Shadows cast on the empty road. Lights flickered on and off from the streetlights as the noises from the bustling crowd gradually came to a stand still.
Every now and then, there would be noises but these were from the tiny creatures that roamed around in homes and streets and the sewers below.
Right now though, they illuminated the final night for both Neptune Vasilias and a young child as they stared at their would be killer. A shadowy figure covered in a layer of mist, their silhouette being outlined by the pale moonlight.
The creature could smell their fear. They could smell it's bloodlust.
As a clock struck 11:00 nearby at a clock shop, the figure in the mist immediately disappeared causing Neptune to grab the little kid beside him and jump back as far as he could to escape the creature.
As he grabbed the kid on his shoulder and ran while jumping over railings and rooftops of various buildings.
It didn't matter. Instincts told him so.
The moment he made a jump to reach the roof of a three storey building a block away, he barely noticed chains reaching towards him as he kicked one and tried to balance his footing on the ledges nearby, carefully holding onto the kid on his shoulder.
As he looked around, he had a sudden rise of killing intent rise up behind him.
As he casted an illusion and jumped off, it was then he realized that they had also created their own illusion and found himself hurled to the ground. Luckily he had activated a barrier for the kid while his own aura was slowly healing himself.
Fog began to cover almost everywhere on the street. As it got more and more dense, Neptune stood up and clasped both his hands together as spells were continuously made in his mind. The water seeped out from the fog and begin to form crystallized spikes. Glyphs littered around the ground everywhere as water spikes began to flow throughout everywhere in the fog.
Within a second as something came right towards him, he stepped back and trapped the creature in a viscous like liquid.
As he stood there, taking a good look at the creature, he could smell the odor of blood heading towards him.
With a glance he froze the weapons heading towards him from the sides, when the ground below him broke and a giant hand managed to grab him and whirled him around as he tried with increasing difficulty to escape. Managing to freeze his leg off and then breaking it to jump a few distance off, he checked his feet. Seeing it slowly healing and regenerating his limbs, he casted an illusion spell as the assailant ran past him and headed towards the child.
The moment they grabbed a hold of the child, they felt something cold and instead found themselves frozen in place. Minutes later the ice shattered.
As the illusions faded, both Neptune and the kid were far from their spot but the pursuit never ended.
Closing his fist, spears of water were made from the mist and were thrown behind them with the spears immediately freezing anything that it struck with.
However the moment they entered into an abandoned alley, they found themselves caged in.
And as Neptune turned to face his assailant, they stopped running and stood where they are.
As the child seemingly vanished into thin air, the killing intent did not lessen but was far more muted.
"I see."
Neptune spoke before he chuckled a bit.
"You're after humans, aren't you ?"
"It doesn't matter which humans but you guys are after them all, huh ?"
As he spoke, his long tooth fangs came out in the open.
"Even if there are vampires protecting them, you're still gonna make sure as if nothing ever happened."
And as the atmosphere around him began freezing and water came running out of the sewers and drains, the pursuer finally stepped out into the open.
The being was entirely made from shadows, from the shadows it was formed, from the shade under the lights from the streetlamp and from every shadow that was formed during the sunlight.
It was a monster from the shadows.
Neptune closed his eyes once more, this time focusing on one of his major spells, the water evaporating and mist forming all around him as the shadow monster began to enlarge before running towards him.
As they collided, a large burst of steam erupted throughout the alleyway with an explosion following after it.
Just a few blocks away, the human child was reaching an uninhabited bridge when they saw the explosion.
Horrified by what was happening all around, the kid kept on running, their legs filled with adrenaline when they felt something pulling them back.
Afraid to turn around, they kept on trying to escape, not noticing that their surroundings had turn dark. With sweat flowing throughout his body and fatigue beginning to set in, their worst fears began to erupt in their minds, slowly making them falter in their movements. In the corner of their eyes they saw a large claw heading towards them, the nails large and shiny.
In that moment, they heard a large shout and felt someone push them out of the way and then they heard flesh ripping and blood gulching.
Horrified, the kid was on the ground and looked at their savior.
Someone was standing in front of them, facing the monsters head on, despite the fact that several of the nails had punctured through their torso, and blood was flowing slowly.
That same person was standing still, his hands trying to force the nails out of his body, his blonde hair prominent with a shade of white as his own shirt had been torn in the attack.
As he coughed, the shadow creature looked at him curiously before throwing him off the bridge and then went straight towards its intended victim, claws open once again. As it neared the young child, a sudden shout stopped its tracks.
Looking down, the young man that had just been impaled was now walking on the river below, the blood on his white and gold vest drying up and the holes that were recently made had now filled up, the flesh and meat moving on its own. As the man spoke, his voice proved to be that of a young adult yet his countenance showed that of a person who had faced countless dangers before and this was just one of them.
"If you're gonna hurt a kid especially a human then you at least have to beat me. To death."
As he said that, a golden sheen of aura covered him and the air around him began to cool.
And within a second, he jumped from there and landed right next to the kid. As he stood there protectively, the shadow ran towards him intent on killing him right then and there.
The moment the claws of the creature reached him, he grabbed it with both hands and successfully stopped it from crushing him.
As he held it above his head, he took a glance to the kid behind him.
"It would be better if you run away now, when I'm distracting him."
The shadow became larger as it began to push him away. His black tailcoat getting crushed as he began to push more against the increasing pressure.
As the kid ran away, the shadow had grown a foot and an inch over him before grabbing his hands and then throwing him on the ground continuously before kicking him a few yards away.
As the creature came close to him, the clouds had passed over what remained of the moon fragments and it became even larger.
Meanwhile the golden aura returned and the man got up and coughed before he chuckled once more.
"Well, it looks like you shadow monsters got stronger under the moonlight. Too bad for you, though..."
And then he flipped open the black eyepatch he had over his right eye.
And in that moment, all the monster saw was a long field of roses and shining white light accompanied by shrill laughter and a lithe female figure holding a large scythe before it returned to darkness.
Neptune had found the kid but this time accompanied by a young adolescent blonde man, wearing a black tailcoat and a ruined golden and white vest.
He had a black eyepatch on his right eye with a rose symbol engraved on it.
"Hey there, I was in the area and I noticed an explosion...so are you okay ?"
Neptune didn't know what to think of this stranger.
Except right now, he needed to greet him.
"Hey there, I'm Neptune Vasilias, a young and upcoming detective."
"Oh, hi the name's Jaune Arc."
