The wind blew across his face as he stared down at the city in front of him. Standing in front of him was the girl who had just revealed her deepest secret, one that she held so close to her heart that only a handful of people knew about it.
As his eyes drifted towards her, he saw it, the thing she had been hiding this entire time. Swishing behind her was a feline tail, one that Yuuki had kept hidden for so long by wrapping it around one of her legs. On her head were two feline ears that she had kept hidden by wearing all manner of headwear.
Nic had only found out about it because he had been lucky enough to strike her beanie with a shot from his magic sword in a duel. When it hit, her beanie was thrown off, revealing the feline ears.
Sarah and Kiara were still embracing Yuuki in a strong hug as the third girl cried her heart out. Nic was staying away from the group hug for a specific reason. It felt wrong for him to join in.
The girl of the hour, Yuuki, had just revealed a truth that she had kept hidden for over a decade. One that would change how people viewed her once they learned the truth. She was happy that the truth was out. Nic could hear it in her sobs. She was crying tears of joy. Of relief.
And yet Nic refused to reveal his. Why couldn’t he just come out and say that he was a Verilo? Why was he so scared of the three people in front of him learning the truth?
As if a higher power had been reading his thoughts, a loud bang echoed across the city, quickly followed by a white flash and then a wave of wind rushing past the four of them at the top of the tower.
The group hug broke up as everyone looked out at the city of Sanum.
Nic caught his breath as soon as he saw the city. He could instantly tell where the origin of the sound and light were, but for all of the wrong reasons. Nestled into one of the many districts of the city, a black miasma was spewing forth, slowly spreading across the city.
Somehow there was a new vortex of Irradiation being created within the city. Nic could tell that it wouldn’t be long before the city was a lost cause. There would soon be too much Irradiation, and the city of Sanum, the first City Nation to be created after the Irradiated Winter, would fall.
Nic thought he felt someone pulling on his arm, but his body wouldn’t move. If someone was shouting his name, he couldn’t hear it. Every part of his body was focused on the ever-growing Miasma.
It was far larger than what he could handle.
Without being able to reliably purify the Irradiation he absorbed, there was a max that he could handle. The new miasma was leaps and bounds over it. There was nothing he could do. Nothing at all.
“Nic?! Nic!?” Yuuki grabbed the collar of Nic’s shirt and shook him until his eyes focused on her face, still stained with tears.
“What…?”
“The flames! Were you not also staring at the flames? There is no one else in this city, no in the world, that can create flames that big and strong except for Sarman. And if he is creating flames that big, then he is fighting someone very powerful. We need to get down there and help him.”
Nic realized that what she was talking about was probably being blocked by the Miasma for him. Not many others could see it, Nic only knew of one other, so it made sense that Yuuki believed him to be looking at whatever was behind it.
But the one thing she had said that made his gut drop was that Sarman was there. Sarman and Aria were supposed to be together that day. Aria had asked him to help her with something since she knew Nic was going to be held up at the university campus. It was still early enough in the day that if Sarman was there, then Aria most likely was as well.
At the thought of Aria being in the middle of the miasma, Nic was raring to go in milliseconds. But stopped when he looked back at the city. The black miasma had only grown even larger in the time they had been standing there.
“Come on!”
“We need to get down there!”
“Nic, let’s go!”
The three of them were standing at the door to the tower stairway. Each one wanted to go out there and help Sarman and Aria fight. But if they did that…
“No… If you three go there, then it will spell your doom.”
Nic couldn’t let them go. He didn’t want them to die. He clenched his fist as he turned to look at the three of them.
“What…? Nic, what are you talking about? What about Sarman? And Aria!?”
Yuuki was the one who responded. She was worried about the two other teammates of theirs out in the city. And it was clear based on her face that she didn’t understand why Nic was saying what he was saying.
“You three… Sarah, you’re just a normal human. The amount of Irradiation in that area will kill you in an instant if you get too close. Kiara and Yuuki, while you have some innate resistance to Irradiation thanks to being Demi-Humans, you most likely will succumb to it soon after as well.”
