Then
the video was switched off, bringing Edwin back to reality.
“There
we go. You just watched a real battle between a team of custodians and a group
of demons. Caught on CCTV, funnily enough. CCTV can capture demons on video,
but the same concept works as in real life; if people don’t believe or even
know about them, they can’t see them even on the video. We still try to
confiscate as much as we can though, just in case we get people wondering why
there are people dressed up throwing flash bangs around and shooting things.”
Seymour explained.
More
scary than the video was the fact that Edwin wasn’t particularly shocked at the
video. He’d seen enough demons in real life now, trying to kill him. Seeing it
on video, especially watching a team of professionals take it down seemingly
effortlessly, with no casualties, was actually quite relaxing.
“Alright
then.” Edwin replied. “So then, those symbols again, the ones that you used.
What are they? Also what was that creature that killed the demon at the end?”
“The
more you know the better I guess. The symbols, like the ones I used, are what
we call the Asura Arts. Explaining exactly what they are is a very long story.
But, to put it simply, it’s like a form of magic that exists, that some people
can use. It takes a long time to learn how to use it, but once you can it’s
very useful. It can do things such as creating chains to immobilize a demon, or
even go as far as doing what I used it for; to actually trap demons away to be
summoned at a future time. Part of your training will be to see if you have an
aptitude for it or not. As for the beast that you saw… That is one of the
mythical creatures that exist in the world, in this world, that normally live in locations inaccessible by humans,
or by normal humans anyway. These
special creatures have abnormal powers, such as the fire you saw that one
using. They can actually damage demons, and some can even take down demons by
themselves. There aren’t many people who manage to find and form a bond with
these creatures, but those that do are an incredible asset to our organisation,
as they are one of our greatest weapons in the fight against demons.”
Edwin
took a few minutes to think through this new information. Demons naturally are
invisible to humans. Some of them come in monstrous shapes and sizes, allowing
them to kill people easily. They seem to be made out of materials alien to this
world, that are naturally hardy against any kind of weapons humanity can make.
The only things that are effective against them are weapons made using the same
materials that make up their bodies; this material comes in limited supply as
we can only gain it from their dead bodies. At the same time, because this
material isn’t from this world it doesn’t work the same way materials in our
world does. As such the weapons made from it tend to be simple, such as
daggers, swords, and such. Guns don’t seem to work because gunpowder doesn’t
affect it in the same way it would a normal bullet. Therefor it only gives us
incredibly simple weapons and armouring against monstrous creatures. Luckily
there are two other ways to even the odds in this fight against demon-kind. The
Asura Arts; a kind of magical ability that some people in the organisation can
use. This “magic” can affect demons, such as chaining them down, which can then
give us the opportunity needed to kill them. The third way of fighting them is
through the use of “mythical” creatures such as the lion seen in the video.
These animals seem to be able to affect demons in a way that humanity can’t,
because of their unique abilities.
As long
as there were ways to combat them, they weren’t as scary as Edwin had first
thought, he decided. Then came a knock at the door. Without waiting for an
invitation, the door opened, and in came a familiar person.
“Hey
guys” Beatrix greeted them, a cheery smile on her face. “Hope I’m not
interrupting anything. But when I heard that you’d brought Edwin into the base
I just had to come say hi!”
Seymour
let out a long sigh. Edwin had the feeling that Beatrix constantly bothered
him, both here and at school.
“Actually
you showed up at a good time. I’ve just been telling Edwin about the mythical
creatures that help us in our fight. Believe it or not, Edwin, Beatrix here is
one of those few people that have somehow created a bond with one of them and
fights together with them. Is Jotun about, Beatrix? I think having Edwin see
one in person would be a good thing.”
Beatrix
beamed at the request.
“Jotun?
He’s always nearby! Just in case, ya know.” She looked around. “Jooootun! Come
meet a new friend!” she called. Suddenly Edwin’s hairs were on end as the room
went cold. The air swirled around them as if a fierce wind had suddenly found
its way indoors.
