"So... why did you drag me here?" A Ramen House, Nora sat across from Alex, reading out a menu. "Is there a reason we're out for ramen right now?"
"You can also drink. It's up to you."
"I'd rather not."
"Your loss." A waitress crossed over, "What's the spiciest you have on the menu?"
Alex grimaced, begrugingly searching her menu as well.
"I'll get that then." He turned to Alex, "Anything you want?"
"Tonkotsu."
The waitress left to get their orders shortly after.
"Is there a reason why we're eating on a patrol right now?"
"We're not Stars, we've no need to be so restrictive."
"Is this not like us taking a break? I don't understand."
"Anything can happen. A person with a Manifest goes mad or becomes an Apostle-- shit happens. Actively searching for such things isn't going to get us anywhere."
"You don't do anything without purpose, however. I know that for a fact, especially after working with you for as many months as I've had by now."
"Are you hungry?"
A moment passed before Alex blushed, "Kinda..."
"You should never work on an empty stomach. It'll leave you vulnerable. But you shouldn't overeat. Take smaller meals throughout the day. Alcohol is fine, it calms the nerves, but it makes you remember."
"What do you mean? Isn't it the opposite? I'm confused."
"No, it makes you remember more. It's why I drink as often as I do. I don't want to forget. If you drink to forget, you'll remember it more; if you drink to remember, well... you're serving the drink's purpose. Does that all make sense?"
"So... I'm just here so you can feed me before we go out and experience the horrors of the world again?"
"I also wanted to tell you something."
"What is it?"
"When recruits start pouring in, and when you're on your own, supervising your own half of the lot." A beat, "Don't blame yourself if one of them dies. In the line of work we're in, blaming yourself for things you had no control over does you no good, and most of the time, leads to people going mad, or taking their own lives. Just keep that in mind. Do everything in your power for them, and if you can't, move on."
"Assuming they die on me to begin with..." Alex seemed confident in her words, but Nora's brow became knitted.
"There are no guarantees, Alex."
Alex averted her gaze. "I know."
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This was the first time I've ever been on a Luna Anti-Grav train; it was faster than I thought. I believe it was only a 10-30 minute trip between each Sphere. We've been split up by our teams by now.
The tall, pale girl that I noticed the day before was called Chris, whilst two others sat with us. A younger man with shoulder-length black hair and olive skin, carrying a foldable spear and wristwatch shield, similar to our Vice Captain, called Tel, and another young man with short brown hair and light skin, carrying a soft expression about them. His name was Jack.
Our team was dead silent before Jack broke the ice, raising a hand. "Well... It's a pleasure to meet you all, by the way. I was just kind of curious... what made the rest of you want to join Grief?"
Tel looked uncomfortable with the question for a moment before sighing. "Uh... I'm looking for something. Mercury had the highest likelihood of helping me search for it."
"I'm looking for something too. An Artifact. What about you?"
"Something like that, I suppose."
"What are you looking for specifically?"
"Too personal for me."
"O-Oh! Okay, no problem." He gave a thumbs-up and a smile. "I'm specifically looking for this weird TULPA Instrument that allows you to plant as many trees as you want."
Chris snickered, "Sounds like a fairytale. What? Is that all you want to do? Plant trees?"
"What? No." Jack chuckled. "I want something from them." He put a finger to his lips, "And that's where I have to keep my own secret." A beat, "What about you two?" He gestured to Chris and me.
Chris looked like she was going to say something before hesitating, smirking, and then looking at me wide-eyed for an answer, which I refused to entertain. She sat there for a moment before sighing. "Nowhere else to go, and I'm looking for a cure for an ailment I have."
"Ailment? Like a disease."
"Nothing that serious, but I want it gone. That's all I'll give you."
"What about you, Ariel?"
"Yeah, what about you, Glasses?" Chris looked at me smugly.
I sighed, "Looking for a person."
"Oh, really now? Long lost lover, or something?"
"No?" I gave an incredulous expression, looking back at Jack. "I already found them. Now I'm just sticking around so I can confront them, and because this is the better of a variety of different options." I rubbed my chin. "Might become a Gardner after some time passed. Figure that job would fit me more."
"Yeah, it would, wouldn't it, Glasses?"
"Not my name." What's with her sudden attitude shift?
Jack smiled, "Who are you looking for?"
