape to a cell phone but with a small antenna on it. "We're very close... oxygen levels are depleting heavily where we're currently standing."

Hyde took a deep breath, making Harper nervous. She couldn't believe that Yanpu and he were both doing perfectly fine in this horrid condition.

Had it been anyone else, they would've dropped dead without a mask.

"Follow Arnest." Hyde clenched his fist and kneeled. He pressed his hands against the dirt and closed his eyes.

Harper followed instructions, but she did glance his way before she strolled toward Arnest. Hyde's scar, the bit that reached his neck began to glow.

Harper thought about it. Why was the air so thin? Where exactly were they headed?

"Agh!" Harper's foot slipped when they neared a decline, and she rolled down the slant harshly. The robe she wore was torn by one of the sharp stones.

She caught herself before she fell any further by snagging onto another rock.

Arnest bit his lip and slid down to Harper's level. "This is as far as I can go." He looked over to Hyde, who was still glazing his fingers against the ground. "If you go right, there should be an opening to the mines."

"Bring the kid." Hyde jumped off the decline and landed swiftly at the bottom. He turned around to face Harper, who widened her eyes in shock.

"Me?"

"Who else?" Hyde spat. "Get your arse over here."

Harper looked at Arnest, who was sliding toward the bottom easily. Harper released the stone and slid down too. Yanpu strolled down carefully.

"Keep an eye out for scavengers," Hyde ordered Arnest and grabbed onto Harper's bicep. He dragged her forward, and Yanpu followed.

"Wait! Why does he get to stay behind?!"

Hyde ignored her cries and continued into a large round circular opening into a dark tunnel. They all went through it and light seeped in from the other side.

When Harper could see clearly, she saw an entire cavern full of blood-red crystals and stones, hanging from the walls and sticking up from the ground.

Harper didn't want to believe it. But she knew what it was. "Puron... organic Puron... it's all here." Harper opened her mouth, both disturbed and astonished by the sight.

Hyde released her arm and stepped forward. "You're not that bright. The wastelands are where the Facility harvests the mineral."

Yanpu stretched his small hand out to touch one of the large crystals on the ground. Harper quickly blocked his fingers and shook her head.

"Don't touch them, Yani. It's very dangerous."

"Please," Hyde scoffed. "It won't hurt him."

"What? We don't know for sure. And I'm not going to allow him to take the risk."

"That brat is flowing with Puron. He's the essence of it." Hyde rolled his eyes.

"You looked through his files..." Harper bit her tongue, holding back an insult. "The mineral itself, in its organic form, is very unstable. Just because he has portions of it in his blood, doesn't mean it won't cause some sort of... chemical reaction."

"The kid doesn't just have portions of this stuff, Vixen. His blood IS Puron. It's the reason why he's unaffected by the gas."

Harper refused to believe that. There was nothing in his records that said that Yanpu's blood wasn't normal. She had been studying Yanpu all of his life.

"If that's the case... then why are you able to waltz around without a mask? Are you saying you're made of Puron too?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Don't bullshite me."

Hyde examined Yanpu for a moment. He noticed that Yanpu was staring at the crystal for a prolonged period. He could understand a similar sense of what the boy was feeling.

Longing.

"Make him gather enough crystals to put in this sack." Hyde pulled out a small-sized brown leather bag from his pockets and then tossed it at Yanpu's feet.

"Absolutely not." Harper huffed. "I already told you it was too dangerous!"

"You keep forgetting how much I don't care." Hyde sat down on a large stone nearby and crossed his arms.

"Pick it up." He commanded Yanpu.

"Don't." Harper tugged Yanpu closer to her. "Don't listen to him."

"Vixen... you're playing with fire."

"I'm not allowing a child to touch this poisonous stone!"

"Are you serious?" Hyde groaned.

"I am."

Hyde sighed and pushed himself off the rock. "I really thought you'd take the easy route on this one..."

"Did you think I was going to willingly allow him to hurt himself? I have morals."

"Choosing Morals over life... What a stupid decision." Hyde seethed and drew his swords. "Tell him to put the crystals in the darn bag, or else I'll slice you up into a meat platter."

"Hyde... no." Harper stood her ground.

"Alright then..." Hyde cracked his neck and gripped tightly onto the blade's handles.

He rushed forward. In a flash, he swiped upward and slashed Harper in the front. Her blood began to pool out onto the robe.

She let out a single gasp and fell.

