"Nyx! Nyx! Help mother! NYX!" a familiar voice echoed.

The surrounding was covered with houses inflamed, lifeless bodies on the dirt ground and people screaming everywhere, calling out for their loved ones.

I was standing still, feeling stunt. Seeing the red pool of bloods flowing near my legs, a person crawling near my feet and yet, I couldn't move even an inch. I couldn't even scream out for her. I need to but what am I doing? Move! Say something! Do it!

"SEL-"

"Hey, Nyx! Nyx! Are you listening to me? Dude!" a hand waved in front of me and I snapped out whatever state I was in earlier.

I shifted towards the owner of the hand and looked into the face of my childhood best friend, Libertus. We were sitting on his leather sofa at his place in front of the TV.

"Hey? Are you okay? What's wrong with you? Your face seemed serious."

I took a sip of beer from the bottle and shook my head. "Nah, just thinking of the training today. Man, as much as I hate Luche, he did surprisingly well on his elemental magic."

"I know what you mean but shouldn't you be keeping your head on the game now. We bet lots of money on this match, you know?" he gave me a groan. "Look! Look! The match that we bet on is coming up soon. That Coeurl better win. I bet so much Gil on it."

"What are the chances that Whiskey will lose? It's strong so no worries." I took another sip and put my legs on top of the small rectangle wooden table in front of the TV. "It has not lost any matches since its debut, right?"

"I know but I heard that the group of Spiracorn seems to be quite strong. I think we bet wrongly, man."

"We're fine, Libertus. Have a little faith on Whiskey. As soon as she wins it, I'm going to buy some new clothes and burn the old ones."

"As for me, I'm going to get myself another tattoo." Libertus revealed his right biceps and beamed with pride. "Maybe another arrow, right here."

I smiled. Both of us really do seem to get too into tattoos these days. Right then, the announcer of the game made a broadcast.

"The next match will be the Coeurl against three Spiracorns. Who will win this match? We shall know now! The gates are opened and here they come. Take a look at them."

They showed the Spiracorns first, looking healthy and energetically kicking around. Next, Whiskey enters. We named her that because that she is distinctive from other Coeurls we've seen before. It has twice the number of whiskers that other Coeurls normally have. Looking at her state today, however got me worried. She looked sick.

The voice of the announcer blasted through the TV. "Woah! The Coeurl don't seem healthy today at all. Is it going to be okay? The Spiracorns are all hyped up for the attack."

The Spiracorns moved in on Whiskey while she backed towards the wall. Each of the Spiracorns stood on different side away from Whiskey. She braced herself for an attack and waiting for the chance to counterattack.

The Spiracorn to her right made the first move and Whiskey avoided it swiftly and bit into the Spiracorn's neck deep. That Spiracorn fell to the ground with the neck bleeding. Whiskey did not have the time to rest as the Spiracorn in front of her lunged at her with its horn. Whiskey tried to evade it but received a small cut on its thigh and groaned. She quickly sprang to the other side of the arena.

The crowds' cheers rang across the room through the TV. Even Libertus was on his feet cheering along as well. The announcer said, "Would you look at that? That's one down and the Coeurl is still going strong. Look, it looks like he's getting his special move prep up."

Whiskey took on its famous defense stance to launch Blaster on the opponent. This attack is known to be deadly as it can inflict paralysis on the enemies or cause instant-death.

One of the Spiracorn fell for it as it made its move on Whiskey where Whiskey instantly let out a lightning strike on it. The Spiracorn fell to the ground and it is in a shocked state, trembling.

"It's all down to the last two standing," the announcer stated. "Who will emerge victory? The Coeurl or the Spiracorn? Don't you think the Coeurl seems to have its energy drained?"

It's true. Whiskey is panting now, trying to catch its breath and feels like she used too much energy. The last Spiracorn is wary and did not make any careless move on her. Whiskey and the Spiracorn circled around the arena, gazing at each other and waiting for the right time to take an action.

