In a shopping district, was Olive, walking on the sidewalk absent-mindedly. There were a lot of things for him to take in.
He had almost died.
If not for the mysterious floating blade blocking the bullet a while ago, then he might as well not be here.
Olive had no idea what that thing was, but he heeded it no mind. He can confuse himself with that sword some other time, because he had other things in mind.
He had often forgotten just how dangerous the world was... he had very much grown used to being on the winning side in a fight with a gangster that he had cast aside the chance of them carrying something dangerous, something that even he, despite being phenomenal in every aspect, could not avoid.
'Twilight...'
Though beautiful, crime was not absent in this city. It was just... he had been embraced so much by the safe and cozy surroundings, by his friends, by his family, that he had also forgotten that even something beautiful was capable of hiding something harrowing.
Didn't the loan collector say that it would not be the first time he killed someone when pointing the gun at him?
This exact sentence supported Olive's hypothesis, forming a sturdy pillar that was unable to prove it wrong...
Olive squinted his eyes.
The mysterious longsword was sitting calmly in his hand, it was unperturbed by what had just happened.
What was it?
He had not cared about its detailed origin and only wanted to know how much it was worth before. But now, he was dying for an answer.
"Boy! Why are you just standing there?"
Jumped a little, Olive noticed that he had already arrived at the antique shop. In front of it, Miss Lilith stood there with a thick leather book in her hand. Her face was full of questions.
"Miss Lilith? Oh, no, no, it's nothing, I was thinking about something..."
Tilting her head, she asked:
"What are you thinking about, boy?"
Olive paused, looking down somberly.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Miss Lilith looked at Olive for ten seconds. Seeing that Olive was truly in no mood to talk about it, she shrugged.
"Well anyhow, here. For you."
She said, giving out the thick leather book in her hand.
Frowning, Olive tentatively took it, studying it as soon as it lay in his grip. Confused, he asked:
"What's this?"
She raised a brow and looked at the book dismissively.
"That? It's an old book of course. What else would it be?"
"No, not that. I meant why are you suddenly giving it to me?"
She was silent, not answering his question for a while, before smiling and turned her back on him.
"Why not? It's been gathering dust in the antique shop for a while. About time for me to throw it out, actually. So you are doing me a favour boy! Very swish! Lol!"
Blinking, Olive stared at her back in bewilderment.
'Lol?'
Honestly, he just doesn't get it. What was it with elderly people from the early century spouting nonsense? There was not a single elderly person from the early twenty-first century who had not spoken something gibberish every time Olive bumped into them. Something like; lmao, lol, etc.
Hell, he even saw some old man suddenly posed out of nowhere in public, startling a lot of people, while yelling "Dab!".
He just doesn't get it.
Shaking his head, Olive was about to walk to the bus stop when he realized the stack of notes he carried.
Halting, he stopped Miss Lilith who was about to enter the shop.
"Wait!"
Miss Lilith stopped her track and looked at Olive confusedly.
Pulling out the cash, Olive then handed it to her.
"Here. Your money."
Miss Lilith, looked at the stack of cash in Olive's hand with wide eyes, then at him. Olive figured it was some sort of gratitude look, but he could not have been more wrong.
She looked... petrified.
"B–Boy... why do you have the cash?"
Taken aback by her, Olive hesitated. Rubbing the back of his neck, he answered:
"Umm... I took it back from the loan collector of course. Why?"
She blinked.
"T–That I understand... B–But why did you take it back? It's... It's not like I don't plan to pay him anyway."
'Wait... what?'
"The antique shop owes him money. Why would I want to take it back?"
'Wait, wait, wait.'
Eyes shaking, Olive let out a trembling voice.
"T–T–Then, why did you hit him when he tried to grab your money?"
With the same shaky look, she answered him swiftly.
"That's because he forcefully tried to take it... It's... It's for courtesy as people would say. If not for his rude behaviour, then I would have gladly given him the money... It's not like I don't have the money to pay him, just not all here."
Sweat ran down Olive's forehead.
"I...I see... Well, good to know then."
'Then did I experience the near-death situation for nothing?! Wait, actually, no, I did learned about not being careless when choosing who to fight.'
So that was a win. He guessed?
Suddenly, Miss Lilith laughed.
"Oh! How unexpected! Looks like I'll have to wait for another day to pay him this money then! Although, let's pray that they didn't raise the fees for something about taking back the money."
'Yeah, about that...'
Embarrassed, Olive looked away from her.
They then chatted for a minute or so when Miss Lilith bid her farewell.
"Well, you seemed rather busy at the moment. So I'm just going to leave our nice chat here. So long, boy!"
She said, entering her shop.
Olive too, bid her farewell and headed off. Fastening his walking pace to catch the bus.
While doing so, Olive gave the thick leather book in his hand a glance.
'A junk for me I guess.'
It was most unlikely for the book to serve a purpose for Olive. But he was not going to throw it either. So, it looks like there was a new book collection on his shelf for useless books now.
Lucky him...
...Not long after, he arrived at the bus stop safe and sound and waited for the next bus to come. After what felt like forever, the bus finally came and carried him on his way home.
During his ride, Olive noticed a few people giving him weird stares. Mostly were trying to figure out whether the sword he hugged was real or not.
