Perdido en lo imposible (BL)

Rafael and Oliver slipped through the narrow opening of the ship, dropping into a narrow, dimly lit room. The air was thick, laden with a pungent stench of stale chemicals and metallic dust, so heavy that it clung to the throat with every breath, with shattered crates, corroded metal canisters, rusted tools and puddles of substances.

Oliver snorted, wrinkling his nose in visible disgust. "For heaven's sake, who organizes this like this? Even I have more sense of order." He muttered with contempt, pushing a box with his foot to make room for himself.

Raphael, more focused on his surroundings than his companion's complaint, shot him a warning glance. "Focus on finding the exit." He ordered in a low but firm voice.

The chaos of the room did not make it easy for them to move around. Oliver avoided objects as he searched for the exit, lightly touching anything he considered suspicious. But his luck betrayed him when he dodged a boat and his foot hit an unstable stack of crates that almost fell, he managed to stop it, but hit a bucket that rolled across the floor, crashing into a dark corner.

The sound dissipated into thin air, and for a moment, all was silent. Then, a soft mechanical hum filtered through the echo.

Both tensed. A hidden mechanism activated with a creak of old gears, and, slowly, one of the room's walls slid aside, revealing an exit. From the other side, a faint bluish light greeted them.

Oliver didn't think twice and walked out of the room, shaking the dust from his sleeves with a grimace of disgust.

"I don't ever want to go back in there." He muttered with a sigh of relief. But his displeasure was soon replaced by curiosity as his eyes roamed the hallway, with several closed doors on either side, each with odd symbols on a plaque above the door. "I'm going to explore a little further, see what's there."

Before he could take a step, a firm hand gripped his arm. "Don't break away." Raphael warned.

Oliver glared at him, his irritation evident in the tightness of his lips, which were compressed into a line so thin it seemed almost cutting. He crossed his arms, frustration looming in his rigid posture, as if he had regressed into a childish rage. But Rafael, unperturbed, paid no attention to her.

He advanced down the hallway with cautious steps, opening every door in his path. The rooms, though varied in design, maintained an air of specific purpose. However, none of them seemed to be what they were looking for.

Instinctively, his hand returned to his belt, expecting to feel the familiar coolness of the knife he always carried with him. His fingers, however, found only emptiness.

Raphael's brow furrowed. A moment of confusion clouded his mind... until he remembered.

The river.

He'd left it behind, in the damned river.

He clicked his tongue in irritation, the metallic sound echoing in the silence of the hallway. Oliver, watching him out of the corner of his eye, couldn't help but notice the gesture.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his tone short.

"Nothing." Raphael replied without looking away from the doors, annoyance barely contained in his voice.

They continued to explore the other rooms until they came to an open door, which was a storage room. Unlike the previous rooms, this one was unusually brightly lit.

Too brightly lit.

Raphael frowned, feeling a slight discomfort in the air. So far, every room they had encountered had been plunged in darkness, forcing them to turn on the lights manually to see what was inside. But here, the lamps glowed dimly, already lit, flickering with a steady hum.

That could only mean one thing, someone else had been here before them... or something, or someone, was waiting for them.

"What are you standing there for?" Oliver nudged Raphael's shoulder lightly, pushing him to move as he stepped around him to move forward. "Let's get this over with."

Oliver stopped suddenly, surprised by the sheer magnitude of the warehouse. The space was vast, much larger than he had imagined. It was crammed with wooden and metal crates, some stacked chaotically, others small as if they were gifts, and heavy chests strung together, arranged in the darkest corners. Even armor rested neatly in display cases, displayed as if they were museum pieces. Everything had a mysterious, unsettling, yet fascinating air.

Among the objects, something caught his attention: a glass dome that sheltered a rose of fire. Its petals burned with a flame that neither consumed them nor caused ash. Oliver felt a twinge of curiosity. He slid his fingers over the glass and, with a cautious movement, tried to open the lid.

Suddenly, his arm was stopped, and the pain that seeped under his skin made him tense involuntarily. He looked up, met with the most hypnotic blue eyes he had ever seen.

In front of him, a red-haired being with blond tips stared up at him. There was something in its expression that Oliver couldn't decipher, a mixture of awe and something deeper, something that left a strange warmth in the air. Time seemed to slow down, as if the whole world was vanishing in that penetrating gaze.

The hand that had stopped her arm now slid toward her face, its touch so gentle that it seemed to defy the hardness of the claws that adorned her fingers. There was no violence in her gesture, only a strange tenderness, as if she feared to break something fragile.

Oliver couldn't breathe, his chest constricted by the pressure of a sensation he couldn't understand. A bead of sweat slid slowly down his neck, and the blush that colored his cheeks was inevitable, red and deep.

But just when the world seemed to dissolve in that contact, a brutal blow interrupted the calm.

Raphael rammed the humanoid with all his strength, forcing it to let go of Oliver. However, the being's claws tore his cheek in the process of Oliver, who reacted and covered the wound, frightened, moving away from the fight as far as he could.

The humanoid recovered from Raphael's attack and lunged towards him. His fist passed dangerously close to Raphael's face, generating a blast of air that he barely managed to dodge, spinning on his heels to stay out of reach of those sharp claws, his eyes conveyed mockery as did his smile, while his scaly tail wagged with unsettling grace.

