Doors Closing

Ian was suddenly put in a predicament. He was in front of the largest domain gate that he had ever seen in real life. The door contains a vast darkness that seemingly has no end. Multiple people were already gathering outside the domain. 

Alec whistled loudly which the people gathering turned to look at. 

"Alec Craig!" One shouted in glee. 

"Any update?" Alec asked. "Are the defenders inside doing well?"

"Well," The worker looked down - afraid to meet the gaze of Alec. "One savior's heart rate is extremely fast phased now. We are worried with his circumstance…if you could just…" The worker trailed off. 

Alec didn't say anything and just looked at the man behind him whom Ian didn't even notice. He then realized it was one of the people who were dressed in black who were part of the workers under Alec. The man quickly opened the black suitcase he was holding and presented it to him and Alec. 

Ian looked confusedly at it at first and then just copied whatever is Alec doing - hoping he suddenly did not break it because he did not have any money to pay it back. 

"Sir," A woman in her thirties asked Alec, she is probably part of the workers under Alec as well - judging from the black clothes she was wearing. "Are you sure you can accept this job? Your eyes are…I can guide you for a second." 

Alec waived her off after he briefly looked at Ian for a second. 

"I'm fine," Alec said - leaving no room for arguments. He then turned to face Ian who was struggling with the device. "This is just a monitor put on the neck - it's a viewing apparatus for the techno team to see our vital status."

Alec brought his large calloused hands to the device - hooking it around Ian's neck. For a second their skin touched, Ian could not help but feel a gush of cold from the hands of the other man. 

"Thanks," Ian said after Alec was done. 

"Don't thank me," Alec said, smiling widely. "You haven't even seen what lies behind the domain." 

With his heart beating in his chest, Ian followed Alec behind when the other man started walking towards the gate. They stopped just when their skins were about to touch the dark matter. 

Ian turned to look questionably at Alec who was staring at nothing but he could see the small wrinkles forming on his forehead. 

"As a guide, can you also heal?" Alec broke the silence. 

"Yes," Ian said. "I can do that more effectively than guiding." And he was not lying. When he took up odd jobs, there would always come a time when one of his co-workers would get hurt and he would use his guiding ability to heal them. 

Alec smiled again - tugging Ian's hand who was visibly unprepared as they got sucked into the domain gate. 

Outside of the domain gate they came from, another black vehicle screeched to a stop. The man whose back is always hunched ran out of the vehicle quickly - heading towards the techno team stressfully talking among themselves. 

"Was Alec alone?" The man asked the group. 

"Sir Gamnique?!" One of the people exclaimed. "I– uhh-,"

"I asked," Gamnique sternly repeated; "Was he alone?"

"No, sir. He was with a guide."

"A guide?!" Gamnique shouted. "He hasn't received proper guidance in months!"

The workers cower under his tone. 

"Fuck," Gamnique said under his breath. "Who is this guide that is crazy enough he will willingly guide Alec Craig now?!" 

-

Inside the domain was no laughing matter. The black liquid-like stopped once they were inside. The inside of the domain was just a bright white room full of dark tunnels - which made Ian automatically think of the gym in Alec's office. The place was devoid of sounds and temperature - almost like an anechoic chamber. 

"This looks familiar," Alec said to nothing in particular. Ian stayed silent but his head was filled with questions that he didn't even know which to start with. 

The place was eerily quiet with the only sounds coming from their footsteps. 

"Can I ask something?" Ian stated, eyes looking down on the ground - wondering if any of these were real. "Sorry, it's just – this is my first time in a domain."

"Sure," Alec whispered. 

"Your eyes – what does she mean by that?"

A brief silence fell over them as they continued to walk with Ian following wherever Alec was going. 

"Defender's eyes are an indication of their limit." Alec started. "It's like a limitation set by the gods when domains and core started emerging years ago."

"You believe in gods?" Ian asked but quickly realized how invasive the question sounded because they weren't even close, for him to start asking about his character.

