~~~~~~~~~Sage's POV~~~~~~~~~

I sat in the corner of the stone room, hugging my legs which were pressed against my chest as I cried.

This was all I could do at this point, there wasn't any other option.

The stone room was like a waiting room, where you had to wait to be punished because it was so painful, it needed to be planned out.

And all we could do was sit around and wait...

Noah kept trying to break the doors with every attack or spell he knew, but it was of no use...

He let out a sigh, sliding against the doors until he sat on the ground, his arms resting on his legs. "Not even a crack..." he said in defeat.

I sniffled,tears streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls. He stayed silent for a while before giving me a small smile. "Hey... it'll be okay... whatever they have planned for us, we can take it... We're Ciphers, for Christ's sake..."

"I-it's not us I'm worried about, N..." I said, stuttering as I held in my sobs. I looked up, seeing him looking at me in worry. "Aiden... Iv... Alyse... they're in danger... because of us..."

He grew silent as I let out a small sob. "They're innocent people who've suffered enough in their lives... and yet we were sent to make it even worse, and then end it...! And who knows how many innocent lives we were tricked into killing, all because we were too terrified to stand up to Ryan...!"

His gaze was glued to the ground in shame as I breathed a bit heavily. "This is our fault... we did this... and we can't even fix it..."

That's when he looked up with a determined and serious expression, almost angry...

"Who says we can't?"

"Noah, we're stuck in here with no possibility of getting out, you've already tried everything!"

"I have." He stood up, walking over to me. "But we haven't."

I grew a bit confused at his question, but the answer soon came to be. I stood up, taking a deep breath as we both walked to the door.

Our father was the most powerful being in the universe. Both Noah and I inherited his powers.

This should be able to work, right...?

We reached our hands out to the door as we began to glow a bright yellow. I could feel all my energy concentrating on my fingertips, a large yellow orb forming in front of us.

I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth at the pain that began to emanate from my hands. Soon after, we were both thrown back into the wall, falling down with pained grunts. I looked up, a large hole where the door once was.

I can't believe that actually worked!

I got up, helping my brother. "Alright, I need to get to Aiden. God knows what Ryan has planned for him.."

"I'll get Iv and Alyse, we need to get them all outside as fast as possible."

We both left the room, going our separate ways.

Hopefully it wasn't too late...

~~~~~~~~~Aiden's POV~~~~~~~~~

I stared at the ground as I walked, the guard behind me making sure I wouldn't do anything sudden.

All I could think about was what happened earlier...

Was it all just an attempt to gain my trust...?

All those moments together...

...

Was any of it real...?

"Don't look so sad, Aidston." I heard Ryan say, making me look up, seeing him walking in front of me.

I thought for a while, a question coming to mind. The same question I've had for years...

"... why..."

Ryan stopped, making me and the guard behind stop as well, soon raising a hand. "Leave us." As told, the guard left us alone.

He turned around, a serious expression on his face. "Hm?"

I stayed silent for a few seconds before taking a small breath. "Why, why do all of this..."

"Do what?"

"This! All of it! My parents, my sisters, my friends, ... me...! We've all suffered because of you, and for what? What have we ever done to you?!?"

I felt a chill run down my spine as his eyes flickered to black for a second, but I stood my ground, not looking away.

"You deserve this." His tone was normal, but it came out a bit... demonic, one could say.

"And what have I done to deserve it?"

"YOU'RE THE REASON MY FATHER IS DEAD!!!" He yelled, making me flinch a little as a dark aura emanated from him. "If it weren't for your bloody parents, he would still be here, he would be alive!!!"

"He was a criminal, Ryan!!! My parents only did what the law told them to, they only sent him to jail!!! How were they suppose to know he'd be killed in there?!?" I yelled back, feeling tears stinging in my eyes.

He bawled his hands into firsts, his fangs growing longer. "HE WAS THE ONLY FAMILY I HAD!!! AND YOU ALL TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME!!!"

"That's a huge lie, and you know it!!! We were your family too!!!"

He grew quiet at my sentence, but didn't calm down. I took a deep breath, my features softening a bit.

"My parents loved you as if you were their own child... They took you in, they gave you a roof over your head, they gave you food, they let you stay over as many times as you wanted... And you loved them, too..."

The glow around him slowly began to fade, my eyes widening a bit at the sight. After so many years, maybe I could save him after all...?

"You loved spending time with us... you'd go on so many trips with us... you were there with us the day Alyssa was born... And I still remember how careful you were when Mom offered for you to hold her... and how afraid you were that you'd drop her..."

His bangs covered his face as he stared at the ground, not saying a word. I felt the rope around my wrists disappear, making me look at my hands before looking back at him.

"... you were like a brother to me... the person I looked up to... You'd always help me whenever I was in any trouble, and encouraged me whenever I was afraid... I miss that... I miss my older brother..."

I had walked over to now be in front of him. He looked at me, his expression was serious, but I could see a hint of regret in his eyes.

