Ralf had his usual sharp face. He looked exactly the same. He had a red cap under which was a wide, warm smile that wavered as he slowly recognised Elyas.
It was the same for Elyas. He had believed he'd lost him, abandoned his friend just to save himself. Elyas opened his mouth several times to speak, but he couldn't find anything to say.
Ralf broke the silence between them.
"...Sir, may I take your order?" he asked, shooting nervous glances towards his manager every now and then.
Eventually, adjusting himself and regaining his original warm, friendly attitude, he asked again.
"Sir, may I take—"
"Why are you acting like this?" Elyas cut him off, making his discomfort at Ralf's cold attitude clear.
Ralf turned pale. He gulped, speaking, trying his best not to let his smile drop. "I don't understand what you're saying, sir."
Elyas was speechless, staring at the man he knew, now acting like a stranger. "Ralf, can't you remember me?"
Ralf turned silent, avoiding eye contact. Noticing that his manager was looking at him, he quickly leaned towards Elyas and whispered, "Come at eleven. We'll meet at the fountain."
"What—" Elyas was about to ask when a fat man in a red linen shirt, stained with grease, came over. He put his hand over Ralf's shoulder as he said,
"What is going on here? Are you harassing my employees?"
Ralf jumped in. All traces of nervousness or unease had vanished, replaced by a warm, friendly smile.
"Oh no, our customer was asking about the best meal we have to offer. He was diligent in his demands, so I whispered…"
He leaned in towards his manager, saying something to him. The fat man's expression slowly turned into a big grin as he looked towards Elyas.
"Oh, you should have asked me. Although Joshua is one of our best employees, and I didn't expect less from him, don't you think it's better to ask the restaurant's biggest customer?" the fat man said, pointing at his round belly and letting out a chuckle.
Elyas looked at him, then at Josh. Playing along, he made a timid, shy smile appear on his face.
"Ah… sorry to bother your employee. I'll make sure to come to you next time. Also, when can I get my order?"
"Oh, no problem. Talking with a customer of your status is a pleasure. Your order will be done and delivered in a few minutes," said the manager.
'Joshua… so it isn't Ralf, it's his brother. To think he's still alive.' Elyas nodded and went upstairs.
He looked around the room filled with tables, bright white lights, and the same plain yellow and red colored walls for Noah.
'Joshua… how did you survive? Did you pay the same cost as everyone else? Is that why you're so different?'
He was trying to answer these questions. That is what he found himself doing all his life; what he kept doing these past few days. It was all he could do. More than ever, he wanted answers.
But they were far away.
As he walked further away from the open balcony behind him, clearly a VIP spot, he realised something.
'His weird behaviour aside, this whole thing is bizarre. As soon as I stepped in, I couldn't think straight. Just what is happening in here…'
As Elyas wondered, he found the giant's black braids peeking through the crowd. He went and sat beside Noah and didn't waste time asking,
"So, what is wrong with this store? Why does it try to mind-control me?"
Julius answered, surprise written all over his face. "I'm surprised you figured it out. You can't do shit in combat, but your sensitivity to artifacts is high… not bad."
'This bastard…' Elyas was going to say something to Julius. Noah, noticing this, cleared his throat.
"He isn't insulting you. In fact, the opposite. This is a valuable and rare talent you possess… as long as you're not a bender or supporter, that is."
Julius added, "This whole place is the owner's wish. It's a long story, but that's how it controls weak-willed people. It's the owner's power."
Elyas nodded before asking Noah, "By the way, what are benders and supporters?" He soon came to regret his question, as he was faced with stupefied faces.
Noah looked at him dumbfounded. "Yo… you don't even know that?!"
"Noah, can you remind me how the f*ck this guy managed to become a heartless again?" Julius asked, his face not so different from Noah's.
'Sorry, I was busy looking at nothing for a couple of centuries.' Elyas couldn't do anything but joke inwardly.
"He really doesn't know! What have you gotten yourself into, Noah?!"
Julius was flabbergasted at what he was seeing a true legacy, someone who survived from the very start, not even possessing common knowledge. It was beyond reason.
He was unaware that Elyas didn't survive; he skipped four centuries' worth of life experience.
"At least can you tell us what your powers are?" Noah asked, trying to help him.
"Uhh… I can put things inside my pocket dimension?" Elyas responded absent-mindedly, as if talking about something else entirely.
