CALAMITY : Legends Of The Chosen

The fire crackled low beneath the crumbled overpass.

Most of the Chosen had drifted off into sleep, curled up in makeshift blankets or leaning against broken walls. Morgz snored with his anchor in his lap. Max was halfway through an old magazine. Leone sat nearby, still chewing demon jerky with visible trauma in her eyes.

But a little further off, seated alone on a concrete step, was Zans.

His shadow flickered unnaturally beneath him — like a second heart pulsing in the cracks.

Enme approached slowly, her boots crunching gravel.

Zans turned his head. No hostility. Just quiet recognition.

She stopped a few feet away, hesitant, and then knelt beside him. Without a word, she pulled something from her coat — a thin braided cord wrapped around a polished green shard of translucent spirit crystal.

"A Sealing Talisman," she said softly. "It wards off possession. Or… at least it's supposed to."

Zans blinked, eyes drifting to it in her palm.

"You made this?"

She nodded, gaze lowered.

"I didn't trust you. I saw Kuro… and I panicked. I almost sealed you both on the spot."

He studied the charm a moment longer.

Then, gently, he reached out and took it. His thumb brushed over the cord.

"You shouldn't have to apologize," he said.

His voice was calm. Hollow in a way that wasn't bitter — just familiar with disappointment.

"I get it. My imagination's scary."

He turned slightly toward the firelight, his shadow flickering under his legs.

"I used to wish I had imagined her as something more normal. Someone... easier to accept."

He didn't look angry.

Just… tired.

"But back then, I didn't have anyone. So my mind gave me something that would always protect me."

He glanced at Enme.

"It just turns out… she was never imaginary."

Enme stayed quiet for a long moment. Then she lowered her head.

"Maybe… that makes her even more real than most people."

Zans chuckled, just once — dry and unpracticed.

"Guess so."

The two sat in silence after that, watching the embers drift into the starless sky. No more words needed.

And beneath Zans… Kuro's eyes flickered softly in the dark, watching Enme. Not hostile. Just curious.

Scene: "Kuro, the Shadow Speaks"

The flames were low.

Enme and Zans still sat near the dying fire, silence resting easy between them — until the shadow beneath Zans rippled like liquid ink.

Then it rose.

A humanoid silhouette climbed upward from the ground like mist reversing gravity, tendrils pulling themselves into shape.

And finally…

She formed.

Kuro.

Jet-black hair like ink in water. Pale skin laced with faint tendrils of shadow that danced across her collarbones. Her eyes glowed with a soft lunar hue, more curious than cold.

Enme jolted slightly, hand twitching near her seal tag — but Zans gently placed a hand out.

"It's okay. She just wants to say hi."

Kuro stood beside him now, arms folded behind her back like a polite child, head tilted.

"Hello," she said. Her voice was soft, strangely melodic. "You're the girl who tried to seal me."

Enme blinked, stiffening.

"I—I wasn't sure what you were…"

Kuro giggled faintly, no malice in it.

"That's alright. I wasn't sure either."

She stepped closer to Enme, circling her slightly — eyes scanning curiously, tilting her head like a cat inspecting an unfamiliar statue.

Then, without warning—

Her form shimmered.

A faint hum of shadow-tension pulsed through the air, and Kuro's body subtly reshaped itself.

Her hips flared out more. Her thighs thickened slightly, legs now matching Enme's athletic build. Her waist pinched just enough to emphasize the difference— And then—

POMF

Her chest grew. Not cartoonishly. But noticeably.

Enme flinched backward, red-faced.

"Wh—What are you doing?!"

Kuro blinked innocently.

"Your proportions seemed… optimal. So I adapted. Is it inappropriate?"

From the background—

"W-WOAH—!"

Zans had fallen off the step, hands still clutching the charm Enme had given him, staring slack-jawed.

"K-Kuro! You can't just… copy people like that—!"

Kuro turned around, still calm.

"I meant no offense. I thought it would help ease tension."

Enme covered her face with one hand, utterly flustered.

"I'm not flattered!!"

Zans groaned into his hands.

"You don't even have modesty protocols, do you?"

Kuro tilted her head again.

"Do I need them?"