I considered whether I should tell him, but I refrained. "Doesn't matter, I already found them."
He gave a worried expression. "Alive?"
"Yes."
Jack sighed in relief. "Well, that's good." He paused, "You come from a specific Sphere in particular, or were you born in Mercury?"
I hesitated but continued. "I was born in Luna."
"Oh? I'm from Tierra, we're neighbors!" He turned to Tel, "What about you, dude?"
"Mars."
"Oh? A militiaman here! I'm surprised you decided to join Mercury then."
"I don't really like Mars."
"Fair enough. What about you?" He pointed to Chris.
"I was born in the Impetus. Not sure what else I could say with that..." She paused. "Mars. That's where I was born."
"Oh?" Jack thought for a moment, hand resting on his chin. "How was it like? Another Mars kid~! So, you were specifically born in the Impetus Circle?"
Chris cocked a brow. "Yeah?"
"That couldn't have been pleasant. I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's whatever. I survived."
An Orphan? From what I remember, Impetus was under the command of one of the Organs.
Time passed from that conversation, arriving at Venus and breaking off from the rest of the team. It seemed as if Alex was going to position herself within a certain area of Venus, just far enough, and just close enough to not involve herself directly in our matters, and to jump at the occasion wherein we need her assistance.
Of course, our patrol was focused on the residential areas of Venus, since any area that has Huntsman in it, most likely would have very little chance to have anyone, or anything that we're explicitly looking for.
"So," Tel spoke up, "What's the goal? Are we aiming to actually find something, or just loitering around?"
I sighed, "I'd rather we didn't find anything."
Tel looked like he was about to say something, but shook his head instead. "No, you're right."
Jack wheezed. "I... I dunno... You heard about the rumors?"
I clicked my tongue, "Do you believe in it?"
"It's not improbable. A curse could've very well been placed on the Zodiac inadvertently, y'know? Enough people could've manifested it."
"Yes, but most people who work here have 'Manifests'."
"Sure...?"
"You get what I'm saying, right?"
"N-No, not really."
"Apostles and TULPAs can form with those who have a Manifest if their 'Perception' has been broken, or someone with a Manifest has reached a low point so extreme that they effectively bloom into either or, yes? But, it only works if it's the individual themselves who falls apart mentally, or if someone with an exceptional amount of Kismet Energy-- who might as well be someone with a Manifest-- loses themselves. On an individual basis, it's never because of the consciousness of the many. What I'm saying is that, if multiple people with Manifests or an exceptional amount of Kismet Energy were to all share the same thought, an Apostle or TULPA would not be created in response."
"O-Oh... okay. That's reassuring."
"It's because the Kismet Energies that are being produced are cycling themselves, and are focused on the individual rather than being pushed outwardly into something that can coalesce into a Thoughtform of some kind. Though... the Perceptions of others can keep alive, or alter the form of the created Apostle or Thoughtform."
Jack nodded. "I... I think I got most of that?"
Chris chuckled. "I caught none of it."
"It isn't that difficult to understand." I snip back.
"Well, sorry, you're using a lot of big words, so it's easy to get lost in the sauce, y'know?"
"I'm unsure how what any of what I said was hard to understand."
Tel looked at me with a sorrowful look, "It... it was a lot of words. I kinda spaced out, too."
"Oh my-- At the end of the day, people with Manifests cannot act as a collective consciousness."
Jack put a finger up, "What about Gardners? They're not all people with Manifests."
"Yet they handle Kismet Energies frequently. With enough exposure, it stops mattering." A beat, "There is an exception, though."
"What's that?"
"As long as a memory exists of a TULPA, or an entity that produced an Apostle, well..." I thought about how I wanted to word this for a moment before continuing. "Just the memory alone of a TULPA keeps it alive, Manifest or not. The solution to more irrational thoughtforms in this case is to create a way to erase them from people's memories altogether. The number that perceives a TULPA doesn't matter either to its power, just as long as it's remembered, and has been perceived or interpreted by enough people."
A beat.
"Since most Thoughtforms can represent concepts, a lot of the ones contained, or are under observation, rather than outright erased. People can recall that there were Thoughtforms before that had to be destroyed in their entirety, but the concept, or person associated with them, is lost to time."
"Wait, how?"
"Uh... probably some memory wiping technology? All I know is that it happened, I honestly have no clue about the logistics, unfortunately... now, should I know? Probably not-- pretty sure whatever it is is kept close to the Empyreans' chests. Emergency cases, maybe?"
