The next day, which also marked the first full month Michael had been an Ethereal, he lay low for a while, waiting for the heat to die down. Or at least making sure the Investigators, Pubsec officers, and NEDF soldiers didn't uncover anything important.
Disguised as a normal Tyrfing, his wings concealed, which felt unnatural and weird, and his belongings hidden in places only he knew, Michael watched from far away as people came and went to the site where the incident had taken place, which was currently taped off and off-limits to anyone else.
He also saw the NEDF Squad, which had been hunting him in Hollow Zero there alongside what he thought was their Commanding Officer, a green-haired woman.
They inspected everything. From his shotgun that he had tossed away during the fight to collecting the many tiny fragments of Porcelume scattered that he had used as a DIY grenade to even marking and closely examining every step he had taken, making sure no stone was left unturned.
It honestly made Michael a little paranoid, even if he knew, reasonably, that they would find nothing meaningful about him.
He would have gotten closer to hear any discussion about him, but that would just invite too much attention and quickly give away that he was not a normal Tyrfing.
He wished Lucia was here, but she needed to return to her tribe after being away for so long. She did promise him she would return after a couple of days and hopefully bring some information on how New Eridu is reacting to him.
Unfortunately, it meant there was no one for Michael to talk to, which only left him with the whispers in his head, which had gotten a tiny bit louder ever since he had grown another pair of wings.
Speaking of, he still had no idea why he had grown a second pair of wings. He had not intentionally done so; it happened in the heat of the moment. Even Lucia, the resident Ethereal stalker, doesn't have an answer.
She did share a theory of what might have happened. Some Ethereal, like the Dead End Butcher, undergo a transformation when being pushed over the edge, using the high amount of Ether concentration as a fuel source for the transformation.
Lucia theorised that his case might be similar, but, with no other way to confirm, it remained just that, a theory.
Whatever the reason might be, he was glad it happened, or else he and the rest of the survivors might not have made it out of there last night.
Seeing as there was no reason to stay here any longer, Michael left, blending in among a group of roaming Tyrfing until he was out of sight of anyone.
.....
A few minutes after Michael left
"Chief, wait up!" Yanagi called out to Miyabi. Behind her, Harumasa and Soukaku followed closely behind.
"No time to waste, Yanagi, this is an urgent matter after all," Miyabi said as she and the rest of Section 6 reached the site of the incident.
Harumasa heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. "I know it's urgent, Chief, but do we really need to hurry up this much? I... I gotta catch my breath first..."
Soukaku nodded as she pet her growling belly. "Yeah. I didn't even eat anything this morning."
Miyabi, however, only ignored their complaint as she went straight to the Investigator in charge. "Hoshimi Miyabi from Hollow Special Operation Section 6. Are you Colonel Isolde? The ones who've been giving intel on this Ethereal in secret to HAND for the last four weeks?"
Isolde turned around from Obol Squad as she answered Miyabi's question. "I am. Good to see you, Hoshimi Miyabi." She greeted them. "Behind me is Obol Squad under my command and Captain Roland from Scott Outpost. They are the ones who have been tracking the Ethereal in question. Although I have relieved Obol Squad of the mission not too long ago, they will still help with the investigation instead."
Miyabi nodded. "I assumed we were called here to begin our own investigation into the Ethereal personally this time?" She asked, to which Isolde confirmed.
"To think that there is an Ethereal out there that's intelligent enough to use, is constantly evolving, and even more unbelievable, helping people. Even after almost a month since the first report was sent, I still can't understand why an Ethereal would help humanity. What do you think, Deputy Chief?" Harumasa asked Yanagi.
"I'm in the same boat as you, Asaba. Even after rewatching the news footage many times, I still had no idea as to the intention of the Ethereal in helping the survivors. Is it genuinely trying to help, or is it luring us into a false sense of security? Or perhaps there is another underlying motive we don't understand yet." Yanagi theorised.
