Outcasted

"Put the Stone in the Black Rock so it could be filled again.."

.

.

With these parting words, Jaden and his three companions embarked on their quest to recharge the mysterious Light Stone. They returned to the ever lively streets of Flowershade. People wearing very little clothing filled the narrowed streets, and as a result, Jaden and the others got their shoulders bumped every other minute. But not all of the city streets were closely spaced. It was only the roads near the great walls that were crowding. The four were in fact out of options. Since they had to sneak into the city through the pipelines, they figured it was their only route in and out of Flowershade for the time being.

While making their way through the city, the four were wondering about the exact location they were headed.

"We're literally going on a wild goose chase.." Jaden sighed.

"If only grandpa was more specific.." Petra grumbled.

"But a large black rock wouldn't be that hard to spot, right?" Eugene said.

"We still can get lost in the desert, you know." Julia told him.

"It's fine." Eugene replied. "We can always ask around for directions."

"You can only count so far on the kindness of strangers.." Jaden muttered.

This is bad, he thought. We don't have a map of the place, and we got no source of concrete info. Time isn't on our side, either. The banquet is tomorrow, and that Council might get his hands on the Key any minute!

—If only things can just get easier..

As Jaden was deep in thought, the group arrived to the same place they entered the city through. It was an abandoned large pipe that opened the way straight towards the outskirts.

"Hey!"

A familiar voice reached Jaden's ears. Once he and the others turned to see, they found none other than a nearly ten year-old boy with short orange hair and green eyes.

"Ta—Talkid..!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Hey, what are you doing here?!" Eugene asked.

"Thought you guys might need a guid through the desert." replied Talkid.

A small bag dangled from his shoulder down to the waist had drawn Jaden's attention.

Looks like he got some errand of his own, huh, he thought to himself.

The group proceeded by paving their way through the giant pipe. They went in line, similar to the way they used to get into the city.

"All right, now, follow me!" Talkid raised his fist forward after they all had made it out of Flowershade.

The yellow sand stretched to no end. Walking here for the second time, the group seemed not as bothered by the scorching heat. With the aid of Talkid, Jaden and the others traversed across the desert with less worry. However, Jaden couldn't help but be concerned. Last time, they were attacked by a group of criminals, plus a giant spider-monster. His memory of traveling on foot like that was far from encouraging.

"Hey Talkid, didn't you once see a large monster-like insect..?" Jaden stuttered at the end of the question.

"Hmm.." the little boy thought for a moment. "I don't know much, but everybody calls them Landers."

"I thought they were demons.." Eugene cracked an awkward laugh.

"Not really..They're like animals, right? Something like that.." Talkid said. "Grandpa said once that they were created by the Archian himself."

"Monsters created by Titan..?" Petra wondered.

"There's still a lot we don't know!" Julia said.

Jaden noticed as Petra avoided locking eyes with Julia, and continued her way without giving her a thought.

Seems like even Noor can't get along with Safi, he thought. Isn't that a bit harsh? Not like I'd be the one to judge, but what has ever happened between them? If we seriously continue to wall off each other like that, we wouldn't even stand a chance against this fantastical virtual hell..

Speaking of virtual hell, Jaden's train of thought sat in motion. My theory is getting closer and closer to be correct. Whoever designed Lacrima was intending on mimicking various aspects of humans life. The emulation of things like pain and death, segregation and suspicion, and even human trafficking. These were behaviors sprung from lack of freedom. This was all part of a greater picture. Even if it warps itself in a distinct trope-esque theme, the intention is resoundingly clear. Lacrima is a life simulation..

While en route, Talkid stopped. His hands gripped tight on his bag. "Hey, is it okay, if we go to a small graveyard near a refuge camp in the Sahara?" he asked. "There's something I need to deliver.."

"What's that about?" Eugene tilted his head.

"It's okay," Petra said. "We'll go."

Jaden noticed that Petra had caught on Talkid's true motives. He looked at her face, and Petra received the conformation.

"Are we there yet?" Jaden asked.

"Almost." Talkid started running ahead. "Come on, let's hurry up!"

After sprinting several meters across the Sahara, Talkid, Jaden, and the others reached the foretold location. It was a small hill, completely made of sand. And on its tip, stood a large black rock with sharp edges. As the group approached the rock, they found a carved depression in its front, coupled with scripted symbols.

Once he dusted the sand off, Jaden recognized the engraved symbols.

