Ash stepped out from the comfort of his little home to the hellish inferno that had consumed half the town. The sky was blocked out by the dense black smoke, making it impossible to tell what time of day it was currently. A small gust of wind blew ash-filled smoke toward Ash, burning his lungs and causing him to wheeze loudly. Alder tossed him a wet rag, and he held it to his nose and crouched down low. Cherry, who seemed somewhat unaffected by the smoke, rubbed his back.
His home, once a symphony of sights and sounds that nurtured him and his sister, was slowly being reduced to nothingness. The houses, the stores, and the memories he shared with his late parents turned into ash. Ash had never once forsaken his name once before until today. As the flames danced and crackled, their fiery tongues licked at his heart, searing another painful moment in his life. He wished it was just an illusion, a nightmare that he had yet to wake from. But Cherry's comforting touch and the scorching heat that kissed his face shattered his doubts. Looking up, he witnessed the magnificent tree that stood over the town. Though consumed by the relentless inferno, it defiantly stood tall. A testament to its will to keep on living. The sight shook the fear from his mind. If he wanted to survive this day, he would have to keep on fighting like the tree.
"Well…look what we have here. The town's bitch leader and the slut's son."
Unknown to Ash, a voice called out from within the roaring flames. Alder and Cherry stood on guard, slowly backing up to shield Ash. Alder readied his pistol. A soft hum filled the air as the blue light on the barrel grew bright. Cherry, on the other hand, stood with her hands out. A pair of crimson-colored claws appeared, matching the same spectral look as her tail. Her hair glowed brighter as she widened her stance as she was ready to pounce on a moment's notice.
Her ears twitched towards the left, and she tried to turn her body, but a thunderous roar ripped through the air, stopping her in her tracks. A wall of flames was parted by a flash of blue light that tore through the air, and a strange figure stood on the other end of the flames. An enormous hole was blown through a skeleton-like figure before it was sent flying backward into the flames that came back to feed. A pillar of smoke trailed off Alder's pistol. With a smug look, he crouched down, picked up a small rock, and loaded it into the barrel.
"That damn gun again—!"
"THERE!"
As another voice called out from an unknown location, Cherry zipped towards a burning building. She reached inside and grabbed a dark silhouette. Although standing far from the flames, Ash felt his arm burn with intense heat. Cherry pulled out the silhouette. It was a blackened skeleton with visible muscles and tendons. Ebon ooze seeped from its body, dripping onto the ground. As the flames crackled, small embers flew out, landing on the ooze puddle and immediately engulfing it.
"What the—"
Before the unnatural being had the chance to fully react, Cherry's tail sprang high, and she slashed at the skeleton several times with practiced precision. She aimed for its tendons, ripping them to shreds as the skeleton screamed in pain. There was a twisted smile on her face as the ooze squirted out its body onto her face. Ash felt a strange burning sensation on his face as it happened. She then kicked the skeleton into the air, and with a few rapid slashes that looked like crimson blurs, the being's limbs were severed. Now left with nothing but a head and torso, the body fell to the ground with a thud, and Cherry slammed her foot on its screaming skull. There was a sickening crunch that made Ash's stomach twist into a knot.
"You are one terrifying little miss." Alder approached her with a wary smile as he lowered his pistol. "Are you a gifted from the city like Ansel? You tore the limbs off that guy with your bare hands. I'm impressed. Yet slightly scared to be touched by such hands."
Cherry tilted her head a little, looking at Alder as if studying him. Her tail lowered with disappointment. "So you can't see them." She then turned towards Ash with a newfound curiosity in her eyes as her tail regained life. "Anyway," she turned back towards Alder, who was staring at the being beneath her foot with a spiteful glare. "What is this thing? It looks to be a skeleton that was left to bake longer than it should have." She then sniffed the air. Her nose wrinkled with disgust as she recoiled her head. "It reeks of death, but it does not smell human in the slightest."
"You city folks are weird," Alder spoke as he lowered toward the body. He motioned Ash to get closer to them.
As reluctant as he was, he knew it was a safer option to stand by them. If anything were to happen while the two of them were messing with the downed enemy, he would be defenseless. He could only do basic self-defense without a weapon, which his sister tried to coach him through. He cautiously approached the screaming skeleton, whose pain mirrored its volume. A putrid scent mixed with the sickening smell of burnt flesh came from the body and assaulted Ash's noise. The smell of death, as Cherry called it, was not enough to justify such a smell.
"Henry…" Alder called the skeleton by name, and it stopped screaming. In the empty sockets, Ash could sense the being's bitter anger as Cherry lifted her foot. Bits of black brain matter mixed with the ooze seeped out of the cracks in its skull. Ash held back the urge to vomit as he turned his head. "How are you alive?"
