Walking along the street, I see Raven balancing on the curb. "Where are we going?" Pointing me in the direction of a corner restaurant, I ask him if he plans to balance on it forever.
"Oh Common, loosen up a bit. It's fun to do stupid things once in life." Jumping down, he starts to pull out crumbled unkept cash.
"You don't have a wallet?" Shaking his head, he slaps his right pocket. "This cash is from the thugs who so rudely interrupted us." Taking a good look at the bills, I see three zeros.
"1K Aquars? That's a lot of money." Nodding his head, Raven pushes the store's glass door open. Seeing people drinking their morning coffee, I worry about the quality since some of them seemed to turn white.
"Hey! William! Guess who's back?" Shouting over the whole store, I see a man with brow hair and a beard that has a little gray in it. Peek behind the counter. "Raven... You're alive?"
Putting fingers on his neck, and acting like he's listening to something, he smiles. "My heart's beating, so I'd call myself alive." Shaking his head at Raven's antics, we take a seat at a nice table for three.
A girl with light blue hair runs to us with a menu in hand. "Raven, Glad to see you back." Looking our age, well... as one can with Raven.
"Ella, Still practicing with water?" Nodding her head, she places two cups on our table. Pointing at our cups water starts to pour out of thin air into our cups. Taking a sip, I feel its refreshment.
"So? What do you think?" While I nod my head at the refreshing coldness despite it being winter. Raven seems less pleased. "You've been slacking."
Straightening like a ruler, she shakes her head. "No, I wasn't! I swear!" Sighing, Raven tells Ella to join us for breakfast. Yelling at Willaim to get him three breakfast waffles. He brings his attention back to Ella.
Making a ball of water, he pours it into his empty cup. "This is ice-cold water."
Taking a sip, Ella immediately starts to twist and turn while cursing about her teeth freezing. "It can't be that bad can it?" That was the biggest mistake I made. The second I took a sip, my teeth felt like falling out.
"What's wrong with you?!" Seeing Raven sip the water like there's nothing wrong, I hear him say. "Brush your teeth more, maybe then they will be less sensitive." Taking a sip, the doorbell suddenly rings and two hooded figures walk in.
While I don't know what just happened, the tension in the restaurant got really tense.
Walking up to the bar, I thought I saw a tail, but..... why would a human have a tail?
"Depraved, what do you want here?" Seemingly mad at them William immediately begins to treat them with hostility. Leaning to Raven, I ask him who they are.
"They're the Depraved, Humans who are infected with the Black Rose. Their bodies have lost their humanity and instead, almost take on beastlike features." Pointing at the tail, he looks ready to fight at any second.
Opening their mouth, a female voice comes out. "We would like to use your services." Frowning, Willam tells their monstrous faces off. "Why! We have the money and we're willing to pay! So-"
Slamming his hand into the counter, William yells. "Your kind murdered my parents in cold blood! You monsters are the reason why my daughter can't have grandparents!"
Jumping up, Ella yells. "Dad!"
"Not now Ella! I refuse to serve these Godless abominations!" Jumping up, Ella runs upstairs to her room in protest. Not saying a word, the other customers place the money on the table and slowly leave the store.
"Why, aren't they just sick people?" Turning to Raven, I see him lying on the table. "Raven! What happened?" Waving his hands, he replies.
"I just got a thought. Your master didn't teach you anything about the outside world, did he?" Looking everywhere but Raven's eyes, I can hear a loud slap. Holding his face, Raven explains.
"These two are probably just descendants of a Black Rose bearer. Since if you saw a real person with the disease you wouldn't feel hate or anything. There'd just be pity. And the never-ending desire to set them free."
Holding his hand, I hear a loud thud. It's the woman being pushed to the ground. Her hood falls off, revealing her two cat ears.
William yells at them to get out of his story, and the two strangers quickly comply and ran out.
"What did you mean they're descendants?" Crossing his arms he thinks for a second. "Well, in the year 2025, Surviving humans from the cataclysm find Black Rose. You know how the flower which grants us Sephs, the ability to change the reality around us?"
Nodding my head, he continues.
"Those depraved ancestors needed food, so they started hunting animals for food. But little did they know the area where they were was rich in Black Rose. Since its specialty is to change reality. The moment they feasted on their prey, their bodies began to change. For some it could be a slow and long painless transformation, but for most. Hell fell on earth."
Curling his hand, he opens his mouth to continue, but William interrupts him by bringing him the waffles. "Sorry guys, here's your meal." Smiling I take the plate out of his hand and dig in.
Putting the first bite in, my mouth feels like I'm eating clouds. Looking at Raven, he just nods his head. "It's good, right? Anyway, once a person is infected with Black Rose, they begin to change, and not long after the animalistic features are part of their genes."
Nodding my head, I take another bite of the waffles. "So, the infected have a kid that carries on their mutation." Nodding his head, he tells me I get it.
"That's sad, but I still don't understand why can't we help them?"
Not saying anything this time, Raven gets up and tells me to follow him. "Hey, Will! Ken and I will go look at Ella." Peeking from behind the counter, he thanks us.
Walking up the stairs we reach the second floor. Leaning on the wall, Raven signals to a large board on the wall. Taking a closer look, I see a picture of what seems to be young William.
"What's this?" Instinctively, I raise my hands to get a better look, but Raven stops me. "Don't touch it, and that's Will in the army, back during the War of Place. He used to fight against the depraved, so his hate towards them comes from the old war."
Nodding my head, we hear a loud sound of wood breaking coming out of Ella's room.
Opening the door, we see the two hooded figures, the cat tail, and what seem to be horse hoofs. Looking at the cracked floor, we see the unmoving Ella.
They really are monsters.