Silence prevailed at Aries's table. Both he and Roanna had nothing more to the conversation. With Emmet's condition being unknown, Roanna was not in the mood for their usual chatter, while Aries was never one to start a conversation.
They continued to have their lunch in the stifling silence until the bell rang and they went to class. Despite Aries's and some of the other students' strange behavior, the class continued normally, as most of the class and the teacher weren't fazed due to them not noticing anything wrong.
While Alice and Nina are slightly distracted, Aries and Roanna aren't able to focus at all. Throughout the entire class, the teacher's words were like a blur to them.
When Aries came back to his senses, school was over, and he was standing outside the school gates.
Realizing where he was, his smile fell, and he was confused for a moment.
'How did I get here?'
He paused.
'No that doesn't matter. This is my chance.'
Fixing his bag, he went to find Alice. It took him a moment, but he eventually found her leaving the school building.
"Hey Alice!"
He waved.
She tilted her head, as if wondering what he wanted with her. She walked toward him despite this and asked:
"Hey… What do you need?"
Aries took off his bag and held it towards her.
"Can you keep my bag and take it home for me?"
She took the bag from him.
"Sure, but why?"
He smiled slightly and scratched his cheek.
"There is somewhere I need to go, but I don't know if I can be back before your parents come to pick us up."
She stayed silent for a second.
"They'll be worried."
He pat her shoulder and smiled.
"I'm sure you can tell them something to calm them down."
"...Sigh… Alright."
"Thanks!"
Not wasting any time, Aries ran off.
***
Aries had made his way into the town, swerving past the people in the streets and being careful not to hit anyone or knock over anything. Eventually, he made it to the town square, the very center of Lios.
He stopped before a stone statue that depicted the founder of the town. Apparently, he was a very ambitious man who was said to be a member of the royal family. He left the royal palace as a way to make a life for himself about a hundred years ago.
Aries shook his head.
'No, that's not what I'm here for.'
He focused on the area around him. The town square served to connect the four sections pf Lios through the main roads. Aries and Alice come from the western section, while the Backstreets where Emmet lived were located in the deeper sections of the southern section.
Looking at the four main roads around him, Aries located the southern road and began running down it the moment he did.
***
Finally, He was in the Backstreets.
'I can finally start investigating.'
Aries took a look around, and to say the least, it was bad. Not only was the area poor, but it seemed that it was also being neglected.
The buildings in the area had a building style different from the one typically used in Lios. It seemed quite ancient. The buildings were stained with dirt and cracked. The deeper he went, the worse it got; the buildings were now broken and overgrowing with vines. People who were lying on the streets became more common deeper in as well.
Aries looked at the brown bag in his hand that he had taken from his bag.
'Luckily, I prepared.'
He walked up to one of the people lying on the roadside and called to him.
"Hey, you."
The man shifted. His hair was long and disheveled, covering his eyes, but it seemed that he woke up.
"Can you help me? I'm looking for someone."
The man frowned before sitting up and looking directly at Aries.
"Hey kid, this ain't the kind of place for you, leave."
Aries put on an innocent expression.
"But I'm looking for someone."
The man clicked his teeth.
"I don't care."
Aries pulled out a piece of bread from the bag.
"Will you help me for this?"
The corner of the man's mouth twitched, and saliva leaked from his mouth.
"Who are you looking for?"
A satisfied expression flashed on Aries's face for a second before the innocent act continued.
"Do you know someone named Emmet?"
The man thought for a moment.
"The name might be familiar. What does he look like?"
"He is about my age and has black hair and purple eyes."
The man listened attentively. As Aries mentioned that the person he was looking for had purple eyes, he perked up.
"I think I know where you can ask to find him."
"Really? Where?"
"I'll tell you, but give me that bread first."
Aries paused.
"...Fine."
He handed the piece of bread to the man, to whom the man told him about a specific store.
"Thanks!"
Aries left the man and continued to ask around. Each person he asked pointed to the same place, confirming that it was the place to go.
Once he confirmed it, Aries headed for the store that the people were pointing him to.
Pushing the door open, he called out.
"Hello!? Anyone there!?"
A chubby man walked around from the back and stooped at the counter.
"I'm here, I'm her— eh?"
The man paused as he saw Aries.
"Look, kid, where are your parents?"
"They're gone."
"... so what are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for someone, and everyone told me to come here!"
"Who are you looking for?"
"Emmet!"
"Who?"
"A black-haired boy with purple eyes."
The man perked up.
"Oh, Him… Look, I don't know where he is, but I can tell you the area he always runs to."
***
"This should be the area."
The store owner didn't know the exact location of where Emmet lived, but he at least knew the general direction.
Aries walked around the area, assessing it while comparing it to the dream to find Emmets home.
He walked around for about half an hour before he found a location that matched up with the dream. The buildings were all cracked and broken, vines infesting each and every one of them.
'Seems like this is one of the worst off areas.'
Suddenly, a young boy with short red hair takes his wrist and runs with him. Sensing no danger, Aries allows it to happen.
'Wait, isn't this one of the kinds that were with Emmet?'
The boy brings him to a corner nearby with the rest of the children who were with Emmet. There were five children in total: the red-haired boy who took him here, a small, light blue-haired girl, a black-haired boy and a black-haired girl who seemed like twins, and a purple-haired girl who resembled Emmet.
The purple-haired girl spoke:
"Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"
"What?"
Aries said in confusion.
"What would hurt me?"
The girl pursed her lips and stayed silent for a moment before answering.
"You were going to our house, right? You might not believe us, but monsters have taken our home."
Alerted, Aries let her continue.
"Last night we heard noises outside, and when I went to check, there was a pool of blood outside."
She paused, tears welling up in her eyes.
"A-and when I realised, I ran back in to wake the others, but when I did, one of us was missing, and a trail of blood was leading into the kitchen. I took a peek, and two red eyes stared back at me. After that, we ran from our house and came here.
She wiped her tears.
"We were about to leave when we saw you and took you here to warn you."
As Aries listened, his eyes widened.
'Was the vision wrong? Did he—'
The thought alone made an unknown emotion well up within him. Turning around, Aries spoke with a calm voice:
"I need you guys to leave. I'm going to check it out."
The girl jumped up in worry.
"Didn't you hear what I just told you?!? There ar—"
"I heard you."
He didn't let her finish speaking.
"Then—"
Turning his head back, he glared at the girl, his eyes becoming like knives, grim with rage. The girl shrank back, and Aries continued on his way to their house. Once he got there and entered, he heard the constant pattering of rat feet scurrying around, alerted by his presence.
Squeak!
A deep squeak echoed in the room he was in, followed by the sound of pattering that was too large to be a rat.
This didn't bother him, though. Then, he spoke.
"You know…"
The pattering got louder.
"Snakes are the natural enemy of rats!"
The pattering got closer.
Aries twisted around and threw a fist, heavy as it was imbued with his chi.
BANG!