Part 1

13 July 2011 at 23:22

Located a few meters northeast of the area affected by the 21 June incident, Chinatown has changed little since then.

Filled with alleyways, alleys and dark corners, along with buildings of Asian architecture, it is a place that once served as a haven for Chinese immigrants during the Victorian gold rush. Now, apart from being a major tourist attraction, it is also a comfortable place for psychic immigrants from all over Asia.

Philip and Willo descended on a small two—story building on the main street. She pointed out to him an entrance through the ventilation duct, and they entered the top floor of the building.

When Willo turned on the light, Philip could see the state of the place. Chairs and tables were piled up, dust, cobwebs, damp and dirt. Despite all that, he could recognize what this place was, a small Chinese restaurant.

—This place...

—It's my mother's restaurant.

—It looks pretty shabby.

She looked at him irritated, but then closed her eyes and raised her head.

—She had to quit about seven months ago because she got sick. She's still in hospital right now.

—She's at the Hecker clinic, isn't she?

—That's right. That's why I accepted your idea to go to New Delta. I'll stay there.

Philip pulled up a chair, dusted it off and sat down.

—Well, we'll just have to wait until it's daylight, and we can move around more freely. If we move during the night, it's very easy for them to find us.

—Don't think I've changed my mind. You'll come with me, as long as you have the stone you won't escape me.

—Yes, yes. I understand. First, we must define what to do. If we're going to fight to see who gets the other's stone, or if we're going to look for the third one and settle it later.

—My idea is that you give it to me without having to fight back, I've already beaten you.

—And I have no reason to. I have the advantage, you don't want to kill me, but you can't take the stone from me without doing so.

Willo lifted his shoulders, as if he didn't care for his words.

—I can rip your arm off with the seal, I'm sure the stone is just sitting there.

—Don't say things like that, you scare me.

The atmosphere had relaxed a little. Philip cleared his mind and tried to think what his next steps might be, but a noise outside stole his attention.

It was the shouting of desperate people.

—What's going on out there? —Willo said before walking over to the window to observe what was going on.

They were people leaning out of the windows, all pointing and shouting desperately about something happening in the street.

Slowly the reason for their shouting was peeking around the corner of the next street until she could finally see it.

It was one of the psychos they had escaped from, the one Philip had hit.

—Hey, he's found us.

—What are you talking about?

When Philip went to the window to see what Willo meant, he was petrified. Intense fear paralyzed him.

The psychi they had confronted in the park a short while ago was dragging a woman, holding her by the hair. In the other, he carried a sword with a filamentous structure. The woman was trying to free herself, but she wasn't strong enough.

—Zero! I know you're out there. If you're really a hero, you're going to show up. Because if you don't, this woman will die.

Philip's face twisted. His body began to tremble.

—What the...?!

—Hey, what are we going to do? —Do we confront him or do we try to run away?

—...

—Don't do this to me again.

She grabbed him by the collar of his coat and banged her head against his.

—If you don't make a quick decision, I will. We're going to fight.

Philip turned his face away from the window and spoke in a muffled voice.

—There's no need. He hasn't found us, he's just testing to see if we're here. He's baiting me. This is his bet.

Willo's countenance slackened in surprise at both the words and Philip's defeated face.

—So... You're not going to save that woman?

—No need. I'm not going to risk the stone I'm carrying just for this.

Willo let go of Philip's clothes, he leaned against the window and let his body fall to the ground.

The psychi outside began to look around for Philip and Willo, but when he saw that neither was there, he began to shout again.

—If you don't want this woman to die, you have five seconds to show yourself!

Philip closed his eyes, Willo kept looking at the place where everything was happening.

—¡5, 4, 3, 2!

The sword in his left hand rose up.

—¡1!

The psychi let go of the woman's hair and when she tried to get up to run, he cut her head off by swinging the sword gently.

Part 2

13 July 2011 at 23:34

The man standing over the body of the woman he had just murdered looked around him with disinterest. There were many people leaning out of the window, shouting at him, filming him and calling the police. Blood was still running down the street, the body was still warm.

As he was about to walk again, something in his pocket vibrated.

He pulled out what looked like a small tablet and held it to his ear. As he listened to what the person on the other end of the call was saying, his face showed irritation.

—What do you mean, don't look for them anymore? Why should I obey something like that? They both have stones.

—That former British hero ordered that we don't do it. He is the head of our section, we can't disobey his orders].

—Understood, I'll return to base. —Did he at least tell you the reason behind this absurd order?

—[Apparently he has hope for that boy].

—What nonsense.

