1 July 2011 at 12:35

Philip was sitting with Bill at a table away from the other students. They had already finished their coffees. There was an awkward silence between them. Philip was lost in thought as he ran his finger along the rim of his coffee glass, at which point he remembered something.

—By the way. A girl was watching me from a classroom on my way here.

—Maybe she was one of your fans.

—Stop your delusions, please.

Philip bit his lower lip. Although he hadn't thought much of it at first, the image of this girl kept nagging at the back of his mind, there was something about her that made him unable to get his mind off it. A terrible premonition.

July 1, 2011, at 22:43 PM

Philip was hiding behind the rubble of what was once part of the D.C.E.O. headquarters. He was looking at the culprit who had blown up the place, a girl with Asian features dressed in a long red qipao. She was standing on a mountain of rubble about three meters high. She looked at her right hand; there was an object that looked like a purple oval gem.

—So this is the final appearance of an Eyre stone?

The girl laughed deviously. Philip felt a shiver run through his body. He shook himself slightly to clear his mind.

—"It's her!" —he shouted internally.

Several doubts began to fill his head

"Was she watching me today because she knows my identity? But if so, how did she find out? Is that thing she's holding the object found in the crater? I must talk to her".

Just as Philip was about to take a step to show him to the girl, he heard a noise that made him step back. It came from the other side of where he was standing, a few meters in front of the girl. He carefully peeked out again, and what he saw puzzled him.

—Good evening, miss. The one who walked towards the girl in the qipao was a tall woman with long blood-coloured hair. She wore a white robe that covered her entire body, including her arms and legs, and a Venetian mask that only revealed her lips, painted the same color as her hair. Beside her, surrounding her, were four men in black robes who lowered their heads.

—I am The Redhead, the leader of Eternal Darkness, an organization dedicated to the research of dark energy.

The woman spoke in a very relaxed manner. The aura she gave off was similar to seeing something paranormal and, as her feet were not visible, she seemed to be floating.

—More like a cult than an organization," said the girl in the red qipao. There was a look of hostility in her eyes.

—You can think that way if you want, we don't do anyone any harm.

The girl sighed, the surrounding electricity subsided, her hair stopped standing on end, and after resting a hand on her hip, she said, "OK, what do you want?"

—To establish a better dialogue, could you tell me your name?

—I don't have a name, but you can call me Willo if you want.

The girl in the red qipao revealed a nickname that surprised Philip. He had already heard it a few days before, while looking for clues about what happened on 21 June. A leader of the city's underworld told him when he asked him, after beating him, about someone who might know about that incident. The man mentioned that name in terror, saying that this person killed more than twenty of his most experienced fighters.

—So, Willo, you have come to know about these stones. The amount of dark energy they possess ignited our curiosity some time ago, but we do not have the strength to fight for them. For that reason, seeing your abilities, we decided to offer you the information and resources you need to obtain them all.

—In exchange for...?

—That you don't use them to accumulate power, that you just make a wish with them?

—"What?!" —Philip's eyes widened at that. The Redhead continued.

—Apparently the incident of June 21st was carried out with that stone you're holding. Surprising, isn't it? If one has that much power, the three of them together are capable of fulfilling any wish.

Philip didn't notice, but his body trembled slightly and his breath hitched.

—That has to be a lie —he whispered.

Willo sighed again with weariness. —I knew about the wish, but why do YOU want ME to make one?

—What the Eyre stones offer us is unprecedented. The making of one wish, however minuscule, would change the foundations of the universe for the first time.

The Redhead raised his right hand to the sky. The part of the robe that covered it fell away under gravity, revealing her delicate arm, her skin was porcelain white, and her fingers were long and slender.

—We want to witness that and see the changes that come with fulfilling a dream. You, like any other human being, must have something that you want to realize with all your soul. Money, power, love, ideology, whatever.

The woman lowered her hand. The robe covered her arm completely again. She gently tilted her head to one side and continued to address Willo.

—Would you help us change the universe?

—Mmmmm. No, thanks.

—Huh? —The Redhead tilted his head even more in puzzlement.

—Why...?

Willo raised his right hand, where he held the oval—shaped stone. It emitted a bright light as it shattered into particles that were absorbed by it. The veins of his entire body, his arm and neck, even his heart lit up with a purple light. Soon he had assimilated the stone completely. Philip who watched that movement carefully realized she now possessed the full power of the stone.

Willo pointed with his left hand, where he held a sphere as dark as night itself, and, looking disdainfully at The Redhead, said:

—I don't want anyone to get involved with me.

The sky lit up for a moment, several purple bolts of lightning struck The Redhead and the surrounding men.

The attack was over and the bodies of those on the receiving end lay on the ground. Black smoke was billowing from them. Willo sighed and looked away.

—It's your turn. You, the one in hiding, can come out now.

Philip leaned his back against the rubble he was hiding in and slid down to sit on the ground, sighed and in a voice that lacked any strength asked —How did you know I was here?—.

—The electromagnetic field around me is being affected by something over there, element 347 I guess. It's really annoying.

—It's good to know I have a slight advantage.

—You want to fight, seriously? —Willo raised an eyebrow, though Philip couldn't see the gesture.

—What should I do? —More than an answer to the girl, that last thing Philip blurted out was a question to him.

After a second's thought, he stood up and walked to stand in front of Willo.

—Oh. So you're the fool who goes around town beating up criminals and gangsters. What are you going to do, attack head on?

—Yes... —Philip replied, a little dazed.

I'm getting carried away by the emotions of the moment, I must talk to her —-he thought, but his body moved forward, there was something in his subconscious that acted as an engine for what he was about to do.

He bent his knees, leapt towards Willo and charged his right arm to strike her with his gauntlet, a direct and simple attack. A twisted smile appeared on her face and she made another black orb appear, but this time it was on her right hand. Her hair stood on end again, almost entirely covering her torso and head. Philip aimed the blow and, as he was about to connect, something knocked her wrist away. The arm of the jacket and part of his skin were instantly destroyed by an onslaught of dark energy that lashed him. The smell of burning flesh permeated his nose.

It was not Willo's attack.

Before he fell he saw one of the men surrounding The Redhead pointing at them. He had survived the lightning, though he was badly burned. Philip's vision gradually dimmed as he fell to the ground.

A firm voice echoed within that intense darkness, it said "Philip Mrown! What is your wish?"

Element 347:

Produced and distributed only by Mrown Corp, it is a metal with unique properties and is highly sought after for its ability to repel dark energy flows. It can also destroy objects and abilities that are related to dark energy.

Another of its most recognized properties is the hardness it possesses, almost nothing can break it. Energy passes through it as if it was not there, and an object of the same element can break another with less mass.

Its form is liquid, but it can be easily hardened by subjecting it to great pressure. Many use this to create different products from this metal such as safes, bunkers, burglar-proof doors and even armored uniforms.

The fact that it is only produced by a single company has raised its price to a hundred thousand dollars a gram, and it is usually bought by governments, security agencies, etc.