"So you're either a hoarder or a space bender. Just open a portal, door, or whatever. Just use your power," Julius instructed him.
Elyas nodded as he tried to open a window. He was practising it every time he wrote notes; he was much faster at opening them now…at least compared to before.
Within a few dozen seconds, a cubic rift opened mid-air, making light ripple like water around it.
A few hateful glances were directed at Elyas.
After all, most came here to run away from the apocalypse, and now someone was reminding them of the reality they were trying desperately to escape.
Julius looked at them, then at Elyas, disdain written all over his face. "Ignore them."
Elyas nodded. Noah looked towards Julius and asked, "What do you think? I'm pretty sure he's a bender."
Julius gave it some thought. After a while, he looked towards Elyas. "There's one way to make sure. Hey, can you try shattering the window?"
"...It'll just break. Why would I do that?"
Julius looked at him blankly before face-palming. "Your ignorance will take some time getting used to… just break it. Try to keep it together. Don't sever your connection with it. Treat it like a part of yourself, like it was always here."
Elyas nodded. He didn't fully understand what Julius was trying to say, but these past few days he had come to understand the windows a bit more.
It wasn't much, but at the back of his head, every time he opened a door, he would feel a sharp pain; like a needle placed in his brain. It tormented him as long as the door was around. It would disappear along with the window, the dull pain after, lingering for some time.
'Don't sever your connection with it…' Elyas thought, grasping onto the pain instead of running away from it. At the same time, he pushed the window apart, trying to break it.
Its light flickered. Its rippling intensified as it tore to pieces.
Elyas's head hurt. His heart was pounding in his chest. His mind was under the ongoing assault of "the connection." He felt dizzy. He wanted to give up and let go.
But he didn't.
He grabbed onto one of the window's disappearing fragments. As his hand touched it, suddenly a new needle was thrust into his brain.
'Got you!' Elyas grabbed onto it, focusing his attention only on it, letting go of the window's connection. In a flash of dazzling light and a sudden wave of cold, the window disappeared. Only one small, fragile fragment was left in Elyas's palm.
Julius and Noah looked at him with strange expressions. They couldn't believe he had done it immediately, on his first try.
"Well, I'll be damned. He isn't that bad. Congrats, you officially learned your first spell." Julius looked at Elyas and nodded with satisfaction. Noah did the same.
"Guess it's decided. He's a space bender."
Noah and Julius spoke at the same time, agreeing with each other as they sized up Elyas.
He wasn't paying attention.
All he saw and heard was the fragment in his hand, glistening and making a strange humming noise.
'If I can do this… just what else can I do?' Elyas felt a rush of excitement, one he hadn't experienced since he was a child. With his good mood, he couldn't care less about the small pain lingering in his head or his heart's rapid thumping.
All he cared about was the fact that he had become more knowledgeable. It was what he wanted the most.
Knowledge is power, but for Elyas, power was only a welcomed side product.
He looked at the two men sitting in front of him.
Behind them was a rusty hanging clock. It read:
10:43
'Oh shit!'
"I'm leaving. I got somewhere to be," Elyas said as he hurriedly grabbed his brown suit and left.
Noah and Julius didn't have time to properly react. Before they knew it, Elyas was already outside.
He walked in the cold, thick snow, down several cramped alleys, towards the central street. Near it was a park, and in it was the only fountain in Mistwood.
He would get an answer tonight, even if it's not something he wanted to hear.
…
In Protocols, sixth floor. In cell 201.
A young blond boy with a striped patterned shirt sat on his bed in darkness. He seemed to be meditating. With his eyes closed, he muttered something barely audible.
"Your interesting legacy. Very interesting," Cid said as he let out a soft sigh, opening his blue eyes.
"Too bad. Everything is already set."
As he was talking to himself, the tapping of shoes could be heard from the end of the dark hallway outside, coming closer.
'You have to act like a child when you look like one.'
Glancing to the cameras red dot in the corner of his room, Cid jumped off his bed. Pacing around and chewing his nails, he looked stressed. Anxious, worried, perfect.
A Protector in a white and golden uniform opened his cell, standing in the doorway.
"Cid Marionette, resident of West Gate, you are hereby summoned to the fourth floor for further investigation."
Cid nodded hesitantly as he walked towards the protectors at his door, raising his hands.
The man who opened the door put a cuff around his hand. With that, they closed the door of cell 201 and walked down the hallway