He walked through various, narrow and deserted streets. The place Fi was heading to, was barely familiar to him. Barely, because he had been in this place just over two weeks earlier, one day after his 17th birthday, looking for a job. However, he barely remembered where it was.
He was stuck in his memories of Garef coming to his apartment on his birthday, telling him to get a job and start paying for himself and his sister. He wasn't happy about it one bit, but he had no choice but to obey; otherwise he and Feli would end up miserable.
Fi wasn't registered on the resident card. He did not have his identification number, therefore, for this city, he did not exist. His sister, who was registered, had no brother. Garef rented the apartment to only one person, Felicia Solis, and no one else. Fi himself was nowhere to be found. Because of that, he couldn't find any work either, until he finally found some young men stationed in a dark alley. Then he managed to accept a job as a dealer, although he had no idea that it was an illegal job. He was too stupid to know and to figure it out.
Now that he and Feli were going to join the rebels, he no longer needed the job. Viral made it clear to him that he would get paid.
That was how Fi had started his work, and that was how he wanted to end it; finding the same dudes and telling them he wants to quit.
He sighed because he couldn't quite remember where the place he had found the job was. He had been pacing back and forth for well over half an hour.
'Fi' - [It was better to go with Felyy and the others.] - He thought regretfully.
He walked a few more steps until he heard an angry scream.
'???' - Come on! It's not my fault he took it from me! I'll give you everything back, but later, in a few days! - His voice was filled with anger, but also with resignation, because the faces of those he shouted at clearly indicated that his negotiations were for nothing.
'???' - No money, no goods, what did you not understand? - Another male voice answered him.
'???' - Victor, we're sorry they robbed you, but rules are rules, we can't give you anything until you have the money. - Another person joined the conversation who seemed quite nice.
'Victor' - .... - He was silent not knowing what to do next. His drug craving was getting stronger and stronger, and he wouldn't last much longer.
'Fi' - Yo! I found you! - He joined the conversation.
The two men who spoke to Victor were the ones who gave him the job.
'Victor' - Wa... wa... wait! It-it's him! He stole my money! - He pointed at the boy with anger in his eyes.
'Fi' - Me? Do we even know each other? And I didn't steal any money from anyone!
Victor didn't seem surprised that he wasn't remembered. The few minutes he spent with the boy were enough for him to understand that he would not remember random and boring people. Despite this, Victor took off his black hood, revealing his white, bunny ears, approached the boy and pointed to his not very handsome face,
'Victor' - Now do you remember? - He thought showing his face might make a difference.
'Fi' - No, who are you? - He replied without even thinking.
'Victor' - Two days ago we were running away from the guards together. You don't remember, you helped me jump over the fence that time! You remember!?
'Fi' - Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - Everyone was wondering what he was doing - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - Victor thought the boy was meditating - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Oh, yes! Now I remember, we used to play tag together and Scale was chasing us! - After thinking for a loooooong time, he finally remembered.
'Victor' - Finally! And if you remember, that's when you stole my money too! Give it to me back!
'Fi' - What did I steal, you gave it to me. - He cocked his head in surprise.
'Victor' - You stole! I wasn't going to give you my entire wallet! I was just supposed to take out some of the money and give it to you!
'Fi' - Only part? There was very little there.
'Victor' - Don't kill me like that! There wasn't that little there! - He felt pitiful.
'Fi' - Well, it was, I wouldn't survive a week from it.
'Victor' - T-this... - He felt ashamed of how little he earns - It doesn't matter how much was there, you took my money and that's it! And now I have nothing and I can't buy anything, so give it back to me!
'Fi' - If you wanted money you should have gone to some lottery or something.
'Victor' - And you think what? That I will win something right away? It's not possible, I'd have to buy at least a million tickets to win something big!
'Fi' - Not at all, when I go to lotteries, I always win about 100 ter - He said surprised at Victor's comment.
Lotteries were Fi's main source of income. Almost every time he went to buy a ticket, he won at least 3 times what he spent. And it was only because of his incredible luck, of which he had a lot. Overall, Fi's life was rather happy. Despite poverty, he always got what he wanted, sometimes he found it on someone's balcony, sometimes he managed to find money on the street and buy the desired thing with it. Once it even happened that the mother bought the child a toy, but the child did not like it. The baby started crying, so the mother took the newly bought toy and threw it in the trash. Fi pulled out a clean and unscented toy, taking it for himself. And there were definitely more similar events. In short, Fi is extremely lucky in such matters.
Victor couldn't believe what Fi had said was true. Because how can you win the lottery so often? It's ridiculous!
'Victor' - Don't lie, it's impossible! And even if I had to buy a ticket, I have nothing to pay for!
'Fi' - Oh, you're right, in the end you also pay for tickets... so if you want, I can give you money for this ticket.
'Victor' - No, no, no, no. You didn't understand something, you are to give me all the money you took from me, not just enough for one ticket!
'Fi' - Eh? No way! Now that money is mine.
'Victor' - What? Didn't you hear what I said!? I wasn't going to give you everything. You can keep 20 ter if you like, but give me the rest!
'Fi' - No, it's mine. And if you want them back, then... defeat me. Let's fight! - He put his left foot forward and right arm back, ready to attack.
