Selen sat in her room, shrouded in darkness, her eyes shut and her mind clear.
She was meditating, as she usually did when others were not around. It was an attempt at normalcy, or rather what she assumed was normal; in truth, she had no idea what others did when no one was around.
This was simply a habit she'd seen Solaris doing and assumed it was normal. Of course, Solaris himself wasn't one for meditation; he had simply been deep in thought, and she had mistaken it for meditation.
That being said, she had taken a slight liking to the activity.
Every day since the disappearance of her mentor and Solaris, she had meditated at least a few hours out of the day, and with that time, she began to imagine new ways of using her abilities both in combat and in life.
Some of her best ideas had come from Solaris, or rather, the being within Solaris. His ability to coat his skin looked rather enticing, and so, using that ability as a reference, she decided to design an armor using her ice.
Of course, just coating her skin with the ice could work, but it wouldn't allow her to be limber, and as such, she had done extensive research on armors to figure out how they worked, why they worked, and how to make one.
It took weeks of fruitless labor, but eventually she had it down and was able to form it almost instantly, albeit at a cost of durability for a couple of precious seconds.
The other idea was one she had been working on before the being's intervention that day, which was using ice as a stepping stone for movement.
Originally, she'd simply planned for it to be on insecure terrain, but after the fight, she'd begun to realize how incredibly important midair combat would be.
With this, she then developed a new strategy to mimic a flight by freezing a spot below her feet and jumping. She would be able to launch through the air very easily; of course, it would take an incredible amount of energy to perform, not to mention the timing, as she would have to create the ice, then melt the ice instantly to ensure no collateral damage.
However, if she could master the technique, then it would be infinitely useful.
All that was holding her back was the focus to do it in combat.
"SELEN!"
Selen's eyes opened as she left the room in a quick dash. Soon, she appeared on the stairs, the words already leaving her mouth.
"Where."
Her indifferent tone sounded for a split second before the response hit her ears.
"District three, section seven, building thirty."
Without missing a beat, Selen swiftly replied.
"Understood."
As soon as Selen heard the location, she was already on her way out the door. As she left the threshold, she lept from the ground, and below her feet she began to be pushed higher into the air by a pillar of ice. As soon as her feet left the ice, she made sure it all disappeared.
She continued the ascent for a small amount of time, and as she reached the apex of the leap, she made two small platforms of ice and leaped off of them as well.
This time in a forward direction towards Sector Seven.
The crimson cross that the group occupied was in Sector Three, so it was a distance away from their building.
She flew through the air, her mind and body fully focused on her movement; if she missed even a single step in the flight, then she'd fall to her death. It was a high-risk, high-reward movement style.
Selen cared not if she lived or died; all she cared about was making living easier, and this movement was a key to making it even slightly easier.
After a couple more dashed she finally saw her target, as she did she moved her body into a standing positon and angled her legs slightly, on her feet a sheet of ice began to from on them and then expanded into a snowboard of ice, as it did a slight slope of ice formed and she slid down it, as she passed over a section she removed it and then added more, forming an infinitely short and infinitely long hill of ice.
The screech of ice sliding on ice was disturbing, yet she paid it no mind.
Her face remained stoic and cold.
Her mind remained focused and clear.
As she began growing closer to the building her target was in, she began to level out the steep hill of ice she had been creating and slowing her descent. After a moment, she was atop the tall building, bathed in the setting sun.
She leaned forward and flipped her body, removing some more speed and all of the ice simultaneously.
She landed with grace and took off to the door on the roof leading into the building.
Her kit wasn't the greatest for close combat, but it was going to have to do for now.
As she opened the door, she saw a staircase down to the top floor of the building, and she smelled a very familiar scent, a copper smell that she'd grown so accustomed to over the past few months.
The scent was, of course, blood.
Selen was not the greatest combatant in the Crimson Cross; however, she was a step above the other Hunters.
