"Oh, well, how about that. You see, son, that wasn't just a basic foot soldier you may or may not have felled. No, that was a lieutenant in the demonic military. So I'm going to need you to explain exactly what happened here."
The strange man said in a calm and even tone while pointing back at the carnage that had erupted behind him.
"All I did was pass out, and everything was like this after."
Solaris replied weakly.
The man looked at him in an odd but serious way, seemingly with a question brewing in his mind.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, so please just leave me alone."
Solaris pleaded in a desperate tone, tears still falling down his face as his voice trembled.
"Sigh."
The man let out a rather loud sigh in exasperation at the situation before standing up from his crouched position.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a package of cigarettes and drew one, placing it between his lips and lighting it without any noticeable lighter.
A small orange glow flickered at the end of the cigarette as he inhaled.
"Well then, I guess I should leave you here… but it's probably best I bring you in for further questioning. Maybe you'll get some of your memory back on the way."
The man said this after taking a slow drag from the cigarette.
Bending down, he picked Solaris up and tossed him over his shoulder before doing the same to the girl lying a few feet away. Carrying them both with surprising ease, he began walking toward a car waiting at the end of the maze-like alleyway.
The car itself was rather large and yet inconspicuous at the same time. It was a long black vehicle with two long seats facing each other in the back and a separate section for the driver.
When he reached the car, the man set both of them down on opposite seats, making sure to lay the girl down carefully across the seat.
Still terrified by the previous events, Solaris had yet to say anything to the man or offer any resistance whatsoever. His brain had practically shut down, stuck on a single thought.
How had that massive creature died?
And why had he been standing on top of the corpse?
As the car began to move, Solaris slowly started thinking again.
Why is this happening to me, of all people?
What have I done to put myself in this situation?
I should've just run the other way.
I shouldn't have grabbed that girl.
I… I…
…the girl.
Finally realizing that the girl was sitting just across from him, Solaris carefully looked over what he had assumed might be the corpse of a once-living person.
She was rather tall, or at least slightly taller than Solaris. Her complexion was light—very fair and beautiful—though it was now mostly covered by her own blood seeping from a wound on her head. The blood coated her blonde hair, which clung messily to her face, and stained the multitude of stab wounds scattered across her body.
She wore a lightly blued long-sleeved shirt with bell sleeves decorated with white accents, paired with a matching angled skirt attached to the shirt, making it appear somewhat like a dress. Beneath the skirt she wore white leggings and large, well-fitted boots that allowed for free movement without the risk of slipping off.
The strange part was that her icy claw was missing.
Instead, a bone-like tattoo covered the back of her left hand. The marking was a pale grey color and somewhat difficult to see within the dim interior of the car.
After observing her more closely, Solaris realized something.
She was still breathing.
The faint rise and fall of her chest confirmed it.
This shocking realization quickly chased away the fear that had been overtaking Solaris. She was nowhere near in good condition, but she was still alive.
And that fact alone seemed to calm him down—if only a little.
As this rushing feeling drenched his racing mind, the car slowed and eventually stopped just outside of a small store at the bottom of a relatively small building. Having only around 7-8 floors and starting with a store with a sign that read the name "Crimson Cross", just below the name, a small secondary set of text said " Protection Agency. "
The man had already gotten out of the car by the time the words had reached Solaris ' mind, confusing him a great deal, yet he still dared not speak.
The man, noticing he was sitting upright and a bit less filled with pure terror, gave Solaris a gentle smile as he grabbed the girl, just before motioning for him to get out of the car.
Leaving the black car, Solaris stood upright next to the man and realized just how much taller the man was. He was around 3 heads taller than Solaris. While the girl was tall, she was only about a fourth of a head taller; this man was in a whole other league. This guy was massive. He wasn't just tall, either; he was rather toned and looked quite strong.
I see why he could lift both of us so easily now.
Upon walking into the building, he was met with a single person, a man just slightly taller than Solaris, but much older, seeming to be in his 40s, with slightly grayed hair.
The man sat behind a desk and was typing on a computer as the three approached the desk, with the man still carrying the girl this time in his arms.
"Is Sami here?"
The man asked the receptionist.
Without saying a word, the older man pointed down the hall. Taking little time, the man and Solaris began walking down a small hallway and entered a room.
The room looked similar to a doctor's office, but had many tools for surgery scattered around in a messy yet organized fashion. sitting across the room, a woman sat in a chair, noticing them, she quickly sat up and placed the scalpel she had been messing with down onto a table before standing and walking over to them.
"How can I help you, ember?"
The woman asked, clearly not looking at the girl in his arms.
Raising an eyebrow in confusion, the man, now to be known as Ember, motioned with his chin to the girl in his arms.
"Oh, my she is rather badly wounded here, place her down."
The woman said, motioning to a clear table.
quickly following this, the girl was placed down and began to leave, motioning for Solaris to follow, looking at the girl and the doctor as he left.
He followed Ember to the other side of the building, walked up a stairway, and entered a room. The room was small and only had a table and two chairs across from each other. Ember grabbed a clipboard from the wall and sat down in one of the chairs. Solaris quickly sat in the other.
"As you might have heard, I am an ember, and from the sign outside, you may think that I am a security agent, as you also might have guessed that is obviously not true. I am a demon hunter. My job is to kill those creatures, similar to the one that you met earlier. Now that you know all of this, please give me your summary of what transpired."
ember said with a bit of boredom in his voice, but maintained a steady grin to put Solaris at ease, but this failed. Even having seen a demon up close, this revelation still terrified Solaris, as it meant that there were more of those creatures out there.
Even more so, Solaris was shocked to hear that demons were a real species and that this man was talking about it as if it were some 9-to-5 job.
Who the hell is this guy?
"As I told you before, I don't know what happened. I was in the courtyard. I saw the creature. I grabbed the girl, and I ran, then I don't know what happened after that."
Solaris told Ember with trace amounts of fear still lingering from the previous reveal.
"Hmm, I see. Well then, I'm gonna have to ask you something. How did that lieutenant die? Because Selen was not awake or in any condition at all to have killed it, not to mention its death was much messier and cruder than she usually is. So please let me know what else you know."
ember said with subtext of anger in his voice.
"I... I... don't know, I passed out as soon as it charged us, and the next thing I knew I was on top of the corpse. "
Solaris said, trembling as the man snarled at him.
ember sighed and stood up, walked to the door, and opened it.
"I would've preferred an answer, but it seems you truly don't know, so follow me."
standing up, Solaris followed the man at a safe distance as they went down the stairs, once again being greeted by the old man.
"Sorry, where are my manners. What was your name, kid?
ember turned to him with a soft smile on his face.
Solaris met the titan's gaze and answered.
"Solaris Gunther, some people call me shard, however."
"Hmm, nice to meet you, Solaris. I hate to tell you this, but you're going to have to join our ranks."
ember said with an awkward grin.
Solaris's eye widened.
"WHAT!"