He wasn't defending himself; he was playing.

For Rafael, this was a mockery. His temper flared even more, since he was fighting in earnest, without measuring his strength, and receiving the taunts of that giant thing made him very angry.

He used everything at his disposal: boxes, tools, even a metal pipe. He threw the objects with precision, looking for an opening. But the creature was fast, dodging easily and responding with measured attacks, as if measuring its strength.

The metal floor rumbled as Raphael dodged a tail sweep and lunged forward, ramming it with his shoulder. It was a clean hit, but it didn't knock him down. The humanoid straightened calmly, his grin wider than ever.

"That's all you've got?"

Rafael gritted his teeth. "Shut the fuck up."

Raphael launched a hook straight at the humanoid's face. The impact echoed with a dull sound, the creature let out a low growl and its grin widened, revealing sharp teeth.

It gave him no time to react.

The humanoid spun on its axis in a swift sweep, sweeping the humanoid's legs. The humanoid fell backwards with a metallic clang against the floor of the ship, but Raphael gave it no respite.

In a single motion, Raphael lunged at his target, plunging a knee into its torso with a bone-shattering impact. His hands closed like shackles around the creature's wrists, pinning it to the dusty floor. The muscles in his arms tensed as he felt the fierce resistance of his prisoner, who grunted and struggled with the strength of a cornered animal.

"Bring me something to tie him up!" Raphael roared without looking away from his adversary. His tone was sharp, used to being obeyed.

From behind some crates, Oliver peeked his head cautiously, his fear showing. "I don't know if that's—"

"Oliver!" Raphael tightened his grip on the creature, grunting from the effort. "Bring me something, now!"

The thief shuddered. With a growl of frustration, he spun on his heels and lost himself in the shadows, rummaging through crates and debris in search of something sturdy enough to hold that beast.

Meanwhile, the humanoid beneath Raphael thrashed about, its long, muscular tail whipping through the air in fury. In one treacherous lash, the limb struck a stack of crates, sending them crashing down with a clatter.

Raphael reacted instantly, jerked away from the tail, tightening his grip and pressing his forearm against the creature's neck, forcing it to stand still. His breathing became heavy, every muscle in his body working to maintain control.

The humanoid's eyes flashed with a mocking glint. His voice came out deep and full of defiance. "Wow, you're stronger than you look..." He hissed through his teeth. "But tell me... What will you do when you can't hold me anymore?"

Rafael clenched his jaw, his knuckles whitening from the pressure. He felt the burn in his muscles, the subtle tremor of prolonged effort. But he would not relent.

"First I'll make you shut the fuck up." He spat the words in fury, his forehead covered in a layer of sweat as he sank his weight further onto his adversary.

At that moment, Oliver came running back, panting slightly, with a braided rope of metal combined with black leather in his hands. Rafael took it without hesitation and, with quick and efficient movements, tied the humanoid's wrists, then his ankles and finally his tail. Each knot was firmly secured, reducing the chances of escape to a minimum.

"W-what do we do with him?" Oliver asked, his tone higher than normal, betraying his nervousness. His eyes flicked restlessly between Raphael and the unconscious creature.

"For now, we lock him up."

With considerable effort, Rafael lifted the humanoid. The humanoid was heavy, with an abnormally dense musculature, and although the policeman was in excellent physical condition, carrying it was no easy task. His muscles tensed as he held that weight, but he didn't think to let out a whimper.

They walked down the corridors, their shoes echoing on the steel surface. He opened the first door he found important, expecting it to be a cell or some empty storeroom so he could leave it. Instead, he found the captain's cabin.

The space was vast, filled with super-advanced technology the likes of which he had never seen before. Holographic consoles floated in the air, projecting data in an unintelligible language, with odd symbols accompanied, with several seats, but the one that stood out the most was the center seat, the captain's seat, with armrests full of buttons.

He dropped it in the center of the room with a thud. The sound echoed through the vast structure, dissipating in the oppressive gloom that surrounded them.

The impact activated a hidden mechanism. Immediately, an opening slid into the ceiling with a soft click, and a screen emerged, casting a glow over Raphael's face. A faint electrical hum vibrated in the room.

"¦Please place your hand¦"

The message was in his language, which was a momentary relief, but Raphael knew he could not afford to trust completely. Although he could take home if he became a leader of sorts, but he would return home, with his fiancée waiting for her. He thought it through, until he made a decision.

He placed his hand on the luminous screen.

A beam of blue light emerged swiftly, gliding over his skin like an icy shiver. An electric tingle ran down his arm, uncomfortable but not painful. The light disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and the screen flickered away from her hand, flickered briefly. Then the words changed, displaying a new message.

"¦Welcome, Kavumproli¦"

Rafael spun on his heels and started walking toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" His companion's voice reached him, tinged with curiosity and some trepidation.

"I'm going to retrieve what I left at the river." He paused for a moment in the doorway and, in a firm, authoritative tone, issued a final warning without turning around. "Choose any room, but, above all, don't talk to the prisoner."

Without further ado, he stepped through the door, closing it behind him with a sharp rap, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

To be continued...