"Why am I always the one getting bossed around?" Copper childishly huffed and pointed an accusatory finger at the ash blonde twins. "Get Alec and Sam to do something!"

Ah yes, dealing with children. This was exactly what you expected to do in the second phase of the SF trial.

"But you're best suited for this job," you said.

"Really?"

Ah-hah. Got em. "Of course! Who else can manipulate shadows like that. Honestly, your abilities are way better than the SF candidates."

The child looked away bashfully, albeit still had his eyebrows adorably furrowed. "Obviously..."

The apparition twins looked at each other before running over to your side. The sister on your right tugging your sleeve and the brother on your left doing the same, they looked up at you with darling clockwork eyes and asked,

"Big sister, what about us?"

"Are our abilities better, too?"

Alastor groaned. "Can we just get a move on?"

You sighed wearily. Alastor, as impatient as ever. "Yup, just give me a second. Copper, can you draw up the map?"

To sum things up, you called out for Copper to use his abilities. However, you somehow ended up having the ash blonde twins and Alastor come along as well. Thinking the more the merrier, you just accepted their company.

Copper's ability was the manipulation of shadows––and it was an extremely flexible ability. Before the banquet, you found out that he could draw images with his ability using existing shadows. This was perfect for you. Here's the thing, you needed a way to navigate the area outside the city. The original plan was to access the map on the digital device, which would've been fine but the small screen was inconvenient. Figuring that it wouldn't hurt, you asked Copper to use his ability to replicate the map.

Alastor appeared beside you. "How do you even use that map? It's so vague."

Sam looked at the map in awe, peering over and almost falling in the process. Her brother pulled her back in time. Well, it wasn't like a fall would physical hurt her, but the gesture was sweet.

"Maybe Copper drew it wrong?" Sam asked.

"Hey, I did it right!"

You nodded. "Yeah, the maps aren't that great if you're looking for detail. It gives away key locations and acts as a general layout. Using this to find your way back is not the most reliable." You smiled. "Well, that only applies to someone who hasn't been outside the city before."

Alastor gave you a curious look. "And you're saying you have? I doubt I'm wrong, but no one goes outside the city, like––ever. Sometimes the specialty force people would, though."

Of course, playing Anomalous allowed you to have a pretty good grasp on how to navigate the place outside the city. After all, there was a whole arc dedicated to that. Though, what you didn't have that Amias did was a detailed map readily available. The player would unlock it and could explore to their heart's content. It was a game feature that would be wonderful to have right now. But you could rely on your knowledge to fill in some of the gaps the map by the AEI couldn't provide.

"Let's just say I technically have," you responded to Alastor's comment.

There was no need to be discreet with your knowledge around Alastor unlike with the other characters. The dude had access to your memories and saw that you had died. Though, he doesn't seem to know that this world is a game. Otherwise, he would've brought it up by now.

Thankfully, Alastor didn't pry. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, it'll be great if we can find a landmark first to figure out where we are. Once we do, I can better navigate this map. But I do have a place in mind."

Honestly, it would be great to meet up with Amias and leech off his map feature, but that'll have to wait. There was a certain character you needed to encounter before Caleb did, and that meant not sticking by the protagonist.

The kids had no objections to your decisions and you dismissed them, leaving only Alastor by your side. The walk was peaceful, especially since apparitions would avoid you because of Alastor. His expression remained indifferent, but you did notice that he'd sneak subtle glances at you. Eventually, he let out a sigh and asked,

"I held back the questions before since you were tired and all, but what's up with... virtually everything about you?

Ah, it was about time he asked. Should you just flat out admit 'yeah so, don't get an existential crisis but this world used to be a video game I played and now I got isekaied straight into it. Wild, right?' There was the fact that parts of your memories were omitted to Alastor, so maybe you shouldn't tell him? It was a difficult decision since it you weren't sure of the reception.

Hm... Might as well try, it'll answer a lot of questions for him. And there really was no reason to hide it, right?

