For the next few hours, Nyla was taken to different rooms on different floors of the building where she was staying for X-rays, blood samples, and many different tests that she had no idea existed. Unlike the previous hospital, everything was handled by Dr. Anwar and her small team who treated her gently and warmly. Among the three, June was especially friendly towards her since she came from Marvoria, a neighbouring country to Azul. Even though both countries had many cultural similarities, Marvoria was more open-minded when it came to ADA. Nyla learned about how June used to live as a farmhand with her family how during one demon attack, she was saved by Dr. Anwar’s husband and how she followed the pair all the way to Ublos and trained to become a nurse. Unlike the chatty June, Pamela never said anything during the whole procedure. She gave Nyla simple instructions on what to do and what was going to happen and remained silent for the rest of the time. June later told her that Pamela was from a small village in a small country named Veilstead in the far continent of Ewor. In their country, demon attack was almost an everyday occurrence and she had lost her entire village including her family to one such attack. She had joined the ADA in order to become a hunter to take revenge on the demons, but she could not pass the examination process due to a genetic heart condition. After her last test, Dr. Anwar finally allowed her to return to her room and permitted her to eat. As soon as June cleared her trays – Dr. Anwar suggested a hearty meal to replenish her strength -- Liam entered followed by Alexander. He looked quite tired while Alexander was scowling. They were in a video conference the whole morning with headquarters in the capital. Alexander was at his limits. They used this opportunity to take him for all he had, and his day was not over yet.

* How are you doing, Nyla?

Liam asked with a smile as Alexander leaned on the wall next to the door observing Nyla. She seemed to be much better than this morning. Definitely less frightened. Her long brown hair was braided and was resting on her right shoulder. He guiltily glanced at the bandages on her arms. Nyla straightened herself and nervously glanced at Alexander.

* All is good, Gale…I mean Commander Turner.

She couldn’t help her accusing tune.

* You already figured it out, ha?!

Liam said with embarrassment. He wasn’t particularly embarrassed about hiding his identity, that was part of his role while gathering information. But his performance at the supercenter was quite bad, mostly because of the man standing behind him, always coming and causing problems. He glared at Alexander with a tinge of anger who returned it with a hidden sneer.

* Anwar told me who you are. Gale…I mean commander…

She stumbled on her words.

* Liam is fine.

He said with another smile.

* Did Dr. Anwar tell you anything else?

Liam asked cautiously. Since his grandfather’s death, his relationship with Auset had gone south. She loved his grandfather like a father and partially blamed Liam for his death. Their relationship got even worse when she lost her husband who went on a mission ordered by Liam. Getting into a relationship with Jamal was the last straw. Liam admitted that he was extra careful to not get hurt in away missions because he was fearful of how she would take revenge during his treatment.

Nyla shook her head slightly. June told her about the relationship between Dr. Anwar and Liam and how the two didn’t get along. In Nyla’s opinion, a proper talk would probably solve all their problems.

* You guys have met before, but to formally introduce you, this is Alexander.

Liam pointed to Alexander who simply nodded quickly and looked the other way. Nyla nodded awkwardly.

* He is sorry for frightening you last night. Isn’t that right Alexander?

Liam continued talking and nudged Alexander with his elbow. He mumbled something.

- What’s that?

Liam asked playfully.

* My Bad!

Alexander apologised loudly to Nyla making her flinch slightly.

* SATISFIED?!

He turned to Liam and crossed his arms. Liam nodded slightly and took a few steps forward. Nyla stared at the pair awkwardly. Liam seemed to be on friendly terms with this Alexander person. Did that mean that he was not a dangerous person?

* He seems to be scary, but he is… okay. He is in charge of our special unit and one of the few people who can fight against daemons.

Liam explained as he saw doubt in Nyla’s eyes. Alexander’s scowl made it more difficult to assure her of her safety.

* Is that what you were doing at the orphanage?

Nyla directed her gaze to Alexander who returned it to her confidently.

*

He answered simply. There was no need to explain to her in detail his mission in the orphanage. Liam could do it. It was his job anyway. Nyla looked down at her tangled hands. She couldn’t bring herself to ask what she wanted to know the most. She was afraid that she already knew the answer.

