September 1st 4070 - 1 AM
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!”
The woman screams, her feet brushing across the grassy floor as she skimmers away from the beast behind her. Its a beast-men, a man with the top half of a pig and the bottom half is of a minotaur and the arms of a human with long sharp horns with a swirling pattern. The beast-men dawns rags, with a massive stone battle axe forged from the mountain beside him. “It’s been a long time since I had myself a HUMAN WOMAN!!” He screams, the implications of the deranged monster being very clear.
The human wears rags as well, her brown hair is in a messy bun and she seems to be in her mid thirties. having been kidnapped by the beast-men 3 nights ago after her small village was raided by the horde. The woman trips over a massive tree branch in this massive rainforest. She falls as she also feels a sharp pain, realizing she got a splinter. The woman screams in agony as she attempts to crawl away from the monster the second her body hits the ground. She begins to cry, her body getting poked with prickly thorns and other plants but she refuses to give up, attempting to make her escape. The deranged beast-men laughs, walking toward the woman lifting his axe. “I’ll chop you into little pieces then eat you ALLLL up!” He laughs, as the woman's sobs begin to get louder. The death of her family flashes in her mind. “This… isn’t FAIR!!!” She thinks to herself as the axe swings down toward her.
CLINK!
The woman hears the sound but feels no pain, she looks up, as she sees a man in ragged clothing in a mask with a shining yellow blade. The yellow blade is in the way of the Axe, as he pushes it up and in that split second, slashes the Beast–men across his chest. He falls backward, “What the?!” The man in the rags doesn’t speak, rushing toward the beast while it's still off guard. The creature swings its Axe down but misses, as the man tears off its arm with one swing of his sword. “HUMANN!!!!” The beast wails in agony, pulling the Axe back down and going for a finishing blow. “DIE!!!”
The man lifts his sword hilt and his blade in both hands, the shiny dragon hilt gleams in the moonlight. In less then a second, as soon as he returns to blade to the hilt with a CLACK!, he appears behind the beast. The hand of the beast-men flies, blood spewing from it as it falls back into a bush of thorns, with the Axe still in its grasp. The beast growls in agony, and turns, but its head slips off as soon as it moves. The woman gaps in shock, unknowing how to respond to this as she looks at the figure in rags that just saved her.
Amidst the dim lighting between the trees that emanate from just the moon, the man in tattered rags moved with a haunting grace. His face concealed by a makeshift mask, the woman is petrified from the combination of the attack and seeing so much blood. She's horrified. She crawls back, scared of this person who seems like the grim reaper taking her soul. He walks carefully toward her, trying his best not to scare the traumatized woman.
The woman, her eyes reflecting the recent trauma, hesitates as the masked man extends a weathered hand. Uncertain, she shrinks back, but the man spoke with a voice soft as a whisper, "Don't fear. I'm here to help you." His words carried a strange reassurance, as if promising sanctuary from the shadows that haunted her. Reluctantly, she responds scared and unsure “o- ok..” The man picks her up in his arms, seeing the clear splinter in her foot and quickly rips a bit of his cape off. He pulls out the splinter and quickly wraps it around her wound. “I’ll deal with the others when we get back.” Their footsteps echoing through the empty forest, with nothing but rain hitting the leaves around them.
“Who are you…?” The woman asks reluctantly, looking up at the man's hollow mask which has cracks in it but is not fully broken. Patches of it seem to have been replaced with other stone like materials to consume his face/identity. “The Phantom.” He says she doesn’t seem to recognize the name but she stays silent. The 2 arrive at the Phantoms tent, it's decently large and seems cosey. As they enter the hollow tent, it is lit up by nothing by a small lantern. On the other side of the lantern, rests a girl with long black hair and red eyes. She seems tired, her hair is a mess with chunks of it near the bottom missing and wearing what used to be a wedding dress, but even that's hard to make out due to how disheveled it looks.
