Needles

"You can hear me!" Berry half yelled in an alarmed tone, his face scrunched up to a frown.

Caelum smirked ever so slightly, arms folding across his chest, his once expressionless face now had a hint of amusement in them.

"I cannot read your mind, but from your face, I can tell what you're thinking"

Berry looked at him with skepticism, he felt a extremely self-conscious knowing that there is a high chance this man could read his thoughts.

He continued to eat but slower this time, also trying to sit straight and do everything perfectly but then Caelum spoke up, changing the topic.

"The scientists believe that you have a connection to the Feral Rune gaining consciousness"

Berry perked up at his words, looking confused, "Me? I don't think I did anything".

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know…for the short time I knew Casper, he seemed like a strong person, maybe his optimism saved him till the end" Berry said softly.

Caelum scoffed, uncrossing his hands and looking intently at Berry, "There was once a Rune, his name was Darius. When he first became a Rune, he swore he would survive a year and if he did he would keep surviving and he would fall in love and have a family and would go on to live a full life…"

Berry focused on Caelum, intrigued by the story, he temporarily stopped eating.

"And he did, he lived up to a year and he fell in love with another Rune, his resolve made the scientists curious but they decided not to run any tests on him, they just monitored him to see how far he could go"

"And he lived for three years, within that time frame he got married to the Rune, he did not have children but he established a life and he was determined to go even further"

"He loved his wife dearly, she was his whole world, he could go to any lengths for her but then one day…it all came crashing down, on the day that would complete his fourth year, the alarm went off, we were shocked to find out that he had gone Feral…"

Berry's eyes dropped and his expression became solemn.

"We tried to save him, we ultimately resorted to use his wife to communicate with him, I authorized it...a grave mistake, we put them in the same room and before she could even open her mouth to say a word he…"

Berry's eyes widened, it just explained the cycle of a Rune's life. Once you become a Rune, every moment is channeled to the day you become feral, you live life on the very edge, you live walking on eggshells, knowing one day, it will all be lost.

Caelum let out a sigh before speaking up again, "so you see, mere emotions cannot fight off the feral nature, something happened that day and I believe it has something to do with you".

Berry felt the weight of the words crash down on him, he didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

In any case, if it did have anything to do with him, what were they going to do with him?.

He looked down at his food, contemplating for a bit before eating slowly again, not as enthusiastic as before.

His thoughts were cut off when a hand holding a napkin reached out to slowly wipe the food stain off his face.

He looked up and froze, he didn't dare move as Caelum wiped the side of his mouth before drawing away, checking if there were any stains left.

"Eat properly" Caelum said in his usual monotone voice, his face still looking stoic and uptight.

Berry felt a tingle on the spot where Caelum had wiped, he had to steel himself to pick up his fork and eat, his palms a bit sweaty.

After a while of eating he noticed that Caelum had not eaten anything since, he raised his head and spoke up in a quiet whisper, "aren't you going to eat?".

"I already have"

"Then why did you…"

"I simply wanted to watch you eat"

Berry didn't know what to say, he just stayed quiet, diving into his thoughts again, what does he even mean by that?.

They stayed like that, Caelum's eyes never leaving Berry's form until he finished his meal.

.

.

.

They both arrived back at the lab, Caelum placed a hand on the small of Berry's back, gently nudging him to sit down.

Berry sat down and looked up at the scientists that surrounded the room, he felt a bit intimidated and anxious but seeing Caelum for some reason, made him feel safe.

"You're back" Sepehr said walking into the lab with a huge grin on his face, Asher with his usual grumpy face walked behind him.

"Let us begin the process" Caelum said, stepping behind Berry.

The scientists nodded and brought out their tools which all looked like weapons of destruction to Berry.

"Don't worry you won't get hurt" Sepehr tried to reassure the pink haired rune but it did nothing to calm his nerves down.

He only tried to swallow down his anxiety and act brave but he felt like his heart was going to burst.

Sepehr noticed this and told the other scientists to back off for a bit, he turned to Berry with a friendly smile and spoke in a calm voice, "how about I walk you through the process, sounds good?".

Berry nodded, grateful for the consideration. Asher scoffed and was about to make a sarcastic remark but then suddenly he froze up and looked away, slightly anxious.

What was that?, Berry was confused as to why Asher seemed so anxious all of a sudden.

But he brushed it off and tried to focus on Sepehr instead as the scientist guided him through the process.

"Okay Berry, now I am going to take your blood okay? You will feel just a tiny prick"

Berry's eyes widened, he was afraid of needles, was he always afraid? He didn't know, but staring at the needle in Sepehr's hands made a shiver run down his spine.

"Can I not?" He asked in a soft voice, almost pleading to avoid it.

"Sorry Berry, we have to, don't worry, I will be gentle" Sepehr reassured, taking Berry's arm.

Berry was mortified, he looked at the needle, hoping that anyone would save him from the torment, from the torture, from the devastating tool of destruction.

And something did

BOOM

The ground shook underneath him, so violently that it caused him to fall from his seat.

The tremor caused the ceiling itself to crack. Loud screams erupted to the sky, panic engulfed the entire area.

Berry's heart rate quickened, he tried to gain his footing but he couldn't, what's happening?, he just curled up on the floor, placing his hands over his head to protect himself. He felt fear and uncertainty wash over him and he could hear his own heavy breathing.

"What the hell!!" Asher yelled, he was also on the ground, seeming to have also lost his footing due to the earthquake?.

No, not an earthquake

There was a smell, a toxic, hazardous smell filling the room from the windows, the air around seemed to darken and it felt like the room was becoming hard to breathe in.

Berry managed to raise his head, squinting to look out the window. His eyes widened as he took in what he saw.

There he found the giant mushroom cloud rising up to the sky, bigger than anything he had ever seen.

"Evacuate the Building!!"