It's written in Runic!, his eyes widened. But that means this rock is an ancient relic!

"It's Runic." Talkid said.

"You know about this language, Talkid?" Eugene asked.

"Only a little. My brother used to read it." he replied. "He had learned it back in the military.."

That's weird, Jaden thought. Why didn't he mention this brother before. And why using past tense..?

"Can you read what's on it?" Petra gestured toward the rock.

"Yeah.." Talkid peered at the Black Rock. "...From the deep, the Archian calls...Yet on deaf ears, the god's tongue falls...Way below the clouds—down he..?"

"—Crawls." Jaden finished. "Way beneath the clouds, dropped down, he crawls."

Talkid stared at Jaden in surprise.

"Heh," Eugene smiled. "As expected from our demon hunter. Your Runic skills are top notch!"

"Yeah—yeah.." Jaden took the Light Stone out, and inserted inside the depression on the Rock.

~Glow!

The moment the Stone fitted inside, the Black Rock shone blue for few seconds, and then began blinking a faint neon cyan color. The Stone was also blinking slowly. It seemed to Jaden as though the stone was indeed charging. "Looks like we did it.." he mumbled.

"It's charging!" Eugene threw his fist to the sky in relief.

"So, we just wait for it to fill up?" Petra asked.

"I guess so." Jaden shrugged.

"What about the Runic passage?" Julia asked while narrowing her gaze to avoid Jaden. "Isn't it important? What does it even mean..?"

"Eh, Mado..?" Eugene tucked him.

"W—well, it seems to me like the story of how Titan ended up falling..." Jaden replied while staring at the blinking Stone.

"Titan, huh..?" Petra said.

"Maybe, if the Astrals remained, things might've been different." Julia added.

Talkid gritted his teeth, "If the Astrals—If Titan was here, Deranna wouldn't have to disappear..and my brother.."

Noticing the little boy's frustration and grief, Eugene approached him. "Hey Talkid," he said. "You really hate the empire?"

"How can I not?!" Talkid turned to face him. "Because of them, I lost my brother!"

"Oh..Sorr—!"

~GHURRRRRRR!

Eugene was cut off by a sudden booming earthquake. The sandy ground beneath his feet shook vigrously, and slid him, and the others down the hill.

"EVERYBODY, WATCH OUT!" Jaden shouted.

"Whaaa!" Petra tried to hold her ground with her Light Knife, but it was futile. "The sand is getting on my nerves!"

"Haaaaa!" Julia yelled as she fell.

The moment they settled near the bottom, Eugene forced his dust filled eyes open, and saw the entire hill grew upward, sweeping the desert sand away. And from underneath emerged a gigantic being.

"Whoa..!" he yelled.

"Wha—what's happening..?!" Julia exclaimed. Her voice was shaking out in fear.

The large creature was made of huge rocks adjacent to one another to form a muscular humanoid body with a rhino-like head and a thick tail.

"GURRRRRAAAAAAAHHH!!"

Jaden got up on his feet, and immediately locked his UI to the colossal monster.

HP: 60,000

Lv.: 550

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Jaden's jaw dropped in shock. That giant monster before him was stronger than anything he ever had to fight.

We have no choice, he told himself. It's either that monster goes down, and we get the charged Stone, or die trying..

Jaden summoned both his Engineblade and the Blue Rose Sword. "Majd!" he tossed Eugene his weapon. "We gotta beat this thing!"

"This is seriously givin' me Dejà vú, and not the good kind." Petra said as she materialized twin Light knives.

"Huh..!" Julia stepped back in dread.

"You stay back with Talkid." Eugene told her. "We'll take care of this."

"Gurrraahhhhh!" the monster pushed it's huge claws through the sand and directed them onto Jaden and the others.

"Jump!" Jaden said just in time. And the three dodged the assault.

~BAMMM!

He's slow, Jaden thought. We can take advantage of that. But still, with this attributes, he must also be high on defense. I gotta find his week-point.

Jaden charged toward the rocky-monster on his own.

"Haaaaaaa!" his blade glowed green, [Sonic Leap]!

Jaden used his fast paced Skill, but as soon as his sword collided with monster, his body halted.

~Clank!

"Ugh!" he struggled against the rocky-monster's impenetrable torso.

The monster then, leaned backward, and shook Jaden off as if he was a little bug.

"Gotcha!" Eugene ambushed the monster from the back. "Arial Swift!"

~Clank!

