Her footsteps splashed against the wet ground as she ran for her life. People watched as a bloodied nun ran in a panic through the city streets, some even trying to stop her out of concern. Yet, she bolted past their grasp. Gathering a large amount of holy Rysen into her palms, she slammed them against her chest. "Chuwsh!" As the holy Rysen formed beneath her feet, her movements accelerated with elegance. "God, please save me from this ordeal!" She prayed with her hands clasped, hoping for her prayers to be met.
Her adrenaline was in overdrive. The rooftop movement, however slight, caught her attention. Eyes fixed on the buildings, she saw shadows darting through the heavy rain, barely visible except in the streetlight glow. Reaching the Eleanor Bridge, she collapsed in exhaustion. The waves underneath the bridge sloshed in an aggressive motion as the rainstorm grew with more rage by the second. Stepping closer to the nun were two figures clad in black and red coats. A black mask covered their face, illuminating a red light as their goggles shined in the intense rainstorm. The nun let out tears, drowned by the pouring rain over her drenched body. "I-I've heard about you guys... those uniforms, you must be from Eiden." Her voice sounded defeated, almost as if she gave no more thought to thinking about her words. The two Eiden soldiers loomed over her menacingly, as if they were a wall that blocked her path.
Closing her eyes for one more prayer, she begged for a miracle, an angel to appear from the heavens to save her. She prayed and prayed, but in the pouring rain, she only heard the sound of boots approaching. All hopes were lost moments prior, but something emerged that lit the flames of determination up.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It was a voice, that of a girl. Looking back at the source of the noise, she saw it. A vision, one of an angel descending from the heavens. Her beauty, her grace—it was something that no one could compare to. Soaring in her direction, the unknown angel crashed into one of the Eiden soldiers, making them fall into the river under the bridge.
Then, an unknown person runs forward, wearing a white mask that covers his face and wielding a frying pan. He spoke out loud, sounding to be around the age of a teenage boy. "Oh, god, Mina, I am so sorry! I tossed you way too hard!" he apologized profusely, picking up the angel sent from the heavens within his arms. Brushing his hand against her hair, he checked for any bruises on her forehead. The nun looked at Mina in awe. Mina's face was in disarray, yet a hint of satisfaction appeared as the boy gently comforted her. The nun's face brightened up. "So the angel that God had blessed me with is named Mina!"
The nun crawled toward both of them. "Please, I beg you both, save me from this predicament!" she pleaded, bowing her head down. As the remaining Eiden soldier watched, he attempted to pull out a flintlock from his waist. Yet, he was abruptly cut off by the boy's frying pan that slammed into his face, leaving a trail of blood as he fell into the river as well. "H-Harold, my head hurts..." Mina whimpered.
Harold gently stroked Mina's head before looking toward the nun. "Hey, are you alright over there?" he asked.
The nun pointed at herself in confusion.
"Yeah, you. Are you okay?"
Her lips quivered, but she managed to push her message through. "No..."
Harold stood up and took off his mask. He held a youthful face but a daring glare. Yet in the nun's eyes, she could sense he had the warmest soul of all that she met. "My name is Harold, and this is my friend Mina."
"My name is Yue..." the nun replied, pressing her hand against the cold stone floor.
"Then, Yue, please answer me. You're from the church, am I correct?"
"Y-Yes..."
"What happened there?"
"I don't know... when I came back with bread for the sisters, the church had blown up right in front of me. That's when I somehow accidentally eavesdropped on two people, and now I am on the run!"
Gently grasping Mina's hand to help her up, he motioned his hand to tell Yue to follow along. Water splashed around them as their feet skipped in the puddles below. Distant howls of the wind brewed heavily as their distance prolonged down the street. "I'm going to bring you to a bar; that's the safest place I can think of!"
Blitzing speed, steel body, loud engine, and steam coming out of the back pipes, breezing past the rain came a car coming straight toward them. In the driver's seat was what seemed to be your average street thug to Harold, with dirty clothing and a rough appearance. Mina, seeing this, summoned out her Artifact, Ruin, and tossed it at the car. The Artifact's small, dagger-like appearance seemed no match for a vehicle such as a buggy, yet once it penetrated the interior, Mina activated the ability of Ruin, causing a large surge of hellfire to break loose inside the engine. The driver steered off-course in a panic, driving straight into a building to the side of the road before the car caused a massive explosion.
The three of them were speechless. Watching the building crumble in front of them as flames consumed it whole.
"That was very impressive, Mina. Good job." Harold said, clapping.
Abruptly, someone's voice echoed in a nearby alleyway. "You scoundrels, I won't let you have your way!" He roars. The three of them, rushing to the source, encountered Ryan, who was fighting off a mob of supposed thugs. "Ryan?!" Harold exclaimed in confusion. Ryan was bloody and tattered, limping with one arm that was previously wounded. Seeing Harold so suddenly had brightened his face, as if a blessing had arrived. Upon being called on, Ryan straightened out his posture before declaring in a deeper tone than usual, "Ryan? That is nonsense! I am the vigilante hero, Bryan!"
The awkward silence ate away at Ryan, who profusely sweated underneath his mask. "That's seriously his vigilante name?" Harold thought, looking at a total numb nut. Before Harold could say anything, he blocked a sudden dagger aimed at his neck with his frying pan, flat side down. "Alright then."
