After the gray Whispers dragged Aerith away, Alex, without wasting time, immediately rushed after the girl. He perfectly understood that his sudden meeting with Aerith had already become the main reason for a serious deviation from the canon, which the gray Whispers were now obsessively trying to return to its original path. Chasing after the girl being carried away by the ghosts, Alex for a moment caught a strange sensation from these creatures. But at this critical moment he simply had no time to pay attention to such an anomaly.
Running into the dark corridor where the gray Whispers had dragged Aerith, Alex abruptly stopped and frowned, noticing that the entire passage in front of him was swarming with these creatures, which formed a dense wall blocking his way. Seeing this barrier, Alex smirked slightly and quickly grabbed the nearest gray Whisper.
The moment Alex firmly clenched the creature in his fist, a strange panicked fluctuation began among the other ghosts — as if these entities could not believe that someone had physically managed to touch them. Squeezing the writhing creature resembling a ghost in a gray cloak in his hand, Alex looked carefully under the creature's hood, but saw absolutely nothing there.
Humming, Alex instantly plunged his fingers into the place where the gray Whisper's face should have been and sharply jerked his hand back. In that same instant, the Whisper in Alex's hand turned into gray sand with a quiet rustle, which immediately crumbled onto the old wooden floor.
"Interesting… I really am encountering something like this for the first time," Alex said calmly, killing the first gray Whisper without any extra effort.
Having destroyed the first gray Whisper, Alex smiled widely, baring his sharp teeth, and immediately rushed forward. At full speed, Alex began literally chopping the gray ghosts apart using his own palms. Slicing one gray Whisper after another, Alex advanced very quickly deeper into the corridor, leaving behind only dense piles of gray sand from the defeated creatures.
Following Alex, Dean ran into the dark corridor, kicking open the closed doors with his shoulder. A sports bag now hung on his shoulder, which he had prudently grabbed before leaving the hall. And the moment he found himself in the passage, new gray Whispers appeared right in front of his face.
Seeing these hovering creatures, Dean irritably clicked his tongue and hastily pulled Cain's First Blade from the sports bag. Quickly thrusting the weapon into the nearest gray ghost, Dean noticed with satisfaction how it instantly turned into gray sand. Realizing that these ghostly creatures could also be easily turned into minced meat, Dean laughed cheerfully and began carving a path for himself.
By this moment Alex had already successfully reached the very end of the corridor and burst out on the run into a spacious hall remotely resembling an old ruined library. Looking around, Alex did not see Aerith, but he saw hundreds of gray Whispers circling around, densely swirling and blocking all possible exits and views.
"Aerith, where are you?!" Alex shouted loudly, sincerely hoping that the girl was still somewhere very close.
"I'm here, upstairs! Help!" Aerith's ringing scream suddenly sounded from somewhere above, right over Alex's head.
Hearing Aerith's scream, Alex quickly raised his head upward and saw how she was desperately clinging to a hanging chandelier while the gray Whispers tried to drag her somewhere. Reacting quickly, Alex pulled Ebony and Ivory from his inventory and began shooting at the Whispers that were trying to carry Aerith away.
Every bullet fired from the pistols hit exactly in the heads of the gray Whispers. When the last gray Whisper surrounding Aerith died, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. But her relief did not last long because now she was hanging under the very ceiling on the chandelier, and falling down was quite high.
By this moment Dean had run out of the corridor, covered in gray sand and clutching Cain's Blade in his hands. Running into the hall, Dean frowned upon seeing such a number of gray ghosts. Looking at Alex, Dean nodded his head, asking what to do next. But there was no time for thinking when the gray Whispers began to emit a strange sound.
"Aerith, let go! I'll catch you!" Alex shouted, standing under Aerith and feeling that something was about to happen.
"I can't, it's high here… Oh, damn!" Aerith shouted, even afraid to look down and feeling how the chain on which the chandelier hung began to tear off.
Seeing that the chandelier was almost torn off, Alex quickly looked around in search of something that could help. His gaze fell on the stone column behind him. The moment he took a step, the Whispers began circling near it, blocking the path — as if they knew what he was planning. Frowning, Alex was already about to open fire from Ebony and Ivory. But before he could make the first shot, Dean took everything into his own hands.
Cain's Blade in his palm was covered with darkness. Dean swung the weapon, and in that same instant the Whispers surrounding the column were cut by a precise strike. Smirking, Alex raised his thumb toward Dean and immediately rushed forward. Running up to the column, Alex began pushing off it with his feet, climbing higher and higher. By the time he reached the top, the chandelier on which Aerith was hanging had almost torn off.