The man cut the call, put the tablet in his pocket and walked away from the place.

Part 3

13 July 2011 at 20:57

Willo watched the psychi's back as he walked calmly away.

—He's gone.

—That means we're safe, at least until tomorrow.

—What's this about a bet?

—Just a desperate attempt to get what you want. My bet was to blow up that park, and we got away with it, your bet was to make a fuss just now to get me out.

But it was just one, couldn't we beat him in a two—on—one?

—If his control of absolute evasion is greater than mine, no. I can't risk something like that.

—Absolute... evasion?

—I'll tell you about that some other time.

The moonlight began to fill the room, so Willo decided to turn off the lighting in the room and then sat down next to Philip.

They listened to the police officers who were arriving on the scene to investigate the death of the woman in the street.

The area was quite convulsed and the police were trying to prevent people from breaking the curfew.

—There's a good circus down there.

Willo whispered that, but he kept silent and kept his eyes closed.

—Apparently there are direct orders for this city to be a liberated zone, and not much investigation of 'incidents' involving psychos or others. They won't even bother to look for the culprit behind that woman's death.

Those words did get Philip's interest. He spoke without opening his eyes.

—How do you know that?

—Because something similar happened with my father. He was a researcher in the containment department. He had an accident with dark energy. Not only did they not help him, when he died they stole his discoveries. Among those discoveries were... The Eyre stones.

This time he looked Willo in the eye. She had a hard expression.

—Oh, I'm sorry for asking.

—Never mind, I have chosen to tell you this. You need to know the context around the stones to know their significance.

—Do you know who might be involved in this theft?

—Whoever leaked it from the containment department is most likely dead. That was my reason for blowing up the headquarters. Now, who bought it and spread it is hard to say, although I have my hypotheses.

Philip didn't elaborate, keeping her talking.

—The de facto rulers of New Delta, an organization called "The Last Light".

—I've heard of them before. They don't sound like a simple mafia organization.

Willo nodded.

—That's right, apparently they're some kind of cult that uses crime to finance itself. Finding out their targets is very difficult, as they are very selective in their choice of members.

—I understand buying information, but spreading it? It doesn't make sense.

—It could also be that they're not the ones who bought it, or they're not the only ones. There's that red—haired woman too, she's been talking to several people about the stones.

—It's true...

Willo began to play with his fingers and asked with a thread of embarrassment.

—Won't your parents worry if you disappear for so long? You've been gone for at least three days.

Philip replied apathetically.

—No. I don't live with them in the first place, so they wouldn't find out that I was kidnapped by a girl younger than me.

—I'm only a minor for a few months, you idiot.

—It's the same thing.

—It must be hard to be the son of the most important businessman in the country.

—It's harder to put up with my parents' disinterest. —But you love them.

—But you love them, don't you? —You love them, don't you?

—I admire them a lot, they're both incredible. Especially my father, the empire he's created based on element 347 is something hard to measure.

—That's true. The mere fact that there is a metal capable of completely nullifying a psychi is astonishing. But it's still too scarce and too expensive.

—I'm not sure if a world with more element 347 would be a better one. There are many who would use it in a bad way to try to harm the psychi.

Willo lifted his shoulders as he grimaced wryly.

—Oh right, that you have that stupid thought.

Philip didn't fall for the provocation, he just closed his eyes and replied in a soft voice.

—I will not change my mind. I will achieve my goal.

That is the will he had imposed on himself. The will that killed George and left that woman to die. Whatever happened, he was determined to fulfil the dream Andrea had entrusted to him.

Willo looked at him warily, but seeing his determination, he sighed. There is still a long way to go, many battles to face, there is no point in reproaching him or fighting. The third stone has not been revealed.

She stood up and did a graceful turn and then pointed at Philip.

—You have your determination, your strength, and I have mine. I must use the stones, the ones my father discovered, to reverse the injustice these people have done and get my family back.

A statement of intent. Philip noted the transparency in her words and nodded. She continued.

—You have shown me that you are very competent in combat, but you lack power, and I have that. If you don't give me the stone willingly, let's unite until we get the third, then we'll decide what to do.

Philip stood up as well. As he opened his eyes, he couldn't help but grimace a little wryly.

—I was thinking of something similar, but I can't believe you offered it first in the end.

Willo's eyes widened, and his face turned red.

—Shut up.

Philip looked tenderly at the girl he had been terrified of until recently. He could see for himself that she is just a normal girl in an exceptional situation.

In that case, she can't go on alone.

—All right, I'm counting on you, Willo.

—That's okay.

They shook hands while smiling.