Weapons of the New World.

Takashi's head was pulsing, his body felt like it was made up of glass and shattered into a million pieces. All these feelings and sensations came rushing in to me like a river, as though I could literally feel the torrential flood washing over me. It was a river of darkness swirling and twisting around me, as though it was alive and sentient, but it didn't scare me.

Instead, the feeling, it almost felt… comforting, like a warm embrace… like home.

Slowly sitting up, I hold my pounding head, trying to figure out what just happened, when all of a sudden, a huge roar wakes me up from my stupor, as I turn towards the sound my jaw drops at what I see. Saeko was there, rapidly dashing around a huge terrifying beast that could only be described as a Nightmare, bouncing around it to avoid the slashes from its long arms that were clearly tipped with equally long claws.

It looked like she had been fighting the creature for a while. Slash marks, and torn pieces of her clothing were visible, but thankfully no blood. Despite all of her wounds it looked like she barely hurt that Nightmare. Knowing that it had nothing to do with Saekos fighting ability, it was safe to assume something was weird about the creature.

"SAEKO YOU OKAY?" I scream out but immediately regret it. My scream caused Saeko to literally stop moving as she turned her head and looked at me, her face filling with joy, and… her eyes that looked like the blackest ink.

Huh.

That's new.

The brief pause in Saeko's movements from my scream gave the Nightmare its chance as it quickly pounced on her blindside, and backhanded her with massive force, sending her tumbling away.

Much to my surprise though, as soon as Saeko stopped tumbling she flipped back up to a crouch, and started launching herself back at the Nightmare swinging her sword in another attack. Getting over my shock i unsheathed the blade I still had strapped to my back and started charging at the Nightmare opposite of Saeko to go help her out.

"Has she managed to injure it yet?" Takashi thought as he looked over at Saeko. "No not yet, my blade can't cut through the things muscles." Wait… How did Saeko answer me? She was a good 50ft away from me at least… Unless…. Time to test a theory.

"Saeko, can you hear me?" I sent the thought out, and sure enough, "Yes of course I can, are we really having this conversation now?" I chuckle to myself despite the current situation we are in, and I can see the realization dawning on Saeko's face. This must've been what Erebus had meant by gift. I have telepathy?

"Ok I don't quite know how I'm doing this, but let's use this to our advantage." "What do you have in mind?" "Well for starters where have you attacked so far?" Saeko opened up her mind to me and I dived in. Her mind became like a movie theatre, different thoughts flitting through, images of what I assumed was her childhood, images of the school, until finally her thoughts settled onto the recent events.

I saw myself get smashed into the wall by the Nightmare, and felt Saeko's pain and rage causing her to fly into a frenzy thinking he was dead. Shit so did I, the impact of me alone getting smashed me flinch. All of her emotions were swirling around me, infused into the images. He literally felt her fear when that happened, but fear of what? Without a second thought I dove into those thoughts of her fear. It was the fear of losing the group, of losing him, but the biggest fear, was of being alone. Saeko, this is how you feel?

Diving deep into Saeko's thoughts and feelings unlocked something inside of me. I saw the intensity that drove her to go all out against the Nightmare even though she knew she wasn't hurting the thing. He admired her intensity, and only one thought made sense I'm here now Saeko, you're not alone.

I leaped over next to Saeko so they were now standing shoulder to shoulder. "So... you have telepathy huh?" Saeko said with a grin. "I guess so." I answered back with a smile, "What about you, what can you do?" Saeko gives a small laugh, "Well so far I can jump really high." The thought of Saeko jumping like a bunny made me want to laugh but I knew it was time to be serious. "So... any ideas on how to kill this thing?"

"Nope, my blade just bounces right off no matter where I hit it, I even used my enhanced strength and it did nothing." Saeko face scrunched up in that look that meant she had thought of something, "…Everything that is darkness, will be under your control…" Saeko muttered under her breath before spinning around, looking for something. "If you got a plan, wanna let me in on it." I asked.

"We need to get into darkness, I don't know why but I feel we will be stronger there." I nod in agreement not even questioning what she meant, just your normal conversation these days. "I trust you" With that thought the two of us immediately turned and began running down the street. After two steps into the run Saeko shot like a cannonball leaving me in a cloud of dust, literally. I got startled so badly I forgot how to run for a second and came tripping to a stop.

"Can I do that?" I said out loud with my eyes wide, pointing to myself like an idiot. Planting my feet down I pushed with all my strength… and only went slightly faster (to my major disappointment, not to mention embarrassment) … Saeko, now realizing that i couldn't keep up, ran back and slowed down to my pace. "How did you do that? That super speed?" I asked her. "I don't know, I thought you were dead and then, it just happened."

