Consciousness returned quickly, however the disorienting ringing in his ears refused to subside. He couldn't quite see yet, but he could smell, feel, hear, taste. There was the smell of something burning, like charred food, through the incessant ringing in his ear-drums could he make out the faint sound of terrified screams. He could feel his entire body becoming sore by the second, his head pounding something fierce, and he could taste that smoke on his tongue.
"Dhakari! Dhakari are you ok?" A new feeling started to come to him as something wrapped itself beneath both his underpits, dragging him away from the smell of smoke. He could feel soft and caring hands exploring his face, then he could hear what sounded like a sigh of relief.
"Dhakari, wake up, you need to get up." The hands began to shake him, until finally, his eyes opened.
A familiar woman with cascading hair knelt over him, so close that he could feel her ragged breath on his face.
"Good, stay with me." Doctor Aniha had him propped up under one of her arms, constantly shaking him to ensure he didn't pass out.
"What happened?" He groggily spoke.
"Now is not the time for questions. Can you walk?" Her voice was shaky and frantic.
Her attention was pulled away suddenly, the sound of metal shrieking piercing both their ears as the car they once inhabited was flung away as if it weighed nothing, standing on the other side of it was that man with the strange top-hat. Dhakari looked over and beyond him at the chaos he left in his wake. The sidewalk and road was reduced to nothing, chunks of the buildings had come off and splintered on the ground, other emptied cars littered the street, and street lights blocked parts of the road.
"Move, woman. This doesn't concern you. All I need is the boy, give me that and you can be on your way." His voice was gruff and weak, as if he had come down with some sort of sickness.
Aniha was stunned, eyes paralyzed with fear, arms trembling, partially due to Dhakari's weight, but mostly due to who was standing before her.
"G-gearhead." She mumbled.
"Whatwasthat?" He spoke quickly and held a hand up to his ear, "listen I've got no time to spare so if you would so kindly-" before he could finish, Aniha was quickly on her feet, allowing Dhakari's body to go limp on the concrete.
"N-no, you won't take him." She said, her voice shaky, "d-do you know who this boy is? He's from lightbringer academy."
The man remained silent at her protest, nothing but a small smack escaping his lips. In a move so quick that they couldn't even see it, the man lifted one of his hands from his pockets, the sound of metal crashing into flesh ringing in Dhakari's ear as his fist crashed onto her cheek, sending her sprawling onto the ground without another word.
"I tried to warn the little lady." He held his metallic hand in front of him, its black matte material glistening beneath the sun.
Dhakari felt something within him roar, his entire body kicking into overdrive.
"What did you do to her?" He weakly spoke, wincing in pain as he slowly stood.
"She didn't deserve that." He rushed forward with all the strength he could muster, raising his arm into the air and swinging wildly. The man only scoffed, stepping to the side and planting his metal fist into the boy's stomach, his vision filling with black splotches as he fell to his knees, hands clutched over his abdomen.
"You're the high-priority target? You don't have a lick of magic and they had the audacity to list you as a high tier." He scoffed again, "some joke." He stood over the grovelling boy, his eyes stuck on the unconscious Aniha.
He couldn't remember much, and that was all he could remember. He was constantly reminded of that fact day in and day out whenever he'd see the faces of those he supposedly had known in his previous life. But one other thing he did know was how sad his state made her, how she shed tears on his behalf, and how she painstakingly looked after him day in and day out from the moment he opened his eyes five months ago.
"She didn't deserve that." He grumbled again, wiping the drool from his lips and propelling his body from the ground. He winced, feeling something hard hit the top of his head.
The man toppled backward, his vision flashing white as the top of Dhakari's head slammed onto his chin.
He kept forward, using the man's dazed state to his advantage and charging with everything he could muster.
"That hurt." Dhakari looked onward in surprise, he recuperated much quicker than he imagined he would. He flexed his metal arm downward, a long-thin blade protruding from a socket on its forearm. Before he could halt his charge, the man pivoted forward, his foot splintering through the concrete and his blade piercing clean through Dhakari's flesh, his blood pouring down onto his black arm. In a motion as quick as the one previous, he pulled the blade from his stomach, a spurt of blood splashing into the air and falling to the ground like droplets of crimson rain.
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts a lot.
He didn't know many things about himself, but what he did know was that he didn't want to die.
He toppled to the floor without any more struggle, his blood staining the concrete below him, pouring through his fingertips as he desperately tried to keep his insides inside. He closed his eyes, hoping that someone, that something would come and save him.
And then suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, he could feel a strangely familiar name on the tip of his tongue.
"Z-zoe." He croaked, "I need you Zoe! Come save us!" His cries echoed through the sky as the man approached, his blade still drawn and dripping with his blood.
"What are you talking about?"
A powerful, almost white light shone through the sky, piercing his metal arm and shining even brighter until it blinded the both of them.
The man stumbled back in fear, his arm crumbling and shattering like pieces of glass. There was nothing there anymore.
"Back away from him!" A woman was now standing between the two of them, an all-white gown covering the top half of her body and fluttering in the wind.
"Are you alright Dhakari?" She turned away from him, crouching down beside him and holding her hand over his open wound, a bright golden light bursting from her hand and disappearing.
"I can't heal it, but this should stop you from losing anymore blood."
"Who do you think you are!" The now one-armed man charged, pulling his other arm from his pocket, this one made of flesh and covered in black markings.
"Stay back." She held one of her arms backwards, light gathering at her fingertips and pulsing toward her palm, that light shifting and turning until a large silver shield appeared in that light's place. His hand thud against the metal, a yelp escaping from his lips.
Zoe stood and turned to face the man, the shield turning into light, shifting once more before being replaced by a long sword. The man toppled over at this display of power, crawling backward and keeping his eyes on that sword.
"No, this can't be. They didn't tell me he possessed this… The power of creation!" He cried out in fear, halting his crawling and getting onto his knees, his hands clasping together.
"Spare me."
Sirens began to wail.
"You're in luck."
The man swore he didn't blink, he swore that he didn't take his eyes off of her for even a single moment, yet somehow, she was gone. Faster than anything he'd ever seen, she was gone, replaced by wind.
All black cars surrounded the area, blaring lights atop each one, men in green uniforms stepping out of them and boasting small pistols.
"Hands in the air!"