"You recognize this walking skeleton?" Cherry rubbed Ash's back, helping him stomach the creature before him.
"BASTARD!!!" the being shouted with a blood-curdling cry that grabbed all three of their attention. It pointlessly flailed its head around as it continued to shout, with its hollow eye sockets staring at Alder. "HOW DARE YOU!!! THIS WAS YA'LLS IDEA, YET WE WERE REPAID WITH DEATH!?" Ebon veins appeared around the skeleton's torso and head. They webbed all over, digging into its bones, cracking them. Where the webbing was the thickest, the bone crumbled to dust. The three of them cautiously backed away. "THAT BASTARD WILL DIE LIKE THE OTHERS. YOU, LEADER OF THAT DOUBLE-CROSSING TRAITOR, WILL DIE TOO. DEATH TO THE SINNERS OF THIS TOWN!!!!!"
The ebon veins took full control of its body, transforming it into a pulsating mass of blackened flesh that took the shape of a large human heart. With a beat, Ash and Alder felt an intense wave of discomfort crash into them. Their heads pounded with a disembodied voice that continued to shout cures at them. Cherry, who seemed to be the only one in the group to not be affected by the pulsating mass, stared at the mass with a studying gaze.
Several veins bursted open, spewing the ebon ooze everywhere. The ground beneath where it landed sizzled violently before being converted into the same ebon webbing that covered the pulsating mass. Cherry lept into the air, using Ash as a springboard. She flew high and came crashing down with her claws baring toward the heart-like mass's center. She let out a shout as she gouged out an enormous chunk of the mass, leaving scorching scars on the edges of the torn flesh. As Cherry's body became covered in the ebon ooze that shot out, Ash felt sharp burns all over his body. He fell to the ground, gritting his teeth. He clenched the dirt as he tried to endure the mysterious pain. Cherry smiled whilst standing on the remains of the heart. Ebon ooze dripped from her claws, and she gave them a little lick. Ash felt a burning pain travel down his throat.
Alder rushed to Ash's side. His eyes widened in shock as his skin had been severely burned, but at the same time, it was already healing. He turned to Cherry, who was basking in the joy with a concerned look. "What the hell was that?"
His voice pulled her back to her senses. Ash looked up with his eyes squinting from the pain.
"Oh…just Omen slaying things!" She spoke with a wink before turning her head in shame after getting a good look at Ash. "Guess the ooze sprayed onto you…"
Ash could tell that she was hiding something again, but what bothered him was her comment about the ooze touching him. The only thing that the ooze touched was her. Alder and Ash were lucky enough that the ooze failed to touch them. Yet, even the one who stood in the center, covered in the thick ooze that burned the surrounding ground, was unaffected. Her clothes were burnt, revealing her pale skin, untarnished by the strange substance.
Cherry stepped out from the heart's remains and walked towards the two. The embers of a nearby flame danced through the air and landed on the puddle of ooze. It immediately engulfed into a towering flame that dissipated in just a few minutes. Nothing but ashes remained. Those ashes filled Ash's mind with fear as he turned towards Alder, ignoring the pain he felt. Alder's gaze drifted to the side, his expression a forced look of content as he spoke with a self-degrading tone.
"Everything we built up, reduced to ashes…" He scratched his head as he turned towards the towering tree that still endured the raging fires. "Ash, I can only assume that you think that I set the town on fire…and you would be correct. Half correct, rather. I did the initial flames after I ensured that the town folks were dragged to safety. However, I did not realize that you were still sleeping nor that Ashley was at the tavern. I got the idea from watching one of them drop a torch on themselves, as you saw with that…thing that engulfed in flames, they are highly flammable."
Ash could understand why he would set the town on fire, but something he said did not add up. Alder had not realized that Ash was still in the town…but he also stated that he did not know that Ashley was still in the tavern, meaning that he must have deliberately avoided going there.
"Alder…" As Ash tried to speak, he felt something grab his arm. Cherry stood behind him with a powerful grip, locking his arm in place. Ash had not realized that his hand was forming a fist.
Alder looked at the two with a serious expression. "Cherry… let him go."
Cherry obediently followed the instructions, her footsteps echoing softly as she moved. As Ash staggered ahead. Standing a few paces away, Cherry observed the scene, her eyes fixed on the two figures. Ash's gaze met Alder's, and at that moment, a chilling intensity radiated from Alder's eyes, piercing through the air like icy daggers. It was a gaze that seemed devoid of any remorse, a resolute determination that left a lingering sense of foreboding.