Harper quickly placed her hand over the wound and screamed.

Yanpu gasped in horror when he saw Harper's blood.

"You have one more chance." Hyde placed the sword at her neck. "I'll let you live if you tell him what I commanded."

"N-no!" Harper sobbed. "Anything but that!"

"I should've ended you back at the Facility." Hyde rolled her body over with his foot and stepped on her cut. "Your death was long overdue."

"Hyde, please! Please!" Harper begged.

"Harper!" Yanpu charged and reached for his swords, but Hyde tripped him, sending the boy tumbling forward and smacking into the dirt.

"If you want her to live... you will harvest the crystals and put them in the sack." Hyde pressed the blade against Harper's neck. "Do it now."

"No!" Yanpu whined. "Nooo!" Tears began to swell in his eyes. They ran down his cheeks like rain.

"Fine then. Be stubborn just like her." Hyde raised his blade high and swung down, sending a finishing blow to Harper's throat.

"NO!" Yanpu darted forward. His eyes went from their natural dark brown to a glistening red. One step forward shifted the entire make of the cave.

The glow of the Puron streamed away from Yanpu's feet and the ground below Hyde suddenly popped out of place.

Hyde was sent flying far away from Harper's body. He landed in a pile of pebbles. Hyde's arm scraped against a crystal, and the pain he had endured rehashed.

He snarled out in pain, while Yanpu stood protectively over Harper.

"Yani..." Harper huffed. She was shocked to see him with the same red eyes as Hyde's. His hair was undone, and he was firm in battle stance.

"Yani... what happened to you?" Harper rolled over, still grasping onto her stomach.

"Harper..."

"How... dare you!" Hyde stood up slowly and clenched onto his injured arm. "You little piece of shite." He eyed Yanpu with contempt.

He was furious. He flicked out one of his blades with his left arm and clenched his teeth. "You decided to pull that little hat trick on me. But I've got decades of training over you, you foolish little twerp!"

He swiped his sword at Yanpu, who ducked and turned his foot. Another rock full of Puron blasted out of the wall and smacked Hyde out of the way. It crushed him into another wall.

Harper crawled away from all the collision. "Yanpu! Stop!"

"No." Yanpu shook his head. Hyde sliced the rock in half and kicked Yanpu aside. Yanpu countered and shoved Hyde in the stomach.

A line of red ink coated Yanpu's arms and Hyde was knocked away with a heavy force. Hyde barely recovered as he was thrown into 3 crystals.

Hyde landed face down, and his sword fell in front of his head. Yanpu began to walk in Hyde's direction, but Harper stopped him.

"Stop it! The walls will cave in if you two don't quit it!" Harper puffed.

The entire cavern was rumbling and shaking from all the impact.

Hyde grabbed his sword and raised himself back onto his feet. Then he dragged himself over to Harper, attempting to finish her off.

"You're weak..." Hyde spat at the boy. "If you think... your ounce of power will stop me... you're very mistaken."

"Hyde! You have to stop moving!"

Hyde collapsed to his knees when the pain became too much for him to take. But he still held his weapon firmly. If this was his last moment on Cryston, he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Hyde grabbed onto Harper's arm. He was sweating profusely, and panting heavily.

"H-Hyde?"

Hyde fell over completely, releasing Harper. A small pebble tapped Harper's head, and she looked up. The quaking became rougher.

"It's going to cave in!" Harper pushed herself to stand and looked for the exit, the one they came from. Yanpu's eyes went back to their natural color, and the markings on his arms disappeared.

"Go Yanpu! Go!" Harper stepped over Hyde's body and slugged over to the opening. Yanpu quickly followed as more rocks began to fall from above.

Yanpu was the first to leave through the tunnel, but Harper hesitated. She looked over her shoulder at Hyde, who was writhing over in pain.

Should she take him with her?

Harper considered leaving him here to die. After everything he had put her through, he deserved it.

But it wasn't right.

Her beliefs in the Overseers were preventing her from leaving.

It just wasn't in her to leave a monster like him to die like this.

Harper groaned, and turned around, dragging herself back over to Hyde. Despite the immense pain she was suffering, she mustered the strength to grab onto his arms.

Then she began to pull him toward the exit.

"N-no..." Hyde grumbled, keeping a firm grip on his sword.

"Leave it! Or you'll die!" Harper warned him. She snagged him away from the swords and dragged him out of the cave right before the larger shards of Puron crushed them.