Enme whispered through her fingers.

"I think we need them…"

Kuro reverted slowly, her form smoothing back to its more reserved state — still human, still ethereal, but less… provocative.

She bowed slightly.

"Forgive me. I'm still learning how to be… 'people.'"

Enme slowly lowered her hands, her blush still raging.

"Y-you're… not what I expected."

Kuro smiled faintly.

"Neither is he," she said, nodding toward Zans.

Zans, still cringing behind the campfire, let out a groan.

"I should've imagined a goldfish…"

Scene: "Night Watcher"

They didn't say much after that.

The group was exhausted. After the ambush, the battle with Zans, the Siren Queen's lingering influence — their bodies begged for rest.

Max had rigged up a protective radius using his static nodes. Karl set up a motion-sensor trap grid with a few nanite bugs. Shojiro stood last watch — until Enme made him lie down.

Zans stayed near the edge of the firelight. Kuro hadn't spoken again after the incident. She merely sunk back into his shadow, curled like a cat under a blanket.

Enme gave Zans one last glance before pulling her hood over her face and curling up in her own barrier bubble.

Leone was already fast asleep, tiny snores hidden behind her cloak.

The fire dimmed.

Silence fell.

The night passed.

But if anyone had opened their eyes during those hours—

They would've seen her.

Kuro.

Half-materialized, prowling the edge of their camp.

Her humanoid form half-formed, flickering like a ghost. Her limbs were longer now, her fingers sharpened. Eyes glowing dimly in the dark, scanning, listening.

Each time a stray demon dared approach—

She moved like smoke.

By the time the first rays of false dawn touched the city ruins…

There were over a dozen demon corpses piled in a ring around the sleeping Chosen.

Some cleanly slain.

Others torn to ribbons.

And Kuro was nowhere to be seen.

Morning Scene: "More Corpses?"

Max was the first to wake.

He yawned, stretched, and froze mid-motion when he saw the surrounding bloodstains.

"Uh… guys?"

Karl stirred, visor flickering online.

"...We're surrounded."

Shojiro blinked awake, flexed his arm once, and immediately got to his feet.

"There's no alarm... no impact sounds either. What the hell?"

Leone peeked out of her sleeping bag with one eye.

"D-did someone forget to turn off the demon-attracting beacon?"

Enme stood, scanning the perimeter, casting a quick pulse scan.

"There's no heat signatures… they're all dead. And fresh."

Max tapped his chin, frowning.

"Okay, we either slept through an ambush or…"

Zans stirred slowly, sitting up and rubbing the side of his face.

"Nah… that was just Kuro."

Everyone turned toward him.

Zans yawned again.

"She watches while I sleep. If anything gets close, she… handles it."

Shojiro looked around at the corpses again, this time noticing the consistent claw patterns.

"Handles is one word for it…"

Enme raised an eyebrow.

"She just kills without warning?"

Zans shrugged.

"She has a soft spot for me. Doesn't mean she has one for demons."

Leone stood slowly, adjusting her scarf.

"R-remind me not to sleep next to you…"

Karl tapped a finger against his metal temple.

"So this is just… normal for you?"

Zans stood, stretching once before flicking his coat back over his shoulder.

"She's been doing it since I was chosen."

Max scratched the back of his neck.

"I don't know if that's comforting or terrifying."

Zans smiled faintly.

"Both. Probably both."

Transition Scene: "On the Road Again"

The team gathered their gear, loaded back into Karl's chariot-mode construct — a sleek, armored hover-truck made from transformed nanite alloys. The engine purred as the system reactivated.

Inside, seats adjusted to each rider.

Shojiro took point at the front.

Max laid across the back seats, arms behind his head.

Leone sat near the window, humming nervously, still chewing on a strip of salted demon jerky and trying not to gag.

Enme was quiet, eyes flicking out the window at the passing ruin-scape.

Zans sat in the corner, hood pulled halfway up, leaning against the wall.

Karl piloted.

The chariot glided over broken streets and through cracked buildings, heading deeper into unknown territory.

In the distance, the silhouette of another fallen city stretched against the red-tinged sky.

Shojiro leaned forward.

"Next stop. Whatever's left of Neo-Nazuka."