Frantic footsteps reach Megumi’s ears. Were they her own? It didn’t matter to her anymore. Maya wasn’t down Main. Not down Lea street nor the off-roads from that. Not the park or that cafe with summertime crepes. The town felt like it was shifting, spiraling in her own vision and from the people around moving out of the way. All of their eyes were a blur of pity. Pity for what? Anger welled up inside inflaming the panic. Her eyes dashed wildly, blurring from running and moving her head too fast. Almost falling over she catches her hands on her knees while panting from her marathon. A glimpse of her surroundings told her she was near the flower shop again, the one with the white lilies and chrysanthemums. A slow realization swelled up inside of her. Why hadn’t she seen it sooner? This is the town Phoba, a place of traditional city-wide demon hunts. The mothers on the street were starting to usher children into their homes. Shutters were closing on shops and lights dimming out. A chill went down Megumi’s mind as she started hearing the chants in the distant.

“Down with the Demon! Down with the Demon!” They were faint but clear. They sound brave but by the numbers they were scared.

“Down… with the demons…” Megumi straightened up, murmuring their chant but for different reasons. Centuries of this tradition branding Demons as some evil looking out to slaughter everyone in a blink but only out of fear and lack of understanding. More anger seethed from within to bring out another surge of energy for Megumi.

“Down with the Demon!” Megumi was once again dashing madly trying to outrun the chant. It came from behind, the sides, in front and echoing all the while in the town’s madness. This was a real evil. All the time in the force has brought her face to face with those of the other kin. She’s only ever fought thugs who didn’t respect the authority of the treaties, none of them otherwise were any less different than a human.

“DOWN WITH THE DEMON!” Megumi’s mind echoed the chant louder to herself but targeting the crowds running through the streets elsewhere. They were a real evil. If not for a colony this was unlawful. Protected by international law where the mainland was to not interfere with neutral colony conflicts. Anxiety built up pulsing blood into her head for a small headache when she checks the last shop down a street for any sign of Maya. She had no idea if Maya was even in town yet or still with her Pa. She whips around behind her to stare at the town center in the distance. Maybe she had gone there first? Why was she acting so stupid? Panic has numbed her legs as they kept pumping out the force of her running. All she’s ever wanted to do was protect. Never did she expect to have to from her own people. Maya was the first real friend she had within the mechanic specialists and only because she trained her first hand. Megumi found out firsthand that Maya was not only good at working with her earth auras on mechanical vehicles but also with healing auras. Her specialty was with injuries dealt from being in the mechanized vehicles during the chance errors in builds, and so they became a leading team in their respective fields. The vision before her blurred almost cause her to fall over on some loose bricks on the road. The chanting had gotten quieter but it was still audible through the echoes down the empty roads. Clearing her eyes she turned down the last stretch towards the town center and as she did so her breathing almost immediately left her again.

“Maya!” Her chest pumped as so her legs towards a girl down the road with a wooden umbrella.

“M-Megumi? Why are you coming fr-” Maya’s words were stopped as Megumi slams into an embrace with her and almost dropping her umbrella. Megumi was drenched, seeming to have forgotten the downpour for some reason or another.

“I’m just so glad I found you first.” She squeezed harder on Maya, sobbing into her chest. “We- We need to get you out of here” quickly sniffling between words, “The town. Phoba is horrid-. The decision they made was just-.” Megumi’s words seemed to catch in her throat. Megumi lets go of her hold on Maya stepping away for a brief moment. “Maya they think you’re some demo-”.

No this is wrong.

“MAYA!!”

Maya’s purple eyes welled up, looking down at her chest where a bolt had landed firmly. She couldn’t bring words to her open mouth as the shock caught her only in a momentary gasp. Her hands shakily went up to it, her footwork staggering a little. Megumi rushed over to catch her fall, keeping her still as the body shivered violently from the shock of pain or the lack of oxygen now coming from her lungs. She glanced back from where the cross-bolt had come but the street had been empty except for the echoes from a distant crowd. A moment passed before you could hear cheering in the distance. A sickening cheer on twisted beliefs only brought more pain to Megumi as she turned back towards Maya. She tried to slowly ease her down but it was hard from Maya’s coughing fits. A pair of broken eyes looked up at Megumi.