That's when it happened. The Spiracorn accidentally tripped over one of its subordinates. It could have easily regained itself that it shouldn't have impact much on its current condition.

However, Whiskey is so agile that she saw it as an opportunity and leaped at the Spiracorn. She clawed at the Spiracorn's back. It roared in pain while Whiskey uses its tail and sweeped the Spiracorn's legs which made it loses its balance and fell to the floor.

Before it can get up, Whiskey's whiskers enclosed Spiracorn and send crackling electric to the Spiracorn's body that made it unconscious. It was over. Whiskey won. People got up from their seat and cheered. Whisker sank to the ground and catching its breath.

The announcer's voice rang over the arena. "The Coeurl won! Up against the three Spiracorn and it seemed unhealthy, but it managed to won without getting inflicted with high damages! Let's give a big clap to the Coeurl and to the people that have won their bet."

There were employees that came in to get the monsters out of the battlefield. Whiskey stood up and walked itself out of the arena. The Spiracorns are still alive but unconscious. The one that's badly injured was the first Spiracorn that was bleeding.

"We won! We won! Whiskey won too!" Libertus was jumping up and down excitedly. I think he was dancing at one point.

I stood up and gave him a high five which he reciprocates, a little too hard.

"Good work, Whiskey," I said under my breath and couldn't help but smile while I look at the TV.

"So that was the last match. This is live from Altissia. Thank you for staying tune. See you all next time," the announcer said.

Libertus reached for the remote control and turned the TV off. "Well, so that's it. I'm going to make a call to Pelna to get our earnings. Say hello to my new tattoo!" His laughter echoed across the room.

"Woah! You're getting way too excited, big guy. This isn't the first time she won." I took a long sip of the beer, stood up and placed the empty bottle on the table. "It's getting late. I should leave now."

"Don't you want to hear how much we have won before you leave?" Libertus asked eagerly while fumbling on the phone dialer, obviously drunk.

"Nah, just let me know tomorrow when I see you at the Kingsglaive's quarter." I reached for my black jacket hovered over the sofa.

"Fine. Don't forget that we have a sparring session tomorrow. Remember to bring me the extra gloves. I still can't find mine."

"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow." I headed towards the door and opened it. "Nights. Oh, and sweet dreams on your tattoos."

He beamed brightly. "Nights! See you!"

I closed the door shut behind me and wore my jacket. The night's breeze is particularly strong tonight. I looked up to the sky, it's clouded with no glimpse of the star and moon.

Libertus's apartment is right near to the night market where the night life for all status of people enjoy. Lovers, friends, families and colleagues hanging out in this place. Compared to the city, this place is kind of run-down but it has attractions that get people to come especially the stalls that sold all kinds of stuffs. The foods are especially great.

I guess I know why Libertus wanted to stay here despite the fact that it can be noisy at times and things can get rowdy once in a while. It kind of feels like home, like Galahd. I felt a pang of heart and I shook whatever thoughts that were about to enter my mind by stretching my body a little.

My apartment is situated near the citadel which is a 10 minutes' walk away from Libertus's apartment. Passing through the night market, I see some kids running around, people drinking openly and some customers that were bargaining for a price at the armory stall.

I took a turn away from the market, heading towards the sea. It's a longer detour but maybe some sea breeze can do me some good, clear my mind a little. The earlier flashback is still hanging somewhere in my mind.

As I approached the sea which is located near the Elpida Sea Walkway, I could hear the splashing wave hitting the rock. The soothing sound of the sea became louder as I approached it. In a matter of time, I was standing on the white pavement of the walkway.

This walkway is on the outskirt of the town and pretty much abandoned. I had just recently stumbled across this place when I got too drunk and took the wrong turn. There's a few small buildings and houses that had collapsed and ruined to the ground. It could be from the high tide of the sea from a few years back that consumed everything in the way.

I investigated this area once I found this place. From what I gathered was the royals have labelled this area as a forbidden zone ever since there were some cases of people missing in this area. Then the rumors of this place being haunted starts circling among the Insomnia citizens so that people have stayed away from here since then.

