After crying for a few more seconds, she steeled herself, and summoned the courage to speak. 

“Fine”, she managed while crying, “then please, take care of him.” 

Please, please don’t leave… 

He barely set a single foot away before he stopped dead in his tracks. 

What? he thought, astonished.

“What did you say?”, he asked turning back to her. 

Unfortunately, however, by the time he turned around, her mouth trembled, as blood splattered out in small gobs. Cursing, he quickly knelt back down; his face hunched a foot away from hers. 

Dammit, he thought, she's starting to fade.

Touching her exposed shoulder with his hand, he closed his eyes steadied his breathing. Focusing his imind, he began to tap into his pool internal energy before directing it into her. He sat there for what seemed like an eternity hunched over feeeding her broken form with life as it slowly began to mend portions of her frame and tended to her more grievous wounds.

When he felt that he'd healed her enough to keep her stable, he looked upon her again and asked her hsi question.

“Who are you talking about?” 

Realizing that her voice was fading away, she used what little strength she had in her left arm to point behind him. Following her finger, what he saw next immediately caused him to grit his teeth and silently bite down another curse. A child, a little black boy no older than 5, was lying face down in a puddle of blood-soaked water just 6 feet away from them. Under him, the ruins of his car shaped bed was pancaked with the blue and yellow painted wood splintered and strewn about in pieces around him, while huge broken slabs of brick and concrete cover his back. His left arm, the only free limb he possessed in this state, was clutching a toy in his hand.  

It was maple brown horse with a saddle and reins. 

“Please”, she begged grabbing his forearm. When he turned back to her, her grip tightened like steel and her voice trailed off, leaving her gaze piercing him solid indignation, “save him. Save ma’ baby.” 

“Who—“ he started, turning back to her. 

“Ma’ granbaby”, she said repeated, “save him. Please.” 

Silence. 

Then. 

“Alethios.” 

A new voice had entered the conversation, and upon recognizing it, the man immediately frowned. Turning to face its origin, the young man addressed as Alethios looked up to see another person admist the rubble. He was of a similar age as Alethios, with the same height, build, and phenotypical features showing that he was also Greek, but whereas Alethios’ eyes were a mixture of almond and upturned, this man’s were round with slightly hooded edges. His eyes were silver, and his skin was a lighter shade of olive unlike Alethios’ which was tanned. For clothes, the most relatable fashion that Alethios could think of that moment, was that the young man’s attire was heavily inspired by steampunk, but done in a way that felt modernized for the 21st century. 

The manner of the attire as such went like this. His top consisted of a form fitting double-breasted vest layered over which was a hooded bolero. On top of that, there were chest straps and fur lining along the mouth of the hood. The vest (or tailcoat as it could be more accurately described) was charcoal gray at the zip line while the sides were chrome black, with the button fastening style giving the look and feel of a corset, while the hooded bolero was the color of strawberry wine, and the straps were a faded brown leather color. A silver chain hung from the waist pocket of the vest, and the small sound of ticking indicated that the chain was attached to a watch. For pants, he wore tailored trousers that stretched to his ankles covering his shoes, which were Nike Air Flightposite 4’s—which curiously enough weren’t supposed to come out for another 7 months. His pants were a faded black, and his shoes had a magenta, silver and black palette in painted in a gradient that made each color dissolve into the other without overlapping. He also had a second chain, this time for his waist, than ran along the back hem of the pants and hung on the front left pocket, and on his arms, he wore armored gauntlets on top of his bolero sleeves. 

And all of this, coupled with the military officer’s cap her wore on his, he looked like a chic punk hipster. Or a rather paltry Japanese student cosplay. Whichever one worked. 

The young man looked down on Alethios with his mouth twisted in a quizzical annoyance, before opening his mouth speak. 

“Loipón”, he said, his voice softer and significantly deeper that Alethios’, “aftó eínai to simeío ópou étrexes.” (So this is where you ran.) 

He glanced at the dying woman and scoffed. 

“Ti pistévete pragmatiká óti káneis?pos moiázei?”, he asked. (What do you really think you are doing?) 

“What the fuck does it look like”, Alethios fired back, annoyed. 

He paused, before turning to look at the woman, and proclaimed, “I’m saving this woman, and her child.” 

 

The woman looked on at Alethios shocked at his sudden change in attitude. But before she respond, the young man smirked, and chuckled aloud. 

“Oh really?”, he questioned in English, “and what exactly do you plan to do?” 

Alethios said nothing to his associate, but gently clasped the woman’s free hand in his own, and without blinking he looked her in the eyes and asked her in hushed, deep tone. 

“Do you want really want to live?” 

She looked between the two men, unable to fully process the conversation before her. It took her a minute, before she gave him an answer. 

“Save my granbaby first.” 

Alethios nodded, and turned towards his associate. 

“Nikolaos”, he started, “can you—“ 

Ka-Pow! 

A decently sized explosion came from behind Alethios, causing a small shower of debris. Alethios bit down a curse and quickly covered the injured woman, who herself cowered in fear and wailed. Once the dust had settled, Alethios turned to see Nikolaos spear in one hand and clutching the body of the child in the other. He had a short sword strapped to the hilt on his left side, it’s spiky, ornate pommel and what could appear to be a cross guard gleaming a bright. Alethios blinked, and the place where the child was trapped under was gone. With a sideways glance, Nikolaos snorted and smirked. 

“Hey”, he said, “hurry up with healing her. I know you’ve been feeding her energy since she was awake.” 

 Alethios’ brow beetled, but he didn’t respond, as the woman convulsed again, this time, coughing up more blood. 

“Is the child—“, Alethios started. 

“He’s fine, for now”, Nikolaos replied, “mild concussion, and a compound fracture along the lower end of his spine.” 

Turning back to the woman, Alethios could tell that the pain was getting worse for her. 

“My lady”, he cooed, “can you hear me?” 

She opened her eyes, weak as they were. 

“Ma baby, is he…” 

Alethios’ shot a look at the child and looked into the little boy’s body. The heart was intact, and beating, although sowly and weakly. He needed medical attention and fast. 

“He’s fine”, he replied, “but for you. I must ask again. Do you really want to live?” 

She looked at time, with an indiscernible gaze, before he continued. 

“I have no doubt that your will is strong, as is your heart. But you must understand, the price of life is filled with naught and sorrow, and should you choose to take it, you will only bring more unto both you and your child.” 

“In other words”, he concluded, “if you choose to become one of us, you will never be human again. Not fully, but you will live, and so will he. You will remain human in mind and soul, as was God’s intent upon your birth. But your body and spirit will not. The same will stand for him, and his fate as well as yours will be decided by powers beyond your understanding, and should you be found wanting, you be turned away, left to fend for yourself under no form of kindness nor mercy. But you have peace in your life in that you will have time that once beyond your grasp.” 

“Tell me then”, he asked, “are you willing to make this choice? Is this really what you want?” 

“Choose quickly”, chimed in Nikolaos, “you’re on death’s door even now.” 

I-I ain’t go no other options really. Does it even matter now? 

Her vision by now was blurry, it was getting almost impossible to see straight. Her breathing was slower now, and heavier too.