-The battered City of Shinjuku-
A large door slammed shut as a group of people found shelter in a large warehouse. They all appeared to be wearing summer clothing as they tried to bundle together.
"This doesn't make any sense." A large man stated as his eyes focused on the window that led to outside. "How can a blizzard just randomly appear out of the blue like this." His voice showing caution and concern as the winter weather poured down upon the city.
A motherly woman appeared next to him, her eyes viewing the same scenery that he was. "This is unsettling." Her voice filled with dread as she clasped her hands together. Two children quickly gripped on the side of her dress as they clung closely to her. Their shivering bodies noticeable as the temperature continued to drop.
The group of people shivered as their cold breath could be seen. "This happened to the last two cities." A man spoke as he hugged himself in the corner of the room. "Refugees from the other cities said that the weather would be perfectly normal, but then out of nowhere a large blizzard would come in and sweep over the entire city in a matter of minutes." He said as he hugged himself tighter. "They said people were frozen in an instant. It was unlike anything they've ever seen before." His body shook from the feeling that he was getting as the people in the room stared at him as he trembled.
"So, you're saying that what happened to the other cities is going to happen to us?" He questioned as the man just buried his face in his arms. Anger and fear build up within the remaining civilians that bunched together in the warehouse building.
Comments and shouts were thrown in a variety of directions. Anxiety overwhelmed their confusion as they continued to argue and bicker amongst one another about their dire situation.
Their arguments continue for a few moments longer but came to a screeching halt. A loud roar brought a shiver down their spines. Silence overtook the group as their eyes fell towards the windows that gave an obscene view of their current predicament.
The blizzard had completely covered the windows and blocked it off with snow. The ice that formed around the city had covered it completely. The people started to scream when they saw ice forming under the doorway, making its way towards them. Their eyes were filled with horror as the ice continued to freeze the ground and everything else in its path. The remaining civilians began to step away as their instincts kicked in.
With fear setting in, they all turned to run for their lives. The human pack ran and bombarded each other as they caused one another to trip and fall, falling victim to the ice that chased behind them, leaving behind nothing but a frozen statue of the human body. The remaining refugees tried their best to get away, but one by one, they were frozen solid.
The last remaining human made it as far as he could as he ran into a locked door. He tried his best to pull the door open, but the frozen temperature had frozen it shut. "Dammit!" He cursed as his attempts continued to fail him as he turned around to find another way out. "There's got to be another way." but once he did his eyes fell upon a large shadow that loomed over him. His terrified expression caused him to freeze in place as a pair of crystal blue eyes glared down upon. The monstrous gaze kept the man in place as the ice caught up behind the last remaining human`, who was unaware that his legs had been frozen, along with his thighs. The ice traveled up his body until his fearful stare was caught in a permanent image.
-Same time at Cherubim-
After the commotion from Faythe's outburst had calmed down, the group made their way down the hall with the chairmen leading them. "Sorry about all the commotion back there. Faythe's has been a bit on edge lately." She apologized to Ira as he continued to rub his jaw.
"Tell that to my face." He whined.
A small smile appeared on the chairmen's face as she slightly looked over at him. "Well, to be fair you did get in the way of one of our biggest threats, not to mention a major headache." She added. "So, you kind of had it coming."
Ira couldn't help but look down at the ground, still slightly rubbing the side of his face. "Sorry, uh…."
"Ether." The woman in the wheelchair responded. "The name is Abelard, Etsuna; but people call me Ether." She finished as Ira was about to comply with her request, but Nyx cut him off.
"Don't think that just because the chairwoman is being friendly with you, doesn't mean you need to make up for what you've done." Nyx spoke her mind as she walked on the other side of Ether. "Not only did you put your life at risk, due to sheer ignorance, but you literally could have…" She stated coldly as she sent a slight glare at him.
"Nyx that's enough." Ether stopped her, giving her a slight glare of her own.
"But Chairwoman, I…"Nyx tried to rebuttal.
"It doesn't matter, that's not how we treat our guest." She told her as she turned to face her. "Now, I would like for you to apologize so we can carry on." She made her statement clear. "Today is a new day, we can not continue to dwell on what is the past." She looked up at Nyx, who could only cross her arms and mumble something under her breath, but it Ether chose to ignore it.
The chairwoman sensing the rising tension from the group around her decided to deflect it. "Well now, how about we leave the past behind us." She stated as she returned her look back towards Ira. She slowly began to roll past him as she made her way in the same direction that Faythe had once stormed off in. "I'll go see how our little angel is doing, why don't one of you show this gentleman around." The chairwoman instructed.
"Chairwoman…Is that wise?" Nyx stepped up, a slight concern filling her voice. "I mean he's…"
Stopping in her tracks, she turned her head back towards Nyx. "It's not like you have anything better to do." Ether sent Nyx a slight smile as Both Ekho and Yure turned their heads towards her. "Have fun now; try not to cause too much trouble ok. There's enough work around here as it is." She ended as her automated wheelchair rolled her off out of sight.
