James felt distant from his body, viewing himself from overhead. He was no more than a young boy of maybe ten. His mother was teaching him the ancient languages, testing him on phrases and words.

"And this one?" she asked.

"Car," he read out loud.

"What is a car?"

He could feel his child self thinking long and hard over the question. "It's a vehicle that combusted fuel in order to move. It was the primary mode of transportation in the old world. They came in different sizes, styles, and brands."

"Very good." His mother ruffled his hair before moving on. "This next test is in Spanish."

"I don't like Spanish," James grumbled.

Smiling, his mother nudged him with her shoulder. "You learned it just fine, didn't you? In fact, you amaze me with how you learned all of these languages. Are you sure you haven't studied them before?"

Shaking his head, James tried to recall his past. Everything was fuzzy, and he couldn't remember anything from his younger years. "I don't think so…"

"That's okay," his mother said softly. "It's hard for you to remember things since the accident."

Adult James furrowed his brows. What accident? Is that why I can't remember much of my youth? Why I can't seem to remember my sect or life before awakening my soul? Everything from before is still growing fuzzy.

"Accident?" Young James asked.

"Yes. You were playing in the ruins below our city. No matter how many times I told you not to go down there, you still went anyways."

James shook his head. "I don't remember."

Ruffling his hair again, his mother said, "that's okay. It'll come back someday."

Before he knew what was happening adult James watched the world blur and the dream shifted. A second later, he was floating over a sleeping version of himself. Although, the young boy was awake and listening in on his parents.

"I told him he was in an accident," his mother stated.

"He believed that?" his father asked.

James tried to peer through the wall separating his room from the living room, but couldn't pass through.

"For now. I don't want him to know where we found him."

"We didn't find him," his father stated. "He was given to us. His mother even said she left a message for him for when the day came he would need it."

A soft sigh was heard a moment later, followed by a sniffle. "Why is this happening to us?"

"I don't know," his father muttered.

Adult James furrowed his brows. Was that message from my real mother? The one from when my soul activated? Did she prepare me for that day without being around?

He had many questions. His fake parents seemed upset that they were taking care of him. Yet, his mother didn't stop teaching him the ancient languages. But the fact he didn't play with other children wasn't lost on him. Were they afraid to let him out of the house?

Rubbing his head, the dream faded away. A moment later, he was awake in his bed, with a certain Fenrir draped over his chest. Her snow white hair tickled his nose as she slowly woke as well.

"Everything okay?" she asked softly.

"Just another dream," he whispered.

Propping herself up on her elbow, she rested her hand on his chest. "About your past?"

"Yeah." Resting his hand over hers, he sighed. "It sounded like my real mother left me the message when I awakened. She prepared me for this life."

Shaking her head, Luna leaned in and kissed his cheek. "It doesn't matter, Honey. I don't know why your parents did what they did, but I do know that you are a caring, amazing person. No matter what you find out, I want you to remember that."

Forcing a smile, he nodded. "Thank you, Luna."

Pulling his face into her bare chest, she ran her fingers through his hair. "I love you, James. It'll never matter to me what you are when we find out. You are the man that I was destined for."

Chuckling for real, he said, "you're going to suffocate me with your boobs."

"I don't care. It'll be a good way to go."

Pulling away, he watched her smile before laughing. "Tease."

Sliding out of bed, Luna stretched, showing him her bare body. "I better get dressed before you get up in more ways than one." Her eyes trailed down to his waist. "Although…"

Rolling his eyes, he climbed out of bed and quickly started getting dressed. "We'll save that for tonight, love. I have to get going, and so do you."

Sighing, she nodded. Wrapping her chest, she slipped on her shorts before wiggling her butt at him. "This could be yours tonight."

"Going to make me think about it all day?" he questioned.

Beaming, she nodded. "I want all of your thoughts filled with me."

Sharing her smile, he left the room. The five kittens were asleep on the couch, and Amber was resting against the windowsill, watching the sun rise.

"What should I do with Everest today?" Amber asked.

"The same as yesterday," James answered. "Let her get a feel for absorbing souls and push her to understand who and what we take them from." Moving to her side, he leaned against the wall. "Tonight, we'll take her back to her mother and let her visit her siblings."