Due to this, she had a sizable amount of experience in the field, and so the scent of blood was little more than a nuisance to her senses.
Sighing, she descended the staircase; as she did, she called forth her mark.
As the bone tattoo slid out from her hand, the silver exterior was coated by a, thin but also incredibly tough layer of ice.
After a moment, a short claw of ice was formed.
As Selen descended the stairs, she began to cover her body in the intricate armor she had designed.
It was a deep blue, complementing both her outfit and her eyes, it was not a full coverage at the moment as she had to be even more ready for movement in the enclosed space and in preparation had only covered the vital areas, her chest, gut, arms and legs, had a layer of light armor over them, her head was left exposed yet she had not intertions of getting hit there.
Her long hair was tied behind her head in a bun, and her eyes were focused as she rounded the corner.
Observing the interior, she saw a lot of blood on the walls and leading down the stairs.
Greed, or gluttony.
Selen had seen so many demons in the past that this conclusion was almost certainly correct.
Her eyes followed the trail, as did her body. She descended the stairs over and over; as she descended, more and more blood coated the floor and walls. The blood began to coagulate in puddles the further she descended.
It wasn't only blood; it was also bone fragments and hair scattered across the walls and floor.
"What a slaughter."
Selen whispered to herself as she descended further.
Once she reached the final floor before the basement, the lobby where the scene of violence was revealed in all its gruesome glory, yet Selen still looked unperturbed as if she was indifferent to the gruesome carnage.
The walls of the lobby were completely coated in blood, hair strands, bone fragments, and brain chunks.
The floor had chunks of skin seeming to have been peeled off the body, both draped across the carpet and floating in puddles of blood as well as other substances.
There was a single body ripped open and spread across the receptionist desk; its head was smashed in and its ribcage inverted. The jaw of the head was sitting on the bell of the desk, and the scalp had been removed and nailed to the wall by a dagger made of bone, possibly of the victim; it was where a painting had once been, yet now it was only blood.
Wrath.
Selen realized as she approached the final staircase.
Taking a prolonged blink, she opened the door and was assaulted by a terrible stench worse than even the countless amounts of disgusting smells littering the lobby; its smell was indescribable.
Selen began down the stairs.
Her body was ready to fight, and her mind was ready to kill.
As she began to see the piles and piles of corpses rotting at the bottom of the stairs, she grew more and more ready to kill.
Once she reached the bottom, the creature that had done this carnage, this act of wrath, finally showed itself.
It was a small creature, but with a strong frame, his body was a dark crimson, with four arms, each one ripping another corpse apart. It had four eyes and a massive mouth, one that seemed to allow its head to open in half; teeth protruded out from its maw, each one with strands of the dead falling or draped over them. It was a demon of pure death,
It tore into a corpse and brought it to its mouth before taking a bite. Selen wasted absolutely no time, tensing her leg muscles and leaping from the ground at the demon, her claw extending out a bit more.
As she grew closer, the small demon's head shot to her, and an arm shot up, blocking her attack.
Without showing any shock, Selen extended her left arm, and a blade of ice shot into the skull of the demon, slicing through the skin easily, and extended out to the other side.
As it finished exiting the skull, she grasped the hilt of the ice blade and dragged it up its head; it didn't cut; instead, its body was lifted from the spot it was sitting and flung across the room into a wall, the blade stabbing into it.
Selen stood atop the pile of corpses held atop them by a chunk of ice.
As she moved, the ice rapidly expanded out and encompassed the entirety of the pile, sealing it under a thick layer of ice.
As it finished sealing, she slid down it and ran to the hanging demon; its hands grabbed at the ice sword.
A shattering sound resounded as the ice broke, sounding as if a steel sword broke.
The demon charged Selen.
All its hands extended out, and in each a bladed weapon made of bone appeared, two daggers on the bottom and two short swords on the top.
