Rest

After a long moment, Spring-Autumn came to his senses. He could still see dust in the air, the musty smell, the cold hard floor. The sky was not yet dark when he looked outside. He had only collapsed for a short moment.

The rear door opened with a creek. Blue entered with several bottles of water in hand.

"Are you okay?" She asked. There was a tinge of worry in her voice.

This was the first time he had heard her ask him something in such a voice. In his mind, she was always a proud girl. An overachiever who could do great things. She was someone who was always calm and collected.

He remembered the first event he went with her for school. It was a tournament on knowledge regarding several subjects. That was the first time they worked together. He was able to match up to her, earning the school first place. From such an event he did not care much about, he could not help but feel a little bit of joy. Victory was victory after all. However, from her, all she felt was indifference. She was a confident person. She knew she would win. As such, indifference was the correct reaction from her. This quality of her was what made him attracted to her.

"Comrade Season?" Comrade Blue asked again as she sat by his side against the wall, giving him a water bottle.

"I did so much for you and I only get this water bottle?" Spring-Autumn twisted his bottle cap open and drained the whole bottle quickly in several gulps.

"What are you saying?" Blue's tone turned back to normal.

"There's a first-aid kit somewhere here right?"

Blue got up and in a short moment's notice, she returned with the kit. Seeing this, Spring-Autumn started to take his shirt off.

"Can you treat my wound?"

"I am not an ungrateful person."

Spring-Autumn's shirt came off, revealing his well-defined muscular body. There were three large gashes on his back from the claws of the goblin. His white dress shirt was on the ground. There was a large amount of blood on it.

"You're still bleeding."

"You don't need to state the obvious."

With his back facing her, he could not see what kind of expression she was making. He felt a soft touch on his back.

"It's quite painful." He told her.

"I'll clean the wound first." Her voice was calm and stable like usual but her face was not. Undoubtedly, she was touched by his actions.

His back was met with a wet sensation. It was the alcohol wipe.

"Sssss." He couldn't help but let out a voice from the pain.

"I'll be quick."

"Okay."

"Fuck!"

"Endure it."

"Easy for you to say."

"..."

"Those green bitches…"

"It's done."

"..."

"What?"

"It's done."

"That was quick." Spring-Autumn picked up his blood-stained shirt and turned around to say thanks.

"You don't need to thank me. You've already done so much for me." She was smiling when he turned around. It was a beautiful, and pure smile. He felt refreshed when met with such expression.

The night quickly fell. They ate canned food together. It was a surreal feeling. Just an hour before, they were just enjoying a trip as highschoolers together, enjoying the sights of the sea, enjoying meals together. Reminiscing about such things, they realized that life would never be the same.

[Initializing… 10%]

The blue screen popped up again.

"You see it too, right?"

"Yeah"

"..."

And then it was back to silent again. The monsters that came out of thin air. The blue screens. The water tanks that broke. The ferocity of the fish earlier in the day. By itself, it was all strange events. When combined together, it created the situation they were in right now.

Collapsed buildings, dead bodies, the fate of people around them unknown.

"Spring-Autumn," Blue said his real name.

"What?"

"Did you know what was going to happen?"

"..." Spring-Autumn didn't answer. He recalled the vision he saw before everything broke out. He saw what was going to happen. He saw the glass breaking. He saw the monsters in the sky. He saw beasts feasting on the dead remains of humans. He saw the dark, gloomy sky. "No."

"No. I didn't know what was going to happen."

"Then what was that about? Why did you take me out? Why me? Why did you take the exit? Why were you rushing for the exit?"

Blue's questions were relentless. It was understandable. In a situation like this, it was hard to keep one's composure.

Spring-Autumn thought of a very simple answer to all her questions. It was an easy way out. "You are very pretty."

"That doesn't answer anything!" Blue said loudly, making the small center echo with her voice.

"..."

"..."

"It sounded better in my head," Spring-Autumn said.

Blue sighed. "Forget it."

"Remember who saved you." He said with a grin.

"What?"

"What?"

"..."

Spring-Autumn laughed. It was a funny situation for him. He was alone in a room with a beautiful girl that he liked. They were having a conversation. It was not awkward, but any means, and she also treated his wound.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing."

He looked at the sky. It was dark. Nighttime. He could still see the shadows flying through the skies. The aura of death was still in the air.

"Hey." Blue called him again.

"Yeah?"

"We'll be okay, right?"

That was the last exchange they had for the night. They slowly succumbed to sleep as the night passed.

Back at the aquarium.

It was completely flooded. A few corpses floated here and there in the water. They all had the same type of uniform on, they were the students that were there on a school trip earlier in the day.

All the various types of fish swam happily about. They had all mutated to look about the same. Some had grown large arms and legs on top of their fish body. A menacing red light flashed in their eye from time to time.

A particular small fish with sharp fangs just finished feasting on a body. After letting out a satisfied burp, its body started to contort. Moments later, it grew several sizes and there were signs of a leg growing out.

In the middle of this former aquarium, a large crystal floated. Surrounding it were several humongous sized sea creatures. Their shadows that spanned several hundred meters moved about slowly, menacingly...