LOCATION - THE WASTELAND. 3

|Location: Wasteland|

-OMNISCIENCE-

Upon walking away from what was once an ancient city that dazzled Zero, Dia led him towards a wall of black fog that seems that even the sun won't pass through it, just a few miles from where they were before. Staying still as it is, Zero was in awe when inspecting the fog, but as Dia suddenly pulled his hand into the fog.

"Ah!" Zero randomly gave his most inner voice a let go, which in fact caught Dia by surprise, giving her a fright.

"Stop screaming! I can't believe you." She said smacking Zero by the shoulders, she gave a deep sigh out of disbelief towards what just happened.

"You killed an apostle, but you're afraid of a fog"

"This was sudden and different"

Zero immediately defended himself from the accusation, shaking his head out of denial.

In front of Dia he raised his hand and called out for SAI commanding it, Dia suddenly felt weird while looking at Zero waving his hand towards nothing. She stepped back a few steps from him, Zero noticed it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Dia averts her eyes away.

A few seconds passed and to Zero's disappointment SAI didn't give him the results he wanted. But this time the tiny doubt he had from before gave him an easier in take to SAI's 'incompetence' he labeled.

[Scanning area. Error Error. Unable to scan the area for geographical elements]

A transparent panel appeared in front of Zero, showing him a 5km radius of the area with only a huge red dot covering the panel. Only that and no geographical formations or even life and vegetation.

[A dense amount of unknown metal deposit is blocking the frequency.]

Zero, was still focused on the panel of frequency disturbances graphical data SAI showed him, to him it was a sign to step back and to raise his caution.

"Yeah right"

Dia still felt uncomfortable looking at Zero wondering if he really does have a huge screw loose in his head or maybe she herself made it somewhat 'worse' because of what she did earlier.

"So how about let's get going"

Zero felt the uneasiness from Dia towards him, however he could only feel more of a worried feeling rather than distrust from her, unlike when they met for the first time.

So, he just brushed the thought off, not knowing the misunderstanding it already did form.

"Anyway, why here, I can't sense anything." Zero said based on the graph SAI gave him as they continued to walk into the dark and hazy forest.

Dia looked at him again but blankly this time with a hint of confusion, under her head she thought that maybe this guy doesn't just have a loose screw but also an empty head. Lacking even the basics of the world.

Dia, for the sake of answering Zero she just answered monotonously. "That's precisely why we stay in this kind of place"

Nuk who was just behind the two can't help but also react from the 'unconventional' conversation unfolding right in front of him. He even noticed how Zero's face frowned in confusion from what his sister told 'him'.

"I even wonder how you manage to survive out there."

Nuk glided his fingers against his forehead. After a while he noticed that Zero had passed some of the landmarks, they set themselves to indicate that they are near the village.

"Ha~ setting that aside we are getting close. Dia watches Zero so he won't get lost"

Zero didn't let go of the notion that he wasn't answered properly by Dia, he immediately turned around to face her and with a serious face he looked straight at her eyes.

"You still haven't answered me properly, what's with this place that you guys decided to stay here" he said.

Dia suddenly felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, not because she felt like he's a weirdo that's just at the back of her head, but this time it was different. His Balck hair blended with the darkness around them and his black eyes seemed to glow under the shadow of his face and in every tick of the time. Dia felt like it was about to swallow her whole, all of it leaves her feeling uneasy.

She soon shoves him aside out of reflex, snapping her back into reality and out of her seemingly crazy imagination on Zero.

Just a moment out of the trance she immediately began catching her breath. Nuk immediately comforted her, patting her back lightly and expressing his concern softly. "Are you okay?"

Dia patted him back reassuring she's fine and at the same time nodding her head. She looked at Zero after making sure she managed to shake off the eerie feeling she got from him.

"Like I said, that's precisely why we stay here, no life can grow here. And that goes for the Gods and their underlings, they avoided this place. They act like this place doesn't even exist."

Zero attentively listened, his head began to tilt towards his shoulders while crossing his arms together, contemplating. A huge wide smile that reached the far ends of his face soon emerged when he replied to Dia.

"Is that so, why didn't you say that earlier"

Dia kept herself shut, giving nothing to reply towards Zero.

In what seems a place engulfed by pure darkness soon peeking from the sky a tiny hint of glowing orb shines through the thick fog. It was a gentle light but it helped Nuk and Dia to see even a little bit through the wasteland. Zero continued to follow Dia swiftly.

Nuk saw more landmarks that they placed the deeper they went into the lifeless land, with every dead trunk they passed Nuk always saw through that it had the right markings making sure they won't get lost inside. When he's already done checking and was sure they're on the right path Nuk placed his head on another thing they needed to be careful of, traps.

"Zero carefully follow Dia."

