Omari stood frozen. In front of him and approaching him was a monster, a salamander with no slayer to slay it. Too scared to run, knowing from last time that he wasn't fast enough, he tried pulling out his butterfly knife, but his shivering hands dropped it. All the while, the salamander just walked toward him, taking one sizzling step at a time. He went on his knees to pick up his butterfly knife but found prostrate before the monster.
He could feel the heat coming off the salamander intensifying as it approached, then slowly starting to dissipate as it walked past him. Maybe it didn't notice Omari, maybe it had mercy on him, but nonetheless, it was going. "But going where?" Omari asked himself. Then it hit him. "It's going for the others."
Omari sprung up and slashed open the salamander's back. "What am I doing?" He preemptively ducked before the salamander whipped its tail at his head. He slashed at its ankle before jumping and avoiding its tail leg sweep. But midair when he was about to stab it in the head, he could not avoid it whipping its tail at his chest, flinging him back.
He hit the ground, clutching his burned chest. The heat was searing but it send a rush through his body that got him back on his feet in time to watch the salamander heal. To make things worse, Omari's knife was being warped by the heat, so it would only survive one more direct hit. The hit had to be fatal; otherwise, he would be done for.
He started swinging his knife wildly, sending slashes at the salamander, but none of them hit. The salamander ran towards Omari, but as it was about to reach him, the floor beneath it collapsed, as that was what Omari's cuts were aiming for. He didn't need to kill it, he just needed to stall til someone calls for help so that someone who could kill it would appear, until the slayer came.
So getting someone to call and keep the salamander's attention, he ran and screamed, "There is a monster!" His heart was racing but he was not fast enough. From below, a salamander used its tail to smash through the floor. It then grabbed Omari, pulled him down, and flung him at a door. The door exploded on impact.
Omari rolled across the classroom, only coming to a stop when he hit the wall. He sat against the wall for a moment in too much pain to move 'til he saw there were students in the classroom smoking. "Call for help," He coughed blood and stood up and things began falling out of his now battered backpack.
The salamander walked through the door and he swung his knife and used its slashes to cut a hole through the wall to the next classroom so that the others could get away. When the salamander turned toward them, Omari sent a slash at it, but it grabbed a table with its tail and threw it at Omari for the table to block the slash, while the salamander chased the others.
Omari ran after the salamander into the next class and threw slashes but it wouldn't bat an eye as its back was healing faster then the slashes could cut it open. Its eyes were on the others who were running out this class' door. It ran for the door, but Omari was right behind it. Once he got close, though, it quickly stopped and turned around.
He stabbed it in the neck, but the knife bent from the heat before it grabbed him by the face and bashed his head into the wall. "It… baited me." He was bleeding from his skull and could feel himself becoming lightheaded, but when the salamander was walking away, he wanted to keep going.
Clang. something from his backpack fell out, and it was heavy. He looked at it, grabbed it and slashed the salamander's back open again. It recoiled from the slash and turned back to look at Omari, who was holding the crucifix he was given and the slash it made wouldn't heal. The salamander clawed at him, but with his sword, he cut off its hand before it could even touch him.
It jumped back a good distance and looked at its arm, which wouldn't heal, and flung its hot blood at him. He raised his arm to shield his eyes, but it used that cover to run in, grab him, and throw him out the window. Omari looked down and saw the four stories he was going to fall and knew in his heart he was going to die.
So that's how it feels to fight them? Though his whole body was in pain, the rush numbed his pain. The slayers are really something else. Even Omari could tell that the salamander was an ant compared to the monsters lightning fought, not to mention, many times slower but faster than any human and probably faster enough to kill everyone in school before the slayers come.
Omari never really cared for anyone in the school but his last thought before hiting the ground was I hope I saved someone before everything went dark. He woke up and all he could see was white. He woke up, and all he could see was white. The roof was white. Slowly, the rest came into focus—clean sheets, soft beeping, a slight ache in his side. He was in a hospital bed. Near him, seated and still, was a man holding his hand tightly.
"I'm sorry I was late," Lightning whispered. Omari blinked. It took him a second to register what he was seeing—the Lightning, real and worn down, repeating those same quiet words like a mantra. His head was bowed, eyes shadowed beneath his fringe.
Omari managed a weak smile. "I… I don't think you were late." His voice was raspy, but clear. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be alive."
Lightning didn't respond immediately. He just kept holding Omari's hand, fingers unmoving. "You're alive," he said finally, "because the ground just knocked you out. The salamander thought you were dead and moved on to… to the rest of the school. I wasn't there fast enough."
Omari's smile faltered. "So… everyone—"
"Excluding yourself," Lightning said, lifting his gaze, "only five others made it out of ground zero."
A long silence. Omari didn't look away. His chest felt tight, like something unspeakable sat heavy on it. Faces flashed through his mind— teachers and classmates whose names he barely knew but whose presence had filled the halls. He didn't cry. Not yet. Instead, he breathed slowly.
When you finally have something you can dream of doing… he heard his dad say in memory, don't give up your morals, don't put aside your feelings, don't forget to find joy in the small things, and don't fail to cherish every small success even in the face of failure. He looked up at Lightning and smiled again, gently this time, as a tear slipped down his cheek. "At least I saved someone," he whispered. "Even just one… it matters."
Lightning watched him quietly in slight awe.
"I just wish I was strong like you," As Omari went on, Lightning saw in him the same attitude he saw in Leonhard Eular, the strongest controller. "Strong enough to save one more. Do you think… I could be like you?"
Lightning didn't rush to answer. He sat back, looked at Omari with the tired eyes of someone who'd seen too many endings and still woke up every day to stop them. Then, he gave the faintest smile. "We had to take away your makeshift crucifix because it's illegal for anyone other than a slayer to have one but…" he said, his voice warm despite everything. "If you ever do become a slayer, you won't be like me, you'll be better."
The door opened with a soft creak. Omari's dad stepped in, hands in his pockets. "So, the sleepyhead decided to wake up, huh?" he grinned. Omari huffed a laugh—then winced from the pain. Lightning stood, patting Omari's hand once before moving toward the door. As he passed, he placed a hand on the dad's shoulder.
"You raised a good kid," he said. "I hope he and my son will be good friends. Maybe teach each other a few things."
His dad smiled back. "Forget the kids. If you're not too busy saving the world, I'd like to buy a drink for the guy who saved mine." They shared a nod. Lightning left. Omari's dad took the seat beside him. He didn't say anything for a while. Just stayed close.
Omari eventually spoke. He told him everything. His dad listened, patient as always. He chuckled at the stranger parts, the way he always did—because sometimes laughter was what you needed to keep from falling apart.
But when Omari got to the end—when he talked about how scared he was, how much it hurt, how it felt to see people dying and know he couldn't stop it all—his father's smile faded. He said nothing. Just nodded, eyes soft, knowing.
"I thought I was going to die," Omari admitted. "And I'm not saying I wasn't scared—I was terrified—but when I saw people get out, I just felt… happy. Like I did something that mattered."
His dad finally asked, "So your dream?" Omari nodded. His dad stood, stretched his back, and grinned. "Then let's sign you up for slayer school."