As the young woman slightly backed away from behind Asaki, the young survivor could finally see more precisely what was surrounding him.
And firstly, what he was laying on...
Celia, if this was really the angel's name, seemed to have travel with Asaki for a long time now, the inside of her hands visibly red and covered by some slight bruises. The cause ? A wheelbarrow's handles, that she pushed to move the unconscious body of Asaki throughout the city.
Yeah... Asaki had been partially saved by a wheelbarrow.
"Celia..."
Repeating the girl's name also made him feel a strange sensation, invading all of his torso and head, as Celia leaned closer to hear what he was about to say.
"Yeah ? Do you need something ? Feeling bad ?"
Right now, she truly looked like a white knight, ready to achieve everything in order to save him. Sparking with worry, her orange eyes didn't lose for even a second the sight of the young man, visibly awaking with difficulty.
"Wha... Hum... Where are... We ? And... Why am I... In a wheelbarrow ?"
A small gasp of surprise escaped from the girl's mouth as she turned around the wheelbarrow to have a better look at Asaki, now standing in front of him. At first, she seemed genuinely worried that the young man was sort of amnesic, but after a long and deep reflection, Celia nodded silently with herself before opening her mouth again.
A soft and gentle voice reaching Asaki's ears the following seconds.
"You're in Svikari, a city of Aldeus, you know where it is, right ? Aren't you from here as well ?"
Asaki shook his head, visibly confused by her quick answer. Of course he knew where, and what, Aldeus was. After all, he was born too in this country ! But about Svikari... Judging by its name, it was surely an old city, as was the city where he actually lived. But except for theories, Asaki hadn't any information about such a name. Svikari...
"Oh... Hummm... To answer your second question ! I..."
Instantly, Celia's gaze darkened. A flow of terrible memories seemingly crossing her mind as she looked down, with a subtle mix of fear and wrath. Her black uniform was covered by several scratches, revealing sometimes nothing but skin, but also... Long, and sometimes deep, scarlet wounds drew under the scratches of the uniform. Hung to her deep blue skirt, also remained a broken wooden handle, visibly previously being that of a sort of weapon.
"This night... Something terrible happened. From nowhere came... terrible creatures, you see. They chased everyone down, killing fathers, mothers, children, and even pets... And after they got killed, these same... They..."
A white teeth slowly revealed itself behind her upper lips, biting the other with so much emotion that a thin strain of blood quickly appeared from it.
"Turned into monsters as well... And even if I'm... If I was... Nothing ever stopped this destruction from happening... Once the dawn arrived, suddenly everything ceased. The... the monsters were, and are, still here, of course ! But... Now, they seem to eat us, not multiplying anymore..."
Asaki's eyes were all widened this whole time, blurry memories of what happened to him before losing consciousness slowly flowing through his mind.
As his lavender eyes met once more, the copper eyes of the girl, she talked again.
"As I was trying to find someone to save, I... Noticed your body on a large dune of sand, inside a construction site. So I... Picked you up before any monster will. And now, here we are, in this desert street as... As I try to avoid these monsters..."
Something really didn't felt right... Indeed, why would she take the risk to save a stranger if she was, seemingly, about to die in any second, as everyone else ? Wouldn't the safest choice being to just run away, or use his body as a bait ?
"And... Why... ?"
Finally asked Asaki, hardly trying to get up from the wheelbarrow as Celia tried to avoid him from hurting himself in the process. Even now... Why was her first reflex to help him, before even answering ?
"Hmm, I... I don't know, why would I need a reason ? I just, save who I can, that's all."
Even if her smile had become awkward since his last question, Asaki felt like Celia was really telling the truth, or at least believing into her own words. How could he be so sure ?
Even he, didn't know.
The wheelbarrow suddenly fell on the ground, as the young man's foots were now reaching the ground. It felt... Strange, Asaki would've sworn that something was wrong with his leg before he fell unconscious. But by looking at it...
... Everybody could notice that not a single wound was covering his skin.
"Are you okay ?"
Celia's hand was resting on Asaki's shoulder, as she wanted to help him walk, or at least, retrieve more of his mind.
"Y...Yeah, thanks..."
His heart was violently pounding, the feeling of danger being present everywhere around him. If there was, indeed, an invasion of horrible creatures here, wouldn't that mean that they were in danger ?
And why did Celia looked so calm ?!
"How... Did you, escort me without... Us, getting attacked, then ?
Everything became suddenly silent, the wind ceased to rub itself against the leaves and buildings, the birds stopped singing, and Celia... Stopped moving.
Her orange eyes, slowly looked up, meeting once again Asaki's gaze, both filled with an unknown feeling. Her long and wavy red hair gradually restarted to move, the wind quietly caressing the crimson form standing in front of Asaki.
This awkward silence lasted for at least a second, both of the teenagers simply looking at each other's without saying a word.
One, a white haired man, was visibly turning more and more afraid as each second passed. The silence of the girl standing in front of him, only increasing the intensity of this awful emotion.
And the other, a white haired girl, firmly holding the broken handle of a sort of sword, looking at the man with a severe expression.
"How did I manage to avoid us getting attacked ?"
Finally, her voice pierced the silence, giving an end to Asaki's suffering.
However, Celia surprisingly didn't even answer to the question, just repeating it with a casual, and neutral expression. This caused Asaki to simply nod at her, his heart, already filled by the fear of any dangers possibly arriving, only pounding even harder now.
"Who said that we didn't got attacked ?"