CHAPTER FIVE: SHADES AND SHADOWS
The headquarters of the S.O.A. stood like a forgotten cathedral carved into the bones of the Earth — blackened spires stabbing the sky, metallic vines crawling across the walls like snakes ready to strike. No doors. Just a hollowed archway that swallowed anyone who dared enter.
Mikasa stood before it, flanked by her squad — eyes sharp, jaw tight, the scent of blood and burnt ozone clinging to her coat. Without a word, they entered.
Inside, the hallway whispered with a thousand unseen voices. The walls pulsed like the veins of a living beast. They moved in silence until they reached a sealed titanium door marked: SECTOR 4B: ORGANIC DISSECTION LAB.
With a hiss, the doors opened.
A wave of chemicals hit them — metallic, sour, sterile. Mikasa stepped into the chamber alone.
The room was round, cold, and saturated with green lighting. Machines hissed and beeped. Sharp instruments gleamed on glass tables like the teeth of sleeping monsters. At the center lay a monstrous sinner, limbs pinned and trembling. Its chest had been torn open, and five surgeons stood around it like vultures. One of them…
Jonathan Rouges.
Pale as bone, hunched like a crow, draped in a lab coat stained with ancient blood. His face bore an unnatural grin — long, sickly yellow teeth behind lips too thin. A monocle blinked data. His fingers, wrapped in mechanical digits, moved with precision and cruelty.
"Ahhh… at last," he purred as he dug a scalpel into the sinner's chest. "You thought you were special, didn't you? Hiding secrets inside rotting flesh? But I will unmake your arrogance. Bit by bit."
He chuckled as he twisted an artery and exposed a pulsating node. The sinner wailed, its voice echoing in layered tongues.
"Hand me the artery clamp. And the kidney dish, if you will," Jonathan ordered, almost singing. His assistant obeyed, trembling.
From the shadow, Mikasa spoke.
"I'm done with the job you sent me."
Jonathan paused mid-incision. Slowly, he turned.
A smile crept across his face like a disease.
"Mikasa… darling executioner."
He tossed the scalpel into a tray and strode toward her, stripping his bloodied gloves. He stopped just a foot from her, eyes glinting like mercury.
"Where is it?"
Without a word, Mikasa reached into her sack and removed a bloody organ — a still-beating heart, fresh and twitching with energy.
"The slave girl's heart," she said calmly. "The remaining three men… their heads were burned at the ocean. Just like you said."
Jonathan took the heart with reverence, cradling it like a newborn.
"Beautiful," he whispered. "So warm. Still clinging to memory. You did well, Mikasa. Truly. I am… honored."
She looked away. "I'm just doing my job."
He turned to walk back to the table, but paused.
"Oh, by the way," he said, almost offhand. "Sohwo has been buried. And I'd like to visit his dear mother."
Mikasa stiffened. Her voice dropped.
"You promised you wouldn't touch her. Why do you want to hurt her again?"
Jonathan's smile vanished. He turned slowly.
"Are you declining my request?"
Her fists clenched.
"...No, sir."
The grin returned. "Good girl. Now, go change. Wait for me in Room 12."
She nodded once and left. Jonathan returned to the sinner.
He peeled back another layer of muscle.
"Oh yes," he whispered. "You hide wonders inside, don't you… let's find out what happens when I inject shade serum directly into your soul matrix."
---
That night...
Divine sat on his bed, his eyes lost in the moonlight spilling through the window. Joseph's words echoed in his skull.
"You are not just a child. You are a container."
He didn't understand it. He didn't want to understand it.
The door creaked. Maria walked in, her voice soft.
"Divine… you're not asleep?"
"Couldn't sleep. Just thinking."
She walked in and sat beside him.
"I know you're hurting. Everything is happening so fast, and you've lost so much. But you don't have to carry this weight alone. We're all here for you."
Divine nodded slowly.
"Thanks, Aunt Maria… I'm not really sad. Just confused. Why is life so… full? So many levels. So many things."
Maria smiled sadly.
"This world was created for a purpose, Divine. We don't get to question every branch on the tree. We just try not to fall off."
She ruffled his hair. "Now get some sleep. You need it."
As she stood to leave, Divine spoke.
"I'll be going to school tomorrow."
She paused. Then nodded. "Alright. Just don't push yourself."
---
The next day...
Sunlight bathed the road like a golden river. Divine, in his crisp uniform, held the hands of his younger sisters as they walked to school — Nuvie Primary School.
He entered the classroom… and the world froze.
Everyone bowed.
Divine stopped in his tracks.
"W-What the hell is going on? Are they bowing to me? Am I dead? Is this… an illusion?"
His teacher approached, eyes full of sympathy.
"Divine… we are truly sorry for your loss. Your father… it's heartbreaking."
Divine forced a smile, hiding the throb in his chest.
"Ma'am… there's no need for all this. We'll get through it."
The teacher smiled and led him to his seat. On the way, classmates greeted him, hugged him, patted his back. It was strange. These were the same kids who once mocked him.
As he sat, his best friend, Precious, leaned over.
"Bro… how's life? You doing okay?"
Divine sighed. "I'm surviving. Trying to understand what's going on around me. Trying not to break."
Precious nodded. "Your dad was a great man, Divine. Whatever happened, you still have us. You got your sisters, your aunt, and… me. Always."
They talked — about life, about death, about strange dreams and the feeling that the world was about to shift. It was a raw, honest conversation, filled with emotion.
Then…
She walked in.
Rejoice.
Hair like braided gold. Eyes soft and glowing. Divine's heart skipped. A million thoughts flooded his mind.
"Is she… coming to me? No way. No freaking way."
She stopped in front of him.
"Divine… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. About your dad. You're strong. Don't let it swallow you. We're here, okay?"
He barely heard her. He was lost in her face.
Then she smiled and sat… beside Precious.
Divine blinked. Crushed. Of course — they were childhood friends.
---
The lecture began. Hours passed.
Then… screams.
A woman ran through the street, her eyes wide with terror. People watched her, thinking she was mad.
She wasn't.
She had committed her seventh sin. And now… the creatures came.
Divine saw it all from the window.
"Precious… look."
"She's just mad. Forget it."
"No… something's chasing her. I can feel it."
They were there — three monstrous shapes, moving like smoke and bone. Claws, wings, tongues of shadow.
The woman screamed.
They caught her.
Her head hit the concrete. Her soul was pulled like thread.
One creature turned… looked straight at Divine.
He gasped.
Turned away.
Heart racing.
"What the hell… what's happening to me? What did I just see?"
---
> End of Chapter Seven