A/N so I've noticed it was a little confusing when I had the spirits talking so from now on thoughts are in italics, Bold is to reference one of the zombies (Thinking of changing the name from just Them) Bold Italics Will indicate when spirits are talking

Asami and Brock were standing there, staring at the two kids in pure horror/shock. Brock had seen a thing or two working the streets as a law enforcement, but the way these two kids essentially diced up the enemies in front of them was definitely stomach churning. Asami was just standing there petrified when something clicked. If these two kids were able to fight like that, then ever since these two and their group stepped into the mall, the whole mall was at their mercy whether they knew it or not. She had even allowed them to hold on to their swords when they came in. Therefore, at any given time they could've easily dispatched her, the guards, and every single person currently living in the mall.

"Come on, let's move before there's more." Takashi quickly says, as he pushes forward down the alleyway. Brock grunts, "I'll cover the rear then, let's go Asami." With that said Saeko and Takashi went shoulder to shoulder as they began leading the group, making their push down the alleyway before reaching the corner where they would turn to loop back on to the main road.

After a minute they ended up on the street, now on the other side of the collapsed building, and looked at the destruction blocking the road. "So how are we supposed to retrieve the supplies now?" Asami asks Brock. Brock scratches his head as he scrambles to figure out something. "We just need to bring the supplies here at least, right?" Takashi asks Brock. Brock nodded his head yes, "Then why don't we just find a car near the supplies and drive it here, then just haul the stuff over to our vehicle?"

"That could work." Brock said thoughtfully as he stroked his chin. "But that's A. Assuming we find a working car, B. manage to get it started without attracting attention." "Well, we are going to have to figure something out either way, but let's get there first ok?" Takashi said. Brock grunts his affirmation and the group continue down the road.

After five minutes of no trouble, the group finally could see the storage house in front of them. The building looked like a smaller sized warehouse snuggled in between two abandoned buildings. If one didn't know better, they would never have assumed that this plain looking warehouse stored the police's confiscated goods. Just in raided drugs alone could make any stoners wet dream come true. If one desired to arm a small army they would also be in heaven.

"Alright there it is, you two go secure the storage house, me and Asami will go find us a vehicle." Brock said to Takashi and Saeko, before him and Asami peeled off into an alleyway and started searching all the nearby buildings for a car to use.

"Okay, looks all clear, let's go." Takashi said, as the two of them crouched down and started making their way over. When they were about 100ft away, both of them suddenly felt a tingle run down their spines. "Somethings wron…" Midway through speaking a red blur came out of nowhere and threw Takashi into the wall of the building next to the storage building.

"What the hell, TAKASHI!" Saeko screamed as she looked over and saw a living nightmare. The Nightmare that had come out of nowhere was now standing roughly 6 feet away from Saeko. It stood about 7ft tall and was a deep color of red. It was humanoid shaped, but its arms were much longer then in proportion to the body. Upon closer examination, Saeko thought that it was fur or skin that gave the creature it's red color, but in fact this creature had no skin at all. Instead its outer body was made up of just muscles and tendons, wrapping around the skeletal body. As for its face, where its eyes were supposed to be, were just sunken in red holes that glowed a crimson red. His teeth gave off a Cheshire* smile as there were no lips to cover it. Its teeth looked normal in the front, but actually all the teeth were incisors, jagged and sharp with tiny bits of meat from something stuck in-between.

*{Cheschire cat from Alice in Wonderland}

With a big roar the Nightmare started charging at Saeko on all fours, like a linebacker in football. Saeko quickly rolled to the side to avoid the charge, and swiped her sword at the creature's heel in an attempt to sever the muscles. Instead, a loud CLANG was heard, the blade felt like it had hit metal, the vibrations almost causing Saeko to lose her grip on the blade.

Retreating back a few steps, Saeko looked over to where Takashi had landed. She could see that his body made a noticeable dent into the wall, fracture lines splintering from a crater caused by the impact. Takashi's body was in a crumpled pile on the ground, not moving. Upon seeing this, Saeko began to lose it.

