Lies and Kindness

On the battleground, the dark gigantic monster kept on shooting blasts in every direction as the glaive pressed on.

"Don't give him a chance to hit you!" one glaive shouted.

"Show him hell!" Frankie charged.

"Petra, stab his freakin' eyes!" Aksel said.

Hearing his suggestion, the gothic girl directed her floating knives towards the monster's glowing eyes. "HAAAYAH!" she yelled.

~FLINN!

~Scratch!

"Ghuaah!" the monster retracted for a second.

After regaining it's balance, the dark creature change its strategy. It generated a forcefield sphere in its hand while hanging it high. And as it slowly descended, the demonic dark monster caused the sphere to explode into the ground.

~KA-BOOM!

"WHAAA?!"

"EVERYBODY, FALL BACK!" a glaive yelled helplessly as most of the ones who got caught in the attack go incinerated. "It's getting more powerful! You might lose your life!"

"This is not good.." Carmen hopelessly cried.

"Are we gonna run..?" Aksel dropped his baseball bat down. The world around him seemed dying in ruin.

But there was one person who didn't want to back down. "No way.." she managed to stand on her feet.

"But, Petra!" Carmen tried to say.

"Running away would mean betraying all those who gave their precious lives to us.." Petra's hands started to glow bright white, covered by light aura. "Rick told us to save Maplewood. So, this thing needs to die!"

The giant monster had begun charging its forcefield sphere as everyone backed away. Petra was alone, the only one who stood facing it. She put her hands together, and a small sphere of bright energy started gradually growing between her palms.

The dark monster charged its attack as the destructive sphere fell down upon Petra and the others.

~Grrrrrrrrr!

"You're going down!" yelled Petra as the energy sphere within her hands was about to blow up. "HAAAAAAAA!!"

~Chaaarrrr!

Petra blasted the bright white energy against the deadly monster's rein. And in a fraction of second, both attacks clashed and began pushing on each other.

~BAAAAAM!

But deep down in the pitch black space, Jaden was still in a shock from what his eyes were looking at. It was impossible to grasp! The demonic monster with its metamorphic appendages, and deceptive mind tricks, grinned back at him with Safi's face.

Jaden's hung body remained still as though it was devoid of life.

"..How could this be..?" he mumbled.

"So, now Mado," the demon's voice echoed. "Do you know 'hurt' ?"

"This is way too far!" he replied. "You took her memories, snooped through her feelings, and now you stole her face?!"

"But, I didn't steal anything. All of this is her true feelings. I'm just making it show.." the demonic vocals started to get mixed with Safi's. All what Jaden heard were the faint echo of her voice.

"Stop.." he uttered. "Safi would never think of me like that.."

"Oh, but she does!" the demon replied. "The memories can't tell lies. Those are her true intentions! But you"

The demon grinned, "You're just incapable of facing it!"

That's true, he thought. I'm incapable of doing anything. I won't be able to protect her smile. I'm not that sorta hero who saves the day and sweeps the girl off of her feet. I'm just a person! I get scared of a lot of things! This world, the real world, the people, and myself.. I'm not sure of anything...

"You're just horrible for a human..." the demon continued. "Simply by thinking your so called kindness is inconsequential, you keep on catching hearts, and then put them on hold.."

"You know nothing about me!.." Jaden barked.

"I do.. In fact, I coursed through your memories as well.." it responded in calm tone. "I know exactly what you're thinking. 'Why can't she fall for someone else? Kamal, Suhail, Majd, anyone else who would do it'..!"

"..Shut.. up!.." Jaden tried shaking himself off the piercing thorns.

"You're afraid, Mado! Afraid that you will do the same thing all over again.." the demon taunted. "If you'd end up opening up, you'll hurt her just like that someone! What was her name, I wonder.."

"Shut up!.." Jaden kept on rocking his body even harder.

"Mari, wasn't it?" the demon's double pitched voice rang hard inside his ears. "Hehehehe!"

"SHUT UP, YOU DEMON!!" Jaden shouted in pain. His arms and legs were bleeding as he pushed through.

~Grrraa! ~CRACKS!

"You're just a coward, Mado." uttered the demon. "You use kindness to win people, so they can fill the hole in your heart out of desperation?"