Nyx slowly formed a frustrated look on her face as she turned her head towards Ira. Her glare still there as she continued to stare down Ira, who looked a bit nervous as Nyx gaze was fixed upon him.
"So…Um…" Ira began, but Nyx completely ignored him and moved passed him.
"Nyx! Hey! Where are you going?" Yure shouted from behind her.
"The control room." She simply answered as she continued to walk towards the exit of the training room. "I don't have time to babysit…" She muttered as a metal door opened and slammed behind her leaving Ekho and Yure alone with Lysias and Ira.
"Well, that's two gone." Lysias sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Three." Ekho voiced as she got up, placing her headphones back on her head and walked away from the group.
"But Ekho!" Lysias called from behind her.
"Leave me alone…" She stated as she left in the same manner that Nyx did before her.
Yure and Lysias looked at each other, now being the remaining two left to show Ira around the Cherubim facility. They both sighed in unison as Lysias turned his head towards Ira.
"You're really popular, aren't you?" He asked him as Ira couldn't help but look a bit bummed out about his interactions thus far. Sighing heavily once again, Lysias spoke. "Well, it looks like we're off to a great start. So, what do you say we get this started already?" He stated as Yure nodded in agreement.
"Since you're here, you might as well make yourself at home." She gave him a half-baked smile as Ira could only look back up at the both of him and nods his head in approval. "Besides the Ether is going to work you to the bone as payment." As Ira gave a fake laugh as two three left the room together.
-Faythe's Room-
While Lysias and Yure began to show Ira around, Faythe was locked in her room. She was shrouded in darkness as her golden eyes stared out of her window. The black sky hovered over the facility peacefully. The stars flickered in random order as the small city surrounding Cherubim was filled with life.
She lightly bit her lip at the display, her fist balling up as frustration continued to build inside of her. "You know, the velvet's sky is over right?" Ether's voice spoke softly from behind her. "The barrier's up, so you don't have to worry about demon's attacking this place. In order words, you can relax Faythe." She rolled up beside her, looking out the window as well. "It's really a beautiful view, who would have thought that simple things like this would become so rare." A serene smile remained on her face as she slightly glanced at Faythe, who stood beside her.
"You've been doing a Great job` Faythe. You saved countless people since that day. You should be proud of yourself if it wasn't for you…" Faythe quickly interrupted her.
"You can stop trying to flatter me." She growled lightly.
Understanding Faythe's emotions, the Chairwoman continued to smile as she reopened her eyes. Her vision filled with the lights from below. Its occupants moving about as if nothing had transpired to alter the course of the world. "Fine then, I guess I'll get straight to the point." She spoke, her sweet voice unwavering. "I understand that you're angry, but you can't continue to let your emotions cloud your head. Especially not during this day and age." She pointed out.
"You can't be serious…" Faythe turned her head towards the woman in the wheelchair. "If it wasn't for…."
"Faythe, it doesn't matter." She interrupted her. "She got away…Let it go. There is nothing you can do about it now." Her eyes never left the scenery before her. "We managed to rescue some of the remaining survivors from the last demon attack. A lot of them were injured badly, but they will recover. I can't say the same mentally though…" Her smile slightly faltered as she continued to look down at the newly built buildings below.
Faythe continued to bite her lower lip as she turned towards Ether, her hands firmly grasping the armrest of Ether's seat. "I had her! She was good as dead! But then he just got in the way and I…" Faythe was seething as Ether smile completely faded onto a stern look.
Faythe tore her eyes away as quick as possible. The sheer thought of looking Ether in the face as she gave her that all-knowing look was more than a task for Faythe. "What have I told you about using your blessings for revenge?" Her stern looked forced Faythe to back down as she released her grips on the arm rest. "You weren't blessed for the sole purpose of vengeance Faythe. Please, try to refrain from corrupting the gift the goddess bestowed upon you any further." Ether spoke truthfully as Faythe's anger turned to disappointment as she stood in front of Ether ashamed.
"I know it's not easy to accept, but you can't change the past. "Ether continued to speak. "It's unfortunate. The pain that we all bare and the loss of the people we love are great, but that shouldn't stop you from looking forward. You have the chance to use the power for something great. Please use it to spare someone the harsh reality of losing anyone else." Ether stated as her stern expression quickly vanished and her sweet trademark smile reappeared back on her face.
"I know…" Faythe mumbled as Ether reached for her hand, gently placing it within her own. "It's just…They didn't have to die like that. They were just trying to save me, but then…"
"I know… We've all suffered from similar circumstances and I'm sure that boy is no different." Ether brought up as her eyes remained fixated on Faythe's. "You know, it was nothing short of a miracle that he survived in the condition that you brought him back in. Actually, it would be right if I was to say that the goddess was on his side, his blessings are on an abnormal level." Ether stated as Faythe's eyes shot up for a split second.
