“You okay?”

Daniel seemed to be trying so hard to open his eyes while someone patted his shoulder. He inquired about The boy's condition after observing that he was responding to the taps, where Daniel recognized the man's face; though he wasn't sure who he truly was… So Daniel said nothing in response.

At least the man realized and understood that Daniel was slowly reassembling his consciousness, thus he waited and even sat next to Daniel until he was able to give a positive response, anything to make him feel more relieved…

“So you're not freaking out at all, huh?”

The man asked again but with another question.

“I was…”

And Daniel's honest reply made him chuckle… That, or perhaps it was simply his own incredulity at what they had witnessed back there and how they had somehow survived which had been the reason behind the man's smile.

While at the time, the two of them sat on the side of the road; resting against the wall of a building around those who were strolling back and forth, assisting people who appeared to be still unconscious… As the void in the sky along with the crimson crack was also gone now.

It seemed as though the world had completely returned to the way it had been before, simply just like that, giving everyone a sense of unease and distrust.

Yet there was little they could do but aid the rest; or it was at least for the sake of distracting themselves from the dreadful tragedy that had just happened not so long ago. All was just something that Daniel could deduce as he turned his head looking around, including at the man beside him… Of how everyone tried to stay calm and pretend everything was going to be okay. So Daniel also took part to play pretend.

“By the way… just like me, you're a regular at that internet cafe, right? Because I think I see you a lot around here.”

“Ow… So that’s why…”

Daniel quickly realized why the stranger’s face was so familiar to his eyes, which made him feel comforted enough to take the hand that was offered for him to get up.

“Did you also happen to get struck by the lightning?”

Daniel shook his head in response.

“Well I did…”

“You did!?”

Seeing how surprised Daniel was, it seems that he perceived this as a competition… Or perhaps he really just appropriately thought that anyone who was hit by the lightning strike earlier would definitely die and nothing less, which means this guy must be messing with him.

But all that he got was the man nodding with his serious face, as the boy decided not to doubt it any further and instead asked the man about his condition first before thinking about the oddity, so he conveyed, "Are you okay then?"

“I don’t know… I can't say what happened earlier wasn’t scary at all, but I didn't even feel a thing from the lightning. It’s weird, but… Now I actually feel… Better?”

[“Well… That sounds evil as hell…”]

Those were the words he whispered to himself, who had forgotten the very question he had just asked the man a few seconds ago, since he suddenly felt way more concerned about something else… Therefore he pulled his smartphone that was almost at the end of its life, out from his pocket; only to discover that the signal bar indicated that he would be unable to make any call for an uncertain amount of time… Thus he looked around for once more.

“Uh… Right. Anyway, did you happen to see my friend? The fat one, probably this tall… I'm always with him at the internet cafe, you see…”

Daniel inquired about something that was on his priority list, with one of his hands raised slightly above his head, at the same time when there was the sound of gasps and clamor from the people who were in many places, all at once. Which caused the boy to become concerned about what may happen to his one and only best pal, aside from Fanya… So Daniel followed his intuition and pursued one of the sources of the commotion while the man who assisted him trailed after, where there appeared to be a mob gathered around someone.

But as for Daniel who was not quite a tall person in the first place, he only understood that it would be useless if he got closer to the crowd, however, there is more than one bustling point around the place. And several others appeared to have walked from some location to another, with their faces contorted as though they had witnessed two identical events.

So Daniel approached one who had recently left the throng and questioned as to what was going on up there.

“It’s a sword.” They replied.

“Hah?”

Daniel was completely perplexed by the straightforward answer. But unlike the man next to him, something appeared to be ringing in his thoughts.

He stroked his chin at first as if he had forgotten something.

A few moments later, his right hand appeared to be reaching for whatever he thought was behind his neck, or maybe around his back… And when Daniel turned to face him, there was already a sword in his hand, swinging around as if it were normal to have one.

But aside from his shock, Daniel was at the same time amazed by the shape of the blade… For it’s a slender one-handed sword that appeared to be composed of a whole nearly translucent blue glass, as the blade is one piece with the unprotected hilt... Also the basic curves are stunning and complement the model's slim and sleek appearance.

“Where did you get that from?!”

“From the lightning…? I think?”

“That’s not what I mean, but… Hah?”