Aerith was about to fall straight into the clutches of the Whispers circling below her. But Alex pushed off the stone in time and flew toward her. Grabbing the falling girl, he spun in the air and crashed with his back into an old wooden cabinet on the third floor of the church, raising a cloud of dust. Finding herself in Alex's arms, Aerith squeezed her eyes shut tightly, expecting the Whispers to drag her somewhere again. But, feeling the warmth of his hands, she opened her eyes and blinked in surprise, noticing Alex's face next to her.
"I told you I'd catch you," Alex said with a smile, looking into Aerith's green eyes.
"My hero. Here's your prize," Aerith replied with a sweet smile and gently poked Alex in the nose with her finger.
Looking at Aerith, who had started flirting again right after nearly falling from the height of the third floor, Alex only sighed wearily. He was beginning to realize: while he was in this world next to her, he definitely wouldn't be bored. Preparing to get up, Alex sharply grabbed Aerith by the waist, causing her to let out a short scream and blush.
But before she could declare that now was not the time, not the place, and that they had only just met, Alex rolled hard to the side, pressing her to himself. At that same moment, a heavy cabinet crashed down with a roar from the hole in the attic onto the spot where they had just been lying, cracking the rotten wooden floor with a crash.
Hearing the impact, Aerith raised her head. Still lying on Alex, she looked at the broken flooring and then shifted her gaze to the hole in the ceiling. Aerith couldn't understand why the Whispers were acting so aggressively this time. After all, before they had simply not let her go where she shouldn't go at that moment.
Pressing Aerith to himself, Alex gloomily watched the ghosts. He noticed again how changes had begun in the structure of the Whispers. In that same second all the creatures rushed to one point, swirling in the air. Dean, who was breaking through to the third floor and methodically destroying the ghosts below, also frowned, noticing their strange behavior.
The Whispers spun faster and faster, forming a solid gray mass from their own bodies. A squall wind rose. Because of the strong whirlwind, wooden splinters and shards of broken glass flew into the air, and Alex had to completely cover Aerith with himself so that none of this old trash would hit her.
"What's happening?!" Aerith asked, shouting over the roar of the storm while Alex firmly held her, protecting her with his body.
"I don't know. But we'll find out soon," Alex replied, still blocking her view and not letting her see what kind of monster the Whispers were merging into.
Alex really didn't know what was happening and why the Whispers had begun acting so aggressively that they were even ready to injure Aerith. Watching as the ghosts merged into a single gray mass, he slightly narrowed his eyes in anticipation of the climax. Dean, who was on the first floor, covered his face with his hand from the flying dust and also waited to see what the creatures would do. The gusts of wind became more and more powerful.
The whirlwind began to lift fragments of old furniture and crack wooden boards out of the floor with a crunch. Continuing to cover Aerith with himself so that she wouldn't accidentally get hit by this cloud of splinters, Alex did not take his eyes off the epicenter. A moment later the Whispers finally merged into one, and immediately a loud explosion rang out, scattering the flying trash in all directions.
The force of the shockwave was such that the torn boards pierced the stone walls of the church right through. Alex had to turn his back, shielding Aerith from the cabinet flying straight at them. Feeling the jolt from the wood shattering against his back, Alex irritably clenched his teeth — his favorite Hawaiian shirt had finally turned into a torn rag.
Turning his head, he saw a huge Whisper hovering in the center of the hall. Incoherent muttering came from the monster, as if hundreds of voices were simultaneously repeating different things. Upon seeing this hulk, Alex felt a strange feeling — as if he had been brazenly deceived.
Even Dean below felt the same: as if the producer had spent all the money on special effects, and pushed the same enemy onto the stage, only enlarged in size. Realizing that they had actually been deceived and that there would be no battle, Alex lazily raised two fingers, aiming them at the giant creature.
"Dismantle," Alex said calmly, using a regular technique to kill the big Gray Whisper faster.
The moment Alex uttered the word, the body of the huge Whisper was instantly cut into small cubes. The monster didn't even have time to do anything — it instantly ceased to exist, and all that remained of it was gray sand that crumbled onto the first floor.
Aerith, who had been in Alex's arms all this time, carefully peeked out from behind his shoulder and saw a scene of complete destruction. Wooden boards stuck out from the walls, and fragments of broken cabinets and glass lay around. Noticing the state of Alex's clothes, Aerith rushed to feverishly examine his body.
