Occultist was waiting for the right moment. She loitered near the headquarters, hands in her pockets, absently kicking along a pebble on the ground. All the while, she was psyching herself up. "It's just another job," she muttered to herself over and over, "just another job. You've been in and out of there a million times to get intel for jobs. The only difference is, this time you're just… getting a person. It's not that weird. You're just stealing a person." This whole thing sounded crazy, she knew, and she debated forgetting about the plan and leaving. But then she looked at the yen in her bank account, and stayed anyway.

She felt the ground shake, looking up to the skyline of the city in time to see a plume of smoke coming up from the direction of the police station. She bristled as she saw executioners coming out of the building, ducking into an alleyway to avoid being seen as they passed. Once the last few passed, she moved, she jogged through the doors into the now nearly-empty ground floor. She bumped right into a young man, a cadet, who looked frazzled. Perfect.

"S-someone help me!" She cried, reaching out and grabbing his arm, "I was at the police station, then suddenly all of these Akudamas attacked! I- I hit my head pretty hard and I feel all- all woozy! Is… is the room supposed to be spinny?"

The young man quickly took her by the shoulders, leading her to a separate room, "o-oh! Just relax, ma'am, it's okay! Let's get you settled, ID'ed, then I'll get you some medical assistance!"

The moment he shut the door, she moved. She threw her arm against his neck as hard as she could, knocking him back on the floor. As he wheezed, unable to speak from the throat chop, she dug into one of the many bags along her belt and pulled out a white power, blowing it in his face. The man's eyelids fluttered a few times before he collapsed forward, face smashing into the floor with a loud cracking noise. She winced as she watched blood trickle onto the wood from his nose, which was definitely broken now.

"Sorry, newbie," she muttered, "but you should've paid more attention in training… Always be with your partner." Kneeling down, Occultist rifled through his pockets before she found what she was looking for - an ID card with holding cell access.

After stashing the body away in a cabinet, she listened through the door before exiting. Luckily, she knew where she was going, for the most part. She had been through the holding cells before, had even been detained there herself once or twice. But the lower levels were where her expertise stopped. She hoped she'd be able to figure it out…

The overhead lights began flickering more and more as she headed down the stairs, electricity buzzing in the air. She didn't know whether it was due to low maintenance or if it was on purpose to creep out visitors. It cast long shadows on the floor, making her bristle each time she saw one move in a way that was too close to a human being for her liking. By the time she reached the first checkpoint and swiped the card, she was getting paranoid. She stuck closer to the wall and picked up speed a bit more, descending more staircases and passing more card reader guarded doors.

She passed doors, glancing in through some of the open ones. There were interrogation rooms, holding cells, what looked like torture devices and electroshock chairs… As she got deeper, the more trashed the rooms became. Shattered glass littering the floor, claw marks dug into the concrete walls. She just shuddered and kept going, too deep to turn back.

Finally, she reached the door that had a sign across the top in big, capital letters.

"LEVEL FIVE: BIOHAZARD RISK. AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED."

Taking a deep breath, she swiped the card. Occultist felt sweat beading at the nape of her neck as she watched the light become yellow for what felt like centuries… before finally turning green. With a breathy laugh, she stepped back as the doors slid open, the metal creaking in protest.

The stench hit her first, making her wrinkle her nose and pull her cloak's collar up around the lower half of her face. Sweat, antiseptic… a copper-y smell that she immediately knew the origin of. She knew the scent of blood better than anything. The room was deadly silent but it felt alive. She felt her skin crawl with goosebumps. Using a bit of ink from her pocket, she drew a small rune of protection on the inside of her wrist, just in case.

Stepping inside, there was only one holding cell. A glass barrier stood between her and the other girl. She was crouched down in the corner, back to the door, her whole body twitching every few seconds. Wolf-like ears and a tail were on her body, ears pinned back flat, tail bristled. She wore white, torn clothes that looked like they'd belong to a hospital. Her brown hair was wild, skin pale, bare feet dirty.