"Ok, but did anything else happen before that?" I asked, trying to figure out what could trigger my abilities other than having Saeko get killed… "Do you think that's something unique to you?" "hmm, it's possible, maybe you have mental abilities and I have physical?" Saeko answered, but as soon as she said that, for some reason we knew that wasn't true.

"The goddess said something to me. I just can't remember what it was, but it was something about you and darkness." I said to Saeko. "Maybe the way to activate my power has something to do with you." As we were talking, we were running away from the Nightmare, desperately searching for somewhere dark. It was late in the day, but there was still a lot of light left. Enough light, that at their current pace, they would be devoured by the Nightmare long before they found substantial darkness to use.

"Ok, you're too slow." Saeko said to me, as the two of us narrowly dodged a car that had been launched by the Nightmare. Both of us had sensed the car coming, as though we had a sixth sense around us. Saeko jumped to the left and landed with a roll as I simply dove to the right, rolled on the ground for a second, before getting back up and continuing to run.

All of a sudden, my legs got taken out from under me and slim but strong arms trapped me against two very warm mounds. It turns out Saeko had rushed over and swooped me into her arms, as though she was carrying me over the threshold. "Until you can figure out how to run fast, we are faster with me just carrying you."

Saeko adjusted her arms around me, probably making sure I was secured. The warmth from her chest was like a calming wave, and as I'm thinking about the mounds of warmth Saeko launches herself, a rooster tail of dirt could be seen behind her.

The Nightmare roared loudly once it realized its prey (us) was escaping, and let out a guttural screech. Its body began contorting, its upper limbs bending inwards until it was on all fours on the ground. Its lower jaw protruded forward, the bottom incisors growing until it was 3 inches long. With one last roar it went on its hind legs, before slamming back down to the ground and ran at an insane speed.

"Saeko, that thing's keeping up with us, and it's a lot uglier than it was before." "What the hell is that supposed to mean and is that even possible?" Saeko replied. I think up of a mental image of the Nightmare and sent it to Saeko. So far these were the only things I could do with my telepathy, but maybe if I keep practicing, I can learn new things?

"Is it me or did that thing get uglier..." Bumping along on her chest I almost bit my tongue off trying to speak, "I don't know, but either way it just got faster, we need to hurry or it will catch up to us."

Saeko sped up even faster, clearly pushing herself to the limit, if her slightly hitched breathing was any indicator. If her speed was to be compared to something, the closest thing would be that of a cheetah. Her speed wasn't some instantaneous blur of speed but more like an Olympic sprinter who could keep on running. This being said, Saeko was still new to these abilities and hadn't built up any stamina for it yet.

"I can't keep this up much longer." Saeko said with a slight hitch in her breathing. "It's ok you've killed enough time, look" I said and pointed up at the sky. The sun had begun setting making the shadows longer and darker, which to the two of us, was a blessing in disguise. "What's that up there?" I said pointed awkwardly over her arms, seeing as how my other arm was currently trapped between Saekos peaks.

The place I was pointing too was a huge building that looked like some sort of factory, surrounded by an iron fence. Inside the fence a few of Them were walking around aimlessly, probably workers that got trapped, but the biggest thing was that the entire front side of the building was encased in shadows. The sun was blocked by the building creating a dark field that they could use. The only problem now was the infected inside the fence.

"What do you think?" I said to Saeko as she let me down. "Saeko observed the area before giving a satisfied nod. "This will work, lets just clean this area up." Saeko turned around and looked towards where we had come. The rumbles in the earth confirmed that the creature was still following them, but far enough for them to get prepared.

The two of use gracefully hopped over the fence, and landed in a crouch before launching ourselves at the infected. I let Saeko get the infected on the left while I focused on the two I had in front of me.

With a quick slash of my sword, I quickly decapitated the first one I front of me, now unfazed by the sound of meat thumping to the ground. Without hesitation I immediately moved on to the next target. With one slash I sliced up from the waist to the shoulder, before completing the spin with a slash parallel to the ground. The body behind me fell into its three parts as I look over to Saeko who also dispatched her targets just as efficiently.

Now all that was left was to wait, and hope. "So now that we are in the darkness, what's the plan." I asked as I tighten my grip on the sword, the thundering echoes getting louder. "Nope I was kind of hoping that something would have happened already" She answered honestly.