Her palms quickly ran over his shoulders and chest, checking the skin for cuts. After a quick examination, she made sure that only the fabric had suffered, and he himself remained completely intact. Realizing that Alex was fine, Aerith breathed a sigh of relief and pressed her forehead to his shoulder.
At that moment she blamed herself for the Whispers starting to act so aggressively. But even so, she still wanted to stay next to those who heard the voice of the Lifestream just like her. Noticing Aerith's state, Alex gently stroked her back, showing that there was no need to worry and everything was over. Feeling the warmth of his hand, Aerith raised her head and narrowed her eyes, looking straight into Alex's rainbow eyes.
"For this I owe you two dates, my bodyguard," Aerith said with a sweet smile and poked Alex in the chin with her finger.
"I wouldn't mind a snack. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday," Alex replied with a smile and wearily collapsed onto his back on the destroyed floor of the third floor.
"That can be arranged. My mom cooks simply amazingly delicious food, you'll definitely like it," Aerith replied, still lying on top of Alex and propping her cheeks with her palms.
Hearing about delicious food, Alex chuckled slightly, looking at the destroyed ceiling of the church. Lying on the broken wooden floor, he was not surprised at all that he had gotten into such a mess just half an hour after waking up with a heavy hangover.
Alex had long been used to his luck becoming simply terrible at such moments. Right now he was thinking about only two things: he needed to change somewhere and urgently find out from Lucifer what the hell he had thrown them into this world for. And only after that decide — whether it was even worth staying here for the sake of local problems.
Aerith, still lying on top of Alex, was interestedly examining his thoughtful face. Smiling slightly, she raised her hand and poked Alex in the nose with her finger again, forcing him to pay attention to her. After a couple of precise pokes, he finally focused his gaze on her, and Aerith smiled sweetly, not stopping her childish attack.
At that moment Dean flew up to the railing of the third floor with one powerful jump and caught this strange romantic scene. Standing on the half-destroyed wooden railing, he hummed. He really wanted to ask what the hell they had gotten so close so quickly if they had only just met. But Dean decided to simply ruin this romantic moment.
"And how long are you going to lie like that? Maybe we should get moving already? The last thing I want right now is to deal with these defective Dementors again," Dean said, easily jumping off the wooden railings onto the barely intact floor.
"Dementors? What are those?" Aerith asked with interest, tilting her head to the side, still not getting up from Alex's chest.
"Such ghosts from distant lands that completely suck the joy out of people. They look outwardly similar to those gray creatures that attacked you," Alex replied, beginning to smoothly rise, gently holding Aerith by the waist with his palms and moving her onto his lap.
"Wow… And where do they live? Are they scary? Or maybe creepy? Or maybe both?" Aerith asked with a smile, looking at Dean as she moved from Alex's lap to her feet and began bombarding the two of them with questions.
"They look like hovering black rags with a hole instead of a mouth. I'd say they look more like a vacuum cleaner. Heh… A ghostly vacuum cleaner," Dean said with a chuckle, delivering his next joke and adjusting the bag on his shoulder.
Hearing Dean's joke, Aerith froze for a moment, and then laughed cheerfully, imagining a ghostly vacuum cleaner. Chuckling, Alex rose from the floor and looked over the railings downward. The entire first floor was completely destroyed, and the entrance through which they had ended up in this part of the church was tightly blocked by collapsed ceilings and wooden beams.
Beginning to think about how they would leave the church without digging through the debris, Alex raised his gaze to the ceiling and looked at the attic. Seeing that they could leave through the attic coverings, he turned to Dean and pointed his finger upward, showing which way they would get out. Dean nodded briefly, pushed off the floor and jumped lightly onto a wooden beam.
Jumping onto the beam, Dean noticed a hole in the wall at the far end of the roof through which they could exit outside. Looking down, he shouted, pointing out that there was an exit on the attic leading to the street. Waving his hand to show that he had found a passage, Dean lazily shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and walked along the beam toward the passage leading to the street. Seeing how deftly Dean had flown up, Aerith smiled and turned to Alex, immediately throwing herself into his arms.
"Come on, forward and upward," Aerith said with a smile, wrapping her arms around Alex's neck and hanging on him.
"We've only just met, and you already have so many demands," Alex smirked, shaking his head and looking at her.
"Heh-heh-heh, that's right! And now let's go up. Let's go, let's go!" Aerith laughed, cheerfully jumping in place and continuing to cling tightly to his neck with her arms.
