An evening on the weekend. 19 O'clock. An otherwise uneventful day. The sky was already beginning to darken with night, the two moons hanging in the sky, each one a pale crescent of light. Granted, the moons were barely visible amongst the skyscrapers that begged for attention amongst the skyline of Solheim's capital, Whitford.

The streets were bustling with people from all races and of all appearances. Whitford was a home for all, a hub of constantly changing people and the ideas that formed within their minds.  Founded as the first safe place for Daemons, all were welcomed here. It wasn't unusual to see all four races integrated together. Segregation had been banished in this city, a safe haven for all that came.

Of course, even though it was safe, that definitely didn't mean that it wasn't lively. Any resident would tell you without a doubt that its nights were just as full of happenings as in the daytime.

On this particular night, two men stepped off of a bus, each dressed in matching olive green thermal shirts and baggy camouflage cargo pants. The first one was rather lanky, an Angel with copper-colored hair and steely grey eyes. His partner, a darker skinned Human with longer black hair threw a duffel bag in the direction of the Angel, who caught it and proceeded to sling it over his shoulder. After the human stepped off of the vehicle, he waved goodbye to those that were still within.

The taller angel kept his composure until he was sure that the truck had driven far enough away to where the passengers could not see him. He then huffed and slumped down, taking off the duffel bag and throwing it back towards his partner.

"Koda, what the hell are you carrying in there anyways? I swear that weighs like ten ingot on its own."

Koda, the black haired human, took the bag and rolled his eyes. "You're to blame as well, Garrick. This is a combination of both of our shit."

Garrick raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Surely Marie and a few months' worths of dirty laundry can't weigh this much."

Koda gave his partner an irritated stare. "No, it wouldn't if you didn't insist on also putting my crap in the same bag."

"We're going to the same place anyways. What's the point in carrying two bags? It'll just make for more washing."

Koda let out another groan and kicked an empty can along the sidewalk. "If you're going to say that, then you can do the laundry tonight."

"Fine." Garrick agreed, throwing his hands behind his head and cracking the bones in his neck.

The Angel then stretched out his wings, each measuring about six feet in length, composed of smoky grey feathers with white flecks. The people that had been walking on the sidewalk moved around him without a second thought. Koda gave another irritated glance.

"Really, birdbrain?"

"What?" Garrick asked, glancing back to his partner.

Koda groaned. "We've talked about this. It's annoying for pedestrians when angels spread their wings like that. It takes up space for people while they're walking."

Garrick looked around and realized what was happening, sheepishly folding his wings against his back and continuing on his way.

The relationship between Garrick Maudril and Dakota Dawson was a rather interesting one. Both had met within the White Wings sect of the Soheimite army boot camp, an infantry division specialized to fighting in the air. The White Wings Corps was originally made for angels, but with recent improvements in technology, humans and devils were allowed to join with mechanical wings. Koda just so happened to be one of those new recruits.

Of course, these new recruits were met with much contempt from some of the angels who possessed more traditional views. Garrick was one of the only people who acknowledged Koda, and it further had surprised him when he had actively decided to socialize with him. Koda still hadn't understood why Garrick was still by his side to this day, but the two were rarely seen without each other.

As if on cue, Garrick slung his arm around Koda's shoulder, his trademark wide grin carved into his face. "Well, why don't we look on the bright side? Our first tour is done and we have two months of off time."

"Great," Koda huffed, smirking. "I don't have to hear you complain about the MRE's anymore."

Garrick shivered, raising his hands to his shoulders. "I swear to god I have PTSD from the clam chowder alone."

"Don't worry, bud." Koda clapped his flatmate's shoulder with a grin on his face. "Tonight let's order out and have some actual food."

Garrick nodded, his grimace quickly turning into his trademark toothy grin as he pulled out a keyring from within his pocket, twirling it around his finger. "Sounds like a plan to me."

The pair slowed down their steps as they neared their destination, a five-story complex made with old coffee-colored bricks, the sides furbished with translucent crystal filigree, something added by an art student ten years ago that the residents had deemed too pretty to take down. Garrick pulled out his key card and swiped it across the lock, a frown across his face as it took longer than it should have to turn green and grant them entry.

Koda grimaced as Garrick had opened the door for him. "You think after six months they would have fixed this issue by now." The human remarked.

Garrick shrugged as Koda walked past him, closing the door behind his comrade. "I think they've actually made an improvement. A whole six seconds faster."

As the two continued walking, entering the elevator and pushing the button within that had the number '3' painted on it, Garrick took a deep breath in and released a contented sigh. It was great to be back home after having been gone for so long. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to walk into a place that had air conditioning. Furthermore, this would be the first time in six months that he had slept on an actual bed. A small half-smile spread itself upon his lips. It was good to be home.