“H-hey” A blood-soaked cough stopped her. Thunder rumbled stronger in the distance as the heavier part of the storm was catching up to the town. “There’s a mysterious t-thunderstorm today ya know?” Maya made out what little of a smile she could before the pain and shock took back over.

“Maya. Maya no ple- please no no no no no no.” Megumi was gripped Maya’s hand tightly, pressing it up to her. “Save your breath, please. Focus on your aura you can get through this. I’ve seen you take hits before! Maya please, no, not over something like this. Not because of my hometown...I-I could never forgive myself.” Salty tears were flowing freely, overtaking the rain on her face and shining in the lightning flashes.

“Megumi your… belief in my ability is appreciated but-” She grunts in pain. “T-they tipped it with poison. I’m not able to do anything. I’m not... I’m not that good.” A laugh turns deadlier, her body rejecting air.

“Maya no I- I can’t lose you. What would I tell Officer Kazashi back on the mainland? I-” Megumi’s words had given up on her. She held Maya’s hand close to her forehead, hanging her head down in intense sobs. Of all the things she would fail at this was not the one she wanted to see.

“Megumi…” Barely a whisper, Maya put her hand to Megumi’s face. She broke into a smile, a kind of smile to melt any ice in the world. “My lovely Lop. Cherish me as I cherished you. That’s… that’s all I can ask for.” Maya closed her eyes for only a moment before gazing back up into Megumi’s tears. Despite the glossiness, the vibrant purples still made it intense. “Megumi I- I will always… lov-...”

Maya’s hand lost the firmness of the touch it had on Megumi’s face. She pressed it firmly against her cheek, her throat sore from tightening up. They only knew each other for about nine years and yet just that quickly… she was simply no more. Megumi sat like this in the rain, not bothering to even pick up the umbrella to cover herself. A few hours pass by, some of the townsfolk getting curious as to if it was over as the chanting had finally died off. At first, the closest people coming out of their homes were appalled and shocked, not realizing the deed was done so close to their own homes. They mostly glanced, never helping or caring otherwise. None of the children occupied the center like they usually would, as probably their parents ushered them to play somewhere else for an obvious reason. If anything there was the occasional passerby who brought over lilies or chrysanthemum and laid it at Maya’s side. All hesitant to do it not knowing how the guardian over the body would react, but Megumi just quietly sobbed to herself. A few more hours later Megumi finally looked up to see her surroundings. She was in the town square of Phoba, though as far as she was concerned it looked like an executioners stall. The rain had washed the surrounding stone of the red it had been stained in and also had left a chill in Megumi. She paid it no heed as she kept scanning her surroundings. The sunset had brought twilight shadows across the square, casting darkness from the buildings to be obstacles for the suns rays. Puddles reflected a sky that no longer held the yellow of a storm and instead of the vibrancy of reds and violets. She gently put Maya’s body onto the ground and started to pick up the flowers a few brave people had left for their sympathy. It wasn’t worth much to ease Megumi’s anger so it was a bittersweet gesture. Sighing heavily she puts the flowers on top of Maya’s stomach, at least some of them cared enough and for what it’s worth they at least tried. It’s not the entire towns fault but instead the problem of something deeper within the towns societal norms that Megumi loathed. It had been several hours now with Megumi grieving next to her dear friend. She was soaked despite the storm had left two hours ago, her clothes ruined from holding onto Maya for so long. All of the council members had found her weeping there and, with sorrowful expressions, partook in the empty silent sobbing. Megumi allowed them to grieve as they deserved to at least for also having to deal with a broken system. A few apologized specifically to Megumi for asking too many questions for a fair meeting on both sides but she just shook her head and accepted. “You expected more out of them and for a moment forgot where the town was located.” A pitiful shaken laugh comes out of Megumi as she sniffs once to grab more air. “Phoba was a poor choice of vacation.” This put a solemn silence over the Council with a truthful reminder to the towns name. After paying respects in their own way one by one they began to say a goodbye to head on about their way. Megumi only nodded, staring down in silence. The last one was the Mayor, who seemed to be hit the hardest emotionally out of the council.

