Solaris looked taken aback.
"The exam?"
"Before that." A pause.
"Why do you ask?"
"We share a last name." Solaris perked at that. "Zastaroth." Another pause.
"I had two sons. I guess they'd be about you and Eclipse's age at this point."
"Where are they?"
"I don't know." Solaris looked out at the city shining below them. "I was forcibly separated from them and my wife when they were just kids. I'm not allowed to visit them and one of them I don't even know where he is. All I can do is hope that they are ok and doing well." Shadow stared at Solaris for a moment, then turned his gaze up to the moon.
"I guess we all have our own stories to tell."
"Strange how we have the same last name." Silence followed. "Where are your parents? If I go see them, maybe I'll recognize one of them." Shadow stiffened and a sad looked crossed his face. He then slowly pointed a shaky hand up to the sky. Solaris nodded solemnly.
"I lost them both when I was seven." He started. "We were being robbed. I was walking to the kitchen with my mother to get a cup of water when one of the robbers spotted us. He tried to attack us when my father protected me. He died in that incident and the robbers managed to get away. His death made my mother go insane and she tried to kill me. When she failed, she hung herself… on a cherry tree… just like this one." His voice started to shake as the memories came back. He put his hands together and put his head on his hands, closing his eyes to try and hide his tears. Solaris watched him for a moment before walking over to him and sitting next to him. He lifted an arm over Shadow's shoulders and pulled him closer as Shadow continued to cry.
"It's going to be ok." Solaris tried.
"I miss them… so much…" Shadow choked.
"I know." Solaris whispered. "I know."
~ * ~
Shadow sat up in his bed and yawned, stretching as he got out of his bed. He opened the curtains to see a heavy rain falling on his glass wall. He opened the door and stepped out into the pouring rain to look out over the dark city. The clouds blocked his view of the horizon but he was sure it was morning. He yawned once again, then started to cough as one of the drops of rain fell into his open mouth. He closed the sliding glass door behind him and hopped down to his front door. He then opened the door and stepped back inside his house. Emperion was sitting on the couch with a remote in his hands, TV on. Eclipse was in the kitchen making breakfast. Luna was sitting at the island patiently.
"Seriously, Emperion. Just go tell the construction workers to wreck your house and move in with me. You practically live here already." Shadow sighed. Emperion turned around and gasped with a dramatic tone.
"I could never tell them to break down my beautiful house!" he exclaimed.
"Then sell it."
"Never!"
"Jay already did with his own house."
"He did?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you two practically live here already!" Shadow repeated, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Just…! Think about it. You don't have to decide right away but I expect more work out of you if you decide to freeload." he sighed.
"Luna's freeloading and she isn't doing anything." Emperion whined.
"She's a cat and she isn't even an adult yet."
"Neither am I."
"Shadow, do you really have to go out in the rain so early in the morning? You'll get the floor wet." Eclipse complained.
"That's none of your concern, mom." Shadow hissed. "At least you know how to pay for the free food and shelter."
"I finished breakfast. Come eat before we have to go." Eclipse said, ignoring Shadow's comment. Shadow stuck his tongue out at him and sat down at the island. It was a simple breakfast of bacon and eggs, and the three were finished in no time.
"We're off!" Shadow called. "Emperion, don't trash the house while no one's home."
"Sure, whatever." Emperion mumbled back. Both Eclipse and Shadow had gotten invitations from Solaris to be their personal trainer and Emperion was upset that he didn't pass the exam. Shadow raced out into the open downpour, disregarding how his soaking wet clothes stuck to his body. Eclipse chased after him, umbrella in hand. They flew straight towards the meeting spot Solaris had told them to go to. Once there, the clouds had already cleared. Now it was sunny. They stood in the middle of a round meadow filled with multi-colored flowers, mostly bright blue, pink and yellow.
"The weather is all over the place this morning." Shadow observed, the sun reflecting off the many drops of water that hung onto him.
"So are you." Shadow looked at him with unconcerned, questioning eyes. Eclipse closed his umbrella and shook the water off of it before holding it towards Shadow. He opened up his void storage and Eclipse slid it inside. They stood in silence as they waited for Solaris to appear. Nothing. Shadow sat down and a few minutes later Eclipse joined him. Soon, they were at the point when the sun had dried Shadow's clothes and skin. His hair was still a little damp, but nothing more. Still no sign of Solaris. It was noon. No Solaris. Shadow raised his head and closed his eyes, letting his senses wander the field he sat in. He could hear Eclipse breathing next to him, the whisper of the flowers as they bent in the breeze, the soft beating of little wings that fluttered across the meadow. Shadow opened his eyes to see a yellow moth flying around the flowers, its golden wings glowing in the sunlight. Shadow held out a still finger, waiting for the longest time. He didn't move an inch as he watched the moth flutter in zig-zags. A minute passed, then two and the moth slowly found its way towards the pair. It landed directly on the tip of Shadow's outstretched finger and he could feel the warmth radiating from it.