"Recluse…?" Occultist whispered.

Instantly, she whipped around. Her eyes were dark, glassy, wide. Her pupils were thin, gaze sharp, and Occultist heard a growl vibrating in her throat. She instantly held up her hands in a show of pacifism, but didn't flinch, not wanting to show any weakness.

"I'm not your enemy," she said, keeping her voice steady and low, like speaking to a wild animal. Which, she supposed, she was. "I'm here to get you out. I'm giving you your freedom, because someone needs your help."

Recluse said nothing at first, before slowly crawling towards the glass on all fours. Her movements were quick, almost spider-like in nature. Like a predator. She sniffed the air, head near the small cut outs in the glass that noise could travel through. She hissed, hunkering down on the floor.

"Chalk… rot…" She mumbled, her voice like gravel. It took Occultist a few seconds to realize what she meant - that's what she smelled like. Chalk and rot. Not entirely inaccurate.

Occultist rummaged through her pockets, before pulling out a small, pale lavender crystal. She carefully pushed it through one of the gaps in the glass, where it clattered to the floor. It shimmered, humming subtly like a soft lullaby. Recluse bared her teeth at it, but didn't strike. Once she saw it wasn't threatening, she inched closer, leaning her head down to sniff at it. Very slowly, she stuck her tongue out and licked the crystal.

"Tastes… sugar…"

"It's supposed to help calm you down… Is it working?"

The two girls stared at one another for a long moment. Recluse's heavy breathing evened out, and her head tilted to the side, mimicking the way Occultist was looking at her.

"Calm…"

"I'm going to let you out now…" Occultist walked to the card reader, and slid the ID card through it. There was a puff of mist, before the glass slowly began to rise. Recluse waited for it to fully disappear into the ceiling before standing, her legs a little wobbly.

Occultist stood still, letting the girl come to her first. She held out her hand, letting her sniff at it. Then, she carefully butted her head against her palm, and Occultist smiled, taking it as a good sign. She scratched the girl's scalp, Recluse leaning into the motion.

The silence was interrupted by a loud growling noise. Recluse's stomach. She frowned, placing her hands over her stomach. "Hungry…"

"Let's get out of here first," Occultist reached out and gently took Recluse's hand. Her skin was dry and calloused, but she laced their fingers together despite it. "Then, I promise, I'll get you whatever food you want."

Occultist kept their fingers laced as they moved through the corridors, retracing her steps with cautious ease. Recluse stuck close, her ears twitching at every sound, but her grip never left Occultist's hand. Once or twice, she let out a soft growl when footsteps echoed in the distance, but Occultist calmed her with a slow squeeze.

They slipped through a stairwell door and up into the last hallway before the exit. The building above was louder now—sirens, the distant crack of gunfire, shouts over radios. She couldn't tell if the noise was real or just rising panic ringing in her ears.

"Almost there," she whispered. "We're gonna get out."

They stepped out into the alley behind the building. Cool air rushed over them—freedom.

She barely got a moment to breathe, before-

"Took you long enough."

Both girls jolted, her eyes darting down to see the black cat sitting at their feet. Recluse instantly snarled, but Occultist squeezed her hand again, speaking quickly, "it's okay! This is who we're helping… He's the reason I came to rescue you…"

Recluse relaxed slightly, but she kept her teeth bared, eyes narrowed down at the feline, who seemed completely nonplussed by the threat on its life. "Hurry now, we don't have much time." It got up and started away down the alleyway, the girls having no choice but to follow.

Running down the streets towards the police station, it was chaos. Though she tried to keep up, she lost the cat in the crowd, panting by the time she reached the station's front steps. She got inside just in time to see a black tail disappear through a door… and another girl following.

A girl with dark hair and pink highlights.

Her eyes went wide as she watched the girl go through, only hearing her heart pounding in her chest.

"Aiko…?"