Episode 1 : Demi-gods

"Fucking summer heat is roasting my chest hair." Hassou grumbles to both of us. I was walking with my best friend Hassou Tobi, and my childhood friend Reiko Hansaki. We grew up together, goes to the same school, and even work at the same company, Soverin Company.

I'm an engineer. Hassou work as a programmer, and Reiko work as a designer. Usually, we hang out by the weekend.

"Can we just head for downtown for breakfast? I need one of those chill pack and drinks." Reiko fans her clothes for more cool air. Reiko is lucky enough to have her summer shirt on.

"You don't get to complain about the fact that you dragged us out for a god damn walk to MY OWN CAFE during summer time saga." Hassou flips his hat and starts to fan it to himself.

"I'm with Hassou this time. ****! This is a terrible idea." I open my cildres to check my credit balance. The numbers are still extremely high, but I had a practical wallet separated just in case.

"I didn't expect it to be this hot." Said Reiko as she walked ahead of us.

"I don't get it, how is your mind still sane living with her?" Hassou is sweating profusely. His eyes were dim like a fish out of water.

"You're asking the wrong question there. It's why am I still alive?," I replied and corrected Hassou's question.

"I hate you for raising this dumbass, and we could've just ridden my car BUT NOOOOO~ She chooses to walk." Hassou slaps my back with his hat a couple of times. His cafe is our only hope now, all that sweet fresh air and refreshing drinks.

-Ten minutes later-

"I'll get everything cold, so you two fucktard stay here." Hassou picks a table that is the closest to the air conditioner and heads to the kitchen.

"More ice and ice pack please." Hassou looks back and gives an okay sign with his hand. Reiko slams her chin to the table where it's nice and cool.

"You look like dogshit." Reiko isn't an idiot for anyone to think. She's the heir to the Hansaki household, the only daughter of Mia and Daus Hansaki. Like her parent, Reiko inherits the brunette hair and eyes. It's a bit wavy, and she often tied her hair into a bun or just regular ponytail.

Her parent adopted me when mine died. Her parent died five years ago, too, during the final phase of the Assimilation.

"Hey, Knucklehead. Quit daydreaming and enjoy your sundae. Is on the house." I didn't realize that I was daydreaming for quite some time. As soon as I open my eyes, both of these idiots are creaming their sundae.

"If you say so, then that twenty Reas you borrowed from me is still in my list."

"You know, I really wonder how the **** did your face is still intact??" Hassou put his spoons away, slams the table, and stood up, trying to intimidate me. I just sit comfortably on the seat, watching him from below and smirk.

"Boys, can you guys just stop killing each other every time you guys meet?" Ask Reiko while watching both of us glaring at each other.

After we finished our so-called breakfast, the three of us headed back to Reiko's home using Hassou's car to watch tv or maybe play games. Hassou and I blast our ways to the living room sofa to get the best seat in the house. I turned on my Hyper-cildres and grabbed the wireless control, Hassou is hype for a gaming session. It's been a harsh week for us working on that 'slavery' company. By that, I mean, the largest electronics manufacturer in the country, Soverin Digitale.

Considering the things we went through, we stop playing an online game to avoid salt and tilt for today. Reiko decided to head over to her room and continue her work as a designer for her latest breakthrough, the Augmentation. She turned on the air conditioner in the living room and her room while checking her cildres.

"Guys! News on the Demi-God thingy!" Reiko burst out of her room with her cildres put on radio mode. Hassou and I were too busy gaming, so she decided to use her cildres command to pause the Hyper-cildres by force.

"WOMAN! What the ****?!" Reiko smashes her pen to both of our heads. We rub it off as she shows us a piece of live news, another breakout of the incident called the Demi-God incident came again this morning around the local. It's nearby Hassou's cafe, but luckily its in a safe distance from the cafe. As she watches the news, the noise of a chopper passes on top of the house. The video we're watching now came from that chopper.

It appears to be a dragonborne fighting what it resembles to be the wanted criminal demi-god, Kunino Hikari. Despite the public action, there was nothing that the local police can do to stop this demi-god rampage.

A few minutes after the criminal is spotted, the two clashes against together.

The fight was so intense that the chopper had to move away from the fight. The battle continues, and the dragonborne was losing, in the end, it lost the match, and the demi-god fled the scene. Before it went away, The chopper suddenly spring havoc, spinning and descending from the sky. As the news continues, The chopper was able to land safely. The report then redirects back to the studio.

Every action that the local police tried to stop this criminal has failed as she fled away again and again.

