1 YEAR AGO

ALTAIR RESIDENCE

ROSCHER, GRATA - 4:03 PM

Several sets of cylinders containing fluids of various colors are lined up horizontally on a table in the Altair’s basement. Raymond picks up one containing a vibrant, orange liquid.

“Do you know what this is, Nick?” asks Raymond. Four year-old Nick shakes his head. Raymond pops the vial open, as smoke comes out.

“If you want to join Palladium, you have to know. These liquids are demon blood harvested from the demons roaming North Lavia,” says Raymond, the vial still open between his fingers.

“As far as I know, Palladium is largely composed of demedioms. Do you know what a demediom is?”

“It’s a human with demon powers!” Nick answers confidently.

“Correct! When you mix the blood of a demon with the blood of a human, the human inherits the demon’s abilities and becomes a demediom.”

1 YEAR LATER

WESTERN NAZENDEL EXPRESSWAY

EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 7:55 PM

Without hesitation, Nick sticks the syringe into his shoulder, and injects the demon blood into his veins. It’s messy and his own blood leaks out, but he gets the job done. Unbeknownst to him, this syringe was Raymond’s planned gift to him on his 10th Birthday. Unfortunately, circumstances had changed and the gift arrived a bit too early.

As the lunatic begins to approach their car, Nick zaps the lunatic with a blast of electricity. The lunatic is caught off guard, but picks himself back up. Nick continues blasting him with electricity, but the lunatic eventually powers through the pain and stomps on the ground, creating a shockwave that knocks Nick over.

Before the lunatic ends the Altair bloodline, a sudden explosion hits him, blowing up half his body and his entire face. A man with blonde hair walks up to the body, and fires another explosive blast, making sure that the lunatic stays dead for good. He approaches Nick, who notices that the man sports a Palladium tag, Rank S. He is indeed the very same Rank S from the news report Nick watched earlier, but Nick was too out of it to recognize him. The man shakes Nick to see if he’s okay, but Nick passes out.

BELLVINE CLINIC

ROSCHER, GRATA - 9:36 AM

“Ah, he’s waking up!” a voice calls out as a five year-old Nick groggily opens his eyes. He stares at the dusty cement ceiling, muting the voice in the background as memories of last night come crashing to his brain. His father, Raymond Altair coughing up blood. His sister, Candace Altair, bleeding out in the backseat.

Nick briefly hyperventilates before being tightly gripped on the shoulder. Nick looks towards the arm that grabbed him, seeing a blonde man with a Palladium tag labeled “Rank S” - the very same man who saved him.

“You alright, kiddo?” the man asks.

“Wh- where am I…?” Nick responds as the man sits on his bed, facing away from him.

“Some Roscher clinic… Sorry, I’m not very familiar with the area,” the man replies as he turns towards Nick.

“You did good out there, holding your own against the bad guy-”

“Where’s my dad and sister?” Nick demands.

Silence overtakes the room as the blonde man looks over to his side, hiding his gloomy expression from Nick.

“They, uh… They’re in a better place now.”

Nick clutches his bedsheets as he begins to tear up. The blonde man puts his arm around Nick, patting him on the back. Their attention is soon diverted as the sole door in the room opens with a young woman sporting white scrubs walking inside.

“Oh, he’s awake!” the nurse exclaims as the blonde man nods.

“How are you feeling?” she asks as Nick stays silent.

“...”

“I know you’re the medical expert here, but I think he should get some more rest,” the blonde man replies, signalling to the nurse that they should talk outside. He nods at Nick as the two adults leave the room, with the door only closing part way leaving a tiny gap. Nick stares to the desk on his left, seeing Candace’s shattered bracelet.

“So… any update on the kid’s family?”

“I already informed you sir, didn’t I? His father died of blood loss and his sister died of shock,” the nurse answers as Nick secretly eavesdrops, listening intently.

“No, about his other relatives,” the man clarifies.

“We looked into his records and unfortunately we couldn’t find any other relatives. His father was a bigshot, but he must have been a runaway or a foreigner, somehow, ” says the nurse as the man scratches his head.

“What about financial compensation? It’s E-Drive’s fault in the first place that those demedioms went wild, right?”

“Damon Estreval put out a statement earlier regarding the incident. All he said was that they apprehended all the rogue demedioms. No mention of any compensation for the victims of last night’s disaster,” explains the nurse.

“Ugh… Surely this kid’s an exception, right? His father was the previous head scientist of the demediom project…”

“Sir, I understand that you lack knowledge because you hail from the north, but you shouldn’t expect any sort of accountability or recompense from Eternal Drive. No matter the circumstances,” the woman says as the man looks at her disappointedly.