With a loud roar the Nightmare came into view, stalking it's way down the street towards us. Its extended jaw dripped with saliva as those eyeless holes just seemed to stare at them, as though it could see into him.

"No matter what happens… I just want to say… you're not alone Saeko" I said as I was looking at her. We stared into each other's eyes, hers still black, and she turns back towards the Nightmare.

"I know"

Rei was starting to get very worried about Saeko and Takashi now. Her and the rest of the group had arrived at what must've been the aftermath of a recent fight, if the wreckage around her was any indication.

I was currently looking at a partially caved in wall, the cause being from what looked like something had been thrown into it. Scattered among the ground were deep indents of something big and very heavy. The claws at the tips were so sharp that little holes were made into the solid earth.

"This is where you saw them last?" I asked Brock and Asami. The two of them had met up with our group at a collapsed building, their faces pale and etched with fear. They had hotwired a car and had brought them to where they last saw Takashi and Saeko, but something was off.

They saw something that scared them.

Something that scared them bad. Really bad.

I looked around and tried to formulate a strategy. The first thing that came to mind, almost like instinct, was to treat it like a hunt. Something had attacked her friends, and now the only thing left to do is track down where they went.

They were going to find them. They had to.

Examining the ground around me, I looked for any clues that might have shown which way to go from here, though the options were limited. They were down a side street in a warehouse district area, so there weren't many places to choose. Walking down the street, I continue pushing forward the way we were going, my gaze sweeping the ground looking for tracks.

My hunch paid off, as about 100 ft down the street I found another footprint left by the beast. It was clear now that it was running down the street, but why? There were no vehicle marks to be seen, so Saeko and Takashi couldn't have fled by car. Were they on foot?

As crazy as that sounded, I couldn't think of any other explanation. Somehow, they were running down the street faster then a 7 ft abomination. "Okay, we are moving this way. Grab your gear and let's head out." The sound of rustling could be heard as everyone got to their tasks. I don't know when they started looking to me like a leader, but even Brock and Asami didn't question me, and they weren't even in our group.

Once it was clear everyone was ready, I took point and began following the tracks down the street. "The tracks have a good distance between them, meaning that thing was in a run, so we need to pick up the pace if we are going to catch up." A resounding chorus of "Yes, Ma'am (Brock?) Roger, Lets do it!" echoed from behind me.

As we ran, I fell back so I was running with Brock and Asami, "I need to ask you two something and I need you to be perfectly honest with me." I said, just loud enough for them to hear me, but not loud enough that others could listen in easily.

Brock and Asami gave each other a quick look before Brock nodded his head. "Okay, what do you want to know?" "Something scared you, bad. I want to know what it was."

I could visibly see Brock and Asami's face get pale, meaning that I was right. After a few moments of silence while running, Brock finally spoke.

"I don't know what I saw, or even to begin to explain it." "Well start with this creature, what was it?" Asami was the one to answer this time. "It was horrible and disgusting! It had no skin!" The fuck? "And it was huge! But there was something weird about it" "What do you mean?"

"well it attacked Saeko and Asami yes, but it made sure not to slice them, I mean have you seen these claw marks? It could easily rip them to shreds!" "Asami's got a point." Takagi said, as she appeared to be listening in on their conversation.

"It sounds to me like it's a weird version of a Boo Hag." Takagi had said this before her face went blank. "ok that's weird… I didn't even know what a Boo Hag was before now."

Hmm…. First my archery preference, now Takagi's sudden knowledge? What the fuck is going on?

"Well since you clearly have the knowledge now you want to elaborate on what a Boo Hag is?" I asked her. "Well for starters they aren't supposed to be real. They are mythological creatures." "Yea well neither are zombies so keep talking." I retort back.

"Well let's start with it's a long way from home. Boo Hags were mostly referenced to be from the south part of North America. The legend goes that they are like vampires, but instead of feeding on blood they feed on their breath, literally suffocating them."

"If the victim struggles or fights back, it gets violent and rips their skin off to use as its own, however it needs to return to its own skin after a while or it will get stuck in its form. And again, HOW THE FUCK DO I KNOW THIS?!"

Deciding to ignore Takagi's mini melt down, "Well since we are at, do you know how to kill it?" Takagi's face soured up. "That's just it, there's no mention in myth on how to kill one. Maybe another mythological creature?" Takagi said hopefully.

Hmm another creature huh? What about power? Well if this new knowledge of hunting and archery was any indicator, something had blessed me and Takagi, who it was that had blessed me I had no idea, a few guesses but no proof. But if we were to be gifted then you know damn well that Saeko and Takashi were as well.