"I said STOOOOOPP!!" Jaden yelled from the bottom of his stomach.

~Break!

"HAAAAA!!" Jaden was finally free! He broke through the black thorns, and charged against the demon in rage.

His face resembled an animal fighting for his life. With tensed muscles, sharp expressions, and fearless roar, the furious Jaden jumped attacking the demon with his bare hands.

"Hahahaha, this is foolish." the demon dodged his assault with ease.

"Die die, you filthy demon!" Jaden kept punching brainlessly. His attacks weren't at all coordinated. "HAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"That's enough.." the demon morphed its hand into a spear, and with a single swift, stabbed Jaden in front.

~STAB!

~SLASH! SLASH!

Unlike Jaden's, the demon's attacks hit hard. The slashes that followed had sent the boy straddling on the ground.

"Looks like we're done here.." said the demon as it was standing in front of him.

"Ugh!" Jaden coughed out blood. "Get out of Safi's mind..."

"In that case.." the demon raised its pointy hand, ready to attack. "Sink in to everlasting oblivion!"

As the blade was dashing down towards him, Jaden snapped. He found no other way, but to block the attack using his hands. So, he ended up holding the spear between his palms, only an inch away from his face.

"NO WAY!" he struggled to get up. "There's no way you're taking her heart!"

"Then, begone!" the demon, still harboring Safi's face, delivered a hard kick to Jaden's side that tossed farther away.

~Whack!

~SLAM!

"Ugh..!" Jaden ended up slammed to one of the floating white door.

But then, that door broke open, and Jaden got simply sucked in. "Uhhhh!"

It wasn't long when the injured boy hit a ground. His new location seemed unfamiliar this time. As he moved his eyes in all directions, Jaden became certain that this place was new to him.

"..What is this place..?" he mumbled through his pain.

He was in a closed small room with a desk, some drawers, and mirrors. And he even noticed a white coat on the hanger near the corner. "Is this?" he turned around. And right behind him, the girl was sitting on her bed, leaning against the wall. "Safi..!"

He muttered, but being only in a memory had kept him completely invisible to her. Jaden was exhausted at that point, both physically and mentally. His legs took him to sit right next to her. He climbed up to her bed, and slowly leaned next to her. He was quiet. There was nothing left on his mind. So, he watched her as she seemed busy scrolling social media through her phone. His eyes moved up to her face which was loose and at peace. A stir of emotions surged into him at once. Had he been wrong all this time? Should he just let her in? Love has always been nonsensical, so why trying to make sense out of it?!

"Tsk! I don't have time for you.." she muttered.

"Huh?!" Jaden noticed her getting annoyed. When he peeked into her phone, he saw Majd trying to text to her.

Why did she get bothered all of the sudden?!, he wondered. She was just scrolling around! And Majd seemed really eager to tell her something!

In that moment, Jaden's emotions drastically changed. He immediately recognized it were Safi's emotions, and it weren't any close to being sorry, or even annoyed! It was full of resent.

This can't be real!, Jaden felt uneasy. Safi and Majd have always been close. She'll never think of him as

"Great! Now they ALL want me to talk, too!" she said sarcastically.

Jaden witnessed Safi being her usual nice self when chatting online with him and the others, whereas her actual feeling of annoyance and resent remained on the outside.

I don't think I should see this, Jaden thought to himself as he got up.

~Creak!

A small window emitting white bright light opened before Jaden. He noticed that Safi wasn't aware of it. He walk towards it, and felt a warm breeze. Jaden followed the urge, and walked through.

The sun had blinded him at first, but he pressed on. Jaden then found himself near the library's entrance. And at the following second, he heard Safi's approaching voice. When he looked behind him, he saw her walking with Hadeel and Hanan.

"I don't know why we're doing this, I swear!" said Safi as she was laughing.

"So, you guys just talk?!" asked Hanan.

"I thought it was important," Hadeel said. "Since he keep on inviting you like that!"

"It's just awkward! This whole group thing is meaningless!" Safi laughed.

"And you're still going!" Hanan laughed back.

Jaden heard it all in confusion. Was this actually a real memory, or that demon was trying new tricks?

When he looked away, his eyes caught yet another white door waiting for him. The perplexed boy pushed himself one more time, hoping this would have an end.

