Once the immediate threat of Gabriel being overtaken by plants was taken care of, Nero had a decision to make. The way he saw it, he could barricade his room and wait here till help came. That would most likely be the safest and most logical option. After all, he was a student, not a teacher. His priority should be to take care of himself and survive the sudden crisis, not try to face it.
Although the window in their room could only open partially, and the jump from the first floor to the ground floor was not exactly small, it still served as a decent escape option in case of an emergency.
But the most logical option was not necessarily the best option. Nero looked down at Gabriel, still laying on the floor, completely disoriented. Killing the vine had been especially taxing on him. Who knew what measures the vine had taken to try to protect itself? Excruciating pain would only be a part of what he felt.
Since Nero had met him, he had never seen Gabriel in such a devastated state. Although he never showed it, Nero knew how prideful he really was. He managed to hide it well, but from time to time his actions would let his deep and prominent background slip.
But now, despite all his own hard work and dedication in growing stronger, how low had he been brought by a single plant, though he had managed to resist it better than others, somehow.
That was the issue - the moral conundrum if it were: the others. Could he really just ignore them and let them be till help came? Especially now that he became aware that help wouldn't be arriving as quickly as he imagined.
"Is that even a question? Of course you have to help them," said a voice, deep in Nero's mind - or maybe it was in his heart.
He visualised a scene. A young boy stood in a children's room, holding a toy spear. The white bunk bed brought back many memories, as did the toy replica of the Heralds spear, as did the room. The window revealed a mountainous scenery in the distance, and a suburban Aetherpeak between them.
Other prominent memorabilia were scattered around the room. Nero caught sight of a toy truck he had lost at some point as a child, and his fathers old wallet that Nero had borrowed as a kid to use as his own. He saw a badge in the corner belonging to the Demon corp fifth battalion. He had cut it off one of his mothers uniform back when she was still serving.
The scene was a perfect recollection of Nero's youth when he was nine years old. There were a few things missing, obviously, but all his key memories from his childhood seemed to be in this room.
This was not real. It was just his imagination. But he looked at his young self nevertheless.
"This is not a joke, it's dangerous out there," Nero said, his voice cold and stern. But his younger self was not intimidated.
"Since when have I been afraid of getting hurt?"
"It's not my job. Someone will take care of it."
"If someone else will take care of it, then what are you good for? Isn't this what we trained for? To fight side by side with Kolari warriors, and protect humanity from this evil world!"
Nero scoffed.
"I'm pretty sure this attack is a result of some scheme from humans to begin with. Besides, all those were lies they told us when we were young to make themselves look good. There is no honour here, no heros. They don't care about us."
"That's not true. If there weren't heroes fighting to protect us, then we wouldn't be able to grow up so happily. Grandma was also a hero, she fought and died to protect everyone."
"Yeah, it's called cannon fodder - that's what we are to them, to the ones in power. We are just foot soldiers, standing guard outside their doors, ready to die for them when a problem arises."
"Nero, no one was born powerful. Whether they're Mystics now, or Sages, or anything else, everyone was born weak and worked their way up. They had their time as foot soldiers too. Besides, none of that matters. Even if they lied, so what? We believed it, didn't we?
We trained to be the good guys, the heroes that make a difference! Even if the whole world is evil, and they lied, why do we need to change who we are?
"There are kids out there, just like Gabriel, who are probably suffering just as much as him. Like that kid you cut down outside, who was awake the entire time. I'm not saying you can save everyone, but that doesn't mean you just ignore them all altogether!"
Nero did not respond to his younger self. He just looked at him, and at the room that represented the ideals of a naive youth.
"Besides, if something like this can stop you in your tracks, how are you going to get back at them for what they did to Patrick?"
Nero felt stunned. Everything was happening in his mind, and the conversation he was having was also with himself. He was imagining what his younger self would have said to him if he saw him right now. But for some reason, the thought of his younger self talking about revenge seemed wrong somehow. He did not imagine talk of revenge fitting in with the convictions he held back then.
But at the same time, it also felt right. Perhaps even back then, he was wildly protective of the things he thought were his.
"Why are you surprised? Do you think I'd be okay with what happened to Pat? Never! So why don't you think of this as training? Go train in a real life scenario and get some experience. If you can't even overcome this, you'll never get your revenge.
If your training just happens to help some people, then there's no need to really pay any mind to it."
Was his younger self… trying to trick him into helping others? Somehow, that fit in perfectly with his personality from back then.
The image in his mind faded, and Nero returned to his room. It seemed like he had spent quite a while in introspection, but it had taken just a moment. He did not have the luxury of time.
However, he took a moment to prepare himself. He took a deep breath and held it in, breathing out slowly when he could hold his breath no longer. It seemed like a mental switch had been flipped.
He gave one last look to Gabriel, or rather his vines to ensure they weren't moving, before stepping outside.
It had been maybe four or five minutes since the chaos started, and only a couple of minutes since he dragged Gabriel back to their room, but the change that happened in this time was drastic.
The cacophony of noise from countless students fighting and screaming these plant abominations had disappeared, leaving an eerie silence. The emergency lights were beginning to dim already, despite the fact that they should have lasted a few hours, diminishing colours and turning everything into varying shades of black and grey.
But the one dark outline he expected to see was missing. The vine-covered student, whose muscles Nero had cut through, should have been laying at the entrance to their apartment, but he wasn't there.
Nero narrowed his eyes as he tried to deduce what had happened. Since he decided to face the creatures, and save as many students as he could in the meantime, he needed to thoroughly understand the capabilities of the vines.
It would have been best if he had some kind of armour before going into battle, but unfortunately, he had to make do with fighting barefoot, wearing only his pyjamas. He also didn't have any weapon cards more potent than Air push, as offensive cards were hard to come by in 0 star.
With Muted self still active, Nero moved silently to the entrance and peaked into the hallway. It was completely empty, save for blood as well as bits and pieces of broken items. He saw a few dropped weapons as well, but he did not consider changing the one he was familiar with for others, even if a dagger's reach was limited.
Nero strained his ears, but could not hear anything at all. Cautiously, he made his way through the macabre canvas of horror that was this hallway, peering into each of the open rooms for any signs of the other students, but they were all absent. He didn't have time for a thorough search, but he looked through all the apartments as he passed them by. Fortunately, none of them were closed.
Despite the absence of results, Nero did not become impatient, and maintained his pace, despite the growing silent tension. At last, in one of the rooms near the end of the hall, he heard the sound of something breathing.