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"And if she accidentally attacks them?"

Frowning, James reluctantly said, "I'll be with. I can cut off her attack."

Relaxing, Amber leaned against his shoulder. "Okay. I'll work with her today."

"Separate!" Luna growled. "No leaning on my husband!"

Blinking a few times, Amber looked at Luna before glancing at James. Stepping back, she sighed. "Sorry, Luna. I didn't mean anything by it."

James reached out and rubbed Amber's shoulder. "It's fine, Amber. Luna is just jealous."

"Am not!" Luna stuck out her tongue.

Raising his brow, he pulled Amber against his chest. "How does this make you feel, love?"

Amber started purring, just to irk the Fenrir even more.

Growling, Luna marched over to them and pulled them apart. "Stop teasing me!"

Laughing, James kissed his wife before heading to the door. "I'm going to get started. I have a lot of city to cover today."

Luna followed him. "I should get started as well. The outskirts are proving tricky."

Amber waved at them. "I'll head out once Everest is awake."

With nothing more to say, James left the apartment. He had to return to the industrial district and inspect it some more. There were many blocks of factories and warehouses that needed to cleaned out.

Reaching the industrial district only took a few minutes jog. The remnants of the night flares tapered off as the sun rose and the streets were blanketed in shadow. The cool Fall breeze blew in, reminding James that they didn't have long before winter came.

Will we be out of here before then? How much more of this city do we have to clear? How many Forsaken will we save?

There was once again, too many questions, and no answers. He had the dream to worry about. Was he going to meet his mother eventually? Was she still alive, or was she dead? The questions never ended.

Stopping at the factory from the day prior, he scanned it with his senses. A few new souls had moved in and were likely feasting on the corpses left behind. He didn't dare kill them without first seeing what they were.

Entering the factory, he made his way through the loading bay and into the machine room. Conveyor belts and presses made up a complex weaving pattern. It was disorienting at first, but he quickly moved through the maze until he came upon the first soul. Another of the rat-like monsters was eating one of the corpses before taking notice of him.

Hissing, it jumped up and prepared to attack. Raising his hand, James Siphoned the monster, killing it near instantly. Checking the other souls of the factory, they all felt the same as the rat and he snuffed them out as well.

Checking his notification, he found that he had barely increased in strength. It wasn't even worth checking with the smalls souls he had access to.

Rubbing his head, he left the factory out the front door, or what he assumed was the front door. Warehouses were across the street from him, and decided he would tackle them next. Summoning his Soul Puppet, they split up with the orders to inspect each soul before killing. They might still find some that weren't bad.

***

Luna didn't start fighting right away. Instead, she sniffed the air and scoured the local area for any signs of Elder Bo. The man had suddenly disappeared, and no one really noticed. Only James and she were questioning it. Did the others even remember he was part of the party?

It was odd. Just like the fact that she had to remember that the Forsaken they were living on was slowly eating them and everything here. The monsters they were killing and Forsaken they were saving were at risk, just like them.

What was the city eating?

That was the question that Luna asked the most over the last few days. She didn't feel like any of her soul was missing. She didn't feel weaker. In fact, everything seemed just fine.

Rounding the corner of an apartment, she found Jamie standing out in the open. Transforming back into her human form, she noticed the woman staring up at the sun.

"Jamie?" Luna questioned as she got closer.

Jamie didn't respond, nor did she twitch in any manner. It was as though she didn't hear Luna at all.

Frowning, Luna stopped next to Jamie and touched her shoulder. "Jamie?"

Jolting in surprise, Jamie turned to her with vacant eyes. Luna was about to ask if she was alright, when her eyes cleared and she blinked a few times.

"Luna? What are you doing out here?" Jamie's eyes narrowed in confusion as she looked around.

Luna didn't know how to react, so she spoke the truth. "I'm looking for Elder Bo. Have you seen him?"

"Who?"

Opening her mouth to respond, Luna noticed Jamie's eyes glaze over slightly before coming back into focus.

"No, I haven't seen him," Jamie answered, acting like her previous question didn't happen."