"Wait you don't mean?" Faythe began to say.
Shrugging her shoulders, Ether just smirked at her. "Who knows, I'm just telling you what Dr. Midas told me." Ether replied.
"Can you really take his word for it?" Faythe asked her as Ether placed one hand on her chin as she gave the question some thought. "I mean, it's not like he's 100% sure or anything right?"
"There's no way of knowing…Unless." Her smirk widened a bit as Faythe gave her confused expression in return.
-The Halls of Cherubim-
"And this is your room," Lysias stated as the trio stopped right in front of a metal door that slid open on cue. The room wasn't anything fancy, but it held all the necessities that one person would need. A full-sized bed was pressed up against the wall on the far end of the room with a generic light brown nightstand sitting beside it. The bed itself was covered in white sheets with a royal blue comforter on top of it. Another Brown desk resided on the far side of the room with a simple looking chair in front of it.
"It doesn't look like there's much in here," Ira spoke as he stepped into it. "Looks really…Plain." He added.
"Well don't expect the luxury treatment," Yure remarked, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed as she gave Ira a slightly annoyed look. "It's not like you did anything to really deserve this room to begin with." She spat, turning her head away from him. "I don't understand why you're even allowed to be up here in the first place." She grumbled under her breath as both Ira and Lysias looked at her.
Shaking his head, Lysias turned his head back towards Ira. "Don't pay her any attention. Yea, I agree with you. The majority of the rooms here are boring to look at. So, don't feel bad, hell I think my room is a lot more boring than yours." Lysias laughed lightly, trying to ease the tension in the air.
"It's kind of hard to believe that," Ira replied as he looked around the room again.
"Trust me, believe it." Lysias walked up to him. "My room is nowhere as big as this." He added as Yure turned her head towards him, giving him a questionable look.
"What are you talking about? All of our rooms are the same size." Lysias quickly looked over at Yure and then rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Oh really? Are you sure? I could have sworn my room was a lot smaller than you guys?" He laughed nervously as Yure narrowed her eyes at him, but quickly traveled back towards Ira who caught her intended glare.
"Anyway." Lysias quickly spoke up again, turning his attention back towards Ira. "You've already been to the training room, the control room is a few floors up and well, the other rooms you've just have to explore and find for yourself." He ended as Ira lightly cocked his head to the side.
"Not much of a tour?" Ira replied, his questionable expression noticeable as Lysias tried to think of something else to say. "All you really did was take me from the training room to my room…You didn't really show me anything else." Ira pointed out.
"Well, you see that's…Um….Well…Hmmm." Lysias was a loss for words as He tried to come up with an explanation that was fitting of the situation but failed to find any.
"What is Cherubim anyway?" Ira bluntly asked. "And how did you guys know about Ziva?" He shot another question towards the two, but more directed at Yure as his eyes narrowed at her. "Why were you guys after her?" He shot another question towards her, but Yure remained unaffected as her narrowed glare matched that of Ira's as Lysias was stuck in the middle of the two.
Letting out a small sigh, Yure began to speak. "In that order, Cherubim is a facility created by the chairwoman you saw earlier. It was made for the sole purpose of taking out the demon threat that humanity faces." She returned her glare towards him. "I'm sure you noticed that much right?" Yure asked him as Ira nodded his head slowly. "Initially, Cherubim was nothing more than a mere dream, nothing but a slight glitter of hope for people to cling on to, but it was nearly snuffed out since hope alone wasn't enough to save people from those human killing bastards." She continued on.
"But that's where the OWA project came in." Lysias stepped in.
Ira's eyes glanced over towards Lysias. "The OWA project?" He repeated.
"One-Winged Angels," Yure stated.
Ira looked at Yure. "One…Winged….Angels?" Ira repeated as Yure's statement triggered his memory as he saw all the girls that fought against Ziva. Pictures of all four girls with one wing coming out of their backs continued to plague Ira's mind as he quickly snapped out of his train of thought. "You mean that you're!��
"That's enough questions out of you." Yure barked, quickly causing Ira to take a step back. "What I want to know is what we're you doing protecting that demon?' Yure leaned off the wall and made her way towards him. "She was trying to kill you and you would have been dead if Faythe hadn't shown up!" Her face got within mere inches of his. "What did you possibly think you could accomplish by protecting one of those things?" She growled lightly, unknowingly to her and Ira, Lysias had a fixated sour expression on his face.
Irritated by Yure's outburst, Ira shouted back. "ZIva's my sister! She was already down; you didn't have to take a step further. She…" Ira paused for a bit." She…" He hesitated. "She could have been saved!" He blurted out.