Tel perked up, "Got a text from the group." He showed us his phone, "We gotta scout Block E and G. Other group is handling Block A and Block F."
Chris kissed her teeth. "Oh, they're actually giving us directions." She rolled her eyes.
I pointed to the closest Block to us, which was Block G. "Let's go there first since we're closest to here."
"The big bridge? Okay?" Tel looked back at his phone, then pocketed it. "Let's go."
Once we got there, we began circling the bridge, looking below and under it, and for any hint of anything being around the area. I'm personally able to see Kismet Energies, which is most likely the reason why I was one of the people chosen to begin with, but I couldn't find any remnants of Apostle, Manifest, or TULPA activity.
I sighed, "You'd expect that there was some sort of trail supporting the idea that something had to have been here to lead to Alex thinking that we should search here to begin with, no?"
Tel pulled himself up back to the street where I stood, overlooking the bridge. "I'm pretty sure most info goes straight to the board, no?"
I paused, "No, yeah, you're right. The Vice Captain most likely was just thrown a lead, and we're forced to search for any validation of-- you get what I mean."
"Yeah." Tel nodded, watching Jack and Chris follow behind him.
Chris groaned, "This fuckin' sucks. Can't we get some drinks at the very least to make it less tedious?"
I started walking, "If we find anything as we move to the next Block, then sure."
"Fuck."
Time passed, and it took us around twenty minutes to reach our next destination. Chris got the drink she wanted along the way as we approached a relatively smaller bridge compared to the one in Block G.
There was a grass hill leading under the bridge, along with a small, flowing river that passed through. Tel and I went to check one side of the bridge, whilst Chris and Jack checked the other.
"Nothing, again." I sighed, removing my hat as I scratched my head.
Jack had a sigh of relief. "Thank the Mother! I'd prefer it if we didn't have to deal with any crap today-- I'm not prepared to be forced to defend myself, y'know? I'm not the best fighter. Better at sneaking up on people and picking 'em off." He rambled, checking every nook and cranny just in case we missed something.
"Jack, stop."
"Hm?"
"I see something..." I noticed it just in time. A small trace of Kismet Energy was slowly wafting out into the distance and to a bridge right across from us if we continued down our current path. "I found a trail."
"Oh..."
Chris approached me from behind, rolling her tongue along her teeth as she stared out at what I pointed toward.
Flit! Squelch! Followed by the sound of violently expelled air. We spun around, watching as Jack was slowly lifted off the ground, gasping for air as what looked like blades visibly jutted out from his uniform, stained in his own blood. His face quickly grew pale, and all we could do was watch before he forcefully threw himself out of the grasp of whatever had grabbed him, blood rapidly spreading across his back as he stumbled forward toward us, barely able to breathe.
Jack unlatched his weapon from a box strapped onto his back, blindly throwing a harpoon in the direction of the creature that had attacked them, sticking the creature's arm, causing it to drop out from beneath the bridge.
What we saw slithering out from beneath the bridge's rafters, falling to the concrete below with a sickening, meaty slap. A creature of membranous film and muscle with two bulbous black eyes. Its arms were unnaturally long, and its claws were gnarled and thin like wires as a transparent liquid pulled itself like a string against its palms before, like viscous slime, pooling all over the floor.
Chris recoiled, looking violently ill almost instantly after seeing the creature.
As quickly as I could, I threw open the cloth on my back, fashioning my weapon into my hands. One massive crossbow, in the shape of an anchor. The pressurized canister in the middle of the Anchorbow shook violently, ready to be fired.
The shot cracked through the air, hitting the monster in the chest, causing it to stagger back, a gash on its chest now, blood down its viscous body. I didn't want to let up, grabbing the chain on my back, attempting to fire once with a smaller anchorbow at my waist, and with one of the two chambers that were fired, I missed my shot horribly, flying through the air and scattering into a thin mist behind it.
Chris, however, did not stay and fight, immediately breaking into a sprint in the opposite direction.
"What the fuck!?"
"Fuck!" Tel flicked his spear out and into the palms of his hands, swiping it through the air, expanding the existing gash across its chest. In retaliation, the monster lurched forward-- Tel flicked a shield out from his wrist, blocking a lot of the attack's impact as its arm slivered around his body, the claws digging straight into his shoulder, lifting Tel from the floor.