“Who's this?” The girl says, looking up at the Phantom and the girl in his arms. Her voice sounds tired and somewhat intrigued. “Some girl I found. She was being attacked by that group of beastmen we encountered earlier. The ones that invaded postwick town.” With a gentle gesture, the Phantom puts the woman down, offering her a worn blanket and a potion from inside of a small duffle bag. The woman shakes, grabbing the blanket and the potion offered by the man. The woman quickly sipped the potion, She felt the wounds on her body close up, as the thorns fell out. “This potion heals tiny wounds like that, you’ll be alright.” The black haired girl says with a smile. “Tell us what happened.”
Still trembling, the woman began to speak. “My family…” She begins to tear up, but tries to hold back her tears. “Our village… was invaded… I lost everything…” She can't help but cry, weeping into the blanket that she was just given. The girl with the long black hair sits next to her, patting her on her back and giving her a smile. “When we get to our destination, we’ll help you out as best as we can..” The girl says, making a promise even though she's not fully sure she can keep. The Phantom sighs under his breath, but doesn’t say much. He turns, walking out of the tent as the woman starts to cry in the black haired woman's arms.
In the confines of the tent, the woman found solace in the presence of her mysterious savior. The rags that enveloped him seemed to symbolize resilience to her, a testament to survival in the face of adversity. In a few minutes, the woman had cried herself to sleep. The black haired girl smiles “I’m glad you’re ok now…” She gets up, grabbing a book from the duffle bag and a makeshift pencil. She begins to write inside of a book with the label “Diary” on it.
“Dear Diary.”
“Today marks the 10th day I’ve been out with the Phantom ever since the wedding. Surviving has been hard but we’ve made decent progress.”
“Today Roy brought back a woman who was recently attacked in the village we were just at… I think I recognize her as the one who gave me the new clothes at her shop. I hate seeing things like this.”
“I just hope we meet up with Rika soon…”
- Eiko Alphonia (not sure of the time)
While the woman sleeps, the black haired girl quickly changes out of her ragged Wedding Dress, leaving the duffle bag as she quickly switches into some more simple clothing. This was clothing the 2 got back in a village previously before it was attacked by a group of Beastmen. It's a simple brown stitched up shirt, and small brown shorts. She sighs, dusting herself off and relenting “I need a bath…” The black haired girl walks out of the tent to look for the Phantom. “Roy!” She yells, but turns and sees him sitting up against a tree with his blade in hand. “Eiko.” He responds, looking up at the girl.
“You switched clothes…?” He ponders, to which Eiko quickly responds saying “I like to keep the clothes I sleep in clean. I’d prefer not to get this all muddy like the wedding dress.” Roy shrugs, looking toward her as it seems like she has another thing to say “How much longer will it be till we get to the location..?” Eiko says, taking a seat in the grass next to Roy.
He sighs, looking up at the sky “Not sure. Like I said, my communicator was destroyed in our fight last week so I really have no idea when we’re gonna make contact with her. We just have to keep moving.” Eiko looks a bit concerned, is this what she left her family for? She's starting to second guess this whole thing. Roy can tell it's getting to her, so he begins to talk again “I’m starting to recognize most of the surrounding location. So I’m sure we’ll get back soon. It's gonna be a little harder with that woman with us now.” “We can’t just leave her alone!” Eiko says, very adamant and loud about it.
“Yeah yeah that wasn’t my plan. We’ll take her to Rika and see what she can do with her.” “I see…. What's Rikas deal? She was open to taking me in so I think helping out this woman shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Rikas…. A strange one to say the least.” Roy relents, sighing just thinking about how childish the woman can act sometimes. “She's peculiar, You never know what she's thinking cuz she's always got some sort of positive look on her face. She's also very-”
Before Roy could finish what he wanted to say, a glowing light dawned beside the 2. Eiko gets up in shock but Roy rolls his eyes, “-Flashy.” He says. Through the glowing light, a door appears beside them and Roy stands up, He puts his mask back on and walks over toward the tend to grab the woman. “Come on Eiko. That's our que.” Eiko sprints up, running toward the tent. As the Phantom pulls the woman into his arms, lifting her up in her slumber, Eiko quickly takes out the pins of the tent. The magical pins that suppressed the tent from retracting are removed from the ground, and the tent quickly rolls up into a soft ball.
