“Oh hey, you finally showed up,” said the gray-haired woman as she pushed up her round-rimmed glasses; she was taking a casual smoke in the hallway. The stationed guards had their faces tightened signaling their displeasure. Evidently, this was against the rules but not like they could do anything.
She was Initiate, an A-Rank teleporter in Angels. During Operation Scorcher, she helped Alexander in evacuating casualties from the battlefield at the tail-end of it; sporadically throughout the week, she lent her services to the Baptists on many occasions but mainly assisting Sage with whatever she needed. She was an honorary member of the team but nobody talked to her much.
A background player. Unseen but important like so many others. Oil to the engine.
Althea and Vernon had messaged Firebrand that they were coming down, and since Initiate was also here on mail-duty, they got into contact with her.
“Sorry about the wait,” Althea replied with triple the fondness compared to the Hugos. In the few words she exchanged with the teleporter, Initiate was gathered to be outstandingly nonchalant, cool about things even when the building was coming down around her. Her stoicism was something to admire. Completely unlike the high-class self-built family before: critical, oftentimes ignorant, more self-absorbed than a wet towel.
Her least favorite was Rose and the previous conversation solidified that fact.
But this was no time to dwell on these grievances because they had someone very special to meet.
Initiate raised her cigarette an inch to celebrate their meeting, spreading a smoke of discontentment among the guards and a passing man in a suit scowled, muttering something about Slayers under his breath. “Remind me: what brings you down here?” she asked before setting her clear eyes on Vernon who had a permanent scowl. Her head tilted to the side curiously. “Family?”
“Family,” answered Althea in his place, making it clear by her tone and body language that he was the victim of a poor reunion. Or in her opinion, they were the victims, of stupid people.
“My condolences.” She snuffed the orange bud of hers and tossed it into the nearby bin, giving a mocking hand gesture to the annoyed guards. “The Angel of Angels is at the back. Let me escort you. No offense but since you two are kids, you’ll probably be stopped and harassed by self-important asses.”
The guards shifted in offense but she didn’t care in the slightest.
They followed Initiate to Ariella’s room. Because she was the daughter of two of the most important Slayers alive, there were understandably a lot of security measures that the young Baptists couldn’t pass by themselves no matter their connections or clout. However utilizing Initiate's straight personality, they passed through the persistent security checks with ease, with her humorously stating this was official business of the Baptists. Important to the security of the good world.
She wasn’t wrong. Ensuring Ariella’s health is for the world’s benefit knowing who her parents are. Between the stops, Althea had a chance to observe the interior aesthetic of the level. It was of the many residency floors in Primordial Zero, located in the bottom-half of the complex. As nimble as her eyes were, she saw little difference between here and a five-star hotel. Both had dream-like long hallways plastered in elaborate two-color wallpaper. Most of the doors were closed shut, electronically locked, but occasionally a cleaning lady had a door propped, her cart pressed against the walls.
Absent of vivid life. The perfect setting for a horror movie. So yes, little difference.
Other than the fact that only one of them was locked down like a bank vault.
When they finally arrived, Ariella’s room was square at the end of the hall with two armed guards standing on the left and right. Serious looking guys, still like abandoned furniture and had an expression you’d find in old portraits.
They recognized Initiate, and the bald man on the left asked her a few questions while eyeing Althea and Vernon suspiciously—like they were terrorists or something. Initiate’s answers were sharp and eventually with enough persuasion and verbal brute force, they gave way, opening the door together.
Inside was pretty much an average five-star hotel room but much too large for one five-year-old girl. It’d been recently cleaned judging from the sanitary smell—a better scent than the hordes of food on the levels above. So delicious that it was nauseous. Everything was cleaned and tidied except for the beds, where the blankets and sheets had seen recent use.
The TV was on, playing a kid’s cartoon. Must not be a live broadcast, maybe a streaming service; otherwise there’d be red bars on the top and bottom detailing the outbreak’s progress.
Behind a short wall partitioning the living room and the beds, a familiar proud voice echoed across the lavish space but it didn’t have his trademarked volume that Ordo knew him by: he was gentle, soft and empathetic, reminding Althea of embarrassing times when Alexander had to comfort her.
Firebrand spoke exactly like him during those moments, and immediately the Flameking was seen in a different light.
Althea held up a finger to her lips and whispered, “Let’s not overwhelm her with a lot of company at once.”
“I’ll hang back,” Initiate said, motioning to her mouth. “Cigarette smell.”
“Alright. You should introduce yourself first,” urged Vernon, his voice just as soft. A long walk was enough to return the ugly color to his skin and his grudges weren’t obvious in his eyes anymore. An inkling remained but hopefully Ariella wouldn’t notice—kids were more perceptive than most thought, though.