Once his foot touched the floor, music found its way into his ears, and colorful lights blinked around him. When Jaden stood still to take a good look at his new whereabout, a bunch of people dressed formally walked through him. It took him about few seconds to realize it, but he was standing in the Unicorn Hall.

"Am I" his eyes widened. "At the dance?!"

Jaden kept on looking left and right, and each time, his eyes caught a familiar face. "Hey, that's Waleed!" he said happily. "I haven't seen him in so long!"

Jaden tried approaching him, but the fact that he was an unseen ghost stopped his body halfway. Standing in such awkward position, Jaden saw Aya Al-Mosawa nearby. She was laughing with Shamery, one of Mado's classmates. He also saw Salsabeel, Malak, and Affaf sitting in one table. Omar, Abdo, Tiger, Hebshi, and Hussien were hanging together. And on the other side there were Suhail, Kamal, Zara, Maria, and Ryan near the buffet.

The music were slow and calming, just how Mado had arranged it to be. The lights were perfect. The stage was set, and people were having a wonderful time.

Even the food is organized and Instagram worthy!, he thought.

"Whow! Everything went out smoothly.." he mumbled to himself with a pinching sadness pressing on his heart. "I sure would've had lots of fun if I came..."

Then, he saw someone someone standing all alone. "Isn't that Shay?!" he was surprised.

Jaden looked at his Dentistry friend as she was checking her phone every minute. "There's no way I've asked her to come with me, right?!"

But not long enough until he became sure. Shay was actually standing all by herself, looking at her phone frequently to check if Mado may text her any second. It was too hard for him to keep on watching her disappointment builds up gradually. So, he decided to change his location.

She had to be waiting for me, he thought. But how did I end up asking somebody out and then bail on them like that?!

Jaden looked back at Shay one last time. Does that mean I was actually intending on coming?!, he witnessed her face became sadder by each passing second.

God, I'm such an asshole..

Jaden turned around and walked away. Few steps later, he was able to see his sister Alex. She was taking selfies with her two besties Noor and Soony, and the rest of her classmates. A delight relief emerged from within his heart when he finally saw his true family after all this time.

Even if it's just merely a memory, he thought. I'm glad I got to see you..

As he kept looking around, he finally found her. Safi was standing on the far right along with Majd, and Ekram. He felt relieved knowing that even if he wasn't around, everything seemed to be going well. It seemed to him that Ekram was wearing some kind of crown as well. But as soon as he got close enough, his emotions took a 180 degrees.

"Anyways, congratulations! You are now the Queen!" Majd clapped.

"Thanks!" Ekram smiled childishly. "Couldn't have done it without you all."

"It's such a shame Mado didn't come.." Majd added.

"Yeah.." Safi mumbled.

"Seriously, where is he?!" Ekram asked in concern.

"No idea.." Majd answered. "He's not answering his phone.."

"Okay, I'll go see my friends now, so.." Ekram excused herself. "Tell me when you find him."

She just left them to go hang with the rest?!, Jaden was surprised. I thought we were her people!

"Uhh, Safi.." Majd was left alone with the utterly quiet Safi. Jaden noticed her eyes kept gazing at Ekram as Zara and the other girls welcomed her. "Do you want us to go get something to eat?"

"I'll go sit with my friends as well.." she replied quickly.

"Oh.. Okay." he said. "But I was wondering if we'd hang together.. Waleed wanted to show us new card tricks! I think Hanan and Hadeel would love that, too!"

"Yeah, but we won't be comfortable.." replied Safi in cold tone with her arm folded.

"Oh, okay. What else do you have in mind?" Majd asked.

"I said, I'll go sit!" she gave Majd a repulsive expression.

"...What's gotten into you? You've been acting up!" Majd said in concern. "Are you mad at me or something? Have I done anything wrong?"

"This whole thing is wrong." she answered.

"What do you mean..?" Majd muttered.

"....." Safi kept staring at the ground.

"Oh.." Majd's shoulders slouched as he exhaled. "You mean us, don't you?"

"Stop calling it that.." Safi mumbled angrily.

"What.. the.. heck..?" Jaden was utterly shocked. "What are these two saying?"