"The thing is, this world's––"

Dread seized you for a moment, and as if someone had tied a thin yet sharp string around your throat, something urged you to stop talking; something subtle yet dangerous. For a brief moment, the world turned monochrome and blurred and it felt like someone had embedded a code into your head, a code that read:

[Do not bring up that Anomalous is a game]

Then, the world reverted back to its usual state.

"Why did you suddenly stop?" Alastor noticed your expression. "Hey, are you okay?"

You took in a shaky breath, trying to calm yourself down. Just what the hell was that? It was so quick you almost doubted it even happened.

"I'm... fine." You cleared your throat and suppressed the feeling of apprehension. Do not mention that this world is a game. "You had access to my memories, right? Shouldn't that answer a great deal of questions? Actually, I'm surprised you didn't ask about how I came back to life."

Alastor tilted his head, then his eyes widened a little. "Are you talking about our first encounter?"

When Alastor first possessed you, he showed a not so great vision of your dead body. You still remember it vividly.

..What was this?

The darkness that once occupied your vision had vanished and an image showed up in its replacement. At first, what it was didn't occur to you. But, when realisation hit you, you were left in both shock and confusion.

Collapsed walls, broken furniture, scattered debri, shattered glass; judging from the scraps of evidence that you could piece together, you concluded that it was your apartment back at home in ruins. At a closer inspection, you could see a body crushed underneath the ruin, blood pooling out from underneath them at an alarming rate. Horror struck you when you recognised who it was.

Glassy and lifeless eyes, limp body, pale skin, breathless; no matter how much you tried to doubt or deny the possibility, you couldn't run away from the fact that it was undoubtedly your dead body. The sight was so nauseating that you felt the urge to retch right then and there.

You...you were dead?

"Yeah, you showed me my death and everything, right?"

"I assumed it was a manifestation of your fear or something, not a literal death... Great, now I'm more confused."

"Okay... There is literally no perfect way to explain this so I'll just dump all the information." You clapped your hands and took in a deep breath. "So, I technically don't belong in this world. I had died in my previous life and transmigrated here a few months ago. Fun fact, it was on the exact same day we first encountered. I can't tell you why, but I have some prerequisite knowledge about some stuff in this world. I have odd abilities, but I honestly don't know why and how. And yeah, that's about it."

"..."

"..."

"What––"

"I'll give you a moment to digest that."

For once in his life, Alastor didn't have a snarky remark. "Another world... I mean, I see it in movies and stuff all the time, but to think that it's actually true. It does explain a lot of things, though."

"You believe me? Just like that? Not a very skeptical person, huh?"

Alastor scoffed. "Dismissing an idea just because it took me off by surprise? I'm not like that. Plus, I can't think of a better explanation." He quickly changed the topic. "Isn't it hard getting accustomed to a different world?"

Yes and no. Luckily, you were an avid fan of the game so the world itself was familiar knowledge-wise. However, having to experience so much action and seeing apparitions and exorcists in real life did need some time getting used to. Not to mention, your day to day life was just so different from your normal yet dull life back then.

Back then you'd wake up and spend the morning alone. Now, Caleb would drop by and insist to make you breakfast or drag you out of the AEI to eat out. In your previous life you'd go to study and work towards your education, now you're engaging in plenty of physical activity going into operations and spending time training––dealing with Lyle every time became a whole skill. Your favourite past time was to go to the library and spend time alone for hours either reading or writing. This time, Amias would happily accompany you even if you stayed at the place for the entire day, then your entire support team would drop by and everyone would hang out in the library together.

Yes, this world was far more dangerous. But this world also felt a little less lonely.

"I managed. Like I said, I have some knowledge on this world, so I wasn't entirely lost," you answered. "But it did take some time."

Alastor nodded. "So, what's your goal?"

TLDR; survive. If you were to go into depth, then you'd say that you wanted to be someone who gave it their all and didn't shy away from something because of uncertainty. There was also the fact that you wanted to save as many people as possible, especially since in the end Amias massacres everyone. You shuddered at the thought. Yeah, you definitely needed to stop that.