“Wish me luck.” Taking quiet steps, Althea approached the short wall and gently rapped her knuckles against the hard plaster. Leaning over the corner she saw the most heartwarming sight: sitting on the bed closest to the wall were Firebrand and a small five-year-old girl wearing pajamas. A strange metal bracelet was around her left wrist.
Although Althea never met Kosmos himself—or to be specific, the man underneath the armor, Nathan Hyun-Creed—his daughter had to be an exact clone. He’d given her many things: his vibrant golden-brown hair which sat comfortably on her shoulders, recently brushed, and his jewel-green eyes that popped out almost as much as her smile. And that was his too.
She was her father’s daughter and the most cherished member of Angels Guild.
The Angel of Angels, Ariella Hyun-Creed, the only girl who could command two of the strongest Slayers in the entire world.
“Hi.” Standing awkwardly at the foot of the bed, she had no idea how to greet the daughter of the king and queen of the Slayers. So the best she could muster was that meager greeting and a stiff wave.
“Hi!” But Ariella had the biggest wave, using all of her strength to shake that little hand of hers, and Althea considered that to be a compliment.
Firebrand raised his hand to greet his ally. “Heya. So Ari, she’s the one I was talking ‘bout earlier. The sister of the [Silver-Eyed Demon]—” You didn’t tell her about the Apoc thing, right? “—and the wielder of the [Sovereign Spirit Beast Physique]: Althea Shen.”
“Mhm, I remember, you don’t hafta remind me!” Ariella exclaimed with an indignant huff, playfully crossing her arms. The ‘anger’ dropped almost instantly and she gave the awkward Baptist a warm smile. How many things did she inherit from her father? “Hi Althea! You’re so pretty!”
“Me? Pretty? Of course I am but…” Her words ended with an amused chuckle as she looked down at herself. “Look at me. I’m not exactly the pristine image of a princess.”
“That doesn’t matter!” Ariella hopped on the bed. “All princesses are pretty with or without dirt!”
“Huh.” Althea turned to Firebrand. “I didn’t realize we had another genius in the house. She might be wiser than me.”
The Angel giggled and held her hands close to her chest. “My brain’s as big as my heart!”
“That it is. That it is…” Althea motioned for Vernon to come in.
He wobbled into view, doing his best to mind the space but even then he knocked his ass into a table, nearly tipping over a half-empty water bottle. An apology stammered out of him as sloppily as his grace, but Ariella had nothing but laughs and smiles—living up to her title as the Angel of Angels.
Introducing Vernon was hilariously awkward, as with most things with this dork, but Ariella paid no mind and became instant friends. Once she had gotten comfortable with the two Baptists, Initiate joined. Soon lively chatter revitalized the room, with the Angel leading the conversation as a master orator like her mother.
Ariella had collected dozens of stories about her parents and the deep dark secrets hiding in Angels Guild. She regaled the Slayers using bombastic wording and great exaggerations. Definitely she got some of the details twisted but Althea made sure to react at every emphasis, gasping whenever there was a twist. And Firebrand only added to her energy: matching her imagination with his absurdity.
Eventually the stories settled onto Kosmos—better known as the father, Nathan—and Ariella had tons of fun anecdotes about him. Things that Althea would’ve never expected from the world’s greatest Slayer. Apparently, he dressed up as a marshmallow for Halloween because she was really into marshmallows during the time.
So Kosmos and Nathan are two very different men, huh? I guess I sorta figured. At that prestige, you needed to craft a well-maintained image of the strongest Slayer.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“…And I poked at all the bad guys and put lots of holes in ‘em!” recounted Ariella as she pretended to stab imaginary training dummies. She’d begged Nathan for spear-training. So he had given her a pointy stick and told her to have fun. At least that was what Firebrand told everyone but Althea suspected there were more to the story. It's no surprise that she wanted to emulate her father. I mean, Alex was reluctant at first, but he took up martial arts because of Dad. Now look at him: a secret prodigy and a future EX-Rank Holder.
Ariella was about to continue but then her eyes lit up and she exclaimed “Wait a second!” and hopped off the bed. She scurried to a shelf with lots of thin books, pulling one out. On the colorful cover were depictions of stereotypical Slayers with tons of sticker-like weapons surrounding them.
“Hey Vernon!” Ariella approached him. “Y’know lots about spears, right? I got a few questions…” Her voice trailed as she opened the book.
Dread briefly overtook his expression before he gulped and nodded, looking over his shoulder to mouth a pitiful “Help!” to the others. But unfortunately he was roped into an in-depth discussion about the history of spear-making in recent history and the various technological innovations in weaponry systems as a whole.