Taking his frying pan, he promptly smashed it against his attacker's face, making him fall unconscious. Watching three more charge at him, he takes them out in a single swoop of his frying pan, making a loud metal clang echo in the sky. Panic ensued as Harold rushed into the crowd to protect Ryan with his frying pan. Mina, on the other hand, barely moved, stuttering in her indecisiveness. In the heat of the moment, the sounds of struggle filled her mind, and the hostility soon approached her. The accumulated stress cluttered her mind before her eyes began to glow red. Calling out Sorrow, she began to stab random victims who stood nearby. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She gleefully screamed as she began to mercilessly stab their enemies who tried to flee. "Mina, your eyes are glowing red again! Don't tell me you've gone crazy again!"
Standing still, she nonchalantly pierced Sorrow right behind her head, stabbing someone who tried to sneak attack her from behind. Activating Sorrow's acid ability, she melted the insides of her attacker, ignoring the cries of pain he produced as his internal organs and bones melted away. Continuing to pour more Rysen into her attack, she waited till he finally turned into mush before stopping. "Now, where is my beloved?" Darting her eyes into the crowd, she could see Harold and Ryan being overwhelmed by the numbers. "Honey!"
"Tsk." Harold hid his frying pan in his coat. "I was trying to conserve my Rysen, but it seems I'm going to have to summon out my Artifact for this!" Readying to bring out Grand Radiance, Mina leapt into the crowd and began slashing away at everyone. Burning them and corroding them with her two Artifacts, the numbers dwindled at an incredible rate. What surprised Harold was not that Mina was easily wiping them all out, but that she was grinning as she did.
The remnants of the attackers fled, and Mina tried to pursue, but Harold grabbed Mina by her shoulder. "Mina, don't chase after them! We need to find shelter." She jerked toward him, still covered in a tremendous amount of blood. "Okay, dear." Mina told him, leaning into his body.
He lets out a tiny blush at the word. "D-Dear?" Quickly brushing off what she said, Harold turned to Ryan. "Alrighty, let's get both you and Yue to a safe place!" As the group began to scurry off into the streets of Argon City, Yue ran in silence, only focusing on Mina from the corner of her eye. "No way... is she?" Mina, turning her gaze to Yue, gave her a dumbfounded stare. "Yue, what's wrong?" Staring at Mina's eyes close, they didn't have the red glow as before. "Nothing." she answered with discomfort. "I shouldn't be questioning her race right now... it's not the right time to."
Stopping at another alleyway in the city, Harold took out a key. Mina recognized this place. This was the same bar Harold had taken her to after they trained for the admission exams. Opening the door, they come rushing in, scaring the lady within. It was an older lady with dark skin. She wore an apron that said "Best Mom!" and was in the middle of cleaning a cup. "Miss Jasmine, I need your help!" Harold cried.
His sudden appearance scared her and caused her to drop the cup she was holding, making shards scatter on the ground. "Harold! What did I say about using the back entrance?! Come in through the front like a normal person!" Her demeanor dramatically shifted, seeing the group in a distressing state. Especially Ryan, who looks to be on the verge of passing out. "Go place him on that sofa over there by the TV."
As Harold helped Ryan lie down on the sofa, Jasmine tossed a healing potion to him. "It's not much, but it'll at least stop the bleeding." Without delay, he opens the cap and pours it into Ryan's mouth. Yue stepped in once he finished the potion, putting her hand over Ryan's body.
"I'll begin healing him. It'll take some time, though."
"Alright, thank you, Yue."
She closed her eyes and focused. Then, a gathering of holy Rysen emerges on her hand. It was a warm feeling for Ryan, and not to mention, he could see his wounds gradually heal. "Thank you, sister!" Ryan told her, in which she didn't reply in sheer concentration.
"So, I see that you made some new friends." Jasmine said, picking up the pieces of the broken cup off the floor. Harold walked over to the counter and leaned against it. "Well, yeah I guess. I only met them all recently, though." Jasmine placed another cup and filled it with an ice-cold water. "It's still progress at the end of the day." Jasmine also slid a cup of water over to Mina, who also sat by the counter in silence. "I see you got yourself a cute little girly, too." To the statement of girly, his face turned beet red. "S-She's just a friend!" Whilst Mina shuddered in embarrassment, her drink violently shaking in her hand as she drank. Harold looked back at the group. "Ah, I forgot to introduce to you guys. This lady is Jasmine, and I've known her since I was a child, so please treat her with kindness." He announced as he took a sip of his drink. Jasmine gave a smile to her introduction, especially on how Harold requested courtesy of her.
Sounds of the harsh raindrops tapping against the windows of the bar, and seeing the chaos erupting on live TV. Jasmine glanced over Ryan. "You're lucky this bar is currently closed due to the weather. If any customers were to see this, it'd be bad for business." Finishing his cup of water, he sets it on the counter. "Yeah, that is true. Dude, what happened to you?" He asked.
Ryan turned his head, trying to not make much movements so Yue can focus on healing him. "So... after the explosion of the church, I figured it's another time for my vigilante duties to shine! So I quickly got into my costume and ran out! That's when I stumbled upon a group of thugs! I had accidentally eavesdropped on a super intimidating man who had ordered them all to go hunt after some nun!" He pointed his finger at Yue. "Apparently, they were talking about her!"
"But why would they want to kill Yue?" Mina wondered.
"B-Because I saw some things I wasn't supposed to..." Yue told them. Seeing her discomfort, his eyes sharpened in curiosity. "What did you see?" He queried. The entire room listened intently, awaiting what she saw.
"The police chief, Stephen Lyhorn, talking with the leader of Eiden, Nox Vulisphere."