Dawn

Akirai felt empty as she looked at the once lively moth in her arms, she sighed and hugged it close for a last time, hoping to catch the warmth left behind, but the feeling was fleeting, and so was her insistence that the moth was still with her.

She heaved a sigh, the tears staining her face, what was she to do now? How were Beasts burried? Were they burned? What was supposed to happen now?

She ... she didn´t know what to do, who was she supposed to ask?

With a shuddering breath she stood and made her way to the phone, a quick search gave her the number needed to a cremation center, a few minutes later and she knew what to do.

She wraped Kuro into a blanket and left for the cremation center with red, puffy eyes.

A few eyes trailed behind her but she really didn´t care about them- Akirai was someone, once she got attached- stubbornly held on, she didn´t let go, so while she hadn´t had her for too long, it still ripped her apart.

She got there within minutes, her step being more of a run than a jog, or even sprint.

The lady at the counter took one look at her and gave her a sad smile, she took her... order swiftly and Akirai wasn´t sure if she could let go, but with shaking hands, she handed her over.

The cremation center was empty, not a lot of people burned their monsters afterall, some sold their corpses for profit, and only some low level Beasts that couldn´t be sold were burned, and left over Beast parts that couldn´t be used anymore.

She was still halfway in denial, she was alive just hours ago, and now, now there was nothing that made her, her that was left, only a shell of what once was.

Akirai asked for a private cremation, in case they wanted to make it a communal one, she wanted to keep she ashes, maybe she´d scatter the ashes at a later point in her live, but for now she wanted them.

The lady nodded and left her in a waiting area, Akirai could honestly say that she didn´t know how long she´d sat there, just staring and thinking.

She wasn´t sure whether to be happy or sad about their short time together, as it made it both harder and easier to let go, the hard part was that she wanted to have had more time with her, the other being that because she hadn´t known her for so long, the pain wasn´t as bad as it could have been.

She was so, so glad she took her livespann into account and made photos of both them and seperat, she wanted -no- needed a keepsake, to remember her by- a picture.

They gave her the ashes in a black box, and she nodded, payed, and left.

As she was walking back a shop caught her eye, it was an antique shop that, while looking quite run down, still seemed to be operating.

With the hope of finding an Urn of sorts, she stepped inside.

It was dusty as expected but not dirty, no one greeted her and she didn´t care to be greeted either, she walked among the shelves with no interest in anything beyond what could be used as an Urn, not minding the antuique swords or pictures, didn´t mind the books or toys, but just as she reached the far end, did something catch her eye.

It was a purple Urn, and only now did it occur to her that it was quite odd for an antique shop to have Urns to begin with, but who was she to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

She took the Urn down carefully from the top of the shelves, it was the size of a rather large flower pot and was a vivid purple, so dark that onle the light directly shinig on it revealed its true colour, it had golden carvings on it that represented a large forest landscape and was shaped simillare to a sandwatch, getting thinner as it went up a bit, the thinnest point being in the upper half of the urn and then getting thicker again.

It was perfect for what she needed.

She went to the counter, an old man sitting behind it in a recycling chair, he took one look at the item in her hands and held up five fingers.

"5 Credits, no haggeling" He said and she payed wordlessly, she didn´t feel in the mood to talk, he nodded as he recieved the credits and she left without looking back.

She practicly ran back home, carefully pouring the ashes into the Urn and sealing it off- she didn´t know what to say, not even 5 hours ago this was a living, breathing being that she adored, but now all that was left were ashes.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath and then, she just sat there, staring at nothing until her heart and brain could comprehend what happened, she needed time, a long time, but she caught herself in the end.

She reassured herself, best she could, that she had done what she could.

"... System?" She asked, not sure if it was angry at her being rude before.

"Host," It replied. "What do you need?"

"How will this work?" She asked, her pride not allowing her to apologize for getting angry at it before, but still wanting to.

"As you are planning to run a Beast shop, I will assist you in this, there will be Quests for you to complete, some required, some optional and except a few things- the Host will be free to do as she likes."

"That... is there a Quest ready?" She asked, hoping to take her mind off of her deceased companion and move on, as much as she wanted to dwell on the past, she needed to move on.

Also, she had Kuros egg, she needed to make sure that the moth could advance through the ranks, Shadow moths are normally Bronze-Ranked, Akirai held the hope that with a Rank up, or even an Evoloution, she could extend the live span of the Shadow moth, she had made a promise and she would keep her word.

"Yes Host, you have already completed the emergency Quest : Help birth the Mutated moth." It said, and was she imagining a smug tone there? She must really be needing sleep then.

"A what? I don´t remeber hearing anything of a Quest, System." She said, standing up to change the bloodstained sheets- she´d need to trow them out, the blood never washed out properly.

"Host must not have heard me, would you like a Screen instead?" It inquired.

"A screen? Oh gee, this will take time getting used to, won´t it?" She mumbled the last part and waited for the System to answer, but instead of a verbal answer, she got a translusend screen floating in front of her, greeting her.

[Hello, Host, is it better like this?]

"Huh, handy, can you mix it? Like- talk to me but show me Quests and stuff like that?" She asked, tilting her head to the right.

"As you wish, Host."

"Thank you, so what was this about a Quest?" She asked, walking toward the Kitchen to dispose of the bloody sheet.

A screen popped up in fron of her, and she read it as she made her way toward the bathroom.

[Emergency Quest : Help birth the Mutated Shadow Moth ]

[Your Companion, the Shadow moth (Kuro) is giving birth to a Mutated Shadow moth, help the Shadow moth (Kuro) give birth to her child.

[Quest limitations : Both Beasts are alive at the end.

[Quest Failour : Both Beasts die.

[Quest rewards : Mutated Shadow moth larvy, 50 Points- Unlock the Shop feature and Shop System]

Akirai read the screen while showering, the droplets of water falling through the screen as if it wasn´t there, she rubbed her eyes but the screens contents didn´t change.

"Mutated Shadow Moth? How... how long do they live, System?" She asked with a quiver in her voice, was this good or bad? A Blessing or a Curse?

"Answering Host, This mutated Shadow moth has a live span of 2 Months" Akirai nearly collapsed on the bathroom floor in relieve, she was so scared that the livespan of Kuros chilc would be reduced due to the Mutation, but it seemed that the Mutation actually helped the moth in the end.

"Oh thank the Skies." She breathed.

She didn´t question the System anymore for today, and finally took a look at the time, and did a double take "Hold up, what?"

It was official now, today was the day where she thought she was imagining things, but wasn´t, no matter how hard or fast she blinked, or how many times she checked the time of her watch or the clock on the wall, the time stayed the same, it was 9.am in the morning ... of the next day.

She felt her eye twitch slightly and decided to say- "Fuck it, I´m DONE."

She climed into her freshly changed and cleaned bed, pulled the covers over her head and went to sleep.

"A healthy sleep cycle- pff who needs that? I don´t!"