"It's hard to put into words..." You trailed off for a moment. "But there are things I'd like to change. Sorry if it's vague."

Alastor shrugged. "There's no point in forcing it out of you." For a moment, he looked hesitant to say his next words. "...Hey, what kind of life did you have before you came here?"

You never anticipated that you'd be talking about your past life, so you were a little caught off guard. "A normal one. Worked a job at a cafe, went to university, wanted to be an author on the side."

It wasn't a bad life, but it wasn't the most fulfilling. That's why you turned to writing. There were not many emotional connections, which made it easier to leave that world when you transmigrated here. There wasn't really anyone you missed. However, you did work hard to secure yourself, which was why when you first arrived here it was difficult to accept all of that was thrown away.

"That's... very normal," Alastor said. "Your aspirations of becoming an author probably impacted your ability, huh?"

There's probably more to it than that, but that was the gist of it. "I guess so."

"Was there a specific reason why you were brought here?"

Your eyes narrowed at a particular memory.

Your eyes widened at the implication and you set aside the odd shift in the topic. "So, you were the one who brought me here?"

[That isn't important]

"Well, it is to me! I can finally get some answers!" you exclaimed. "What did you expect when bringing me here? What exactly is my purpose?"

[You were an author. That was what I needed you to do, to be an author]

After a short while, you said, "... I have an idea, but just an idea."

Alastor nodded. "Did apparitions exist where you were from?"

"Debatable. Some people believe in them, others didn't. But it was definitely not like this world. We didn't have literal exorcists and apparitions who could endanger lives," you said. "Oh, and the world isn't monochrome like 99% of the time."

"What do you mean?"

"How often do we see a sunny day?"

"..."

"Exactly."

The conversation ended there, but you could tell Alastor wanted to ask more questions. You smiled to yourself at that, his curious side was kind of cute. Perhaps another day you'd open up a little more.

You and Alastor approached an abandoned town. When you stepped in, you had to squint your eyes at how thick the mist was. Snow crunched underneath your feet, your breaths and footsteps interrupting the silence, and you shivered at the frigid air. The dilapidated buildings were frozen in time and snowflakes slowly descended the area. You and Alastor exchanged glances before you dismissed him. You had a feeling who was here and you were very apprehensive in advancing because of him.

Mind alert and gaze attentive, you walked through the town with your arms wrapped around your body to shield yourself from the cold. "Maybe I should bring one of those portable heating packets..." you mumbled.

From a distance, you faintly made out a silhouette of a tall individual. Ensuring that your breath and footsteps were as light as possible, you cautiously drew closer. Silver eyes with a gaze that strayed away from you, a thoughtful expression on his pale yet unfairly picturesque features, and short white hair with bangs that briefly covered his left eye; yup, that was the silver apparition. Encountering him wasn't in your plans, but something that you somewhat accounted for.

Uh... he seems to be deep in thought. Maybe I can sneak away...

That plan didn't last for long. The moment you tried stepping away, he made eye contact with you and his white eyelashes fluttered in recognition. Then, a small breeze brushed by and you closed your eyes momentarily. The moment you opened them, the apparition was right in front of you. His face was close to yours, catching you off by surprise and allowing you to see how long his eyelashes were. His presence was equivocal yet beautifully mesmerising; ethereal when first observed, but also insidious as snowflakes indicate a cold and unforgiving winter that preys on warmth.

"We meet again, my first memory." The male's white lab coat fluttered in the wind. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

First memory...? Ah, that's right. Those were the last words he said before you parted ways a few months ago.

"I'm just being honest." The apparition stood up and looked at you. "What's your name?"

You shot him a confused look. "Uhm...(Y/n)?"

He nodded. "(Y/n). I'll make you my first memory then."

After the second phase of the SF trial, Amias encountered the silver apparition later in the game. By then, he was someone who had his mind set on his goals. Even now you weren't certain what that goal was, you only had theories. However, you could confidently say that he decided to work with the chairman and became a recurring enemy before becoming one of the final bosses Amias had to fight.