"I should have known..." Majd said in sorrow as his face was battling the urge to frown. "It's just, Mado he's my friend. He wanted to do something different. Gathering us all like that, and making us know each other, and trying to turn us to those friends on TV.."

"But that's not true, right?" Safi snapped. "None of this is!... We're just"

"We're just playing along.." Majd added.

"We're just wasting our time." Safi finished. "We're not really friends; you're smart enough to pick up on that.."

"Yeah maybe.. but Mado.." Majd mumbled.

Safi turned her back to leave, "Mado is not here. So, you better know when to stop chasing illusions. Don't end up like me.."

"Like you?!" Majd was confused. What did she mean by that?

"...You'd regret it." Safi replied and walked towards her friends.

After witnessing that conversation. Mado's heart was completely shattered. The weight of both his and Safi's feelings had left a dark whole in him. Were these the friendships he had built? Did all of it was just fragile enough to be broken by his absence.

I just can't believe it!, Jaden exclaimed. They weren't friends to begin with, but we shared a lot of things together So, why..?

Jaden saw Safi sat in a chair crying.

It wasn't long before Hanan and Hadeel arrived to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Safi.." Hadeel held her tight. "I'm so sorry.."

"...No, you don't have to apologize.." Safi sobbed.

"It's going to be okay.." Hanan said.

"Hanan.." Safi raised her head off of Hadeel's shoulder. "I'm sorry.. It was all my fault! All I wanted is to be accepted! And for us to get along with everyone.."

"Don't be." Hanan comforted her. "It's not worth it.."

"Yeah, no matter what they think, we'll always be by your side!" Hadeel smiled at her sobbing friend. "Who cares if Zara and the others admire Ekram now! It'll fade away."

"I thought, if Mado would if he was by my side, I could've become the Queen.." Safi wiped the tears away which disrupted her makeup a little. "But I got carried away... I'm sorry.."

Jaden felt his feet getting ice cold. Safi's feelings and words were raining pure agony over every cell of his body. He was first struggling with whether he could open his heart to her, but as of this moment, the tables had turned.

Safi never liked me, huh?, he smiled slightly in disbelief. She never considered me as a friend to begin with! It was all just a waste of time to her...

Jaden's knees lost their tone, and dropped him down. His heart could no longer bear feeling anything anymore. He felt naked and weak.

All this time we had together was merely a waste they were playing along!, Jaden felt disgusted. What have I done to myself?! I gathered a bunch of people together just for my own comfort. I never did ask them if they wanted to be friends. It was all superficial even artificial!

.

.

"This our oath!"

"We'll always be honest!"

"And trust in our friends!"

.

.

I created an illusion, a lie that I myself believed..

"I told you, Mado.." a female voice stroke him, but Jaden knew who it was he sensed her standing behind him.

"You're just like other guys.." Mari's voiced echoed out of her mouth. "You just think of others as trophies.."

"Don't say that!" Jaden put his head between his fingers. "I'm not like that!"

"You treated me with kindness and love, but when I got addicted to you, you left me behind.." Mari said. ".. You left me because you didn't care. All that you wanted were only time passing connections..."

"NO! I care about them! And... I cared about you!" Jaden squeezed his eyes.

"But you still reject them because deep down you know who you really are.." the short girl's voice vibrated through Jaden's ears. "You use kindness as your shield, and gave these people no other choice but to lie; because no one would dare becoming the bad guy.."

Jaden gazed at his friends before his eyes as each of them was talking and laughing with different people. Each of them was fully satisfied in their own separate corner. Flashbacks of all those times they had spent together, all those sweet memories, suddenly lost their lustre. Instead, he recalled all the times that he was bullied and rejected during his childhood and highschool days. How he always had to put on extra effort to stay safe, and ended up thrown into the dirt. Jaden felt as though he should have always been invisible in reality as well.

Maybe I don't deserve to exist, he thought.

"You're a coward, and weak.." Mari told him. "You're fully aware that you can't be normal like them, Mado.."

"..I can't..?" Jaden shed a tear that dropped on the floor.

"You can't blame them for fooling you! They only considered you a burden.."

Jaden was losing his composer a little by bit. It didn't take long before he ended up accepting the truth. "I am... a burden.."

