𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ✔️

013

(also a picture of younger Jamie Campbell Bower for visuals ofc)

▐░░░░░░░░░░░░░▌

Lessons resume the next day like normal. You're fed your first proper meal. A bowl of warm chili with water on the side. It tasted like heaven.

For once, Papa's conducting your lesson. But it was only because of a recent breakthrough with 011. He'd wanted to try it with you as well. It seemed everyone came second to 011, even you.

"It takes a lot of willpower and focus," he says, "but try to make it disintegrate."

You stare at the photo before you. Ever since your visit with 001, you'd been holding back the urge to set it on fire. Papa took it as a chance to turn it into a lesson.

Make it disintergrate. This was your tenth time trying. No tip he gave you made much sense, but he wasn't quitting. You really wanted to.

"Focus all your energy..." Papa instructs. "Feel it in your hand."

"I don't have this stupid power, okay?!" you snap, but you hadn't meant to. The stress was getting to your head.

Papa looks taken aback, a moment of nothing passes as he just stares at you bewilderedly. He collects his things and nods. "Alright then, we'll resume this another time."

The photo was still crumpled in your hands. The mother, papa, and you. You were young, maybe not even a year old back then. There was a two-toothed smile on your face. You looked happy. The photo was full of love and joy. Even Papa looked free of stress and exhaustion, the lines on his face were smooth.

How could this have ever existed?

"Wait!" you call.

He stops, turning over his shoulder. "Yes, 000?"

"What happened?" you asked, looking down at the photo.

He shakes his head and sighs. "Life, my dear," he murmurs to himself, "Life."

He leaves the room silently and you're left with only your thoughts to accompany you. But that was often a scary thing. Your thoughts could become your worst enemy. With a huff, you shove the photo into your pocket and leave.

To pass the time, you make your way to the library. It was a small room that most people had forgotten, but you still came every once in a while. The orderlies here were more relaxed. Probably because they weren't pestered by children at every waking moment.

They greet you with a nod and a small smile, that was the first change. The orderlies in the rainbow room were a lot more uptight and reserved. You thought maybe a rotation in posts would do them good.

There weren't that many sections in the library. It was strictly fiction and non-fiction and that was where the categorization ended. You stroll around absent-mindedly in the fiction section. You could use a moment of relaxation, but many of the titles here were ones you've already read.

There's a new section, off to the side, entirely devoted to Greek Mythology. You wondered whose idea that was. It was random, as people hardly came in here at all, but it was needed. The room was a dank square lined with shelves. Predictable and boring. The new section gave it life, at least, it did to you.

You pick up the first book you see, skimming it randomly at one of the small, wooden tables. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Ares. The names were rather unusual to you.

When you're bored of that book, you move on to the next, and the next, until you're barely skimming over the names and what they stand for. Nike, victory. Thanatos, death. Soteria, safety.