I have to do something or we are both dead. Fuck, fuck FUCK! That bastard hurt him! Saeko thought to herself as she slowly starts brewing into a rage. The Nightmare, now regaining its composure after the missed charge, turned around and roared again, this time going on all fours like a beast and began charging towards Saeko again. Right before it was upon her, Saeko launched herself up in an attempt to jump over the beast and avoid the charge, and ended up flying 10 ft high in the air!

Because of the fact that she had no idea this was going to happen, Saeko pretty ungracefully came plummeting down to the ground, landing in a heap. As she slowly started getting up, a voice filtered through her head. Your powers will come when you are ready but there will be trials. Wait isn't that what the goddess said? This must be the start of her powers then. Before she could think about it anymore, she jumped again to avoid another charge by the Nightmare, however this time she used less strength then last time, resulting in her flying over the Nightmare gracefully. The two continued this dance for a while, as Saeko tried to understand her newfound strength.

Okay, I see how it works now. Saeko had finally started figuring out this new strength of hers. At first, she tried to consciously think about her movements and strength she put into every jump, but she quickly realized that in order to do that meant losing focus on the enemy, which is something she couldn't afford to do. Instead she learned that all she had to do was control how hard she applied pressure. If she were to push down hard with all her strength, she could probably launch herself 30ft in the air, but that also meant learning how to land from a 30 ft drop.

Just because she had the strength didn't mean she immediately knew how to use it so she didn't want to test her limit yet. Instead she practiced by using light kickoffs by only using the balls of her feet. This turned out to work beautifully because it fit in her fighting style. However, this joy was short lived, because she had still yet to even scratch the creature. It has been almost 5 minutes now and Takashi had still yet to get up, which really started to freak out Saeko. Get up Takashi! Please get up!

The more frantic Saekos mind began to spin, the more erratic her movements became. Since Saeko was still new to these powers, she didn't know that emotions played a strong role in it, and unless those emotions were honed, they would run rampant. In other words, her simple jumping around began resulting in mini craters starting to form on the ground from where she was landing due to her anger.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT TAKASHI!" Saeko screams at the Nightmare.

"DIEEEE!" Saeko shouts again after repeatedly cursing at the thing numerous times. She aimed her sword at the base of the skull of the Nightmare, but, just like the last time she did this, the result ended up the same. With a loud CLANG the blade once again bounced off, not even leaving a scratch behind. "GAHHH" Saeko screamed, her voice turning more feral, as she desperately does everything she can, to kill this creature that destroyed her Takashi.

What the hell? What happened? We were just outside the storage house when…. Something hit me. Hard. What the hell was that? And why am I so cold?

Takashi's eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up. "What the, where the hell am i?" He exclaimed as he became aware of his new surroundings. What was once and abandoned street full of buildings was now nothingness. Where Saeko had been mere seconds ago was emptiness. Now, it was just darkness.

"Hello little one"

A voice filtered through the dark

"Do you remember me? It wasn't long ago that we met."

"Erebus?"

"Very good, it seems I have chosen well. Right now, your partner is in the midst of her first trial. Your trial has just begun. You have a lot of potential within you, but there is also much turmoil. This is okay because as one who will become one with Chaos, this is natural. What matters is that you control this Chaos.

"Okay but what exactly does that mean? From what I know of you, you're a primordial Deity, existing long before even the gods themselves. This power it must be massive."

Even though he couldn't see anything, Takashi almost fell as though the deity was smiling after he finished.

"Yes and no. As a human, there is now way for me to bestow my full powers on to you. However, as you begin harnessing your gifts, your body will begin to change on the metaphysical level. This does not mean you will become a god however. Erebus said with a hearty laugh. "Do not think yourself immortal, for you can very easily be killed.

"Now let me bestow upon you this gift."

With that being said a cool feeling could be felt on Takashi 's head. Before all of a sudden, a piercing pain went through his head. It was though someone took a hot poker and impaled his skull, the pain was excruciating.

"Gahhhhh, Saeko, wheres Saeko? AHHHHHH…. Rei, Rei, where are you? GAHHHHHH SAEKOOOOO!

