Her black hair was dark enough to the point where it seemed the fire itself had scorched it. Judging from her current attitude, Josh made the assumption that her sister was still alive and thriving.
As much as he was relieved that both of them were safe, the appearance of other people threw am enormous wrench in his plans. If they had any emotional attachment to these people at all, he likely wouldn't be able to get them to abandon them and leave with him. Even if he provided them with knowledge of their future predicament, he found it highly unlikely they would abandon their loved ones for a complete stranger.
Turning his attention to the fight between magic and giants, it was glaringly obvious who was the most skilled. The young white-haired girl who seemed incredibly agile, and was somehow using multiple colors when the others could not.
*She's not your goal, man. Stick to getting the girl and her sister and then get out.*
Focusing on the main reason he had come here, Josh began to run toward the girl. Even if he was unable to convince her to leave with him, he needed to at least try and warn them of their upcoming defeat.
As he got closer, he was finally able to decipher her eye color. It was an emerald green, and they flickered in his direction as he approached her. She was rather beautiful, but looked too old to be in his dating range.
"Hey, you! Um...can you..."
Suddenly, Josh found himself with nothing to say to her, at least in the open. What could he say? 'I know you don't know me, but get your sister, and we'll leave before everyone dies?' No, that was way too crude, and it'd likely seal off any chance of taking her away that he currently had.
"Seraphina! We found another survivor!"
Jolting him out of his trance, the girl in front of him yelled to the attack squad. The white haired girl's eyes flickered in their direction before a flash of light seared through the neck of a Skinless Giant. It looked like a day of sun had pierced through the night sky just to obey her command.
*Did she die last time? Or did she flee? She seems way too powerful to die to these things. In fact, a lot of people here seem to be facing these things with only mild difficulty. Maybe the girl was just left behind? No, she's talking like they know each other personally. So...what happened?*
"Hey! Are you just gonna stand there and wait to die or are you gonna walk forward?!"
The girl he had come here for, in an ironic manner, grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the way of a missed blast of fire. He flinched slightly at her touch, ergo not because of the force. Instead, what ran through his mind was her look of terror in the last attempt. Her screams and the sounds of her bones being crushed welled up in his ears, making him want to curl into a ball and apologize profusely.
But reliving the terrible outcome brought about a new conclusion for Josh.
*I have a feeling there'll be a major, unforeseen event happening soon in the next hour or so. One that kills everyone here. And I don't think it involves the Skinless Giants or Night Hawks.*
It wasn't exactly a hard thing to figure out. Well, as long as you had knowledge of what would happen in the future that is.
Seraphina, or, at least he assumed that the white-haired fighter was named that, led a group of incredibly skilled warriors. They were taking down the horde of Skinless Giants with only mild difficulty, so the fact that somehow at least one Skinless Giant survived meant these guys disappeared somehow.
Not only that, but Seraphina gapped her soldiers in skill, despite appearing to be younger than every single one. Josh just couldn't see her losing to anything like those beasts. So, there must've been an even bigger threat than the ones they were seeing right now.
*Since they seem to be wiping out this horde with a medium pace, it doesn't seem unlikely that event will occur soon within the next thirty minutes at least.*
*Is that what this girl was talking about last time. "'They' killed my sister?" Is the threat that I'm thinking about the 'they'?*
"Are you gonna move, or do you just wanna sit your ass down and die where you are?!"
The girl yelled at him, shocking him out of his trance.
"Oh, uh, I'm sorry. Just thinking."
"What on Creato could be so important that you're risking your life thinking about it?!"
"Creato...? No, it's nothing. You're right, I'm just being stupid."
She let go of his hand and motioned for him to follow her, which he did without a second thought. They began to run toward the same stone building Josh had encountered a while back, the one he had died in.
"Hey, um...this may sound—"
"Don't you dare ask anything stupid until we reach the building. Let the Mages do their work."