“Your… parents don’t know yet from living at the edge of town. Right?” He hadn’t spoken a single time since they had arrived. His only reaction from seeing the two was wide-eyed despair along with a silent ‘no’ from his mouth. He finally looks up at Megumi causing her to follow him and lock eyes. She simply shakes her head slightly and a small shrug followed. “Then allow me to be the one to tell them. It’s at least my responsibility as the Mayor. She… was pretty much family for you guys. I,” He indulges himself in twiddling his thumb for a minor moment while pausing for words to form. He stops and looks back up to continue. “Please at least allow me that peace. I feel dreadful for this.” His voice cracks again but doesn’t give into breaking, almost like it had settled on the edge and found a new home. Megumi got up silently to walk just a step or two over to the other side of Maya where the Mayor was.

“I give you that permission.” She wasn’t able to stay composed after actually speaking a word, her silence being a strong seal to what was thought to be a dry well in her eyes. She slams her head into his shoulder with loud shuddering sobs. The Mayor was shocked at first before realizing why she made her actions. He makes no motion to stop her or touch her head in comfort but instead just stands there looking into the sky.

“I can at least get a proper burial for her too. Edge of town near the Hangar of your family, with their permission of course.” The only reaction he gets is violent nods.

“Yes, please. She would have liked that. What side of the hangar?” She steps back with care for her friend.

“Towards the forest. Its legends will save people from going near it at the least. I’d… rather not want them interacting with it other than you and anyone you let know.” His tired, swollen eyes showed a hint of muddied resentment. “I… can help you carry her to him. She may have to be buried as is though, sorry for the rudeness of that act.”

“It will have to do. I want her buried before the town gathers hatred again.” Distant rumble can be heard again, a reminder that one rain leads to another when it cools near the mountains. Megumi mutters under her breath a swear. “There is an ugly reason of hurry there also.”

Mayor sighs a moment. “I agree. Then let’s be off as it’s a bit of a walk away.” He gently gets down to pick Maya’s body up into his arms, doing his best to make it seem as graceful as possible for the man. Checking one more time that Megumi was alright enough to walk through town. They set a pace down the streets towards the West, as was where the Hanger stood away from town. 

A cooler rain started to vastly contrast the earlier storm, this time only having the occasional rumble in the far distance. It was a refreshing feel to have the air cool so fast and yet all it did was settle the mood in Megumi’s soul. She could only think of what to tell her Rin, her Commanding Officer in the Hunters, on how exactly Maya had passed. Inside of her this anxiety built itself up to bring tears to her eyes once more but only getting that far.

The air now bleeds into ones bones from a colder, more wintery rain. It brought relief only to those who had been working a long day today in the midst of the excitement of winter festivities. A girl of the Nen family is haunted by the very town she grew up in and their twisted forms of justice and refuses to return home during the holidays. Back into service on the main continent Erocia, she painstakingly spent her time dedicating research into how Aura is used to manipulate machinery of different makes for more medical use, rather than for the fighting they do with the occasional border skirmish against the distant Kraeka. Back on the continent Ibon, within the town known as Phoba, snow has piled up a few feet from a previous winter storm. It’s been almost six years since a taboo tragedy had been committed within this town that caused a large reformation of government organization and the removal of several centuries old laws. Outside of the town, towards the outskirts of a forest overseen by a large Hangar, were several different marked graves. In front of them, a man stood holding a sort of sack and shovel, all covered in frost. His clothes are worn down with a shaggy, frosted beard covering most of his face. For a moment, and only for that single moment, his figure seemed to distort into many different layers as if he’d been split into several other planes in the same spot. He shakes his head with a hand on his head and his body snaps back. He grabs his shovel and hovers on a grave that isn’t as extravagant as the others nearby, bringing its head to slam into the dirt. He grunts as his foot presses onto the blade of the tool to throw his weight into digging the earth, only stopping to glance at the headstone. There wasn’t much on it for there were only two words it read.

Maya Nephim.