Zyran followed behind the red haired woman, whilst remaining vigilant for anything 'weird' that might happen. 'Too many things have happened in such a short amount of time, to the point that I'm kinda surprised I'm not even overwhelmed. I had to watch my last family member die infront of me, had to bear with the pain of literally being back stabbed and for my heart to be destroyed and now I find myself sharing a body with another man, which no matter how you put it, is kinda gay'.
[What is gay?]
"Stop reading my thoughts". Zyran spoke out loud in an annoyed tone.
"Why would I read your thoughts". Asked the red haired woman as she stopped, turned around and gave Zyran a weird look.
"Uhm... Ignore me, I was thinking out loud". Zyran made a weird smile and looked away.
"Whatever", said the red haired woman as she continued to walk. 'Weirdo'.
'sigh'.
Zyran internally sighed and then mentally patted his back.
[Will you answer my question now]
When Zyran heard Telos's question again, he felt his hands beginning to itch. He then decided to ignore Telos and continued to follow the red haired woman. When they reached the stairs they began to walk down. Throughout the walk they did not chat, there wasn't even any small talk and Zyran preferred it that way.
Eventually they reached the living room and upon entering it. Zyran saw the red haired woman from earlier sitting on a single seater couch with her legs crossed while sipping on what he assumed to be tea from time to time. Lying on the wooden table was a thick red folder and next to the folder was a blue pill in a small glass bottle.
The red haired woman that led Zyran to the living room, walked towards a couch and tossed herself on it before closing her eyes and... Falling asleep. While she did 'that' Zyran remained standing, not really knowing what to do.
It was at that moment that the red haired woman, that had her gaze on Zyran since he entered the living room, spoke. "Please take a seat". She said while placing her cup of tea on the table and uncrossing her legs only to cross them again. Zyran was careful not to stare too much and to keep his eyes away from were they shouldn't as he took a seat, his back straight while his expression remained serious.
[Do not let your guard down human, the woman Infront of you, she is extremely dangerous]
'I understand'.
"Before we begin, introductions are in order". Spoke the red haired woman, there was a friendly smile on her face that made her look approachable. "My name is Thea. And that's". She pointed at the other red haired woman sleeping on the couch. "Is Ailani, Please ignore her oddities, she's a bit... unique".
"My name is Z—".
"Zyran Gravel, son of Jack and Tisha Gravel".
"There's no need for you to introduce yourself Mr Gravel for I already know 'everything' about you". She picked up her cup of tea and took a gentle sip before placing it back on the table.
Zyran shifted uncomfortably on the couch . He cleared his throat and asked the first thing that came to mind. "What do you want from me".
Thea stared at Zyran's face for a few seconds, seconds that made Zyran feel even more uncomfortable before she replied. "It's simple really... I want 'you' Zyran".
It took a few seconds for Zyran's brain to catch up with reality and when it finally did. He took the empty cup on the table, poured some tea into it and then took three consecutive sips before relaxing on the couch. The air around him suddenly feeling different. "Miss Thea, your words are a bit misleading. Care to elaborate".
Zyran's change in behaviour had Thea's eyebrow involuntarily rising up. 'Interesting', she thought. With her smile still on her face, she began to speak "Two days ago, a gate opened here in Moon city...". She stopped and observed Zyran, seeing no reaction from him, she continued. "Demons came out of it and ran loose around the city for a few minutes before we arrived. In those few minutes, quite a few lives were lost including a family of three". She took a sip from her tea and continued, her smile was no longer present. "They were all brutally murdered in the cruelest way imaginable and when we finally arrived, it was too late, every single person outside had already been killed". She picked up her cup again but this time she didn't drink from it, instead she traced her finger on the cup while staring at her reflection.
When Zyran heard Thea's words, his mind clicked as he realised something . "Are you part of the—".
"Yes". She confirmed it without waiting for him to finish.
"Why are you telling me all this?". Zyran was very confused, he failed to comprehend why she would tell him all this. 'What does this have to do with me?'.
She raised her head and stared at Zyran, Zyran stared back, this time without flinching and it went on like this until she looked away. "I was getting to that part". She then cleared her throat and continued. "From within that gate, One powerful demon and a few weaker demons came out, at least that's what we thought. It turns out we were wrong, there was another powerful demon, one that was mysteriously out of the radar until the last moment. While Ailani and I were dealing with the other demons, the one that was hidden finally made it's move. 10 restaurant staff went missing and two lives were lost due to the actions of that single demon, your sister was one of the victims".
Zyran unconsciously clenched his fists when he heard his sister being mentioned, though his poker face remained. " What happened to my sister's body?".
Thea stopped tracing the top of her cup and looked towards the window in the living room that showed the garden outside. "Your sister's body was not found, the only reason we know that she was there and that she lost her life is because Sofia, the only witness of that tragic event, told us".
Zyran felt his heart ache when he heard that his little sister's body was missing. He then looked down so that Thea couldn't see his face and gritted his teeth.
Thea saw this but pretended not to notice, she could only imagine the pain that Zyran was feeling right now. Not only did he loose his parents, he now lost his sister too and to add salt to the injury, her body was missing. Like poof, gone, not a single trace pointing out to were it went or who took it. ' Honestly I wouldn't blame him if he thought the world was against him'.
With his eyes closed, Zyran placed his hand on his chest and and took a deep breath and then exhaled. Opening his eyes, he raised his head and looked at Thea. "You still haven't told me what you want". He was careful to control his voice, since his throat felt tight at the moment.
Thea internally nodded at this. 'Good, you shouldn't let emotions get the best of you'. "The red folder, open it".
Zyran looked at the red folder on the table and then picked it up. He stared at it for a few seconds before carefully opening it. He reached inside and pulled out a few pictures and what he saw on the first picture made his blood run cold. He saw a picture of people being dug out of rubble, on the next he saw a picture of a dozen body bags layed down on the ground, a picture of people with gruesome wounds being nursed by doctors, a picture of collapsed buildings, of people lying under large stones begging for help while others tried to get them out. Zyran's hands began to shake as he shifted from picture to picture. And as he reached the last picture, he saw a massive hole so big the picture didn't do it any justice as he could barely see the bottom, around the hole the ground was scorched black and barren with not a single structure in sight. "What is this?".
Thea observed as Zyran's poker face began to crumble and sighed. "10 943 people dead, 5 376 people injured and lastly 9 billion in damage". She put her cup down, stood up and walked towards the window. When she reached it, she crossed her arms and stared outside with a distant expression. "We don't really know what happened on that day, all we know is that the missing demon was dealt with and that you..." She side eyed Zyran" Were found unconscious lying in the bottom of that pit with the demons remains next to you".
'Telos... Explain'.
[...]
'Telos!'.
[...]
'sigh'.
Zyran placed his cup on the table, stood up and walked towards the window, he then stood next to Thea while looking outside with a partially pale expression 'She smells like roses'. Zyran couldn't help but notice Thea's scent before his mind cleared. "Are you trying to say that I'm responsible for all that?". His tone wasn't questioning, it sounded more like he was trying to confirm if he was really responsible.
"I'm not trying to say anything Mr Gravel. All I want is for you to tell me what happened on that day". She spoke without looking at him.
"I... I don't remember".