Edwin
shielded his eyes as the wind started to make them sting, and then as the wind
died down he looked around. Standing a couple of feet away from him was a wolf
with fur stark white like snow, and eyes as blue as the sky. This wolf was
massive. It was easily as tall as he was. It looked straight at him. It sniffed
the air, then backed away to stand next to Beatrix.
Beatrix
looked happy at the sight of it, rustling it’s fur. “He seems kinda shy. I
think maybe he’s scared of you, Edwin!” she said, giving him a disapproving
look.
“Him?
Scared of me?” Edwin felt slightly
unnerved at the sight of this gigantic wolf that could probably kill all three
of them if it decided to.
“This
is Jotun.” Seymour introduced. “He is a wolf that holds power over cold winds
and ice. He’s a great asset in the fight against demons.”
Jotun
pawed the ground nervously, still looking Edwin in the eyes, then the ice cold
wind started up again, forcing Edwin to squint his eyes once again. When it had
gone, so had Jotun.
Jotun the ice wolf, huh?
“You scared him off!”
Beatrix accused, pointing a finger at Edwin.
“Hey
now, I didn’t do anything!” Edwin replied. “It’s not my fault your oversized
wolf ran off”
Then,
as if to stop any possible argument, a phone went off. It was some cheesy theme
song of an old cartoon. Beatrix looked embarrassed for a moment, then took out
her phone and answered it. After listening intently for a short while, she
replied with “I’ll be there as soon as I can” and hung up the phone.
“There’s
a situation. My team has been called out to fix it. Talk to ya both later!” She
gave them a smile and a wave and left. That smile didn’t seem convincing
somehow. Edwin turned to question Seymour.
“Must
be a demon.” Seymour answered casually.
A demon!?
“Then shouldn’t we be helping
her?”
Seymour
laughed in reply.
“Don’t
be silly. You? Help her? Getting a little ahead of yourself aren’t you? She’s
got her own team. They work well together. You’d literally be getting in the
way. As for me, I’ve got my own business to be doing. Such as showing you
around. And when I’m not showing you around, I’m still busy. Unfortunately, we
can’t all stop what we’re doing to work together to take on a demon. That’s why
we’ve got an organised system in place. Training new people up, as well as
developing new weapons, and other important research, is just as important as
taking down demons in the first place, since they’ll then make it easier to
take down demons in the future, and perhaps one day drive them back for good.
Don’t get me wrong though, we never let them go about doing as they please. We
always send someone to deal with them, but we can’t afford to send everyone.
Unless it’s a special case.” Seymour explained.
That didn't exactly sound perfect to Edwin, but he had to admit it made sense. Also something about the way Seymour said it made it sound like a much-practiced speech. He most likely had to explain it to new recruits a lot.
“Alright
I get it” Edwin responded, deciding not to question him about it, and to trust in Beatrix's ability.
*
Edwin
arrived home to the small flat his father paid for quite late that night, for
once not encountering any demons. As he readied himself for bed he looked over
the items he had received from Seymour.
He’d
been given a set of demon-fighting knifes, as well as another set of armoured clothing.
He’d been given a phone as well, password and fingerprint protected. On this
phone there were many phone numbers for the organisation. An emergency number
for reporting a sighting. A number for the ‘front desk’ , that could
then be used to redirect to other numbers, for less immediate problems. It also
had Seymour’s, Beatrix’s, and even Melisandre’s work numbers. He’d been given a
flare gun with a pack of flares, some flash grenades, and even a gun. Luckily he had a utility belt and
harness to carry it all. And, also, luckily, he’d been given an I.D., that was
similar to a passport, with his photo in it. Apparently it allowed him to avoid
trouble for carrying around otherwise illegal items. It gave police officers
enough details to phone their supervisor, who would then find out that they
worked for some special force that worked for the government that had permission
to carry these things.
Tartarus. That was the name of the
organisation. Seymour had said that they were named after Hell, in order to
always keep in people’s minds the war they were fighting, although he didn’t
sound completely certain. Custodians were
what they were called. Occupation? Custodian. Organisation? Tartarus. Hellish
and strange names for a hellish and strange job.
