Captain Lewyin of Celestia sat with interwoven fingers at a round table with men and women of the Celestia defense force behind him.
They were all on the edge of their seats as they sat before the very power that defined Celestia's strength.
Lewyin stood up, walked to a projector, and picked up a remote from the table. He turned to them.
"Fear not. I'm your Captain, not your enemy," he said with a smile.
A husky man folded his arms and scowled. "You said you have something unsettling for us."
Lewyin nodded affirmatively.
"So please, get to it," another slim man said.
"Alright!" Lewyin said and pressed a button on the remote. A fight appeared on the screen.
It was Weber's fight with Stanford.
Weber's face was blurred, but his use of the Abyss power made everyone in the room shake, for they knew Lewyin didn't call them here for a movie.
"How," Lewyin began through gritted teeth, "is someone using the power of the Abyss?"
The men at the table looked at each other, clarity far from their minds.
"The only known destructive power is mana. What is this Abyss?" one asked.
Lewyin grumbled. "If you took more time to study, you'd know the Abyss is a mystical entity, but that entity is just a construct of darkness."
"What are we to do with this?" another asked.
"Am I the only one disturbed by the fact that my second in command was losing against an unknown foe?" Lewyin said.
Then the door opened, and a middle-aged woman with a well-built physique, clad in a black long sleeve and skirt with a badge on her shoulder that signified only one thing—
General of Celestia—walked in.
"Lewyin, how dare you," she began, walking forward. Sweat formed on his head.
"Who said you could do your presentation without me?"
She sat down with a grin, and Lewyin released the breath he was holding.
"My apologies, Wise One. As I was saying—"
The general raised a hand, silencing him.
"You talk when these people leave," she said, looking at the men at the table.
"This is sensitive, so you ought to tell me FIRST before anyone. Don't make that mistake again," she said with a low but weighty voice.
Lewyin nodded, and the men—senior officers of certain units—exited the room.
"Don't be strong but foolish. You tell your plans to senior officers before the general?" she asked.
Lewyin stiffened. "You're always busy—"
"Fix an appointment or something next time! Just inform me first," she said, raising her hand and pulling back her sleeve. A mark was displayed.
"Or you'll have your spirit drained completely," she warned, and Lewyin clenched his fists.
Most countries had one way or another to ensure Captains didn't spiral out of control.
In Celestia, defying the general—the one tasked with keeping Captains in check—would cause your life to be drained, and your power would wander until another vessel was found.
Lewyin straightened up, cleared his throat, and bowed to her. "It won't happen again."
She patted his back, and he stood straight, showing her the screen.
"General Juliet, have you heard of the Abyss? Is it actually real?" Lewyin asked.
Juliet interwove her fingers and kept quiet for several minutes, Lewyin enduring the silence without knowing when it would end.
"For starters," she began, "the Abyss is more than real."
Lewyin grimaced but quickly hid it when she looked him in the eyes.
"But at the same time, it's not supposed to be real."
Lewyin folded his arms. "How does that make sense?"
Juliet raised her hand and sent fiery mana into it.
"Every living thing in this world needs the life of something else. Humans need souls. Machines need power. Nature needs the chemicals it produces for itself."
"The only power that lives within us and exists in this world that can make the impossible real is mana. But the Abyss is living, yet dead. Powerful, yet without mana essence," Juliet said, clenching her fist and dispersing the mana.
"Can we fight the person with such power?" Lewyin asked.
Juliet sprang to her feet and slapped him. A soldier outside trembled as he passed, hearing the impact.
Lewyin clutched his jaw, but Juliet's eyes fixed on him.
"You want to fight what you don't understand and win? How are you even Celestia's Captain?"
She quickly walked to the door.
"If you can't think the obvious—get rid of this Abyss user covertly before they come for us all!"
She stormed out, leaving Lewyin grumbling and pacing.
"Blah blah blah!" he muttered, then looked back at the footage of Weber and Stanford.
"You've been fighting with the dead, until you become one yourself soon," Lewyin said malevolently.
---
Ariel was driving as she, Josh, and Weber set out for a police department.
When they parked, Weber got out and stretched with Josh.
Weber looked at Ariel still in the car.
"Now that I think about it, what job do you have?"
Ariel smiled and patted his cheek. "Don't bother about me. Just go and see what you can get."
Weber just blinked at her and shrugged.
"I don't get you at times," he said and walked off.
Josh gaped.
"She drives us here to get a job! Be thankful!"
"It's my fault. I'm always after his shady behavior, and I did the same," Ariel said with a sigh.
Josh cleared his throat. "But really, what's your job?"
"Archaeologist. I can't remember it all, but I helped Weber discover the Abyss in the past. Look where we are," she said solemnly, resting her head on the steering wheel.
"And I behaved that way with him because I wanted to see if his former self was returning. It's not. Usually, he'd smile—now any display of affection toward him is disturbing."
Then they heard snapping fingers.
Weber, scowling a dozen meters away, glared at Josh.
"Why are you wasting time with her?" he said, then walked into the police department.
Josh gritted his teeth.
"Where's he rushing to?" he muttered, then followed Weber.
They walked into the police department, where officers moved around—some walking in pairs, laughing about their last mission.
They approached the receptionist's desk.
"Excuse me, but where might the Field Secretary's office be?"
The receptionist yawned and pointed upstairs.
"Go there. The first office you see belongs to him."
Josh thanked her, and he and Weber went upstairs.
They saw the office door with Field Secretary engraved on a silver plate.
Josh knocked, and a voice responded from inside.
"Enter."
Weber walked in with Josh, cordially greeting the tall, heavy man in his forties with a long head, deep sunken eyes, and hair slicked back with shiny gel.
"How can I help you two?" Field Secretary Aston asked.
"We came for the interview for the job of Crime Scene Cleaner," Weber stated.
Weber handed over their CV, and Aston went through it, glancing at them and back at the papers.
"Well, all our recent Crime Scene Cleaners were murdered mysteriously, so you two got the job. We could use your help." Aston handed the CVs back.
Josh and Weber stiffened, looking each other in the eye.
"How did it happen?" Josh asked.
Aston's sunken eyes met his.
"They were clearing a place where people died. And the next thing we knew… they were just lifeless."