After the elevator had brought them to their destination, the two walked out and proceeded to make their way towards their room, the third door from the end of the hallway on the left. Garrick again pulled out his key ring and fished through the keycards until he found the one that opened his apartment. As he slid it across the lock, he could already imagine himself jumping on to the couch, powering on his television and booting up his VBox...

And that fantasy was quickly ruined as he opened the door.

It was pungent, like sewage that had been left in the desert sun for ages. It burned the inside of Garrick's nostrils, causing his eyes to water up in reaction to the sour stench. Of course, it was obvious to see the source of this odor, a white carton that had been overflowing with a chunky substance that was tinged green.

He looked back to Koda, and it was obvious that his roommate had noticed the odor and carton as well. The human's face was contorted into a judgemental glare, anger directed towards his roommate.

"I thought you said you had thrown out the milk before we left."

* * *

Garrick pinched his nose as he dragged out the garbage bag to the back of the apartment complex. As punishment for forgetting to have disposed of the milk carton in the first place, the angel now had to throw out the carton. He couldn't help but let out a sigh under his breath. This was his first day home, an opportunity to eat actual food for once, and now his appetite was completely ruined by a trivial mistake he had made. Classic Garrick move right there.

As he neared the dumpsters, he still kept his nose shut tightly between his fingers as he used one of his wings to lift up the lid as he placed the bag containing the curdled milk inside. He then used his now free hand to slam the lid back down.

Rrrkkkk...

Garrick paused as he heard an eerily soft grunt echo from within the dumpster. He was about to think nothing more of it when the bin started to shake. He quickly lifted himself into the air with a forcible downstroke of his wings and then glided down towards the corner of the building, hiding behind it so he could take a look at what was going on.

The lid lifted slightly, nothing poking out save for what appeared to be a white nail out of the top. As more emerged, Garrick realized that it had not been a nail, but a tooth, more specifically a tooth attached to a bear's head.

The angel tried to silence his breathing, hoping that the creature didn't hear him--or worse, smell him.

The animal lifted it's head, flinging off the top of the dumpster. That's when Garrick was able to take a closer look at this creature.

Of course, it had the face of a bear, but it looked as if something had tried to rip off the flesh around its eyes, most of its nose, and along its lower jaw, where pieces of rotting meat hung loosely, showcasing the white bone beneath. From the top of its head were velvety nubs, what appeared to be the beginning of deer's antlers. As it emerged further from the bin, Garrick could make out that it walked on bipedal, digitigrade legs, which were covered sparsely in brown hair. The hair on this creature continued all the way up to its neck, where it suddenly appeared to thicken to that of an animal's pelt. What Garrick could assume to be its arms were elongated, almost as long as the creature stood tall, with large hands and fingertips that ended in black claws.

The Army soldier began to shake. What was this thing? It defied all logic. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare...

Garrick took a deep breath. That was probably the answer. This was just all some crazy nightmare! This was all some messed up dream, and Garrick was really back in Ijeuman. There was no need to get nervous...right?

The creature crawled out of the dumpster and let its mouth hang open as it surveyed its surrounding area, its blood red eyes catching the light of the moon and appearing to glow in the dark.

Garrick tried to move away from the area to protect himself. As he took a step back, his foot landed on a metal can, which made a distinctive crackling sound upon impact.

The beast whipped its head around in the direction of Garrick, releasing an ear-splitting shriek from its maw. It began to make its way towards him, surprisingly fast for a creature as injured as itself.

Garrick tried to lift himself into the air only to realize that the corner alley that he was wedged in was too narrow for him to spread his wings in. Even more bad news.

Shit...he was going to die soon, even if it was just a dream. The angel could feel his heartbeat within his own throat, and the rest of his body was paralyzed with fear. He was terrified of what was to happen but too terrified to do anything about it.

As soon as the creature approached close enough to where Garrick could almost feel its breath on his skin, there appeared a pink spear of energy in the middle of the creature's chest. It looked down in confusion as hooks spread out from the end, and then it was pulled back in a rough motion.

Behind the beast was a woman, unlike anyone Garrick had ever seen. Her hair was as white as milk with a small lock in her bangs that grew in black as pitch. Two black horns crowned her head, the left one considerably smaller than the right. However, on her back rested wings like Garrick's, pure white in color. She was dressed in little more than denim shorts, a black bikini top, a white leather jacket with fur trim, and a pair of combat boots that reached just below her knee.

Garrick couldn't take his eyes off of her. Who was she? She looked like an angel, she also looked like a devil, but she didn't quite have the look of a daemon either. There was something almost...ethereal about her.

Of course, as soon as Garrick had made that judgment, the mysterious woman's head snapped up, revealing blood red eyes as she yanked back a pink chain, bringing the beast along with it. With the momentum she had gained from pulling the chain back, she leaped into the air and onto the beast's back, grabbing it by the horns and wrapping her legs around its neck.

