It was already afternoon.

I helped Althea with her things as she removed her flannel shirt due to the afternoon heat. She wore a simple white shirt inside her flannel shirt. She tied the sleeves of the shirt to her waist and thanked me as she took her things back. As we took more steps, we reached a shady glade and decided to take our lunch and have a break in that spot. The glade was full of wild flowers that I don’t know of and the scent of the afternoon sun smelled everywhere.

With one touch, Blanche made all our drinks cold. Flint, on the other hand helped Lea prepare our food by heating up most of the stuff that needs to be heated and the others, including I, helped one another to set up a resting spot for all of us. As Gale handed me the tarpaulins, I found Althea in the corner of my eye, climbing on the nearest tall tree. The map was clasped on her belt and the compass hanged in her neck.

“Will she be okay?” I asked Gale, guiding his eye to Althea’s direction.

“Yes. She will. She likes to climb high places when she is thinking. It seems that she does not want to get us lost so she had to look on a better view. Just let her be” Gale replied. He smiled at me as he helped me carry the other items. Gale did not talk much, but he smiled a lot. I am not sure, but maybe that’s because I’m the new girl.

As soon as everything was unwrapped and we are ready to eat, we huddled together leaving Althea’s part on the side. Lea told us that Althea seemed to not like to be bothered as of the moment so we gave her time to do her stuff atop of the tree. As we ate, we talked and shared each other’s thoughts on the things that are happening. Their ideas and concerns are individually worth thinking but as to what I heard and understand, Sif’s thoughts made us think.

“So, uh, we all know that the prophecy only states five colors together with the Crimson eye.” Sif said. “Your path with the four other powers will entwine” Obviously, Gale is in, as Althea spoke to him, added by the Crimson eye, who might be Aria.”

“Which leaves the other three.” Lea whispered. “But who are they? It’s either me, Althea, Ed, the twins and Sif. There are five more for the three slots”

“How about the color?” Ed asked.

“Well, I think the colors refer to our unique abilities?” Sif said. “Or is there anyone of you who can think of another interpretation?” Sif added, looking at us one-by-one.

“Maybe the colors are just a metaphor. I have been thinking about that too” Althea said. We all looked as we found out that Althea was already in the ground, walking towards our direction. She took her food and started to eat but she remained standing.

“Let’s leave it for now. How about ‘BE prepared, BE alerted. The rise of the unknown is near’?” Lea asked.

“I don’t know, but one thing’s for sure, Aria’s got something to do with it – No offense, Aria. I’m just thinking about the creatures that they battled on the night that you arrived. And you were with them” Sif explained. I nodded. I was not offended or so, but it gave me the chills as I thought of the possibility that I may have caused something that may harm everyone in the circus.

“Oh, and about that, do you have anything in mind, Aria?” Lea asked me. I responded by telling them everything I know, about waking up in the middle of the woods until I saw them. Sif seemed to trust me the least, as she kept her palms on me whenever I am saying something  to know if I am lying or not.

“And, I just want to let all of you know, that I am not offended or irritated on the things that you are all doing or saying. I know that I am a huge part of this. I can’t validate it but at least, it’s safe to assume that way. Either way, even I can’t trust myself as I don’t even know anything in my past. All I have is my name and this tattered gown with red eyes.” I clarified, speaking in a slow and the politest manner that I could.

“Well, I think we are in the same page. We highly appreciate your concern and understanding on that, Aria.” Sif said, while removing her hands on my knee.

“So what do we do now?” Blanche asked,

“We finish eating, and continue our pace. I’m sorry guys, we cannot spend most of our time resting. I hope you understand” Althea answered.

We silently finished our meal and packed to leave. Lea’s power has been of a great convenience with this camping thing. With one wave of her hand, almost everything was ready to be packed up. We started walking as we finished with everything

--

It’s almost dusk. The sky started to get dark so Flint created small torches with the twigs and other branches that we can find. It’s a good improvisation most especially that we would like to use our supplies the least as we can. We are walking on a plain, where we can clearly see the tawny sky slowly turning into darkness. The air was filled with Flint’s and Edward’s voice but we never really cared, as they gave entertainment as we walked. We all laughed on every joke that was thrown, except for Althea, who seemed to be focused on her Navigation.

“I wish Ronald was here” Gale suddenly interrupted the laughter.

“What does Ronald do, if you don’t mind?” I asked him, almost whispering but loud enough to be heard by others.

“Well, besides being a funny guy, he can also map out an entire area within a given radius with just a touch in the ground.” Gale answered. “He and Althea usually scouts the new areas, that’s why Althea knows how to navigate. However, unlike Ronald, Althea seems to be more sensitive of the things that may happen to the areas that we are going that’s why they are a good combination for this kind of scenarios” Gale added.

“That’s interesting. Now I trust Althea more. I know she won’t get us lost.” I said, trying my best to give the friendliest tone I can give.

“Well, we all do. But it’s getting dark so I think we will be camping again within a few minutes”. Gale replied. His smile shined in the midst of the dark skies. Gale seemed to be a guy who does not talk much but has a substance. His simple smiles and stares starts to grow in me. I wish I could know this guy more, assuming that I am the Crimson eye.

We were near the patch of a thick dipterocarps when the wind started to whip, giving out a creepy rustle from the plants nearby. Everybody seemed to not notice it so I just ignored it. About a few meters past, the bushes rustled again, taking our attention. We all looked on the direction of the sound but the darkness was enough for us to not see what’s in there.

“Let’s go. Go!” Sif said, her voice sounded alert. “Flint! Blanche! On your guards!” Sif added. The twins nodded. We walked faster, almost running, as the rustle sounded stronger.

“I don't like this. We need visual at the back!” Althea said, her voice sounds to get worried too.

The twins held hands while pacing, then suddenly, Blanche threw a glowing orb about the size of a human head at our back. The orb glimmered at the back. The fire inside the orb gave out a good light, as the ice reflected the fire inside, giving us a faint light to see what’s following us.

A woman in high heels walked out of the darkness. Her hair had huge curls, she held a long cigar and her beautiful face does not seemed to be friendly like the ones we regularly see. On the darkness in her back came out four more figures, a tall man that has a lean physique, two huge guys, one muscular and one fat and one lady about our age. The man with the lean physique wore an all-white suit. The lady, on the other hand had a black over-all and a thick, fur coat. The muscular man wore a sleeveless, black jumpsuit, showing his thick arms that seems that he can strangle anyone with one clutch. The fat guy, on the other hand wore nothing on his top but he had a green pants on his legs. In the light, his pale skin seemed to shine, as if he is wet. On the other hand, the lady that looked like our age had full bangs, long, black hair and wore a body-fit leather clothing.

“Who are you?” Sif asked. Her stance looks as if she is ready to fight or run – regardless of that. At the edge of my eye, I saw Althea covered her mouth from a gasp.

“We are looking someone with no memories. Is that person with you right now?” The Lady asked as she blew off a smoke from her cigar.

“What do you need from that person?” Flint asked. My body felt tensed, I was too scared to move or to talk.

“Does it matter?” the guy in the white suit answered. He gave out a nasty grin as he spoke. None of us moved or talked.

The lady seemed to lose her patience and started talking. “I hate kids…We are from the Organization. We need that person. NOW!” with the lady’s shout, the man in white suit snickered, as if our looks seemed to funny for him. We still kept silent, not knowing what to do.

“Okay, Cat, since no one’s talking, I think it’s time to for them to die” The man in white suit said.