Chapter 2: A failed friendship

A big explosion of light formed between the two men, pushing them back and sucking the air out of their lungs. The crystal fell on floor making a high pitched cling, echoing miles away. The room was filled with bright red smoke. Renato's lungs felt heavy and painful. When looking around, he realized that the office was now destroyed. All the desks, chairs and utensils were thrown into the wall. Talking about the wall, it was full of holes and bumps, plaster covering everything in white dust. The light blue paint could no longer be seen and the ceiling was barely holding on. But that's not what Renato was interested in. He had to find his friend.

Ren looked around for awhile and finally saw Apeiro. The man was buried under cabinets and broken chairs. He was full of bruises and wounds. Renato started panicking, he didn't want to hurt him, he just wanted to stop him from doing something wrong. He then tried to get out, but only when he tried did he understand the situation he was in. Ren was stuck under a big, heavy desk which had crashed on his back and was full of cuts from the broken window.

Apeiro slowly opened his eyes as well. Luckily for him, the only thing that could keep him there were the wounds, which could have been a lot worse. He pushed the chairs and cabinets with all his strength and got up in a cloud of dust, broken bits of plastic and splinters of wood falling from his hair. It was a bit hard because his stomach was severely wouded, and a few bones were surely broken, but he managed to ignore the pain. Pei was furious, maybe to the point of breaking down in tears, but he saw the crystal intact. It was lying on the floor with the same shape and color it had before the explosion was formed.

As Apeiro was approaching the Anemone prism, Renato kept trying to force himself out. He felt his muscles strech so much that in just a moment, he felt unbearable pain. He screamed in agony after a sharp edge from the desk started cutting through his leg. Pei heard Renato's cries and forgot about the crystal. He ran straight to his friend and tried to lift the object that was causing Ren's suffering.

The building started shivering and people could be heard outside. "Pei, we need to go!" Renato's voice was almost silent. He was lying on the floor, unable to move. Pei couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. He was afraid of what could happen and could not bear seeing Ren in such a disturbing state. ''Was it really my fault?'' Pei taught for a second, while seeing Renato's body fully covered in blood. His face was missing an eye, the nose was broken and some of his teeth were on the floor, behind him. His clothes were ripped and dirty. But nothing could compare to his right leg that was almost entirely cut in half. He barely seemed alive.

"I... I can't leave without the crystal! I'll just take it and help you up so we can leave." Pei was now agitated. Because the building was trembling, his dark red precious stone was now on the opposite end, far away from Apeiro. He had to make a run, so he did.

"NO, YOU IDIOT!" Renato used his last bit of strength, and threw something at Pei right when he was about to pick it up. But only when he threw it did he realize it was another magical creation from the company. "NOOOOO!" Renato quickly recognized the device that was thrown. It was something similar to a prison, but for creatures out of this world.

Instead of capturing Apeiro with the other creatures, the device began to tremble. Then all of a sudden the crystal ascended once again, this time, the precious stone produced a yellowish light, making the device move to it. Suddenly, Apeiro and Renato felt an air wave that blocked all exits in that room.

"What the heck have you done?!" Apeiro lost the shine in his eyes, and his voice was indicating madness. "I thought you wanted to leave! Why would throw the damn supernatural prison!?" While Pei was yelling at Renato like a dog barking at random people on the street, Ren was dragging himself across the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Another wave of air came and almost pushed Renato back into the wall. This time, the air had a different fragrance to it. Something they've never smelled nor felt before. Then, all of a sudden, out of the device, a wip hit Apeiro in the back of his legs, leveaing a thin red scar and making him fall on his knees. Then more black wips came out of the crystal, grabbing Apeiro ruthlessly by his legs and arms. The more he struggled, the more they tightened around his helpless limbs, until he was pulled with an imense force directly into the crimson stone face first.

"NO! LET GO OF HIM YOU STUPID THING OR I'LL... I." It was too late. Apeiro was already imprisoned in the precious stone that they foolishly made with their own hands. The crystal fell on the dirty floor, this time barely making any sound, and the battery had exploded into the device. The prison no longer worked, making everything that was in it get out. Renato was devastated and tired of everything.

The animals that got out, began wreaking havoc. They smashed all the things in the room, breaking all of them into thousands of pieces. They soon made a way out, and after trampling things out of revenge for being stuck in an empty and little world, the creatures finally left.

Renato was fully crying. Everything went wrong in this mission. His legs were broken, so he still couldn't get up. Ren lifted his head up to look around one last time, hoping to find something worth living for. Nothing was intact, or so he thought. Before fully putting his head back down in defeat, the man saw something shiny in the corner of his eye. He looked in the direction of the blinding light. There it was, the Anemone Prism, shining in the light of the sun, still intact.

Renato was filled with excitement and hope. There was still a chance of survival left for his best friend, a chance to fix his wrongs. As long as the crystal didn't break, it'll just be a normal prison. Ren started dragging himself across the cracked floor, making his way through broken shards of wood and metal with determination. He had to get to the stone no matter what.

When he got to the bloody crystal, Ren was filled with more excitement than he ever was before. He stretched his hand, touching the Anemone Prism, feeling its mysterious, hard corners. For a moment, the world stopped, like it was all just a bad dream. Just when he belived that not all was lost, a cracking sound was heard from above. Pieces of plaster fell in clouds of dust and the walls shook in anger, but It was too late when Renato realized what that sound meant. The ceiling fell on him, breaking the stone. The last thing he saw was his friend being crushed in a million pieces before blacking out.