* Liam… The orphanage…is there any…?

She stopped before finishing her sentence. From the reaction of others throughout the day she figured that demon attack survivors were quite rare.

* Survivors? There is one!

Liam responded cheerfully. Nyla looked up hopefully.

* You survived it.

Liam patted her shoulder Kindly.

* No…It’s my fault! If I got there quicker then Maryam, Billy, and others wouldn’t have to…

A sob escaped her mouth. She raised her hand to cover her mouth and noticed she was crying. Alexander glared at Liam in disappointment. Liam regrated his cheery tune. He was trying to shine a positive light on everything and had failed miserably. Liam gently hugged Nyla and let her cry. He had seen survivors of daemon attacks before. At first, they were relieved to have survived but then the guilt struck them right away. The best way was to let them deal with it slowly and wait for them to overcome their guilt by themselves.

* THAT’S BULLSHIT!

Alexander announced rudely. He could not help feeling angry.

* Alex…

Liam started to tell him off. He had decided to bring him just in case Nyla had information about their goal, but it seemed to be a huge mistake.

* What could YOU have done?! You would have died alongside them when the seed manifested his daemon!

Alexander interrupted Liam. It was partially his fault that no one else survived. After two months of being in the orphanage undercover, he decided to leave his post against Liam’s orders. He was still in town when the attack happened but by the time he arrived at the orphanage, it was already too late. If he was there then maybe…

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

* ALEXANDER! THAT’S ENOUGH!

Liam jumped down from the bed leaving sobbing Nyla who now looked more shocked and confused. Alexander glared at them both and left the room shutting the door as hard as possible, making the whole building shake. Liam turned to Nyla.

* Please forgive him, Nyla. Believe it or not, he is angrier with himself than you.

He tried to explain. He had known Alexander all his life and more often than not he knew him to be kinder than his hard shell initially suggested. He just didn’t know—or maybe refused—to show it. Nyla nodded slightly in response. The scary man was correct. There was nothing that she could have done. Not against that monster. She shuddered when she remembered the monster’s claws.

* What did he mean by seed manifesting his daemon? Is it related to the demon attack at the orphanage?

Nyla asked with curiosity. The words Alexander spat at him felt strangely familiar. Liam contemplated on how much he should tell her. This was a secret that only official members of the ADA knew about and even they didn’t know all of the details.

* First of all, tell me how much you know about demons and their origin so I can see where I should start.

He asked with a tinge of curiosity. According to Alexander, she knew an interesting story when it came to daemons.

* Demons are manifestations of our sins and sent to punish us by God?

Nyla answered hesitantly. She never believed in the Church’s sayings after things with Father Francis and somehow, she felt that this was not the answer Liam was looking for.

* Let me guess, you learned that in the Sunday school teaching by the church of Lux?

Liam asked amusingly while Nyla blushed and nodded. Now she was sure that her answer was incorrect. Even though that was the basis of most religions when it came to demons. Liam touched his chain – his habit when thinking -- and cleared his throat.

* First of all, they are called daemons, not demons.

He started explaining.

* Daemons?

She asked confusingly.

* Yes, a huge misconception, initially created by the church of Lux. They are here to protect, and they won’t stop until everyone and everything that threatens them has been destroyed.

Liam continued with his explanation while walking to the other side of the room and pulling a chair to her bedside. As he sat down the door opened once more, and Alexander entered and leaned back at his wall as if nothing had happened. Liam nodded at him. Alexander caught a glimpse of Nyla looking at him and stole his glance.

* What are these… daemons are trying to protect?

Nyla decided to let bygones to be bygones. Alexander seemed to be the type who tended to blow fuse quickly and forget about it quickly as well.

* Well, they protect the seeds. The Church tells its followers that the daemons are the manifestation of their sins. This is somehow true. They are manifestations of the power of creatures we call seeds. Seeds are humans with some genetic condition. There are three types of seeds that we know of. Pario, Copia, and Debilis. Pario seeds are the most common ones. They were named Pario because they have an organ called a Pario that produces an enormous amount of power, but they are usually unable to control their power and go berserk. The thing is in most cases the seed’s pario remains inactivated throughout them. Only under very rare circumstances such as emotional trauma or very harsh situations, does their power get awakened and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Since they have no way of controlling their power, it manifests itself in the form of a daemon and because the seed just experienced something awful the only thought in its mind is to protect itself by removing any and all threats in the surrounding. And that’s how daemons come to be.