The silver apparition was eventually exorcised after hours of you being a pure gamer. Then, Anomalous had ended before you had the chance to learn his backstory in detail. In terms of character, you were all for the silver apparition. After all, he had a beautiful character design, his actions were interesting and allowed for many theories and character analysis to manifest, was morally ambiguous, his dialogue was fun, and the ost for his battles were a banger.

But, as interesting this encounter was, you hoped that you could somehow wrap this up as soon as possible. Getting to that location took priority. You couldn't afford spending too much time here.

"It has..." You glanced around the area. "You sure made this place your home, huh?"

"It's temporary. I prefer to keep moving as opposed to staying in one place," he explained. "May I ask what you're doing here? I believe people avoided coming outside the city because of its perilous nature."

"I have my reasons."

"How curious. Do you distrust me?"

"I'm being cautious."

"Fair enough." He tilted his head and closed his eyes for a moment. "Ah, do you mind if I talk a little? It's been some time since I've held a proper conversation. It's quite difficult when those I encounter either run, scream, are on the verge of death, try to exorcise me... the list is fairly long."

The apparition's voice was gentle. You were sure no matter how harrowing his words were, the soft lullaby nature of his voice would coax his tone and make anything he says appear harmless. He must've caught onto your tense look because he did his best to put on a reassuring smile––yes he looked attractive, but the smile was more unsettling to you than reassuring.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't harm you. Though, I must ask, are you an exorcist?"

For a moment, his silver eyes gleamed. You felt like one wrong word would result in a clean and instant death.

Successfully keeping your tone calm, you responded, "I don't have exorcism abilities, so technically no."

"No?" He was quiet. "How odd."

"What would've happened if I said yes?"

"You don't need to worry. Though... I learnt a while ago that the place I broke out of was the AEI. You work there, don't you? Doesn't that make us enemies?"

There was something about his words and the way he carried himself that urged you to justify yourself as soon as possible. It also didn't help that you were technically in his territory right now. He had the complete advantage if you were to face off against him.

"Enemies, huh..." You literally worked with apparitions. However, you wouldn't say you were on the 'apparitions' side. After all, bad apparitions existed, morally grey ones existed, good ones existed. "Depends. What is your goal?"

"Answering my question with another, I see." His expression remained indifferent, but a curious hum flowed from his pale lips. "I suppose I'll let it slide. There's another thing I'd like to address. I've been exploring human emotions, it's fascinating. One of my wishes is to understand at least a bit of it. After all, I was once human, wasn't I?"

You nodded slowly. "Go on..."

"I've conducted a bit of research through observation and literature. I did try questioning a few people, but that was inefficient as you know. Though, I have some confidence in my conclusion."

This guy really loved beating around the bush. You almost groaned when you asked, "What's your conclusion?"

"It's in regards to my feelings about you." He paused for a moment. "I believe it's love?"

"..."

"..."

Huh.

"I wonder why you look so displeased. Did I offend you?"

Your brain stuttered for a good few seconds. "Wait, wait. Love? Good sir, we interacted for a good two minutes months ago and all of it was me on the verge of death."

The apparition fluttered his eyes in confusion.

He's just showing off his pretty eyes at this point.

"... Does the contents of our interaction matter?" he asked innocently.

"Yes?? I mean, typically? If I happen to stab you, that wouldn't really spark love, right? Unlessyou'reintothat."

"But you can't stab me, I'm an apparition––"

"That was meant to be hypothetical."

"Why would someone be 'into' stabbing?"

"I shouldn't have said anything."

"Then, if I explain my thought process, would you help me out?"

Honestly, no. But you were very curious about his answer. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

"My chest feels light when my thoughts wander to you. For the past few months, you're often on my mind. And the idea of you remaining by my side pleases me," he said. "So? What is it that I'm feeling?"

You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose. You took a moment to consider this from an outsider's perspective, seeing the silver apparition as a character. You sifted through what you knew about him and a look of realisation crossed your features. Ah, okay. Now his behaviour made some sense.

"Question, if it were between you and me and one of us had to die, who would you save?"

