Darian's legs were shaking.
What did they mean by "joining their group"?
Were all these people Alterids?
"You shouldn't be thinking about that," Alerya said, her tone more serious now. "You don't really have a choice. It's yes or yes."
"Just… give me a moment…"
Darian sat down on a nearby sofa. Vane was next to him, watching with a wide grin, the kind people wear when they're clearly having too much fun.
"We can't let you roam freely," Alerya continued, turning to look out the window. "The people in the city think you killed the king."
"We'll tell everyone you died. If there's another killer in town, we can't let panic spread."
Darian's eyes shot wide open.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!? You're going to tell everyone I'm the killer? I won't ever be able to leave then!"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Darian," Alerya replied in a calming voice.
"They saw you while you were transformed. Your body looked completely different. No one would recognize you now. We'll just say it was a Krukin, and that we killed it."
'That doesn't sound like a great plan… but I mean… it might work, yeah.'
"By the way…" Darian had a dozen more questions buzzing in his head. He needed answers.
"The one who died... he was a king, right?"
"Yes… he was my father," Alerya replied, her voice dimming. "He was giving a speech when it happened."
"What was he talking about that got him killed?"
"He was announcing the plan... to reclaim Earth. He wanted to destroy the Krukins and make humanity free again."
Darian's face twisted in shock.
'WHY WOULD ANYONE KILL THE KING THEN??'
"I don't get it," he said aloud. "Why would someone stop that? Did they not want humanity to progress?"
"We don't know," Alerya replied. "But it won't stop us."
She slammed her hands on the desk. Everyone in the room jumped.
"If whoever shot the king thought we'd be afraid, they were wrong. The Veilguard won't back down."
Everyone nodded firmly.
"You said you're the Veilguard, right?" Darian asked.
"Us," Vane corrected, slinging an arm around Darian's shoulder. Snowy, perched there, yelped as he tumbled to the floor.
"Yeah… so who exactly are you? Are you like, the city's protectors or something?"
"Well, sort of," Alerya said, walking closer to her team.
"We're all Alterids protecting the city. Each of us has strong abilities. But we never know who we'll face out there, so having one more hand would help."
She extended her arm toward Darian.
Darian took her hand, and she pulled him up.
"Let me introduce you to the full squad. You've already seen Kael's power, right?"
Kael stood up, and Darian's diary began floating into the air.
"My ability lets me modify an object's gravity." The diary hovered a moment, then dropped. Darian caught it.
"Oh, I'll go next!!" said a woman with long blonde hair as she hopped up from the sofa. She wasn't very tall, and her cheerful voice instantly felt kind.
"I'm Lara! My power, Florahealth, helps me heal injuries."
Vane got up and wrapped an arm around Lara.
"Without her, we'd be dead a dozen times over. By the way, I'm Vane."
He extended an arm. Darian mirrored the motion, and Vane slapped his palm in greeting. Then he walked to a more open space.
'Huh? Why is he moving away? Is he going to show me his power?'
"Vane, I know what you're thinking. Please don't do it again," Liro said, concerned.
"Yeah, just turn into the small one," Kael added, equally wary.
"What happened last time?" Darian asked, placing Snowy down beside him.
"Oh, the thing he turns into is just too big... it wrecks everything," Lara laughed from behind him.
"You weren't the one who had to clean it up…" Kael mumbled.
"Alright, alright, I get it…"
Vane rolled his eyes, then transformed into a majestic eagle.
"As you can see, my power Bestmorphia lets me turn into animals... I can turn into a polar bear, a buffalo, and this eagle."
He transformed back, and crashed directly into Liro.
"Oh, sorry, Liro!" Vane laughed, while Liro looked annoyed.
"At least you didn't break anything this time," Liro said, pushing him off.
'How strong is that little guy…?' Darian wondered, watching Vane chuckle on the floor.
"My power's called Eidetron," Liro said. "It lets me create illusions and dynamic representations."
A glowing 3D map of the building appeared in midair.
"Whoa… so cool!" Darian admired the projection, until it morphed into a perfect replica of himself.
He jumped back, startled.