“Okay… Hold on, lemme talk to the kid,” the man says as the woman nods. He heads back inside, surprised to see the door still open. He brushes it off, thinking Nick might not have understood the conversation.

“So, um… Do you have anyone you could stay with?” the man asks as Nick shakes his head. The blonde man briefly contemplates before putting his hands out, signalling Nick to wait as he heads back outside. After a few minutes, he enters the room once more.

“Alright. I can’t leave a kid like you alone, especially after what you’ve just been through,” the man tells Nick.

“Now, because of my hard work, my boss gave me permission to stay here in South Lavia for about a year. Is it okay with you if we live together during that year?” the man asks. A few days ago Nick would have been elated. He was going to be in the presence of a Palladium S-Rank officer for the next year, yet at this very moment he felt numb having just lost his family. With no choice but to accept the man’s kindness, Nick silently nods.

“That’s great! Let’s get to know each other, yeah? My name’s Rhyne Fortuna,” the man says as he sticks his hand out. Nick stares at the hand before reluctantly shaking it.

“Nick… Altair…”

15 YEARS LATER - PRESENT DAY

ABANDONED CONSTRUCTION SITE

TERMINUS, GRATA - 5:21 AM

Still digging, the two men continue to converse.

“So, what would you do if you had the chance to meet prince charming?” the older man asks.

“Thank him for saving me, ask him why he left so suddenly, then request him to teach me his ways,” replies Nick.

“Pfft. Have I not taught you enough?” the older man says in response, briefly scoffing at the absurdity of Nick’s remark.

“I don’t think you get it. Palladium Rank S’s are a different breed.”

“Hah… Palladium this, Palladium that… Those glorified pest control bastards could never be on my level.”

“Whatever you say, man.”

*THUMP*

Nick stops digging as he realizes something underground is blocking his shovel.

“I think I got it!” Nick states as the older man puts away his shovel. The two begin wearing gloves on their hands, and proceed to dig manually. After some digging, the two manage to pull out a large metallic box. Nick opens the box, revealing an unloaded assault rifle with several rounds of ammo inside a separate plastic bag. Nick looks over at the older man.

“All that digging for one gun?”

“Trust me kid, they’re gonna need a lot more after that Yundash demon is done whooping their asses. Expect more transactions in the next week,” replies the older man. Unbeknownst to the two, they were not alone. Something creeps from under the ground while the two men talk, and burrows its way out. A large shadow looms over the two men as they turn their heads towards it.

A huge, grotesque worm, about 16-feet long and 5-foot wide towers over the two. It opens its mouth, bearing several rows of gums and razor-sharp teeth. The inside of its mouth resembles a shredder with blades circling at every nook and cranny. It lunges towards the two, but they manage to dodge. Nick jumps upwards towards a roof, while the older man rolls to the side.

The worm chases Nick as he runs through the rooftop, devouring everything in its path. Before Nick reaches the edge of the rooftop, he jumps towards the side and manifests a huge, metallic greatbow out of thin air. Nick pulls back the bow’s string made of pure energy, and releases, shooting an electrically-charged arrow straight through the worm’s upper section, frying its insides and stunning it momentarily.

Though the worm suffered a fatal wound, it wasn’t enough to kill it. Before the worm can move again, the older man steps forward, his right hand glowing a light, mundane rainbow hue. The older man makes an upward slash motion with his right arm, severing the worm in two pieces. Nick lands on his feet and charges his bow once more, shooting the worm’s decapitated head to seal the deal.

“Shit… I thought Terminus was cleared?!” exclaims Nick, looking down at the worm demon’s corpse..

“Guess your Palladium didn’t do a very good job scouring the area...” says the older man as he picks up the box containing the firearm.

“This thing wasn’t here last week,” says Nick, a panicked expression on his face.

“It was. We just weren’t aware of it,” says the older man as he lights a cigarette.

“Who knows how long that thing’s been burrowed underground.”

The two exchange brief glances, both not wanting to stay in the area any longer.

“You should get back to Aeternum,” the older man tells Nick as he goes for a puff.

“What about the transaction?” asks Nick.

“I’ll handle it. You go back and warn the others of ever coming to Terminus. We don’t know what else could be lurking here.”

Nick nods as the older man hands him the keys to the car they drove in earlier. He steps into the car, and inserts the key. Before he starts up the engine, he takes a look at the rear view mirror. Tied underneath is a polaroid picture containing four people: Nick, the older man, a young man with flaxen hair and a young woman with jet black hair, strikingly similar to Nick. As he turns the car around, so does the picture. On the back is written:

03/24/2015

Evergreen

Friedman

Williams

Altair

NEVERGLOW

Nick drives off into the distance, with the sun peeking over the massive wall.

To Be Continued…