Some time had passed since Nighthawk returned to Checkpoint Oriesal from his notice. The sun was beginning its retreat below the horizon, signifying the arrival of the evening, much to Nighthawk's relief.
He was tired.
After successfully managing to hide away in his chambers without any roadblocks, Nighthawk stripped down to his boxers (which was usually what he felt the most comfortable sleeping in), and immediately catapulted himself straight under his covers in his bed. It was unknown to him why he was so unbearably tired, but he wasn't going to combat those feelings longer than he had to.
Upon entering his bed, he leaned almost halfway off of his bed and extended his arm to reach the light switch, which he flipped off. The room immediately darkened, and Nighthawk got settled in his bed once more, shutting his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. And then he remembered something.
"I forgot to turn in my report on the notice."
An annoyance, to say the least.
It was as if Nighthawk had been forcefully pulled out of his slumber by his remembering of the task. He had forgotten to turn in his post-notice report, and now he would have to get up, no matter how groggily he felt, and send in the report from his communicator that was charging in its stand across the room. Nighthawk groaned at the inconvenience, his tiredness coming in at full force now.
He slowly rose from his bed, his eyes half-lidded as he trudged over to his desk, pulling his communicator off of its stand and powering it on for hopefully the last time in the night. He pressed a series of buttons, then arrived at a screen displaying details of the notice he had taken earlier that day. After pressing one more button, he was brought to a screen where he recorded a voice message, trying to seem as awake and professional as he could muster up.
"This is Nighthawk. Post-Notice report for Anomaly B84M. No disturbances or problems. Anomaly was cleared as planned with the help of one General-Class Vanquisher. His credentials are attached to this report in a text file. Time cleared was… 1:55 PM. That is all." Nighthawk spoke, not sure if his tired voice was coming through too much or not at all. Nevertheless, he had still recorded the report and could go back to sleep now.
Or at least he thought he could.
Messages - 1 New Message.
The notification was the first thing Nighthawk saw. Upon witnessing the notification bar fall from the top of his screen, he immediately said a quick prayer in his mind. Please don't be something I actually have to care about. He thought to himself as he tapped on it.
Hey Nighthawk. Can you come to my room real quick? I want to talk to you about something, if that's okay. If you're busy, just ignore this. It's not entirely urgent. Thanks.
The message was sent from Calypso.
Nighthawk stared blankly at his communicator.
"You've got to be kidding me." He uttered in annoyance. Although the message did say that he didn't have to come if he was preoccupied, Nighthawk wasn't exactly preoccupied at the moment with anything, he was just tired.
Plus, Nighthawk didn't want to risk losing anything he had with Calypso.
He didn't want to risk ignoring her.
Even if she said he could.
So despite his state of mind and condition, he obliged.
With too little energy to even let out an annoyed sigh, Nighthawk made his way to his wardrobe and snatched up the first clothes he found within - a shirt with a sheet music eighth note on the front, and white shorts. Good enough.
After quickly putting the clothes on, Nighthawk tried his hardest to fully wake himself up as he opened the door to his chambers and walked out into the hallway, the bright lights nearly blinding him upon reaching his eyes. Then, he began to walk to Calypso's room.
As usual, it was dark and snowy outside, especially now that it was evening time. The halls of Oriesal were more vacant than usual, also due to the time of day. As Nighthawk approached Calypso's room after a lengthy walk, he heard voices other than Calypso's from within.
"No. Nothing even went wrong, I did it correctly." A voice said.
"Don't lie to me, Baron. Why else would the anomaly have taken so long to untangle? You were the Vanquisher there. Did you get distracted in the collision or something?" Another voice asked, easily discernible as Calypso.
"No, I swear I did it correctly! I went in, untangled it like normal, and then I exited!" Baron yelled back.
"Yeah, and that took 3 hours. Why, exactly?" Calypso questioned. "And it's not like it was even an EI."
3 hours to untangle an anomaly was quite long, even for an EI. And this anomaly wasn't one.
"I swear it felt like 10 minutes when I was in there, okay? Geez, sorry. You don't have to be such a grumpo." Baron said with a pout.
"I'm just saying it doesn't sound believable. But if you swear you did it perfectly, I won't argue anymore. I believe you. If I couldn't trust you at all, we wouldn't be friends, let alone besties." Calypso said.
"You finally said besties! Thank yoouuuu!" Baron squealed happily.
"Yeah, and I almost died of cringe. Seriously, how do we even get along so well?" Calypso said back.