Firebrand laughed which turned into a long sigh as he listened to Ariella ask silly questions to the ‘expert’ in the room.
The wholesome sight was worth smiling for. Vernon, especially, needed this.
To Firebrand and Initiate, Althea said, “If Prim-Zero is good for one thing then it’s keepin’ people oblivious. Ari doesn’t seem bothered at all.”
But when saying that, despondence creeped into Firebrand’s eyes and extinguished the flames in them.
“Flameking, you alright?”
He shook his head. He definitely wasn't alright. “Ari’s way smarter than she looks. Y’know what her nanny told me?”
“No, I don’t.” Ariella had a trusted caretaker watching over her; right now, she was on a mandated (forced) break courtesy of the high-ranker here.
“She’s been depressed,” he said quietly. “She looks okay and sounds okay, but deep down she’s hurtin’ like the rest of us. But she’s not complaining ‘bout a thing.”
Initiate licked her lips, pensive. “I thought that might be the case. The Disaster, it’s a lot for a five-year-old girl to endure and compartmentalize. First was your death, hotshot.” His body went stiff. “Then, what’s next? Being stuck here as her parents are off risking their lives and she can’t say more than ten words to them everyday. If she’s that lucky. I’d say the Angel understands just how bad the situation is and she’s doing whatever she can to ignore it.”
She has more maturity than people at my age. Hell, adults even. “Did Seraph talk to her recently?”
Firebrand weakly shrugged. “I’ve been keepin’ count. Last time was yesterday for not even five minutes. Seraph hasn’t spent more than an hour with Ari since the beginning. Me and Chie, we try to make time but Chie’s only gotten busier. And y’know me already, I do my best but I dunno if I’m gonna see or talk to her again after this.”
“And she hasn’t spoken to her dad at all.” Because Kosmos was outside the city, unreachable.
Firebrand whispered a curse. “Y-Yeah… She really loves him, y’know. She lives off his attention and it's not like this hasn't happened before. The king and queen went on extended missions before, but everyone knows this is different. And it's too muchfor her. Before our visit, Ari didn’t wanna eat. She didn’t wanna watch TV or play any games, she didn’t wanna talk."
Initiate asked, "Did the nanny tell you that?"
“Yeah," Firebrand replied hastily before repeating himself, rubbing his nose. "Yeah, we haven't told Seraph this. She’s gonna ask—we know she's gonna ask—but what the hell can we say to her? What can we say?”
Althea couldn't give him a satisfying answer. If Kosmos had been crafted by Nathan, then Seraph was, too, crafted by Sera. Her leadership possessed a quality reassurance you’d find little elsewhere. But Slayers were still human at the end of the day. You could wear a costume for life but there was still skin underneath those clothes. If Seraph heard about her daughter’s state, then surely her command will suffer as a result.
Because no self-respecting parent could ignore their child’s pain.
How did Kosmos feel throughout the Disaster? For nine days he'd been completely separated from his wife and daughter. Like what Firebrand said, this family was probably used to long separations expected from the nature of their work, but this was beyond anything they had experienced before.
Could they bear the weight of this information alongside the weight of the world?
Not even Initiate had an answer for Firebrand, and he took the women’s silence as a sign of how shitty this was.
And as if on cue, the three of them were alerted to a new message in the System. It was Sage. They wanted everyone back top-side for a new development in Catalyst’s research. Must be something important if she needed the team to be there in-person. As important as the new findings were, it meant they had to say goodbye to Ariella.
There was a terrible look of pain on Firebrand’s face, worse than anything he had felt before, even death. Vernon had received the same message and was looking at them as Ariella was reading, his lips pressed inwards in a tense line.
Firebrand patted his shoulder and took his place, kneeling down.
Ariella spotted his shadow on the colorful pages and looked up, opening her mouth to ramble about its contents but her enthusiasm died when she saw his anguished eyes. “Are…” she squeaked, “...are you leaving?”
It’d taken a slow heartbeat for him to answer, “Yeah. We gotta go. We’ll stay ‘til Miss O'Donnell comes back but—”
“Do you hafta leave again…?” Ariella’s fingers clenched over the hard pages, nails scratching the surface. “Why can’t you stay?”
“‘Cuz we gotta protect you.” Firebrand reached over and gently rested a hand on her head but she batted him away. “Hey, Ari—”
Ariella slammed the book shut like a thunderclap and held it tightly against her chest, hugging it like a teddy bear. The sound startled everyone. Her front teeth dug into the upper edge. She was deathly quiet, unable to tear her eyes away from the carpet. Slowly, like twisting a faucet, a shivering sheen covered her precious jewel-green eyes before it broke. She quietly sobbed, alone.