"Yes Mado, you're just a weak boy who wants moments of pretend.." Mari whispered. "You're just"

"Desperate.." both Jaden and Mari's voices unified, and Jaden dropped his face regretfully to the ground in defeat.

"..She was right...!" he cried. "I'm just...desperate..."

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, as Petra was still struggling to prevent the monster's blow, Death Gun was trying to get off the ground. Eugene's punch had seemed to left him trembling. As the former was also exhausted, and injured, Cristina approached him.

"Eugene, are you okay?" she ran towards him.

"Ehh... I...think so.." he managed to reply.

But before she reached him, a portal opened beneath her feet.

"Uhhhhh!" she yelled when the portal swallowed her.

The following moment, another portal dropped her right between Isaac's arms.

"Hehehe!" he wrapped the girl tightly in his arm and pressed a gun onto her temple. "Oh, you thought it's over?!"

"Let her go, Isaac!" Eugene yelled. "I'm your enemy here. So, leave her alone!"

"You think you can just tell me what to do?!" Death Gun's voice raged higher. "You think you can just beat me and have a happy ending!"

Eugene was completely powerless at that point as he had spent all his Mana. His legs were badly wounded, and his body laid motionlessly on the ground, staring at Cristina in despair.

"Isaac, STOP!" he yelled helplessly.

"NO! This is. My. Show!" Death Gun started shaking out of frustration. His finger were pulling the trigger. "And no one gets a happy ending in my show.."

"CRISTINA!!" Eugene cried.

~Hold!

"Huh!" Isaac's hand got held by a hand stretching from a strange portal with an irregular outline.

"That's enough, Taieb." said a mysterious figure through the portal. "You found the glitch, didn't you?"

"Tsk, yeah it's right here with me." Death Gun showed the artifact.

"Then quit fooling around and report back! Our boss need that glitch as soon as possible!" the mysterious figure scolded him. "I'm taking you with me.."

"Come on! don't be like those Med" Death Gun playfully replied.

"I said, I'm taking YOU with me!"

~Brrrrrr!

At that moment, the impact between Petra's light blast, and the monster's orb had shaken the ground beneath Death Gun, Cristina, and Eugene.

"Mehh.. looks like this place is about to blow anyway." Death Gun dropped Cristina down. "You might as well die with your people."

"It's time. Hurry up!" the figure yelled from within the portal.

Death Gun went into it, and before it closes, he heard Eugene saying "Hey, wait up!"

"If you survived, we'd have a rematch!" said Death Gun as the irregular portal blinked off. "Till then, by a good boy!"

And with that, Death Gun had disappeared from Maplewood.

Deep down within a memory of people dancing, a boy was curled on the ground in silence. Through the sounds of music playing and people dancing and talking which had already become dull to his ears, a sound of approaching steps intrigued him. Jaden raised his buried head and saw the dark demon coming for him.

"So that's where you've been hiding!" said the demon. "How about now? Have you gotten to know hurt?"

"Unfortunately, I haven't.." replied Jaden apathetically. "I've got to know other things.. Sadness, betrayal, even emptiness.. In fact, that's how I feel right now! Empty."

"What?" the demon was confused.

"Heh," a laugh escaped through Jaden. "Yes, I feel nothing.."

"Looks like you haven't learned your lesson." replied the demon.

"Trust me, I have.." Jaden looked directly at the demon. "But what about you, Safi?"

"Uhh.." the dark demon stepped back.

"Oh, none of that matters now.." he added. "You don't have to worry about me anymore.."

Jaden put one foot in front to get himself up. "You don't have to be nice with me.." he said while smiling. "No need to force yourself anymore. Everybody in our class knows you and loves you already. So, you can stop playing pretend, and go on and do your thing."

"What are you?" the demon clenched its creeping fists.

"It's really pathetic though, you know?" Jaden said. "When you build your life on an illusion..a waste of time! I get it now.."

"You didn't know what HURT is!" Safi's voice resurfaced upon the demonic vocals.

"Because it's a lie!" Jaden stood up straight. "You're a liar, Safi. I can see through you now. You lied to yourself, and made me believed it.."

"...What gives you the right to say that?!" Safi's voice became prominent.

"I dunno. But it's just sad; wasting your life trying to surround yourself with people you don't actually like!" Jaden replied. "You must hate your life."