Liam stopped to see Nyla’s reaction to the new information. Understandably she seemed quite shocked. That was the face of their member when they learned the truth for the first time.

* How’s it that no one knows about this?

Nyla asked bewildered. This was all very confusing. Extraordinary people with amazing power causing mayhem and destruction and no one except ADA knew about it?

* If people knew about this…

Nyla yelled angrily. If people knew then maybe they could have protected themselves.

* It is not that we didn’t want to tell anyone. All personnel of ADA know about this, and the governments that work with us know of it too. But we all made the decision to not make this public. Can you imagine what would happen if people knew this?! They would start hunting down the Pario seed!

Liam responded a bit emotionally. He experienced firsthand how people reacted under such circumstances. During his first mission in one small village in Ewor, he made a mistake of telling people of the village of Pario seeds resulting in people killing an entire family including their young children with an unbased suspicion.

* You said that it is a genetic condition, does that mean that whole family get them?

Nyla asked curiously. She admitted that she was angry about being lied to but there was something in Liam’s voice that made her believe that this was not decision made out of haste.

* Not necessarily. Sometimes it skips multiple generation and sometimes it presents itself multiple times in one generation.

Liam explained trying to calm himself. The burning house of the that village family was still hunting his dreams.

* What happens to a seed when it…manifests? Does he or she survive?

Nyla asked awkwardly. The terminologies all felt foreign to her.

* No… They usually die after few hours to few days. Vis puts too much pressure on the body.

Liam explained.

* Is there anything you can do to save them?

Nyla asked empathetically.

* Not really…

Liam replied without any feeling. He lived in ADA for all his life. There had been countless research on possible ways to contain Pario seeds all ended in failure.

* But they are still human being…

Nyla asked with sadness.

* No, they are not!

Alexander said calmly. Nyla looked up in surprise. She had almost forgotten about his presence.

* As soon as they manifest their daemon, they are a killing machine. They don’t even look human after few hours.

Alexander continued explaining. His last remark made a memory spark back into Nyla’s head. Strange eyes with narrow pupils smiling at her.

* Billy…

She whispered nervously with a tinge of sadness. Alexander looked up at the mention of the name. He felt his stomach being squeezed. He knew what she was going to ask and dreaded answering her.

* Was he a… seed?

Nyla swallowed her saliva.

*

Liam answered knowing how the conversion would go from now. He glanced at Alexander who turned his head away when he noticed him staring in his direction.

* Did you know that he was one? Was that why you came to Pendle?

Nyla asked curiously. Now everything was starting to make more sense.

* Yes and no. That kid’s elder brother was a seed, so we were just monitoring him…

Liam explained to her how it took them a while to track Billy down. By then he was already in the orphanage and very difficult for them to take him out of the country due to restrictions. So, they decided to observe him for a while.

* Until we met you.

Liam continued.

* What do you mean?

Nyla was puzzled.

* My friend Alexander here has … special powers. He can transform his body and infiltrate any place that he wants…

Liam glanced toward Alexander’s direction who refused to meet his glance. Nyla looked at them confusingly. Based on what she learned today, she wouldn’t be surprised if they told her that there were humans that could fly but transformation?

* You remember a young cute black-haired boy named Luke?

Liam asked playfully. Nyla nodded in agreement.

* That was him.

Liam pointed to Alexander who blushed in embarrassment.

* No way! How is that possible…

Nyla stopped in shock and started to turn red.

* I took a bath with you! How could you…

She screamed remembering the first time she met Luke and how help him out to get cleaned up. Alexander started to blush remembering the event as well.

* Wait! So, you saw Lexy’s little wee-wee?

Liam started laughing. This was going to be his new source of entertainment.

* SHUT UP!

Alexander shouted at Liam and for the first time Nyla agreed with him. She locked eyes with Alexander, and both stole their glances as quickly as possible and blushed again. Liam couldn't help chuckling making Alexnader shoot another angry glance at him vowing to get revenge on him in the most awful way possible