“I’ll never get used to that.” Eiko says, picking the ball up and tugging it along with her as they walk toward the door. “I hope she doesn’t wake up. Not many can see this.” Phantom sighs, relenting as his hand inches towards the glowing white door. Eiko stumbles, a bit scared of what could be behind the door so she quickly asks “What happens when we open it?! How do we know its actually Rika..?” “She’s done this before. Our goal was honestly to just survive in the forest till she found where our soul energy was.” After this statement, he opens the door. The door seems like a gateway to heaven, as extremely blinding bright light dawn from the opening.
The Alphonia falls back stunned, slipping and dropping the balled up tent and the magical pins that kept them down. Phantom walks forward, and Eiko quickly stands back onto her feet, picking up the pins and tent that she dropped. The 2 walk into the glowing light, their bodies become light as the 2 enter some sort of pocket dimension.
In this pocket dimension, the entrance opens to a vast expanse, the sky adorned with a mesmerizing galaxy. A singular set of stairs extends from the entrance, branching into an intricate network of staircases. Above and below, staircases diverge, creating a surreal three-dimensional labyrinth. Thousands of staircases stretch in every direction, each leading to distinct doors, forming a seemingly endless array of possibilities. The cosmic ambiance and infinite pathways evoke a sense of wonder and exploration.
“Woaaaah….” Eiko gasps, completely stunned by the cosmic gateway. All the stairs begin to confuse the girl however, who has no real idea where to go, or how this works. She makes a dumb expression, the scene frying her brain. “Which.. Direction do we go..?” “Any of the wrong doors are basically guaranteed death. Don’t go ANYWHERE.” Phantom quickly responds, which definitely visibly scares Eiko. “Me and Rika have a soul pact. She gave me the ability to figure out the exact door in exchange for my loyalty. That's how most sponsorships like that work.” Phantom lifts out his palm, pulling the unconscious woman close to his chest. His hand glows with a purple light, the staircases collapse, only leaving 1. “Follow me.” He says, putting his hand back around the woman to carry her.
Eiko straggles behind, watching her step. “What happens if I fall…?” “Not sure. Rika never told me.” This does NOT make Eiko feel any better, paying more attention where she steps and trying not to drop anything. The 2 make it up, the staircase leading to a beaten up wooden door. Phantom puts his hand on the door, and opens it. He walks in with Eiko virtually right behind him. The main entrance of the base seems to look like a living room. There's a couch, TV, a bar with a bunch of exotic drinks on the shelves, and a shiny white carpet covering the entire wooden floor. 3 hallways which seem to all head to different parts of the building.
Eiko walks beside the Phantom, taking in the scenery. There are photos on the walls, which seem to be of a young girl and another girl that seems around the same. There are baby photos on the wall of a young boy, and there is one large group photo. The photo consists of a picture of a Black haired girl with purple highlights, Eiko recognizes that girl as Rika, aka the one that was on the video call with Phantom. There's another girl with long black hair that has red eyes, which reminds her of herself, a young boy that seems to be the same one in the baby photo, with spiky red hair. The final 2 people in the Photo are a boy with blonde hair that seems to resemble Roy quite a lot, just with a different haircut and with his hand around the black haired girl. The last person is a tall guy, with curly wavy hair, with brown hair and brown eyes to match. He has a scar on his face from his chin, through his lips to the bottom of his nose.
Eiko wants to ask about the photo, but she decides to keep her question to herself and look around the base a bit more. Her eyes scan the walls and she finds a pinboard, on the pinboard sit 3 wanted posters. The one saw the Phantom, but in a more professional condition.