"EEEH?!?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
"Liro can create illusions too. That's not a mirror, that's you!" Kael explained.
"I guess I'll go next," said the figure in the simple brown robe that covered their entire body.
"I'm Allocen. I'm not actually an Alterid. My power is called Geonir. I can manipulate the ground."
Kael walked up beside him.
"Allocen's been with the Veilguard for just three weeks, but he's crazy strong. That's why we chose him."
"Yeah, in battle he barely moves, he just buries enemies underground!" Lara said with a giggle.
"...Well, yeah," Allocen muttered, going quiet again.
Darian turned to Alerya. "And you? I just realized I never got your name properly."
"I'm Alerya, as you might have heard, I'm the princess of the city and leader of the Veilguard."
"Oh. What's your power?"
The room went silent.
"You want to know Alerya's power?" Liro said. "That's like… taboo around here."
"Yeah… We just know it's extremely powerful," Vane added, his tone suddenly serious.
"But Alerya doesn't like to talk about it."
'Even Vane got serious? Maybe I misjudged him…'
"Don't worry, everyone," Alerya smiled. "It's just that my power hurts me every time I use it. That's why I never go on missions."
To lighten the mood, Allocen spoke, a rare occurrence.
"We saw your power earlier, Darian. Maybe you could show it again? What exactly can you do?"
"Whoa. Allocen spoke?!" Vane rushed over.
"That's extremely rare! Are you feeling okay?" He rubbed Allocen's head like a pet.
"I'm just… curious about his power," Allocen said, locking eyes with Snowy. "And that creature."
Darian couldn't tell what kind of look Allocen was giving Snowy. It felt… intense. Maybe curiosity? Maybe hostility?
"Well, alright. Let me explain," Darian said, stepping forward.
He described how his power worked and how his transformation with Snowy functioned.
Everyone seemed confused… except Liro.
"Now I'd like to show you some magic. Snowy?" Darian extended his arm, and Snowy leapt onto it.
"Mhm, but earlier you said it could theoretically enter your body anywhere, right?" Vane asked, a mischievous smirk on his face.
Darian's eyes widened... then he smirked too.
There was an invisible thread connecting their thoughts perfectly. The others looked on in confusion as they stepped closer to each other.
"SO IT COULD ENTER THROUGH THE BUTT TOO!!"
They shouted the words in unison.
Lara burst into laughter. Liro looked absolutely horrified.
After some silence the room suddently returned serious.
" Now I would like to show you some magic..."
Said Darian after getting ready to cast a spell.
"Ice Armor! Guys someone try to hit me!"
"Well, you asked for it…"
Allocen summoned a stone pillar and launched it at Darian.
The moment it touched the icy armor, both the ground and the pillar exploded.
Debris flew everywhere. Kael dropped to his knees.
"No… I HAVE TO CLEAN ALL THIS AGAIN! AARGGHH!!!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
Later that night, Darian lay on a bed inside the building. Apparently, each member of the Veilguard had their own room, and there happened to be one free.
Snowy curled up beside him.
"Snowy… we did it. We found humans."
Darian smiled. A new chapter of his life had begun.
But something felt off. Like someone was watching.
He scanned the room, and spotted a hole in the ceiling. A string dangled from it.
Darian pulled it. A feather fell down.
It was pitch black, with purple-tinted edges.
"What the hell is this?" he muttered, confused.
He sat on the bed, turning it over in his hands.
"I don't think this came from any animal… I'm no zoologist, but still…"
He placed the feather into his bag and lay down.
For the first time in forever, Darian had spoken with humans. And now, he was about to work with them. He had so much information to share and he wanted to help.
Meanwhile, in another room, Liro and Alerya were deep in conversation.
"Princess," Liro said, his tone laced with fear, "remember when I was reading Darian's diary?"
"Mhm? What is it, Liro? It's rare to hear you sound like that."
"I found a description… of a monster that shouldn't exist."
"What do you mean? Explain yourself."
"It just felt… wrong," Liro said. He described to Alerya the massive creature Darian once saw.
"What is that? We've never seen anything like it!"
"I know… But if it really exists…"
He swallowed.
"…it could mean the end of humanity."