[IC]Shi no Zencho ~ Bad Omen!

[Koishi]

Residential District

---

Koishi looked over to the store, hearing Bernard saying they'd arrived.

"So... you fellas run out of a store? Huh. Never knew crime fighting got lots o' budget cuts." Koishi simply skipped over to the door and entered the shop, glancing around.

"Heellllo? Anybody home?" Koishi called out, moving further into the store.

[S121]

Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:20 PM

"Prophets?", Nicholas slightly whispered to himself as he stared at the convenience store.

While Koishi showed no hesitation in going into the store, Nicholas showed a little caution in doing so. All this was still rather new to him, and he was still a little shaken up from the entire night being turned on its head. To be frank, Nicholas felt as if reality had suddenly dropped into fantasy or some kind of strange dream. If anything, it was the kind of scenario one would expect from either some kind of anime, game, or any other work of entertainment. After pausing for a moment, Nicholas decided to follow Koishi inside, although he made sure to be wary of his surroundings as he did so.

[WriggleRid3r]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:22 PM

---

As expected from the exterior, the interior of the convenience store was just that: convenience store. A rather well-stocked one at that; with all the new kinds of snacks, drinks, and even collectable trading cards on shelves. One key difference was the stairway up to the second floor, which was beyond the counter.

A few seconds after Nick and Koishi entered the shop and had the chance to look around, a young Asian man walked down from the stairs, noticing Father Bernard's entrance. He wore clothing that are usually associated with delinquents and rockers, with bandana, roughened-up jeans, and t-shirts with a graphic illustration of a giant skull with a naked lady sitting on one of the eye sockets.

"Hey, Pop-" The Asian man greeted before his eyes coursed to Bora slung on Father's shoulders. His accent suggested him to be of Chinese descent. "Whoa! What happened to Bora?"

"Multiple Omen attacks. Bora used herself as a shield to protect a girl in danger. I stabilized the wound for now, so she'll live, but she will need an extensive overnight treatment to get all the toxin out " Father Bernard commented as he looked back at Koishi then back to the asian man. "Is Master Jason upstairs?"

"He was sleeping so I woke him up." The asian man answered, glancing behind the Father and getting an idea as to what he needs. "I'll call for him."

Receiving a nod from the Father, the Chinese man quickly bolted upstairs to call for this Master Jason. "That's Fabian, one of our Prophets. Talented, but reckless. Also dresses inappropriately and does unholy things. Multiple attempts to lead him to the righteous way failed. Shame, but he is a great fighter."

[Koishi]

Residential District

---

Koishi turned over to Bernard as she tried to roll up her sleeves to reduce the amount of blood getting on the floor. She really hoped there was a washing machine and a shower nearby.

"Ah, i've seen worse. Ya' see lots of bad people when you just wander. Not to mention the...uh..." Koishi tried to find the right word. " Shady motels I usually gotta' stay at. You sorta get used to it. Can't help much to stop that kind of stuff, though." Koishi explained.

"So, if you don't mind me askin', who's this Jason fellow?" Koishi asked.

[WriggleRid3r]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:23 PM

---

"He's the leader." Father Bernard answered to Koishi's curiosity. "Takes responsibility of keeping this city safe of all Omen activities. Of course, I must apologize for all these pronouns; they will be answered in moment's time."

And that moment came rather quickly. Accompanied by the young Chinese man was an elderly gentleman wearing authentic cowboy gear; complete with a pistol and a leather holster. His eyes spoke wisdom in age: an all-around bona fide badass who exudes the aura of a veteran leader.

"Jason." Father Bernard addressed with a quick nod. The elderly man, Jason, tipped his hat in response. "We had unusually early Omen activities today. Bora and I were able to thwart one, but Bora sustained an injury that needs to be treated."

"You should take her to the infirmary and get her treated. She'll recover quickly with your powers." Jason commanded casually. With another nod, Father Bernard ran upstairs with Bora in his arms, which left Jason alone with Koishi and Nick. Taking a much more friendly tone, Jason asked the two: "So, how can this old man help you young'uns tonight? I'm sure you two are very shaken up after what happened today, and have a lot of questions to ask."

