Chapter Seventeen

*Seleen*

Seleen lived with her sister Sabi and their parents in Vicinity Three as a close-knit family. Seleen was adopted as a baby, but she and Sabi were loved the same.

Her father was a stage magician. Seleen loved his tricks; she was so entranced by their effect on people that she wanted to be like her father, but her mother disagreed with her dream.

Seleen's father performed a legendary trick one day, one that made people believe he was a real magician. Since then, the family has achieved a massive fortune. Seleen, now in her twenties, worked with her father on stage.

With the attack in Count Donald's island, fear spread throughout the village Seleen lived in. The news of the Count's passing brought grief to all. The attacks had spread to the rest of the Vicinity's islands, growing closer to the village.

Ultimately, the warning bells chimed the tune that had not haunted the island in years. With portals materializing in the village and beasts crawling out of them, the village was reduced to chaos. Seleen's parents had to take her and Sabi to their basement to keep them safe from the horrors just out the door.

"Stay here, both of you," their mother whispered as someone started banging on the front door. "Don't let anyone inside no matter what. I love you both so much...!"

Seleen swallowed the lump in her throat as her mother closed the door. All she could do was hold her sister in her arms to shield her from the crashes and yells above their heads.

Footsteps grew nearer, eventually arriving at the locked door.

In a leap of faith, the girls' mother slashed the beast with her knife. "Hatch! Now!"

Sabi almost opened the door to save her mother, but Seleen grabbed her sleeve and lifted her out of the supply hatch, quickly following suit. They ran for what felt like hours until they arrived at a deserted well.

"Stay here, Sabi," Seleen's voice was low. "I'll be back. Keep this, it'll help you defend yourself."

After handing Sabi one of her knives, Seleen set off to a witch house where black magic was taught. In her grief-stricken mind, it was their only hope of survival. After lots of pleading, one of the witches agreed to mentor Seleen at the grave cost of making a deal with the devil.

Day by day Seleen's mannerisms started changing. Her telekinesis grows stronger with every use, but at the expense of her mind. To counter that, she kept a journal where she documented everything she went through and learned. As for Sabi, Seleen taught her everything she knew, including how to use a bow and arrow.

As time went on, the duo garnered a reputation, especially among the criminals and thugs they took down.

Seleen decided to leave her home island to hunt down the alien forces and collect information about them. Eventually she learned that the beasts were found only in Vicinity Three, but that was not enough.

She stumbled upon some of them throughout her travels. When she did, she interrogated them, wiped away all traces of them and stored any information she learned in her journal. Most of the beasts had been searching for someone unnamed.

By then, she had gained the name "demon hunter." Seeing as she and her sister needed money, she started accepting jobs as a bounty hunter in hopes of one day having enough to get Sabi the education she deserved.

One of Seleen's jobs sent her to the island with the highest concentration of beasts. Her destination was the East Forest, which thrived beneath a mountain range. Sabi was instructed to stay behind in a cave in the mountains due to the injury in her leg.

Dead silence enveloped the forest, causing Seleen's thoughts to be on high alert. Something was approaching her; to scare it off, Seleen uprooted the trees around her, forming a clearing. Much to her astonishment, her follower, a man in a suit, didn't budge.

"Such a troublemaker, you are," the man chuckled. The mockery in his voice angered the young woman.

"A trap, hm?" she mumbled to herself before raising her voice and her blade. "Speak, or I will kill you."

"Kill me? You?"

Smoke enveloped his figure; when it cleared, Seleen's eyes widened. A wounded Sabi croaked out a cry for help, but the man's grip was tight around her throat.

Seleen's heart pounded in her ears. "Sabi! Hold on, I'll fix this!"

"Time to end this," the man drew a small knife.

"Don't you dare!" Seleen ran at him whilst using her telekinesis to snatch the knife from his hand. "I will murder you!"

She couldn't stop him from snapping Sabi's neck. "S-Sabi...!"

The man took Sabi's body with him into the darkness. Adding to Seleen's anxiety, what sounded like a stampede rushed to her location. Her sister died before her eyes, and just like with her parents, she couldn't stop it from happening. Useless. Her powers were useless.

As she fell to her knees, she stared into space and let her mind cave on itself, paying no mind to her impending death. She hadn't realized that her eyes were closed.

Seleen opened her eyes to find all of the beasts decapitated. Who... Standing over the bodies was an unfamiliar man clad in black. "I was too late to save her, and for that I apologize."

"You should have let me die. You should have let me die!" Seleen's head seared with pain as her powers spiraled out of control, flattening everything around her.

Aradag was unaffected by her powers thanks to his own. He approached the young woman, who had fainted from exhaustion, and picked her up.

Hours later, Seleen woke up and found herself lying on a bed inside a cabin. Hastily, she rushed out of the cabin and followed the halls until she found her unwanted savior at the helm of the ship. Despite knowing better, she decided to interrogate him.

"Who are you?"

"My condolences."

"Oi! How did you find me? Why did you save me?'

"By coincidence, if I am honest," Aradag replied, turning to the woman with hollow eyes. "I understand your feelings, ma'am. I do. If it will help you any, I will tell you what you should know about me."

While his backstory reminded Seleen of her own, it was her desperation that made her agree to accompany him on his mission. After all, she had nothing left to live for.