Edwin
looked at himself in the mirror in his bathroom, shocked to see that he still
looked exactly the same. He felt very different. His life had completely changed
since coming to this school. It felt like the entire world had changed. Monsters are real.
Suddenly
an intense burning sensation hit him, coming from his chest. This had been
happening since his fight with the demon. He took off his shirt to take a closer
look. In the same spot that Seymour has shot a bullet through him, was a
strange black mark, seemingly spreading outward. But Seymour had said that that
bullet only affects demons. Edwin didn’t know what to make of that. And he
didn’t know if he could tell Seymour or anyone else in the organisation about
it. What if there was something demonic about him? It would explain why the
demons seemed to always appear around him. But then, shouldn’t the bullet have
killed him like it did that demon? Would Tartarus be willing to take that
chance? The burning sensation faded after some time, but as Edwin drifted into
sleep he had terrible nightmares of flames, of burning, and of demons.
*
After
school the next day Edwin found Seymour in the usual computer room, although he
was packing up his belongings in a hurry.
“So..
what’s on the agenda today then?” Edwin asked. Seymour looked at him and paused
in thought. He then picked up a very large package from under his desk.
“I’ve
got a very special task for you today, actually, although I can’t come with you
today. I’ve been called to some urgent business, and I was wondering what I was
going to do with this…. I’ve been working on something new, you see. Something
amazing! And since you’re here, and since I can’t do it, I need you to deliver
this to Melisandre” Seymour answered. He forced the package into Edwin’s arms.
“Wait…
what? Melisandre? She wasn’t at school today, and I don’t even know where she
lives!” he said, as Seymour quickly made for the door.
“Use
your other phone, remember?” Seymour
answered, and with that he was gone. Edwin sighed. Right. I can always phone her. He put the very heavy package down
on the floor and took out his Tartarus phone and rang her number……..
“No
answer…. Seriously?” Edwin sighed again. Then, as he was looking at his phone,
he noticed that underneath her phone number was an email, as well as an actual
address. “Woah.” He looked through his other contacts and noticed they all had
addresses as well. It made sense when he thought about it, but he hadn’t
expected it. He didn’t recognise the street name, however. He looked it up on
Gogle Maps, and his shoulders dropped in despair. It was at the very least an
hour long journey from the school. And he’d be needing to carry this heavy
package. Perhaps he could’ve got a bus or a taxi, but his father had a habit of
leaving him an obscenely small amount of money, and because of that Edwin had
developed the habit of never spending money unless he absolutely had to. And
this journey may be painful, and horrible, but it wouldn’t really hurt him in
the end, so he picked up the box, and started his long walk.
*
The
walk ended up taking far longer than an hour. He had to keep checking his phone
to avoid getting lost, and the package for Melisandre made it take even longer.
Edwin finally came across a fully detached house, seeming like it was further
away from the other houses than it should be. After placing down the package,
he rang the door. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs and finally someone
opened the door.
Just
slightly shorter than Edwin, there stood an Asian male, who looked like he
could be the same age as Edwin, or slightly older, or slightly younger. He was
wearing strangely simple clothes that didn’t reveal anything about his
character. A simple plain grey t-shirt, and black trousers that could be work
trousers, or school trousers. The guy before him silently looked him up and
down, then asked in perfect English “What do you want?” He had a very guarded
expression. Edwin couldn’t read him at all. Yet, somehow, he looked strangely
familiar.
“Is
Melisandre in? I’ve got a package for her” Edwin said, motioning to the box
he’d lain on the ground. The person at the door looked down at it, then back to
Edwin, a slight smirk forming on his face.
“You a
postman?” he asked.
Edwin
could tell that he was being messed with. His eyes narrowed and he sighed.
“No.
I’m a friend from school. And this is a package from another friend.” Is this guy from Tartarus? He realised then that there really
wasn’t a safe way to find out. Who was this guy living in Melisandre’s house?