Eugene's attack was literally blocked by only the monster's rocky back. He then turned toward the golden-brown haired boy, and punched him with his gigantic rocky fist.

~BAAAM!

"AHHHHH!" Eugene flew for couple of meters before hitting the sandy ground.

"Majd!" Julia ran toward him.

~Thwip!

Petra threw a knife at the monster eye, but it only managed to grab his attention.

"Take that you hard piece of shit!" she shouted.

"Hey Noor!" Jaden waved to her. "Could ya keep his hands busy?"

"I'll give it a try!" Petra smirked, and put two knives next to each other. And a second later, they fused to form one long white blade. "That's more like it!"

Petra leaped against the rocky-monster. "Haaaaa!"

"GUUUUUUHH!" the huge monster pushed both hands at the gothic girl. Petra swang her weapon against him, and managed to hold off his attack.

~DAAAANG!

"Damn.." Petra's feet were pressed against ground.

The impact pushed Petra across the sand. But she kept her composer as she transformed the white blade into an orb of energy.

"HAAAAAA!" Petra shouted from the top of her lungs as a blast of energy peirced through the monster's hands

~BEAM!

~BLAST!

"Are you okay?" Julia asked Injured Eugene. His forehead was beaded with blood and sweat.

"I—I have to.." he managed to utter.

"No, you shouldn't move! You're bleeding!" she held him, and then—

~Soft Glow!

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

"I don't know, but your wounds are—" Julia was speechless. She couldn't believe her eyes.

A soft purple light emitted from her was healing Eugene's wounds altogether.

"The pain—is disappearing!" Eugene said cheerfully. "Safi, that's amazing!"

"I...well—have no idea!" the ginger haired girl stuttered with tinge of happiness in her tone.

"Are you two okay?" Talkid ran to them.

"Yeah!" Eugene got back on his feet. "Let's go help them!"

After her energy blast, Petra succeeded at forcing the rocky-monster to lose balance.

"Madz, it's all yours!" she yelled while catching her breath.

Jaden ran as fast as he could, and hopped on the gigantic creature's arm. He ran over it until he reached the rhino-shaped head.

"[X-ROUNDER]!" he shouted as his sword slashed in an 8-figure with a flashing speed.

~SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

As he was falling back on the ground, the monster twisted his large body to deliver a tail-swipe

"Oh no, you won't!" he said as he fell toward the monster's body.

Right before the impact, Jaden chose a new Skill. His body twisted abruptly in mid-air as he was falling head first.

[Urmagidar]!, his Engineblade glowed white, and collided with the monstrous thick tail.

~Baaam!

"Giaaaaaaahhhh!" Jaden pushed against the rocky-tail. And a blast of crushing wind tossed the monster farther away, shattering its tail completely.

~CRUMBLE!

"Guuuuuuu!" the monster roared in pain.

"Heeeeyyyy!" Eugene, Julia, and Talkid ran toward Jaden and Petra. "Did you beat it?"

Jaden locked his eyes on the monster.

HP: 45,783

"Not yet. Keep your guard up!" Jaden gripped harder on his sword.

Shit, he thought. Even my strongest Skills didn't do much. This ain't gonna be an easy one.

"Hey, look out!" Petra pointed toward the hard rocky-monster. He twirlled his giant,body, and jumped up high with a gush of wind.

~Fhaaaam!

"What's happening..?" Eugene asked.

"Did he just disappear—?" Julia asked.

"No...!" Jaden uttered as he looked up. He saw something falling back with a destructive speed. In that moment of desperation, Jaden's mouth shouted spontaneously while his body strided as farthest away as possible. "EVERYBODY, RUN!!"

While fleeing for his life, Talkid noticed his bag had slipped and fallen down behind him. "Oh no, the bag!"

He wanted to go and grab it, but Eugene pulled his hand and dragged him along. "Talkid, let's move!"

As the others scattered in different directions, the gigantic monster hit the ground in an enormous blow that wiped the sand up to the sky, and shattered the ground.

~BOOOOM!

"Ahhhh!"

After the massive impact, the group heard Jaden's groan. The monster must have had aimed at him from the start. When the dust had cleared a little, they hurried to his aid.

"Jaden!" Eugene yelled.

"Ugh.." he tried getting up, but the pain hindered him.

Jaden's UI was showing him a blinking red light. His HP was near zero.

No, not now—not like this!, he breathed heavily. I can't just die here. There's still so much I need to do..