However, Victor did not even dream of fighting him, he knew full well that winning was impossible. This boy, after a dozen or so minutes of racing, did not get tired at all. He jumped over a huge fence with no problems, and his "weak" hitting hurt terribly. In a regular fight, he had no chance against him. But only in the usual. What if he could trick him? After all, the boy was a complete moron. Winning by trickery didn't seem all that impossible. Let's see, maybe he would have blinded him by throwing sand in his eyes, but there was no sand anywhere, so that's out of the question. Maybe something would change if you knocked him down? Maybe some slippery goo? But where would he get one? The plan is out. So maybe ice? But he couldn't create ice either. He knew there was a freezing potion, but he didn't have one on him or could afford one, so he's out. So what's left? Maybe some ranged attacks? Start throwing stones? Except there weren't any on the floor. Or throw something sharp? Pins, for example? But where would he get the pins? Both plans fail. Or something not too fancy? Maybe a simple knife will suffice?
Victor reached into the back pocket of his pants. There is. There is a knife. Will he be able to win with it? Will he be able to defeat this incredibly strong and agile boy, while he himself has no knife skills?
His hand began to tremble. Will he be able to win or will he be able to stab him? But stab? What if there is a mortal wound, what if something happens to the boy? He shook his head trying to push the bad thoughts away, but the more he tried not to think about it, the clearer he saw the image in his mind of him killing the boy and then going to prison for the rest of his days. Now not only the hand, but the whole body began to tremble in terror of what was about to happen. His bunny ears went lower and lower. Breathing became heavy. He clenched his fist tighter on the knife. Will he be able to win? What will be the consequences if he kills him? What if he loses? How long will he be beaten? How much will it hurt? Finally he decided,
'Victor' - I don't want to fight you, please don't hurt me, just could you give me this lottery money? - He hung his head like a loser.
'Fi' - Boring... But ok, I'll give you something - He was disappointed that he didn't fight.
He reached into his pocket and took out a wallet, looked inside and pulled out 20 ter.
'Fi' - You have for two tickets. Sometimes I don't win anything either, so that's just in case.
'Victor' - Y-yes... - He wasn't one bit happy with the amount he got, it wasn't even enough for drugs, but he couldn't resist.
*********************************
He left the place where the boy he hated and the two drug dealers were. He had no reason to stay there, after all, the boy won't give him anything else, and he can't buy any drugs.
He pulled the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head, covering his white bunny ears. He had his hands in his pockets and walked with his head down.
'Victor' - [20 teri is not enough for me. I'll live on it for two, three days at most, and that's it.] - He thought sadly.
He was never rich, as a child he lived only with his poor mother. He's used to falling. But for the first time he found himself in a situation where he really had nothing left. Yesterday he lost his house because he couldn't keep it anymore. He was left to live in one of the shabby flats, on the edge of the underground city.
He walked thinking about how many mistakes he made in his life. He didn't go to school, he didn't have any hobbies, he wasn't interested in anything, he didn't get any friends to get him out of trouble. He won nothing and was nothing.
Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Newsstand.
He was just passing by the kiosk. Place where you could usually buy tickets and scratch cards. With a slightly trembling hand, he pulled out his last twenty teri. He looked at them as if they were special, his last money.
'Victor' - Eh, why not? - He said to himself.
Since he already got the money for the lottery tickets, why not? Why not give them away. The scrap of paper he was going to buy was going to decide his life. He will win the money or soon his life will end.
He picked up one of the scratch cards. He took it to the cashier and paid 10 teri. Half of what he had. He walked out of the store slowly, still looking at the scratch card. Will his life be saved? Or will it fall into ruins? He was about to find out.
Standing in front of the newsstand, he gripped the scratch card tighter. With a dirty and incompetently cut fingernail, he began to scratch the place to be scratched. The letter "W" appeared first, then the letter "O". Victor already knew what that meant. He won something. Surely he won something, now the only question is how much? It could be 5 teri, it could be 100 teri, it could be several million teri. He regained the hope he had lost recently and started scratching the scratch card even faster until the winning amount finally showed up. Victor's eyes widened first, only to fill with tears in the seconds that followed. He was crying. His win was...
*********************************
'Fi' - Eh!? So I didn't have to come here!?
'Dealer 1' - Exactly, you already lost your job because the gang you worked for, collapsed.
After Victor left, Fi did what he came to do; he wanted to quit his job as a dealer. After explaining the reason why he had approached them, the two men looked at each other and asked if the boy had not heard about yesterday's incident. This incident, of course, was about Fi, Feli and the Trix breaking up the Mafia, though that wasn't their intention.
After the boy nodded to indicate that he knew what the incident was about, the man explained to him that he had lost his job because of the incident.
'Fi' - And I could go with Felyy and the rest ... - He sighed - Well, I'll just join them a little later - He convinced himself that there would still be room for him to play.
'Fi' - I'm on my way! Thanks! - He bid farewell to the dealers and moved on.
He jogged along the hard concrete, through the dingy bends. He was heading towards the place where his friends were staying. And when he thought of them, he instantly stopped.
'Fi' - Wait, where was this adventure supposed to take place?
He thought. He tried to remember what Bernar had said, and the more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him.
'Fi' - He didn't say where it was supposed to be...
He finally remembered that he had left before he was supposed to.
'Fi' - Eh, well, it's time to play hide and seek! I am looking!
Thinking of the search as a game, he moved from where he was and started looking for them.
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