The silver apparition looked at you as if you had just asked him the easiest question on earth. "Myself. Why?"

"..."

"..."

"... Not even a second thought about me?"

"Why should I? It's logical to prioritise myself." He tilted his head. "Though, I supposed it would be a shame if you died."

Bruh.mp3

You sighed. "Then, you don't love me. Heck, you don't even like me. I bet you would 100% stand me up on a first date."

"Stand up someone? Ah, I recently learnt what that meant. That's quite rude. Even if I dislike the individual, I would still make the effort," he said, expression completely serious.

"You didn't need to justify yourself, but okay."

"Then, what are my feelings for you?"

There wasn't time for you to conduct a lesson explaining emotions to an apparition. Though, if the situation were different, then you were sure that you wouldn't mind discussing the depths of human emotions. After all, you were an author. Themes regarding human experiences and emotions were fun to convey and debate on.

You walked past the apparition. "I'll elaborate another time."

A wall of ice blocked your path, causing you to stumble back a little. The apparition peered over your shoulder, leaned close to your face, and whispered, "It'll be convenient if you finished explaining now."

You recoiled back. Okay, now you were slowly feeling a little frustrated. "I'm not sure, okay? You're probably curious about me, I interest you. There's no feelings of attachment."

"If I satisfy my curiosity, then the feelings would go away? Even if it's by force?"

"Yeah, since you don't love me you wouldn't mind if I get hurt."

You paused. Wait, fuck––

The ground shook underneath your feet and you jumped back and dodged a line of icicles that shot up from the ground, your feet skidding against the snow for a brief moment as a shaky breath escaped you. What the hell, was he trying to get you killed?!

"Oh, you're faster than I anticipated. Though, I wasn't trying to hit you. I simply wanted to create an inescapable cage."

Is that really any better, though?!

The wind blew stronger and you regretted not bringing glasses to shield your eyes from the snow.

"Don't worry, unless you threaten my life, I won't severely harm you. It's in your best interest to stop resisting and save your energy."

"I have somewhere to be," you said. "It'll make things easier for the both of us if you let me go. Maybe we can... like schedule another time?"

"Unfortunately, that doesn't concern me. I'm unsure of when the next time we will meet, so I don't want to miss out on this chance."

Welp, cooperation was out of the picture, but it wasn't like you were going to willingly surrender yourself. Though your strength wasn't as great as everyone else, you can put up a fight. You weren't defenceless anymore.

I just need to catch him a little off guard. You remained still and the apparition created an iced caged.

"I'm pleased that you've decided to stop resisting," he said. "So, you were on the verge of death, yet you managed to go up the rooftop. Not to mention, your body had recovered to some degree. I thought about it for a while and I couldn't come to a logical conclusion. Is there something I'm missing?"

You had all the answers to his inquiries, but you weren't about to just give him what he wanted. You could use his curiosity to your advantage in the future, use it as some form of leverage. The silver apparition loved to learn, he was always curious about Amias and you loved the attention since you wanted more content and you were on the other side of the screen plus you were a simp for hot men. Now that you were facing a similar treatment, you took everything back.

"Yeah, there's something you're missing." You smiled. "But I don't feel like telling you."

You summoned Mochi and the wolf shattered the ice that trapped you. For a fraction of a second, the silver apparition's eyes widened. You dismissed the wolf and immediately made a run for it. There was no way you could defeat the silver apparition and even if you did it'll take too much time and energy.

The apparition glanced over his shoulder. With a subtle hand gesture, another rush of snow came after you. You dodged it by using the ice to your advantage and slid across. You practised moving around on ice to prepare for this eventual encounter, looks like it paid off. This time the ice won't hinder your balance, but increase your agility.

"Impressive, you're adapting much better than last time." A small hum left the silver apparition and he snapped his fingers. The ice disappeared and you almost tripped because of that. "I wonder what's so important for you to be in such a rush?"

You stopped running. How was he in front of you already?

"You're not responding... I suppose I'll just have to enact greater force. Forgive me for this."

