ANTihilation

It was approximately 9:00 AM, and Zuno had just awoken from his slumber. Even with the stress of the day before, Zuno felt well-rested and full of energy. It was a lovely morning, and the sun shining through his window landed straight on his face and torso, comforting his skin with an orange warmth. However, this peaceful moment was short-lived.

A small grunt vacated Zunos mouth as he sat up, with the beaming sun no longer on him but on his pillow. Even though it was sunny outside, you became pretty cold if you weren't in its direct rays.

With a bit of a shutter, Zuno stood up from his bed and walked over to his desk. He examined his reflection in the mirror, noticing his messy hair and oily face.

'I look like a mess.'

Zuno thought with a sigh before focusing on cleaning himself up. His legs quickly strode to his bedroom door, and once he was in front of it, his hand reached toward the handle, grabbing it and then turning it and opening it.

After closing his bedroom door behind him, he walked toward his bathroom before again opening and closing a door. While he was inside, his nose was attacked with the pungent smell of dried and rotted blood.

A shower with that smell would be horrible, causing him to quickly turn around, walk out of the bathroom, and find something to clean up the mess. He found a used rag near his kitchen sink. He had more in his cabinet, so losing this one wouldn't hurt.

Zuno moved his right hand toward his faucet while using his left to grab the rag; afterward, he turned on the water and wet the rag with water and soap before walking back to the bathroom and cleaning the blood on the floor, not touching the window. When he was finished, and the floor was decent enough, he threw the rag somewhere in the corner of the bathroom before undressing and hopping into the shower. He reached down, grabbed the shower valve, and turned the water slightly above warm. Subsequently, he stood back up and went to a counter to grab a soap bar, cleaning himself with it. While he was washing himself, he noticed that he barely had bruises from the day before this one.

'I guess they didn't hit me that hard.'

He chuckled to himself before letting out a sigh. He couldn't laugh at them… he lost the fight anyway. After having a somber feeling about his body, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower before squatting down and opening the cabinet below the bathroom sink.

In the cabinet were a couple of towels, extra bars of soap, and pipes attached to the sink. They were all neatly organized and separated.

Zuno grabbed a towel from the top of the pile and used it to dry himself. Once thoroughly dried, he wrapped it around his waist and left the bathroom, strolling to his room, opening the door, and stepping in.

Zuno quickly walked toward his closet, opened it, and grabbed a pair of clothes to wear. It was a pair of Tanish brown jeans, a white T-shirt, and a matching work jacket as an overcoat.

After Zuno was fully dressed, he would walk over to his desk and open the top drawer on the right side. Inside the drawer were a couple of Ziann.

Ziann was Pavee's currency. It consisted of Paper Ziann, which was the lowest amount of Zian. Paper Ziann correlated to ones and fives, and there were two types: the ones were blue, and the fives were red. These are the only parts of the currency that are paper.

Next is the first lowest amount of the coin part of the currency, Copper Ziann. Copper Ziann correlated to ten Blue Paper Ziann or Two Reds.

The second lowest amount was Silver Ziann. Silver Ziann correlated to Four reds or Two Copper.

The second highest was Golden Ziann. Golden Zian correlated to five coppers or Two Silvers and One Copper.

The highest amount of Ziann was the legendary Obsidian Ziann. Obsidian Ziann correlated to Four Silver Ziann or Two Golden Ziann. It was the highest amount of money in the currency.

In Zuno's drawer were about Two Red Ziann and One Copper Ziann, with two or three Blue Ziann scattered around. He quickly grabbed all the money in the drawer and stuffed it into his coat pocket as he closed the drawer and walked out of his bedroom.

He eventually ended up in his front room, glancing around for anything valuable that he could take with him. After a moment of thought, his eyes darted to the floorboards under his table.

He strolled to the table, scooting it over a little before squatting down and examining the floorboard. The wood was quite rotten, and there were no nails connecting it to the other boards. It was a rather bland hiding spot, but the table kept it hidden enough.

Zunos' right hand was dipped down to the loose floorboard, and he slid the tips of his fingers through the thin cracks to try to grip it.

His right shoulder was lifted with great force once he felt he had enough grip to remove the board.

FFRRIIPP

The board, which was rotten to hell, gave out and separated itself from the floor. Zuno moved his right hand to the side, dropping the board beside him.

Afterward, his interest focused on where the board once was. There was a manmade hole under his floor. Zuno peered into the hole, seeing a small black box in the center of the one-foot hole. Even though it was surrounded by dirt, it didn't seem that dirty, just a bit dusty.

Once again, Zuno dipped his hand down, reaching into the hole and grabbing the box before bringing it up to him. The box was solid Matte Black with strange markings all over it. It also had a rough texture that would feel like tiny hard bumps if you slid your hand over it.

Zunos eyes examined the box while his right hand glided over it, feeling its texture. His thumb eventually landed on a latch in the center of the front of the box. The moment he touched the latch, he lifted his thumb, lifting the latch and opening the box.

Inside the box was a beautiful crimson chain with a lapis-colored Jewel attached to it, a dark black bracelet, and a picture. Zuno immediately picked up the picture; he recognized the people in it… just barely. It was a man and a woman with a small child in the middle of them. The picture was of him and his parents.

Zuno got the box shortly after learning about what happened to them. It was the only physical memory he had of them, causing him to cherish it dearly. When he first received the box, he chose not to open it, saving it for the right time. The reason it was hidden is that anything somewhat valuable would be stolen where he lived.

A Somber feeling dwelled on Zuno while he neatly placed the picture in the box and grabbed the object next to it. It was a bracelet his father used to wear; his mom also had a matching one, with the only difference being some velvet stripes around the whole thing; he guessed it stayed with her even after what happened.

Zuno Slipped his dad's bracelet onto his right hand's wrist before reaching out and finally grabbing the last item in the box, the necklace. The necklace was a mystery; he hadn't seen it before, and his parents never talked about owning one; it looked pretty nice and well-made, which made it seem very expensive.

Zuno shrugged, not knowing the necklace's backstory, before lifting it and putting it around his neck. He tucked the bottom of it under his undershirt, keeping it safe and hidden.

Shortly after Zuno finished tucking the necklace into his undershirt, he lifted himself, bringing the box with him before stuffing it neatly in his jacket pocket. Even though his pocket was quite spacious, anyone who even glanced at it would see that something was in it. He wasn't exactly trying to hide it, but questions about it would be annoying since he didn't know much about the box either.

Zuno left his hand in the pocket, covering the box with it; he was trying to keep his pocket as normal-looking as possible. A long exhale departed from his mouth as his eyes shot around the room. He had lived in this house since he was a child, causing him to be afraid of what would happen to it while he was gone. Zunos's eyes glanced back at the door before walking towards his door and opening it.

A flash of light shined into the room, causing his eyes to reflexively shut for a few seconds before he carefully opened them again. It was about 10:45 A.m. Zuno sadly looked back at the living room of the house, recollecting all the memories that were created there as he stepped out into his yard with a somber look on his face. It seemed like it'd be a while before he saw it again.