“Friend?”
the guy scoffed. “Right. Well she’s not in right now.” He looked back down at
the package, then back to Edwin, looking like he was calculating something.
“I’ll take a guess that it’s urgent though. She’s training at the moment. Do you know the River Firve? If you take a
right at the end of this road, then just keep walking until you find the river.
You’ll have to go off-road and follow the river to the left. It’ll eventually
lead you into the forest, which will eventually lead you into a clearing. She
should be there. If it’s not urgent, however, you can leave it here.” He
explained.
Goddamn that sounds like a really long walk.
Seymour said it was urgent…. And I guess it’ll help get me into good shape….
“Alright” Edwin answered,
trying to hold the despair from his voice. “Thanks. I’ll take it to her. See
ya.”
“Bye.”
Came the simple reply. The guy closed the door before Edwin had even moved to
go. Edwin could hear him running back up the stairs. Not the best first impression. Who is he? Maybe Melisandre will tell
me. For some reason he seemed kind of… dangerous…
Edwin looked at the heavy
package, looked up and down the street, looking for some kind of miracle. There
were none. So, he picked up the box, and started walking.
*
The
directions were good enough. It was getting dark now, but Edwin, walking
through the forested area, finally came to a large clearing. It was just light
enough still that he could see Melisandre, sitting in the middle of the
clearing. It looked like she was meditating. Is this the ‘training’ she’s doing?
Then
Edwin noticed something else in the
clearing. A creature walking on all fours was stalking a circle around her. Could it be… a demon?
Deciding
to be safe rather than sorry, Edwin dropped the package and sprinted forth.
“Melisandre!”
he shouted, rousing her from her meditation.
The
creature looked his way and hissed.
“Wait!”
Melisandre shouted, reaching out her hand, but it was too late. The creature’s
mouth opened and flame spewed forth towards Edwin. They completely enveloped
his sight, large enough that he couldn’t dodge out of the way. He shielded his
eyes and face with his arms and charged forward. The next thing he knew he was on the ground. He opened his eyes and noticed his clothes were on fire. He
quickly smothered the flames out. Somehow, he hadn’t taken any damage, except
for his clothes. His shirt had mostly burnt off to reveal the protective
clothing underneath, although part of that had also burnt away to reveal the
strange mark on his chest.
He
looked up to see Melisandre staring at the mark on his chest, deep in thought.
The creature Edwin had seen was perched on her shoulder, much smaller than he’d
originally thought it was. It had lizard-like skin with a long tail swishing
back and forth. In place of where a mouth would be was a flat beak that made
Edwin think of a platypus.
“This
is a Cherufe” Melisandre said, breaking the silence. “It’s a creature from old
Chilean mythology. It turns out Cherufe are real. This one is friendlier than
most”
“You
call that friendly?” Edwin remarked, getting to his feet.
Another mythological creature, just like
Beatrix’s Jotun. He walked away from her to grab the package and brought it
over to her.
“Here.
Seymour said that this was an urgent delivery for you. So I’ve been, well,
trying to find you to deliver it” he said.
“Ah”
she said, understanding dawning on her face. She looked away awkwardly. “Sorry
for being… hard to find… I guess. It must’ve been a long walk. Still, I wonder
why it was so urgent.” She started unpacking the box. Edwin watched, curious to
see what was inside. The Cherufe looked up at him and hissed, small flames
coming from its mouth. “He thought you were a demon” she explained. “And I wasn’t
expecting to be interrupted.”
He thought I was a demon? What a coincidence.
The
package was revealed to be what looked like a utility vest, and a separate sleeve.
The Cherufe jumped to the ground as she put the vest on, and it turned out that
the sleeve connected to the vest. There was also a small screen in the middle
of the chest, and another screen on the wrist of the sleeve, with various wires
that she had to plug in, as well as a small instruction manual.
“Interesting….”
She said, reading through it. She sifted through the box for more parts,
revealing what looked like some kind of pipe that went into the arm, looking
like a gun, and cables that connected up to it.
“So…
what is it?” Edwin asked.