Alec laughed absurdly. "I know for a fact that some form of the god-like creature is above there - where else can we get this kind of power if not for them?" 

Ian quickly changed the conversation, "Sorry, I still don't get it - the, uh, eye-thing." 

Alec looked at him before they passed a small hallway. "Stop apologizing, it's my fault for not briefing you before I asked you to work under me. My eyes are normally brown."

At this, Ian looked bewildered by the statement as he only saw the other guy with glowing yellow eyes. 

"A savior's eyes turn bright yellow when they are reaching their limit," Alec said as if he was just talking about the weather when Ian was all the more terrified - Alec is near his limit?! "The same goes for guides - instead, they turn purple."

"H-huh," Ian stuttered - now sweating despite not feeling any heat in the domain. "A-are you okay?" 

Alec laughed again but this time it was an airy type of laugh. "Yeah, I am near but not THAT near."

Ian's face looked like he was not believing anything that came out of the other man. 

Amused by his reaction, "Most of the guiding and healings I received from guides are…not that pleasant so I push it back until I reach near my limit."

Ian bemused, "What happens when you reach your limit?"

"I will educate you on this matter once we are back in our world," Alec said and Ian felt embarrassed because now that he thinks about it – why is he applying for a guiding company when he does not know anything about how the system works? 

"One thing you need to know is that – I said most of the guidance I received was not effective, right?" Alec said, bright yellow eyes now glowing as they went inside one of the tunnels devoid of most of the light from outside. "Surprisingly, your guiding is decent enough."

Ian's smile quirked upward softly. "That's good to hear…"

A shout on the opposite of the tunnel startled their conversation to a stop. They both look at each other before shuffling hurriedly towards the end of the tunnel. 

Lo and behold, there was blood everywhere. A hideous-looking creature that oddly looked like a bird with humans' heads as its feet were towering over the three people hunched together. Its 'feathers' oddly look like it was composed of human spines. The bird was about twenty feet and creepily enough, his beak was oddly similar to that of a human's mouth. The creature's mouth slowly spread into an empty green - showing a set of monstrous sharp teeth that were dripping with blood. Its eyes darted toward the two newcomers.

Not wasting a moment, the bird aggressively ran towards the two of them - like a predator seeking their next toys after playing with the other three people who came before them. Sensing the immense power of Alec, the monster quickly attacked him viciously. In a snap of a finger, Alec's arms were torn from his body - Ian felt a splatter of blood coat his favorite shirt. Ian shakily stepped back - eyes wandering at the horrific scene in front of him. 

Alec furrowed his eyebrows and delivered a similar blow to the monster's body and soon enough its bits were shredded into pieces. Ian heard Alec mutter a small 'fuck' - they locked eyes and he said: "Tend to the others."

Without a word, Ian was about to run to the opposite side of the room when a deep and gut-wrenching sound of pain was heard echoing throughout the tunnel. The sound made Ian drop to his knees and cover his ears. It was the kind of sound that would automatically make you feel terror and dread for what was about to come. Suddenly, the bits previously torn off by the impact of Alec's punch vibrated, and they were flying mid-air. A flash of light - and the malformed creature regenerated. Ian's thought flashes back to the first time he had ever seen Alec - this is like a match made in heaven...or hell.

With an urging look thrown at him, Alec regenerated his arm that was torn. It was a grotesque scene - his swollen and bloodied muscles disturbingly re-attached unnaturally. Ian, without a second thought, quickly stood up and ran as hard as his gangly body could toward the three people whose faces were equally contorted in agonizing pain. Each movement and breath they took seemed to make them feel even more suffering.

Not minding the sounds of impact behind him, Ian tended to the one whose body was severely injured - his body was littered with bruises in varying colors. But the most visible was the large gash on his chest - the ghastly bones and flesh exposed. The man looked at him pleadingly and soon, Ian brought his hands towards the man - about one inch above the large gash. 