Nighthawk smiled slightly, his mind coming to the conclusion that Baron was Calypso's best friend. Actually, there was no conclusion to come to. It was clearly stated out.
Nighthawk rested his hand on the door, contemplating entering the room and interrupting the conversation. He didn't want to anger Calypso or her friend.
Then he remembered that he was literally invited.
I'm stupid. He thought.
"I guess it's fine." He muttered as he opened the door, revealing Calypso's room to his vision. Calypso and Baron sat on the floor across from each other, Baron wearing a cute sundress that curled up into a skirt at the bottom and Calypso wearing PJ pants and only a sports bra on her torso.
"Oh, hey Nighthawk." Calypso said with a smile.
"Hey dude! Calypso said you might be coming." Baron also greeted.
"Put a shirt on, please." Nighthawk requested blatantly, averting his eyes.
"Huh? Why? It's not like this is ultra revealing or something. All that's revealing is my stomach. Everything else you would see normally with certain outfits." Calypso explained.
"I guess. It just caught me off guard, that's all." Nighthawk said, looking back at the two girls.
"It's all good. Or did you want to see my bare skin?" Calypso teased.
"Zip it, dumbass." Nighthawk fired back immediately.
"Someone's getting defensive." Calypso continued.
"You're just a pain in the ass. I'm leaving." Nighthawk joked, turning around towards the door.
"Wait, stay, you idiot. I'm just playing." Calypso said.
"I know you're just playing. I am too. Doesn't make it any less annoying though." Nighthawk said with a sneer.
Baron giggled at the exchange.
"You two get along well." She said with a smile.
"Yeah, in your dreams. She's a nightmare to be around." Nighthawk joked.
"Hm, I feel the same about you. Great minds think alike, I guess. Although your mind isn't that great." Calypso teased. "Come on and sit down already."
Nighthawk sighed, plopping down onto the floor in front of both girls. Baron smiled widely at him, her light pink hair almost glowing in contrast to the dull colors of Calypso's room.
"Hi! I'm Baron. Me and Calypso are besties. She mentioned you like, once. It's nice to meet you!" Baron said with a sweet smile, one that gave off a welcoming aura.
"Nice to meet you. What did Calypso say about me, if you don't mind me asking?"
"That you're a giant pain."
"Oh, really? That's funny, because I feel the same way about her."
Calypso glared at Nighthawk upon hearing his words.
"Anyways, why did you call me here?" Nighthawk asked Calypso, turning towards here.
"I wanted you to meet Baron."
"That's all?"
"Yeah."
"I'm leaving."
Nighthawk tried to stand up, but Calypso grabbed his leg.
"Wait, what? Stay, I invited you here for a reason."
"Oh, you want me all to yourself? You sneaky scoundrel…"
"Zip it, dumbass."
"Now you know how I feel!"
Baron cleared her throat, directing the attention in the room towards her.
"Uh, am I really that bad to be around that you want to leave immediately?" She asked softly.
"No, I mean, I wouldn't know. I've never met you. I would assume not, though. I'm just incredibly tired, and I came here because I thought it was important." Nighthawk explained.
"What? I literally said it wasn't urgent in the message I sent you." Calypso reprimanded with a dumbfounded look. He really is stupid. She thought.
"Well, I still came because I'm a nice person, an emotion you're not capable of having, you cold-hearted demon." Nighthawk scolded.
"That's not an emotion."
"Why are you being such a smartass?"
"Just stating the obvious."
Baron laughed once again.
"You two really are funny." She said happily.
Nighthawk sat back down, his eyes struggling to stay open.
"What's got you so tired?" Baron asked him curiously.
"It's just… I had a notice earlier today, and I was there forever. It was a Low Priority, so it took forever for a Vanquisher to arrive. I was just sitting in my plane forever." Nighthawk explained, his mind going back to the vision he had seen.
The room looked almost alien, in a sense. So different from anything he had seen in the present day that it warranted the belief that it wasn't of Earth.
This speculation fit, because Nighthawk believed that the first vision he had gotten on the beach was not one of Earth either.
Or if it was, it was of somewhere supernatural, at the very least.
"Oh, you're a Hunter? I don't know many Hunters." Baron said.
"Yeah. It's pretty boring, actually. I'd rather do it than being a Vanquisher though. That sounds scary now, with the appearance of those people in the anomaly. Really dangerous. I don't want to do that." Nighthawk said, his voice becoming more timid as he spoke.
"I'm sure all Vanquishers feel that way. But we don't have a choice, it's our job, whether we like it or not. It doesn't make it any less terrifying though." Calypso spoke in, prompting a nod from Baron.
