***NEED WORK

Zavius's POV

...tap....tap...tap...

My fingers rapped against the steel surface before me as I continued to monitor the steady flow of the coming information.
Zeik sighed next to me, seemingly bored out of his mind as I was.
"Man... Is this all you do as a mission Monitor?" he asked.
I turned and I saw him balance a pen on his lip.
"No; it just takes a while to really get into action. If you're so bored, why don't you look through the Slayer files? You may pick up some stuff that may help in the mission. And plus, it's kinda interesting to look through." I offered.

I typed in the codes to the locked files and opened it up onto the screen. Promptly, four separate data files appeared on the large screen, with four different names on it. One was smaller than the rest, making it stand out.
"Darvien's files," Zeik said to himself.
He helped himself to opening his friend's file, and started to look through the limited information.
"Nothing new here," he said dismissively.
He then opened the next file.
It was Ava's.

He started skimming through her status and basics.
"What?!" he said, surprised.
"What?" I echoed, looking for any surprising news.
Zeik looked from the information to the provided identity headshot, his mouth slightly open.
"She's from the Far East Orients...the Great Empires?" he asked.
My brows furrowed in confusion.
"Why is that so hard to believe?" I asked, trying to see the point of confusion.
Zeik looked back at me.
"Ava's an Oriental?!" he asked.

I roared out laughing, causing many people to turn around. I leaned forward, trying to control my laughter.
"It's so obvious!!" I wheezed out.
Zeik turned a bit red and looked away.
"But she’s so..."
"Huh? Oh… She's faired skin, for her race. But she's a pure Oriental in her blood; you've seen her fight,"
Zeik looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I thought they all died out two thousand years ago..." he murmured.

My laughing died down, and I became sober again.
“Ah…I get it. You’ve never really seen a true pure-blooded Oriental, not from your age.” I said. “Neither have I, not a full-blooded one, anyway.”
I paused, thinking.
"That is true; she's supposedly one of the few Pure Races left of the original races of the 7 Worlds. Now everything is all mixed up, and no one knows who has what in their blood. The Far East isn't even the Great Empires anymore, and it practically doesn’t exist." I mused, feeling ancient telling him about a race that had died out centuries ago.
"The funny thing is, she came to Galiasis after I did, and I came here about five, no, six centuries ago. That one is full of mystery."
Zeik nodded as he flickered through the rest of the page.
"Tell me about it. The data file on her has so many holes and gaps in it that it's an incomplete." he said.

I didn't answer, not knowing what to say. Zeik just let it drop, moving onto the other two. Then he came across the Grisavaille Scandal.
"Oh." Zeik said simply.
He continued to read on, and his guarded opinion turned into a sad one.
"Wow...that's tough," he said.
"That would explain the whole pissed-off Varsalo thing earlier."

He logged off of the file and put down the data from the screen. I looked over to him, and saw that he had a lot on his mind now to be just bored.
"Ready to do our job?" I asked him.
He looked at me and nodded.
"Yea…sure." he said.

Then, as if it was set on the perfect timing, sharp beeps came from the monitors. Almost immediately, the room was on the move. Swiftly, I pulled on my ear piece and the wired mini-mike into place. A mission profile floated to the screen, running scans and screening through the new data. It was from Sylersland.
"Sarvwen, Darvien? Do you copy?" I spoke steadily.
"Clearly," returned Sarvwen. "And so is the proof of Mivian's mission report from the other night."

I frowned, not really believing it.
"Send an image over," I commanded.
I typed in the command for the lens cam, allowing me to see what the two Slayers saw before them. I waited for the images to come through.
"Okay, here it is," Sarvwen announced, just as the screen went black.
Then, there were images of Sylersland before them.
"What the---" my words faltered as I observed the scene.

The town, Sylersland, was dark and quiet. The streets were barren, and the windows of the houses were empty. There was not a sound of people or any sort of population. Like Mivian had reported, it was a ghost town.
"Be warned; this put your mission status and level to high priority." I warned. "Don't let your guards down."
"Will do. We'll do a quick run-through to scan for any traces of evidence and for any--- hey, Dariven?" Sarvwen's voice went from authoritative and slight bewilderment.

