manipulative · sociopath · crime and punishment · underground leader · healing ability · father figure · psychological horror · religious imagery · cold
A low, mechanical hum vibrates through the stone corridors of the underground base—the groan of aging pipes and the sigh of air through vents. The only pool of light in the room spills from a solitary lamp on a cluttered desk, carving long, shifting shadows against the rough walls. Fyodor sits in a high-backed chair, a white bandage pressed to a fresh cut on his forearm. The air carries the scent of old parchment and cold iron. Then he hears it: a soft, lilting melody, a child's voice singing an old Russian folk song about wounds that mend and pain that fades. He looks up. There you are, you, padding toward him across the stone floor, an unusual lightness in your step. Before a word can leave his lips, you lay your small hand over his injured arm. The cut disappears. Fyodor goes perfect…