The air grew stagnant in the chilly near-autumn streets of New Franklin, while three lone Argamonians faced down a group of seven foes. The creatures, Husks as they were called, wore long hooded robes that obscured their face and body. However, it could not hide the distorted proportions of the seemingly human creatures. No single one looked exactly the same as the others, but they seemed…off. Some had either elongated or missing limbs, their bodies would seem to jut or bubble out in weird areas easily visible even underneath their garb, and some looked broken and out of shape. Whatever they were, Nara couldn't help but be unsettled by them. Their silhouettes were so human, if a little misshapen, yet their mannerisms were more like a wild beast. Their chests heaved deeply in and out with raspy shaken breaths, and their movements were simultaneously ferocious and lethal. They seemingly made no moves to attack for a reason Nara couldn't quite comprehend. From somewhere deep within her mind, in a place of primal fear, she knew that if she dared to move they would tear her apart. She shuddered at the thought.
Suddenly, one of them stepped forward while letting out an animalistic growl. However, what was more shocking was that it began to speak, "You," it pointed directly at her, sending shivers down her spine with its primitive, gravely speech, "Come with us." In the wake of a monster like that, she found it hard to speak. Sweat began to permeate her brow, and her throat became dry. She moved to speak, yet couldn't find the words. Luckily, Sid intervened, "The kid isn't your biggest problem right now, Husk." It cocked its head, not unlike a confused dog, before replying in its unsettling voice, "How do you mean?" Nara couldn't see Sid's face, but she imagined him smiling as he replied, "What I mean, is that we're gonna kill every last one of you." He looked back at Nara in a manner that was anything but serious, and said, "Kid, you might wanna take a good look. This'll be over before you know it." Though still anxious and absolutely confused, she couldn't help but feel a slight annoyance at the man who so adamantly called her "kid". She replied with a bit too much bite, "My name's Nara, not kid." She was a little surprised at how rude she sounded. Sid's face was wide in surprise, and to her own surprise, he laughed before exclaiming, "I was worried you didn't have any fight in you! Good, you'll fit right in here," he paused, looking directly at her with some profound aura of acceptance, "Nara."
The air itself practically broke as Nara felt an immense pressure that practically threatened to tear her apart. After a brief moment, she realized it was the pull of someone burning. No, not someone; Sid was burning. Yet, it was unlike anything she'd felt so far. The sensation was vast, powerful, and oppressing. She could hardly notice anything else but the intense sensation commanding her attention. Nara watched as the Husks, and even the girl called Luna seemed a little shaken. Sid's next words carried no ounce of his former carefree attitude, "Tomas, you take care of any that try to run. Luna, you prevent them from getting to Nara. I don't want any of you getting hurt, understand?" They nodded in response. Without another word, Sid brought his spear into a fighting stance, and charged. The ground splintered under the force of his movement and in an instant, he was face to face with the Husk he'd previously talked to. There was barely even room for it to react. It desperately twisted out of the way, but to no avail, and was skewered through the chest with a sickening crunch. It died before it could even fight back.
The rest of the Husks, however, didn't seem keen on repeating that same mistake. They broke off in different directions; four of them moved to surround Sid, while two of them broke away towards Tomas and Luna. From each of them, Nara could feel them burning more strongly than before, even if they still couldn't compare to the force Sid was emitting. She watched as the four surrounding Sid waited for him to move, whilst the one going toward Tomas materialized two swords in its hands, one long and one short. The Husk going after Luna was stopped abruptly as a colossal hammer appeared in her hands, and she instead charged after it. Nara could hardly believe her eyes at the chaos erupting before her. Just a moment ago, there was an easy quiet, now interrupted by a cacophony of shouting and fighting. There was so much she still didn't understand, and it made her feel not only useless, but helpless as well. She couldn't fight like that. She was just some scared loser. How could she possibly be someone who fought monsters like these Husks? She could barely fight to get out of bed in the morning.
The world seemed to mute itself as she sunk into her own mind. The sound of clanging blades was replaced with the words of her own conscience. The world shrank away, and only an intense darkness remained, with the faint image of a beautiful woman with blood red hair standing upon an endless abyssal landscape. She reminded her of a perfect, charming and all-around better version of herself. Nara could feel the definition of 'herself' becoming hazy as they conversed.
'You should just run away.'
I should.
'You don't even know these people, who says they won't kill you?'
You're right, I don't know.
'Do you really think you can do the same things they can?'
No.
'There's no real desire to fight within you, you're pathetic.'
I am.
'Knowing this, will you really still give it a chance?'
…
…
I will.
Nara snapped out of it just as she saw a large shadow looming over her. 'What the hell was that?' she silently asked herself. 'That conversation, it felt so…real.' However, as she looked up, she realized she didn't have much time to sit and think. One of the Husks was standing above her. Time seemed to slow as she took in the scene. The Husk was holding its hand as if it were about to strike, wreathed in flame. Luna was struggling to stand as she propped herself up on her giant hammer. Sid had killed all but one of his opponents, and was shouting at her to move. Tomas was still clashing with the Husk who had come after him. 'How long was I sitting here like that?' she asked herself in that brief moment where she didn't even have the time to feel fear at her coming demise. There was entirely too much happening for her to even process what was going on. From somewhere far away, deep within the confines of her mind, she heard a voice; her own voice, "If you are so adamant, then I have no choice but to remain by your side." She felt a warm sensation throughout her entire body, not unlike the moment she felt herself dying, and realized she was burning her pain. She couldn't feel an ounce of pain in her entire body, only the heat from her newfound strength. Instinctually, she dove to the side, just as the world began to regain its former speed. Where she had been a moment before, the Husk had struck the ground and split it apart with a loud boom. 'Holy shit.' she blurted mentally. 'I just dodged that'
The Husk turned toward her in surprise, and she got to see a glimpse of the face under those robes. It was the face of a man. However, the skin was a sickly gray, and over the top portion of its head it wore bandages obscuring even its eyes. It bore strange scars that seemed to form some pattern. She couldn't really make a guess as to what. She slowly came to realize, as it stood back up, that she was no longer burning her pain. She didn't even know how she'd done it in the first place, so she couldn't even try to replicate it. There was a brief moment of fear as she realized her situation hadn't really changed, until she heard the familiar voice of Maxis, "Libra, bring balance." The Husk began to scream as burns appeared on various parts of its body, and it fell to its knees. Nara saw Maxis standing behind it, with the same burns, looking exhausted. In a flash of moment, he materialized a crescent shaped blade, and lopped its head off. The blade fizzled back out of existence, as if it had never appeared. He smiled at Nara, and excitedly said, "You worried us back there when you blanked out. But I saw it, you burned a Catalyst. I don't know how you figured it out, but you did it!"
She was confused at the word 'Catalyst', but she understood what he meant. "Yeah, I don't really get it myself." Nara looked around as she heard another clang of blades. Sid stood alone over the corpses of his foes, while Tomas had his blade through the neck of the Husk he had been fighting. Just as quickly as it had begun, the battle was over.