A Bittersweet Memory: “A Beautiful Day, Ruined.”

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, as the three boys walked into the bustling square, craving some of the "Sweet Snow" from the infamous "wizard" who made it. They eagerly made their way to the wizard's cart in the center of town square, which was surrounded by other children.

The cart was bright blue, standing out against the beige and yellow of the sands and stones of Cairo. The Wizard was an old man with a long beard, in one hand he held a spoon, and in the other, a wand. He served the children their Ice Cream, and entertained them with fun, light, magic.

The boys laughed and chattered among themselves as they waited in line, but just as they were about to place their order, they heard a commotion nearby.

Turning their heads, they saw a figure running directly at them, wearing a deep black cloak, and kicking up sand as he ran. The boys scattered, scared, and the person who was running at them crashed directly into the old wizard.

They both tumbled into the cart, destroying it; and this, in turn, caused "Sweet Snow" to go flying everywhere. In the confusion, the thief grabbed the sack of coins attached to the wizard's belt, and took off in the opposite direction, at a full run. On his way away from the scene, he stopped and picked up the wizard's wand, as well.

As the thief crashed through a group of monks who were praying while they walked; the boys quickly looked at each other, nodding, and decided to chase after him. All of the training that Amon had been putting them through kicked in, and the chase was on!

The boys weaved through the crowd, their legs pumping and throbbing, as they tried to catch up to the thief. They ran by, and almost entirely missed The Girls; the other half of their Rat Pack. Just like old times, the girls read the situation and also sprang into action, joining the chase.

Shelomith ran up to Ezrae, nudging him with her elbow. "Hey, what's going on? Looks like fun, and I wanna have some fun on my last day of freedom."

Ezrae, for a second, was speechless and tripped himself up. However, quickly regaining his balance, he stared into Shelomith's eyes as they ran, and felt nothing but love.

Shaking his head, he snapped back to reality when he heard Amon, up ahead, yelling, "KEEP UP SLOWPOKES, HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

Divora had taken off at full speed, almost instantly catching up to Amon. The two of them grinned at each other and pushed forward even harder, their old rivalry instantly sparking to life.

They locked in on the thief, as Shelomith, Ezrae, Caleb, and Taza managed to catch up.

He darted left and right, trying to shake the kids off his trail. But they were determined to catch him, and they refused to give in, choosing to pursue him relentlessly.

Amon and Divora had already made an unspoken bet over who would be the one to take him down.

As they ran through the narrow streets of the city, the thief suddenly took a sharp turn, and headed towards the in-construction Great Pyramid. The kids, slightly confused, hesitated for a moment.

Wondering whether it was really safe to follow him; their determination got the better of them, and they continued the chase.

As they reached the worksite of the Pyramid, the thief suddenly decided that he was a parkour master, and began to climb up the side of some scaffolding. His body weight caused the scaffolding to tear away from the walls, causing an unintentional and uncontrolled massive rock slide to break away, and tumble down towards the Israelite slaves working on the pyramid. Among them… was Ezrae's Grandfather.

Ezrae screamed in horror as he saw his only remaining parent in danger. Divora and Amon instinctively sprinted towards them, dodging the falling debris, trying to reach them in time…

Everyone outside of the splash zone, including the thief, stopped and watched, just for a second… as Ezrae's grandfather, Amitai, and 10 other Israelite Slaves were buried under the rock slide…

Breathless and shaken, the two of them looked around, in disbelief at the destruction that had just occurred. They knew that they had to find the bastard who had caused all of this… And that's when Amon saw him; he snarled and took off after him again.

.

Meanwhile, Ezrae screamed, a small piece of him died, right alongside his grandpa. Shelomith and Reyna made their way over to him; in order to comfort him; and Divora retreated from the chase to do the same.

For Amon, however, the chase continued, as he and the thief sprinted away, leaving the others behind. His determination, anger, and wrath fueling him forward; inching ever closer to the hem of the thief's cloak.

As they turned a corner, Amon managed to cut the angle perfectly, giving him just enough space to grab the cloak, and yank it back as hard as he could. The thief let out a yelp as he was choked out, pulled, and slammed into the ground in front of Amon. Amon immediately leapt on top of the thief… He was caught.

Amon pinned him down, and a nearby vendor brought him some rope; which he used to bind the thief's hands and feet. It was over… but at what cost?

'This bastard destroyed the last little bit of Ezrae's family… He destroyed his life…' Amon drew his Jade and Zirconium dagger; a special token of a guard in training.

He stood still for a few seconds… His eyes flicking back and forth between the blade, and the thief's sweaty, terrified face.

He got down on one knee, kneeling next to the thief, and pushed the blade up against their neck, as blood began to trickle from the wound…