Half Soul Savior
Phantom
Wanted: Dead
Bounty: 300,000,000 Million Gold
Beside it though, rest 2 more wanted posted in a similar condition. These 2 people are people she has yet to actually see for herself, but they both wear similar clothes. The first person is wearing a cape similar to the phantom, the cape wraps around their body as they always dawn a metallic mask with golden eyes. The mask has a diamond pattern as the person also dawns metal gauntlets. The title of the photo reads
The Conqueror
Immortal
Wanted: Dead
Bounty: 450,000,000 Million Gold
The person in the second photo seems to be in a full suit of metal armor. The mask they wear is similar to the head of a dragon, with a massive blade on their back. The suit seems new, clearly being one that was made more recently. The title of that photo reads
Beast of the bloodmoon
Vortex
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Bounty: 200,000 Gold
Before Eiko wastes any more time looking through the photos on the walls, Phantom catches her attention. “Put the stuff down.” He says, as he walks over to the couch, playing the still unconscious women onto it. “You’ll be alright.” He puts the blanket that rests on the couch over the woman, giving her some more time to sleep. Eiko puts the tent and the pins down on a table right in front of the TV, she looks, checking to see what's on the screen. “This is a Television..?” “Yeah. I thought you royals would know about them… Since you’re rich and all.” “Mom and Dad never let us watch TV, they didn't want it to rot our brains or anything, that's what we were all taught at least.”
The Phantom sounds genuinely surprised after learning this information. “That's that royal shit I guess. TV doesn’t rot your brain unless you overindulge, You’ll be ok.” Eiko nods her head, a bit embarrassed that she's still thinking about her parents' teachings. From the hallway, the duo hear some noises. They hear the sound of a door closing, with footsteps following beside it.
“Yo!” The woman says, coming from the dark hallway. On her shoulder, rests a big creature. The creature is covered in red rags with a metallic mask, the mask looks like a japanese Oni Mask. The horns are bright and gold, and the mask has a black, red, and white color scheme. The woman has short black hair with purple highlights, she wears a tekken 8 shirt and walks into the living room with a more tired expression. “You two finally came to join us.”
Eiko recognizes the woman and says “You’re Rika… right?” Rika smiles, walking toward her and grabbing her hands with a smile. “Elinora right~? Welcome!” Eiko gets all shy, blushing and looking away saying “Just call me Eiko…” “Well it's nice to have you Eiko, Really! I’m Rika Mioko and this is Z!” She pats the head of the beast in the oni mask and its eyes move, showing a happy expression. “Z here is a robot with a human soul inside. So he can express emotions and he isn’t made just for our personal gain, he's his own person.” Z nods his head up and down. Eiko smiles at him, but she's a bit scared due to the mask on his face.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Rika sits down on the couch, but instantly sits back up when she realizes she sits on someone's leg. She turns around and looks down at the bruised and beaten up woman lying there. “Yikes. Unexpected guest…?” She says looking toward Roy, who takes his battered and beaten up mask off his face. “Yeah. She was attacked by a group of beastmen. I was wondering if we could take her to the shelter. I’ll do it myself if you’re too busy.” Rika scoffs “Today's my off day. You can take her to the shelter.”
Roy nods, picking up his mask and placing it back on his face. The Phantom enters the hallway to go grab some supplies, which gives Eiko the opportunity to ask Rika a question. “Shelters…?” “Yeah. We have a bunch of homeless shelters around the different kingdoms that we fund with the money we get from doing all these different missions.” Rika walks toward the bar, with Z hopping off her shoulder. Z’s red cloak opens a tiny bit, as a robotic tendril appears with 4 spiky fingers. It grabs the remote from the side table and begins to turn on the TV. Eiko follows behind Rika, taking a seat at one of the bar tables. “We get a job, we get that job done and we get paid for it. That's how we make business around here. Its illegal to take missions without being a royal knight cuz you’re taking money out of the pockets of people that are already at the top. Its a fucked up system.”