Well, I like it here. It's peaceful and a good place for a getaway.

I got closer towards the sea and walked a few steps down the stairs and welcomed the breeze, brushing gently against my face. I could feel my mind getting clearer, the flames diminishing, the horrifying screams fading away and her face-

'Bang!' I heard something in that moment and I turned towards the loud sound. Just a little distance away, I saw the silhouette of a person moving backwards slowly with trash cans cluttering on the floor beside the figure.

It's a girl with dark, straight, long hair tied up in a ponytail in a black shirt with a hood. Her long legs were covered up with blue jeans and with a pair of black boots. Even from a distance, she seems thin and possibly young from her movement and stance.

That was when I noticed, there was a group of daemons- to be exact, goblins that were surrounding her. I could see that the daemons were approaching her while she's backing away from them. What's going on? Why are there daemons in Insomnia when the wall is up right now? The daemons don't matter now, because the girl does.

I made a break at them, running at my fastest possible. I could feel my heart pumping but my legs still going strong. As I got closer, I begin to summon for magic, my right hand becoming colder.

Once I was behind the girl, I yanked her hood with my other hand and pulled her towards me. She yelped and stumbled against my chest. The daemons lunged at us but before they got any nearer towards us, I was ready to blast my magic at them.

In an instant, they were frozen and slowly, they were struggling on the floor until they stop. One by one, they were consumed back into the ground, like a dark fluid sucking them back to where they come from. My hand becomes warmer while the other hand was resting on the girl's shoulder.

The girl didn't say anything when it all happened and she was still against my chest. She smells kind of like flower but I can't seem to place which fragrance it actually was.

Right then, she shook away from me as soon as she has registered everything that had just happened. She pushed me aside and frowned when she faced me. She stood slightly apart from me.

I took a good look at her face. She's young, younger than me. A few strands of hair seemed to have escaped from the tight ponytail and hovering over her slightly fair face. Her round, light blue eyes gazing coldly at me and her pink lips pressed tightly in a disapproving way.

I was actually expecting her to be relieved or feeling thankful for what I did but her face did not show any tinge of appreciation. It was more like anger instead.

"I could have handled that myself, you jerk!" she lashed out at me furiously.

I was not expecting that reaction and response. There was only a word that managed to slipped out from my mouth. "What?"

"Those were my hunt. Who do you think you are? Some kind of hero rescuing a damsel, trying to show off?"

"Hey, it's a glaive's duty to protect the city and the civilians," I replied annoyingly. "Besides, what can a girl like you could have done against those daemons?"

"That doesn't give you the right to butt in like that!" her face flashing redder.

Oh, dear lord. She's so noisy and I begun to feel regret for saving her in the first place. I decided to walk away but she stopped me on the spot.

"You are such an-" she yelled again but got cut off with a ringing coming from the pocket of her jeans. It was her phone and the ringtone was an instrumental music of "To Zanarkand".

She reached for the phone and answered it promptly as she turned away from me. "Hello. I'm in the city. What do you mean you didn't see me?" She looked around as she talked into the black phone of hers.

"Why don't we meet back in front of the Aurora Mall in…" she paused a while and glanced at the direction of the city and seems to be deciding how much time is needed to get there.

"8 minutes? What do you mean it's too quiet and too long? Well, of course. I am trying out a bra in the changing room of Uniqlo. Want to come over and have a look?" She smiled sheepishly as she was teasing whoever that was on the other line.

"Okay, see you then." she slipped the phone into her pocket and turned towards me.

"You," she points at me with her finger. "got lucky. The next time I see you, you won't be anymore."

Before I can say anything else, she was already running towards the direction of the city and never looked back. I was left alone, on the white pavement while the sound of the water hitting against the rock.

She left me wondering out loud. "Who the hell is that girl?" I can only wish I won't see her again but part of me can't help imagining what's going to happen if I do see her again.

-To be Continued-