POV EROS
Life is a confusing thing, one minute, your just minding your own business, you keep your head low, and no problems are sent your way.
Then, there's the unexpected moments. And currently, I'm somehow fighting a military officer because of a misunderstanding.
And to fully understand why this happened, we need to go back a few hours ago.
FLASH BACK
It's been three days since the incident, and things have been well for me. I've healed up from the use of the last stand, and I was able to walk around again.
Yet I was treated as if I was a fragile piece of glass, Hecate and Hella were nearby, always saying I need to rest and heal.
And if I tried to sneak away to do paperwork, K.K and Che were there to stop me from getting close.
I even tried to work while everyone was asleep, yet Crache was by my side and grabbing the large stack of papers with ease.
In the end, I decided to do some work for Belle and Wise. Which was fine by them, since I was only helping people find the perfect movies.
Yet, as soon as I arrived at the store, I saw Heddy, a friend of Belle and Wise, speaking to a group of girls that were in high school.
Yet, one of them looked interesting. The reason for this, was because of the large shark tail that was on her back.
I was curious to why she had such a thing, but I then recalled something. 'Right, a thiren, Nekomata mentioned it to me.'
In the past, Nekomata had told me that there were two types of thirens. A half thiren, which had the ears and tail.
While a full blooded thiren not only had those traits, but looked more like the animal their blood has.
'So, she's a shark thiren. But what kind of shark is she?' I thought while observing the tail.
However, my vision was blocked by Belle, who was in front of me with a wide smile on her face.
"Eros, you made it, good timing as well." She said and dragged me by my hand. As we passed by the groups of students, I was able to glance at the girl.
As our eyes connected, time slowed to a stop, and both she and I only stared at one another, assessing one another if either of us were a threat.
I on the other hand was the more suspicious one. With my short sleeve shirt, my scars were exposed.
Soon, time began to resume from the sound of an unfamiliar voice.
"Woah, Ellen, look at that guys arms, he's got way too many scars." The girl next to the now named Ellen pointed out my arms.
Seeing this, Ellen narrowed her eyes even more, while her hand twitched. She wanted to reach for something, but stop at the last second, remembering where she was.
"Sir, this may sound weird, but where did you get those scars?" Asked the girl, looking at her, I only smiled and lifted it.
"I was just doing my duty to protect the people, buying them time to get to safety." Hearing this, two more girls approached us, and stared at my arms with awe, with a hint of fear in their eyes.
"T-thank you for your service." The three girls said, while Ellen herself only stared at me, trying to gauge if my answer was a lie.
Yet, she didn't see it. Instead she huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Thank you for your service." She said with a flat tone, hearing her speak was similar to Anby.
I only gave them a kind smile, which was enough to make the three girls blush at my smile.
While Ellen only rolled her eyes and grabbed the back of her friends collars. Dragging them out the front door.
"Alright you three, I want my sweets." She said before the door closed. Yet I could hear their voices, arguing about something.
"Well that was weird." Belle was pouting as I stared at the door, and she only gave me a punch on the shoulder.
She then walked away, leaving me with a confused look on my face. Yet I didn't notice Wise staring at me from the stairs, sipping on his mug with narrowed eyes.
TIME SKIP
After closing the door for the day, I had a small smile on my face. It felt nice to help people find the perfect show or movie for the customer.
"The day is almost done, everything is quiet and peaceful, nothing can ruin it." I said to myself, smiling at my words.
[Chief, I love you, I really, really do, but you really need to learn on what not to say.]
It was something I would never get board of, yet the peace didn't last as I heard the sound of knocking.
"That's odd, who could be here at this hour?" I soon opened the door and saw a man standing outside.
The man wore a black suit with a purple dress shirt, and wore a green tie. Finally he wore a black hat, with a purple line on the bottom of the hat
"Oh… uhhh, hi, are the managers available?" The man asked me while looking over his shoulder.
"The managers are here, may I know the reason why you came at this our?" I ask while slowly moved my hand behind me, reaching for my gun that I always carry on me.
