A monster from the Nightmares

It was a late night. The forest resembled a quiet village on countryside. However, the silence covering the forest was filled with a feeling of danger and uneasiness - a feeling that something bad would happen. After a while the prediction was fulfilled.

In the distance a man could be seen as he was running through the woods. The trees all around him seemed to shiver in fear. Later the observer could clearly see the face of the man and identify him as Dante. Exhausted and out of breath, Dante tried to run as fast as he could, as if somebody was chasing him. Suddenly, three red glowing orbs appeared on the dark sky. The trees started to shiver even more.

All of a sudden, Dante cried out in pain and fell on the ground. He didn´t stand up; he stayed lying, holding his chest. His sweaty face reflected the light of the moon. An evil laughter came from the reddish creature. After a minute, dark evil clouds appeared over the whole forest and a big thunderstorm showed up, which destroyed the last pieces of silence. The wind became stronger and stronger and almost nothing remained without a movement. Only Dante was still lying there - in the center of the horror. Dante felt that one of the thunderbolts was going directly at him. He didn´t dodge, though. He was too weak to move. And so the lighting hit its target. He didn´t make any sound. Subsequently, the thunderstorm stopped, and the laughter was getting louder and louder.

The trees stood still. Everything was stunned.

In that moment Nero woke up. He found himself in his bedroom. His room contained the ordinary important things, such as bed, wardrobe, book shelf, desk and - of course, the most ordinary thing- Red Queen. There weren't many decorations, except one - a painting which showed a sunset behind the mountains. On the back of the work of art a comment was saying: "To my beloved son Nero. Love from, mother."

The rising sun could already be seen in the sky. Nero stood and came to the window to see Fortuna streets in the morning. However, he was still sweating and breathing quite fast. This wasn't the first dream involving Dante and that red monster as the main characters. It already had happened twice. This fact often made Nero feel uncomfortable, because it was too strange to be a dream.

It was Wednesday morning and that day was a lot more significant than the others. He and Kyrie waited for three months to know their future. They were the only members of the Order of The Sword; everyone else was killed or left the Order thanks to the recent affair with the Savior. The evil plans of the previous guild caused them to wait for the new people who would serve in the positions like, for example Captain of the Holy Knights or the head - His Holiness. Finally, the members had been found and that Wednesday was a day to get to know each other.

Nero was soon ready to leave his room of the dormitory. Opera House Plaza became a meeting place. Our young man thought that he would be there first from all. But as he was getting closer to the square, he spotted Kyrie sitting on the edge of the fountain and staring at the distant sky. Turned with her back on him, Kyrie didn´t know about Nero's presence until he greeted her.

"Hi, Kyrie I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

Kyrie told him: "Well, that's what I should say. It doesn't happen often that you get up so early."

Nero's face grew more serious. "I had a dream last night. Again, it showed Dante being chased and killed by the red demon whose body looks like three red orbs surrounded by electricity. I have started to have a terrible feeling that it could mean that something bad awaits Dante."

"So you are going to pay him a visit?"

He sat next to her. "Yeah, possibly. Warning him is not going to hurt me."

"Do you plan to travel so far just for that? What about calling him or something?"

"If I had his telephone number, I would do that. However, I consider meeting our new fellows more important. Let's just focus on that right now."

"You are right."

For a moment they were silent. Later, Kyrie restored the conversation: "I wonder how our new companions look like."

"I don't care about them," Nero expressed himself, "as long as they will mind their own business."

"What do you mean?"

"I´ll be glad if they leave me to work alone."

"That's so typical of you."

"Yeah, working on my own is way better than relying on some freaks. I don't need any partners. Credo was clever enough to tolerate my lack of teamwork. They should accept it as well."

"Credo…" Kyrie's eyes saddened. "I…I still miss him… very much."

"Me too, Kyrie. Me too," said Nero, squeezing Kyrie's hand and eventually he gave her a small sad smile. He went on: "Your brother was a good man. I wish he…"

The footsteps interrupted their sad dialogue.

When they turned back, they saw three men approaching them. The man in the middle was old with white moustache and beard, exactly dressed as His Holiness. He was coming slowly, with one person on both left and right side. The man on the right seemed to be cold and serious, although his handsome face with brown eyes and black face were likely to attract many girls. Nero considered the other one more friendly. Unlike his charming (and at the same time spine-chilling) friend, this guy had an ordinary face, he looked at the world with blue eyes and short brown hair covered his top of the head.

Nero and Kyrie stood up to meet the strangers.

"So you are those new buddies we are waiting for?" Nero asked.

The cold man's face darkened. He looked straight into Nero's eyes. In that very moment Nero felt as if he was nothing but a bean compared to him. He hid his true feelings, though.

„Hmpf, now that's what I call ´friendly greeting.´"

"Nero, I presume?"

"Oh, you know my name. I am honored."

"Ts. That sounded ironically. It's a miracle that Credo let a kid like you serve in the Order."

"Hey, Mr. Clever, you don't have the age to call me a kid."

Kyrie lightly poked Nero with her elbow and whispered: "Nero, that's enough. Do you want him to be your enemy?"

The old man spoke for the first time: "Stop it already, Annan; you are making too much drama here."

"Tch" was the reaction of both Nero and Annan.

Then, His Holiness went on: "Nero, I've heard about your personality, but I've also heard about your helping with reconstruction of Fortuna together with this young lady - who is Kyrie, correct? - and I really appreciate it."

"I am glad that at least somebody sees my good side, too," Nero said.

"Actually," the brown-haired man joined the conversation, "I find your hard-work important as well."

"And who the hell are you?"

"Watch your tongue, devil - jerk," Anna hissed.

"No, Annan, he's right. We haven't introduced ourselves yet. This energetic man over here is Annan, this is His Holiness and I am Orseoph. Nice to meet you."

His Holiness repeated his words. "Nice to meet you."

Annan kneeled in front of Kyrie. "I respected your brother, Kyrie, and I will happily take the responsibility of the position as the Captain. It's my honor to meet you."

And what about me, you genius? Thought Nero angrily.

"So, I see that the others haven't arrived yet," Orseoph noted, "They might be waiting somewhere else..."

"…or those freaks are lost. All right then, I'll go and find them. The rest of you, please stay here in case they will finally appear at a right place," Annan demanded as he was slowly walking away.

After he spoke, Kyrie looked at Nero and said quietly: "He called his allies ´freaks´ as well. You two are the same in the end."

"Please don't say that anymore, Kyrie. I don't want to have anything in common with him."

And they were watching Annan disappearing in the distance.