Future of Calamity

Chapter 5 - Broken Chains

"Who are you?" Velvet's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, the torches inside having been extinguished. The mystery man didn't make a movement, his pupils scanning the steel that narrowed on his throat. Eventually, he pulled his vision up to peer into the endless pools that stared through him, neither of them blinking as they urged the other to make a move. Velvet could almost see her reflection in his oceanic orbs, until the surrounding torches burst with life, as Seres finally entered. As light flushed into the cracks of the store room, it became apparent that Velvet had already grabbed what she could. Resting upon her arm, was a familiar vambrace from all those years ago, that same wristblade unsheathed from its mechanism. In addition, steel boots were adorning her feet with a protective armour plate over her right shin, a similar style to the gauntlet on her right arm - suggesting indifferent capabilities. Unfortunately, a dilapidated prison such as this wouldn't have much in terms of clothing; seeing as it was all exorcist armour.

Abandoning the matted remnants of her village tunic, she chose a rather revealing ruby-red corset, partly shredded into exposing her midriff. Most likely once worn by a noble female that had been converted into a daemon, judging from a visible insignia hanging below a belt worn over her still torn black jean trousers, appearing now as shorts while the remains squished against her trained legs. Despite now being a monster, it seemed the girl valued who she was before; multiple accessories and chains trailing around her right and left leg. Over her corset, she wore a jacket in the form of a robe with red-velvet lacing, the jacket tattered towards the bottom and tightened just over her chest; torn material splitting out over her shoulders and revealing her collarbone. The vambrace was mounted over the only sleeve of the jacket, arching its way up and wrapping around the woman's middle finger with a rhombus-shaped piercing. Where the other sleeves supposedly should have been was ripped off, only her left arm decorated in bandages remained. It gave off an uneasy feeling in Sarid.

Lastly, the strange woman had extremely long and dark hair that dropped to floor level; where the bottom is plaited in big braids that are tied off by a bandage-like band. Her hair-strands curve towards the left-side of her face, and she has mid-length hair which is plaited and tied by a smaller bandage-band resting on her left shoulder. In summary, she was rather beautiful, in an uncanny and overall ridiculous sense of style.

Sarid, caught up in his analysis, very quickly became forgetful of the blade inches from ending his life. "See something you like?" The daemon hissed, taking an aggressive step forward that almost punctured his throat.

"Sorry about that. I was just wondering about the... 'unique' clothing you wore," Sarid simply said with a light-hearted scratch of the back of his head, earning another quiet growl from the woman. In truth, the man was quite overwhelmed. For a good chunk of his life, he had not interacted with a human - then was thrown into a lonely cell for another two years - and now has an unusual female prisoner threatening his life.

"Calm yourself. This is someone I needed to search for," the red-haired malak explained as she stepped around altercation. However, the daemon didn't take too kindly to being kept in the dark, as she jutted the blade forward; scraping his skin and forcing him to step back. A look of indecision flashed over her face, before she caught the friendliness that hovered behind the blue. The woman let out a hefty sigh of irritation.

"Get in my way, you die," she darkly warned, before the wristblade slipped away with a click. "...and arm yourself. I don't want extra baggage dragging me down."

Finally free from the raging ravenette who still eyed him suspiciously, Sarid took a good look at the surrounding equipment - immediately surmising why her outfit had appeared so bizarre. Locked in on walls and hangars, were various exorcist equipment - all belonging to men. There were also a collection of chests and boxes stuffed in the corners of the dusty chamber, with one specific chest catching his eye. But first, he needed to change; the biting cold irritating his shirtless skin. "I know we are low on time, but could you step outside for a moment?" Sarid peculiarly requested. Before receiving a response, he felt their gazes burrow into something of interest on his back, until they processed his request.