"We're close to home." Evan whispered. "T-that's the direction of my home." Evan sprinted off towards the suburbs, leaving his friends behind. Fear sunk into his skin and worrying thoughts began to arise.
'I have to check on them.' Evan thought. 'I have to check on her!' His legs were in motion before he even finished his thoughts. He had left his friends behind, zooming through the suburb to the end. Headlight monsters appeared all around him and Evan's worry only grew.
Evan summoned his shield and tossed it, watching the shield break the headlight monsters with ease. He lifted his hand and watched the shield come back to his hand. He continued forward, clearing the monsters as he passed. A cry caught his attention halfway to his home.
"Aghh!" A man yelled.
"Mr. Jenkins?" Evan whispered. He made his way over and noticed the old man was buried underneath rubble. "Mr. Jenkins?!? Hold on! I'll get these off you!" He used his shield to push most of the rubble off when Mr. Jenkins' eyes widened.
"They're here!" Mr. Jenkins shouted. He squeezed his eyes shut, producing rays that fired out. Evan yelped as the rays almost hit him. Two headlight monsters flew backwards, instantly dying to the rays while the rest swarmed Evan and Mr. Jenkins. "You'll never get me alive!"
"Mr. Jen-Jenkins!" Evan raised his shield to his face to not get shot. He watched rays go wide as the other headlight monsters closed in on them. "Alright, that's enough!" Mr. Jenkins froze in an instant as Evan's colorful energy swept the entire area. The Headlight monsters froze, slamming on the ground.
Evan tossed his shield, watching it destroy the monsters. When all was well, he released the kinetic energy, letting everything play. The rays destroyed Mr. Jenkins' home even further, leaving Evan with more than an idea on what happened.
"Mr. Jenkins, you gotta be more careful! What if you got buried alive and I wasn't around?" Evan scolded the old man as he pushed all of the debris off him.
"I'm fine! I would rather go out fighting than stand around like a loser!" Mr. Jenkins laughed. Evan lifted Mr. Jenkins up and dusted the dust off the old man. "Don't worry about me, boy! The bigger question is why you even showed up after disappearing for two years! Where were ya?"
"Somewhere safe." Evan answered. "You should get to the safety checkpoint." He turned his full attention to Mr. Jenkins.
"Bah!" Mr. Jenkins waved his hand. "I'll be fine. An old man like me doesn't have much to live for anymore! Don't worry about me. You showed up so that must mean you got worried about your people, hm? Go to them! Ain't like anyone's gonna step in there and try to save anyone! We're all on our own out here!"
Evan frowned as Mr. Jenkins turned and grumbled to himself about how 'his life was unfair.' He looked down the street and noticed there were still a few stragglers who hadn't quite made it out.
"Yea-yeah." Evan brushed Mr. Jenkins off. "Get to the safety point, Mr. Jenkins. I'm going on ahead."
"Yeah, yeah. Nobody wants to stay for an old man. I ain't got enough qualities of a likable person. I get it." Mr. Jenkins grumbled.
Evan cleared and helped wherever he could. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the broken gate. Headlight monsters rushed into the home, leaving Evan worried.
"Hey you assholes!" Evan shouted. He tossed the shield, missing its vital point. The headlight monsters turned and clicked. Their lights flashed violently as they made a run for Evan. "Argh!" Evan grunted. A shield appeared, slamming on the ground and crumpling the headlight monsters to bits. He let out a huff as the sounds of people were behind him.
'I hope they're okay.' Evan thought.
"Evan!" Ritsuka shouted as he turned to look behind him. It was only his friends. He turned and rushed inside.
'Please let them be okay!' Evan rushed over to the door and turned to look at his friends one last time. 'I hope they'll understand me.' He moved through the door and left it open. It wasn't like keeping the door closed would do anything in this case.
Evan moved down the hall and to the right. He entered the living room and quickly made his way up the stairs and to the left. "If I remember correctly, it should be the time she's cleaning the library. Maybe she's there."