[S121]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:23 PM

After being rather silent for almost the entire duration of this ordeal, Nicholas felt that now was the time to speak.

"Yea, I've got some questions... Why is everyone acting like this is normal? Even this girl is acting if this is just a mild highlight of her day. This is not normal. Other than that, I have the usual questions you would expect, like who are you, what is going on here, and why is this operation running out the back of a ma and pa convenience store?", Nicholas asked in a rather bewildered manner.

[WriggleRid3r]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:23 PM

---

"Great questions. Grab something to drink; this is a long story." Jason chuckled heartily at Nick's barrage of inquiries, and began to answer them in a manner that will explain everything.

"Before your great-great-great-great-twenty greatparents were even a wee lads and lasses, there existed these monsters who hide in the shadows during the day and hunt during the night. They went by many names: demons, naga, oni... we like to call them Omen. The creatures you saw outside; they too are Omen. They are perhaps one of the greatest threats to humanity, and needs to be purged to keep humanity from crumbling to ruins."

"That's where we come in. Prophets; chosen by the old founders' blood to cleanse the world of Omens... or I would say that, but it's not like an elite force against evil or anything. In reality, anyone can become a Prophet; just needs dedication and an untainted mind that will not use the granted power to aid the Omens instead of slaying them."

"The reason why these holy warriors are operating in this dinky little convenient store is because of our size. Our little squad has five Prophets currently, with me being the leader of the pack. You've already seen two of them, by the looks of it. It's nigh impossible to pay for the rent if we were to run our group in a full-fledged apartment or a giant military base. Besides, business is going very well; the profit pays for part of our costs, although Bora's modeling works give way more profit than this."

"Well, did that answer all your questions, or did my answers spawn more questions than solutions?"

---

Dream

---

Maya felt warm.

She was being cuddled by who she has discovered the love of her life. Rez had his arms around her tiny body frame, providing him his warmth. It felt so comfortable in there; as if Rez can protect her from everything and anything in this world.

Then she heard rustling of bed sheets as Rez's warmth left her. She could not make out what he was saying, so she got out of bed and went after Rez.

She could see him in the distance, but no matter how loud she called for him, no matter how fast she ran, she could not catch up to him.

The sky grew darker and darker as she ran. She felt her lungs screaming for her to stop and taking a breather, but Maya was afraid that she might get left behind if she didn't stop. The scenery grew more and more twisted: happy warm color of yellow was distorted into a swirly mix of blue, grey, and black. Some sort of blade-like things stuck out of the ground. Crows began to caw, crying their grim cries as they fluttered by. But Maya could only focus on Rez.

Then she saw red.

As soon as Maya took another step, Rez has been teleported back in front of Maya. However, Maya would have rather wished for Rez to never come back to her as his head was rolling on the ground, causing her to scream.

She felt warm... with his blood.

---

Maya's Room | Dormitories | Valhalla High School | Time: 11:01 PM

---

Maya jerked awake. Checking the time, it was about an hour from midnight. The room seems rather empty; no sign of Rez in sight. Strange... where could he be at this time at night? Could he be flipping someone's skirt like an idiot he is? Could he still be moving stuff from his old home? Could he be...

Something flashed in Maya's mind. That dream. It had a gruesome, grotesque image of Rez being beheaded. What if it wasn't just a dream... but a prophecy of what would happen? What if he was taken by that mass murderer lurking the city?

"Oh no..." Maya curled up into a ball, praying that her roommate and possible lover would not suffer an untimely death. "Please... Rez... be okay..."

[Koishi]

Residential District

---

"Coooool." Koishi said, eyes likening to that of an awe-ridden child.

"But, uh, one question. Why Prophet? I mean, you don't look to be sittin' down all day, writin' incoherent babble that just might be somethin' in the future. Why not somethin' accurate and cool, like, uh..." Koishi pondered for a moment. "Like, Hunter... or Slayer, or... I dunno', somethin' more accurate. Like callin' a policeman an ice-cream bloke." Koishi asked.