Now we just had to find them.

We were a good mile away from our starting point when we stumbled up on a car half buried into the pavement. It looked like something had thrown it with so much force that the car was almost completely crumpled up like an aluminum can. "We are on the right path that's for sure."

All of a sudden, a loud roar echoed in front of us, it was faint so whatever it was, was still a good distance away. Whether that was a good or bad thing was unknown, seeing as how likely it was that Saeko and Takashi were at the origin of the roar.

"Come on people, we gotta move faster." "Tell me… again…. why we…. didn't take… the vehicle?" Kohta said in between breaths. "For starters not all of us would have fit in it, we weren't leaving anyone behind."

With nothing else to add to that, I continue pushing forward with the rest of the group, hoping that we will be able to find Saeko and Takashi before nightfall.

That hope however turned out to be nonexistent, as an hour later of walking they still were following tracks, and they still had yet to see any sign of their friends. They had ended up on the outskirts of the neighboring city, high up on the hills.

The once beautiful and vibrant city now looked like an empty shell of itself, all of its previous beauty was now hidden in the shadows and darkness. "Isn't that Omashu?" Takagi said out loud as we looked down upon it.

"Yea, you kids are looking at what was once Yakuza central." A collective "Huh?" rang out as Brock was the one to say this. "Yea it's a very little-known fact, only reason I know is because I did some undercover work there."

"That city looks pretty on the outside, but in reality, it was run by two different gangs. The Caldera Family and the Lee Family. The Calderas were emotionless killers, specializing in knives and ranged combat. They were often hired out as assassins to wealthy people."

"The Lee family was less…. cynical. They stuck to the old techniques, learning fighting styles like Krav Maga and Dim Mak. They were renowned for their hand to hand combat, and specialized as bodyguards or personal escorts. They didn't like killing nearly as much as the Calderas."

"While this is very informative, is there any reason behind you mentioning it?" Asami asked, but I answered before Brock did, because the same thing dawned on me. "Because think about it, two highly trained families, in a lawless world, where the strong are on top? They are either fighting each other or securing the city."

"Or they could be hunting for more strong people." Brock added on, and I shuddered at the thought. Based off what I had seen with Takashi and Saeko, and now me and Takagi, there was definitely something going on. People were gaining abilities, whether it be for practical use or combat, and if there was one thing she learned, it is that the strong always want more power.

As she threw another five knives with pinpoint accuracy, Mai fell back on the bed with a loud sigh. She was bored. Well she was always bored, but she thought with these new things going on she would finally be able to do something.

Her life growing up was very sheltered… is one way of putting it. Her father Luke Caldera was a very powerful man, and she was his only daughter. Growing up she learned how to throw knives at 3 years old. By the time she started elementary school she was already proficient in a wide variety of poisons and could throw weapons with decent accuracy.

By the time she started high school she had already been inducted into the Death Squad her family was known for. She could slice the wings off a fly with her knives that's how precise she was.

On top of all this she had been betrothed to Kahn Lee, her best friend Ty's older brother. Then the sky fell down and all of that changed. Her father immediately sent out word for all members to come home and locked our estate down. That was two weeks ago.

Out of the 150 members of the family out on jobs only 5 came home, and 3 of those 5 had come back bitten and were killed. Father had said that, the dead weren't staying dead, and the only way to kill them was to strike the head.

That was easy for her, after all she was the next in line for the Caldera Family. She didn't earn the nickname Lady of Death for nothing. Maybe that's why she was visited by the deity.

It was maybe four days after everything turned to shit, when a mysterious woman came out of nowhere. He called himself Thanatos, a god of something that I can't remember. He said that when I meet his parent's things will become clearer.

That was a week ago now and still no sign of these "parents". So, to kill some time I decided to do another round of target practice. I head out to the courtyard, which has since been turned into a makeshift training area. An assortment of targets was lined up against one side of the wall for the ranged warriors, while wooden and stuffed dummies were on the other side for the melee fighters.

Sure enough, there was Ty, practicing as always. She had known Ty since they were really young, their fathers deciding that as the next heads of their family that they learn from one another at an early age. Instead what happened was the two of them became the best of friends.

Growing up Ty loved getting into trouble. She was a crafty little girl and focused on her flexibility and stealth just as much as I did with my knives. If she wasn't such a troublemaker and loved creating discord, she would make a great assassin. Ty confided in her that she too was visited by a goddess, this one's name being Eris.