“Is that why you’re painted as villains….?” “Ding ding ding.” Rika laughs, taking a cup from the top shelf and putting some apple juice into it. “You’ve probably never drank before, so here's something simple.” She slides the cup across the table, “Thanks…” She says, lifting up the cup, and putting her pinky out before taking a sip. Rika chuckles, continuing with her talk saying “I’m happy I can do what I do for the innocent. The Royal Knights have destroyed a chunk of our shelters in this area and blamed it on bandits. Luckily
“We have branches in other areas but the less fortunate people in khourburg definitely need places to stay.” Eikos expression changes to one of shock as she says “The people of khourburg hate you guys… I’m surprised you care enough about them still… even after all the ridicule and backlash you guys face.” Eiko takes a sip of her drink, pretending like she didn't learn about this whole sponsor thing just now, and didn’t learn about the Phantom a week ago. “Eh. Not everyone needs to know about the deeds you do, as long as I still get the job done for the less fortunate, I'm happy. I don't need credit to validate my deeds.”
Rika takes a shot, slamming the glass back down on the table as she says “Seeing the face of those innocent people that we save and giving a place to say is all the validation I need.” She looks up “Like you, Eiko. I'm sure Roy feels the same way, he probably won't admit it so I dont tell him I said that~” Eiko blushes, gulping down her apple juice like It's a shot and then slamming the cup back onto the table. “Another one please!” She smiles and Rika laughs, turning to grab the jug of apple juice again.
The Phantom walks back into the main room, with a bag of supplies. “I’ll be taking her to the shelter. When I get back we can talk about the next mission.” Rika sighs “Dude. Take a SHOWER first. Relax. The girl can stay here for a few hours before you bring her to the shelter.” “Nah, It’s cool. I’d rather get it out of the way before having to explain all of this to her.” “Seriously. You can take a break whenever Roy-” “I’m serious. It's ok.”
The Phantom walks toward the woman, picking her up with the blanket wrapped around her. He carries the bag of his supplies around his shoulder, opening the front door and stepping out. This gives Eiko another question, she turns and looks back towards Rika and asks “Does that door always lead into that void thingy…?” “Nah.”
Rika stands up, signaling her to follow. The 2 begin to walk down the hallway. There's a bunch of doors with labels. Bathroom, Boys room, Girls room, Storage, Keep out, Office, ect.“That door is a gateway. I have a magic item that was made to keep our exact base safe. But we have a decoy building in a forest where the base ACTUALLY is.” Rika opens a door at the back of the hallway. The room is dusty and filled with a bunch of random items. “Unless I activate it or I say so, the door won't show the path.” Out of the room, she grabs one of those spinning chairs. “Found it! Come on Alphonia! Vaminos!” Eiko seems confused but follows, walking into the living room.
Eiko is confused, but she follows Rika as she puts the chair in the middle of the room. “Take a seat, Eiko.” The girl follows suit with the command, taking a seat in the dusty chair, though it is quite comfortable. “Z!” Rika calls out, the small oni-robot runs toward Rika. It grumbles excitedly, its eyes lighting up waiting for what she has to say. “BARBER MODE!!” Rika claps her hands, and at the sound of this, Scissors, make-up, hair-dye, a razor, and finally shampoo all extend from metallic arms underneath its cloak. It makes a robotic cooing sound. Eiko is terrified. She jumps up clutching her hair “What you DOING.” She says, falling back onto the floor as the others walk toward her.
“To fully join, you need to make a COUPLE of changes! Don't worry, you’ll look cute when we’re done!” Eiko gets up, a bit reluctant at first and taking a few steps back. “B- but… I love my hair…” “I get that, but what do you love more? Your hair, or the FREEDOM you’ll have not worrying about getting recognized in public?” Eiko sighs a bit, looking at her hair through Z’s mirror. “... Fine.” She says, taking a seat down in the chair as Rika and Z smile. “Don't worry, You’ll look like a BEAUTY!”
