Adeline Alabaster, a recently turned 18-year-old who was completely aware and extremely self-conscious of the fact her name sounded like it belonged to a vampire. Did she have a lot to her?
Not really. She was adopted, shy, really smart, and was a total fan of everything Preserver related. That was about everything that made up herself as a person, and she was self-aware of the fact. It was her life, and she had absolutely zero motivation to step out of the box she made for herself.
She was very meticulous. When she had a plan, she followed it to the letter. That did have its merits, but in situations like this. Where a monster came through a wall and was out for blood? It meant the gears in her brain stopped working.
A perfectly reasonable reaction, all things considered.
So, there she was. Curled up into herself and regretting her life decisions, trying not to hyperventilate too loudly.
What snapped her out of this was some idiot slamming his elbow into what definitely had to have been glass as thick as her glasses.
Adeline was familiar with Kilian, to a degree. They have had most of their classes together for most of their time in high school together. That's 3 years of being in the same room as a person, yet it wasn't like she knew anything about him. Though, she had a few observations she felt were true.
He was really grumpy, for one.
Her eyes would always dart to his face to watch his reaction when others in their class would get a bit too loud. She couldn't really say anything about his personality was negative, mostly due to not having enough to make an opinion. Others have called him an asshole, but for some reason she felt that wasn't the case.... or at least not completely.
He was strange.
That fact was only reinforced more as she did a double take where the glass cases, he broke into used to be. There was...definitely supposed to be something in there, but it was gone.
She didn't have time to think about it as a loud thud was heard, dust and debris spreading. Quickly, she curled back against the wall.
The exhibit she was in had no light except for what came from its entrance, but it was mostly natural sunlight. Probably from the wall breaking down. It was why it confused her when a white light started to become more apparent.
Then she heard it, the heavy and disgusting footsteps of that monster.
What came next was a collection of sounds she couldn't translate into actions.
Rubble shifting, followed by screams. Then...the rattling of chains? She could hear the gurgled cries of the monster be cut short.
Silence followed.
All of this was in the span of a few seconds. It went against her nonexistent survival instincts, but she eventually peeked around her box to hear the sound of metal hitting against the ground. Footsteps of some kind, she assumed.
A figure stood in the entrance a few feet away from her, seeming the source of that white light.
"Are...you a Preserver?" Adeline would ask, both confused and curious.
She hadn't seen a Preserver who looked like that before, and Adeline was quite confident in her knowledge.
He was about 6 feet tall, and most of his body was in this light grey spandex sort of material. Though, over it would be padded along the chest, arms, and legs, a metallic texture to what she assumed as some sort of armor. His helmet matched, the visor glowing white along with the symbol on his chest.
What was that shape? A scale of sorts?
When the figure stepped forward, she subconsciously crawled a bit back.
"Do take care of his body, please." A voice would come from it, though it didn't sound distinctly masculine. It was more like the collection of multiple voices of different people, all speaking at the same time. Creepy.
She didn't have time to question it as the light got brightly, to the degree where she had to look away. Her head turned back as it dulled, revealing Kilian standing there.
"Wait, what-"
His body went limp, faceplanting into the cracked tiled floor.
Going over to his body, she was able to get a look at the chaos of what was left of the museum. The opposite corner of the building had collapsed. That was concerning in its own right, but what she saw on the other wall concerned her more.
The remains of a monster, part of it turned to stone and shattered in places. It was chained against the wall, what she assumed was its blood staining it. Luckily, she didn't have to sit with her thoughts for long.
Finally, help had arrived. Police cars pulling up along with a few Preservers she actually recognized. It was all a haze after that, her mind exhausted from the stress of the situation.
The monster seemed to have some sort of cloning ability, multiplying itself over and over and spreading itself throughout the city. Preservers spread themselves out in an attempt to contain the thing, but it seemed they were unlucky in that regard.
Of the 35 seniors that went on the field trip, 17 were in critical condition, and 9 were dead. The rest had some sort of injury, those hit by the sludge having burns where they were hit.
The one exception to this being her.
She was looked at by a doctor and was able to go home. She was hugged by her parents and just laid in bed, staring at the ceiling...not knowing how to digest any of this.
It wasn't as streamlined for Kilian.
When the doctors looked at him, he'd have some bruises and that cut on his hand. There was also his elbow, the bone almost being exposed and damaged from some sort of blunt force. They assumed it was due to debris hitting him there.
He wouldn't wake up, so they assumed he had some sort of brain damage and sped him over with the rest of the civilians to the nearest hospital.
Back at the museum, the police would have blocked everything off. Some were taking pictures of the scene, others collecting evidence.
While most had the standard uniform, a certain man stood in a long black coat. His brown hair was lazily slicked back, and the morning shadow on his face could barely be considered that. He looked gruff, maybe going hours without sleep. His sharp blue eyes would look at the wall that had the pinned monster corpse to it. Or at least what was left of it
Detective Percy Chambers had been in the scene for 26 years. He specialized in crimes related to monsters. Keyword: crimes. Intentional offenses of the law with the use of these beings. Most preservers did have more of a straightforward approach to dealing with monsters, beating them till they're dead. Him? His job was a bit more intricate. After all, not all monsters were feral.
Another figure would walk up to him as he stood in the ruins of the museum. A young man with long black hair and piercing green eyes. He was skinny and his limbs were long, making him a few inches taller than the detective who stood at a comfortable 5'10. There was an innocence to his demeanor, but not in a childlike way. It was more...off-putting.
A light hum escaped him as he leaned forward, head looking at the more stoic older man.
"What's got you here, Mr. Detective?" He'd ask.
There was a silence for a moment, as if he was considering if he should answer. A sigh escaped him, hands going to his pockets.
"Dead preserver. Took on more than he could chew, and according to witnesses took no action in actively defending them."
"Mmn, one of those...."
Percy nodded.
"Though, that isn't my department. Apparently, the rest of his team saw him get killed and ran. It'll probably be left for the Union to deal with..."
The figure would look down, seeing a weird chunk of stone. Picking it up, he fiddled with it in his hand. Humming to himself, he looked at said piece and then the monster corpse chained to the wall, it's body partially stone.
"That groups recorded abilities didn't include any form of petrification. Those conscious at the scene were blinded by some light, they couldn't see what happened. It was over in an instant."
At that, the figure would just smile. "I'll be sure those Preservers are accounted for and properly handled." Turning on his heels, said figure would start to walk away from the scene.
"That's tampering with the crime scene, Victor." Percy would say, glancing back slightly.
Without a word, this man would toss the rock over his shoulder. Putting his hands in his pocket, he'd walk away with a bit of a skip to his step.
The detective would pull out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, using a lighter he had in his other to light it. Taking in the smoke, his eyes couldn't help but narrow at the man who was now gone in the blink of an eye. A feint green mist that was gradually fading would be the only remnant of his presence.
Just like how not all monsters were feral.... not all Preservers were inherently good.
Kilian was on his way to a hospital, his body unmoving.
In his mind, however, he would stand in some grey void. His expression was that of raw horror at the sight above him.
A collection of eyes without pupils and reflective metal wings that took up the entire sky, sort of held together by a collection of chains. It was quite the horrific sight and left him speechless. The being above had no such problems.
Its voice wasn't a single one, but rather one made up by a multitude of other voices of varying genders and ages. Hearing them speak was unsettling. It wasn't like it was coming from a mouth either. Kilian just heard it, stemming from nowhere.
"Now, we may begin."