Then,
suddenly, something was different. Edwin felt on edge all of a sudden. Silence. That was it. There was no sound
at all. Melisandre seemed to have noticed as well, as they shared a look. The
Cherufe jumped back onto her shoulder and hissed, breaking the silence. Edwin
realised that the vest seemed to glow for a split second as the Cherufe jumped
onto Melisandre’s shoulder. He could have been imagining it, but considering
what he’d seen so far, it was more likely that it was real.
As they
looked around a thunderous screech filled the air. It drew their attention to
the trees across the clearing. Then, as quietter growls could be heard, a group
of demons came running towards them. Edwin recognised them. They were all the
same as the demon Seymour had had him fight. Seymour had told him they were one
of the weakest types, but also one of the more numerous. They called them Gluttons; in reference to their bloated
stomach and urge to feed on flesh. He’d had a hard enough time against one of
these, but now… He counted them. There were 6 of them, and there was no way they’d
have enough time to get backup from Tartarus. Then a ball of flame exploded in
his vision, flying past him and exploding upon one them, sending it to the
ground and engulfing it in flames. Edwin heard it scream until it stopped
moving completely. Edwin looked to see Melisandre with her arm outstretched.
The fire had seemingly come from the weapon on her new sleeve. The Cherufe was
sat calmly on her shoulder, it’s eyes closed.
“This
is a good opportunity to test this thing out” she said, smiling. “Don’t worry,
we can take these small fry out. Think you can keep them from getting too close
to me?”
Edwin
looked back to them. They’d stopped running. They must have somehow noticed that
their companion had suddenly died. They were now slowly and carefully closing
in. Edwin calmed down. He took off the burnt remains of his shirt, revealing
two knives attached to his protective utility undervest. He wasn’t all too
confident, but he could at least keep them away from her, he hoped.
“No
problem” he answered, holding a knife in each hand and concentrating on the
approaching Gluttons. Melisandre fired another ball of fire towards one of
them, but they must be smarter than they look, as it jumped out of the way and
the ball of fire went sailing past, exploding on the ground.
Good job we’re in a clearing.
After
that shot they exploded into a sprint, trying to close the distance before
Melisandre’s next shot. Melisandre backed off, putting Edwin in the way. Edwin
got ready to tackle any that tried to get past, but was shocked when they all
swerved towards him, seemingly not caring about Melisandre. Suddenly he was
almost tripping over himself as he jumped out of the way as one of them pounced
for him. As the Glutton crashed to the ground it was smothered in flame from
Melisandre’s weapon. This time is was shooting out in more of a short-range
flamethrower form. Edwin swung his daggers in front of him, cutting a Glutton as he backed away
and drawing blood as they closed in. It didn’t deter them, however. Luckily
Melisandre backed him up, shooting fire into them from behind, presumably
finished with the one on the ground. One of them turned, it’s attention drawn,
but Edwin took that chance to move past the other Gluttons and tackle it to the
ground before it advanced on Melisandre. Taking cue from the video he’d seen
earlier, he drove his knife into its head repeatedly, feeling sick while he did it but finishing it off while it’s
attention was drawn. He felt the heat of the fire from Melisandre’s weapon
going over his head, pushing the other Gluttons away. Edwin looked up to see
her concentrating on the Gluttons in front of her. Then he saw a shadowy figure
creeping up on her.
“Melisandre!
Behind!” he shouted. He eyes widened for a moment, then she grabbed something
from her vest, threw it above her head and jumped over Edwin. Whatever it was
she’d thrown exploded in the face of the Glutton that was creeping up behind
her, blowing most of its head off. Melisandre landed near Edwin, but the two
remaining Gluttons, although severely burned, came for Edwin. They fell to the
ground on top of him, grabbing him and trying to bite his face off with their
eerily large mouths, but Edwin kept his calm about him. He stabbed with his
knives at their faces, while the air behind them was illuminated with
Melisandre’s fire. Eventually the weight on top of him went limp and dead, and
he shoved their corpses off.
Melisandre
was back on her feet, looking towards the trees. Edwin got back to his feet.