He saw what I was doing, and looked at me in fear, but the fear turned to relief as he looked behind me.
"Oh, Shepherd, what brings you here?" I felt Wise's hand on my arm, stopping me from pulling my weapon.
He wasn't strong enough to stop me, but his grip told me enough. Not to cause any problems.
"Ah, Wise, just the man I wanted to see." The man said with a smile. "May I come in, and if so, can I speak to you in private?"
I only glanced at Wise, waiting to see what his response is. He then removed his hand and stepped to the side, and silently asked me to do the same.
I then nodded and stepped to the side, gesturing him inside with the same smile I gave to all sinners that I wanted to help.
"Please, come in." Seeing the instant change in my attitude, Shepherd looked like he wanted to leave right then and their.
Yet he forced himself to walk inside , removing his hat and covered his mouth to force out a cough.
"You want some water, tea maybe?" Wise asked, trying to lift the silence that had fallen upon us.
"Yup, I'll have some tea." Shepherd replied instantly, and looked at me, more specifically my arms.
Seeing how silent things became, Wise took the chance to start the conversation once again.
"Ah, right, this is Eros. We recently hired him to help us with the store." He said and I only smiled.
"It's… a pleasure to meet you, are you security for them?" He asked and held out my hand.
"No, I'm just an employee, helping the people of New Eridu enjoy both films and shows." I grabbed his hand and gave it a firm squeeze, causing him to wince at how strong I gripped.
"That's... a good thing to hear, I can respect that." He then forced a smile, and soon leaned close to Wise, blocking his mouth to whisper to him.
After hearing what Shepherd had to say, Wise only chuckled and patted his shoulder.
"It's fine, Eros is a hollow raider himself, so you don't have to worry." Shepherd's jaw hung open the second he learned I was a hollow raider, and he spun towards me to confirm.
"He's speaking the truth, and there is no need to be afraid, any friend of Wise is a friend of mine." Shepherd gave a sigh of relief as he heard this.
"Sorry, but things have been going crazy over the past few days, monsters appearing out of the hollows, people transformed into toys, it's been a hard time for me." Wise then left us to bring the tea, while I stayed behind to hear what he has to say.
"Is their any information regarding the incident?" I asked, probing to see how much he knew.
"Well, there's only the surface of the iceberg. Just the incident, and the PubSec dealing with it, nothing more I'm afraid." He crossed his arms and frowned.
"I see, but something tells me you do know more than the surface." Shepherd straightened himself and replaced his frown with a smile.
"Seems you know your way around, but it's hard for me to recall with all the problems I'm dealing with." He sighed and narrowed his eyes.
'So he does know something, but how much do I need to give?' I began to consider how much I would pay, but Wise soon returned with a fresh cup of tea.
"Seems interesting, mind telling us what you know?" He asked and placed the tray on the counter, and handed Shepherd the cup.
"For my best clients, anything." He said with a bright smile and soon took a sip of the tea.
"There have been rumors that it wasn't PubSec that dealt with the monsters, but a second party." He said in a serious tone while placing the cup on the counter.
"No one knows who they are, or where they came from, all they know is how to deal with them." The silence soon returned, leaving me and Wise to ponder on what we heard.
"What about the monster itself? Were they able to capture it?" I asked, pretending to act as if I knew nothing.
Shepherd shook his head, looking relieved that it wasn't caught. "Nope, and for good reasons as well, you wouldn't believe what it could do."
Both Wise and I knew what had happened, I was there, and I told both Wise and Belle what had happened after I woke up.
"I see, thanks for telling us about this." Shepherd nodded his head, but soon had a moment where he remember something.
"That reminds me, I was actually sent here by someone." Hearing this, both Wise and I looked at one another.
"By who?" I asked slowly.
"I'm afraid I don't know, all I know is that they found me, told me to come here, and give you this." He said and pulled out a VHS tape.