The scene around them was fading away and returning back to the black space when Jaden said "But it's all over now.. You no longer have to lie.. You no longer need to be nice to me anymore..."

"Is that.. supposed.. to be a joke?!" Safi's hand transformed into a sharp spear, and she charged at him in a swift. "BECAUSE I'M NOT LAUGHING!!"

Safi's demonic hand grabbed Jaden's neck as he never resisted. The moment his body hit the ground, Safi fixed him under her, and she began radically slashing through his chest.

~SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

~SLASH!

"YOU'RE TERRIBLE!"

"MISRABLE!"

"ROTTEN!!"

~STAB! STAB! STAB! SLASH! SLASH!

The furious Safi let her demonic rage onto Jaden. The boy laid motionlessly; receiving every blow she crashed on him.

Isn't this great, Mari!, he thought. You must be enjoying seeing me like that! But I deserved it. I fell into a trap of a nice girl..

~STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!

Man, my entire body hurts like hell!, he thought. Girls like these are truely a pain! Not just that; even exchanging messages with them has always made me restless. If they called me once, I'd stare at my phone with a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day. But deep down I know the truth. They're just being nice!

"DIE, DIE, DIIIEE!!" Safi kept on slashing her spear left and right. Jaden's chest was splattering blood with no sign of it stopping.

~SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Jaden's train of thoughts was plunged into his own sprayed blood. Anyone who's nice to me, is nice to others, too. I always find myself on the verge of forgetting that. If the truth is a cruel mistress, then a lie must be a nice girl..

that's why niceness is just a lie..

I would always have expectations I would always misunderstand..

At some point, I stopped hoping..

What's the point of forming bonds if their fate were to end in disappointment?..

Maybe, being alone is the ultimate heavenly pursuit..

That's why I was chosen I was destined to be alone..

But a destined loner never falls for the same trap twice..

A lone warrior surviving every battle on his own! When it comes to losing, I'm the strongest..

That's why, Mari

"HAAAAAAAAAA!!" Safi swung her dark spear to deliver her final blow.

No matter what happens, I'll always hate nice girls..

The moment she raised her spear to attack, Safi noticed Jaden's spilled blood as it began strangely moving on its own. It converged together, and formed a pale pink door in front of her. The door then opened, and a blinding white light emerged and plunged her whole. Once it turned down, Safi opened her eyes.

"Uhh!" she found herself standing in a new, but familiar place. "Is this a memory?!"

She was in the campus's yard. The place was somewhat crowded. But then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Are these Surgery books?!" Mado said as he was examining a book.

"Yes, the Egyptian ones that I told you about." Safi replied.

That's me!, Safi was surprised to be looking at herself from the past. This is weird..

"Come on! Give it a try!" she encouraged Mado. "You'd score really well with their help."

"I've been doing just fine without them.." he playfully replied.

"MADO!!" she pressed on him.

"Uhhh, well" he stuttered. "What are you gonna do? Don't ya need them, too?"

"Don't worry about me! I'll manage somehow." she replied confidently.

"No, I can't accept that!" Mado pushed the books onto Safi.

"JUST TAKE 'EM!" she pushed them back harder. "Heeh. I'll study with Hanan, okay?"

He had no other choice but to accept, Safi thought as she watched the scene unfolds. I can't believe I actually wanted to help him this much!

But at that moment, Mado's feelings had started to reflect into Safi.

"What this can't be true!" she put her hand on her chest in discomfort.

"Are..you.. sure about this?" asked Mado with the books covering his mouth in embarrassment.

"Yes!" replied Safi with an enthusiastic smile.

And right before she leaves, the hesitant Mado finally uttered.

"Safi.." his voice halted her. "..Thanks! A lot!"

As she heard him saying those words, the true Safi's heart squeezed inwards. She no longer could stand on her feet.

"How could this be real?! Is this gratitude?!" she sobbed. "Why? His heart is so so warm!"

The tears coming down her face were tar black, but gradually, they were turning clear.

"This is not fair! He's just stupid! All of this time, I thought.." Safi raised her head upwards. "I am the stupid one.."

The following moment, the entire memory had faded, and the pitch black space had begun to shine bright like the sun. Safi sat still with tears yet coming down her face as she was surrounded by the bright white light.

