"Now, if you have any sort of question, please go ahead and ask me." Edward sat on the chair and urged Vanitas to sit on the sofa that was placed on either side of the table.
He then started asking questions he had been meaning to.
"I want to know more about this Demon Extermination Corps." Although Eleanor had thrown a few tidbits on the way here, it wasn't enough to piece together the whole picture.
"Sure. I don't mind. But I want to confirm one thing before I begin."
"What might that be?"
"Why do you want to know about the Demon Extermination Corps? What is your aim at learning more about it?"
His sharp glare made Vanitas decide that he better speak the truth here.
"Because I want to be a part of the Corps."
"Oh?" Edward raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
"Well, first of all, I have nowhere else to go."
"That means?"
"The place that I had been residing in previously was utterly destroyed by the attack of the demon horde. I have no relatives and I don't know anyone else to help me around. With all this, the only place that might take me in is the Demon Extermination Corps."
While he said that, Vanitas himself wasn't sure whether it was true or false. He had no memory of the place he had resided before. All he remembers is the sound of the river passing by and that didn't help him much. He wasn't sure whether he had a family or some sort of relatives. If he had, then someone should have begun searching for him and found him by now. Or maybe they were actually searching for him and just hadn't found out his whereabouts. That was completely plausible.
There was one thing that was puzzling to Vanitas, however. When he pondered whether he had family members or not and whether they were searching for him, he didn't feel sadness. Normally, when someone is separated from their close ones they should at least feel something, right? But, Vanitas didn't feel anything. Not a single emotion at all. As if he didn't care about his family and relatives. It was almost as if they didn't exist at all. Or maybe it was due to the fact that the demon had feasted on his feelings along with the memories? Was that it?
He questioned himself but the answer came surprisingly easily.
No.
The demon didn't consume his feelings. If it had then, he shouldn't have felt the burning passion for an unknown goal - a goal that he had no recollection of now - blazing his body. When he arrived at the conclusion, he found his body and mind come at ease.
[I don't have the memories but I - at least - have these feelings. And that is okay for now. This is more than enough for me to keep going for now.] Vanitas thought to himself.
"What makes you think that the Demon Extermination Corps will take you in?" Edward asked.
"Because I think I can be a valuable personnel for this Corp."
"You sure sound confident."
"You were the one that said that I was one of the most powerful that you have ever met."
"I said that about the demon you possess."
"Yeah. The demon that 'I' have under 'my' control."
Wasn't our position reversed when we had this similar conversation a while ago? Vanitas thought back to it while Edward chuckled slightly. Then he fell silent.
A few moments passed in silence as Edward kept staring at him and that made Vanitas worry a bit.
Thinking that Edward might somehow decide not to let him stay here, he felt that he needed to add a few more points to make his standing more solid.
"Not to mention, I have the same goal as the members of the Demon Extermination Corps. And that is the extermination of the seven great demons."
When he said that, he once again felt heat rising to his body. He doesn't remember why he needs to kill the seven great demons. It could be revenge. Or it could simply be a desire to rid the world of demons. There was a possibility that it was something else entirely. But, for now, that didn't matter. All he could do - all he had to do - was to move towards his goal. He had a belief that at the end of this journey, he will definitely find the answer to his question and the purpose of his quest. He subconsciously grabbed the hilt of his sword on his waist and that action didn't go unnoticed by Edward.
"I see." For some reason, Edward had a satisfied expression on his face.
"So, you wanted to know more about the Demon Extermination Corps, right?"
"Yes!" A smile found its way to Vanitas's lips - a smile of relief and a bit of joy.
"The Demon Extermination Corps was established by the joint efforts of the King of Eonia and the then Queen of Lionas about fifteen years ago so that people who had managed to get ahold of the demonic powers could band together to put up a fight against the threat of the seven great demons - also known as the Archdemons or the Primordial Demons. It was led by the then Commander of the Kingdom of Eonia - Earnest Cunningway. After he passed away four years ago, I - his son - assumed his post and led the Corps in the fight against the demons.
"You with me thus far?"
Vanitas nodded his head.
Edward let out a short 'Okay' and then continued.
"That was the brief history of how it was formed. Now, on to how it works. The Demon Extermination Corps searches and finds demon power holders to add to our numbers. While we now have a separate branch that trains young people so that they will be able to get a contract with a demon as a sort of future investment, I won't go that into detail about it for now."
Edward waved his hands as if to gesturize his words of dismissing that topic and with an 'Anyway', came back into topic.
"The Extermination Corps has me as the General and below me are four Lieutenants. Below the Lieutenants are the Captains. There are currently about seven captains on our team. And then we have the individual soldiers like Eleanor and Dominique that have no ranks and work under either the Captains or the Lieutenants. During the various missions we undertake, soldiers like you will be partied under a Captain or Lieutenant."
"Is the party fixed?" Vanitas asked in the middle.
"No. The members of a party are different depending upon the type of mission we are undergoing or the type of soldiers we require during a particular mission. So there is no fixed team or party for a longer time period."
"I see."
The explanation that Edward gave was more than enough for him to understand the basic working mechanism of the corps.
"Did you understand?"
"Yes. I did. Thank you."
"No problem. Do you have anything else you want to ask?"
"Yes, I do."
"Ask away."
"Then, I will." Vanitas then asked his next question. "You said that the Demon Extermination Corps was made by the joint efforts of the King of Eonia and the Queen of Lionas, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. So I was wondering which country we are currently in."
"Neither of the two I would say."
"Huh?"
"The Demon Extermination Corps was built in the remains of Cerulea - one of the countries that were destroyed by the Primordial Demons. The reason why we chose this as the place of our operations is because it lies between the Kingdom of Eonia and the Kingdom of Lionas. Not to mention, if the demons want to attack the remaining two kingdoms this is the only route they can take as the two kingdoms are surrounded by the Summit of Paradise on all other sides, meaning we can intercept if they were to attack."
"Summit of Paradise?"
"You haven't heard of it?"
"No." He might have heard before but he had no memory of it now so it wasn't a lie when he said no.
"It is a great white mountain range that surrounds both the countries. No one knows what lies beyond the great white mountains. Some say there are dragons there. Some say that there are beings more powerful than the seven great demons so that is why even they haven't dared to venture there. Some even believe it is the holy place where God Himself resides. No one knows for sure though. Those who have tried to scale the mountain and see what's on the other side of the white giant have never returned after all."
He gulped a mouthful of saliva upon hearing about such a mysterious and spooky place.
At the same time, he had felt a sense of familiarity when he heard about it. As if he knew what Edward was talking about. The great white mountains. White. They were - white.
"White?"
His vision was covered with flashes of white. It was white everywhere. The whole world was made up of nothing but pure white. And in that pure white, there was something even more white. It was twinkling. It was running around. But what was it? Or who was it? Vanitas couldn't seem to remember. But his increasing heartbeat was screaming at him, that whatever or whoever it was, it was important and dear to him. But, he couldn't remember what or who it was. That brought him excruciating pain. Almost as if it would rip his soul apart. Almost as if it would pulverize his head into a sloppy, grotesque mess.
"Hmm? Are you alright?"
Noticing the change in atmosphere around Vanitas, Edward asked.
"No, I am fine. Just a little headache."
"Maybe you are not completely fine after all. You can go to your room and rest some more. I would ask Eleanor or someone else to do the paperwork for your enlistment."
"Okay."
Vanitas took his leave and headed to the room he had woken up in.
He pressed his hand against his head while a heavy pain pressed on his heart.