Alice awoke in a haze, a brain-splitting headache greeting her. "Ah, so you're finally awake," the man in black said as he removed his half mask, revealing a scar that ran from the center of his lips down to his neck. He pulled back his hood, exposing jet-black hair streaked with a single red stripe along the left side. "Who are you? I can't tell whether you're friend or foe," Alice muttered as she studied the man in black. "I'm neither. I care not to be your friend. You're brash, uncaring, and you value life about as much as a serial killer does—or at least that's the guise you put on." Alice did a double take at his words. "What do you mean by that, jagoff?" The man stopped pacing and sat down in front of the bed where Alice lay. "You had the power for a moment to kill that demon, but you couldn't. You still saw the man he once was, and you still have a heart that wants to care for others. The only thing holding you back is your own stubbornness. But that aside, allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is David Jones, A-rank demon hunter. Now your turn, young lady." "My name is Alice Holmes. I'm nineteen, and I guess just a typical punk who stumbled across a demon—if that's what happened to Hal. I'm not that special in the long run." David studied Alice intently, taking in her movements, her eyes, her body language, everything, and after what felt like an hour he finally spoke. "Two things. First, you sell yourself short. You're far more important than you realize. The rest of the crew got out safely because of your actions, but I know this won't be enough to convince you—you'll have to realize that yourself in your own time. Second, the man who was Hal became an incomplete demon." Alice was still lost in thought from the first point David made, but she was snapped back to reality when he said "half demon."
"What's a 'half demon'?" Alice asked David, a confused look on her face. "And how'd I end up in this place—or rather, what is this place?" David smirked at her barrage of questions. "This is the Atlanta HQ of the Demon Hunter Association, more specifically the medical ward of the office. As for what a half demon is, I'll first have to explain what aura is to you." Alice looked puzzled. "Aura? Is that the black stuff around me when I came to after blacking out?" David nodded. "Exactly, but you don't yet know how you summoned it. Are you familiar with the seven heavenly virtues and deadly sins?" Alice nodded again. "Good, that'll make this explanation easier. Every person embodies one virtue and one sin more strongly than the others. For example, my virtue is humility, while my sin is pride. When tapping into the virtue side, the aura manifests as white. When using the sin attribute, the aura turns black—like what happened to you. The more you blindly rely on the sin side without control, the greater the risk of becoming a true demon. Does this make sense so far? I know it's a lot to take in at once." Alice thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, it does. But you still haven't mentioned this half demon thing yet." David leaned back in his chair before continuing. "A half demon is a relatively new development. From the information we have so far, it doesn't come from simple overuse of a sin, but from a mental collapse and blindly tapping into several sins at once. We believe it may be a virus created by demons to swell their numbers, but we have nothing concrete yet."
Alice takes a minute to digest everything she's heard up till now. Half demons, Full demons, Aura, Sins and Virtues. A lot to take in all at once. Finally she speaks. 'What happened to Hal? Did I kill him?" David shakes his head, "You needn't worry. I killed him so that you wouldn't have to stain your hands just yet." Alice kind of just stares off for a bit, not saying anything until, "Where do I go from here? my only home is gone, my caretaker is dead, my only friend was killed by him. What do I have left?" David stand up and looks her in the eyes, "That is for you to find out, wallowing in pity solves nothing, nor is painting yourself to hide you true identity." He hands her a lamanated card. 'This is an hourary Demon Hunter badge. It'll show authorities that you have been acknowledged by the demon hunters association to fight demons. You can either accept it or not. If you do, look for Jessica Tyler. She's about three miles south of Atlanta's City limits in Westboro. She's a trainer that'll teach you how to control your aura and how to fight with it. What you choose to do is up to you. I hope whatever you decide to do will satisfy you." He stands up and is about to go when Alice stands up and asks, "How'd you know I painted my body?" David smirks as he looks back, ""Your paint was fading in certain areas. You shouldn't be ashamed to be black. Last thing, there's a closet behind you, get yourself a new attire. your threads are trash." David waves and leaves the room
A few minutes pass before Alice goes to the closet and browses for new attire. She settles on a black sports bra wrapped in bandage-like fabric, a red leather jacket, black ripped leggings, and high heels. "Why is all of this in a closet at a medical ward?" she wonders. "Maybe it's some kind of pseudo lost-and-found? I guess it doesn't matter in the long run, though I am confused why they even have nail polish here." She paints her fingernails red and her toenails black, then turns to leave, but pauses at the mirror, noticing the nougat-colored paint fading. "The guy was right. I need to wash this off, even if pain comes with that decision." Thirty minutes later, all the paint is gone, leaving her natural light brown skin revealed beneath her flowing red hair. When she leaves HQ, she receives more detailed directions to find Jessica Tyler. "I guess I'm a demon hunter now. I know it'll be better than my life before," she thinks as she walks toward her destination. Along the way, her mind drifts back to what that gang ringleader said, specifically the part about being "so detached from emotion." "I'll show that jerk one of these days. I'll get a name out of him too." Just as she says this, her Demon Hunter badge begins to glow frantically, an indicator flashing that a low-level demon is nearby. "I suppose I'll walk over there, but surely I won't be needed. There have to be other demon hunters across the heart of Echovale, right?"