'Oh, it's real alright. Look at it! How can it not be real?'
After giving the sword inwardly praises, he then looked out the window, enjoying the view outside in a daze.
Stop after stop, the huge vehicle then arrived at his pin location where he took a voluntary step out. It was already afternoon, so even though hours had passed since he left the penthouse at ten in the morning, mostly for the time it took for him to go to the antique shop, the number of pedestrians remained unchanged.
Lockson's Tower came into view as Olive approached the city's center, so was the underground parking lot meters away from him.
He entered the tower, took the elevator, and waited for it to reach the penthouse. Upon arriving, he jolted inside the penthouse, gave Eddie a greet who was dusting the counter when he saw him, and entered his bedroom.
The study chair sitting behind his study table was pulled as Olive sat on it. The thick leather book was put on the shelf next to the table, and the sword was laid on the table.
He sat there for a long time while staring at the longsword. As time passed, he picked up the sword again, and unsheathed it, revealing its pristine white blade, and gazed at his face reflected on it.
All doubts were gone now. This... this was definitely the same blade he had seen hovering over him.
Heart pounding, Olive, at long last, tried to put logic to the mysterious occurrence he had witnessed. A glowing flying sword? What the hell?! What on earth had he experienced?
He didn't know what to think! Nor does he feel like he could! It was like his brain refused to turn the gear! All of it seemed to unreal! And yet, it was true! Why does it have to be true?! He did not mind if this was a dream! As a matter of fact, he would be gladly to wake up now.
'...my head hurt.'
This was bad. Really bad.
Thinking about the blade already made his head hurt, half of it due to disbelief, but there was also the police... he had told the operator about the loan collector killing people before, making it more likely for him to be involved in police cases.
That said, he did try not to leave his trace as much as possible, by not touching the gun for example. Olive had not touched anything that might have left a fingerprint, other than the white cloth that was, though he doubted that his fingerprint had left a mark on it.
He sighed.
'Was it I who summoned it anyway?'
Lifting up the sword to his eye level, Olive recollected how and what he felt during the time when the gun was pointed at him.
At that time, nothing in his train of thought was thinking about anything else except his desire to live. He had been so scared that it would be his last moment to walk, his last moment to breathe, and his last moment to perceive the world.
And not just that, he was so scared that the last thing he would see was the muzzle of a gun pointing at him instead of a caring family and friends, mourning him on his deathbed. He didn't want that. He wants to die of old age. Relishing the thing that the world offers before finally letting out his last breath.
So, his mind refused to accept it. He was so opposed to the idea of dying by a gun that he even tried to will the bullet to stop. He willed his body to move. However, his body was not able to catch up to his unyielding will. The gap between his mind and his body in terms of strength was such. Thus, freezing him in place.
Anything... anything for him to live.
Then, he recalled something. It was nothing more than a split second, but, at that time, he remembered that he willed something to block the bullet. He was about to die, so it was only natural for him to think something illogical would happen.
And it did...
Taking a deep breath, Olive closed his eyes and willed for the blade to appear before him.
Seconds passed.
At that point, he was starting to think if whether he had imagined it. Just as he was about to lost hope, a sudden radiance, that he could not explain with words, permeated before him.
Opening his eyes, Olive saw the blade in front of him, floating, like he had last seen it. The light radiating from it was stark, beautiful... ethereal. It was just like the longsword, other than its naked handle, of course, the side of it blade was engraved with runes similar to the longsword. Their shape were the same, identical.
Abruptly, he stood up, making the chair fell. He looked at it, his eyes were opened slightly wider than it was, and so was his mouth.
He had... willed it to summon.
So... would it move if he tried to ordered it to?
Gulping, Olive tested out his hypothesis and moved his hand to the right... and the blade followed. Moving his hand to the left, the blade then hovered to the left.
'I am right after all. But does it follow hands movement only?'
Then, he ordered the sword to move around, not with his hand, but with his mind... And just like he had thought, it moved according to his will.
'Guess not then.'
...The sight of the sword, hovering left and right was alien... Olive did not know why he was all calm and such, but he didn't mind it one bit. In fact, he was almost... thrilled.
If it were other people, Olive didn't know how they wouls react. But if he had to take a guess, there would probably involve a lot of screaming and passing out.
Now, there was only one thing.
'How do I dismiss it?'
Just as he thought about that, the sword then dissolved into a fine, thin, glowing thread. The thread unraveled, pulled away from fabric that bond itself together, shaping the blade. When the weave came undone, the fine thread also dissapeared.
Olive was momentarily stunned. Gazing at where the blade had been in awe.
Snapping from his daze, he quickly planned on what he needed to do.
'Alright, first, I can not tell anyone about this freely. I had to choose someone responsible, someone who is trustworthy, of course, and some one who is not arrogant.'
He had thought about all the traits of the person he he planned to tell.
But who?
He only had two friends, two siblings and a father.
And he needed to choose one.
"Hmmm..."
He thought long and hard.
Finally, it was decided.
***
A phone on a wooden table rang in a bedroom that was not Olive's
Picking up the phone, the owner then pressed the green button on the screen and called:
"Hello?"
Then, an excited voice came.
[Victor! I have something to tell you! I'll meet you at your house!]