As he does not have any reference on how to heal, Ian does not normally know how other guides do their job. So, he tried to start with what he knew the best - regenerating the leukocytes to prevent infections. He did it as quickly as possible since the large gush of the wound was still spurting blood on the ground. He had never tended this such large damage before so it took him some time than others. Soon, he tried to mend the laceration on his chest. Checking for his reaction now and then, he tried to regenerate more blood to cover the loss the man had sustained. 

After he was done, he kept nudging the man when he saw his eyes drifting shut. The woman next to the guy was thankfully in a better condition as she had only bruises and gashes on her body and not a critical wound visible, unlike the man he had just tended. 

With a shaky voice: "Keep him awake-" 

A chunk of unknown skin was hurled next to their direction which had stopped Ian's voice. Ian locked eyes with the woman who had the same expression as him - wide eyes and mouth agape. 

Ian turned behind him and saw that Alec was now fighting three similar-looking creatures. Oh god. Alec looked like he was struggling in the 3 vs. 1 fight. Hurriedly, Ian tended to the other two people who were in a better condition and ran towards Alec. 

Up close, he can see that Alec was in the worst condition he had ever seen him. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was halved. He was bleeding from every possible limb - if he was a normal person with no core, he would probably be long gone. The pain he felt must be intolerable as his face is scrunched in a disfigured manner. 

"What are you still doing here?!" -his temples were blown off. Ian gasped and locked eyes with the brightly lit yellow ones - which were almost neon by the amount of light they exuded. Part of his limbs and skin were torn off as the creatures continued to let out wild screams in the air. Blood stained everywhere in the path but Ian did not mind them as he continued running towards Alec. 

He felt a deep-seated fear for his life and Alec's even if they were not even close in the first place. He struggled but tried to heal and guide Alec at the same time. 

"Get others and leave!" Alec shouted, voice grunting. 

"H-huh?" Ian stammered. Suddenly, he felt an arm tug him to the side. Ian stared at the woman he just healed. Both of her arms were supporting the two men she came here with - one with a frightful expression and the other struggling to stay awake. 

"Sir Craig fights alone," The woman said hurriedly. "He can fight those, he's just waiting for us to get out of here." Why would he even invite Ian here in the first place if he fights alone? 

"What?" Ian said, now blood dripping down his nose from the energy he was trying to sustain as he guided Alec from afar. "Can't you see the state he is in?!"

"He's a necro!" The woman said as a matter of fact which - Ian does not even know what it means. He was about to protest against when a deep shout behind him said:

"Just go!" 

With a second look at Alec, Ian grabbed the two men and ran in the opposite direction - following the woman in front of him.

-

Outside the gate, Gamnique was furiously shouting words towards the techno team - disregarding the flashes of lights from different national news at a distance.

"Are you using your company to go against the national police?"

"What can you say to the people who think Alec Craig is unstable to be a part of the S-class saviors?" 

"Have you seen the news on-"

Gamnique's eyes were furrowed on the screen containing the vitals of the people in the domain. He was slightly anxious as the techno team had just informed him that he couldn't enter the gate because it was locked now. The gate's status now states that it is an SS class. Meaning, it needs at least two or more S-class defenders to clear the domain. Don't get him wrong, he was not worried about Alec at all - he knows he could handle a gate worse than this. He's worried about the first group of people as well as the guide Alec was with. 

"Four people are leaving!" One of the techno team stated. Gamnique hurried over near the gate and soon, four pairs of feet exited the gate. Gamnique was surprised to see that the group did not sustain any severe damage because the vitals earlier stated that at least one was between life and death. 

A quick look at the monitor states that Alec's vitals became stable impressively quickly. Gamnique clicked his tongue and assisted the techno team with checking up on the people who had just left the domain. 

The first group of people was in good shape, again, very surprising. Gamnique was confused because one of the men's core felt injured despite his physical traits looking stable. 

"What happened?" Gamnique asked - particularly towards the woman, seeing as the two men were starting to lose consciousness. 