Taking Jamie's hand, Luna asked, "are you feeling okay?"

Rubbing the black circles around her eyes, Jamie nodded. "I'm fine. It's just been a lot of fighting, you know."

Nodding in understanding, Luna cupped the girl's cheek. "James would want you to rest. Maybe finish working on your enchantment?"

Jamie melted against her hand. "You're right, Luna. I think I have been pushing myself too hard. I'll go back."

Rubbing her thumb along Jamie's cheek, Luna gave her best smile. "Thank you, Jamie. Get some rest and I'll send James to help you as soon as I can. He misses crafting with you."

Melting further, Jamie nearly lost balance. Humming, she rested her hand on Luna's hip. "Maybe I'll take a nap first. Can you have him wake me?"

"Sure thing, love." Standing Jamie up, Luna gently pushed her back toward the apartment. "Get going."

With a tired wave, Jamie walked away, her steps barely shuffling off the ground.

Luna's frown grew as she watched her friend leave. It was very unlike Jamie to be tired and let it show. Turning back to the city, Luna started walking again. She would worry about Jamie later. But the way her eyes glazed over was concerning.

Sniffing the air a few times, she caught the scent of Mender. For some reason, he hadn't washed recently, even though James was filling people's tubs. With a growing frown, she jogged over to the man and found him standing in the middle of the street with his Consecration Field around him.

Stepping inside, she felt it trying to burn her as if she was an enemy. Jumping back out, she scanned the area and found dead Forsaken littered around the street, still burning.

"Mender!" she called out.

The man twitched a few times and his attack tapered out. Looking down at her boots, she noticed they were singed from his attack, and she was nervous to approach him.

Still, she walked over to him. "What the hell, man?" she asked. "Your skill attacked me."

Wincing, Mender looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry. Everything has been hostile around this area and I didn't have time to keep scanning everything that was approaching."

Placated with the answer, Luna sighed. "Damn, Mender. If you wanted me all hot and bothered, you just had to say something."

Laughing, the man shook his head. "I'd rather not make James angry. Still, I'm sorry. No one has come to check on me recently and I didn't think about it."

Waving him off, she started walking again. "It's fine. I sent your sister back to the apartment though. She seemed out of it."

"What do you mean?" he asked, catching up to her.

"Vacant. Like she wasn't all there." Glancing back at the apartments, she added, "I'm worried about her."

Dismissing his staff, Mender turned away. "I'm going to go check on her. I don't think she's ever been described as vacant before."

Luna nodded, but didn't stop the man as he turned and jogged away. He was the healer after all. Maybe he could figure if something was wrong with his sister.

Still sniffing the air, Luna started wandering towards another smell. This time it was Amber and Everest. The duo were surrounded by blood that was easy to sniff out, miles away.

Transforming into her wolf form, she jogged over. What she found was a veritable mountain of corpses. Amber was slashing through a scorpion, cutting off its stinger, while Everest siphoned its soul. The two were tackling a small pack of the monsters, while in the distance, more were coming.

Amber was the first to notice her. "Thank god! We need you!"

Luna quickly transformed back into her human form. "What the hell did you piss off?"

Amber looked around with wide eyes. "I don't know! All we did was attack a lone scorpion. The next thing I know, we are surrounded and Everest is running low on energy. They won't stop coming!"

Running up to Amber's side, Luna spread out her soul and found another twenty or thirty scorpions heading toward them. Doing what James loved doing, she tapped into Siphon and started ripping their souls from their bodies. Flames flowed into her through buildings and down the streets.

Amber sank to her knees, panting for each breath as she held out her claws. Her hands were shaking and so was Everest.

"I'll keep them off you," Luna stated. "Rest and we'll retreat when you two can move again."

"Thank you!" Amber gasped for her next breath. "I didn't know what to do."

Keeping her hands raised, Luna focused on grabbing as many scorpions as she could. Each one filled her with a miniscule amount of power, but at least she was growing.

Taking the moment to glance at Everest, she found the dragon with her eyes closed. Blood coated her feet and legs. She had clearly been fighting physically, just like Amber. James was going to be pissed.

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