Damien politely greeted people around him, his eyes never leaving the strange figure. As he got nearer, the person turned around. The person's white hair swirled softly as the two made eye contact. Damien frowned and closed in on the person. "Are you alright, sir?" The man pursed his lips and looked at the ground. Then Damien noticed the black and silver staff in the person's left hand. Why does it look familiar? Damien reached his hand out. "Are you—"

A loud cracking noise, followed by horrified voices, filled the air, and a shiver ran down his spine. He turned towards the sound. That growl... Henrietta! He turned his head to the limping person, but they had left. Alarmed, he looked around the hall and saw the brown fabric blending into the chaos and frenzy. Damien broke into a sprint and grabbed the person's shoulder. "Stop..." The man hissed and turned his face towards Damien, the green eyes glowing with pent-up rage and energy. Alarmed, Damien let go, but a green dust of magic materialised and took the form of a line. Before he could react, the magical dust hit him in the guts and knocked him over.

Groaning, he saw the person hurry away in the corner of his eye, and he tried to get on his feet. "Stop!" As the person escaped, he got hit, and an object fell from his side. Damien walked towards the person, but the crowd swallowed him. He turned his focus to the object on the ground and snatched it. It was a smooth black stone with a symbol carved on it. The symbol looked like 3 wind symbols attached. As he held it up, the symbol had a faint white glow.

In the distance, green magic pulsed, and he swore. Henrietta, I hope she is fine. He sprinted and weaved through the crowd. The centre cleared, and he saw a figure fall onto the ground with a heavy thud. The monster twitched and tried to get its footing. He chanted a spell underneath his breath, and the air swirled around him. The horrid creature got on its feet and roared while breaking into a full sprint. The air around Damien's hands materialised into an object, and he grabbed it. Jumping to the side, he narrowly escaped the monster, and the object in his hand fully transformed into a gun. He aimed at the monster and pulled the trigger.

A blue orb shot from the muzzle and hit the monster on the neck. It cried out in pain, but Damien shot at it again, causing it to fall. He held the gun down and turned to his right. Henrietta was there, pointing her staff at another monster.

Two in one night. He brought his gun up and pulled the trigger. The second monster fell onto the ground, and Damien ran to Henrietta. "Are you alright... Your mask!" He gasped as she glared at him. She used her staff to poke him in the chest. "Where were you?!" She yelled, and Damien turned towards the fallen monster. "There was a person. I had to..." A large shadow fell on them, and Henrietta turned, but she was too late. Damien shoved her aside, and a large creature lunged at them. Damien took aim, but the monster swatted the gun away and stretched its clawed fingers at Damien's forehead. Damien jumped backwards and ducked the attack.

BOOM!

With an eye blink, an object whizzed towards the monster and sunk into it's head. It let out a deafening screech before it fell to the ground. Damien turned and saw a group of armoured people enter the building. Great... He turned towards Henrietta, who was on the ground nearby.

"CBM has arrived! They will protect us." Someone cried out, and Damien helped Henrietta up. "Are you alright?" Henrietta nodded slowly and turned towards the incoming officers. "I guess this is where we leave." Henrietta's staff disintegrated away as she cast a spell. Damien's head felt light as she said the teleportation spell. They appeared in the front yard, and he placed one hand on his knee. "Don't do that again."

"Stop being a baby."

2 large vans were parked at the entrance; a black flag bearing the same sigil that was on Henrietta's hand laid limp by the side of one van.

Do not engage, the harsh order floated through her head, and Henrietta groaned as she rubbed her face. Damien stood upright and they began to walk towards the van. "You two! Get your smooth brains in the carriage, now!" The pair flinched as they turned to the person ordering them. He had a black cap on and was blowing away on his pipe.

Henrietta tugged on Damien's sleeve, and they both turned towards the carriage. An officer, who was running into the hall, paused and saluted. "Officer Damien and Officer Henrietta!" The officer hurried off, and Henrietta nudged Damien as they entered the carriage, "Hey… someone recognised us. Nice." Damien shrugged, and the man appeared at the entrance of the carriage.

His black cap was tilted on his head, and he held his pipe in one hand and a book in the other. If looks could kill, they would be six feet under. "You two..."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Inspector Bozzelli..." Henrietta started, but the older man cut her off. "You knuckleheads had one job! To not engage until the other unit arrived. Look at the mess you made!" He yelled, and Henrietta placed her hands on her chest. "Mess? This would have been worse if we hadn't engaged. It took you guys so long to get here!"