"I know the Ryan I once knew is still in there, somewhere under all that darkness... And even through all the harm you've caused, all the things you've done... I forgive you... for everything..."

I offered my hand to him, a small smile growing on my face. "I just want my best friend back..."

As I said those words, he looked down at my hands, staring at it in silence. I noticed his hands weren't fists anymore, and his shoulders weren't tense. His hand slowly lifted up, and I felt my smile slowly grow on my face.

However, he looked back up with me, his eyes completely black with green slits in between.

"̧̦̮͔͖̒̓ͣ̿̒̚T̈́̄ͩ̚͘͏̦̣̖͉͙̪͠h̢̫̥̣͉̝̝͓̪̗̏̄̏ͫ̀͢͠e̛͉̩͍̼̠̜̥̻̅ͧ̈́͆͗͌̐ ̝̰̊ͧ͂̔̂̋͂͟R̶̘̖͎̖̜̈́ͦͥ̌́́͡y̸̻̭ͤ͑̑̓̾͠a̵̟̯͖̮̜̺͋ͫ̀͐͋͌̍͢n̸̵͍̲̮͓̳̥ͨ̍ͤ̂̕ ̷̪̯̦̭͇͚̏ͥ͒͒̿ͭ́ͯ͌͜ýͮͮ̎͒ͦͯͩ̇͘҉͏̱̠͈̪͎o̶̥̮̺͈̥̳͋̔͂͛̉͋̚͡ų̵̭̳͍̞̼͔̰̯ͪ͆͛̇̇͢ ͔̦̖̼͓̾͋̕͜͡ü̧̯̠̲̙̞̟̭͔̮ͯ͐͛ͨ̒̇̕͠s̵̞̰̜̲̰͛̐̉̊͋ͩ̄e̿͛̐̇ͣ̀́͢͏̤̗̺̱d̊̅̓̃͌̇͌҉̢̬͔̲͓̘ ̭̭͓̣͙̳́̀͑̕t̡̡̹͙͍̼͙̹̬ͧͯ̍̑̉̐̓ͭ͜o̸̮̺̟̦͎̬̪͛̋ͅ ͍̙̰̺̱̘͎͋͒̾͆̀͆̅ͭ͜͡͠k̻͙͚͇͈̘̎ͪ̒ͣ̔̀n̬̖̪̦̑̂ͭͨ̐ͣ̽̀ȏ͗͋͆̊͒͏̦̭͙̠̻̝̰͔̩͞͠w̵̪̮͍̲͈̼̯ͯ̉͐̓ͣͨ̿̊͒͝ ̫̱̥͉͈͉̙̇͛͂̅̓͢͡ͅd̆ͫ̌͒ͣͭͤͥͩ͘͞͏̮͙̱į̴̛̻̗̠̭̈ͫ̋ͤͩ̄e̬̲̔̈́͜d̨̏̋͘҉̖̻ ̶̞̩̟͇̓̊̿̈́͑ͥ̀ͬͭą͚͕̣̠̝̃ͣͭ̽ͤͨͬ́ͬ͞ͅ ̧̝͖̣̼͕̬̀ͮͤͦ̅̇ͫ̂͒͝lͭ̏͋̑̽ͨ̓҉҉̲͉̣̼͚͓̪̼o̧̯̹͓̣͎̪ͮ͐n̸̷̟͈̣̻͑̿͐̍̚͡ǵ̛͈͚͙̟̾̐̓͊̒̈̇̐͘ ̨̲͇̬̜̳̗̪̹̘̂̍̑̀̓̔t̯̟̙̲̦̍͐͜i̹͚͙͕̦͚̬̲ͧͨ̏ͤ͢m̴̱̫̰̳̲̣̯̼̥̐̈́e̡̲̟̪̱̙̎ͬ̃̇ ͣ̈ͣ̇͏̧̺̬̭a͇̠͕̼ͦͫ̅̄͞͡ġ̵̡̱͇̙̇̐ͨͯ̊̀́o̶ͫ́ͤ̈҉̹͓͔̹̭͢.̶ͤ̉ͧͧ͋̍҉̧̬͚̠̠.̡̛̯͚̼̯̅͆̍̎͢.̱̖͔̉̀̚"̢͖̭͈͚̣̳̔̂̋̎͋ͥ͗̚͝

Before I could react, he grabbed my wrist, harshly pulling me over. A sharp pain went through my chest, making my eyes grow wide.

I looked down to see him holding a sword as it went through me. I could only stare in shock and fear as I let out a cough, the unique taste of blood starting to fill my mouth.

It wasn't long until my vision started getting blurry, looking up at Ryan. "It was good to see you again, old friend..."

He ripped the sword of me, making me yell in pain as I fell down, tightly gripping my chest as I coughed.

"But it seems your time has run out..."

He began to walk away. I tried to crawl, but the pain in my chest was unbearable. My vision kept getting darker and darker.

Until soon there was only darkness...

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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