Another beep went off, and Darvien's physical file opened with a red flag. Zeik stiffened in his seat, and I leaned forward, anxiety growing in my.
"What's happening? Report back your status," I commanded.
"I don't know!! Darvien just collapsed, and his eyes are just glazed over!! Dammit, Darvien, can you hear me?" Sarvwen returned, his voice forcibly controlled.
“What is going on?” Thya demanded, rushing towards our monitor. She took over Zeik’s station and started to type in commands.
“His heart rate’s going. His status: Irresponsive and Disabled. His Energy Stream is off the charts--- Vardavit! What is going on, Sarvwen?” she demanded.
Zeik mumbled something under his breath, his expression hard.
"He's having one of his time flashes," he said.
I whipped around to him, waiting for an explanation. He went right on.
"Darvien is psychic and for the most part, has that power under control. But there are still specific times where it takes over and leaves him completely immobilized and disabled." he rushed out. "But only when..."
I waited, waiting for the rest of the sentence.
"Only when what?" I urged him.
Zeik breathed out steadily and looked at me straight in the eye.
"This only happens when something really bad is coming in the near future. Something big." he said.
I wasn't getting it.
"Big? Big as in how big?" I growled, growing impatient.

Zeik shifted uncomfortably.
"Something...something in the near future that will affect everything. Something that may be small in the beginning, then grow into something devastating." he finished, looking worried.

I looked back at the screen and back at Zeik. Something big, always bad...
I glanced at Thya, who was staring at Zeik frozen and wide-eyed in a horrified look. This was not good…

"Sarvwen, Darvien's status is classified as disabled, but it's unclear. What's going on over there?" I demanded into the speaker.
"I don't exactly know, he's mumbling incoherently, and his eyes are glossed over. It's as if he's gone into---oomph!!" Sarvwen was cut off and there was a high-pitched ring of the speakers.

Then, an alarm rang off, and the mission file on Sarvwen and Darvien turned from secure to critical. The communication line was completely severed.
"Sarvwen? Darvien? Do you copy?" I demanded, cold dread rushing over me.
Nothing came in return...just static.

Mivian's POV

"Mivian reporting to base. Successful breach," I reported into my communicator.
I stood up from the ground and looked around.
Grisavaille; the home of my nightmares and hell…

ARGH! What the hell?!

Mentally, I slapped myself.
I'm an Angel Guard Slayer for crying out loud! I can't be stopped with something stupid and miniscule as this!

After a moment to myself, I looked around my surroundings for a better look. From what I saw, the town hasn't changed one bit. It still had its historical structures, the white town hall, the old, hand-lit streetlamps, and the same dirt road. It was as if I stepped back into my own memories of the place.

I sighed heavily, and cracked my knuckles. I started walking, not exactly heading anywhere. This was not my most favorite place, and that was for many reasons. It felt as if every part of me came crashing down on me, memories drowning me. For the first time tonight, I wasn't thinking about the Scandal that happened here. I made my way to the side of the street and cut through an alleyway to where ever I was heading. I didn't care at the moment where I ended up; I had to look for my target anyway.

I stepped out from the dark shadows of the alley and turned the next corner---and stopped.
“Well, well.” I muttered. “Old habits do die hard…”

In front of me stood was an old, broken down mansion, dark and uninviting. The large front gates loomed in front of me, hard and rusted. It was padlocked with a heavy chain, with thick aged vines twisting the two halves together, closing the property from the outside world.
Over it, in the metal arch, were sharply twisted words that read Helmscliff Orphanage.

The wind picked up, the dry dead leaves rustled against the stone ground and the surrounding trees swayed its bare branches. The sound of the howling wind and the growing shadows gave the whole place an eerie feel to it.
Such a great welcoming, I thought, becoming more aware of the cooling air. Of all the places to wonder off to, I find myself at the one place I had sworn to never return. Just letting my body guide me through a knot of twisting an turning alleyways like I used to as a child... to lead me right back into this hell hole.
"Welcome back to hell, Mivian. Home, sweet home," I said to myself, slightly grudged.
I approached the rusted gates and gripped the weather-wrought iron. I shook the gate lightly, rattling the chain a bit. I sighed.

"Ugh...What am I doing here?" I muttered out loud.

I hate this place. Everything about it made me sick. It was where everything started...this was my childhood. The place where the outcast little blond child was brought up… This was where everything started.

I turned away, slightly pissed for no apparent reason. I had to get away from here and focus on my---

I felt as if I was being watched, eyes burning into my back. I wheeled around, back to the mansion.
No one was there. Nothing but the empty windows and shady trees.
But I wasn't convinced. I felt it...I was sure that someone saw me... I approached the black, rusted gate, trying to get a closer look. I couldn't sense anything in the yard. Something moved in the corner of my eye, shifting through the shadows from the third floor window of the mansion. I pushed away some of the dead creeping vine clinging to the gates and looked up at the mansion.

I stared intently at the dark window, daring whatever it was to move. I didn't move. It seemed like hours as I stood there, staring into the empty window.

Why am I doing this?
Why is this so important?
What am I doing?

Suddenly, a scream shot through the air, snapping me out of my mind.
Shit, I didn't have time for this. I had a mission to do.

With one last glance at the window, I turned away from the gate, leaving it locked as it was...