"T-the monster was strong and he's fast," The woman stammered, accepting the blanket from one of the techno team. 

"Great," Gamnique rolled his eyes. What a combo. Alec was strong but he was not fast so this could end up in a bloody cleanup for the crew on standby. 

"Who are you?" Gamnique asked the man who looked oddly familiar. His gangly limbs are trying to physically shy away from the older man's gaze. 

The man slowly looked up, and what the fuck? 

The man raised his hands as if he was surrendering after seeing Gamnique's expression. "I swear I didn't do anything!" 

"Sir Gamnique, this was the guide who came with Sir Craig!" The woman said defensively, acting as a barrier between the two tall men. 

"Yeah," Ian nodded, eyes now darting everywhere but the older man's piercing black eyes. His eyes stared at the screen in front of the techno team - he really needs to learn how things work if he intends to work as a guide. "We met yesterday."

Gamnique was silent. He was sure the younger man's eyes were in the oddest color he had ever seen before. It was in a deep shade of purple with hints of orange and blue. Disregarding the woman between them, Gamnique forced Ian to look him directly in the eyes with his hands under his chin. This time the man's eyes were in a normal shade of brown. Was he just imagining things? 

Sensing the silence, he brought his hands calmly beside him and turned around - walking towards the cleanup crew.

"What was that about?" The woman asked Ian who was still. 

"I don't… I don't even know." Ian said softly. The two sat beside each other in front of the large monitor with Ian still concerned about the man left alone in the domain. The two men with them were wheeled away and were tended by the guides near them.

"Thank you for saving us," The woman started. Now that he looked at her, she was actually stunning without the marks and bruises left by the creature. She had brown hair tied in a low ponytail and a set of softly lit purple eyes, and she was clad in the familiar set of clothes Ian just noticed belonged to the workers under Gamnique or Alec. He doesn't even know who's the actual head of this company. "I owe you one."

"It's fine," Ian assured her with a small smile - eyes glazing every second on the domain's gate.

"I'm Keena Lee," The woman said. "And I'm a guide too."

"Oh," Ian shyly said - to be honest, he does not know what to reply because she said 'too' which implies that he had lost his only reply of 'Me too.'

"I've been with the Gam company for months now, if you need help with anything I'll see if I can aid you." Oh, so it was Gamnique's, not Alec's. "Also, this was the second time I've ever seen a guiding like yours. Yours are very similar to what my mother does."

"Uh," Ian stammered. "I see."

Keena laughed. "Don't worry about sir Craig. He may be a bit of a nuthead but he's the strongest S-class savior in this company."

"It's just that…his power is so concerning," Ian muttered, now noticing that the people's shouts were increasingly getting loud.

Keena laughed loudly again, getting up from her seat. Ian looked at her questionably before copying her when she gestured that he should stand up too. The loud cheers echoed in the area and soon enough, Ian's bruised body emerged from the domain. Once he had fully stepped into the domain, the cheers died down. 

Next to him, Ian heard Keena's voice hitched. The domain's gate cracked like mirrors and within a second, the black liquid disappeared - revealing what the domain actually looked like inside. But that is not the thing that made people stop their noise. 

Ian's eyes glowed brighter than ever before. 

The way he scans the area makes people who locked eyes with him flinch away. Even the camera flashes stopped and no words were heard despite the loud cheers just seconds before. 

Gamnique's voice shattered the silence. "Clean up crew, what are you doing just standing there?" 

The big group cowered and then hurriedly scrambled to get into the domain. That signaled the continuance of the noises with the reporters throwing questions incoherently and the loud flashing of even more cameras. 

Ian was devoid of emotions when he stepped out of the domain but once he locked eyes with Ian, he grinned massively and almost bunny-hopped towards the younger. 

"You're safe!" Alec said as if he was not shouting at Ian earlier in the domain.

"Yeah," Ian said sheepishly but continued in a serious tone. "You got some explaining to do."

Alec laughed. "I do, don't I?"