[WriggleRid3r]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:27 PM

---

"Well we try to forge future." Jason said philosophically. "The future of humanity. Protecting the world from Omen threats. As far as I know, there are other groups that operate around the world; we just have lost contact with them."

"Now, if your curiosity has been sated, let's see to getting both of you back home. Shall we?"

[S121]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:23 PM

Nicholas remained rather silent throughout the entire explanation, and even a little bit after as he tried to process all that had been said. Much was said, and Nicholas was still trying to adjust to this new revelation, this sudden change in his reality. Meanwhile, he noticed that the girl from before seemed to just take all this with a grain of salt, as if she was not in the least bit phased by any of this. Was he the only one that thought that all this seemed... heavy to handle? Even more, how were tthey supposed to simply go back home with this knowledge. It seemed rather unrealistic to think that all this could be forgotten, or to at least pretend that none of the events that transpired had happened. Just what was going to happen?

After a moment of thought, he spoke once again as his gaze refocused on the man that had explained all this to them.

"So... What happens now?", Nicholas asked, his tone indicating a tinge of uncertainty and as if he anticipated a certain answer.

[Koishi]

Convenience Store

---

"Well, I don't really have much of a home. Sort of a... uh... fleeting thing. I just move a lot." Koishi explained. " 'sides, now that we know this stuff, can't we... help or somethin'? You did say there's only five of you. A city like this is a ton of ground to cover in a night. More people, less monsters. Or somethin' like that."

Koishi had a rare look of thinking upon her face, only seemingly half paying attention to what was going on around her as she did so. "Also, monster hunting sound like a pretty cool job description. Like one of those animated series of somethin'."

[WriggleRid3r]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:28 PM

---

Jason fell into a train of thoughts: which involved him taking a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lighting it with a lighter he had in the other jacket pocket. He WAS in dire need of some new recruits; 5 people are not going to cover an entire city, especially a city so large as Valhalla. Besides, the two seemed like they had what it took: determination, honesty, and most importantly an ability to not freak out and panic over the sight of an Omen.

"If you're so eager about it, then we can see to having you go through a simple trial." Jason said to Koishi, then turned to Jason. "How about you, young'un? Would you like to take the same trial, or are you okay with just being escorted back home by one of us?"

[Koishi]

Convenience Shop

---

"Ooo, a trial sounds fancy. Sounds good to me." Koishi replied. he pondered in her head. What kind of trial? Maybe it involved lasers. Lasers were cool. Maybe she'd get to throw things into walls, then jump onto said things with an explosion in background! At least that's what movies told her. It'd probably be closer to pressing a button. (maybe it caused explosions too.)

[S121]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:23 PM

Nicholas was quiet and stared down at the ground for what seemed like forever as he carefully thought about the decision. Unlike his fellow bystander, he was not so eager. In fact, if Nicholas was right, then simply HAVING this knowledge he now had brought its own burdens and responsibilities. They were asking him if he wanted to become something akin to a demon hunter. If he chose to accept it, then he would be placed into a role where people's lives would be in his hands. It was a very sobering thought. Of course, he could go home, but what would that solve? There would still be monsters out there attacking people much like how he was tonight, and could he really walk alone at night with the same sense of security as before? In the end, there seemed to be only one option. After this long pause, Nicholas finally lifted his gaze to Jason and spoke.

"You ask that as if there are two perfectly viable choices, but let's be honest, who really would go back after learning.. all this? It's too late to go back, and if I were to, that would be morally negligent and I would be surrendering my fate to chance... I accept.", Nicholas finally said to Jason.

[WriggleRid3r]

Old Cowboy's Convenience Shop | Residential District | Valhalla | Time: 8:28 PM

---

Jason made a warm grandfather's smile at the two youngsters' response, glad to see that there are still young ones out there who value the better things in life, like desire to protect, integrity, determination... he could go on, but he won't. But he could.

"Then follow me." Jason ushered the two to follow him as he took the stairway to second floor. "I'd prefer to have you two be instated as Prophet and start field training right away. As the little lady says, we are quite short on staff."