The three of them looked at each other. They lived in a city-state, and Irradiation was never around. And yet, Nic was saying that there was enough there that they would all die. It was hard for them to trust him off of that alone.
“How… How is there Irradiation there? We live in Sanum! The first Irradiation free city-state after the Irradiated Winter three centuries ago!”
Sarah was the one who talked this time. Her voice was strained. Everything he said was scaring her. She didn’t understand it.
“I need you three to do something for me.” Nic ignored her. He didn’t have the time or patience to explain everything to her. Nor did he want to. “Go to Sarman’s father, Ordwell. Find him and pass along a message for me.”
“A message?”
“Tell him that the situation here is far worse than how it was in S-012. Tell him that they need to start an evacuation of the city. I will do my best to take care of what is going on. Yuuki, you go with them. I’m sure that you can get them into any place as the daughter of an advisor to the Kyoku Shogun.”
It was the only way he could think of making sure that the message got to Ordwell. But Yuuki quickly shut down that option.
“I can’t do that. Even if I wanted to. I’m just here as an exchange student. I have no power to do any of that.”
The only thing Nic had been able to think of was taken from him in an instant. There was no other way to get the message to Ordwell.
No, that wasn’t true. There was one option.
But Nic would have to reveal everything.
How would they react? Will they hate him when they hear the truth?
Nic’s chest tightened. He was scared. He thought of each of the three people in front of him as friends. He likes hanging out with them. Sparring with them. And talking with them.
He was scared that learning the truth would change their relationship.
But Aria was in danger. So was Sarman. The entirety of Sanum was. He had to suck it up. It was just like when he stepped out in front of Jack Cariatel in S-012. He had to accept that people would learn the truth.
“Then… In that case… I’ll tell you how to get a guaranteed audience with Ordwell. Just tell them that the message is from me… From Nic Verilo.”
The air froze over. No one said anything.
Nic stared at the ground in front of him. He didn’t want to look at their faces. He was sure that they hated him. All because of his family name.
“Does Aria know?” Yuuki spoke softly.
It was a simple question, but it caught Nic off guard.
“Since before we came to Sanum.”
A hand appeared in front of Nic. He looked up and found two cat ears right in front of his face. Yuuki had a soft smile on her lips. He was about to reach for her hand when he hesitated. And in that hesitation, Yuuki grabbed his hand and wrapped her own around it. It wasn’t quite a handshake, but more of a unifying grasp.
“Then I will trust you.”
Maybe it was because she had revealed her own secret just before, or it was the time they had spent together over the past half of a year. Yuuki held no fear or hatred in her eyes, only acceptance.
“Family baggage huh?”
“Aria really was spot on with that.”
Standing at the doorway still were Sarah and Kiara. They both wore strained smiles on their faces. For them, it wasn’t so easy to trust someone that called themselves a Verilo, but they would try. They had spent far too long with Nic to throw it all away over something so small.
“We’ll take care of getting the message to Sarman’s father. You two go help Sarman and Aria. And if Yuuki starts to get Irradiation Sickness, then I will blame you Nic.”
The two of them disappeared down the staircase, leaving Nic alone with Yuuki at the top of the tower.
“Looks like I’ll be counting on you, Nic.” Yuuki sped past him, taking the lead as they ran down the stairs.
The tower stairs led straight down to ground level, and by the time they were out of it, Nic had moved one sword from his back to his waist like usual. The two quickly found out that every outdoor section of the university was filled with students and professors alike as they stared at the distant commotion.
Pushing their way through the crowds, Yuuki and Nic eventually made their way to the entrance of the university. The streets of the city outside the campus were no better. It seemed like every person had gotten out of their house to see what was going on. Many simply stood in the middle of the streets, blocking Yuuki and Nic’s way past.
But they were simple enough to get around. The ones that caused them the most trouble were the people who instantly began to panic. Anyone who was not standing still was seemingly running in the opposite direction as them. This caused them to slow down much more as they had to actively navigate past the scared civilians so that no one got hurt.