"But Nagi, if this Ethereal is helping people, why are we trying to capture it? Isn't it good?" Soukaku innocently asked, to which the group only kept silent.
Isolde broke the silence. "Whatever the motives might be, our first priority is to capture it, and to do that is to find more information from those with first-hand accounts."
"Are we interviewing the survivors?" Miyabi asked.
Captain Roland then came up to them with a few files in his hands. "Already did, here." He then handed the files to them, except for Soukaku. "There's also the medical records of the survivors in it. Well, those who consented at least."
Miyabi, Yanagi, and Harumasa intently read the files, finding some interesting words from the interviews conducted. Their interest piqued when they read the medical records on hand.
It confirmed that indeed, the Ethereal did purge the Ether Corruption from the survivors, even those whose Corruption was severe. But the latter cases were what grabbed their attention, however.
"Survivors with signs of severe Ether Corruption were noted by doctors to have higher Ether Aptitude of varying degrees after re-measurement, sometimes upward of 25 Points." Yanagi read out loud.
Harumasa also noticed something interesting. "Look here, Paulo, survivor of the Hollow Zero disaster." He pointed out with a tone of interest that the rest of Section 6 hadn't heard. "His records said he had to take Anti-Corruption medicine as a long-term treatment after the disaster, but upon re-examination, the doctors concluded that he seems to be free of it and would no longer need to take the medicine regularly."
"Purging Corruption and improving Ether Aptitude... If this information were to leak..." Yanagi pondered the consequences.
"Which is why we have instructed the survivors to keep quiet on this matter. While the former is already known, the latter is the most worrying if words were to get out. The last thing we need is the masses rushing headfirst into a Hollow in hopes of improving their Ether Aptitude and instead turning into Ethereals." Roland reassured.
"But this information won't remain a secret, will it?" Harumasa deduced. "If this Ethereal continues to save more people, sooner or later, words will eventually get out."
Roland gave a thoughtful look. "Which is why we prepare for the inevitable. Public Security, HAND, HIA, and the Defense Force... all of us must be ready for when the time comes."
Miyabi nodded. "Understood. For now, let's continue this investigation on this Ethereal."
Before they continued, Harumasa asked one final question. "Speaking of, does this Ethereal we're chasing have a name? It'll probably make it less confusing for us."
Isolde shook her head. "No. For the last month, we've only called this particular Ethereal as Subject No. 1. Although..." She thought back for a moment. "After last night's incident, many, including some members of NEDF and Pubsec, have taken to giving this Ethereal a very interesting name."
Section 6 all looked interested in what the general public has named this unusual Ethereal.
"What is it?" Harumasa asked.
Isolde looked at them as she calmly replied. "Fallen Angel."
.....
"What do you want, Sarah?" Bringer asked, tearing his eyes away from the city below as he looked backward towards the woman in red and black approaching him.
Sarah looked at Bringer with a fake smile. "Just relaying information from the Overseer."
Bringer looked annoyed at Sarah. "And what does the Overseer want now?"
"Just expressing some... disappointments regarding a certain Ethereal blowing up on the news."
Bringer rolled his eyes. "And pray tell how that's my fault exactly? How was I supposed to know that the Ethereal is going to expose itself publicly by rescuing those survivors?"
"I didn't say it was your fault, but still, while the situation is not ideal, it does have one silver lining."
"And that is...?
"Our recruitment is on the rise, with many joining the Exaltist only a few hours after the news," Sarah informed him.
Bringer picked up a peculiar tone in Sarah's voice. "I sensed a 'but' there."
"Unfortunately, we have a few 'disagreements' with a few of our believers," Sarah said, her turn to look mildly annoyed, crossing her arms.
Bringer raised an eyebrow. "Disagreements?"
"Let's just say, after the news footage of 'Fallen Angel' got out, a few believers had some 'questions' regarding the goals of the Exaltist."