Looking at the demanding Aerith, Alex chuckled slightly and lifted her into his arms, causing her to giggle slightly as she wrapped her arms even tighter around his neck. Lifting Aerith into his arms, Alex pushed off the floor and jumped onto the wooden beam. Finding himself in the attic, Alex saw Dean, who had already reached the opening in the roof.
Turning around, Dean waved his hand, showing that they needed to catch up. Beginning to walk along the beam while holding Aerith in his arms, Alex calmly jumped from one flooring to another while the girl looked down with interest. Aerith couldn't help but notice that the church had only been damaged where the Whispers had been, while her small flowerbed with yellow flowers in the main hall had remained intact.
Convinced that her flowers had not suffered, Aerith breathed a sigh of relief, patting herself on the chest. She didn't want the plants she had grown with such care to die. Reaching the opening in the roof, Alex and Aerith saw Dean, who was looking at the Plate towering above them. Still holding Aerith in his arms, Alex passed through the opening, stepping onto the wooden extension.
Raising his gaze to the Plate, Alex sighed heavily. Memories of the days when he lived in Night City immediately flashed in his head. One part of the city was just a dump where murders in broad daylight had become commonplace, while in the center of the city life was boiling among corporates and their expensive lifestyle. Stopping looking at the Plate, Alex lowered his gaze to the ordinary buildings of the slums.
They looked as if people had built their houses from any junk they could find in the lower city. Dean, standing next to him, was seeing such a structure for the first time in his life. He had a lot of colorful words spinning in his head that he wanted to voice right now, but all thoughts came down to one thing: life in this city was frankly shitty. And he hadn't even had time to see yet how people lived in the Lower City.
"Do you see that water tower over there? Behind it is the station, and there is the main city in the slums of the Fifth Sector," Aerith said, making herself more comfortable in Alex's arms and pointing her finger at the rusty metal structure in the distance.
"Well, what a dump here. Is this really what you call a city?" Dean couldn't help but say, looking with disgust at the rusty roofs around.
"Unfortunately. But people survive as best they can. Don't you two know about this?" Aerith asked with a sigh, slightly shaking her head and looking at Dean and Alex with sincere curiosity.
"We're in Midgar for the first time. Before that we lived in a completely different place," Alex quickly replied before Dean could blurt out something extra and give them away.
"So that's how it is… Now I understand. Then how about walking along the roofs?" Aerith responded with a sweet smile, now understanding why Alex and Dean were reacting so wildly to what they saw.
Hearing Aerith's suggestion, Alex and Dean looked around, trying to figure out how to get to the rusty water tower faster. What was important, both of them really wanted to change into normal clothes instead of walking around in beach shorts and torn Hawaiian shirts. Looking around, Alex saw a detour and immediately jumped forward with Aerith in his arms.
From such a sharp jerk the girl let out a slight exclamation, gripping his neck tighter. Carefully landing on the rusty roof, Alex turned to Dean and waved his hand, showing that he should catch up. Seeing the direction they needed to go, Dean adjusted the bag on his shoulder and jumped after him, carefully landing on the flooring — the last thing he wanted right now was to fall down again.
Holding Aerith in his arms, Alex didn't even think about asking if she wanted to go on her own two feet. The moment he lowered his gaze, Aerith responded with another sweet smile, slightly swinging her legs while being carried like a princess. Walking along the roofs, Alex carefully stepped on the rather flimsy rusty covering.
While he was jumping from one roof to another, trying to find a place where they could change, Aerith, sitting in his arms, thoughtfully examined his face. At that moment she was very interested in learning what Alex and Dean had been doing before. After all, she had seen with her own eyes how they effortlessly defeated Reno and Rude, who had been sent by Shinra, and then destroyed the Whispers without visible problems.
Such thoughts from Aerith were also connected to the fact that she felt a strange, pleasant closeness to Alex. That was exactly why she wanted to learn much more about him. Narrowing her eyes, Aerith decided to look for another approach to extract information, and therefore decided to start with Dean, who was walking behind them.
"And what do you both usually do? I mean your work?" Aerith asked, peeking over Alex's shoulder to look at Dean walking behind them.
"We kill monsters that live under beds. We destroy evil ghosts and other crap that can't sit still in their holes," Dean said, jumping onto the neighboring roof.
"Really? And do they pay you for that? And what kind of monsters live under beds? And why do they live under beds at all, aren't there other places?" Aerith began asking with interest, having heard what kind of craft Alex and Dean were engaged in.