The fates must've made the two of us friends because Ty got the exact same message as her. That when they meet their deity's parent everything will be clearer.

As she was about to say hi to her friend, a messenger came in to the courtyard. "Lady Caldera, Lady Lee, your presence is being requested in Lord Calderas throne room." With his message being delivered the messenger quickly turned around and left.

"Wonder what that was about?" Ty asked me. "No clue, but did you have to wear that outfit?" I said to her while stifling my laugh. Ty Lee was a slim girl, standing a little over 5 feet, however every inch of her was made up of toned muscle from years of training. Her brown hair was bulled back into a pony tail went past her shoulders. Her blue eyes and olive toned skin giving away her European background.

She was currently wearing what could've been considered a leotard, a skin tight suit that the assassins used when on a stealth mission. It had no pockets, nor the room for the blades which is why I hated it. But exactly why it was perfect for Ty Lee since her style was hand combat.

"I look like this so you can look like that" Ty said with a laugh as she cartwheeled along with me. I hated wearing just skin tight clothing. It wasn't that I didn't have the curves for it, more the exact opposite. The main reason was that my cloak over my suit was perfect for my fighting style. Various knives and razor discs were attached over my suit, all in strategic locations so that I would have a weapon no more what position I was in.

My go to weapons were always attached to my wrists, which is why I often walked around with my hands in my sleeves, ready to go at a moments notice. My white skin contrasted with my pitch-black hair, and my black clothes, but I liked it. It was as though I was the personification of Death.

As we entered into Fathers room, the whole place was filled with other various Weapons of the new world. Father called them Weapons because they had been gifted with strong abilities from the gods. It was also one of the reasons why me and Ty haven't mentioned to him that we have been gifted yet.

The Weapons were considered fierce warriors who have been blessed by the gods, most of them being assassins who have killed many people over the years. The Weapons were then divided into 4 categories.

The first category were the Elementals. These were people who had been gifted with the very elements themselves and were considered very deadly, especially if they were in their element, or had it handy.

The second category was the Summoners. These were people who were gifted with the ability to manifest or conjure up something. A big one of these types were the necromancers. However, despite their best efforts they were unable to control the infected, only things that had been killed by other means.

The third Category were the Supports. Most of these people turned out to be healers. Though a few rumors were spread saying that mind readers and future sight readers were also spotted. Supports rarely saw any action and were mostly used by Father in planning or after battle for the wounded.

The last Category was a speculation since we had only heard rumors about them. These were the Primordials. People who have been gifted by the oldest of deities. Some people even theorized that they were the Gods of Death themselves.

After hearing the rumors about the Primordials, it only strengthened Ty and my convictions on not letting father know about our gifts. For starters we didn't even know what our abilities were, only that we knew we had something.

Once we joined the other Weapons, Father motioned for silence. "I call you hear today to bring you news from our scouts. It appears we have discovered a Weapon or a creature, who we believe has been gifted by Echidna."

A murmur broke out among the crowd, everyone reacting differently to the news. Ty leans her head towards me and whispers "Who's that?" I rack my head for the answer. "a god of monsters I think, something like that."

"We have confirmed reports that one of their creations is in the southern part of our city." After a long pause, I looked up and realized Father was staring right at me. "I will be sending out my Daughter Mai and others to go inspect and report back to me."

Wait what.

I'm going where?!

I hear Ty's gasp as she sharply inhales between her teeth, "I also believe that my Daughter Ty, should also accompany Lady Mai, it would be good learning experience for them."

With that said Father sent one of his minions to escort me and Ty out to get ready for our mission. Hahn, one of Father's best fighters, debriefed us as we suited up.

"Our scouts informed us of a beast chasing two people in the southern part of the city. Our mage confirms that it's a beast created by Echidna, a cross between a Nemean Lion and a Boo Hag."

"Sounds like fun, and hard to kill." I mumbled. "Well if it's part Nemean Lion, that means its only weak point is its mouth, everything outside is invincible." Ty answered. Hahn nodded his head at Ty's words. "Your absolutely correct, that's why your father sent us."

With that said a girl stepped out from the shadows behind Hahn. She screamed military, from the fully loaded tactical suit, to the heavily modified sniper rifle hefted over her shoulder. Her purple hair gave her the look of nasty bedhead.

"This woman here will accompany us as long-range support for the infected. She doesn't answer to me or to you. Is that understood ladies." Me and Ty both nod our heads together. "Good, then let's move out."

A/N Welcome to my new characters! They will play a key role in the story line. As always please read and review.