The hard slam jolted the tunnel. Harper fell beside Hyde as the dust engulfed them. She leaned against the tunnel wall, putting pressure on her wound with her hand.

She hoped she wouldn't regret the decision to save him.

It was very dark, but Hyde's glowing scar illuminated the tunnel. His chest moved up and down slowly, and tears began to fall from his eyes.

The scene was all too familiar. Another hidden memory flashed in Harper's mind.

A large dog-like beast was foaming at the mouth as it loomed over a young Harper. A bloodhound was what it was. Deadly creatures from the unknown raided their way into Westona's capital.

Several bodies of Harper's friends were laid behind her. And Harper was covered in their blood. She was heavily bruised from being smacked into the ground by the monster.

The bloodhound gnarled and swiped his massive claws at her, and she screamed. But a mysterious figure blocked the hound. The claws swiped him instead.

He was a man with red eyes and medium-length black hair. He was dressed in a Westonian Servicemen Battlestrike Uniform, a sleek fitted shirt with an armored vest, and harem pants.

He took the hit with a grunt, and swung his sword effortlessly, cutting the head off of the creature. Then he turned to face Harper. His face was very stoic, but she sensed worry within the glow of his pupils.

The man collapsed soon after, and Harper helped guide the serviceman back to her home. He was severely injured, and she tried everything she could to help him.

Harper remembered it so well. That night, after cleaning his wound and wrapping him up, she put him to rest in her room and fell asleep at the edge of her bed.

When she woke up the next morning, the serviceman was gone.

When Harper snapped out of the memory, she realized that the man was Hyde. He was younger, and much cleaner in appearance then compared to now.

She had met him before.

Harper looked to Hyde with a frown. He was sitting up now, grunting quietly. The tears in his eyes worried her.

Of all times, why was he crying now?

"Hyde..."

"Don't..." Hyde spat at her. Although crying, his tone was the same. Very terrifying and menacing.

Harper wasn't sure if his tears were genuine or not.

Hyde leaned over, balling his hand into a fist. "Arnest..." He croaked. "Antidote..."

"Do you want me to get Arnest?" Harper huffed.

"Antidote..." Hyde growled.

"You have to promise not to hurt me..." Harper scowled. "I'll get him for you if you promise to let me go and leave me and Yanpu alone."

"N-no." Hyde shook his head. "I need... the antidote..."

"Unless you promise to release me and Yanpu, I won't help you." Harper denied him firmly. It was a harsh decision, but she didn't want to risk Yanpu's safety anymore.

The both of them sat across from each other. Hyde was panting, and Harper was trying her best to hold it together. She would die if she stayed like this.

The last thing she wanted was to die at his side. But she was too weak to crawl away.

Hyde's glowing eyes started to dim and brighten in a pattern.

Eventually, they could hear Arnest calling for them on the other side of the tunnel. He sounded very close.

There were wet footsteps approaching them in a hurry.

"Hyde!" Arnest shouted and jogged over to him. He threw himself on his knees beside Hyde and began checking him for injuries. "What happened to you!? You're cut!"

"Antidote..." Hyde murmured.

"Did she do this to you!?" Arnest spat angrily and glared at Harper. "I oughta kill you myself for this."

"I didn't..." Harper swallowed hard. She was frustrated. With Arnest here, her safety wasn't guaranteed anymore. She had forgotten about him being outside.

Arnest searched his pockets quickly and pulled out a small tube and needle. He set up for Hyde to receive the medicine and propped his head back against the wall.

"You're going to be okay, Hyde," Arnest reassured him and inserted the needle into his arm. While the liquid streamed into his body, Hyde began to gnarl and twist his lips uncomfortably.

Receiving the medicine was just as painful. The glow in his eyes stopped the pattern and returned to their normal state. The tube of the antidote finished, and Hyde was now able to move around.

The cut he had closed and healed.

Harper was a little confused and dazed by the fight. Her worries were correct. Who knew if Yanpu would've had the same reaction from touching the Puron?

Hyde stood slowly and scowled at Harper.

"What are you going to do now? The cave is completely blocked off. It would take the facility weeks to mine through this sheetrock." Arnest frowned.

"The brat..." Hyde cursed under his breath. "He can manipulate it."

"What?"

"My theory was correct." Hyde brushed his hair back. "He's able to manipulate Puron for his own use. Uncontrolled his power may be, but with proper training, he'll hone the skill and grow to be strong. An overpowered mortal."