"Stay with me, okay?" Julia dropped down on her knees next to him.

"..What're you doin'?.." Jaden forced his fading voice out.

"Not sure.." she touched his wounds. And in split second, the soft purple light immersed the injured boy.

What's this strange warmth?, he noticed the HP bar was being re-filled. Is this healing magic?!

~Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Damn!" Petra materialized a single long blade of light in her hands. "That hardass monster is coming our way!"

"We have to stop him!" Eugene stepped forward.

"GUUUAAAAH!" the rocky-monster marched towards them. He held his fists upward to deliver another destructive blow.

"Now!" Petra yelled as she and Eugene leaped to counter.

"[SHARP NAIL]!" he managed to block the monster's punch with the tip of his sword.

~Clank!

The rocky-monster pushed his other fist to toward Eugene, but Petra ambushed him right on time. "Like, hell you would!" an orb of bright white energy was accumelating between her palms. "RAGING BLAST!"

~Fhaaaam!

~Crush!

Petra's energy blast shattered the monster's left hand entirely. "GUUUUU!"

"Raging blast..?" Eugene cracked a laugh as he landed on his feet.

"You guys all scream your moves like idiots, so I thought I give it a try." she replied.

"Idiots..?!" he stammered.

The now damaged rocky-monster got back up, even angrier than before. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

He jumped sky high again to deliver another deadly blow.

"No, not again!" Eugene cried.

"We wouldn't survive it this time. At this rate, Madz will.." Petra clenched her jaw.

"Ugh...You guys go! We can't all die in here!" Jaden yelled. "Now, HURRY!"

"Stop talking, you're still healing." Julia grabbed him tight.

"You too, Safi. You gotta get outta here!" Jaden tried to get off her grip. "I'm done for! Majd is gonna take care of everything from here on—"

"Shut up!" she interjected. "We'll survive.."

Petra, Talkid, and Eugene ran a bit farther away from the hill. Few seconds afterwards, the monster started descending.

"Julia! Jaden!" Talkid shouted.

"The monster is falling back!" Perta yelled while looking at the meteor-like rock that was few meters above their heads.

At that moment, Julia let go of Jaden, and stood, facing the falling monster. Her right hand glowed dark purple and as she stretched it ahead. a flat energy field materialized before her body.

~Baaaam! ~Flinnnnn!

With a direct hit, the rocky-monster crashed onto the energy field, unable to break it, but instead, being pushed back up.

"...Reflecta..."

"Huh..?!" Jaden heard Safi whispering something, and the force-field shone bright.

"GUUUUAAAAAHHH!" the monster began to groan out. His rocky body cracked as light pierced through gradually until he vanished completely.

~Splash!

The sky around the two snowed glitter.

"Is he..gone..?" Jaden whispered.

Noticing the enemy had been defeated, Eugene and the others approached Jaden and Julia.

"Whoa! Safi, that was amazing!" Eugene walked up to her.

"Madz, what was that..?" Petra supported him.

"..The spiteful Mana.." he mumbled in surprise.

The huge rocky-monster had finally disappeared, and Jaden and his comerades went back to the tip of the hill to pick up the fully charged Light Stone.

"Here." Jaden took the Stone off of the Black Rock, and showed it to his comerades.

"Is it really full-charged?" Petra asked.

"Well, it's glowing blue now." Eugene replied.

"And it's warm." Jaden said.

"Thank goodness we survived to see this." Petra sighed in relief.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have done it if Safi didn't do all of the cool things!" Eugene looked at the ginger haired girl.

"Uhh, it was all weird!" Julia raised both her palms defensively. "Not like I knew what I was doing, really.."

"We really owe you one," Eugene smiled. "Right, Mado?"

Jaden immediately averted Julia's gaze, "Ye—yeah.."

A sigh escaped Eugene as he saw both of his friends looking away from each other. "You guys make things awkward.."

"Uhh, guy..?" Petra shifted her fellow comrades toward Talkid who was walking up to them as he held his torn bag with the blue face.

"Oh my God.." Eugene mumbled.

"Talkid, are you okay..?" Julia asked reluctantly.

The little orange-headed boy shrugged while puting out the damaged bag. "I don't really think so..."

"Sorry, pal." Petra said.

"Do you still wanna go to that camp?" Jaden rested a hand on his shoulder.

Talkid kept his head hung for few seconds; not sure what to say. "...Yeah. If that's okay with you guys." he said. "It's better than not going at all.."

