Chapter Text
The stage was dim, the air was suffocating.
Ivan felt suffocated.
He can’t hear anything other than his slowing heartbeats. His throat felt raw, and his entire body ached all over. Ivan’s breath hitches, his clothes were drenched from the rain— and someone loomed over him.
Ivan heard the harsh whispers of the other person, “Ivan?” It was Till’s voice. Ivan longed for those teal eyes to be directed at him, for the longest time. And now, they were. Till’s teal eyes were looking at him, Ivan felt a sprint of joy in his chest.
Till was so mesmerizing.
The lights completely shut off with a loud click, the only sound was the rain. Pouring from the sky. The stage started moving— downwards. Ivan felt his mind and body go numb, he’s such a coward for doing that to Till. He deserves to die, after what he did to Till.
Even if Till didn’t mind somehow, Ivan can’t forgive himself. Forcing something so intimate on Till, it made him feel bittersweet. Till never loved him, his eyes were always set on Mizi. The bright little girl who was naive and innocent. Ivan was none of those.
It was always going to be her, right? Till?
Ivan hopes death is friendly.
Ivan stands alone in the center of a pitch black room.
There was nothing inside, the walls were painted black, the ceiling was black, even the floor was black.
In the center, though— was Ivan’s body. A monitor was attached to his unconscious body, the constant ringing of the machine alone was too loud. Ivan looms over his own body, he laid in a hospital bed, he was wearing white again. An oxygen mask covered his mouth.
It’s been a long time ever since Ivan came to this place.
He’s gotten used to the dark. He somehow even finds solace in the dark. Was this the afterlife? Ivan knew an afterlife existed, but he never thought of it like this. It didn’t look like the books he read, nor the interpretations the other children of Anakt garden thought.
Ivan grazes his fingertips on the railing of his own death bed. It was metal, and cold. He looked pathetic just laying there.
Ivan wants to see Till, maybe as a ghost. But, Till might not like that. Ivan was weird, all the kids said so. He may have been well-behaved, a model human, and obedient. Yet the other children still talked about him, Ivan was far from stupid. He knew what they said about him, and talked about.
He didn’t let it bother him, he stayed silent about it, of course. They weren’t entirely wrong when calling Ivan a ‘suck-up’ to the aliens, Ivan acted like the perfect pet to the aliens. It’s not like he didn’t dislike it, he was able to extract information from the aliens. They liked keeping Ivan around while conversing.
The aliens were neither dumb or smart, but most are dumb. Talking about the security systems of Anakt so freely, not worrying about word getting out.
Ivan’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing, he looked to the side and saw his heart monitor frantically beeping. He crouched down and both hands were on his head, it was so loud. Ivan bit down on his lower lip.
He felt a warm liquid touch his palm, it was blood. His ear-drums bursted, “Stop.” Ivan pleaded to nothing in particular.
The blood trickled from his ear and he felt himself get lightheaded.
“Is he stable?” Mizi asked, sniffling. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying earlier. Ivan’s heart rate suddenly started dropping, Mizi was right beside him when it happened.
Isaac sighed, he gently raised Ivan’s shoulder and wrapped new bandages around it. “For now.” He replied, “we almost lost him, he suddenly went into panic. I’m still figuring out why.” The man dully said.
Mizi furrows her brows and pushes away the sweaty bangs off of Ivan’s forehead. “Please… Isaac, please save him. He and Till are the only ones i have left, i can’t lose Ivan..” she sniffled, wiping away a singular tear with her finger.
Isaac successfully finished bandaging Ivan’s shoulder, he stepped over to Mizi, and patted her head. “He’s gonna be fine, although he almost… died, earlier. He’s recovering quicker than i thought.” Isaac informs, clicking his tongue.
”this kid.. he’s a tough one, he got shot three times, yet he still isn’t dead. It’s a fucking miracle.”
”he’s always been like that.” Mizi confirms. “Resilient, tough…” she smiles as she recalls. She tucked away a stray strand of her hair, her hair wasn’t long anymore. Eighty percent of it got blown off in a gun fight, sometimes she does miss her hair.
Isaac hums with a gentle smile, “will you be staying with him again?”
”yea, ‘ya know, just in case.” Mizi said in response, her entire mind was full of stress. Sua, her one and only universe was dead. Ivan’s on the verge of death, and Till is up against Luka.
Luka.
That name sounds bitter rolling off her tongue.
”great.” Isaac patted Mizi’s shoulder, “you got this, everyone sees great potential in ‘ya.” Mizi feels her chest warm upon hearing Isaac’s words. Hyuna, Dewey, and Isaac have been nothing but welcoming ever since Mizi came here. It… comforts her a lot.
Isaac’s hand left Mizi’s shoulder, he shot her one last smile before standing up.
Mizi flinched when a loud ringing interrupted her thinking. “Shit, what’s happening?! Isaac!” She yelled, Isaac took his walkie-talkie out and called for help.
Isaac ran to Ivan’s bed and started checking his vitals, “oh, my fuck.” He gasped, his arm shaking terribly.
”what’s going on?!” Mizi screeched, her eyes frantically wandered around Ivan’s body, searching for anything odd. But none.
Isaac kept his eyes on Ivan with his jaw dropped, “He’s waking up.” He mumbled. “He’s waking up! Get Hyuna and the others, now!” Mizi’s eyes widened in relief, she rushed out of the door and started sprinting as fast as she could.
”Hyuna!” She panted, yelling across the hallway. Before Hyuna could get a word in, Mizi yelled. “Get to the medical ward, Ivan’s waking up!” And that was enough for Hyuna to drop whatever she was doing.
”let’s go, Dewey and Oliver are on their way already.” Hyuna took Mizi’s hand and started running. They arrived at the medical room and slammed the door open.
Isaac was doing something with Ivan’s chest, Mizi was no medical expert, so she didn’t know what was fucking happening.
On the bed laid Ivan, through the oxygen mask his lips quivered frantically. Mizi covered her mouth in shock, gasping loudly. Hyuna assisted Isaac in helping Ivan recover consciousness.
After a painful three minutes, Ivan let out a loud gasp and his eyes fluttered open. Mizi rushed to his side and let her hands roam around Ivan’s cheek.
”oh my gosh.” Mizi teared up, Ivan shakily curved his lips upward and kept his tired eyes on Mizi.
”you’re alive.” Ivan whispered, in broken sentences. His breath hitched, and the heart monitor slowly started beeping at a normal pace.
Hyuna’s eyes were wide open, “welcome back, kid.” She said, smiling.
”yea, i’m back..” Ivan mumbled, before shutting his eyes.