The Shadow Awakens
Chapter 3

I don't know how long it's been since the mysterious attack on one city in the human realm. Yes, only one city was affected by the chaos that occurred in the shadow realm, and certainly, since then Luna never again heard about the city where she lived.

He remembered the moment where the attack began. The building that had suddenly collapsed seemed to be hit by something big, the ground that had never stopped shaking for more than three minutes, shook, and the most severe is the human body that is mysteriously split on the side of the road or hit suddenly fell to crush human bones. It all happened very suddenly and was invisible to the eyes.

“It was a fight in the shadow realm,” commented Zeriel while staying focused driving his black SUV across a very unsmooth forest road.

“Big battle, more towards war precisely and unlucky impact on human nature. Well, exactly in one city in the human realm only, and that's the city where you live.” He added that while his blue sea iris had glanced at Luna, the human girl sitting in the passenger seat to her left.

The reflection of the afternoon sun made the cherry brown hair Luna slightly sparkle. Circular bandages cover the forehead to the left eye, covering the incision marks in that section. The wound left no pain to the girl. His left eye was numb.

“What happened?” Luna asked, curious about the big battle called Zeriel earlier. There was not much he knew even though he had lived long enough in this shadow realm. Ferenc, the figure who kidnapped him did not talk much about the battle called this war.

“Too complicated to tell. But now, it's all over. There are only a few problems left that are quite confusing. Like this one city that blends with the shadow realm.”

At the same time, their SUV has entered a city that is half as shattered as a severe storm. The road is no longer smooth like normal conditions, as if just the fall of small objects but very heavy, destroying asphalt and leaving deep holes along the road body.

Zeriel was forced to lower the speed of the car, trying to find a road as good as possible to pass. He did not want Luna to feel uncomfortable with the existing conditions, although actually Luna herself did not seem to mind.

While the iris violet Luna is now back staring out the window. Not surprised when he saw the city where he lived had changed so badly. It was very different than the last time he saw her. The building that once stood magnificent, now only a quarter remains. Many were even completely destroyed. While the city park that he went through every morning now looks like a mound of black soil with thin smoke appears to be billowing upwards, like burned out.

“What about other humans? Were they kidnapped like me?”

“Some. But most are under our protection and the rest may have died or still been kidnapped or whatever it is.” Zeriel answered while lowering the speed of his car to be very slow. This time there was a big crack in the other side of the road. The crack formed an irregular zig-zag line.

“You will keep looking for the rest?”

“Maybe not. Because honestly it's not our right to harass the Shadow People out there. We're just looking for someone.”

“And you guys have found it?” Luna asked carefully. Suspicious of someone Zeriel meant. Without the intention of thinking of herself as too important, great or the like, but Luna felt she was the one they were looking for because she had something unique, call it green fire.

Zeriel shrugged his shoulders. “Still need further clarification,” he replied while giving a thin smile that had never before adorned his flat face. With that smile, he looked a little more friendly, at least that was what Luna had in mind.

After talking a lot with the young man who initially thought it was very cold and stiff, Luna found that Zeriel was keeping the attentive side of her cold gaze. Well, maybe this is called not judging a person by his appearance.

The SUV docked to the curb and stopped completely. Zeriel glanced at Rei who had been silent in the back of the car. The young man seemed to be hugging his jet-black sword as he glared far towards the sky as if he was an entity that should be in the sky there.

“I have business here, you take her to Central.” Zeriel said as he opened the car door. Reluctantly Rei released his sword embrace. At first glance his brown iris was caught glancing at Luna, because the girl was also staring at him. Ostentatiously.

Rei exited the rear passenger seat and moved forward, replacing Zeriel.

The car drove back and left the road. A few minutes passed and a successful silence enveloped the entire atmosphere in this car. Luna stole a glance towards Rei. The young man suddenly turned mute when in the forest he seemed quite chatty. Rei put on an expression that was difficult for Luna to interpret. Relax and without emotion. Luna's thoughts brought her back to Zeriel's words some time ago. Maybe Rei wasn't as friendly as he thought. Luna sighed softly, it seemed like she had to get used to this awkward silence.

“I keep wondering, have we met before?” Without distracting him from the road, Rei suddenly opened his mouth that had been tightly closed, as if it was a very reasonable question of pleasantries.

Luna shook her head quickly. It was too fast that Rei could only frown in wonder as if wondering if the girl had actually heard his question or not.

“Do you know why Ferenc wants you so much?” The second question was again thrown by Rei quickly, as fast as Luna's head was. As if this was the main question he wanted to ask earlier.

The cherry-haired brunette thought for a moment, weighing whether to answer the question honestly, or pretending not to know. There were many things that made him seem hesitant to tell the truth. Well, he's just afraid that Rei and Zeriel have the same motive that Ferenc had, that is, both want the power of fire.