September 1st 4070 - 4 AM
The Phantom continues his walk through the dim forest, the moonlight gleaming as he takes his walk with the woman close toward him. He's walking through the same forest as before but in a different direction, heading toward where one of the bases are located, which is where him and Eiko were initially heading for in the first place before they were found. Her eyes open, looking up at her savior. She seems surprised, looking up at him. “W- Where are we… going..?” She says, stretching a bit, noticing the difference in the blanket she slept in compared to the one she fell asleep in. “I’m taking you to a homeless shelter. They’ll give you food, a place to sleep and protection in exchange for you doing miniscule things like household chores.” The woman's eyes turn to eyes of fear, pushing herself away from the Phantom and falling onto the ground.
“No…”
She yells. “I WON'T!!” She crawls back, away from the Phantom as he looks at her, his voice sounding confused as he says “Why…?” “I DIDN’T SUFFER THROUGH ALL OF THAT JUST TO LIVE LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED!!” She screamed, continuing to cry, looking down at the ground and slamming her hands into it. “I WON'T” The Phantom remains silent, looking down at the woman as she continues to scream. “I LOST EVERYONE..! I CAN'T..! I DON'T WANT TO KEEP GOING!!”
“So why did I save you.” The Phantom says, sounding less like a genuine question and more like a statement, his voice very serious. “I didn't want to die at the hands of the people who killed my family..” The woman relents “I planned on going out on my own terms when I got away…” She finally admits, counting to sob and weep on the floor. The Phantom doesn’t respond, the sound of her screaming and crying echoing through the entire forest.
“Stand up.” He says, looking down at the woman without reaching out to her, very cold and stern almost as if it was a command. “No..!” She yells back, continuing to cry and weep on the floor. “You need to stand up. Don’t let your past define your future. The people you loved wouldn’t want you to sit there moping. I sure don’t like seeing you give up. You don't want to die.” “YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS” She screams at the Phantom which shuts him up. “YOU DON'T KNOW IT FEELS TO LOSE EVERYONE YOU LOVE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.” After those words, the woman gets up, running deeper into the forest, not really knowing where she's going.
After a few minutes, the woman bumps into something. It begins to settle in exactly what she bumped into. The massive beastmen rises, turning toward her and walking closer and closer. Its way larger than the last few, and behind it, are 4 other beast-men following suit. She begins to recognize the main beastmen she bumped into… the same one that killed and ate her family. He laughs as she turns to try to run, instantly swinging her axe down and cleaving part of the ground, but barely missing. “WE FOUND THE BITCH THAT KILLED RODY!” He laughs, grabbing the woman with one hand.
“LET ME GO!!” She says, kicking the beast mens arm. It laughs at the pitiful attempt to harm her. “I’ll have some fun with ya” The beastmen laughs, lifting the woman up into the air and dangling her above his mouth. “I hated Rody, but that was still my guy. I’ll make SURE you pay for it.” The other beastmen laugh in the background, as the woman is slowly lowered toward the main one's jaw. “First I’ll take out your legs so ya can't run, make sure you sit in that little cellar alone and look at your loved ones as every day we’ll slowly take out MORE of ya. Sounds fun ain't that right boys?” The 2 beastmen behind him laugh, as the woman slowly gets lowered into his mouth.
She's inches away from her legs being inside the massive creature's mouth, his breath hot and musty. “NOOOOOOOO” She screams out, which makes all the beasts laugh at her misery. She begins to think to herself, her thoughts all over the place. “This is what I wanted right?! Death?! I should be happy?! But this doesn’t feel good AT ALL!!! What have I done…. What have I done… Lucas.. I'm sorry honey…. I let you and the kids down… I should’ve… taken his offer… I should have lived…. Please save me… I’m sorry..” The woman's tears drop from her face, falling down her body.
