As Leto opened the doors, the crimson and orange rays of the sunset illuminated the building in front of him. The brightened areas were covered in dust and ravaged by time. The building was falling apart due to its sheer age, not to mention the furious clashed that were constantly occurring outside the structure.
There were no scratch marks covering the interior, nor were there any signs a battle ever tool place inside the building. Leto analyzed the whole area, discovering old and long decayed books, some others were oddly preserved quite well. The building seemed to be a cathedral of sorts, there were multiple long benched for seating, a stage with a podium at the front, and old, fallen chandeliers riddled the area.
The church harbored no beasts and due to the fact it seems like the place has been undisturbed for possible thousands of years, Leto decided to spend the night in there. Tomorrow, he was going to inspect the corpse of the Blood Bear then continue exploring the building.
The night passed without incident and when Leto awoke, he felt oddly more refreshed than usual and… different. He paid it no mind as it was probably the affect of finally sleeping in as building and not a crude campsite or cave.
So he left the church and returned to the battle site from the previous day. By now, a couple of small scavengers were feasting on what Leto didn't eat and were scared away by his arrival. He walked up to the belly of the Blood Bear and stared at it for a minute. Inside its skin, beneath the shredded bits and dried blood, there was something there. It was as if the thing inside was living there.
It had seemed like another body that was covered in something. There was cloth that had long been stained blood red and a rough patch of skin. The skin was tinted red as well, presumably caused by marinating inside the beasts body for quite some time. Leto summoned a dagger of ice and began to slice open the body of the beast.
The towering body of the bear was in two separate halved but the body inside seemed to be in one piece, so far. He fished out large chunks of flesh and finally managed to get a full view of the macabre scene.
It was a human girls body wreathed in bandages. Her body didn't decay whilst inside the beast at all, in fact it seemed as if she was being preserved inside it, almost appearing alive. He shivered at the sight of it all.
'What? How did she even end up in this situation?'
He pulled her body out of the bear, intending to give her a proper burial. His dagger changed forms to a shovel and he began to dig up a grave for her.
As he plunged his shovel into the ground, a pained groan came from behind him. Leto froze and quckily turned his shovel back into a weapon. He snapped around and jumped back, guarding himself with his sword. He surveyed the area and didn't notice anything amiss, unnerved, he slowly lowered his sword but stayed on guard. He didn't dare turn his back again and continued to look around, there was only one creature he know of capable of recreating sounds, it was a truly harrowing being. It appeared as a mist and had no corporeal form. It was capable of attacking somehow and would shred the skin of anything caught in its midst.
However, there was no mist permeating the area, in fact, he could see everything clearly, even more so than usual.
Then, he noticed it. Not the mist, not a new creature that would surely wreak havoc, and not even a beast.
The girl.
Her body twitched and she let out another groan of pain.
She wasn't dead.
Leto was once again frozen, not knowing how to react. He hadn't seen another person in four years, and now, as a late birthday present, he was face to face with a living human. He stood there for a couple of minutes then the girl finally opened her eyes. They were a striking red color and screamed that she was in pain. Leto slowly walked over and crouched beside her.
"Please… Help. Please."
Leto looked at her pained face and didn't know how to react. In front of him was a girl with beautiful red eyes pleading for help, it didn't exactly help that she was the first person he'd seen in years. He stared into her eyes and steeled his nerves.
He placed his hand on hers and closed his eyes. He circulated his Soul Aether and forced it out of his hand and into hers. Her pained expression slowly faded and her pale face regained its color. Her hair turned a black color with red streaks running through it. The features on her face sharpened, turning her face into one so beautiful it seemed to be carved of marble. The red tone of her skin faded and the texture turned smooth once again, even furthering her staggering beauty.
By now, it hardly looked like the same girl. The only features that remained the same were the bandaged and her eyes. Her body resembled that of a goddess, exquisitely beautiful.
She closed her eyes and released a relieved sigh. A slight smile found its way onto her lips, making Leto look away from the beauty of it.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
Leto shifted slightly and looked back at her. Her voice was soft and soothing.
"Uh, no problem."
He was still stunned by the fact he'd met another human and that it was such a beautiful girl at that.
She sat up slowly and fluttered her eyes.
"Who are you?"
Leto stared blankly for a second.
"… Leto. And you?"
She turned her head slightly and flashed a friendly smile at him.
"Amira. I'm sorry to bother you so much… but do you have any clothes? Or food?"