Nero was in his bed, as the noise of the door opening reflexively woke him up, forcing him to charge a weapon at whatever was in front of him.
"You won't attack your Mistress, would you?"
"No!" Nero screamed, throwing the knife on the wall. "I was surprised."
"Listen, Ner. Your results have been more than enough. The fact that we have support from another group, their faith in us also, for a first mission, along with a few other helpers, is astonishing. You've been remarkable".
Awane was passing her fingers through his hair, firmly scratching his head.
"Thank you Mistress. I tried my best. Killing Efalis is all I have left. The day I hold his organs in my hands is the day I'll be accomplished."
"Ner, what was it like to be part of an ascension?"
"Mistress, please, I can't describe it to you. The black angels burst in and killed everyone except Zhao. They looked at me with all of the comfort they had in Paradise, they stared at me knowing I couldn't do anything about it. It all happened too fast and at the same time, it was slow. Morbidly slow. I could see in Capucine's eyes her pleasure to see everything, fate included, working out for her. For life itself to be on her side. And it shifted. In a second Efalis arrived and I knew it was over for me. I knew I was done."
"Take some sleep, Ner. You deserve it. You work night only and the sun is blaring outside, so stay here and rest, that's an order."
"Yes, Mistress..."
Leaving, Awane noticed something on the wall. She looks at Nero, sleeping on the other side.
"The knife he nonchalently threw against the wall earlier is fully engulfed in the wall, to the hilt. How is that possible? Sure he was trained and everything, but at the end of the day he's just human, even with angel eyes. He barely sent it."
Awane left closing the door, as Nero fell asleep dreaming of her and nothing and no one else. But since the ascension of Capucine, it was impossible for him to have long, clear dreams, full of memories and happiness. He was made to have nightmares progressively as the events were more and more traumatizing. He was grieving people he doesn't remember, whose faces he can't even bring to life in his mind. He was trapped to mourn the dead he couldn't even explain the life of. Internal resentment. Worshipping madness. Horrified by cognitive dissonance. How could he remember that fateful day without day without remembering the actors lf that scene? Nero spent the day sleeping and after waking up in tears he was assigned a new mission with colleagues.
They were reunited in Awane's room, where hundreds upon hundreds of bodies were hanged from the ceiling and between walls by giant black lines. It was impossible to decipher why or how, nor the numbers of bodies, but they would not decompose either. Seemingly infinite in all directions and height.
"Good morning slaves, tonight I have a special mission. As you know, Nero managed to bring more allies into Kenza, but that also means bringing enemies. You can't grow too important and not make a few foes on the way. So here's the situation, we have degenerates worshipping Efalis, trying to sabotage our precious new friends. Karin, you go with Nero and kill as many as you can. Grant, you stay with the followers of Yael and protect them. Endure until ten in the morning, I'll call you and you'll be able to come back and sleep, then the daylight unit will take it from there. Any questions?"
"No, Mistress", they responded like soldiers.
Few minutes after, Nero was far away with his new colleagues on the roof of a random house as the sun was setting.
"I'm glad to be working with you guys! This is an honor for me to be doing this with you."
"Thank you Nero. We were running around in circle but you advanced the entire company forward with this."
"Thank you Grant. I can see how professional you are. And Karin, I hope we'll be able to do our job properly together."
"You got it!"
"Fine then. Let's show you first the underground cult spot."
Nero led them there and they had pleasant presentations, furthering good relations between groups.
After a handshake with Grant, they left rapidly and made it back to the roofs. The air was still warm and a few birds flew before everything went dark without a moon to shine.
"This is peaceful. I wish I could do this everyday. Just staying here."
"Don't make it sound like a tea party, we're here to kill."
"Speaking of, something is moving in the back. Far away."
"How far, Nero?"
"One hundred meters exactly there", pointing in a specific direction with his hand in diagonal.
"Are you actually seeing that?"
Nero slides his gun on his hand and shoots one bullet, a shadow falls between two walls of an alley.
"Absolute monster."
"Thanks."
"Can you actually see in the dark?"
"In the dark and in the future if I focus."
"I could stay here like that for hours and days. There's something peaceful in her presence, just like Awane. Her long pink hair and black clothes. Reminds me of something or someone. The fact that she's smaller than me and so full of life. I can't put my finger on it."
"You're staring at me to keep me safe?"
"Absolutely!"
"Focus, Nero. If you fight your way to your bed this night you'll live another day."
"I have to leave this spot for a moment."
"What? Why? And why are you whispering?"
"Something is here and it's not human."
"Don't leave me here!"
Nero left anyway, making it clear he was using her as bait. Karin looks around, nothing to see, but all to hear, a growling emerges through one of the empty streets in the northern avenue. Claws cling on to the roof and the animalistic face with human eyes stares at her with a faint smile.
"Nero! Nero!"
"Do I shoot this thing? Is it even a follower of Efalis or just a freaking demon from hell?"
The creature grabs a weapon on the floor of the roof, using it like a human would, slowly.
"Nero!"
The creature engages and reloads, and pulling the trigger, nothing happens. It stares and checks the defective material then takes a bullet in the head and collapses on the side.
"It jammed?"
"I, jammed it", Nero replies, coming back with a smile on his face. "I was right. Whoever is doing this is doing it with a purpose. Capras in museums, gargoyles in the open using sniper rifles like normal trained soldiers. This is not normal. Someone is playing God somewhere, modifying beats and teaching them how to defend themselves like us. Sorry for using you, Karin, but the plan could have never failed anyway, I was prepared. I got what I wanted, an absolute certainty that we have an enemy that acts in a sadistic way."
"A follower of Efalis smarter than the average pack."
"Damn right. And look. On the back of the neck of the beast."
"I'm sorry, what? A microchip? I thought this war was more spiritual than technological."
"It's worse than that, Karin. It's about to get awful. An actual biowarfare is on the way, and my old rival Ambroise Ler is the guilty."
"The president of Shill Na Ter."
"He has my blood. A small sample, but it might be more than enough for him. Part of how the beast was able to use this rifle, I think, is not just training but genetics. Ambroise Ler is using my dna to build an army of cryptids. He's adapting. And Efalis might be using him to torture me from afar."