A raging blizzard took over the space. Snow was rapidly piling up and the wind groaned ghastly; a chill ensnared your skin and you had to shield your eyes from the tumultuous snowstorm. What should you do now? What did you do when you played as Amias?

...

... I just abused his ability to teleport 90% of the time. Well, shit.

Under the storm, you heard a faint reverb for a moment. Then, the wind felt like it had significantly slowed down and the cold was far less oppressing. Gradually, you lifted your head up from your arms and your lips were asunder as you marvelled at the sight. It looked as if time had slowed down––actually, you were beginning to think that was the case. The ticks of clockwork chanted rhythmically, echoing in your head. Even though this is the first time you've experienced such a thing, your mind instantly went over to the twins with clockwork eyes. Was this their doing?

Think about it later, I should use this to my advantage. You shook off the stiffness in your limbs because of the cold and ran, adrenaline kindling within you as you powered strength in your legs. The more as time elapsed, the faster the sound of the ticking became as if it was warning you that time was almost up.

Then, time reverted back to normal. The moment it happened, a wave of dizziness rushed through your head and you fell forward.

"Big sister! Are you okay?"

You squinted and faintly made out the ash blonde twins, but you couldn't muster up a response. Your mind was distorted and sense of space a mess; it was as if any concept of time you had was tangled together messily. You remained still, eyes sewed shut as you focused on your breathing. After who knows how long, your breathing steadied and you were able to look around without the world spinning.

"S-sorry, we didn't mean to hurt you," Alec said tearfully. "We wanted to help. I––I...I didn't know that..."

You gently patted his head. "No, no. You guys did great. Side effects happen, it's not your fault. But we should get out of here before the apparition comes again."

"You're safe. That white haired guy didn't go after you," Alastor said. "You alive there?"

"Well, look who's concerned."

"I try."

"Hey, look at their eyes." Copper pointed out. "The hands on the clocks are different."

Alec and Sam glanced at each other, confused, whilst you and Alastor observed their eyes. Oh, there was something different about them. Usually, their eyes would display midnight, but now it was slightly off.

"Sam's eyes show that it has been a minute, Alec's eyes show three," Alastor noted. "Huh. I'm assuming Alec's eyes show how long the ability was used for and Sam's eyes showing what it was in real time. In short, in the span of one minute you did what you would've normally done in triple the time."

So, time was slowed down. Essentially, your actions were three times faster than usual.

"We stopped because big brother told us to," Sam said, hands fiddling with her shirt as a guilty look clouded her eyes. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again without your permission next time..."

"Don't worry about it." Alastor sighed. "I should've spoken up sooner."

"It's no one's fault, it's the first time the ability was used, after all," you said. "Plus, you helped out. Good job. I wouldn't have gotten past the apparition if it weren't for you two."

The twins brightened and asked at the same time, "really?"

You chuckled. "Really. Alastor, do you know where the silver apparition is?"

"I'm assuming gone. He didn't go after you and the snow has disappeared as well."

"Did he just give up?" you mumbled. Oh well, you'd ponder about it once the SF trial was over. "So... regarding the time ability. I'm assuming the longer I use it, the more distorted my sense of time becomes. I wonder how we can improve that."

Alastor shook his head. "It's risky to train this ability. We don't know if training the ability can increase the chance of irreversible damages. Leave it as a last resort." Alastor glanced at the twins. "Remember, you can use your ability for yourself, but do not use it on her unless she says so or if I let you, okay?"

The siblings nodded, completely docile. You resisted the urge to pat their heads because of how cute they looked.

"Though, it does feel like a waste of potential," you said.

"Don't stress about it," Alastor responded. "...Though, I'm assuming if it's for a brief moment, and by that I mean no more than three seconds, you should be okay."

"But to be extra safe, I shouldn't abuse this ability."

"Exactly."

You smiled appreciatively, you could tell his last statement was to make you feel a little better. So, you've unlocked another ability, huh? Slowing down time... If it weren't for the side effects that would've given you a huge advantage.

Alec raised a hand. "Can we say something?"

