章節 21: The World is a Circle

In the first five hours of isolation, Rykar had already begun to feel the hunger take effect.

"The world is a cycle."

He would whisper faintly to himself in the darkness. The punishment he was suffering now was simply the repercussions he had to face as his actions completed their revolution. Simply a matter of cause and effect, nothing more. Everything that was happening, was deserved.

By the tenth hour, his teeth were uncontrollably chattering as his lips began to fray. All blood that emerged would be licked clear with a flick of his tongue, refusing to allow the moisture to go to waste. For as long as possible, he refused to touch the water pouch he had been given, preserving his short supply.

"The world is a cycle."

Everything that the manager had done, had led up to this point. It was most likely that he had been doing similar things to people in the past. Those that didn't retaliate had been driven into insanity or maybe even deemed as 'useless' only to be discarded from the camp. Even if this wasn't the case and only the beginning, didn't this mean he was willing to take such evil bribes and would have continued to do so from that point on? His death was the remuneration for his actions, the cycle then complete.

By the twentieth hour, he could no longer controls his body as he shuddered violently. The spasms were caused by the violent lurching of his stomach as it seemed to draw nutrients from the rest of his body.

At this point, he finally released the seal on the water skin before pouring a fraction of its contents onto the floor in front of himself. After sealing the opening once again, he set it towards his side before pummelling his fists into the ground the water had spread to. Just like last time, he intended to pummel the ground into a paste before eating it but rather than using his blood to soften it, he hoped the water would last long enough.

The issue was… it had taken two days to have made it to this point before. This time, only twenty hours had passed.

"The world is a cycle."

Forty hours in, the water had run dry and the pouch containing it had already been ripped into shreds and devoured. Without anything else to rely on, Rykar simply continued to smash his hands into the ground methodically in order to generate a gritty bloody paste.

The pain from his fists managed to stave off the gnawing hunger pains for a short while but after that numbed, there was nothing left to protect him from the raw cravings.

"The world is a cycle."

'I've been placed here for my sins, but I've been placed in a space where at least I can eat the ground. What I've done is worthy of the pain I'm going through, but I've been given a way out. I won't starve to death. I wont bleed to death. My debt will be paid after my time is up.'

'The pain is my release.'

As Rykar's thoughts churned within the darkness, Loki and Chance had been spending more and more time together during their shifts and work. While working alongside Chance, despite working at a much slower rate, Loki was able to pick up many of his tips and habits when it come to harvesting the essence fruit. This served to increase his speed by over half and allowing him to pick up a few credits at the end of every shift.

He had also moved into Chance's house. Despite communication between them being one sided for the majority of the time, Loki grew to appreciate the advice and life lessons that Chance offered him. Under his façade of indifference, he took all of the lessons to heart while asking occasional questions.

Many of these lessons were simply stories of adventures or talking about ways that he got out of certain situations, but they really opened up Loki's curiosity regarding 'the outside' that Chance had been brought in here from.

It had become a habit for them to pack up and leave the dining hall a few minutes early at the end of each shift, at the expense of a few credits, in order to beat the dinner rush. This time, as they entered the hall, they found Rykar sat at the same table in the corner of the room as he always used to!

"Rykar! Its good to see your ugly face, how long have you been out?" Loki exclaimed as he reached his brothers side.

As Rykar had his back to them, Loki's voice surprised him. "F*ck, I would have stayed in that hole if I remembered id have to see you when I came out." Rykar joked with a bright smile at the sight of Loki.

Truth be told, Rykar's reply blew away Loki's preparations and defences. He had forced on a light-hearted tone because of his fear to Rykar's condition, knowing how he had come out of isolation last time. Instead of the jumpy and depressed attitude he had expected, it seemed like Rykar had made a complete return and was even more full of life than ever… not as though he had just come from three days of torture.

Despite the smile and sarcastic remarks, both Loki and Chance quickly noticed the bandages around Rykar's hands which still showed signs of having freshly bled. Isolation had definitely been hard on him.