The two charged each other, both throwing devastating attacks. Selen slashed her hand, the claw aimed at the vile demon's head.
While the demon performed two stabs with the daggers and two slashes with the swords.
Witnessing the attack aimed to hit her no matter which way she dodged, Selen simply withdrew from attacking; she angled her feet up and created some ice, which pushed her back.
The demon thrust his bottom hands forward and swung his top; the speed was devastating, and the force was crushing. Yet it only slashed the air where the girl had been.
Had Selen been a second too slow, these attacks would've, if not killed her, then it wouldve certainly injured her gravely.
Taking advantage of the demon's missed attack, Selen disintegrated the ice below her feet and charged back in for another attack.
The beast momentarily staggered, yet when the claw of the blonde girl swung at it with practiced precision, its top left arm shot up, blocking the attack, sending a slight ring with the sound of ice being cut.
Without wasting a second, her leg shot up, propelled by a layer of ice and coated in the same material; with a thud, her leg struck the demon in the head, launching it back.
With a spin continuing the momentum and disintegrating the ice, Selen charged the demon once more, her speed increased ever so slightly, as she felt the moon entering the sky.
An ever-so-slight smile appeared on her face as a familiar and also new feeling entered her body.
The dark room became easier to see in, and she began to feel the shadows around her as if she herself was one of them.
Selen reeled her left arm back and began to run her fingers through the shadows in the air before grabbing them and pulling them with her.
The demon was against the wall after her last kick and was now readied for another attack.
Both his blades formed two X's, forming a perfect guard for another ice attack, or even her claw
However, this one was not from her ice.
The demon's body slumped down into the wall as all the air within his body was knocked out with one unseen attack.
The shadow selen had grabbed and rolled for a moment before spreading back into a myriad of strings.
With the demon on the ground, she took advantage and swung her claw, slicing the demon's head and upper body into multiple pieces; all of them slid to the floor with a wet plop.
Seeing this, she sent the claw back under her skin and began to fish around in the internals of the demon for a moment before withdrawing her hand with a single blood crystal in it.
As she looked at it, she reached into a pocket and retrieved a crystal crusher.
It was a hollow tube with a button atop it.
Opening it, she placed the crystal inside, shut it, and pressed the button.
The crystal inside immediately began ot crack and then shattered before condensing into a powder.
Selen sighed and opened the crystal crusher, dumping the powder onto the floor.
She dismissed the armor on her body and began up the stairs, leaving the frozen bodies alone in the darkness.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she headed for the front door.
As the doors grew closer, they suddenly swung open, revealing the moonlight and a young man with messy blonde hair and a bright smile, his body moving slightly.
Looking around, his bright smile faded rather fast, looking at the carnage.
"Um… did you…"
"No."
Selen said, pointing at the ground, indicating the basement.
"Whew, good. I wouldn't want to have to kill a pre…. A girl."
"Who are you exactly? My clean up crew?"
"Me no, no, nooo. Im lucian carmail, i came here to help, but it looks like you handled it yourself."
Selen didn't reply to the strange man and just proceeded forward.
Lucian looked at the emotionless girl, his smile bright, and his eyes brighter.
As Selen passed the threshold, she spoke.
"Go into the basement."
"Willlll do."
Lucian replied, saluting who he assumed was his superior.
Selen went to jump but decided not to and opted for a city car. The people passed by her as she approached one, all of them paying her a momentary glance before looking away fearfully.
Selen got into a city car and sped off back to the crimson cross.
After a few minutes, she approached the building, parked the car, and walked inside.
As she did, she watched as Ember left the building in a detached state.
Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she stopped her original path and turned, walking towards Sami's office.
Selen stared at the door for a couple of moments before turning and walking up the stairs. She turned into a room she hadn't entered in many months, yet she knew where to go instantly.
Moments later, she emerged with a set of clean clothes and walked down the stairs.
Selen once again approached the door to Sami's office, opened it, and walked inside.