"You two are provisional officers. Provisional!" He yelled and glared at them both. "Your duty is—"

Henrietta huffed. "Our duty is not that important because you don't trust us with anything." Damien poked her side and gave her a silent warning. The inspector's face twisted with seeming fury. He pointed his finger at her.

"Your duty," the inspector continued, "is to observe and assist until someone more competent shows up. Not turn the entire area into a hazard zone!" He gestured out towards the building, which had been slightly damaged from their attacks. Henrietta opened her mouth to talk, but Damien placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke first. "Sir, with all due respect, we didn't have the luxury of time. That creatures were-"

The inspector held out his hand and shook his head. "I don't want excuses, Officer Damien!" The inspector jabbed a finger in his direction. "I have been hearing an awful lot of those recently. What I want is actions backing your words!"

Damien sat up straighter. "Understood, sir." Henrietta looked away while crossing her arms. The inspector stared and nodded his head at Damien's compliance, then pointed to Henrietta. "You could learn a thing or two from him." Henrietta still looked away.

Inspector Bozzelli paused for a moment before turning back to them, his voice dropping to a low tone. "The Council will not tolerate another mistake like this. If I so much as hear of you two stepping out of line again..." He let the threat hang in the air before continuing, "A meeting would be held later tonight, and a report would be needed on today's outing. You two had better have a good report prepared." With that, he placed the pipe back in his mouth while walking away. "Take them to the headquarters." They heard him say to the driver, and shortly after, the carriage began to move.

Henrietta huffed and slumped into her seat, her arms crossed. "I am telling you, that man loves ruining my day. Always picking on me... Tch. And you!" She sat up straight and pointed her finger at Damien. Damien, who rested his head on his hands, turned sharply to her. "Me? What did I do?" He asked, eyes narrowed. Henrietta shoved her finger closer to his face, causing him to back up.

"You left me back then! Who does that, especially to his date!?" She said, and Damien grabbed her hand gently and put it down. "Date? I didn't mean to."

"But you did!"

"I'm sorry, okay." Henrietta broke free and turned away. Damien raked his hands through his hair and looked through the window. The carriage moved and rocked as the silence fell. "Don't do that again," Henrietta said in a small voice and turned to him. Damien looked at her and let out a long sigh. "Yeah..."

"I mean it. I'll make you regret it." She said with a little smile, and Damien's eyebrows knitted together; he was caught off guard. Chuckling, he shrugged. "Alright then... Speaking of that, I reached the person." He said and reached into his inner pocket. He brought out the smooth stone and held it out for Henrietta to see.

"Whoa, what's that?" She asked, and Damien hesitated before putting it down. "I don't know. It fell as he was trying to leave." His fingers rubbed the symbol carved on it. Henrietta made a little noise and leaned closer, squinting at the stone. "That symbol looks familiar."

"That's what I thought."

"It looks cool. Or dangerous. Probably both." Henrietta said.

"Hmm," Damien muttered and put it in his inner pocket. "I wonder what it is..."

Henrietta smiled and cocked her head to the side. "And that is why we have Madame Salome." Damien scoffed as he recognised the alias of one of their colleagues. "Like she would want anything to do with this." Henrietta shrugged and leaned back on the chair. "Would you rather give it to the investigation unit? They would want to know why you ran after an unlikely suspect while on duty. And how you got it."

"Good point." Damien said, and Henrietta leaned towards him, "So, what's the plan? Smart boy? Do you seriously want the council and that annoying inspector down our throats every time? Treating us like babies..." She scowled and crossed her fingers.

Damien's eyes narrowed. "...We could speak to Madame Salome about this. Don't give me that smug look. Maybe then we figure out who that man was, why he had this," he patted his pocket.

"And check in on Miss Aurora. She disappeared in the attack. Strange." Henrietta said, and Damien turned to her. "She did?"

"Yeah."

"Interesting. Yeah, we can ask for a welfare check on her."

Henrietta gave him a sideways glance, her smirk returning. "Now you're talking." Damien smiled, and the two sat back in the carriage.

Three attacks in one night? That is too unusual. Something feels off. Henrietta looked out of the window. The night sky was dotted with stars and the moon shone bright tonight. The night was silent and calm, unlike her troubled mind.