"Ah!" A maid flew out one of the many rooms and slammed against the wooden walls, watching it crack. A wispy metallic monster appeared in front of her, grabbing her neck and keeping her pinned up against the wall.
Evan rushed forward without a thought. He conjured the shield and flew straight through the shadowy monster. It fizzled, releasing the girl and then reappeared, going straight for the kill. Evan grunted, conjuring the shield on his back to block the attack. He pushed himself onto his feet, letting the kinetic energy bundled inside of him out. A loud explosion flew outwards, slamming the doors against the walls and pushing the monster backwards.
Evan turned and reached his hand out to the monster, watching it appear right in his hands. He smiled and released the built-up kinetic energy, watching everything in the monster be blasted to bits.
The maid's eyes were wide. A ghost had somehow come to save her. A ghost. She began to scream when Evan knelt and tried to shush her.
"Ghost!" The maid shouted, scooting away from her dear Master. She squeezed her eyes shut and unconsciously let the flames out of her hands.
"H-hey, you'll burn the house down if you do that!" Evan told her. He could hear footsteps enter the door. "Where's Head Maid?" When she didn't respond to him, he grabbed her and shook her. "Where is she?"
"S-she told me to run away… She's holding the shadow monster off in the library." The maid reluctantly answered.
"What do you do in times like these?" Evan asked.
"Get to safety. S-save others if possible." The maid answered. He lifted the maid up and looked her in the eyes.
"Go to the cellar like you were trained to do. Others will be waiting." Evan instructed. She slowly nodded and he lifted his finger for her to wait. He peeked over the railing and listened to his friends delegate where they were going.
"A-are you actually alive, M-Master Evan?" The maid quietly asked.
"I'm not a ghost." Evan smiled at the maid. He nodded at her and motioned for her to go. "Go. If you see my friends, do not harm them."
"Your friends?" The maid asked. Her master turned his back to her and started over to the end of the hall. "Those letters were true? They're here too? Does that mean the Creator's son is here?" Evan stopped and turned.
"Don't worry about him. He's harmless. If you find anyone along the way, help them as best you can. Remember your training!" Evan turned back towards his destination and moved past the doors to the end. The very last door on the left was the only door closed. He tried to open the door but found it locked.
'Of course it's locked.' Evan turned and entered the opposing room. He grabbed some hairpins from his Mom's powder room and picked the door open. The house was fairly old fashioned, integrated with a line of technology that became popular over the years. The wood in this house was once made of something from the past, but after the serum changed the entire world, the entire house was updated to fit the era and withstand outbursts from Evan.
Evan jumped up the stairs two at a time, quickly climbing to the top.
"You think a simple spell will do much to me, old lady?" A gravel voice asked. Head Maid Teresa gritted her teeth as she held the dagger she always kept on her thigh. She had graying hair with strands of black still visible. The woman was thick-boned, but looks were simply deceiving when it came to Head Maid Teresa.
The shadow monster floated in the air wearing a hood. Purple eyes glared at the Head Maid while its torn cloak billowed behind it. It was trapped in a magical circle - Head Maid's doing. It lifted the dagger in its right hand and let the runes glimmer.
"Head Maid!" Evan shouted. The maid turned and that's when the shadow monster made its move. It broke out of the trap and attacked the Head Maid. It slashed her chest and went in for the plunging kill. "No!"
Evan felt the black dagger plunge into his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and released the kinetic energy build-up. The shadow monster flew backwards, hitting the bookshelves. Books spilled, releasing white runes.
"Holy chain!" The Head Maid shouted. Chains flew out of the books and wrapped around the shadow monster, binding it into place. "Master Evan what're you—"
"Futile." The shadow monster sighed. The chains shattered and the black dagger flew out of Evan's shoulder and into the monster's hand. "Protecting mere books for this Master of yours? It looks like he came to die."
Evan touched his necklace and released the Void Storage rune. He pulled a health potion out and drank it. His wounds healed in an instant as the bottle disappeared from his hands.
"Hm, I've never seen something like that before." The shadow monster whispered. "No matter, you will both die here."
"I'd like to see you try, bub!" Evan growled.