Acrypha left the car too as she stared at the ruined town. Her expression was dark and she could only suck in a deep breath. Then, her eyes shifted to Talon only to realize that he had a completely emotionless look on her face.
Staring deeply into his eyes, all she could see was an empty look. Even with how much she knew Talon, she could not read anything running through his head at that moment. But, she didn't have to read him to know what he was going through at that moment.
'It must be tough on him...' She thought to herself as she sighed.
Seeing one's entire childhood disappear in such a manner wasn't easy at all. Even when Acrypha didn't understand it, she knew that it was horrible.
"Let's go." At that point, Talon's stoic voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Looking at him, he closed the door before he started walking into the town.
Acrypha silently stared at his back before following him.
The moment he stepped foot into it, Talon was met with a raw, close-up shot of the entire place. If what he saw first was a ruined town, what he witnessed now was a brutally detailed apocalyptic town.
The smaller details of the broken buildings, the stains of blood here and there, unknown whether it belonged to humans or to monsters, and the prominent smell of death that permeated the place. It was a tragic sight. Looking around him, Talon could see several dimension walkers roaming the streets aimlessly.
Their appearance was similar to one another so Talon couldn't really recognize the people that turned into these monsters. However, he knew for certain that they were people he knew in the past. He could feel it.
Stopping for a few seconds, Talon stared at the three dimensions walkers. Eventually, they noticed his presence and started approaching him.
"..."
A myriad of emotions flashed across Talon's eyes as he bit his lip and moved forward. Then, in a split second, he dashed through the monsters, pulling all of their cores out in a single swift motion.
The three monsters dropped to the ground, dead. Talon slowly turned around and stared at the remains of the monsters before he closed his eyes.
"You may rest now..." He murmured in a low tone before he put the cores down next to them.
Acrypha watched the entire interaction from the side without uttering a word. She knew that this was Talon's way of paying respect to the dead people. If anything, seeing this side of him made her feel his sadness even more.
But, she still didn't want to say anything. Talon didn't need any words at that moment, he simply was going through that experience by his own choice.
With that, Talon turned around and continued moving through the town, staring around silently. He seemed completely lost in his own world for a while. That was until he stopped in front of a particular building... Or at least, whatever was left of a building.
"... This was the bakery I used to go to..." He said as he pointed at it. "They made the best cheese bread in the entire country." His tone was a little nostalgic and yet also filled with bitterness.
"Oh..."
"I used to come here, even when I didn't have money on me. The old lady who ran it would always give me something for free. She was very nice." Talon could only smile softly as he recalled those memories.
"..." Looking around him, Talon realized that from the last time he visited, the house had changed. Apart from the huge amounts of dust and debris that filled the entire place, there wasn't as much furniture around.
"They aren't here..." Murmuring to himself, Talon slowly walked inside, avoiding the debris.
From what he could see of the condition of the house, it seemed nobody had lived here for a while. That made him suspect that they weren't there. But, just in case, he decided to search the entire house. There were only three rooms anyway.
Approaching the first one, he opened the door only to be met with an empty kitchen. No one was inside. All the utensils were also gone. That roused suspicion in Talon's head.
"... Did someone take them?"
Walking around the place, Talon made sure to check everywhere. Then, when he didn't find what he was looking for, he left the kitchen and moved to the next room which was his parents' bedroom.
Just like the one before it, the entire room was empty. Many things were taken from it.
"Oh..." As he moved around the room, Talon noticed a single detail. On the table near the bed, one item was missing.
"The family picture... it's gone." He said as his eyes lit up with hope. "If it's missing then that means my parents had probably taken it with them.
Looking behind him at Acrypha, he smiled excitedly. "I knew it! They must've changed locations since the house was destroyed! They should be still in town, hopefully."
Acrypha smiled slightly as she nodded her head.
"Ok, let's go. I need to check the last room and go out to search for them." With an excited look on his face, Talon left the bedroom and moved to the last room in the house... His room.
"I wonder if it's still intact or not."
As he was about to twist the handle, Talon suddenly heard noises coming from outside the house. Immediately, he stopped his movements as he turned around and spread his senses.
'There is someone outside. I can't identify if it's a dimension walker or a human...' He identified the presence with ease as he started slowly moving to the exit. 'It's coming straight here.'
Getting near the exit, he summoned one of the Aetherial Blades and got ready to engage in a fight.
The steps of the unidentified individual grew closer and closer until they finally appeared through the door.
At that moment, Talon made eye contact with that person and everything stopped.
"... Dad?"
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!