Takashi started rambling, his mind starting to overload. His mind was churning, he struggled to think clearly but it was impossible. After what felt like an eternity the pain finally stopped.

Your body may be able to handle the gifts but your mind is not. I had hoped you would be able to accept these abilities, but it appears I acted with haste. Very well, we must strengthen your mental fortitude, so I will bestow on you a different gift.

With that being said the voice whispered something into Takashi's ears, and his eyes slowly closed.

It had been 30 minutes now and Saeko was still fight the Nightmare. Brock and Asami had come by not that long ago, but upon seeing the fierce battle going on between Saeko and the Nightmare, they quickly turned around and sped off somewhere. Saeko didn't know if they were waiting for a signal, going for backup, or simply gave up on her, all she could think about now was Takashi.

Takashi was dead.

And this son of a bitch killed him.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

She screams out, as she slashes and stabs at the beast. There still had yet to be a scratch on the beast, but if one was viewing the battle from the beginning, they would see the creature was fatigued. Still, for that creature even though it was fatigued, it was still very dangerous. Saeko was covered in gashes, though they were thankfully not deep.

Her eyes, which once went silver, were now slowly turning black. The darkness of her pupil began bleeding through the iris, threatening to consume her entire eye. Veins of black began pulsing around her eyes and neck, spreading to her arms and eventually her legs. Soon after a faint glow of black could be seen emanating from her like an aura.

Yes, embrace the darkness little girl, let it become one with you.Saeko took one last look at Takashi, and closed them, giving in to the darkness. She let her thoughts be consumed with only one thought standing strong in the Darkness. Protect Takashi. She let this thought devour the Darkness, her love for Takashi being the only tether to the ground.

Congratulations, you have passed your first test.The voice said with a cackle.

My consort has bestowed his gifts on your beloved already, though he will need your help to control it. Erebus's power is strong, almost as strong as ours, but unlike you the boy hasn't fully embraced the darkness yet. He will need your guidance.

My main gift as the Goddess of Night, is the very manipulation of Darkness itself, which will become your power later on as well. Everywhere there is darkness, it will be under your control, you can blend as one with the shadows, or absorb light with your dark.

I will explain these abilities in more detail later on, but first you must survive the second trial.

Your friends will be joining you soon.

As soon as this was said, both Takashi and Saeko's eyes flew open at the same time, both the color of night.

Back at the mall

Shizuki was currently doing inventory on medical supplies, making sure she had enough bandages and antiseptic for the group. "And a little bit of this and ooh, we need some of this." As she hummed to herself a hawk was perched on the window outside, staring directly at Shizuki. The bird captivated her attention for some reason, and she began reaching out to it. Not yet a voice seemed to have said from the hawk, as the bird screeched loudly and flew away.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Shizuki finished packing her medical supplies and went up to the roof to join the others. Rei apparently had taken a liking to the bows and arrows that the guards used to fend off small hordes of zombies. With a compact design and near silent action, it was a perfect weapon to use against the enemy. The main issue was ammunition, but the guards found a stockpile of carbon fiber-based arrows, which as long as the feathers weren't damaged, could be reused multiple times.

Climbing up the stairs Shizuki joined the rest of her group and the people at the mall who were also training. Rei was standing about 100 feet away from a target holding a compound bow in her hand. Thanks to Kohta, this bow had been specially modified to her and fit her body perfectly. The quiver for the arrows had also been specially modified to be lightweight and compact, perfect for tumbles and mobility. She switched her Sais to be positioned on her inner thighs, this way if she was disarmed of her bow, she could switch to hand to hand combat.

THWACK THWACK THWACK

Rei fired the bow in perfect rhythm, the twangs of the bow were sung by the arrows as they landed near perfectly on the target. "Very good" one of the instructors said to Rei, "You sure you've never done this before? You're a natural at it." This had been the 8th round of arrows, and Rei had yet to stray far from the target.