"Okay, sorry, sorry."
Josh went silent, pondering what to ask. He needed a confirmation of whether or not she had a sister, he'd like to know the beast's and attack's information, and he'd also like to know her name.
After about a minute of running, they finally made it to the stone building. She opened the door and let him inside, slamming it shut the moment he entered.
"All right, go ahead and ask me anything. You seem pretty lost, and I don't want you to die from ignorance, so feel free to sound stupid." She said. Josh felt grateful for the opportunity, and her demeanor made him feel safer than he had ever been since he got here.
"Really? Oh, okay. So, what are those creatures out there called?"
The girl paused and stared at him, causing him to flinch back.
*Really, boy? How anyone believes you have a future astounds me.*
The memory was one Josh pushed to the back of his mind. It had floated to the front when he saw an expression that was painstakingly familiar to him, but thankfully she didn't say anything like that.
"Geez. Are you retarded? How have you lived in the Lunel Empire but don't know what a Crag is? Were you raised by a pig?"
"Hey! Shut your mouth! Would your parents allow such crude remarks?"
"I'm 23, why would I care what my parents think? Idiot."
*Bitch...*
He retorted in his mind, before asking another question.
"Um...tell me your name, please." Josh asked, hesitating a bit after their last conversation. She seemed to be quite the scary woman.
She leaned against a stone wall before answering, and Josh went over to join her. "My name's Iris. What about you?"
"Iris? That's a pretty name." Josh remarked, not thinking about the consequences. Soon after, he received a first to the shoulder. "Ow!" "Don't hit on me in the middle of a crisis! Besides, I'm too old for you. And I barely know you."
"I wasn't hitting on you! What's the point if I don't have a shot?!"
"Fair enough. But really, tell me your name."
"My name...? Oh, I'm...Josh. Now, last couple questions. Please bear with me on this. Do you have a sister? If so, what's her name and age? Who are those people out there? And what are they throwing around?"
"Slow the fuck down! And really, you're not helping the retarded allegations. Anyone with a brain should know half of those questions. And I'm honestly surprised you don't know one of the people out there. She's pretty famous. But sure, I'll answer your questions real quick before they finish."
Iris answered his questions with a pleasant smile that didn't fit her insulting words at all. She seemed nice, and gave off the vibe of a good person. But the memories of her death, the death he had caused her, floated once again to the surface of his thoughts. He had seen this woman at her lowest and most desperate. And then he'd let her die.
"Yes, I do have a sister. She's 18 and very beautiful, so you don't stand a chance, troll. Those people out there are beginning Mages, ones that have access to only one type of Magic and have no extra abilities outside of that, so they're pretty weak. And that girl outside is named Seraphina. That's who I'm surprised you don't know."
Josh bit back an insult after the 'troll' remark, and instead focused on her responses. Her insult stung a bit, but it wasn't worth it to get into a time consuming banter over.
*Mages? Crags? Lunel Empire? Seraphina? Iris? Magic? Beginning Mages? Too many words and names. But I guess it's time I bid the name Skinless Giant fairwell.*
"Oh, really? Why are you surprised I don't know her? Is she special or something? She does seem to be able to use more than one Magic."
"More than one Magic? Let me tell you something kid, she's got access to them all! And that isn't even mentioning her other isolated abilities! She's among the five strongest people in the Lunel Empire, and already on track to being the first. You're witnessing a living legend in the making!"
"Huh...? A living legend huh?"
*The five strongest in the Lunel Empire? What, do they rank them here? Anyway, this only reinforces my theory of a catastrophic event occuring soon.*
"Oh, and what was your sister's name?" Josh asked. He needed to find a way to get Iris and her sister out of here. Learning more about the others would only make abandoning them harder.
"Well, I don't like to admit it since even though she's younger, I've lived in her shadow...but, she's Seraphina."
And just like that, Josh knew his plan of escaping with just Iris and her sister was foiled.