"They didn't pay before. And then somehow it just happened on its own," Dean replied, slightly shrugging his shoulders and looking around to understand where to jump next.
"Your job is strange, to be honest… So what about the monsters under the bed? Why do they live there?" Aerith said in a thoughtful tone, turning to Alex and poking him in the cheek with her finger again.
"That's just how they say it. Where we come from, they usually scare children by saying that a monster lives under their bed. And if they behave badly, it will come and take them away. Only neither parents nor children know that the monster is real," Alex replied, ignoring Aerith's finger with which she continued to poke him in the cheek.
"Hmm… Interesting, and do I have a monster under my bed? Or maybe in the closet?" Aerith asked thoughtfully, bringing her finger to her lips and slowly swinging her legs while sitting in Alex's arms.
"I don't think so. You're too cute for a monster to want to live under your bed," Alex said with a chuckle, lowering his gaze to her.
"Do you really think so? Am I really that cute?" Aerith asked with a wide smile, placing her palms on her cheeks and blinking cutely while looking at Alex.
Alex chuckled slightly and adjusted Aerith's position in his arms so he could jump onto the elevation without hindrance. When the girl still didn't get an answer to her question, she cutely pouted her lips and folded her arms across her chest, looking like an offended child in every way.
Dean, following behind them, watched this picture with an absolutely blank gaze. At that moment he really wanted to ask Alex what the hell he was flirting with the girl for when they had ended up in someone else's universe because of his older brother, who had thrown them into this world without any extra explanations.
Shaking off these thoughts, Dean decided that first he needed to find out more about the local way of life, especially about the gray ghosts that had suddenly attacked them. He was very interested in why these creatures had so purposefully attacked Aerith, with whom they themselves had only met about ten minutes ago after waking up from a drinking session.
Raising his gaze upward, Dean pushed off an iron pipe and jumped onto the water tower with one leap. Climbing to the very top of the platform, he stood next to Alex and Aerith, looking into the distance. All that now opened to their view was endless mountains of old rusty junk and a high stone wall that rose at the very edge of the Fifth Sector slums.
"There's the wall. On the other side of the wall is another Sector of the Slums," Aerith said, pointing her finger at the concrete hulk in the distance.
"Aerith, just don't tell me that such shit-walls surround every, as you called it, Sector?" Dean asked, turning to Aerith, who at that moment was leaning on the rusty railings of the water tower.
"Yes. There are eight Sectors of the Slums in total. Some are a little better, some worse. But in general everything looks exactly the way you see it now," Aerith replied, shaking her head, and immediately stopped leaning on the railing as soon as the rusty railings emitted a strange, dry crunch.
"Careful. We don't need you flying down," Alex said, timely grabbing Aerith by the waist and immediately pulling her back before she fell.
"Heh-heh, thanks! You caught me again," Aerith replied with a cute laugh, beginning to carefully adjust her rumpled dress.
Looking at Aerith's smiling face, Alex began to suspect that her luck was even worse than his own. Even Dean, standing next to Alex, thought exactly the same, sincerely wondering how Aerith had managed to live so long with such terrible luck. Poking the girl in the nose with his finger, Alex suggested going down so as not to linger on the roof any longer.
Beginning to descend the stairs, Alex hoped that it would not suddenly collapse under their weight, considering what ominous sounds the metal made every time someone stepped on it. At that moment Alex definitely wasn't going to rely on the terrible luck that united the three of them. Descending the rusty steps, which miraculously did not collapse, Alex looked around, trying to get his bearings.
Aerith stood next to him and gently patted him on the shoulder, pointing down at the trodden path along which she usually walked. Lowering his gaze, Alex saw the path that should lead them straight to the railway tracks.
Wrapping his arm around Aerith's waist, he jumped down without unnecessary words so as not to waste time on long detours. Landing on the ground, Alex released Aerith, who immediately began cheerfully praising him for such a soft jump.
"As I understand it, the railway station you mentioned is further… Only we'd like to change clothes. I really don't want to walk around in such rags among people," Dean said, jumping down last and landing next to Alex and Aerith.
"Hmm… You can change right… here," Aerith suggested, puffing as she tore a wooden beam from the boarded-up door of an old shack.
"And the neighbors won't mind?" Alex asked, looking into the dust-covered interior of the house.
"No one has lived here for a long time. That's why the houses are empty," Aerith replied with a smile, carelessly throwing the old wooden board aside.
"Why? Were they evicted? Or did they just get tired of breathing this smell?" Dean asked with interest, smoothly removing the sports bag from his shoulder.