“We’re
not done.” She warned. She reached into one of her pockets and grabbed Edwin’s
hand, pressing something cold into them. Edwin looked down to see what looked
like a small shiny rock.
“This
is an ardent stone. My Cherufe makes them. This vest is pretty useful. It directs
Cherufe’s energies to make ardent stones materialise within the pockets. Just
crack the stone and throw it. It’ll explode like a grenade, but with enough
force to actually hurt demons.” Melisandre explained.
Edwin
took a step forward, in front of Melisandre.
“Let’s
keep to the same tactic” he answered to her questioning look. The trees in
front of them shook.
Trees
were pushed to the side as another familiar demon pushed its way into the
clearing. It was also humanoid, but far too tall. At least fifteen feet in
height, this demon actually had eyes unlike the Gluttons. Its arms were also
unnaturally long, with gigantic hands. It was just like the demon that Edwin
had seen in the video.
Immediately
Melisandre had shot a ball of fire towards it. The demon outstretched its hand
towards it and the ball exploded as it made impact. The demon screeched in
pain, the same screech they had heard earlier. Its hand was slightly burnt but
it didn’t look that harmed, and it ran towards them, using its long arms like a
gorilla, faster than its size would have them believe.
Pushing
down the fear that threatened to consume him, Edwin ran forward to meet it.
Less confident in his own skill and more confident that Melisandre would find a
way to harm it, he would attempt to distract it. Seemingly he needn’t have
bothered, for the massive demon went straight for him anyway. It swung its fist
towards him, so Edwin stopped running towards it and jumped back, just out of
range, but managing to stab his knife into its arm as it went past. The knife
dug in but was ripped from his grasp, and the impact of the air after the demon’s
swipe knocked him to the floor. The demon screeched, looking at the knife
embedded in its arm. It swung its arm again and the knife came flying out,
getting lost in the darkness. Edwin quickly got to his feed and ran to the
side, an idea coming to mind. It turned with him and moved after him, so that
now Melisandre was behind it. A flaming ball hit it in the back and exploded,
sending it to one knee. This time it actually turned towards Melisandre. It’s
back had burn marks on it, but again it didn’t look very damaged. Realising
that it was about to go after Melisandre, Edwin ran towards it. As it took a
step Edwin jumped and grabbed a hold of its leg, big enough that he could wrap
his legs around it and it took him with it, moving into a run. At its speed it
would get to Melisandre in mere seconds, and Edwin wouldn’t have been fast
enough to catch up.
He
shuffled himself up the leg, and with his remaining knife swung his outstretched
arm and stabbed the demon in its stomach area. It stopped mid-stride,
Melisandre only a few metres away. Edwin yanked the knife back towards him,
ripping open its stomach. It screeched again as blood came pouring out. Suddenly Edwin was ripped from its
leg, suspended in the air. It had grabbed him by the legs and he was hanging
upside down, looking down at its face. Seconds away from a sure death, Edwin
managed to remain calm. Inside his hand he had the stone Melisandre had given
to him. He gripped it as hard as he could and felt a crack, then threw it at
the demon’s eyes. They exploded and the demon roared in anger, dropping Edwin as
it brought its hands to its eyes.
It
seemed as if Melisandre had caught onto his plan, for as he fell he noticed her
running past him. She shoved the muzzle of her weapon into the open wound that
Edwin had created, turned away as much as she could, and Edwin saw a bright
flash inside the creature’s stomach as she shot fire into it. Edwin immediately ran
and grabbed a hold of her, pulling her with him as he jumped to the side, just
in time to avoid the demon’s fist ramming into the ground where she had just
been. It fell to its knees and arms, trying to look around with its blinded
eyes, smoke rising from its midsection. In desperation to end this as quickly
as possible, just in case it wasn't done, Edwin ran towards it and stabbed his knife into its
head. Its head was big, and it knocked him away as it tried to move in pain,
but the knife stuck in, and it fell down from its knees and arms, flat on the
ground, and stopped moving.