Once again, please notify your local Police Agency-

I switch the tv back to the gaming session we had a few minutes ago. I can't believe this is happening again. It was pretty close by, and I can't imagine the fight between a demi-god would go.

"Can you guys imagine if one of those Demi-Gods can use their power and decides to destroy humanity?" Hassou asks as he was worried about his cafe, but now he became docile and set his shoulder back to the sofa.

"One man army, if that happens....heh....who knows..." I replied and laughed it off.

There was an incident five years ago. Some mad scientists decided to control the power of the Gods but lose control. The result, the whole full world becomes inhabited by the souls of Gods searching for the right body. We called it the Assimilation.

"I'm curious about blondie, she seems cute. I bet 20 Reas that I can claim her heart." Hassou pulls out his wallet and shows 20 Reas to us.

"You and your high self-esteem...." Facepalm at this moment is a good idea. So Reiko and I did.

Reiko's cildres suddenly rings and shows a notification, a simple reminder, "Oh, right! Hassou, you can pack your stuff now. We're going to my parent's grave today." Reiko shows us the date of today.

"That's today!? I'll head back and change! See you guys later!" Hassou went out of the house and headed back home. Reiko then takes a cold drink from the fridge and lay down on the sofa. As I expected, she already prepared all of the stuff needed to clean the grave. The grave is solid marble, so it's pretty easy to clean.

Living with her teaches me sometimes when things go shithole, you need to take it easy. I wasn't ready as she is now, so I head to my room to change.

I wear the usual T-Shirt cause I'm not a lavish person, Reiko wears the same as I am. That t-shirt and jeans probably are the clothing that she took from the laundry and might as well be mine. Long after we both chill on the sofa, Hassou's car was outside horning his shitty car horn. I went outside to greet his ***. He was wearing a sumptuous button shirt and shorts like one of those wealthy golfers.

"Well, you know how my mum would do if I wear the usual. She would go ape-shit on me saying this is a special occasion." Hassou looks a bit embarrassed as he scratches his head and looks away.

"Alright, since we're all here, let's go!" Reiko carried the housekeeping stuff and put it in the back of the car. Reiko takes the front seat and lays her legs upward like a boss. Seiko took a nap comfortably while Hassou and I chat around.

We arrived at the gate, the gate to the graveyard.

Reiko ran around to look for her parent's grave. She lost her parents during the Assimilation. Both of them died at the burning hospital, leaving Reiko as an official owner of the Hansaki's Household.

She was diagnosed with malaria back then. She had to go to the hospital, but a few months later, the Demi-God incident happens and nearly destroyed all of the buildings. Everything was set ablaze by the time Hassou and I arrived, but both charge head-on and managed to save her. We didn't know both of her parents were caught in the flame, so we went looking for them until the news confirms it.

I'm the only family member left to her. Hassou and I were lucky enough to save her from the fire, but after the incident, she blamed herself for her parents' death. It hits hard to her, but so did both of us. The world was in chaos and panic back then nearly millions of people died, causing massive damage to the world.

Faernasia is a world of magical being and futuristic technology now, thanks to that incident.

"huff...still dusty as ever..." Reiko found her parent's grave and clean it straight away with the broom she brought.

"5 years, huh...." Hassou mumbles to himself. Reiko turn her head towards me and ask, "I wonder if mum and dad would say if they were here?" She is looking at me with hopes and dreams like a little girl who knows nothing but her fantasy world.

"They would kick your *** for not doing your laundry." I pat her head with my dirty hands. The three of us pay our respect to Reiko's parents and decorate the grave with flowers to keep them fresh as ever.

"Reiko, take the car key and head home first. Imaro and I are gonna chat a little bit more." Hassou throws his car key at Reiko and hit her head.

"Alright then, umm...Don't forget to get dinner on the way back. Have fun!" Reiko left the graveyard and head for the car.

Every year, there is a star that appeared and can only be seen from a specific perspective. Left and right, all we see is just trees and bushes. Although it may feel like we are in a horror film, it doesn't scare us.

There isn't much to see from up here, but as the sun set down, we look up in the sky to do stargazing.

"You know...my mother used to bring me up here, said that this is where she met my father. Both fell in love. We both grew up together in a completely different background, we fought each other, but we remain as a friend. Why is that?" Hassou lay down and feel the grass around him.

"I'm not sure." I replied

"You know what. I'm pretty sure both of us never wanna know that shit. You and Reiko are a family to me. Nothing else really matters." I sat down and looked up in the sky to see the stars. From our perspective, we can see the obnoxious tall Starlamen mountain, piercing the cloud as we look further beyond the heavens.