Somehow, despite all of the crowds, Nic found that they were steadily getting closer to the Miasma. And it showed in the people they passed as well. More and more of the people that they passed were showing signs of Irradiation sickness. And Nic could see that they were radiating the black miasma off of themselves now too.
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“University Guy!” A loud voice called out to Nic as he ran through one of the streets. A familiar guy ran up to Nic, who was having trouble putting a name to the face. “Oh, uh, it’s me, Jax. You healed me during the festival…?”
“Oh, Jax, you’re here as well? It’d be best for you to get out of here as fast as possible.”
As Jax told Nic who he was, Nic remembered him. He had absorbed some Irradiation from the man around the time of the festival a few months prior.
“About that, I saw the same man inside the city recently! I think he is the cause of this.”
“Same man?” Nic had no idea who Jax was talking about.
“The guy that I got close to before getting Irradiation Sickness.”
A truth that Nic had never heard about before was revealed. The same person was seemingly responsible for both incidents of Irradiation inside the City-State. If that were the case, this might have been a targeted attack.
But was it aimed at Sanum, or at Nic?
“Got it. You get away from here. As far as possible. And take anyone you can with you.”
Jax nodded to Nic before running off. He grabbed an older lady and helped her as well as he was leaving.
Nic turned and raced to catch up with Yuuki. When he did, he saw some black veins on her already. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. When he did he activated his absorption and absorbed the Irradiation out of her.
“What did you just do?”
“What I can do. Absorb the Irradiation out of you.”
It was almost too much for him. The constant strain as his body naturally began absorbing Irradiation began to affect him externally. Black veins were peeking out from under his clothes, growing longer every second. If he didn't do something soon, he was bound to begin feeling sick.
His vision grew darker with every step. His stomach began to churn as he got closer. He could feel the sickness coming, yet he pushed forward; fueled by his desire to save Aria.
"...."
Nic was stopped by something. He thought someone was talking to him, yet he couldn't remember who the voice belonged to. He fell to his knees. Was his body covered in black veins? He couldn't tell anymore. He couldn't see anything. He was alone in a void created by the Miasma.
Rocks continued to fly at them at high speeds. How many did this make? Aria couldn't remember. The man firing them, Jack, had been relentless in his attacks, and Sarman and Aria were barely holding onto their lives. Every rock seemed faster than the last. Aria’s wind no longer was able to swerve them off target. Sarman’s fire was no longer able to hit them accurately.
The two jumped behind a nearby building as an especially large rock struck where they had been moments prior. In its wake, a crater had formed. What was a popular street to hang out in with friends had been reduced to smoldering ruins. The bodies of civilians that were caught up in the initial attack were scattered like flies on rotten food.
"Just bring out Verilo and all of this bloodshed can be stopped." Jack called out as Aria and Sarman caught their breath.
"How many times do we have to tell him that the Verilos aren't in this city? There's no way my father would let one in."
Aria stayed quiet, unable to speak. She knew that there was one in the city, and Mr. Chapman had been the one to let him in, whether he knew it or not. But as long as Nic didn’t show up, they should eventually be able to bring Jack down.
As long as he didn't arrive.
She could fight until Jack died.
She rushed out and contorted the wind around Jack. Her goal was to suffocate him. If nothing else, it would allow the police force in Sanum to capture him.
Sarman also jumped out, a flaming spear in his hand as fire covered his body like armor. He chucked the flaming spear at Jack before creating another one instantly.
But Jack was ready. He flung a bigger boulder at the flaming spear, stopping it in its tracks. The boulder continued so Aria switched to slowing it down. She condensed the air in front of it, causing it to significantly slow. In that time, they fled back behind the house they had been hiding behind this entire time.
"Yuuki?! What are you doing- No scratch that, what happened to Nic?" Hearing Sarman say his name caused Aria to snap her head to look towards the other end of the building. Standing there was a person that… definitely looked like Yuuki, yet she was a cat person, something that the Yuuki she knew was not.