"Of course."

He smiled widely and excitedly jumped. "The man in the white coat, I think I know him!"

Your eyes glimmered in interest. Hah, so your theory was correct. The silver apparition was indeed one of the researchers at the lab that was running half a century ago. You speculated as much, but it was nice to have solid confirmation.

"Do you know what kind of person he was?" you asked.

The three kids looked at each other and shook their heads.

Sam spoke up, "We don't know how he became a ghost... I think we were one before him."

"I didn't feel anything bad from him," Copper said. "Unlike with the old guy at the restaurant."

Copper was probably referring to the chairman during the banquet. Interesting. Was the silver apparition someone amiable in the past? You were growing curious to learn more about him. He was someone who had lost his memory and desired to get it back, yet he also had an insatiable curiosity to learn. You theorised that he teamed up with the chairman for the former. If that really was the case, then you had an advantage over him. The apparition children directly connected to his past.

"Hey Copper, can you pull up the map again?"

You observed the space around you and pinpointed a general area of where you were. Thankfully, where you planned to go wasn't far away. If it had been then... well, it would've made things difficult.

"Alright, let's keep moving."

You mainly said that for yourself, but the apparitions didn't dismiss. Alec and Sam were annoying Copper to draw up various things for them with your shadow, Copper eventually got annoyed and they all started bickering, and Alastor told them all off. It was lively to say the least. At one point, Copper whined suggested that you try his abilities as well aside from drawing images with a shadow. And let's just say it was definitely something useful.

"It's great not having to worry about possession," you commented. "I'm assuming apparitions avoid me because of you guys, huh?"

You still couldn't see apparitions, but you could very well sense them. Sometimes you'd physically feel them bump into you. It's kind of freaky.

Alastor looked smug for a moment. "Not sure, but if that's the case then smart move on their part. I'm obviously stronger than all of them."

Well, he's not wrong. You couldn't believe that they were your allies. Alastor was a literal walking thunderstorm, the twins could manipulate time and Copper could do virtually anything with your shadow.

Finally, you reached the place you intended to go. Judging from how quiet it was, you assumed you were here early. Good. You dismissed the apparitions and entered the ruined town; attentive and cautious. It was deserted and apparitions were probably crawling all over the place.

Life was as prominent as a phantasm and the wind was like a soft flutter of a raven's wings. Voices would echo with no response and pleads for help would be forgotten like an astray soliloquy. Debris scattered the space, emphasising that it was a spectre of an area once with buildings and infrastructure. There was an unnerving stillness in the area that made each step difficult to take. When you were further in, the croak of ravens filling in the silence. You paused, recognising whose presence this implied.

A raven suddenly flew past you and your gaze followed its direction. It landed on the shoulder of an individual leaning against a ruined building.

Wait, leaning against a wall? Isn't he a––never mind.

His eyes were bright and green, but his expression was disturbingly playful.

"Hello, Miss. You don't look like you belong here."

The young man casually approached you and it wasn't long before his eyebrows rose in recognition. A grin stretched across his lips. Arms behind his back and lightness in his movements, he picked up his pace. During that, ravens began appearing one by one. Before you knew it, they had circled around. It was as if all their eyes were fixed on you, waiting for the moment to rip you to shreds.

"Oh! Don't mind them." He chuckled, waving a dismissive hand. "They'll only attack on my command."

That doesn't actually make me feel any better, but thanks anyways.

The tall male had the AEI specialty force jacket wrapped around his thin waist. And since he happened to wear a tight fitted black T-Shirt, it emphasised his broad shoulders and muscular build. Short inky black hair with bangs parted to the left, revealing a part of his forehead, and a beauty mark underneath his lips; his features were mature and charming.

"(Y/n) was it? A pleasure to meet you. Actually, what was the other name... Oh!" The male's eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers. "It was Miss Support!" He chuckled to himself before continuing,

"Silly me, how can I forget the nickname my little brother gave you?"







A/n: I've accepted the fact that 99% of my chapters will end with a line of dialogue.