Chapter 2 - Aurelia

Dividing into pairs, the Hunters swiftly dispatched each creature, moving from one encounter to the next with efficiency. Their approach was methodical, cutting down adversaries and destroying cores with practiced precision. It was business as usual for them, swiftly dispatching threats and pressing forward. However, as the encounters progressed, they began to notice a troubling trend.

The creatures seemed to be increasingly enraged, their behavior becoming more erratic and unpredictable. What began as a normal fight soon escalated into fierce battles against adversaries that seemed to be spiraling out of control.

Reports are given to the Hunter's Association, detailing the creature's increased violence and peculiar behavior. These are creatures that have already been identified and categorized by the HA; their mannerisms, powers, and attack styles are recorded so each Hunter knows what they're up against.

However this time, they are dealing with something far sinister.

Aurelia lets out an enraged huff and releases her fire powers against the creature's chest as it swarms to her head-on, unleashing a sonic boom of blue flames that disintegrates the body within a second. The noise of the boom echoed loudly against the noise of the battle, and wiped away the sweat of her forehead, panting hard.

"What is happening?" she demands.

"There's no use in asking questions we don't know!" Nathalia cries out as she faces another creature. "Let's try to survive this wave!"

They pushed back wave after wave of creatures; fighting for hours until finally, the coast seemed to be cleared of them. The Hunters have been fighting non-stop for the past six hours and some are spent. Nathalia is panting hard, sweat pouring down her face as she tries to gather her breath.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until, out of nowhere, a Hunter began to spurt blood uncontrollably. His distress was palpable as he struggled to breathe amidst the crimson tide, prompting his partner to rush to his aid with alarm etched across his face. Panic rippled through the group as more Hunters succumbed to the same mysterious ailment, leaving Aurelia and Nathalia exchanging bewildered looks.

"What the fuck -"

Before Aurelia could even articulate, she too found herself coughing up blood, her chest constricting with agonizing pain. A dizziness swept over her, causing her to collapse to her knees in shock. Nathalia's urgent cries pierced through the chaos as she rushed to Aurelia's side, desperately trying to support her falling frame.

One by one, the Hunters fell victim to the same affliction—coughing up blood, their chests gripped by excruciating agony, their lungs struggling for air. All around them, thirty or so Hunters lay incapacitated. Their Watches, detecting the anomaly in their health, swiftly initiated emergency protocols, alerting medical services and issuing a distress call to the Hunter's Association.

Reports soon surfaced indicating that all S-Class Hunters who had faced the creatures on that fateful night were now grappling with the same mysterious affliction, leaving authorities baffled and deeply concerned. With no clear answers in sight, hospitals were inundated with unconscious S-Class Hunters, their fate hanging in the balance.

Aurelia remains unconscious for three days when she suddenly awakens, coughing blood out which causes alarm to the doctors who are on duty. She grabs the nearest arm that she can reach, her arms digging into the flesh as she tries to speak through the blood coagulating her lungs.

"It's the core!" she wheezed. "We … they're different … absorbed them when we destroyed … cores! Volatile -"

She coughs her lungs out, blood spraying everywhere before she falls unconscious once more. They had to drain her lungs out from the blood accumulated but with newfound information, they directed the answers to the scientists specializing in cores. However, though they can barely detect an anomaly in the make of the cores due to the lack of specimens, it took them a while to conjure a cure.

They are working against time, the number of injured Hunters is amassing and the situation turns bleak when one by one they start to perish due to the overwhelming injuries. The hybrid cores had affected their heart, buried deep into their blood, and attacked their immune system viciously. Most if not all human Hunters perish, leaving the immortal beings behind.

Amongst the loss was Nathalia.

Aurelia awakens almost a month after, feeling like she has resurfaced from death and feeling like she has embraced the grim reaper but he booted her out. She sees her doctor bestfriend hovering at the backdrop of her vision, apparently in a deep discussion with a fellow doctor. She lets out a sigh and focuses her eyes on him.

"Zayne," she croaks, her voice cracking. "Zayne!"

Her voice was nothing but a whisper and he heard her. His head turns to her immediately, surprise etched on his handsome face and his mouth drops open. "Aurelia!" he cried out and quickly went to her, the other doctor calling for the others to gather before he started checking on her vitals.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, his voice a little shaky as he grasps her hand in his, feeling his ice warming her abnormally warm skin. His silver eyes are a mask of worry, his face though attractive has signs of sleep deprivation and she frowns the longer she looks at him.

"Like death," she mutters. "Can you be a dear and get me some water? My throat hurts."

He helped raise her bed so she could sit resting up, though her energy was spent from being unconscious for too long and he helped hold her cup as she gulped down water. A team of doctors plus scientists swarms into her ward soon after; asking her question after question, drawing more blood, and arranging for food and drink to be delivered.

She sits there answering their questions and wonders if they were able to detect the anomaly in time. She remembers telling them it was the hybrid cores that affected them so she hopes they're able to solve the make. After they are done with their questioning, she is left alone with Zayne who has taken residence on her left.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"A month."

She curses under her breath and sighs, rubbing her face with her free hand, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. "Tell me what you know and how about Nathalia?" she asks. "Is she -"

Zayne's stoic expression stops her from speaking and she turns pale with fright, her stomach plummeting. She shuts her eyes as a wave of grief envelops her, and she feels Zayne tightening his grip on her, tethering her to reality as she struggles to keep her emotions in check as she mourns the loss of her partner.

"How did she -"

"Nathalia and the rest of the human Hunters weren't able to hold out long enough for the scientists to solve the anomaly in the hybrid cores," he explains gently. "They took too long trying to decipher with little specimens and they are running out of time. Even with pressure from the HA and the public did not … seem to help."

The woes of mortality.

"The HA lost two-thirds of their S-Class Hunters in four weeks," Zayne continues grimly. "The only S-Class Hunters left are all hospitalized and are currently waking up. You are amongst the twenty."

She nods.

"Aurelia, I need to tell you something."

She frowns at her friend.

"I heard from the team of doctors that due to the anomaly in the hybrid cores, they contain toxic levels of radiation and unfortunately, you and the other nineteen have accidentally absorbed a high dosage," he explains. "Your heart is affected by the radiation, you … are afflicted by a condition called radiation sickness. Radiation-induced damage to the heart."

Aurelia lets out a breath and stares unseeingly at their intertwined hands. Hordes of thoughts burst into her mind upon receiving such startling news. Does that mean that she may not be able to continue her work as a S-Class Hunter? Will she have to find another job after she gets out of the hospital?

"You'll be okay, Aurelia," he says quietly.

She nods blankly. She knows that she will, but at what cost?