“Ari—” Firebrand reached out but she stammered a jagged “Go away!” and spun around, turned her back to him and continued to cry. She wanted to kick and scream but this was as far as she allowed herself to do.
Althea couldn’t help but spot a piece of herself inside the Angel. When she isolated herself from everyone after Hangzhou.
Firebrand gave Ariella what she had wanted then: someone who said nothing but gave the comfort of their arms and their warmth and their unconditional love. There, the Angel’s sobs were freed and through her fractured voice, she begged Firebrand to stay. And although she didn’t say the words, she desperately didn’t want him to die and leave her forever, just like he had for just a short time.
He didn’t say anything but allowed Ariella this grief, letting her cry and talk as much as she wanted.
As long as she wanted.
Althea wiped a couple tears from her eyes and glanced between Initiate and Vernon. “Let’s wait outside,” she said, “and give them some room.”
They silently agreed and left where they came.
~~~
Two more Cosmic Beasts remained. Asmodeus and Beleth lived still. They were nearing the home stretch but the last two Beasts were powerful. Stronger than the estimates anticipated. It was poetic, something you’d find in a video game: the toughest obstacle was always placed at the end.
But knowing they were at the home-stretch, Ordo would be freed from its hell within a couple days.
Nathan had to give his all, then, so he could break the shackles put together by the Kreutz Sungrazers and welcome the sun after its long-standing absence in this starbound night.
So he could finally see Sera and Ariella again. Kashan, Chie, Aiden. And finally he’ll meet Alexander, properly introducing himself, so they could finally begin the work he’d been dying to complete for years now.
But work would come after seeing his wife and daughter.
Nathan was alone, isolating himself at the back of Busan Naval Base where he knew no one would bother him here. His helmet was off, settled by the wall he was leaning against, as he took a peaceful few minutes for himself. He tried to mediate but he was awful at it; he forgot Kashan’s instructions completely.
Footsteps caught his attention. So much for meditation, so much for finding peace. Thundering from the right hallway, echoing, Nathan reached for his helmet before tuning his ears to the steps’ rhythm. He recognized them and pulled his hand back, allowed himself to relax, as he watched the figure’s shadow growing.
Normally it’d be a small issue for someone to catch Kosmos without his helmet—he put thousands of hours maintaining the image of the immortal SSS-Rank Slayer, and it was mightily important to keep the mask from cracking. Not out of his own privacy—although he loved that—it meant respect and authority.
But Gabriel was one of the few close to both Kosmos and Nathan Hyun-Creed.
Gabriel appeared around the corner and had an irritated groan seeing his good friend squatting in the middle of nowhere. “There you are. Turn on your location-tracking for God’s sake. It took way too long for me to find you.”
Nathan shrugged and kicked his helmet into his hands like a soccer ball. As he wiped dirt off, he said, “You could’ve messaged—”
“I did, and you didn’t respond.”
He didn’t need to check his notifications to know that was true. “Sorry,” was muttered quietly as the helmet slipped onto his head. While adjusting his headpiece he followed Gabriel briskly, listening to what he had to say. Another tiring strategic discussion as always, with small dabbles of details about the outside world. The world where they regularly saw the sun.
The next target seemed to be Beleth, as Gabriel said, and an action plan was being created.
Once the helmet was secure, the intelligence rushed through his mind as fast as a torrential river. He analyzed every iota and broke every sentence down into bytes. He realized he’d been speaking rapidly to Gabriel, allowing his thoughts to flow unfettered from his mouth. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this subconsciously but it had always startled him.
Gabriel added his latest point (what was his latest point again?), “This is why you need to read your notifications because I sent you the most recent update on Beleth—”
[Companion Alert Bracelet]
An emergency alert has been manually activated from [Ariella’s Bracelet] at 11:56AM.
Nathan stopped. Messages in and out from Ordo were staggered even using the System.
But it was just after twelve right now. So soon?
“Nathan?” Gabriel distantly called to him. He’d taken a good amount of steps before he realized Kosmos wasn’t following him anymore, that he was standing paralyzed as though the man inside was dead. “Hey, what’s going on?”
Inside the [Compound Myth Armor] was a pale man soaked with sweat. The fear was physically hurting him. When was the last time he'd felt so afraid? Not since he was a young sickly man, before Kosmos was born. When he was still Nathan Hyun, bedridden and trapped inside his own failing body—and Death was always around the corner. A bitter reminder of that he was still human.
Human and mortal and insignificant.
Because his daughter was inside the city, and he was outside its walls.
Gabriel was notified and turned to the side, reading the absurd amount of messages. Now he understood.
“Something happened,” Nathan told him, voice shaking. “Primordial Zero is under attack.”
“No, the entire fucking city is.”