(XVII) Trust

Samael turned around, facing Camille, "Do you know where Gateway Park is?" 

She nodded, "Yeah, why?" 

"I need you to take the twins to the underground shelter there. My mother and friends are there hiding, can you do that for me?" He asked, his face revealing the worry inside him. 

"No!" The twins blurted out simultaneously. 

"We want to go with you!" Nathan proclaimed, with Kaitlyn adding, "You can't just abandon us with some stranger!" 

"I'm not leaving you with a stranger..." Sam sighed, approaching the two and kneeling before them, "Do you think I would have given her such a strong Beast Core if I didn't think I could trust her?" 

[Camille: Intimacy +1 (1/100)]

The young man wanted to gag on his own words... He couldn't believe he was speaking such high praises about a woman who, to him, had killed him hardly 24 hours before, but at least he had gained something out of it. 

"No..." The twins sulked simultaneously. 

"Also, did you two not decide to help her out on your own?" He asked, grabbing their shoulders and staring between their faces. 

"Yes..." They answered as Kaitlyn started chewing on her lower lip. Sam could see Nathan trying to think his way out and smiled to himself. 

"I want to go check out what that sound was. There could be other people in trouble." Samael explained, "I won't be able to do that if I have to worry about you two, and I know she can get you safely to the shelter." 

[Camille: Intimacy +1 (2/100)]

"Okay..." The twins conceded with frowns until Sam stood up and ruffled their hair, causing the siblings to smile and protest. 

"Sam..." Cami said softly, placing her hand over her chest, touched by his words, "I won't let anything bad happen to them. I promise!"

"Thank you..." Samael said, forcing a smile, "I'm glad I count on you." 

[Camille: Intimacy +1 (3/100)]

"Alright, Kate and Nate!" Camille exclaimed with a smile, clasping her hands together, "It's not that far from here, let's get going." 

The twins reluctantly turned around and approached the young woman as she grabbed their hands and started leading them away. They stopped and turned around, only to see Samael's back as he ran in the opposite direction. 

"Stay safe... Big bro..." Nathan whispered, biting his lower lip as he watched Sam round a corner and vanish from sight. 

"It's gonna be okay..." With a large grin, Kaitlyn said, consoling her brother, "You saw him against that big skellie! He's too stubborn to die!" 

"That's exactly why I'm worried..." Nate countered, "That big guy told him to rest but he didn't..." 

The twins turned back around as they followed Camille, starting to whisper to themselves behind her back.

***

Serenity panted heavily as she reached the city limits; she was covered in sweat despite the chill winter night. She looked around at the devastation in disbelief. 

'What the hell?!?" She exclaimed as she walked, staring at the rubble and destroyed buildings and bodies lining the streets. Her hair stood on end, and she shivered, goosebumps rising up her arms and legs. 

She had never seen anything like this in her life nor read about anything this destructive, only a brief footnote of the history she learned in school covering over 1500 years ago. 

Suddenly, a humongous purple crashed through a destroyed building, growing and extending as it collided with a nearby wall, causing the young woman to shriek. 

"Ugh!!" A voice exclaimed as the wall collapsed on top of them, the monstrous arm whipping as it recoiled through the destroyed building, back to where it came from. 

Serenity's eyes widened in shock as she ran over to the destroyed wall and started pulling the debris off, helping a young woman out from underneath, "Are you okay?!?"

"Yeah..." Ichiko groaned, spitting blood and wiping her mouth as she stood, her kimono and hakama tattered, revealing the tightly wrapped white cloth around her body, stained red from blood. 

"You should get out of here before he shows up..." The young woman said, turning to look at the redheaded woman. 

"Wh-" Serenity exclaimed as Ichiko pushed her out of the way as she rolled in the opposite direction just before the massive purple arm flew through the ruins once again, colliding against the remains of the wall, creating an enormous explosion, kicking up a cloud of dust. 

It whipped back into the ruins before glowing yellow eyes appeared from within the destroyed building, unleashing another monstrous roar as it destroyed the structure it was in. 

"Run!!" Ichiko shouted, unleashing a volley of wind slashes as they collided against the beast within the smokescreen surrounding it. 

"B-But..." Serenity mumbled incoherently as the hulking monster of the thug boss stepped out from the cloud of dust. 

"Oh?" He exclaimed, his voice like nails on the girls' ears as he grinned, his long tongue flopping out of his mouth as he licked his lips and laughed, "I see you've brought a friend! I'll have you know I'm not opposed to sharing!" 

"Ewww!!!" Serenity shrieked, seeing the grotesque monster in front of her as she scrambled away. 

"I'm not disgusting!!" It roared, throwing his arm toward the redhead as it stretched through the air, causing the young woman to scream in horror. 

"Get out of here!!" Ichiko shouted, jumping between them as she used her katana to block the attack, straining with all her might to deflect the arm, redirecting it into the wall behind them. 

Serenity panicked, turning around as she scrambled to her feet, stumbling forward as she ran away. 

The thug boss roared in frustration as he pulled his body forward, advancing rapidly toward Ichiko, rearing his spiked baseball arm back and unleashing a brutal swing at the young woman. 

She raised her uchigatana, blocking the attack; however, the force launched her, flying past Serenity as she ran. Ichiko dug the tip of her blade into the asphalt, cutting it quickly as she slowed to a halt. 

Using the momentum, she spun around, flipping into the air as she crashed down, slamming her katana against the asphalt and unleashing three blasts. 

The energy waves sliced through the street as Serenity flinched, covering her head as she fell to her knees as the slashes flew past her, carving through the ground before colliding against the thug boss. 

"Urgh!!" The beast groaned, recoiling as he stumbled backward, prompting a smirk to appear on Ichiko's face. 

"Finally!" She exclaimed, "Now we're getting somewhere!"

Serenity looked around, panting heavily as Ichiko sprinted past her, unleashing another volley of wind slashes that collided with the monster. 

As it swung its weapon wildly, the young woman slid underneath the baseball bat, dashing between its legs, using her blade to slice both of its ankles, causing it to collapse, using the bat to hold itself up. 

Serenity turned around and broke into a sprint once more, screaming loudly for help. 

"NOOO!!!!" The thug boss roared, destroying the nearby buildings, and threw his arm forward, flying rapidly through the air toward the fleeing woman. 

Serenity turned her head, looking back wide-eyed at the rapidly advancing claws of the beast. 

"You're mine!!!" It bellowed a massive grin, revealing its enormous fangs, before clutching its claws and quickly retracting its arm, opening it to see nothing, exclaiming in confusion, and looking around. 

A young man stood atop a nearby building, holding Serenity in his arms as she clutched his neck, glaring down at the monster as he loudly proclaimed, "Actually... She's mine!"