Even though Daniel had not yet received any comprehensive explanation, the people around him suddenly flocked to the man. Pushing Daniel farther and farther away from him, until he backed up against the front wall of the internet cafe, where the clamor of people increased as more and more people drew swords that were identical to one another from somewhere on their backs… Somewhere invisible, that would only reveal the blade if its owner brought their hands behind their shoulders.

~~~~~

I think that dude just now was so sure that the sword appeared since he got hit by the lightning… “Yeah, sure, I get it now. But why sword?”

The boy racked his brain to find the connection between a lightning bolt and a sword, as he merely stood there, trying to persuade himself that it wasn't all just a dream. Whether it was magic, science, or whatever, he felt compelled to accept it as his own new reality… And he did look like he was trying, until a voice brought him back to the surface.

“Yo…”

It was Deo, waving his hand next to Daniel.

And with his pride high, the boy hid his surprise and acted as if he had noticed from afar that Deo had appeared beside him… So he played cool and checked on his best friend's condition by asking, “Thank goodness you're fine. Did you get hit by the lightning?”

“Nope… You?”

Daniel shook his head without making any sound out of his mouth for a while… But curiosity recurred as again he asked Deo, “Is that unlucky for you?”

“Nah… You can't make me believe, everything would be okay after what happened back there… A hell beyond the sky? Even if the magical blade were the prize, it was all from hell... Nothing good can come from such things.”

“A hell… Beyond the sky… Yeah, I nearly forgot you're a nerd who obsesses over conspiracy theories. Much like my sister, but she still considers it as a secret pastime. while you, my friend…” Daniel said words with full awareness that there was no way he didn't expect the boy would be insulted and would instantly refute his statements.

And sure enough, Deo's face grew bright crimson.

He was going to spew out everything he had read on the internet directly into his friend’s face, yet before anything happened, for the second time Daniel became curious about something else and inquired as if what he said previously wasn't important enough to be remembered.

“But why sword tho?”

“Huh? What?”

Daniel questioned the rhetoric which left Deo at a loss for words, while other irate voices emerged, sounding quite close to their spot actually.

That from afar it looks like the A-board of some kind of coffee shop has been split in two, the work of one of the sword owners who didn't even hesitate to immediately test the sharpness of his magical weapon on people's goods and it infuriated others.

“What a troublemaker…” Deo raved to his friend.

And precisely predicted, Deo's grumble appeared to Daniel as a sign of ill luck, as chaos broke out in several areas all at once, caused by those who were a bit too reckless with their impromptu gift.

“Hey… Dude… Stop staring at ‘em. Let’s just go home now.”

That’s when Deo preceded Daniel to step away from the crowd. “This place would just become even more chaotic than what it already is… Let's go before we get involved in it.”

Thus the two walked in silence until they reached the middle of a small wooden footbridge… Only there Deo then turned around to face Daniel.

“Have you contacted Fanya yet?” He asked.

But Daniel, on the other hand, shook his head and checked his smartphone once again.

“Still no signal,” was something the boy showed to Deo to understand why.

“Well then, that's all for today, I guess? Just make sure you ask her how she's doing okay? Pray that she doesn't have that magical sword either, or else… You don't want to know how she'll torture us.”

Deo slowly walked backwards, leaving his best friend in the middle of the wooden bridge where his hands waved for a moment, while Daniel was still processing what the boy had just said to him.

[“If you care that much, why don't you just call her then? Why does it always have to be me?”] He muttered softly once Deo was well out of sight. Yet proceeded to unwind in the middle of the river, recalling all that had just happened.

About how ludicrous a story is when the sky becomes hell just for a few minutes… When lightning strikes people and they get those magical swords hidden somewhere on their back as a result. And the strangest thing is, it all stops there… Nothing more nothing less, suddenly everything seemed to revert to normal.

So his sentiment was quite understandable, to be fair… Just a boy who questioned too many things, with this odd normality being the limit. And apart from that, there’s the possibilities that would soon happen because of the insanity component. Such as how he heard the news on television about the inmates who had just escaped down the prison’s septic tank drain… Begs the question, what else would they be willing to do now that they had that weapon in the hands of not just one, but so many of them?

About so many people who are under so much stress and strife… And the only reason why they haven't hurt anyone else is simply because there was nothing in their hands at the time?

“People will die… A lot… A lot of them…”

Daniel pondered his own thoughts with an empty look on his face.

Not without any reason, but because he realized that the water beneath his feet was slowly starting to turn a deep red color like blood… And only after the floating corpse passed over the bridge, Daniel sighed as he realized that his own words had come true; faster than he had ever expected… At least the phone signal seemed to have been restored, so he decided to call someone with the contact name "Sis" on his smartphone screen.

But before even pressing the call button, the same number appears to be attempting to connect to his phone first… So he relented and answered the call.

~~~~~

There were more than ten questions that he got from the voice on the other side of the phone. For even if Daniel dared to cut her off just to answer one before another, she who was worried would not cease till Daniel waited and sought to soothe his elder sister down.

“So it happened everywhere?” The tone that was much calmer now than five minutes earlier, was heard by Daniel while leaning his arm against the railing of the bridge.

“I don't know… If it also happened there, then it probably happened everywhere. You're the nerd one, so you should be the one looking into that.” Daniel answered.

“Nerd? Me? Why? Well… At least I know you're fine. But you better go straight home, you hear? You don't have to think about it. Everything will be alright. I’m sure of it.”

“Now hold on… I never said I was worried about any of this. Why the hell are you telling that to me right now?”

With a wry smile, Daniel counter-accused that it was the young college girl who thought too much of everything. But the two of them refused to appear weaker than the other, throwing insults at each other until suddenly Daniel fell silent for some reason… He turned to the side and yet he saw no one, but his heart was racing as if he'd just seen a ghost.

“Daniel? Something happens?”

“No, nothing. But… Maybe I should go home for now.”

Turning off the phone and sighing for the umpteenth time, the boy then left the place at the same time as the sun was setting behind the hill, where he walked for quite a while before realizing his phone was buzzing again, as he had guessed correctly, that it was Fanya who wanted to check on the situation… So he repeatedly pressed the smartphone screen, but nothing happened.

Again the bug of the barely usable thing recurred, and Daniel could only watch the call go by without him even being able to answer.

~~~~~