"She's a damn demon!" Yure yelled at him. "None of those monsters can be saved!" Her aggravation grew.
"You don't know that!" Ira battled back. "If I…If I could have just talked to her a bit more then maybe…."
"Maybe!" Yure cut him off, her fist balled up as her anger continued to build. "If you would have just moved out of the way, then…" The situation between the two began to escalate, but Lysias quickly intervened, lightly pushing the two apart.
"Ok, that's enough." Lysias as he quickly gave a stern look to Yure, who returned the look immediately, before she brought her glaring gaze back towards Ira. "I said that's enough Yure." He said pushing her back a bit more.
Her hateful eyes looked up at him for a mere second before she sucked her teeth in sheer aggravation and quickly slapped away Lysias's hands harshly. "Don't you ever touch me again." She hissed as she turned her back towards the two boys and made her way out of Ira's room. Both boys stood there, their eyes blinking a bit as a confused expression dominated their faces.
Taking a deep breath, Lysias turned towards Ira. "Don't mind her, It's been kind of tensed here lately." He admitted.
"Yea, no kidding." Ira's eyes traveled at the door that closed behind Yure as she left. "That's the second time I've been yelled at since I woke up." Ira's demeanor softened.
"Don't let them get to you," Lysias stated. "They're normally fun to be around, but things outside have been getting really bad and well…The last mission didn't really help, you know." Lysias pointed out.
Ira took a deep breath himself." Yea, thanks to me huh?" He replied.
Lysias took a moment before he answered Ira. "Hey look, we've all had a rough day. How about you just get some more rest and hope the girls will be in a better mood in the morning." He suggested.
"I don't know about that. They all seemed pretty pissed at me." Ira countered as he felt Lysias's hand on his right shoulder. Looking up, he saw a friendly smile as Lysias removed his hand.
"Just get some rest man. Trust me; you'll be the next one to go bat shit crazy if you don't." He ended as he turned away from him. "Oh, and the cafeteria is down the hall about four doors down, just in case you get hungry." Lysias ended as Ira's door opened and closed behind him, leaving Ira alone in his new room.
Without much to really think about it, Ira flopped face first on his bed with a heavy sigh. He slowly rolled onto his back and folded his hands behind his head. His eyes drifted to the ceiling as thoughts of Ziva passed through his head.
"Ziva…." He muttered under his breath.
-Flashback-
Ira's eyes bulge out of his head as he stood completely stunned at the sight that stood before him. Ira, his older sister, demonized standing above a pile of bodies of the town's people. She looked at her demonic hand, her claws large and sharp with blood dripping off the tips of her nails. "Hmm, I guess I over did it a little?" She tilted her hand slightly, surveying the transformation that she had undergone. "Maybe I should have held back…But…" Her red eyes slightly glanced at the bodies that lay before her. "It…Just felt so good to let loose a bit." She stretched, her demon arm extended in the air as she cracked her back and neck along with it.
"What do you think Ira?" She licked her lips as her calm demonic female voice echoed throughout the room. "Do you think that this was a little much?" She asked him again, showing off half her demonic body.
-Flashback Ended-
The haunting memory of his older sister continued to play out in his head as he turned his head to his left to see the lights of the city that surrounded the main building, he was in. His eyes fixated on the building as he stood up and walked towards the window. His Chestnut Brown eyes scanned the area below him as he watches as the city below him shined brightly. Pictures continued to flash back in his head as memories of the people that he interacted with entered his mind, the children that he played with to the old people that he and Iva helped out on occasions.
He gritted his teeth a bit as he forced himself to turn his head away from the scenery and into an awaiting pillow that shielded his eyes from anything else that may have reminded him of the horrible nightmare that transpired a few days ago. The last thing that Ira pictured was Ziva's parting words that continued to pull at the end of his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried not to think about it.
-2nd Flashback-
Ziva kept her eyes on Ira's dying body as the color in his eyes began to fade. The life that once invaded his body was slowly slipping. Using her other hand, she gently caressed his right cheek. "Die for me."
-2nd Flashback ended-
-Meanwhile Back at the Frozen City of Shinjuku-
The black sky hovered over the frozen city. Snow and Ice had completed taken over what little life remained as the city was completed covered with ice. Ice statues of people and animals were displayed throughout the city as some of them shattered randomly onto the city street.
The blizzard was merciless as it continued to drown the city in the snow with no sign of it letting up. Buildings were frozen, cars were blocks of ice that were discarded on the street. Plant life crumbled as all signs of the source of the frozen hell led to the heart of Shinjuku.
A set of large footsteps could be heard, taken calmly one after another. A large shadow walked throughout the city, searching for any remnants of life that it had missed. It circled the city countless times, making sure that its domain was cleared of any warmth that dared enter its frozen wasteland. Satisfied at its work, it stood still and looked up at the full moon, letting off a loud roar in victory.