"No, today is the first day I've ever even practiced archery." Rei was just as surprised as the instructor. Sure, she was in the Shojustu club, but they didn't really do archery, it was more hand to hand combat. What made her want to come up here anyway? She was sitting on the roof looking out at the view, thinking about how Takashi's trip was going, when all of a sudden, a silver stag ran out of a nearby alleyway.

Rei had no idea where the stag had come from, after all, they were almost a mile away from the nearest woods. The stag seemed to just be wandering, its silvery coat shining in the sunlight. All of a sudden, its ears perked and it looked up, staring directly at Rei. As Rei remain locked by the stag's gaze, she felt tingles run through her body, as though the beast was calling to her. As soon as that sensation came it was gone and as Rei rubbed her eyes to clear her mind, as soon as she opened her eyes the stag was gone. "That was weird" Rei had thought before deciding to check on the roof.

After about an hour of Rei practicing with the different types of bows that the guard had available, Rei decided to stick with the compound bow that she used in the beginning. "Hmm I should probably find Kohta and thank him for the modifications he did to it for me. "she said to herself, as she slung the bow over her shoulder, getting used to the new weight between the quiver and the bow.

"Hey Shizuki, do you know where Kohta is?" Rei asked. "I think he's downstairs helping fix the generators for Asami" Shizuki answered. "Ok, we will meet up with him later." As the two of them started to head to the access door to go inside, a car engine could faintly be heard and was getting louder. The two girls ran back to the edge of the roof and looked down to investigate where it was coming from.

In the distance they could see one of the security vehicles from the mall come racing towards the mall. "Wait, isn't that the vehicle that those people and Takashi and Saeko left with?" Rei asked. She was almost sure it was the same vehicle, but it didn't look like their two friends were with them… "Go get Kohta and the others, I'll meet you downstairs. "Rei ordered Shizuki as she quickly ran to the front entrance.

Shizuki raced to the basement where Kohta was busy working on the generators. Despite the mall workers best efforts, they weren't able to get the main generator started, so they have been using the gas sub generators sparingly instead. The problem with this was two things, first was the emissions given off by the generators. The workers had made a makeshift ventilation shaft but it wasn't fool proof. You were fine if you were there just to do repairs, but prolonged exposure could lead to asphyxiation.

The second and bigger problem was fuel. The main generator was connected to solar panels on the roof so there was no need for it. The backup generators weren't meant to last long so there wasn't a huge reserve of fuel. Since the environment wasn't safe for long term work, Kohta had been going in in 15 min intervals. After staring at the same three wires for the last 3 shifts, Kohta rubbed his face in exasperation and left to take another break.

As he exited the generator room, he heard a faint voice "Kohta!" After a few minutes he heard his name being called again, this time it was louder and Kohta could hear it more clearly. That sounds like Takagi. "Kohtaaaaa!" Takagis voice could now be clearly heard as Kohta watched the pink headed girl come running towards him. Panting from exhaustion she leans down and rests her hands on her legs to catch her breath. "Ta-Takagis vehicle is back but Saeko and Takashi aren't there. Rei said to get upstairs quick."

"Where's Alice?" Kohta asked as the two of them were running upstairs, "She's with some other children, she's fine, leave her for now, she doesn't need to worry unnecessarily" Takasgi replied. Kohta nodded his head and agreement as they finally got to the main concourse of the mall. The two of them rounded the corner and saw Shizuki and Rei standing with one of the guards.

As soon as the two of them joined the others, "Tell them what you told me." Rei said to the guard with a grim face as she looked at Kohta and Saya. Shizuki had tears escaping from the corners of her eyes, and she quickly brushed them away before they had a chance to form. Right away Kohta and Saya realized something bad must've happened.

The guard looked genuinely frightened, "All I know is this. We went down the street according to the plan until we hit a collapsed building about a mile down the road. Brock and Asami went with your friends to the storehouse and were supposed to rendezvous with us on the other side of the building once they got the supplies from the storage. Everything was going fine until all of a sudden, we heard a loud roar. A few minutes later, Asami and Brock came speeding over to us in a car they jacked and told us to come here as soon as possible and get you guys."