The thing that stopped Aria’s heart was the person that the Yuuki look-alike had leaned on her shoulder. Nic was limply being held up by her. He didn't look like he could even walk, as his feet seemed to be being dragged behind them. But covering his body were black veins. Irradiation, and a lot of it at that.
"Drop him immediately and stand back." She gave quick instructions to the Yuuki look-a-like as she ran up to Nic, grabbing him as he fell to his knees. As she gently set him down she began checking for his pulse. It was very weak, but she was able to feel one. Sighing in relief, she began lightly slapping his face, hoping to get some reaction out of him
"Hey, Nic, wake up. What happened? How did it get this bad?"
"I can't answer all those questions myself, but for the second one, it happened while we were running here.'' Yuuki spoke up to answer one of the three questions.
The answer was quite simple really. It was all that the Yuuki look-alike could respond with. Yet it told Aria plenty. If she didn’t know what exactly had happened, then he hadn’t told her the truth yet. But the worrying part was that it happened while they were walking. Based on how she had responded, it seemed like Nic hadn’t stopped for anyone. If that was the case, then the area they were in was heavily Irradiated again.
“Aria, I-”
“Don’t speak like you know me. I have no idea who you are.”
“But… you do. It’s me, Yuuki,” She paused for a second as Aria whipped her head around to look at her. Yuuki’s ears had flattened against her head and she was looking away in embarrassment. “This… this is who I really am.”
The first truth was spilled to the last person. Aria tried to say something, but it caught in her throat. The friend of hers from so long ago, one she believed she was close to, had kept her in the dark about something so significant for so long. Aria couldn’t talk. She couldn’t make sense of the feelings swirling around her gut as she simply stared at Yuuki. But she knew one thing. She and Nic had done the same exact thing. So it wasn’t really fair for Aria to continue to be upset about it.
“Yuuki! I thought you wanted to keep it a secret!” Sarman’s voice rang, stirring Aria to stand up.
“Nic found out during our duel earlier. It doesn’t feel right to leave Aria out of the loop now, does it?” Aria slowly laid Nic up against a nearby wall. His two swords were still attached to his person, so she undid them and set them down next to him.
“I… We will discuss this later. Right now, Nic’s life is in danger, and I believe the source is Jack. He’s the only anomaly in the city right now, so he’s most likely to be responsible for the increase in Irradiation in the city.” Aria had stood up to face her two friends again. She knew her words would spark confusion in them, and was prepared for any response.
“Irradiation? How do you know that?” Sarman’s response was laced with malice. Aria knew that he was already connecting the dots in his head, even before his sentence had finished.
“Nic was saying the same thing. So there really was someone causing it.” Yuuki spoke up before Aria. What she said made Aria realize that Nic had said more to her than she initially thought.
“The black veins under his skin. They are caused by increased exposure to Irradiation. It’s caused by his heightened absorption of the stuff.”
“Higher absorption? Why does he have that?”
“We will talk about that later, when his life isn’t in danger.” Aria was nearly in his face. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, something that Sarman could clearly see. He hesitated a moment, wavering in his decision, before stepping back a step.
“Fine. But if I don’t like what you say, I will burn him myself.”
Quickly turning back towards the entrance to the alley that they had entered through, he readied a flaming spear he had summoned in the blink of an eye. Almost as if on cue, the building they were behind exploded, causing the stone that made up the wall to shotgun out, hitting everyone.
Not allowing a hint of fear to show across her face, the cat drew her sword, its blade long and slightly bent, a staple hint of her homeland. Before Aria or Sarman had even recovered, Yuuki was clambering over the ruined house, and as she reached the peak of the rubble, she stopped and pointed her sword at Jack.
“If you will not stand down, Jack Cariatel, then you leave me no choice.”
“That voice, Lil’ Yuuki? But you don’t… You must’ve been hiding the truth then… It matters not, if like Sarman, you stand against me in protecting that man, then I will have to mur-” His sentence was cut off by the appearance of vines winding themselves around his arms and legs, holding him in place.