He patted Zero's shoulders and at the same time he decided to walk Infront to avoid getting caught just because of a tiny mishap.

"Be careful you might activate some traps"

Yet his intentions may have failed to reach Zero, 'he' didn't get the memorandum.

When Dia carefully followed Nuk from behind every step he took, out of spite, excitement, and curiosity Zero ran past Dia in haste.

"Okay carefully pass? Zero don't!"

Nuk was guiding the group carefully but what happened next activated the traps they had set to ward off human invaders from approaching their camp. Dia being caught at one of the traps in the process.

"Kyaa!" Dia screamed as she was caught, getting her feet trapped. She is now hanging upside down beside the tree trunk.

Zero's eye was fascinated as the traps were getting triggered one by one. "Wow, primitive traps."

"Rude…" Dia said despite her situation.

He continued to check different spots that might trigger random traps, and Nuk immediately went back to aid Dia, ignoring Zero. Which was in fact a bad choice he soon regretted a few seconds in the future.

"Crap!" On the way to Dia, Nuk manages to avoid some flying arrows that came toward his position, dodging it with ease.

"Brother!" Dia pleaded.

"Wait I'll help you down" Nuk was about to free his sister but Zero managed to trigger another trap. And out from the shadows a log came swinging towards Nuk hitting him hard, he was then launched into a net trap immobilizing Nuk along the process "Ah!"

"Great, we're both caught, Zero?"

Dia, her face is full of disbelief on what just happened to her brother, getting trapped by one of the traps she herself designed. She was about to ask Zero for help but to her not so surprising expectations for 'him' she already knew 'he' would be caught up in one of the traps. Which in fact he did get caught, net wrapped around his body while being hanged up. That scene pathetically unfolds in front of her.

"I'm not even shock"

"Hahahahah, that was fun. I'd like to try again." Zero just laughed as his face started to turn red, from both being really excited and the fact that blood started to flow down into his face.

Zero, who is still full of adrenaline, was about to forcefully break those ropes that bind him but Nuk immediately intercepted him warning him not to and it was just a few moments before he was really attempting to.

"Please don't, just stay put, it's hard to find material to set traps if you break those"

Nuk said at him as he tried to contain how annoyed he was at his current situation, his ears started to twitch towards a certain direction. Nuk instantly knew what it was.

"How about helping us down now, and stop that I can feel your snickering from way over here."

Being called out for, another green haired guy came out from the shadows, his ears are the same with Nuk and Dia, but his eyes are red like zero's fox mask.

He greeted the captivated group with a smile that's on the verge of laughing.

"Hahaha. Yes sir!" The man said grinning towards Nuk, annoying 'him' even further.

"You got trapped by your own trap that you made Nuk"

Nuk couldn't even refute what the man said, but he's also on the verge of exploding from embarrassment. And so, with a very serious tone he talked monotonously towards the man.

"Hansel, just let us down now"

Hansel smiled as he had no choice but to comply with haste when he saw that Nuk would really beat him if he would take another second longer.

He went to some random bushes and began to tweak some mechanism, then immediately the traps around them that got activated were resented while some got disabled.

"Thanks Hansel." Dia said, dusting her clothes off. She could only give Zero a death stare, watching him innocently laughing the situation off.

"No prob Dia.'' Hansel replied to her, he instantly noticed Zero by the corner of his eyes because of his foreign origins.

"Well, I didn't expect you to bring a short ear"

Hansel went towards Zero examining him from head to toe, Nuk only grabbed him away from Zero shaking his head altogether.

"Long story, let's just go" Nuk said, and from the tone of his voice Hansel could feel how exhausted he was at the moment. But he can't help raise another question that emerges when he doesn't see someone else from the group.

"Wait Where is?"

Nuk knew where it was going and immediately cut Hansel off before he could finish his question.

"Like I said. Long story." This time his voice doesn't only say he's tired but it also carries a lingering regret and guilt.

Hansel instantly understood as he backed off letting Nuk walk past him, he instead tried his best to feign ignorance as he smiled it off. But for Zero who was silently observing the scene, for him what he saw seemed illogical and now confused, unable to understand the meaning behind their conversion.

"Let's get into the camp first, you guys rest up and just you know father. He'll definitely give you an earful as to why you led a short ear here"

Zero immediately reacted upon realizing that he was suddenly mentioned in the conversation. Hansel said about scolding Nuk and Dia, which raised his concern to them as 'friends' he shamelessly labeled by himself, forgetting the fact about what happened not too long ago as well as what he felt before.

"Is my presence here that bad?"

He suddenly went behind Hansel as he said that it was his breath what caught Hansel by surprise.

"Ah! Don't suddenly show up." Hansel took a step back away from Zero. "And please keep your distance."

"Let's just go," Nuk said, who went ahead already making the others hasten their travel to catch up to him.

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