"Sounds fun." Bringer sarcastically told Sarah. "But it's a problem for the Overseer to solve, not me. Anyways, I gotta go back, or else they're going to be suspicious of me."
Sarah stopped Bringer from leaving, raising her hand. "Now wait a moment, Bringer, the Overseer does have a task for you."
"What, another? But I'm already busy with the plans for next year. Couldn't you do it?" Bringer protested, his tone now conveying more than annoyance.
Sarah smiled at Bringer. "It's just a simple task, and unfortunately, I don't have the resources that you have."
Bringer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. What's the task?"
"Capture and bring back 'Fallen Angel' to the Exaltist. The Overseer is very much interested in this Ethereal." After relaying the task, Sarah turned around. "Good luck. May the Creator refine us." With that, she walked away, leaving Bringer alone on the rooftops.
Bringer watched as Sarah's silhouette disappeared from view. When she was gone, he then gave a sigh as he too began walking back to his office in PubSec.
"Sigh... May the Creator refine me."
.....
With each step, Lucia was closer and closer to where her tribe was currently residing.
'Granny is probably worried about me...' Lucia thought to herself.
That wasn't the only thought in her head as she once again thought back to yesterday's event.
She still couldn't believe that she had met the very same Ethereal as the recording she had bought, even if his appearance wasn't the same.
And then she found out that the Ethereal could talk and even have a name. Michael.
It was slightly disappointing that Michael didn't remember much about his past, and she felt bad asking him about it, but still, a sentient Ethereal.
Not only that, he even became her friend and shared all that they knew about Ethereals and Hollows, even showing some of their powers to each other.
If the rest of the tribe knew about this...
Lucia shook her head. 'No, no. You promise not to keep his identity as an Ethereal a secret.'
As for his appearance, on the other hand... No doubt, the whole of New Eridu is talking about him right now. Maybe the news has even reached the Nightwatchers.
Whatever the case, she was glad that she had found and befriended Michael, even if she'll have to keep it a secret from the rest of her tribe.
Although she did feel guilty of one thing.
She remembered looking into the bag that was entrusted to her by Michael as he rescued the survivor. Even if most of the items were probably taken from the Hollows, she still looked into his personal belongings without permission after all.
What gave her the most guilt was one innocuous item. A small notepad.
Even when she knew better, her curiosity got the better of her, and she opened it.
Four names were seared into her mind.
Dad: James
Mom: Olivia
Little Bro: Alex
Cute Sis: Lily
She instantly knew that the names belonged to Michael's family and that she had just uncovered something he must've wanted to keep a secret, considering he hadn't brought it up himself.
It is why, even if he probably didn't notice, she wanted to make it up to him by any means necessary. She noticed that Michael had a music player that was dead and wondered if she could scrounge up enough Dennies to buy him a rechargeable power bank of some kind.
"Lucia, there you are. Where have you been?"
She was so preoccupied that she hadn't even noticed that she had arrived back at her home, her granny welcoming her.
"O-oh. Hey there, granny. Nothing much. Just been exploring as usual. Even made a friend. He's pretty friendly." She quickly answered. Perhaps too quickly.
She could see her granny raising an eyebrow at her. "Just a friend, huh? Are you sure?"
"Granny! We are just friends..." Her face must have resembled a tomato at what her granny was insinuating.
"I didn't say anything about you two dating." Her granny teased, causing even further embarrassment. "Now come on inside and tell granny all about your new friend."
She did as was told, stepping inside her home, not before asking her granny one question.
"Umm... Granny, have you heard any interesting news lately?"
"Hmm? Now that you mention it, the whole tribe's been talking about an Ethereal that rescued a bunch of people lately. One that everybody is naming Fallen Angel. The Chieftain even brought in a recording for everyone to watch. It was honestly quite shocking. Why do you ask?"
"N-nothing! Anyway, let's go inside now. You wanna know more about my new friend, right?"