Luna chose to remain silent. But on the other hand, there was an unnatural urge in Luna's heart, an urge that forced her to tell the truth. This is strange, because if in normal situations his heart would agree with his mind. Does this mean that he subconsciously wanted to trust this young man?

While Luna was still struggling with herself, Rei was still waiting patiently. He did not even try to press or force Luna, as if Luna's answer was not considered too important.

“My strength.. Ferenc wants my power. Unique strength inherited from... from my mother.” Luna decided to be honest. There was a slight hesitation especially when he said the word ‘ibu’, as if there were very deep or perhaps painful memories behind that one word.

Their SUV car has entered the parking area belonging to a skyscraper. The building, which is roughly over a hundred floors, is lined with black glass on each side, from the bottom to the top. Making it look like a high-colored beam of sparkling black. Luna did not remember the existence of this kind of building in the city where she lived. Is this the center that Zeriel had said just now?

The car has been parked perfectly when the handbrake is pulled to cause a long crek sound. “What kind of strength?” tanya Rei resumed the conversation which had stopped for a few minutes while removing the seatbelt.

For the first time he showed interest in this conversation, and it made Luna hesitate again. This time he chose to close his jaw.

But it seems like Rei has his own way of getting the answer. A blackish-red electric spark seemed to be coming out from his body, extremely weak and completely non-threatening. The electricity then spread closer to Luna, and a flash of green sparks lit up, dispelling the electrical propagation.

“A—api death..?” Rei was so stupefied that he almost lost his words. He let out a long sigh as he slammed the back of his head into the back of the seat, several times. While his eyes closed tightly, as if the green fire was able to evoke the memory of his nightmare.

The green sparks went out again. Luna hurriedly removed it, while her face showed fear mixed with worry.

“I should have known this..” Rei suddenly muttered softly while reopening his eyes. Compared to Luna, her words were more aimed at herself.

The car's engine finally shuts down and Rei moves out. “Come down we have arrived,” he said briefly who then took his black sword from the rear passenger seat.

After about two hours of sitting quietly in the car, Luna could finally feel her footing back on the ground. The dry, sandy air immediately greeted him out there. Sunlight seems to dim, but the heat is even more than the normal limit, like being in a microwave. Luna felt like her skin was burning.Wait a minute, that's exactly what happened, her skin was indeed burning. Just a few seconds he stood outside and the skin of his hand immediately reddened—tak until blistering.

“Four hours is the hottest point. I don't want to accompany you toasted here.” Rei's voice jerked Luna. The young man had walked quite a distance when he realized that Luna was still standing still near the car.

Luna immediately ran over chasing Rei. He did not want to make the young man wait any longer. To be honest, he was completely unaware of when the young man was walking. Well, maybe he was too busy worrying about his burning skin. That really is a pain.

Rei continued his steps, while his brown irises glanced back occasionally, ensuring Luna could follow his walking speed. His black sword did not look too heavy, but Rei always propped it up on his shoulder, as if it had an extremely heavy mass that was not comparable to his slender appearance.

From behind here, Luna could take a close look at Rei's sword form. This sword is only sharp on one side only, Japanese sword-like model—Chokuto—but slightly longer. While the jet black color like obsidian bandaged from the handle to the tip of the sword's eye, making it look beautiful like a sword shadow.

Iris violet Luna now turned to the black glass wall that stretched solidly very close to her. Awe-struck expression mixed with fascination he could no longer hide when he found himself at the foot of a building that was not even visible to the top. The entire building is composed of black glass that is not too thick but can support the weight of the building that has a height of more than a hundred levels.

The glass door opened automatically when Rei approached. He did not enter immediately, but waited patiently for the human girl who was still ceaselessly admiring the structure of this building. The girl's violet iris gently swept the outermost side of the building which was actually just plain black glass, but somehow made her so comfortable looking at him for a long time, as if she did not want to miss the slightest detail.

Rei shook his head to look at Luna. Well, the attitude of the girl now is not much different from the humans who come to this place. They also put on the same face of admiration as Luna, and until this moment Rei did not understand why.

Although from the outside it is not visible any activity—malah seems very quiet, but the inside is really like a sea of humans illuminated by a clean white light that emanates from the ceiling of the building. Luna's mouth opened slightly, watching this crowd. People seemed to be very busy going here and there, even too busy to be unaware of the presence of the two of them.

Luna's head looked up, staring at the light source hundreds of meters away above where she was standing. Glasses that are more than half the height of an adult are visible at every level above the ground floor, circling the center is intentionally left blank so that people can see the activity below.

A large flat tube made of concrete appears in the middle of the room. This tube is where the five counters are where the queue of people looks elongated like snakes at each counter. Meanwhile, the data in the table is displayed through a large screen TV hanging on the left and right side of the room. Three lifts appeared at the opposite end of the entrance. The semicircular tube-like object looks up and down, offsetting the bustle of the people.

Here's Center.