The sky had began to turn orange; the evening in the Sahara had a very rich texture, or so Jaden thought. After a couple of meters, the group arrived at the camp. There were around ten or eleven tents holding their ground straight ahead of them. But as Jaden saw, Talkid didn't care about the camp. The boy steered along the way to the right end of the camp. At that spot, the group found epitaphs for a number of graves. Petra and the others kept watching Talkid in utter silence as he went to stand before one of the graves. "Sorry, I couldn't bring your favorite flower this time.." he said. "I had it with me, but stuff happened—"

"Talkid..?" Jaden uttered.

"This is my brother Benn.." Talkid said. "He was a soldier in Deranna's main force."

"He died in the war..?" Petra asked.

"Yeah, but not on the battlefield.." Talkid replied. "If he did, his grave would be in the honored graveyard. But Benn was...."

Tears came down the little boy's face as he dropped to his knees. "Benn was killed as a traitor.." he cried. "Everyone said that he helped Captain Helsem kill the king. They said that Afallan took our land because of my brother.."

A graveyard for the dishonored, Jaden thought as he gazed around. This kid comes all this way to here every time just to stand upon his brother grave. It must've been hard! I bet that how those criminals kidnapped him back there..

"But, your brother wouldn't have done such a thing, right?" Eugene said.

"Benn loved our king and loved Deranna! He always used to tell me to defend those I love no matter what!" Talkid smacked the dusty ground with his fists. "—It was Helsem! He was the real traitor! He was the only one who should die! My brother——my brother...was innocent..."

As he weeped, a hand reached his shoulder. When he turned, Talkid found Eugene and Petra. "Don't worry, we believe you." Petra said.

"I'm sure Benn is up there somewhere looking at you right now. He wouldn't like seeing you sad like that." Eugene told him. "So stand up! And get strong enough to clear his name."

"He's right. Man up, for your bro's sake." Petra added.

"You're sure..?" Talkid wiped his tears with the back of his hands.

"Count on it!" Eugene slammed his back.

Jaden and Julia stood behind, looking quietly at these three. Jaden didn't know what to say. Meddling too much was against his plans. And he didn't feel like telling Talkid something he wasn't sure of.

When they left the graveyard, Talkid was still unhappy. He traveled all this distance to visit his brother's epitaph just to arrive empty-handed. Once they walked back through the camp, Jaden saw lots of children residents around. The camp's ground was much more rocky than the rest of the desert. The air smelled like bonfire, and the tents aligned circularly all around. The area in the middle was full of children running and playing around. But among them, there was one familiar child. The second they walked sufficiently close, Talkid recognized the approaching kid.

"Huh?!" he exclaimed. "Lara, what are you doing here?!"

"Is that how to thank someone who came to rescue you?" she puffed her cheeks.

"You're still talking about that?!" Talkid folded his arms. "That's annoying, you know.."

"I didn't mean when we were kidnapped! I meant THIS!" Lara showed him an Orange Sunflower.

"Solas flower! That's my broth—" he exclaimed.

"I figured you'd lose yours on the way here, so I came waiting for you here just in case!" Lara said. 'As long as you don't get kidnapped again.."

"What?! HEY!" Talkid complained.

"Oh, Lara! You made it all the way here?!" Eugene asked.

"Ha ha!.." her face blushed.

With Lara's help, Talkid went back to the gravyard, and put the Solas Flowers near his brother's epitaph. Jaden and his comrades stood there and saw Talkid's smile stretching gradually as he and Lara stood next to each other under the endlessly stretched orange sky.

"Benn used to love them.." Talkid said. "He told me people give them to wish someone endless happiness."

"I'm sure he's happy!" Lara told Talkid. "As long as we're happy, he will be happy, too."

"Yeah!" Talkid smiled back to her.

" 'The shit is this crap!"

Meanwhile, back on top of the hill where the Black Rock sat, a strange figure in waist length black cloak, and a white mask, examined the depression on the Rock. After confirming that it was empty, the mysterious figure sighed, and motioned with his hand, and a flat square-shaped monitor appeared.

"Yo! The location you zapped me to is an empty tank!" he yelled in irritation.

"Did you find a big black rock?" said voice coming from the monitor.

"Hell I did! And the slot is empty! There's nothing in it.." replied the white masked person as he peeked at the Rock one more time.