In the ethereal shadows, the Phantom materializes, a fleeting wraith with movements so swift that the air barely whispered its passage. As the moonlight dances upon its sleek, the mask and the Phantom's blade gleames with an ominous glow, its yellow color bursting out and gleaming in its wake. Signaling the impending onslaught. With a barely perceptible flicker, the Phantom vanishes as quick as he appeared, leaving only a trail of displaced air in its wake.
In the dim labyrinth where three formidable minotaurs laugh, their massive forms looming ominously while about to eat the woman, the Phantom's presence went unnoticed until the very moment his blade shimmered into existence. With a breathtaking burst of speed, the Phantom weaves through the air, a phantom streak of thunder slicing through the shadows, leaving afterimages that mocked the perception of the minotaurs.
The first minotaur, caught off guard, bellowed in surprise as the Phantom's blades danced with a mesmerizing precision, striking vital points with ruthless efficiency. Time itself seemed to slow as the Phantom executed a graceful ballet of death, effortlessly dodging the minotaur's lumbering attacks. In the blink of an eye, the first foe crumpled to the ground, defeated by an unseen force. The woman falling from its grasp, quickly grabbed by the Phantom in less than a second.
Undeterred, the Phantom seamlessly transitioned to its next target. With an otherworldly grace, it sidestepped a charging minotaur, leaving the creature bewildered as its massive horns collided with empty air. The Phantom retaliated in a blur of darkness, exploiting every vulnerability with a clinical precision that defied comprehension. The second minotaur fell, an imposing force reduced to a mere memory.
As the final minotaur roared in defiance, the Phantom's speed reached a crescendo. It became a living shadow, a flicker of malevolence too swift for the behemoth to comprehend. Blades blurred as the Phantom darted between the minotaur's colossal swings, leaving no room for retaliation. The dance of death reached its climax, and with a final, devastating strike, the last minotaur crumbled to the ground, defeated by an enigmatic force that existed and vanished in the blink of an eye. The Phantom had killed all 3 minotaurs in 3 seconds.
In the aftermath, the Phantom with the woman in his arms once again, an embodiment of relentless speed and lethal precision, leaving behind only a trail of defeated adversaries and the echoes of his true strength. The woman looks up at the Phantom, as he begins to speak
“I do know how it feels. That's why I want you to live.”
September 1st 4070 - 5:30 AM
The Phantom walks through the front door, making it back to the base after being out for about an hour and a half. He looks up, clearly fatigued but not expressing it whatsoever. Instantly, his attention is caught when he sees a chair with black hair surrounding it. He's a bit confused and worried, rushing towards the scene quite distraught. Z sits at the bar, spinning its head around in a circle, stopping when it notices Phantom. It makes an exasperated noise, seemingly happy to see him and reaching out 2 tentacles to hug him. He reciprocates, before asking “Wheres…. Eiko…?”
A lightbulb quite literally appears above Z’s head from the back of his cloak, as it uses one of its tentacles to point down the hallway. But right as it does, they hear the sound of a door opening. Phantom is a bit concerned looking down the hallway anticipating what's going to come out. For a second the air is dead and stiff, as food steps make their way toward the pair. Out comes a girl with short white hair with blue highlights that fade as it goes up, along with green eyes. She wears a black dress with a short gray shirt, the dress has open sleeves and has a black and blue color pattern. She also wears a black scarf around her neck, with a shy face.
“H- How do I look…. Roy..” She says, looking down at her hands blushing. For the Phantom, it finally clicks what just happened. He can't help but look away, feeling a bit awkward seeing Eiko in her new attire. “You look cute.” He says, feeling awkward but giving his genuine opinion on the outfit and new look. “I can see what you were going for. You’ll be a great assassin.” He sighs, looking back toward her attempting to hide his nervousness. “She’s pretty.” He thinks to himself.