Of course, this creature did not take too kindly to being straddled by this woman and proceeded to try and swing its arms over its head in an attempt to knock her off. The mystery woman expertly dodged the blows, using one of her arms to dig into her pocket whilst still gripping onto the creature with her other appendages. A set of pink, translucent shackles appeared around the creature's wrists, preventing it from doing much to harm her.

Out from her pocket, the woman produced a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid, and she proceeded to stab it into the beast's forehead, right in between its eyes. The creature's eyes almost immediately rolled back into its head as the serum was injected into its body, the rest of its body shaking as it lost balance and fell to the ground. The woman spread her wings and jumped off of the creature's neck, gliding back down to the ground.

Garrick attempted to move out of the way, trying to escape the scene unnoticed as he, again, stepped on the same metal can--this time with his other foot.

The woman's head snapped in the general direction of the angel soldier. She held out her hand and a series of pink restraints covered Garrick's body. She made her way towards him, a rather irritated scowl on her face.

"Seriously? I gave you your opportunity to escape. Why didn't you take it?" She gave an exasperated sigh as she cracked her knuckles. "And I thought I was going to be able to go home without working overtime tonight. I really wanted to avoid doing paperwork..."

"Um...what?"

The woman looked Garrick up and down, resting her chin on her fist as she did so. Her eyes then rested on his, narrowing as she stared at him. Garrick felt heat rise to his cheeks as she stood there. Why? Possibly because he hadn't ever been this close to a woman that wasn't his mother or his sister, furthermore being tied up by one that was dressed this promiscuously.

After a while, she gave another sigh. "Look, let's help each other out here. I'm busy with things, and if I have to do...let's call it work with you, that's going to take about four hours of my time that I would rather spend on something else, so instead of taking you, I'm going to cut you a deal."

Garrick felt his mouth run dry. What exactly was this woman asking of him? Was she going to recruit him to some secret service? Was she going to sell him into the sex trade? Was she going to do unspeakable things to him? What was going on here?

He forced himself to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat, and with a not so dignified voice crack, he proceeded to ask, "Oh? And, er, what exactly would that deal be?"

The bonds around Garrick's body dissipated as the woman grabbed the neckline of his shirt and stared into what Garrick assumed to be his very soul. "You will mention none of what you have just seen to anybody. You saw a rabid dog digging in your garbage and you called up somebody to take care of it."

"But that thing doesn't even look anything like a--"

She tightened her grip around his neckline and moved in closer to him, her nose only mere breadths away from his. "Did I stutter, Garrick Maudril?"

Garrick tensed up. Whatever was happening at this point, Garrick was no longer in control of. If this woman knew his name without even having a conversation with him beforehand, there wasn't any telling what else she knew. He quickly shook his head after his initial shock had been overcome, not wanting to irritate this woman any further.

"No."

"Good." She let go of his shirt and produced something from her pocket, a card with a number written on it, and a name above it. "If there's anybody in your building that starts talking about this--not that I believe anybody else has seen it, contact this number immediately. We'll take care of it."

Garrick wanted to ask her so many questions. First of all, what was the thing that he had just found in his dumpster not more than what must have been five minutes ago? Secondly, who was she? Third of all, who did she work for? All of these thoughts spun around in his head, but he kept his mouth shut out of better judgment and instead answered her with a simple nod.

The woman gave a small smile and picked up the chain that was still attached to the beast, the translucent pink substance that it was made of morphing into a coffin-like box that surrounded the creature. She then picked up the box and began to drag it with her, waving goodbye to the soldier as she walked off into the darkness, her hair and wings only visible in the pale moonlight as she left.

Garrick took a minute to gather himself. Had all of this really just happened? He shook his head. No. This had to be a dream after all...right?

He looked back down at the business card he had just been handed. There was no other information placed there other than the name "Astra Im-Rose" and her number subsequently beneath.

Astra...so that was her name. Even if this was just a dream, she had a lovely name.

"Garrick!"

Garrick's thoughts were interrupted by the distinctive sound of Koda yelling at him through the window.

"Yeah?" The angel yelled back in return to his roommate.

"What's taking you so long? You've been out there for like thirty minutes, dude."

Garrick checked his watch. Sure enough, thirty minutes had passed since he had first left his apartment. If Koda was here, then that meant...oh, gods. What had just happened had to be real. And if what had happened was real, then that meant one thing for certain:

Garrick had just received a phone number from some really hot girl that had fought a giant monster in front of him. He was very conflicted about this predicament. He didn't know whether to be happy that he had gotten this girl's number or upset that he looked like such a weakling in front of her. He shook his head. He'd probably never even see her again, so there wasn't any point in thinking about it much either way.

He turned his head up in the direction of Koda's voice and yelled, "Sorry about that! There was a rabid dog in the trash and I called up animal control to take care of it!"

"A what?"

Garrick sighed, realizing that Koda probably couldn't hear him from three floors up to the building. "Give me a second, I'll be up there in a bit!"

Garrick held up the card once again. Astra Im-Rose...hopefully, this wouldn't be the only time he heard of her.