Location: Lothran City(Outskirts)
Time: 5:22 pm
Date: Septa, 19 2079
The sky is vivid with color, the edge of night making itself known. Cool winds and rustling of grass reverberates through the forest.
The sound of a car engine can be heard from further in. Inside is a party of five composed of three youths and two adults.
It's Rein and the Sereza family, they are on their way to their quaint and humble home.
The house is located approximately 5 kilometers away from the city, it is a three story mid-century modern style building. It has a small garden out front and you can somewhat glean the canopy of a tree at the back of the house.
The car stops beside a seperate building, clearly it is used to house the vehicles of the Sereza family.
"Ahh...home at last. Let's hurry inside auntie." Rein stretches after which he calls out to Elena.
Throughout the afternoon his aunt has been quiet, pained even. He can guess why but it is not up to him to judge them right now. There will be a time for that later, for now he just wants to rest.
Rein walks first to the house, bending down to pick up a small flower pot. Under the flower pot was a key, it was engraved with the Sereza family crest.
He puts down the flower pot after which he walks over to the door with the key in hand. He unlocks the door and walked inside stilling for a bit to survey the home he had lived in for the past 15 years.
The inside of the house is quite simple, it is decorated with some potted plants, a bookcase stands in the corner missing some books. A grandfather clock can be seen beside a corner near the couches, in between the couches is a small table with some books and a unfinished cup of coffee.
Near the doorway is a hallway with a stairway leading to the second floor. Near the stairs is a doorway to the kitchen that is connected to the dining area. The other side of the hallway is a door leading to the backyard.
"I'm gonna go to bed first! Don't bother waking me up for dinner!" Rein calls out as he ascends the stairs.
As he reaches the second floor he sees the rooms of the twins. They may be twins but they are the complete opposite of each other, while Ninelle is a very expressive and friendly person the same could not be said for her brother. Marcus is serious and charismatic in nature he may not like socializing as much as his sister but that doesn't mean he is a lonely guy he just has few trustworthy friends.
And their rooms also reflect them in a way with Marcus' room being as organized and neat with his violin hanging in the wall while Ninelle's is filled with posters, stuffed animals and her guitar.
Rein smiles as he continues walking up the stairs. Time really does not wait for anyone. It felt like it was just yesterday when they were just kids, playing and laughing without a care.
Once he reached the third floor he sees his room, it was the same as when he left it. A mish-mash of organized and chaotic piles of equipment and papers.
He smiled wryly as he started tidying up his room. It must be because he is now a Vicer but he finished tidying up in just 5 minutes.
Proud of his work he decided to take a quick shower before heading to sleep. He takes off his clothes while walking towards the barthroom.
He have already noticed it before but now that he looked at his body closely it seems like his body has this weird shimmer at certain lighting conditions. And when he flexes his muscles the areas where he put some strain on gains a faint dark color.
He keeps testing out many things regarding his body only stopping after about 10 minutes. He also noticed that when he flexes his back heats up and he starts to feel a surge of power but it immediately fizzles out when he stops.
He keeps thinking about that as he takes a shower. After he was done showering he changes to a pair of sleepwear and walks over to his bed.
He lays on top of the bed sprawled, looking at the ceiling as he starts to think back as to the events of that day.
Still thinking of whether all this is just a dream and that he would wake up and be back to normal.
That man, Alesteir, is what he said the truth or is it just a lie? What does the Sereza family have to do with him? Are they also like him? A Vicer?
All sorts of questions keep popping up inside Rein's head, and without him noticing he was suddenly asleep.
~~~
Thump... Thump... Thump
The sound of beating drums echoed out in the vast nothingness. In it a single light can be seen, it is a visage of something.
The light is surrounded by a sinister black. The black light forms a semi-circle with a sharp line passing through in the middle. In each side of the sharp line is a dense script of unknown origin but it's meaning profound.
Thump... Thump... Thump
Another set of beats rang and this time it was stronger, the sound was akin to a maul hitting the wall.
"A...*... "
A voice calls out, to the void.
"A...wa... *.."
Again the same voice calls to something.
"Awa...*..m*..."
Clearer, the voice calls out to someone.
"Awaken me, Rein."
The voice echoed all over the entirety of the void. It's waves crashing into the light encased by the black light.
Crack...
A crack has formed on the luminescent shell of the visage in the void.
Crack...crack...
As more and more cracks appear the more pieces of it disappears and the being inside is revealed. It is Rein or rather his soul, his Essence.
~~~
Heave....
Rein was startled awake, gasping. He sat up and saw his room suffused with a mix of purple and black lights. The lights circles something shining of deep purple.
He hurriedly stands up as he slowly approaches the light. For some reason he doesn't feel any danger coming off the lights rather he feels welcomed by it.
Standing right in front of the light, he can see that the source of it is an orb reminiscent of the black hole that tried to kill him. He reaches out his hand toward the orb but just as his fingers touch it a soundless explosion occurred, throwing him through the wall and into the backyard.
He panicks as he falls even when his body aches from getting blasted through the wall he tries to correct his body mid-air to somewhat cushion his fall.
A deep thud rang out as a small indent on the ground where he landed formed. Gasping for breath once again, he pushes his body into a sitting position.
"What was that!?" A voice can be heard inside the house, it's a bit distorted but he thinks it might be his aunt.
But he did not think about that for long as he sees what happened to the orb. It was now hovering in front of him and it appears to have gained a darker shade.
It's appearance is not the only thing that changed but also it's intent, if before he feels welcomed by it now he feels threatened by it.
And as if to prove the point it changed shape into a spear and launched itself towards Rein.
Rein having been caught off-guard only managed to avoid getting impaled. His left arm was grazed and now his left arm is missing a chunk of it.
Crash...
"Rein! What's happening!?" His aunt who had rushed outside shouts as she sees Rein and his bloody left arm.
"I don't know! This orb thing just appeared and now it's attacking me!" Rein shouts back as he dodges another lunge attack from the sentient spear.
"Rein! I think I know what's happening, this might be the Manifestation of your Vice. For it to stop attacking you, you need to prove your self to it!" Marcus who came after his mother shouts as he witnesses what's happening.
"And how do I do that!?" Rein desperately asks.
"I don't know! The way to prove yourself to a Vice is different for each person! And we can't provide you any support otherwise the Manifestation will self-destruct and with it crush your soul!" Marcus quickly explains with worry laced in his every word.
"What!?" Rein shouts as he struggles.
The rest of the Sereza family arrives as Rein continues to struggle. He had been trying to avoid getting impaled by the spear to no avail as each time he dodges it comes back with fiercer momentum.
'If this keeps going I will eventually be unable to dodge it! I need to do something. And fast!' Rein thinks to himself.
'Alright, I might as well do this I don't have any other choice!' His eyes burning with resolve as he readies his body to execute his plan.
Just as the spear launches itself towards him again he instead of dodging away he ran towards it.
Pierce....
The sound of something piercing flesh sounded out the Sereza family home.