"Probably because of the monsters that settled here… They wander around here from time to time among the piles of this trash," Aerith said thoughtfully, bringing her finger to her lips.
"Monsters? Real monsters? Or do you mean ordinary wild animals on this dump?" Dean asked with interest, abruptly stopping in the doorway and turning his head toward Aerith.
"Nope, not the ones you both talked about… How to put it… Oh, exactly! Just like that Pie Hedgehog over there," Aerith said thoughtfully, looking around and pointing her finger at the creature that had just clumsily crawled out of a pile of junk.
Alex and Dean looked in the direction Aerith was pointing and saw a strange creature resembling a walking frog on its hind legs, with sharp spikes growing on its back. Watching as this creature lazily devoured the thrown-out trash, they tried to understand what the hell this was. Dean examined the Pie Hedgehog and sincerely couldn't understand why the local thing was called a monster if it could be killed with an ordinary, sufficiently strong kick.
In his understanding, a monster was something that could really scare, not a creature that looked more like a cheap anti-stress toy. Alex, at that moment, was seriously thinking about catching a couple of such creatures and throwing them into the Dungeon in Orario so that they would start breeding and being born there.
While Alex and Dean were studying the Pie Hedgehog, the creature also noticed them. Discovering living people, the monster began quickly jumping toward Alex, Dean, and Aerith. Approaching closely, the Pie Hedgehog pushed off the ground and spun in the air, using its spikes as a weapon.
In the second when the creature was supposed to crash into the group, Alex quickly stepped back and kicked the Hedgehog like a soccer ball. From this blow the Pie Hedgehog tumbled back, crashing with a crack through the boarded-up window of the neighboring shack with its body. Seeing how Alex had effectively deflected the attack, Aerith clapped her hands enthusiastically. She had never seen anyone deal with monsters in such a way, and she liked it wildly.
"I think that was an excellent goal," Dean said with a chuckle, evaluating the accuracy of Alex's kick.
"That was cool! Can you do it again? Only into a different window… Please, please!" Aerith begged, firmly grabbing Alex's arm and began persistently shaking it from side to side.
"Unfortunately, there are no more such creatures nearby. So let's do it another time," Alex replied with a chuckle and gently pinched Aerith's nose.
"Promise?" Aerith asked hopefully, making the cutest and most pleading look she was capable of.
"Of course I promise… And now we need to change. And don't peek," Alex replied with a smile, pointing his hand at the doors of the abandoned house.
"Yay! And I won't peek, I'm not some kind of pervert. I'll guard you!" Aerith declared with a bright smile, proudly patting herself on the chest.
Alex and Dean looked at Aerith with doubt, who had declared that she would guard them. Seeing these distrustful looks, the girl raised her hand and began comically tensing muscles that simply didn't exist on her skinny arms. Alex examined Aerith trying to demonstrate her strength through her short red jacket.
Scratching his cheek, he only smiled and said that he readily believed her, causing Aerith to proudly lift her chin and put her hands on her hips. Chuckling, Alex entered the old house and closed the door behind him. Waving away the rising dust, Alex took his phone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight to make it more convenient to change.
When the room became illuminated, Dean placed the sports bag on the dusty table and immediately unzipped it. Inside he saw a set of his usual clothes, consisting of worn jeans, several flannel shirts, and the jacket he had received from Alex, with Guild and Slayer marks on the shoulders.
Pulling out the clothes, Dean began hastily changing, literally tearing off the remnants of his beach shorts and torn Hawaiian shirt. Alex approached the bag next and pulled out a black T-shirt for himself, as well as black jeans with boots.
Not finding anything more suitable inside, he only shrugged, after which he fished out a holster for pistols from his inventory, Nero's blue coat, and in addition Murasame, which he hadn't used for a long time. And while Alex and Dean were putting on more comfortable clothes, Aerith obediently stood guard outside, even though she was listening intently to the sounds coming from the house.
To be continued...
(As I already wrote, the Gray Whisperers are the guardians of Canon. These creatures weren't present in the original game, and the developers only added them in the Remake. This is, of course, a spoiler, but the reason these Gray Farts behave this way is because they want to restore the original timeline. Like, the world survived in the past, so there's no point in trying to twist everything. These creatures are, in a sense, manifestations of the planet's will, only they're corrupted by you know what. For now, I won't reveal any more; that would be a spoiler. And now, time to eat. Peace, love, and who's hiding my escaped editor again?)
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