"Oh, and Wise, you might want to change the name on your new account. Bon bon is not a good name to have." He chuckled and finished his drink.
"It was nice seeing the both of you, take care." He said and placed his hat back on his head, leaving into the night.
As soon as he left, Belle slowly rose up from behind the counter, staring at the VHS tape with stars in her eyes.
"How… long have you been there?" I asked, Belle didn't answer, she only grabbed the VHS tape and ran into the staff room.
"Belle, no, down, down I say!" Wise shouted after her, chasing after her.
"Well, this isn't the worse thing I've seen." I thought and followed them both into the back, only to see Belle pouting with her arms crossed.
"She tried to watch the video." He said and soon handed the VHS tape. "You should do the honors."
"Well, let's see what the second episode is about." I said while inserting the tape into the VHS player.
However, instead of drawings, it was Summer herself. She had her legs crossed, and she looked like she was adjusting the camera.
"Is this… I know, I know, I'm a genius on machines and Mania, what makes you think I can't do a simple recording?" She talked to someone off camera.
"Yeah, so what? I don't see you trying to study the mania crystals that are inside the hollow, heck, I was able to bring that out as well!" Summer then huffed, but she then turned her focus to the camera.
"So, pleasantries aside, I've got some good news, and some bad news." Summer adjusted her glasses.
"For the good news, the energy in this world is similar to mania, and the residents even have a resistance to it, with some weaker than others." Summer then pullled out a tablet and showed it to the camera.
Where the three of us could see what looked like a silhouette of a person next to an ethereal crystal. Showing it that it went from green, to yellow, to red.
"This is the result of a resident in this world, they don't show much of a deterioration when they are close by it." She then swipes the screen, and shows the same silhouette, but this time, next to a mania crystal.
"The same can be said when they are close to mania, though not as strong." The same thing happening again, but with the colors changing at a more rapid pace.
"Which now brings me to the bad news..." Summer then grabbed the camera, turning it to show us a small container.
Inside it, was a piece of ethereal crystal, with bits of mania crystals sprouting from different parts.
"They are too compatible, and I don't need to ask if you've seen any weird mutations." She said and soon shifted the camera back to herself.
"Oh, that also reminds me, you know all those hollows that pop up around the city? Well, this was the cause." Summer then shifted the camera once again.
Once it stopped shifting, I stood up and widened my eyes at what I saw. A hollow that was too big for me to guess the size.
What's even worse, I could see wafts of mania flowing around it, causing the hollow to shift and ripple.
"That's… hollow Zero, but something's wrong with it." Wise observed, seeing how the hollow acted.
"Anyways, it's best if you get here as soon as you can so we can fix this, okay? Byeeee! Oh, by the way, I rigged this tape to self destruct, and don't worry, it's not an explosion." The VHS slot opened up, with a metallic limb pressing the eject button.
The tape was then pushed out, and three more metallic limbs appeared. Pulling the tape, and jumping onto the floor, which then began to melt.
Luckily, there was no smell, and it began to form a small puddle that was harmless, maybe, probably not.
"I'd recommend getting a chemical-spill pack." I told both Wise and Belle, who stared at the puddle with open jaws.
"Alright, good night." Was all I said and left, but not before placing a few dennies on the counter.
Once I stepped outside, I raised my head up, staring at the night sky. "Why do I always ruin the peace?" I asked no one, yet I only chuckled to myself.
"Hahhh, probably deserved." I placed my hand over my eyes, letting the darkness envelop me.
I felt a headache forming within my mind, yet I smiled. Knowing it was going to be an interesting time.
"I guess peace was never an option for me." I sighed and began to walk, with my shadow growing behind me.
"Well, I was growing bored from all the peace anyways." Was the last thing I said, while a smile formed on my shadow.
(A/N) Hey, Hey, your favorit author here. I have no excuse with the lack of chapters, I had to take a break when I had the lack of ideas, but now I'm m back, and better than ever.
So send those stones, to show some support, I'm back baby! For now, peace.