A beam of energy destroyed part of the house, and a male voice shouted from outside.
—Who's there?! —A young guy with long, messy brown hair, urban clothes, and sunglasses looked pissed outside the house.
Then his buddy said:
—William, bro, it looks like those noises were just your imagination. Chill, the boss wants the bodies today anyway.
From inside the house, a voice shouted:
—¡We're coming out…!
Seconds later, Kael was taking off her Trascendent Guardians uniform, leaving only the bandages covering her bust and part of her torso.
—Why are you taking that off? —asked Anyael, blushing and a bit scared.
—What else do you think? ¡Pariguayo! —(a local insult in the Aldebarán district meaning "dumbass," kinda like calling someone stupid or idiotic)— "Ouch," —thought Anyael, slightly annoyed.
—Well, I didn't tell you, but… there's no time. I'll tell you the story later, but basically, everyone here hates Trascendent Guardians, so you better take off the uniform if we want to survive.
—Okay…
Then Anyael took off his uniform too, leaving only the sleeveless shirt he had underneath.
They stepped out of the semi-ruined house and faced a group of five armed men, including the one who looked like the leader.
—What do we do with them, William? —asked one of the men.
—Same as always. Take the girl and kill the boy. Easy peasy. —replied the brown-haired guy arrogantly.
—I'm afraid that won't be possible —said Kael, drawing Marea.
In two blinks, Kael took out all the men in the group.
—Look, Any…
—"Any??" —Anyael was disoriented—. How is that a woman's nickname?
—And? Works fine, that's what matters. So that will be your nickname: Any. Haha, I like it…
—Well, that's not the point, "Any" —juas juas—. Look, their plates belong to an association; here in Niviro, these are very common.
—Aha? And what do these associations do? —asked Anyael, thinking of a stupid nickname to tease Kael, but none came to mind.
—Well, Any, these associations or organizations look out for their own interests… Terrorists. Clear enough?
—"Any"? Seriously, I give up, but okay, got it. Thanks for the super example, "K."
—For such bad nicknames, better stick to our codes…
—Was it really that bad?
—Yes, very.
—Argh, fine, Leopard.
—Always at your service, Ascender.
While the new duo argued, they unknowingly walked into one of the most dangerous areas of all Niviro: Nightmare, the Forest of Nightmares.
—So, right now I need some info. Can you answer my questions?
—Sure, which ones?
—First: why do the Trascendent Guardians send people to Niviro?
—Didn't I already answer that?
—That was only halfway. The truth…
—Okay, Any, the reason is control. Many are terrorists or people who corrupt at the slightest bit of power. That's why there are more Saints than Sinners in the Trascendent Guardians. In fact, we, along with two others, are the only Sinners in the West. Isn't that crazy?
—Well, yeah, I guess? I don't really like the idea, but I understand the reasons. After all, being Ascended doesn't stop you from being human…
—Exactly. So, what's your pro—? Oh crap, holy crap!
—I know you're the type to insult a lot, but what's up, Kael? Are you really reacting like this to a forest in front of us? Even if it's kinda big…
—"Who am I kidding? The strongest person I know, Kael, is this scared. That means we're screwed, como dicen los Draconianos, ahora sí valimos pito causa." —thought Anyael, desperate.
—Any…
—Yeah?!
—Do you have claustrophobia, fear of the dark, megalophobia, paranoia, coulrophobia, fear of forests, or any other phobias?
—No, not that I know of. Why? —asked Anyael, now extremely worried.
—Because we're heading to the place where, literally, all your nightmares come true. No wonder they named it Nightmare…
—Shit, now valimos ñonga.