Leave The Monster Alone

"Show yourself" Mark watched the bushes cautiously, waiting for something to jump up and assault him. It was more than evident that something was in the bushes waiting to jump them at any moment's notice.

But when nothing happened for some time, Mark found himself tense even more.

Kuro was also letting out small growls, her mood, not one to be messed with. Already, Mark could feel her ready to burst forth and attack the intruder. And when the bushes finally parted, Mark had to stop the kitten from attacking the small form of a human girl.

"Mr Mark, I'm sorry to disturb you but I wanted to see the pretty kitty once again" Maya's voice was cheerful, lacking any sense of danger at all.

Behind her, En seemed to look on in a bad mood but even he did not interrupt which Mark took as the signal that everything was alright for now.

"Maya, I don't think the kitten is in the mood" Mark tried once again, his voice leaving no room for questioning at all.

Maya seemed like a reasonable kid and Mark was sure that she had understood before when he explained that Kuro was not safe for her. But it seemed like her bratty side was taking over for now.

"Maya, learn to take a no" En also consoled but the girl seemed to take it the wrong way. Mark was sure another tear shower was coming their way and he did not want that at all.

The atmosphere was tense now, a certain unsettling wind taking form around them and Mark had to hold his breath. Kuro's uncomfortable feeling seemed to be growing by the second which generally meant that danger was headed their way.

"En, I think you should take Maya back to her father. I'm sure she needs the comfort right now" this was a hint, in all but wordings. One which En understood without further explanation.

"Let's go, Maya. I'm sure your father wants to see you and help you find another kitten" the girl seemed to deflate, her eyes looking at Kuro in an almost longing before she was ultimately dragged away.

However, the last look she gave them was a blank-eyed stare with her hand almost stretched out in a reach toward the kitten. It sent shivers down Mark's back and he somehow had a feeling that there was something more there than a want.

It almost felt like the child had an obsession with the kitten in his arms, one he could not solve.

However, now that the child was gone, Mark expected Kuro to calm down and relax. He waited a few seconds for Kuro's body to go lax before proceeding to pick her up.

Only, that did not happen at all. The tension in Kuro's body did not go down but rather her ears joined the tension. Her raised ears were posed in a listening pose and Mark was sure that only she could hear when she was looking for.

But that also gave him enough time to get a head start on the mission he had been handed. He was not really sure on the specifics but the 'dual cores' were most likely situated in the central lab.

This was not a mission in the actual story but rather a background event that happened while the protagonist was out on a mission. Mark was sure that it lied somewhere before the rebellion story arc of the game.

Going by the time frame, it could happen anywhere between today to a year from now when other bases would be discovered and people would finally revolt against the injustice and discrimination.

But that was still in the far off future in accordance with the cannon. Even if the evidence and unrest of his feelings begged to differ.

Since the system was not helping at all, Mark finally closed the window and decided to call it a day. Since nothing had happened, he was more than sure that he would have to repeat this day with Maya once again till the 'dual cores' mission progressed.

He just decided to take the same route back he had entered from and hoped he would not run into a lot of people on the way out.

Since his injuries were still untreated, that was the first on his agenda. It took no time at all but the bandages on his hand made him feel like a clumsy med student again. He had often mishandled his knife and other tools before but none of his scars had really stuck around.

If Mark had to guess, he would say it might be something related to the game or something. It would be an interesting analogue for sure.

Once he had done enough, he finally picked up Kuro and started to leave.

Only to find that he could not physically do it. Yes, he could walk but any distance he covered felt like no distance at all. He was covering distance, Mark was sure that he was but his position seemed to not change at all.

This was suspicious but Mark had a way to check it out. He finally opened his map and had a look.

He was moving forward.

But miraculously, every few steps forward his position blinked before he was back at his initial position.

Or rather, his support seemed to be back at its initial position. He was not the one moving, his surroundings were the things that were moving, a relative motion he could neither see nor feel.

If he did not have his system then Mark was sure he would not have caught it at all.

Surely enough, it was not a function this garden was built to perform and Mark was sure that his earlier feeling of being watched was not because of Maya at all. While she had been a factor, she was not nearly dangerous enough to tingle his senses in this regard.

And there could not really be a lot of people involved in this scheme because it would just raise a lot of suspicions. And it would not be a human too since these powers were still far out of the normal reach of humans.

It only happened after the rebellion and the power source exploded causing the research to leak out and form mutants. In that regard, it could only be a monster inside here or the virus itself.

Both did not sound like the funniest prospect at all.

"Kuro, watch out" Mark warned the kitten who seemed the tensest now and as soon as she was out of her hands, she transformed into the bigger form. Her large body seemed to hide Mark behind her, her pose ready to jump and pounce on the enemy.

But the danger was not in front of them and with their very surroundings against them, Mark was not even sure if they could counter the other if they had been in front of them.

"Look here, if it isn't our friends from before. Think they will help us out here?" there was something sharp against Mark's back and he flinched in his place. He exerted visible effort not to move, should the sharp object cause him harm.

Kuro turned around with a hiss, her teeth bared at the enemy. Mark could not see them, but he could guess from the address that there were more than one for sure.

Against his better judgement, he decided he did need to speak. There was only one 'old friend' he could guess in this situation and that was one who had saved him once.

"I greet the esteemed divine beasts inside our facility. May I ask how you got inside here?" there was a small amused chuckle behind him before the sharp object retreated and Mark could take a deep breath once again.

Without that he could finally turn around and have a look at his assaulters.

There were two of them, both visibly human and far too convincing. Mark could only pick them apart from humans because of his own senses. If not, he would have never mistaken them for anything other than a human at all.

"Yoohoo. Nice to meet you once again my friend. The skin shedding was such a relief that I might see you out again next time" there was no way to ignore the teasing tone and words. This was the divine beast he had helped out, one who had very likely saved their lives.

Kuro's tense form finally snapped, her jaws inches away from the human snake before the other intercepted. The jaws were held away by strong hands and it was clear that it would become a stalemate unless someone stepped down.

Since the other seemed content to let his friend have a stall with Kuro, Mark was sure that he would have to stop those two.

"Kuro, step back. I'm afraid they're friends this time around too" Mark's words were met with two curios gazes, ones he was about to become far too familiar with in the future events.

But the scent of danger did not waver at all.