Atop the rubble, the sword in Yuuki’s hand was now stuck into the rubble, with Yuuki grasping its hilt to the point that her knuckles were white. She wouldn’t let go of the hilt, not until the other two had joined the attack. She may not be able to use magic like Aria and Sarman, but the sword that her mother had given her, was a magic weapon, just like Nic’s swords. It had been made using her mother’s own magic, the power to control flora in the world. Right now she was using it to capture Jack in vines in order to hold him still.
Aria could see just how much Yuuki was struggling against her sword. For a non-magic user to hold the ability of a magical weapon for so long must have been taxing on the body. Though if Yuuki was a demi-human like she seemed to be she should’ve had some sort of born magic. Aria had something else she wanted to talk to Yuuki about later now. But first, they had to survive.
“It must be hard holding him by yourself, Yuuki, so… Let me join you. It’ll be just like old times when we would work together to hold down Mr. Chapman together, won’t it?” Aria climbed up the hill to stand next to her friend. The childhood friend she, just a few months ago, thought she would never see again. Aria’s brown hair was dancing in the wind like it always did when she used her wind magic.
“Yea, just like old times. So now we need Sarman to deliver the big final blow, huh Aria?”
Aria smiled at her old friend next to her. Her long black hair, which Aria had always found beautiful, but was sad it was always hidden by a hat of some sort, now sported a pair of cat ears near the top. Somehow, seeing them, Aria’s felt peaceful, despite the fact that they were holding down someone who wanted to kill them.
She quickly turned her head around to look at her other childhood friend, who was only just now standing up from the house explosion.
“So, you think you can do the honors Sarman?”
“I’m only gonna knock him out. Questioning him later would be more beneficial for the city.” A sound response came from him. But Aria knew that’s just how he was. When it came to matters that involved Sanum, Sarman was dutiful in his role as the Head Minister’s son.
A flaming spear was already in his hands as he strode past the pile of rubble that once was the house. He raised the spear, holding it above his shoulder like a javelin, ready to throw it at Jack from a safe distance. Before he did, however, he pleaded with the man one last time.
“Will you give up quietly Jack? If you do, I can ask my father to let you off with a light sentence. You’ve done so much for this city in the past, don’t throw it all away for nothing!”
“Why are you stopping me Sarman? If anything, you should be on my side. That boy’s family killed my parents.”
“What…?” Sarman hesitated. Aria was having trouble holding down the air near Jack and needed Sarman to attack now.
“Your mother was killed in the same way my parents were! Weren’t their killers the same people? So you should be wanting to kill the Verilo boy as well!”
The truth had been revealed to her two childhood friends. Aria readied herself for the shock and betrayal from the two of them.
“Sarman… Even if Nic is a Verilo, he is still our teammate! We can’t just throw that away because of a family name!”
But defying her expectations, the friend next to Aria yelled at Sarman. She was still on Nic’s side.
After all, She had already known.
But to Sarman, it was a betrayal of his very being. His face contorted with anger as the flaming spear was sung at Aria instead of Jack.
She was forced to jump back while letting go of her hold on the air around Jack. She landed close to Nic’s body.
“Let go of me!”
Aria snapped her head up as Yuuki cried out. The flaming armor around Sarman had disappeared as he used his size to catch Yuuki in a large hug. Even as she tried to fight back to get out, the sheer size difference between the two of them rendered her attacks useless.
Jack sneered as he walked by them uninterrupted.
The only person between him and Jack was now Aria. She prepared herself to fight him alone. If he simply used the same attacks she had seen him use for minutes now, she would be fine.
“Huh?”
What she hadn’t been expecting was the black coil that appeared in Jack’s hand. When he swung it at her, it extended like a whip and wrapped itself around her leg.
But instead of pulling her back, it went through it.
Her body rejected everything. She could feel her stomach turning upside down. The leg it passed through went numb as Aria fell to her hands and knees. She reached down and pulled her pant leg up.
The veins in her leg had grown black.
The black coil once again wrapped itself around her body. This time she fell to the ground. Her entire body was covered in black veins.
She had seen something similar just a little bit ago.
What was it?
What couldn’t she remember?