The Ashen Ruins Exploration
Artorius Collbrande was not only the leader of the Exorcist branch of the Coalition but the first Shepherd in the history of his world. He would not have known the latter to be the case if not for the peculiar existence of a pair of boys from one thousand years in his future, pulled outside of their world much like he had been. As it turned out, the history of his world was largely unknown at such a time in the future, but Artorius knew how far his legacy would spread, considering that one of the young boys, Sorey, he had met was a Shepherd himself.
Sorey and his malakhim companion, Mikleo, presented Artorius with some confusing thoughts. His legacy continued in some form in their history, but what was his future now that he been pulled from all that he knew and faced with a multiverse of possibilities?
First and foremost, Artorius' mission had not changed. He existed to eliminate malevolence, no matter the world or scope of such a threat. His task today was to take a team down into the ruins of Ash and uncover their mysteries. The planet's history did not matter to the Exorcist, who instead found interest in the scouting reports that stated pockets of malevolence existed below. Artifacts cursed with a dark energy could provide the Coalition with valuable insight into combatting the threat known as malevolence. For Artorius in particular, he was hoping to find just one matter of major importance.
Artorius, as well as his fellow Exorcists Sorey and Mikleo, were inside an armored vehicle with those the Coalition had managed to gather for this mission.
Sorey and Mikleo chatted excitedly to themselves, worked up over being able to explore more of the ruins on Ash. Artorius had found that Sorey looked up to him as a sort of mentor ever since he learned of Artorius' status as a Shepherd, which Artorius was fine with facilitating, for It had occurred to Artorius that Sorey possessed an ability to cleanse malevolence that he did not. Sorey revered him all the same, though Artorius had not understood the boy's explanation of the ability. It was clearly a matter to be found in the thousand years between them, but the elder Shepherd had not cared to obsess over it. If Artorius were to successfully eliminate malevolence, there would be no need for such an ability in the long run.
The truck stopped at the ruins entrance, allowing everyone to get off. Artorius went first, moving quickly to take in the scene.
At some point in Ash's history, a more modern building had been built over the older structure, but now both stood destroyed together. Nodding his head, Artorius called out for his own malak companion, Seres.
"Seres, tell me, is the entrance here still usable?" he asked out loud, and a woman appeared before him.
"... Yes, there has been no damage to the entrance since the Coalition verified its existence."
With that, Seres disappeared and Artorius heard the others leaving the vehicle now.
"Is Seres shy?" Sorey asked from behind Artorius.
"I mean, it's fine if she is! She just never seems to come out unless you ask her to, Artorius."
Artorius turned around to Sorey, who received a small punch in the arm from Mikleo. Sorey laughed it off.
"In a way," Artorius said. He then looked past Sorey to the others in his group.
"Is everyone ready? You've all been warned of the danger already, but let me stress that we do not know what exactly we will find in the ruins."