"Huh..!" she turned as a gentle hand touched her shoulder.

On the battleground in Main Street, all the fighters were drained of any power to resist. The only one remained standing was Petra. Her light blast that was struggling to hinder the giant monster attack had begun to wear out. The dark monster pushed forwards as Petra gave in.

I can't keep this up, she thought. I'm so sorry, everyone. I did my very best..

"PETRA!!" she heard people behind her screaming.

"Grrrrr!" the dark gigantic creature was so close to blow her, but then

"What..?!" Petra couldn't believe her eyes. The monster froze in place. Its fingers were only an inch away from her face.

Few moments later, lights were cracking through the dark beast's body. Petra witnessed as the monster collapsed on its own, and beams of light came out from it.

~SHIIIIN!

"PETRA, LOOK OUT!" a voice yelled from behind her.

Petra gazed back to make sure if it was Carmen who shouted. But then, she noticed a red magic circle growing under her feet. Both Petra and the gigantic monster got fully covered by the exploding crimson light that blew vertically upwards until it pierced the clouds.

~SHINE!!

Despite his injuries, Eugene struggled to get closer as the light started to fade.

"Ehh, what's that?!" he guarded his eyes as he stepped forward. "Jaden..Julia!"

After few seconds, the light had disappeared. When Eugene was able to see before him, he saw Petra sitting on the ground, and a bit closer there were Julia and Jaden. The light-brown haired boy witnessed as Jaden supported Julia who fell down to her knees.

With slow and painful pace, Eugene approached the two.

"Jaden! Julia!" he said. "Are you okay?!"

Jaden gazed back at his friend, and cracked a calm smile, "This is Safi.."

Eugene's face couldn't resist the smile that grew on it. He slowly got himself down to his knees.

"Rereally?!" he looked at Julia. "You're back, Safi!"

Jaden watched his friend as he was eager to get a response from her.

"It's us, Majd and Mado! You remember us now, right?" Eugene asked. "You're our Safi, right?"

Hearing that, had made Julia react. With her lips pressed and her shoulders jerked, She immediately nodded as tears came down her face. She hesitantly pushed her body forward, and wrapped her arms around both boys, burying her face in their shoulders.

"Oh..!"

"It was scary.." Julia sobbed as she hugged them tightly. "It was so scary..."

"We're so sorry! But it's all right now." Eugene smiled at Jaden. "Right?"

"..Yeah.." muttered Jaden as his eyes gazed away.

The clouds above permitted few beams of pure sunlight to cast on them as the sky got clearer.

"I'm sorry, you guys.." she said through her crying.

"You don't have to apologize! This was obviously Mado's fault." Eugene replied.

"How is it my fault?!" Jaden asked.

"It was!" Eugene persisted.

"Mado..?"

"Huh?!" Jaden heard somebody called his name. But there was no one near them except Petra.

"Your name is Mado..?" Petra hesitated. She looked frightened and confused.

But Jaden was even much more confused. How would Petra know Jaden's true name? The black haired boy gently removed Julia's arm off of him as he stood up.

"..Yeah, that's right.." he muttered while walking warily towards her. At that moment, his UI notified him.

...Scanning Complete...

That's impossible!, he was shocked from the result he was gazing at. "You're Noor..!" Jaden put his arms on Petra's shoulders.

"Ye yeah!" Petra said eagerly. "What's going on here?! Why do we look like this?!"

"I dunno.." Jaden replied. "What about you? Do you know how we got here? What's the last thing you could remember?"

Petra looked down in uncertainty. "My head is all jumbled up.." she muttered. "But last thing I remember is.."

"What?" Jaden anticipated Noor's response.

"I was with Alex and Soony at the dance.." she answered.

She was at the dance too, Jaden thought. If there is one thing in common between every 'real' person I encountered, it's that they were all at that dance. But if that's true, and being with Sonny and Alex is the last thing her memory could recall...

My sister is here, too!

Both Eugene and Julia looked at Jaden as the former said "Jaden, what's the problem..?"

Responding to his friend, Jaden turned towards him. "We're in trouble.." he said. "All those who were at the dance... they're all here..!"

"What..?!" Eugene's eyes widened.

"It was a set up..!" Jaden's eyes widened. "Someone trapped us here.."