Eiko can't help but blush even harder, as red as a tomato as she decides to look up and face him. “You look pretty cool too… Dude!” She says, throwing up a thumbs up. The 2 are BOTH confused by what Eiko just said, but they both burst out into laughter. Eiko wipes tears from her eyes as she looks at Phantom. “Seriously though… I’m… excited to work with you.” She builds confidence enough to say.
Rika appears from the bathroom, smiling and looking at the Phantom. “Glad ya like it! We spent the past 2 hours working on this look! I’m already getting used to it!” She slaps Eikos back, before walking over to the bar and taking a seat, pouring herself another drink and downing it in one go. “Alright!” She says, which signals for the others to take a seat. “This is Eikos first official Immortal Titans meeting!” Phantom and Z clap, Z clapping with 2 metal tendrils. Eiko gives a warm smile but thinks to herself “I did NOT know we had an actual name for this organization… but it makes sense honestly.”
“First order of business! What's your NAME Cadet?” She says, pointing toward Eiko. “....? Elanora Alphonia…?” She says, looking a bit confused toward Rika. “No. Like how Roys Assassin name is The Phantom. What are you gonna have the wanted posters call ya?” This makes Eiko ponder, she didn’t actually think about this whatsoever. So she looks around, on the shelf sits “Zero Sugar, Root Bear” and she turns and sees the brand on one of the blankets on the couch is “Finite Workshop”
“Zerofyne!” She says, quickly making up the name on the spot. The group goes silent, a bit confused by the choice of name. “You know what, I don't know WHAT that means but the name is cool. I’ll let it slide.” Eiko sighs, surprised she could actually get AWAY with that. “Next order of business.” Rika says, getting very serious when it comes to this topic, pulling out a laptop projector.
On the screen, it shows a dark skinned boy with twists. “This is Keen Odinson. The target that ROBBED me from the money we were supposed to get helping the Tritons migrate from Avolisa seas to here.” Eiko recognizes Keen, she begins to speak “Isn’t he from the Odinson Royal family…? They lost their majesty a few years ago if I remember correctly..” Rika nods, pointing at the projector. “This rascal here is the one that stole over 100,000 gold from me. Your mission is to go to the center of Khourburg, Kelbath, and get Keen. I want my money. Go IN and get OUT.”
“Simple enough.” The Phantom says, “Seems easy on paper. NORMALLY I’d have Flint and Aki go get him for me, but they’re still investigating in the Reptar Kingdom, So you 2 will have to work as my money collectors till they get back.” Eiko is interested in those 2, but decides to not ask too many questions on her first mission. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to stay back here and train..? She's new to this, and going to fight a Royal family isn’t an easy first mission.”
“You’re right. That's up to her, the mission was more for YOU Roy.” Eiko is a bit disappointed after hearing Roys words, she genuinely does want to get out in the field but she understands where he's coming from. “Its up to Eiko. Whatever she decides is what we’ll go for. She won't be recognized, but she definitely needs time to train.” Everyone looks toward Eiko, who clenches her fists while she thinks, pondering on what to do. “I’ll go.” She mutters, low but everyone still makes out what she said. Rika nods, “The best kind of training is in the field of battle they say!” “Nobody says that.” The Phantom replies, sighing but accepting her decision.
September 1st 4070 - 6 AM
The sun rises over Kelbath, and on the roof of one of the highest buildings sits a boy. The boy is dark skinned with twists, he is seen eating some small and freshly baked bread he just got from one of the shops that just opened. Boy is seen wearing a typical adventurer outfit, the outfit is leather, with a spiky silver shoulder plate and a weak stone sword on his back. The boy wears a cape and goggles, the cape blowing in the wind as he finishes his bread.
“New day! Let's see what it brings me.”
He stands up, stretching his arms and putting his goggles on his face.
“Time to reap the BENEFITS!”