"There has to be a mistake. The signal was detected mintues from now. What else do you see?" asked the voice.

The mysterious cloaked figure removed his mask to take a better look down his feet. He appeared to be a young male with a broad jaw and less than shoulders level, long straight black hair. While scaning the sandy ground, his eyes spoted something. "I spy with ma lil eye..!" he sneered.

"What?" asked the voice.

"Footsteps!" said the long hair guy sarcastically. "Somebody's already beaten me to it, ehh?"

"Then they must have taken it few mintues ago.." replied the voice. "There's a city near the desert you're at. Whoever has the glitch, they would probably go over there."

"Then, you know what you gotta do!" the long haired guy put his mask back on.

"And you know what's need to be done." replied the voice as a large portal with irrigular outlines showed up.

"Heeh.." the cloaked guy sighed as he walked inside. "And here I thought it's gonna be a quick trip.."

The road back was a breeze for Jaden and his companions. It appeared the Sahara was less windy during sundown. Jaden and his comerades, Eugene, Julia, and Petra along with Talkid and Lara had made it safely to Flowershade. Once they went back into the Underground, Jaden showed the now glowing Stone to old-man Borg.

"Ahh! That the appearance of a fully chargted Light Stone..!" Borg examined the blue gem.

"Will it work on the treasure room now?" Jaden asked.

Borg responded with a nod, and then, stretched the hand holding the Stone in front of him. And with his free hand, he drew a symbol with his finger in thin air.

~Quink!

"Oh.." Jaden furrowed his brows. "Is that..Mystic Art..?"

"Yes, this is but a little trinket." a small transparent white triangle grew out, and dissolved into the Light Stone. "It will guide the Stone to open the right door for you."

~Blink!

The white bearded old man handed back the Stone to Jaden. The latter's face was blinking in awe.

"Umm, Grandpa Borg," Jaden said. "You recognized me and my comerades as outsiders, and still you're helping us."

"Why?" he asked him.

"Because things are not meant stay put." Borg replied. "They say ruin will bring about creation. For you to seek about the Seven Keys of Azerrak could change this reality once more.."

——Change this reality..

While Jaden continued speaking to old-man Borg in his tent, Petra went with Lara to meet with the latter's employer, Mr. Otho about including Petra and her group to help in labor for the banquet. Meanwhile, Eugene and Julia decided to go shopping in the Underground market.

"Take a look at all of this money!" Eugene showed a pouch full of golden coins to Julia. "Didn't think that dungeon raiding can get you all of this!"

"The dungeon Mado got to..?" she tilted her head.

"Yeah, where he found Aya, and the first Key!" he replied. "Did you forget that I told you?"

"He he.." Safi giggled while looking away.

"Okay then—time to buy some stuff.." Eugene raised his fist in excitement.

"Yeah, I think I need new boots." she gazed down at her worn out shoes.

"Okay, let's start with that!" Eugene started running off through the market. "I saw a good shop earlier. Come on!"

"Haa—uhh, wait up!" Julia tried to catch up. But as she was distracted, her hurried body bumped into someone. "Oooh..!"

~Doff!

The accident had resulted in two people on the ground.

Julia realized that the other person dropped their groceries; so, she immediately gathered the scattered things.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said to the other person as they were picking the stuff up.

"It's fine. It was an accident." replied a faint feminen voice.

"Huh..!" Julia looked the other person in the eye. A young lady with promenent features, and golden eyes. Her hair and most of her body was covered by a transparent black long scarf.

"Hey!" Eugene waved from a distance. "What are you doing? The booth is over there!"

The mere seconds where Julia gazed at Eugene, the golden eyed woman had folded her things together, and walked away.

"Uhh, hey—!" Julia tried to reach her, but the woman had already gone on her way.

"Safi, what's the problem?!" Eugene walked back to her. "Did something happen?"

Julia got back on her feet, "No, it was just an accident.."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Julia glanced towards the direction that young woman went. Her heart squeezed in her chest for a moment. Did Julia and that woman knew each other? Julia wanted to ask. She wanted to go after her to know 'What was that just now?'. It didn't take long before the regret, crept deep within her.

"Ehhh, S A F I..?" Majd's voice rang suddenly in her ear, waking her back to the present.

"Oh!" Julia shrieked slightly. "Sorry, I just dozed off a little, he he.."

"Come on, then!" he turned toward the booth.

"Sure." she followed the golden haired boy into the milling crowd of the market.