Edwin
stood there in silence, catching his breath. When he turned around he saw that
Melisandre had a phone to her ear. The Cherufe had jumped off her shoulder and
was running around the clearing. Edwin guessed it was checking to make sure
there was nothing else nearby. Melisandre reported, presumably to Tartarus,
that there had been an ‘incident’ and that they needed a ‘clean up’.
“They’ll
be here soon to debrief us and harvest the bodies” she explained. Edwin nodded
in acknowledgement. “You know….” She said, seeming like she was sure how to
word something.
“What?”
Edwin asked, curious.
“When
you were in the hospital I said that you shouldn’t join us, that you should try
to live an ordinary life. But… you were pretty useful just then. Maybe you
joining wasn’t such a bad idea.” She said, trying hard to keep her face and
tone serious.
Edwin
smiled. It was good to hear. When he thought about it, today was the most they’d
ever spoken. She wasn’t easy to approach at school, and she had always seemed
short with him. Perhaps things were changing now that he’d ‘proven’ himself, so
to speak.
“However.”
She said, her tone suddenly very serious. “That mark on your chest. We need
someone to check it out.”
“What,
this?” Edwin said, trying to sound aloof. “This isn’t anything special. It’s
just a… mark. It’s fine” he said, not really sure how to try to convince her.
It wasn’t something he could say was a tattoo. He wasn’t old enough to even get
a tattoo. Plus it looked too strange. But this, Seymour’s bullet, and the fact
that demons kept turning up around him. It was something to worry about. What
if Tartarus designated him as a ‘demon’ and killed him?
Melisandre
somehow seemed to sense his worry.
“Don’t
worry. Those marks aren’t anything demonic.” She said. “They look like Asura
Arts… And it looks like it protected you from Cherufe’s flames. Perhaps
somebody put a charm on you or something.” Her words put Edwin’s mind at ease. When could that have happened? He wondered.
Maybe it was best to get it looked into.
“Thanks”
he replied. As they waited for the ‘clean up’ crew to arrive, they got to
talking about mythical creatures and the items Seymour had made for Melisandre.
Apparently the vest and arm-piece drew on Cherufe’s powers and concentrated
them into the gun on the arm, as well as speeding up the process of the
creation of ardent stones and making them materialise in the pockets of the
utility vest for easy access. According to Melisandre it was something only a
genius would be able to make, as it actually channels the power of Cherufe,
something that should be impossible with human technology. She guessed that it
made use of demonic materials and perhaps Asura Arts, but she couldn’t be sure.
She’d have to ask Seymour about it. Edwin just listened happily, noticing how
her red hair complemented the fire she wielded. He forgot to ask her about the Asian
boy in her house, and soon enough members of Tartarus arrived to harvest the
bodies of the demons, and escorted them back to the base underneath the school
to debrief them.
*
“Well,
I’m glad they didn’t notice me.” The woman said, talking to no-one in
particular as she walked through the forest, heading back to the city. “Still
though, I just don’t know why they keep going after that boy from the hospital.
From my point of view that girl looked tastier.” She said, thinking about it
but coming to no conclusions. She took out a small makeup kit and looked at
herself in the mirror, checking her makeup. It was still fine. She hadn’t
exactly needed to exert herself. She looked around. It wasn’t as if any animals
were going to come near her. And if any of the agents of the organisation found
her…. She smiled as she caught a glimpse of one of the massive demons walking
near her. They held a formation at her command, with her at the centre. Anyone
that inadvertently walked their way would get ripped to pieces in seconds.
“He
certainly has changed from only a short time ago though. It seems like he’s got
his fear under control, and he was showing some good movements for such a young
boy back there. Still, perhaps next time I should just have him eaten. If I’m
not going to find out the mystery around him maybe I should just have him gone.
I can’t have anything getting between me and the organisation…..” She caught herself squinting in anger in her mirror, and closed it,
putting it back in her pocket. She hurried her pace. She didn’t want to get
caught just yet. She shouldn’t really have visited the boy back at the
hospital, but she couldn’t control her curiosity, just like this time.
