Leon woke up to the worst feeling ever. His face, back and his whole body aches all over. He felt like he was thrown under the bus. As he slowly recovered, he remembered that he was fighting something otherworldly.
Surprised, Leon sat up almost immediately and felt the excruciating pain. He almost cried and screamed out pathetically.
"Don't move so suddenly. Please lie down and rest." Stellar advised as she opened and closed the door to his bedroom. Walking towards his bedside, she placed the first aid kit at the bedside table, while carefully taking out the supplies.
"Stellar? I thought you went back with Jade." Leon's memories were a mess. He just remembered getting badly beaten up; as much as he hated to admit to himself.
"No, well, you managed to beat him into leaving. And I also told him that I'd find some other way to gain my powers back without you having to die."
"If there was a way to do that, why do I have to suffer, then?" Leon sighed frustratingly before continuing, "Wait? Did you say I beat him?
"Yes. I am unaware how you managed to pull it off but you were able to enter initial phase of activation without possessing a sacred rune." She sat at the side of Leon's bed holding antiseptics and a clean cotton.
"I can't follow you. This way too… paranormal."
"For humans, yes, you can say that it is." Stellar reach over to disinfect the wounds on Leon's face and continued, "But, I haven't seen such a manifestation before, it was, unique." Stellar continued.
'Damn antiseptics.' Leon winced as he said, "What exactly are you, Stellar? And what's with the Virus you were talking about? Are you sure I'm not going to die?"
"Let me answer one by one. I'm a Meister. A knight of SORA. We are like those guardian angels humans call. Although, not really, since we are of no divine origin. We are simply called Meisters." Stellar said as she continued to wipe down Leon's wounds with antiseptics.
"So… Not human at all but Meisters?" Leon asked.
"Yes, that is correct. There is a lot of speculations regarding our origin. Some say, we were once humans who died and reincarnated as another life form. Some say we were just pillars of stone which God created as his foundation, brought to life in order to preserve his creation, which are you, humans." Stellar explained.
"I see." Leon replied.
"Nobody knows why we're here, except for the mission. SORA's mission is to keep the world balanced, and prevent humans from being extinct."
"What's this SORA? Is that the country where you're from?"
"It's not a country but our headquarters. It's the base of all our operations. Also where most of us live and work."
"Okay, so as a Meister, it's your job to keep the humans alive, but to be honest, humans will undoubtedly annihilate themselves one day, what's there to stop? It's inevitable at this point." Leon paused and continued, "Not to be a nihilist but all I'm saying is the truth."
"Destruction is indeed inevitable. We are not here to stop you humans from dying, for it is our undoing, what we stop is the acceleration of it, which is spear-headed by our enemy, DOMA."
"DOMA, huh? Stellar you are from SORA? And that Jade guy is from DOMA?"
"No, Leon. We are both from SORA. Look, I apologize for Jade's improper behavior; he was trying to help me get my powers back easily. He's my Superior. I work under his supervision. SORA, like any organization has its own hierarchy of power."
"Jade is a Superior Meister, he's a leader of one squadron, and under his squadron are as follows: Captain Meister, which acts like a second in command, like myself; Elite Meister; which guard the realms of humans; and Scout Meister, which is the lowest rank and they are the ones who guards the realm of SORA." Stellar explained.
"Please explain the Virus thing next." Leon demanded.
"Glarievel Virus is a virus exuded from the knights of DOMA. DOMA's primary goal is to help us balance the world by incurring diseases, tragedies and calamities. But lately, their actions have been suspicious as they seem addictive to the notion of perishing and killing humans, leading to a faster rate of extinction..."
"...because it is our job to keep the world balanced, DOMA treated SORA as obstacle to their new plan that is why they have thought of a way to extract us out from their problems, and that is by disabling us from using our powers. Glarievel Virus works different for Meisters and humans. The virus acts as an inhibitor to Meisters capabilities to use their Sacred Runes therefore converting us from Meisters to humans."
"Isn't that pretty bad? Please tell me you have a way to counter that."
"We do. We have twenty four hours to receive medication, if not; the virus will spread completely and will lead to humanization. Humans can only obtain the virus by getting in contact with an inflicted Meister."
"In short, you. And that explains the weird feeling I got back then."
"I was vulnerable because of the Virus, thus making me susceptible for a transfer. You got my powers, and I can't get it back unless I kill you or we steal other Meister's Sacred Rune – the source of their power." Stellar said as she finished cleaning up Leon's bruises and proceeded to place gauze over it.
Before Leon could ask Stellar another question, he heard the door opened with Lean's voice echoing from the first floor of their home, "Leon! Where are you? I'm home!"
"Lean! Oh no, the house. I need to fix the house before she freaks out!" Leon jumped off the bed. But Stellar stopped him saying,
"Don't worry about it, I already fixed it." Stellar smiled, "Just focus on resting. I'll go down and talk to her instead."
"Please don't tell her about all this, I don't want my sister to get involved." Leon pleaded.
'Besides the situation being dangerous as it is, Lean was the only anchor to the normal life I now abandoned.' Leon thought as Stellar nodded her head in affirmation and proceeded to go downstairs.