"Don't worry about this, to be honest the pain helped get me through my cycle." Rykar chuckled as he waved his hands around

"Cycle?" Chance interjected.

"Why are you still here?" Rykar's tone went cold as he heard the third party interrupt the conversation. Although the light smile remained on his face, his eyes seemed to cloud over, both red and grey pupils both dulled down as though a layer of frost began to cover them.

Both Loki and Chance felt their hearts run cold while looking into Rykar's eyes. The chance completely startled Loki. Rykar had always been the more temperamental one out of them, but there was never an occasion where his temper had come on so suddenly or strongly as this. And it had only been due to a simple question.

"This is Chance! H-he's been helping me out these last few days and we're going to be living at his place from now on. Trust me, he's a friend." Loki stammered at first but managed to get a hold on his voice as he continued. Despite his cold attitude over the last few days, Chance had truly won him over. There were no benefits for him to have gained by associating with them, yet he had anyway.

It could be seen that as the time they spent together increased, Loki sat chance interacting with the other workers less and less. When he asked why Chance was ruining his own social life, he got the reply, "Its better to be in good company than surrounded by fools. You know, the way you described money was the most interesting thing I've heard in the three years I've been here."

"We've met but I guess we haven't really spoken…" Chance's voice trailed off as he became unsure of how to continue. Rykar's eyes were seriously giving him the creeps. Unlike the eyes of Sir who seemed condescending and unpredictable, Rykar's eyes seemed to reveal condensed and undisguised malice.

"Mhm, Loki, how much do you trust him? Do you believe he means absolutely no harm?" Rykar questioned his brother without taking his eyes off Chance for a moment.

A Loki had already stuck up for Chance initially, he felt as though he couldn't back down. "Yes. I trust him." He replied sternly.

"Ok cool. I believe you. In that case, it would be fine to have him make a special 'deal' with is right? Just with the conditions of him being a brother to us both. After all, my brother's brother is my brother. Right, Chance?" Rykar's words came out slowly and clearly with a hint of ridicule. To Chance, it seemed like a simple exchange of words would complete the deal, but Loki began to look carefully at Chance before he gave a reply.

Truthfully, Loki was unsure about revealing the Book of Greed to anyone at all, but he also felt like this was something he had to commit to.

"Of course, I agree, I give you my word. Recognise me as your brother and I won't break your trust." Chance said with a smile on his face. As he had no idea about the binding force of the Book of Greed, he lay out his promise with confidence. Despite the cold look in Rykar's eyes, Chance still only regarded him as a scared child, trying to defend himself after having his trust broken repeatedly.

The story of their upbringing and travels before making their way to this camp had long since been spread around thanks to Anna and Chris.

Hearing Chance's reply, Rykar didn't deny or accept the claim which caused Chance to crease his eyebrows. 'Was that not enough?' he thought to himself.

Still without a response, Chance turned to face Loki. Finding Loki staring at Rykar without blinking, he understood that they must be coming to some sort of an understanding which he wasn't aware of. The silent stare went on for a short while as Chance simply watched on without interrupting. In the end, he was an outsider and it would take more than a few stories to get close to someone who had been through so much. He was already surprised enough when Loki accepted the invitation to stay at his personal accommodation.

Gritting his teeth, Loki finally relented from the staring contest. "Fine, lets do it. I'll make the deal, but we'll do it after we eat and go back to his house. I'm not doing it here."

The tension instantly eased as colour returned to Rykar's eyes. "Ahaha that's good! It would be great to get along after all. Hurry up and get yourselves some food, don't just stand there hehe." Rykar's expression and demeanour flipped a while 180 degrees in less than a second. It was like someone flipped a switch in his mind.

Suddenly he was laughing while throwing small bits of food into his mouth, clearing off his plate before he got up and rushed to the counter ahead of them.

Watching him run off full of energy, Loki and Chance let loose a breath of air as they began to take steps in the same direction.

Compared to working in the field for four hours, this short interaction felt like it drained them completely dry while cold sweat dripped down the contours of their backs.