"Brock's exact words were, 'if those kids are anything like these two with us, we need them here immediately' I don't know what he meant by that but we need your guys help now." Kohta looks at Rei and tilted his head as if to ask something. Rei nodded her head as though she acknowledged something, and Kohta immediately grabbed Saya's hand and the two started running towards the buildings across the street.

"Where are they going?" The guard asked, visibly confused. "We need a vehicle now, Shizuki, grab your medical supplies." "Already got them!" Shizuki answered as she held up her bag. Kohta and Saya could be seen heading back, and the guards jaw dropped when he saw them and what they were carrying.

Kohta had a large dufflebag slung over his shoulder, but what shocked the guard, was the military grade sniper rifle he was holding. Saya wasn't any different as she casually held her Submachine MP5 in her hands.

"Where the hell did you get those?" The guard asked incredulously. "We got them on the way here. You guys ready?" Rei said answering the guard's question and then asking Kohta and Takagi. "Yea we are all set, Rei, you want a gun?" Rei thought about it, but subconsciously stroked the quiver on her back. "Now ill stick with the bow, it feels more right." She answered.

"Suit yourself." Kohta said with a shrug. "Alright let's move out. You. Bring us as close as you can, we will take it from there." Rei said to the group then the guard. Rei, Takagi, Kohta and Shizuki all then piled into the car and drove off to go help Takashi and Saeko.

Nearby on top of one of the nearby buildings.

The man lost track of how long he's been sitting there waiting. Boss told him to monitor the mall they've been trying to get into, but once he informed Boss that the kids from earlier were now staying at the mall, they all but lost hope of raiding.

That was until this morning. The man woke up to the sounds of a car engine and saw 4 adults pile in with two kids. Judging by the swords on their back, he safely assumed that those two were part of the group they had encountered. He also knew from the Boss that those two were the groups biggest fighters, though the others were not to be underestimated.

After relaying the information to the Boos about the two kids, he was told to hold his position as the Boss was preparing on heading over with the rest of the crew. They had about 30 men, but only a little over half had the courage/ lack of morals to kill other living beings. Him personally couldn't do it. It's not that he was scared or anything he just didn't understand the reason to kill other humans when they are all stuck in this living nightmare.

As he was pondering his life choices and what led to him being on this roof, he heard the car engine again. They were back so soon? It had only been maybe 20-30 minutes. By the way the car was speeding so the guy could only guess that something went wrong. This guess was furthered as he saw only one person get out of the car and run into the mall frantically.

Hmm I wonder what happened?

After a few minutes had passed since the person ran inside, two figures suddenly came running out. Judging by their clothes and their age, the man assumed that these were some of the kids from the group. The two kids were running to one of the houses and stopped in front of one that had a huge bush wrapping around the front stairs. One of the kids practically dives into the bush and pulls out a big duffel bag.

Hmm, they must've stashed it there before they went into the mall. I wonder what's in it… What the fuck?!

The mans thoughts about guessing what was in the duffel bag were quickly answered when they person pulled out a weapon. From this distance it appeared to be some sort of rifle, but it was definitely a gun. "Where the fuck did that kid get that?!" The man practically yelled at himself. As he stared in disbelief, the two kids started running back to the mall. Whatever that had happened was obviously big, and it was clear they were gearing up for a fight.

Sure enough shortly after they went in, the car that came left again, but this time was clearly full and assumedly was filled with the kids. Which meant that the malls main defenses were all gone, only the grunts were left behind. The man broke out into an evil smile, before grabbing his gear to find the radio.

With one last look at the mall, he holds down the walkie talkie and reports back in to his boss.

"Barry? It's Ronnie. Those kids we ran into are gone now and so is most of the malls security."

After a few seconds of silence, a voice crackled through the walkie.

"Very good. Time to make ourselves at home"

A/N: So, before you guys ask yes, I will be also bestowing gifts on Takagi and Kohta, though I haven't decided what yet. I would love to hear your guys thoughts with how this story is going.

As always please read and review it means a lot to me. See you next time