Do You Remember?

The group was eventually taken back to their cells, the guards remaining silent as they led them through the winding corridors. One by one, they were locked away in their separate cells—Six and Thirteen sharing theirs, Eleven and Stone in the cell opposite, and Purple and Red in the adjacent one.

The night passed slowly.

The group had little to do but sit in the dim, damp silence as their thoughts were weighed down by the looming uncertainty of their situation. Six sat against the wall, his mind replaying the encounter with the strange king. He could still hear the mocking tone in the king's laughter.

Occasionally, one of the guards would walk past the cells, brief noises that broke the silence and raised their anxiety.

The quiet hum of the fortress was a constant reminder of the alien world they were trapped in, and the darkness of the underwater night seemed endless.

Thirteen broke the silence that had settled in their cell like a heavy fog, her voice soft but clear.

"Do you remember anything from before this?" she asked, her gaze fixed on the small crack in the stone wall across from them.

Six, leaning against the cold, unforgiving wall, let the question hang in the air. He tilted his head back and his eyes traced the uneven ceiling as though searching for an answer that didn't seem to come easily. For a long moment, the only sound was the faint, rhythmic drip of water somewhere in the distance.

"Not much," he said at last, his voice low and edged with frustration. "Flashes, maybe. Faces I can't put names to. Places that don't feel real anymore. It's like trying to grab smoke—always slipping through my fingers."

Thirteen shifted slightly, drawing her knees closer to her chest and resting her chin on them. "It's the same for me. Everything before this place feels… blurry. Like it's someone else's life."

Six glanced at her, noticing the way her eyes seemed far away, as if she were chasing memories that refused to be caught. He frowned, his jaw tightening. "They did something to us," he muttered. "Whoever brought us here. I'm going to find out who it is and make them undo what they've done"

Thirteen spoke slowly.

"But, what if those memories aren't things you would like to remember?"

"Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to sleep" Eleven's voice tore across from her cell to theirs.

After a few quiet seconds, Thirteen whispered "Sorry Eleven"

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" she asked, her voice quieter now, almost hesitant.

Six exhaled, the sound heavy with a mix of exhaustion and resolve. "We have to. There's no other option. I for one don't want to rot in this cell"

"But what if we don't?" she pressed, her tone barely above a whisper. There was a vulnerability in her words that she rarely showed, and it made Six turn to face her fully.

He didn't answer right away, letting the question sit between them. His eyes, sharp even in the dim light, locked onto hers. When he spoke, his voice was firm, almost defiant. "Then we make them regret keeping us here. All of them."

Thirteen managed a faint smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Before you fight back against anyone I think it's best you remember that you've lost one hand"

"Still, fighting's the only way to survive," he replied simply. His gaze drifted to the barred door of their cell, his mind already turning over plans that didn't yet exist. "You keep moving forward. You don't stop, and you don't let them break you."

For a moment, the weight of his words hung in the air, heavy, but not suffocating. It was a promise, not just to her but to himself.

'I feel like I've heard that before. Where did these words come from?'

Thirteen rested her head against the wall, her smile fading into a contemplative expression. "You ever wonder why they put us together?" she asked, breaking the brief silence.

"Maybe they thought we'd tear each other apart," Six said dryly.

"Or maybe they thought we'd keep each other alive," she countered, her voice soft but certain.

Six didn't answer, but the faintest flicker of a smirk crossed his lips before he turned his attention back to the ceiling.

'So you think Eleven and Stone would keep each other apart?'

The faint hum of the underwater fortress carried on, indifferent to their plans or dreams. In the suffocating silence of their cell, they sat together, quietly determined to turn the tides of their captivity.

***

It felt like an ordinary prison; the routine was almost identical. But therein lay the problem.

At a designated time each day, the guards would unlock the cell doors, ordering the prisoners out into a larger communal area. This was their opportunity—if it could be called that—to mingle with the other prisoners, many of whom were from species or civilizations they had never encountered before.

Now was that time.

'I didn't think much about it before but now that we're here...' Six's eyes darted around, scanning the whole place '....There are no humans here'

Six glanced at his companions, his expression neutral.

The others—Eleven, Stone, Purple, Red, and Thirteen—returned his gaze, each conveying their own unspoken thoughts. Eleven gave a faint shrug, Purple raised an eyebrow as if in mild amusement, and Stone crossed his arms, leaning back slightly as if to say, Not me.

Clearing his throat to break the silence, Six spoke. His tone was casual, but there was an edge to it—a blend of curiosity and caution. "Alright, so… who wants to go first?"