Azar descended from the ash-choked sky, touching down gently in a small, ravaged park in Tokyo. The black rain fell around them in thick, oily sheets, but he and Naira remained untouched within a protective bubble of cosmic energy. He knelt before the trembling girl, his expression as unreadable as the void between stars.
"You will be safe here," he stated, his voice devoid of the warmth she remembered from their first meetings. "Go to the police station. They will help you."
Naira clutched his arm, her small fingers digging into the fabric of his strange clothing. "Don't leave me! Please! Everyone who leaves me never comes back! First Papa, then the doctors... and now you!"
Azar gently but firmly removed her hand. "My presence brings only destruction. You have seen what happens when I remain." He gestured toward the crumbling city around them. "This is the consequence of my existence in your world. Every moment I stay, I cause more suffering."
Tears streamed down Naira's face as she watched him rise. "But you saved me! You're not what they say you are! You're not a monster!"
Azar's form began to shimmer, the air around him distorting with cosmic energy. "What I am is irrelevant. What matters is what humanity chooses to become." With those final words, he vanished, leaving Naira alone in the toxic rain, her heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
In Washington D.C., the White House Press Briefing Room was packed despite the global crisis. Sarah Mitchell, her eyes hidden behind dark glasses that couldn't completely conceal the bandages beneath, stood at the podium flanked by grim-faced military officials.
"We are releasing verified footage of the Nevada facility incident," she announced, her voice steady despite the pain medication coursing through her system. Screens around the world showed carefully edited clips of Azar's attack, focusing on the blinded staff while omitting any context about Naira's imprisonment or the energy extraction program.
"This entity, designated Cosmic Threat Alpha, has demonstrated unprecedented hostility toward humanity," Mitchell continued, her hands gripping the podium tightly. "The unprovoked attack on our peaceful research facility represents an existential threat to all nations. We call upon the global community to unite against this common enemy before more innocent lives are lost."
The footage showed Azar's cold expression as staff members collapsed around him, their screams edited for maximum dramatic effect. There was no mention of the months of energy extraction, no context about Naira's suffering - only the terrifying power of an apparently merciless alien being who had left dozens blind and traumatized.
Naira stumbled through the deserted streets, the black rain stinging her skin as she followed Azar's directions. Each step felt heavier than the last, weighed down by the crushing loneliness that had returned the moment he vanished. The police station loomed ahead, its lights a dim beacon in the perpetual twilight.
"I... I need help," she whispered to the officers at the front desk, her voice barely audible over the storm outside.
The officers quickly brought her inside, wrapping her in warm blankets and calling for medical assistance. Within minutes, Detective Mori arrived, his expression shifting from professional curiosity to stunned recognition as he saw the girl from countless investigation files.
"Naira?" he asked gently, kneeling before her. "My name is Detective Mori. Can you tell me what happened to you?"
Before she could answer, the television in the corner switched to the American broadcast. Naira watched in growing horror as they labeled Azar a monster, a threat that needed to be eliminated. The edited footage showed none of her suffering, none of the truth.
"That's not true!" she screamed, pointing at the screen, her small body trembling with rage and betrayal. "He saved me! They were hurting me, and he saved me! They had me in a machine that took everything from me!"
Mori quickly turned off the television, his mind racing as he processed her outburst. "Who was hurting you, Naira? Tell me everything."
"The American doctors," she sobbed, collapsing into a chair. "They kept me in a cold room with tubes and wires... it hurt so much every day... and Azar made it stop. He's not what they say he is! He protected me when no one else would!"
The station doors burst open as Hana Tanaka rushed in, her face pale with desperation. "My granddaughter! Where is she?"
When she saw Naira, she froze, tears immediately filling her eyes. "Naira... my sweet girl... I thought I'd lost you forever."
Naira looked at the elderly woman, confusion evident on her face. "Grandma...? I... I remember your face, but..." Her memories were fragmented, blurred by pain and trauma and the strange energy that had flowed through her for months.
Hana approached slowly, her hands trembling as she reached out. "It's me, my darling. Your grandmother. I've been looking for you every day since your father took you away."
Naira allowed the embrace, but her body remained tense, her eyes darting around the room as if expecting the Americans to burst in at any moment. "Papa said it was for my protection... but then the bad people found us anyway."
Hana stroked her hair, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks. "I know, my child. I know. But you're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."
Outside, the black rain intensified, its effects growing more severe with each passing hour. A military transport plane flying over the city suddenly began to lose altitude, its metal components corroding at an alarming rate. The pilots' frantic mayday calls described "rapid structural degradation" before the signal cut out entirely.
On the ground, emergency crews reported that metal structures were showing signs of accelerated decay. The black rain was no longer just blinding people - it was actively eating away at the very infrastructure humanity depended on for survival, though no scientist could explain how or why.
Detective Mori watched from the window as the world continued to unravel around them. He looked from Naira's traumatized face to the storm outside, understanding that the girl in his care might be the key to everything - if he could only piece together the truth before the world completely fell apart, and if he could protect her from the forces that still sought to use her for their own purposes.