"heh....we're both being dramatic about this-" suddenly something moves within the bushes.

"Probably just some squirrels or something." It didn't bug me, but Hassou went to check it out.

"You sure? That doesn't look like a squirrel to me." Hassou opened up the bush and saw a chained hilt tied down to the ground. It was a Katana for sure, but they're nothing but a hilt, no scabbard, nothing. Just an old, dirty sword handles tied up with some chain together.

"I wanna touch it." I went inside the bush and take a closer step and look.

"Dude, what the ****? It's obviously some sort of a relic or some shit. We gotta be careful if we wanna sell this!" We stare at each other, agitated to have this weird looking relic.

"How much Reas do you think could go-" I take a very close look and hold on to the hilt. The hilt's chain suddenly broke off, letting out lighting around me, and clouds suddenly gather on top of me.

"Okay! WHAT THE **** WAS THAT?!"

"I-I-I can't let go! My hand just sticks right to this thing!" Hassou started to panic and ran down to my rescue.

"Holy shit! Is this some sort of super glue?! Pull harder damn it!" The flashes of lightning around me start to grow more robust than before.

"Hassou! Get out! You'll get struck by the lighting as well, so fucking go!!" He didn't leave me. He was clawing and pulling my hands with everything he has.

"**** you! Reiko is gonna so pissed when she found out about this! I'm not heading out of here without your worthless ***!" I looked at Hassou's face. His gray hair was shocked by the lightning around me; it zaps around and hit one of Hassou's purple eye; his skin begins to pale and crackles as the lightning touches him. He screams in pain, burning his skin, making scars around his hand and face.

The lightning strike then blows Hassou away into nothing, burns the grasses and trees around me.

-A few minutes later-

I woke up and wondering what just happened. The grass and trees around me darken, and I couldn't see Hassou anywhere. I remember now, and he was blown away. Did he die?

I had no injuries except that my skins are having some sort of a goosebump. I open my cildres and check my face.

My hair is still short and black.

Eyes remain yellowish gold.

What happened?!

The hilt's chain was broken, and I was holding on to it. I wander around without knowing how am I still alive after that thunderbolt hit me.

"What the ****?" suddenly, a snake came out of the bushes. It looks like it wants to attack me. I raise my hand to defend myself before it strikes, but something went wrong, my hand was covered with electrical current, and a lightning bolt came out of the tip of my finger. The lightning bolt hits the snake, roasts the snake inside out.

*I'm pretty sure it's here! Come on!

I heard a loud voice, a girl's voice, but she wasn't alone.

"There! Kunino, I found him!" Said the girl with a tank top.

"Who-who are you? What do you want?!" I started to panic and backed away from the girl. She doesn't seem to be a threat, but I digress.

"Alright, chill! We're here to help. We saw the thunder strike, and my friend here thought it was another demi-god incident." She points her thumbs towards her back, and I lean to my right to look back.

"Yui, please slow down! I'm not like you..." another girl shows up in front of me. She's blonde like from the television I saw earlier today. Her arms and legs covered in metal plates, and she brought a massive weapon twice of her size.

"My name is Kunino Hikari, and this is Yui. Don't be afraid, we're here to help." She lends me her hand and pulls me up to stand for myself. Her hand is odd, it felt rusty, smells rusty too. The strength of her pull is incredible, or is it just my adrenaline?

*SKHHRRIINNGG!!!

My feet went jelly as soon as I saw the trees behind them fall in a single slash. It was a woman, but this one seems different. She's wearing a mask, a glowing blood-red mask surrounded by black metallic shards. She wears a dark cloak, and she's holding a gun.

"Yui Duck!!" Kunino rips her bag, revealing a giant cannon. It didn't take second for her to fire that hellish cannon without hesitation. The sound of the barrels was deafening. The blast blew hundreds of scrap metal away. Trees turned into charcoal, and the ground that had grass around her reduces to ashes. After the shot, that woman went flying out of our sight, crashing through multiple buildings across the road.

"It's not safe here, so come with us! You'll be safer!" Kunino threw the firearm away, seemingly broken in a single shot. The smell of gunpowder and the heat of molten metal is in the air.

"Hey, kid! Get your *** up straight! We need to move before something like that shows up again." I choose to crawl myself up and follow them both, and there will only be a danger if I go back home now. I have no idea what just happen. If I follow them now, I might find some answers to what happened.

I'm sure that this is the start of something dark within the world that I never understand.

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