"A sunwing moth, the exact opposite of the moonwing moth." Shadow whispered to Eclipse, who nodded. Without moving his hand, Shadow whipped his head around and shot his left hand into the air, casting a barrier spell right behind him. Standing elegantly on top of his barrier was Solaris.
"A barrier spell is a bit much, don't you think?" he commented. Eclipse looked up in surprise and shock.
"If you had landed where you wanted to, you would've destroyed some of the flowers and chased away my new friend." Shadow explained. Solaris jumped down and landed lightly on Shadow's left before leaning down to look at the moth on his finger.
"You seem to have a thing with moths. Would it be lucky to get so many moths or unlucky that you're only getting moths?"
"I'd say I'm lucky to get so many moths." Shadow smiled. He raised his finger slightly and the moth took off. He and Eclipse stood up and turned to face Solaris. He was wearing a tight black shirt with a little fluff sticking out of the top with no sleeves and baggy black pants. He was wearing a mask again except it was black this time. The mane stayed the same along with a loose ponytail that held his hair together.
"What's with the new look? An autumn outfit?" Shadow asked with a smile.
"Just felt like wearing black today."
"Do you have a mask to go with every outfit you have?" Eclipse asked.
"Precisely."
"That's excessive."
"Maybe."
"Enough of masks. When do we start?" Shadow asked with a hint of excitement.
"You'll be staying at a lodging of mine while me and my squad introduce you to our routine and training sets." Solaris explained. He then turned and started running off. "This way." Shadow eagerly ran after him, Eclipse following just behind. Solaris jumped into the air and took off towards the mountains beyond Demon City and its protective barrier. Shadow jumped after him without question while Eclipse looked at the mountains in confusion.
"Why isn't your cabin in Demon City's protective barrier?" Eclipse asked.
"Because it's like my main base of operations for the DAF and isn't something that should be left in the city." he explained. Eclipse nodded in understanding.
"Why'd you wait so long to find us?" Shadow asked.
"It's a long flight from the cabin."
"Why not come early?"
"My alarm didn't go off." There was a short pause before Shadow burst out in laughter.
"That's hilarious!" he gasped between laughs.
"W-What's so funny about it?" Solaris stuttered, clearly flustered from embarrassment.
"If you were short on time, why didn't you teleport?"
"Oh yeah… I can teleport." Solaris exclaimed with realization. The other three laughed harder. "What!"
"How do you forget you can teleport?" Shadow chuckled. "That's like forgetting you can use magic!"
"That is forgetting you can use magic." Eclipse smiled.
"When you realize you're late, you tend to forget a few fundamental things about demon anatomy." Solaris tried.
"I know exactly how that feels." Shadow nodded with understanding. After a little while longer of flying, they came across another mountain. There was a huge flattened area on the side where a wooden structure stood next to a vast open field. Solaris landed them in front of the building.
"This is my squad's headquarters and living quarters. It's where I stay when I work." Shadow and Emperion looked at it with wonder.
"You know, I was kinda expecting some kinda high tech underground secret base. Not a cabin." Eclipse stated. Shadow just whacked him over the head before Solaris then led them inside. The entryway was a step below the floors of the rest of the house. They took off their shoes by the door and proceeded inside. The building was a square, single story building. On the left face of the square were the bathrooms and bedrooms, both separated by gender. On the opposite side of the entry face was the library and Solaris' study. On the right face of the square were the kitchen and the lounge. On the entry face were a couple closets of varying types of supplies. The center of the building was a huge open roofed garden. It was split into four quadrants by paths that led from the hallway, which was completely open facing the garden except for support beams, that lead into a central patio area. It had a couple benches and a small fountain in the middle. The entire building was made mostly of wood, some rooms like the bathroom and kitchen having tiled floors while the library, study and lounge had carpeted floors of varying softness. The wood of the building was starting to deteriorate, the bathroom and kitchen was grubby, the lounge, bedrooms and library were untidy, the roof was falling apart, the garden was unkempt and overgrown. Everything was out of sorts.
"A very nice place. It contrasts heavily with your house." Eclipse commented.
"I don't stay here often when we don't get many jobs. It's just been one of those times of the year where work isn't flowing, so I've been spending more time at my house than here. The other's aren't much cleaners unfortunately." Solaris sighed. Eclipse heard a snap and looked over at Shadow to see him fully decked out in surgical attire, rubber gloves and piloting goggles.
"Give me a couple of hours."