"So…why did you leave Cypress behind?" Ash spoke up against the town leader for the first time in his life. He could no longer respect a man who purposely tried to kill one of his own amidst the chaos. Ash was not a fool to act recklessly, or so he thought. If Cherry had not stopped him, he might have punched Alder. His eyes…his expression. There was a reason behind it. "Cypress is one of us, so why-"
"Ash, of all people in his town, you should hate him the most."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why would I hate the man who took us in when our parents were killed? Why would I hate the man who gave us everything we needed and wanted? Cypress is a good man, unlike you, who should have taken us in as the town's leader. Cypress stepped up and raised us."
"Do you know why he took you both in?" Alder spoke a single sentence to rebuttal Ash's argument.
Ash took a step back and gritted his teeth. There was something odd about that question, rather the way he said it. Cypress took them in because he was once close to his parents. Everyone in the town knew that. So why…so why was Alder staring at Ash with such a pitying look?
"If you are gonna say something, then say it! We are standing in the middle of a blazing hellscape, so tell me what the hell you mean, and stop beating around the bush before I leave you to burn, just like you tried to do to Cypress."
"He took you both in, only for your sister."
Ash unconsciously flew forward, his fists aimed straight at Alder's face. "Huh!?" However, Cherry suddenly appeared in front of him, taking the full brunt of his pouch. A sharp pain shocked Ash's skull, and he fell to the ground. He felt the world spin as he tried to understand what had just happened.
"What the hell was that…" Alder spoke, just as surprised.
"So… that's what's been happening…" Cherry couched over Ash and grabbed his wrist. She dug her crimson claws into his arm. Ash winced as he braced for pain, but nothing happened. He looked at Cherry's arm. A trail of blood dripped down from little holes that appeared on her wrist. "Ash…you are a fool." Cherry looked at him with a disgusted look as a silver light shimmered around her neck. A metal collar appeared around her neck, and a metal chain connected her collar to his.
Her ears twitched, and Alder wiped the shock off his face and aimed his gun toward a building that had just collapsed because of the flames. Ash, still in a daze, turned towards the direction they both faced. A man whose insides were spilling out was standing on a stone pillar that was free from the flames. His face had claw marks that tore through to the bone.
"N-no…" Cherry's guard fell as she fell to her knees. Her face went pale, and the crimson glow of her hair faded.
"Heh, so that's how it is, Rose." The man spoke as he pulled out a set of knives from behind him. "Oh wait, they call you Cherry now. But it's a shame you can't kill that boy power like you did me. However, I will say I never thought I'd see the day a Gifted could wield an OA. Makes me jealous, honestly."
The man leaped off the pillar and flew towards Cherry with his knives aimed at her. As he flew, a flash of blue light pierced through the figure, followed by a deafening roar. The figure used one of his knives to deflect the blow, shattering it into millions of shards. He continues to fly towards Cherry with his remaining knife and thrust the blade into her chest. The knife bounced off her chest, and the figure flew backward as another shot was fired from Ansel's gun. Ash fell to the ground, clenching his chest in pain. Blood seeped through his shirt, staining his hands.
"What the hell is this skeleton…" Alder said, unaware that Ash was bleeding out on the ground from a strange phenomenon.
Cherry turned her head in disbelief. Ash looked up at the figure. There was no mistaking it; this thing was human, not the skeleton Alder claimed it to be.
"So that's what you see me as, a skeleton. How amusing. Honestly, this is why I hate OAs. Their abilities defy all logic and reason. But more importantly." The man turned towards Ansel, who was busy trying to reload his gun with rocks off the ground. "Why the hell is a man with a stolen weapon from the city, a Gifted boy using an OA, and Omen working together here in the boonies?"
Ash felt the pain in his chest receding as the blood that flowed out stopped. It was weird, but it felt as if his wound was closing itself with inhuman speed.
The man emitted a frustrated "Tsk" sound, his displeasure evident in the crease of his brow. With a deft flick of his wrist, he sent a knife soaring high in the air. Its sharp blade glinted from the flames. As it fell back down, he kicked it with a sudden force that sent it arcing towards Alder. The blade barely grazed Alder's hand; the sting of its contract forced him to release his grip on the gun. As it fell, a sudden explosion assaulted their ears as a trail of smoke drifted off the end of the barrel. The man then turned his attention back to Ash, who was now standing back up thanks to his adrenaline. Ash grabbed Cherry by her shoulders and shook her violently, hoping to return her to her senses. Her hair regained its color, and the light came back to her eyes. With a steely resolve, the man reached behind him and pulled out another set of knives. He licked the tip of the knife and stared at Cherry with a murderous gleam. "Even without my Silver Dagger, I will cut you down here and now, Lustful Vixen. Even if I have to kill an innocent who is Gifted, yet cursed by an OA."
"Like I told you in the forest, that is not me…" Cherry spoke with her voice trembling. "The Lustful Vixen is my mother. I've been used as a scapegoat."