The young man cried out, watching up close as its mouth split open, a long tendril stabbing into his body, visibly slithering beneath his skin, his body cringing up in response.
Jack scrambled further up the hill, pulling his harpoon violently out of the monster's arm, crimson spraying onto the grass of the hill just beside us.
"I got you, Tel!" I yelled, loading my Anchorbow back up before firing it straight into the monster's leg, hoping that it'd unlatch him from the impact, completely missing the mark, hands shaking at this anxiety-inducing situation.
"Fuck!" Tel screamed out, retracking his spear into a short blade, spinning around out from the creature's claw, attempting to strike it before creating as much distance as he could, bleeding profusely, pale as a ghost as the monster's tongue leaked with coagulated blood.
The creature suddenly stopped, all of us now away from the bridge; it refused to leave it.
I slowly stepped back, the creature refusing to break its gaze from us, not even bothering to rush back into its previous hiding spot now that it's been spotted.
I waited for a second, eventually grabbing Tel by the collar and dragging him over to Jack, gliding a hand over their wounds. Their breathing steadied, and all we could do was sit there, observing the creature from afar, which continued to keep those black, bulbous eyes on us.
Jack clutched his chest, attempting to keep himself as calm as he could, breathing slowly. "Oh, Mother... please bless me with your light on this day, for I've encountered none other than a demon that wishes to rend my soul from my body to consume and absorb for its own nefarious purposes!"
"What the hell are you talking about, Jack?"
"Look." Tel pointed at the creature, "It's healing."
Its body began to slowly put itself back together right in front of our eyes.
Jack looked to me, "What do you figure? Apostle, or...?"
"Definitely an Apostle."
"Do you think it came from a person?"
I shook my head, "Not sure... I don't think so, though... it might be connected to a bigger Apostle... or a TULPA.
"We definitely have to report this."
We hear rapid footsteps approaching us, lifting our heads from the grass simultaneously, watching as Chris returned to us. I threw my arms open, "You fuckin' ra--"
Before I could get a word out, she took a metal ball in her hand, rapidly heating it to nearly a melting point before chucking it straight into the monster as if they were a baseball player in a little league. The creature screamed out, retreating back into the darkness in full.
"What the hell are you guys doing!? Go!"
Despite my anger, I stood up and did exactly as I was told, cause, admittedly, she had a point. This was an opportunity to finish the monster off, especially whilst we had the advantage outside its territory.
Jack got into view, spotting it just as it slipped back into the bridge's rafter, completely whiffing the shot. "Damnit!"
Tel ran in, "I'm gonna bait it!"
It went just as badly as Tel was taken up with the creature, dangling by his legs, forcing the rest of us to go and help him, sprinting under the bridge as well, except for Chris.
Jack finally landed another hit on the thing, ripping open its neck with the harpoon's barbs, blood violently spraying against the concrete above us as I followed up with a single, succinct shot to its head, popping it open like a grape, causing it to let go of Tel, dropping limp onto the floor below.
The blood of the creature landed on us, covering us with its inner remains.
Chris chuckled, "Ohh... man... that's... that sucks." Leading into a snicker.
I crossed over to her, "And where the fuck did you run off to!?"
She instantly raised her hands in surrender. "Woah! Calm down, Glasses!"
"This could've gone a lot easier if you didn't fucking belt away from the fight, y'know!? What do you have to say for yourself, Chris!?"
"Look, I got scared initially, but I came back, okay~!"
"You're so full of shit, you slippery little rat! This is our first fuckin' fight with an Apostle, and you decide to fucking run away! I can't believe it!"
Jack put a hand on my shoulder, "Alright, alright... l-let's calm down a little."
It did calm me down, that's for sure, but I couldn't help but stay frustrated.
"Look, it was our first fight. We don't have to be this snippy for our first encounter with an Apostle, y'know?"
"The problem is-- what if this becomes a pattern of behavior? What then?"
Chris waved her hands dramatically, "Look! I'm sorry, I mean it!" That smug smile still pulled along her face.
"I think we should address this problem now so it doesn't happen again."
Jack nodded, "Yep, okay... that makes sense. For now, let's reconvene with the rest of our team."
I sighed, "Okay." Stepping past the rest of my team so that we could get to the other group faster, so that we can all fully go back with what we found to Alex.