"Yeah. I've tried not to think about it on all my notices since the incident, but it's hard not to. I find myself getting overly cautious on all the ones I've been on, even if I try not to." Baron explained.
"Is that why your last notice took so long?" Calypso asked Baron.
"Maybe. I don't know exactly, although that could definitely be the reason." Baron responded.
"I can't help but worry for the Vanquishers that come to my notices. I just… I feel like if they got injured, it would be my fault for calling them… I don't want anyone to get injured." Nighthawk said, his head hanging down.
"Hey, it's okay. You can't control that kind of stuff, dude." Baron said, resting a hand on Nighthawk's shoulder.
But he was already gone.
If the Vanquishers Nighthawk called died, maybe he wasn't entirely responsible, but he sure felt like he was.
He was scared.
Scared of being a Vanquisher.
Scared of using his powers he had hidden away.
Scared to follow in his Dad's footsteps.
I love you, dad. I love you so much.
And that's why I don't want to end up like you.
This is where I take up your mantle, not as a Vanquisher, but as a Hunter.
I won't fight the splicers.
I'll unearth the roots of them.
I just have to overcome my fears.
"Hey, Nighthawk. You okay, dude?" Calypso asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, Calypso. And sorry, Baron. I guess I just zoned out."
"It's fine, don't worry!" Baron assured.
"I think I should get some sleep. Like, seriously. I'm already tired as is." Nighthawk suggested.
"Yeah, you should. Sleep well, Nighthawk!" Baron exclaimed.
"Sorry for dragging you over here." Calypso said, looking a bit more shy than usual.
"It's fine, don't worry. I came here on my own accord, remember? I just had to be the nice guy." Nighthawk joked.
"Well, you got to see me, so you should be glad you came."
"Shut up. Oh, and it was nice meeting you, Baron. I'll leave now."
"It was nice meeting you too! Bye, now!"
And Nighthawk left.
Arrived at his chambers.
And went to sleep.
Plagued by the fears of his father.
And plagued by the urge to discover every secret about the splicers.
But how was he to go about that when he couldn't even enter collisions?
Only his visions.
What are the visions?
What are the splicers?
Two edges of the same sword. A sword that formed into being through the essence. Thus, a singular question could be deciphered.
What is the essence?
But it would be long before that could be answered.
No use in thinking about it now.
As Nighthawk drifted off to sleep, he pondered over the encounter he just had with Calypso and Baron. Although they had almost opposite personalities, they still got along incredibly, and neither had to change their personality for the other.
That was the relationship Nighthawk strived for with anyone.
Friends, or maybe even more.
But there was no one he could achieve that with.
At least not yet.
"He's kind of cute." Baron said with a giggle, still in Calypso's room.
"Zip it, dumbass." Calypso said, effectively shutting her up on the spot.
"He doesn't seem like someone you'd like, but you two get along super well. How does that even work?" Baron questioned.
"He's… definitely strange. He wasn't mad at me at all when I nearly killed him. He's constantly off in his head anytime he's not with people. It's like he can't handle being alone at all. He matches my energy perfectly, but only if I draw it out of him, as if he's only doing it to keep me around. I don't know if I can fully trust him yet, but based on his behaviors, he cherishes what he has with others. And I don't think someone like that would betray trust. And if he does, well… he's truly not himself anymore." Calypso gushed.
"You two have only known each other for days. How can you be so confident?" Baron asked.
"I've never been good at reading people, but he seems almost too easy to decipher. Not that I think he's doing it on purpose, but… it's strangely out there for such a protective personality. I just want him to realize he won't lose me or any of his friends nearly as easily as he thinks." Calypso continued.
"You really like him, huh?" Baron teased.
"Zip it, dumbass. I just feel for him. I don't know how it's possible for me to feel for him with such a shrouded personality that's also so outgoing at the same time. It's like a labyrinth. It hurts my head to think about it."
"If what you say is true, he could really use some company. A lot of it, at that. But it seems like you already give him plenty." Baron stated.
"Yeah, but it never does seem to come through. At least, not in a way that we can see. I hope it's working in his mind, but for now, he's just alone. That's all I can see. A prime example of loneliness."
"Sheesh, that sounds grim. Why don't you word it nicer, girl? Like… "Heaven is sending down letters of love to the lonely." That sounds way better."
"What are you, a poet?"
"No, I'm just saying. It makes sense."
"I guess."
Baron smiled, then added onto her previous statement.
"A love letter to loneliness."