Ralf had his usual sharp face, looking exactly the same as he did four hundred years ago. He wore a red cap under which was a wide, warm smile that wavered as he slowly recognized Elyas.
It was the same for him. He had believed he'd lost him, abandoned his friend just to save himself. Elyas opened his mouth several times to speak, but he couldn't find anything to say. Ralf broke the silence between them.
"...Sir, may I take your order?" he asked, shooting nervous glances towards his manager every now and then. Eventually adjusting himself and regaining his original warm, friendly attitude, Ralf asked again.
"Sir, may I take—"
"Why are you acting like this?" Elyas cut him off, making his discomfort at Ralf's cold attitude clear. Ralf turned pale. He gulped, speaking quieter, trying his best not to let his smile drop. "I don't understand what you're talking about sir."
Elyas was speechless. He watched the man he knew now act like a total stranger. "Ralf, can't you remember me?" Ralf turned silent, avoiding eye contact. Noticing that his manager was looking at him, he quickly leaned towards Elyas and whispered in his ear, "Come at eleven. We'll meet at the fountain."
"What—" Just as Elyas opened his mouth to ask, a fat man in a red shirt stained with grease came over. He put his hand over Ralf's shoulder and spoke. "What is going on here? Are you harassing my employees?"
Ralf jumped in. All traces of nervousness or unease had vanished, replaced by a warm, friendly smile. "Oh no, our customer was just asking about the best meal we have to offer. He was diligent in his demands, so I told him…"
He leaned in towards his manager, saying something to him. The fat man's expression slowly turned into a big grin as he reevaluated Elyas.
"Oh, you should have asked me. Although Joshua is one of our best employees and I didn't expect less from him, don't you think it's better to ask the restaurant's biggest customer?" the manager said, pointing at his round belly and letting out a chuckle.
Playing along, he made a timid, shy smile appear on his face. "Ah… sorry to bother your employee. I'll make sure to come to you next time. Also, when can I get my order?"
"Oh, no problem. Talking with a customer of your status is a pleasure. Your order will be done and delivered in a few minutes."
Joshua… so it isn't Ralf, it's his brother. To think he's still alive. Elyas nodded and went upstairs. He looked around the room filled with tables, bright white lights, and the same plainly colored walls for Noah and the giant. Josh… how did you survive? He walked further away from the open balcony behind him, and as he did, he realized something.
His weird behavior aside, this whole place is bizarre. As soon as I stepped in I couldn't think straight. Just what is happening here… As Elyas wondered, he found the giant's black braids peeking through the crowd. He went and sat beside Noah. And without wasting time he asked, "So, what is wrong with this store? And why does it try to mind-control me?"
Julius responded, surprise written all over his face. "I'm surprised you figured it out. You can't do shit in combat, but your sensitivity to Artifacts is high… not bad."
This bastard… Elyas was going to say something, but Noah picking up on it cleared his throat. "He isn't insulting you. In fact, the opposite. This is a valuable and rare talent you possess… As long as you're not a Bender or Supporter, that is."
Julius added, "This whole place is the owner's Wish. It's a long story, but that's how it controls weak-willed people. It's the owner's power."
Elyas nodded before asking Noah, "By the way, what are Benders?" He soon came to regret his question, as he found himself faced with stupefied expressions.
Noah blinked a couple of times. "Y-you don't even know that?!"
"Noah, can you remind me how the f*ck this guy managed to become a Heartless again?" Julius asked, his face not so different from Noah's.
Sorry, I was busy looking at nothing for a couple of centuries. Elyas couldn't help but joke inwardly. Seeing him stay silent, Julius' expression fell. "He really doesn't know! What have you gotten yourself into, Noah?!"
Julius was flabbergasted by what he was seeing. A True Legacy, someone who had survived from the very start, not even possessing common knowledge. He was unaware that Elyas hadn't survived, instead, he had skipped four centuries' worth of life experience.
"At least can you tell us what your powers are?" Noah enquired, trying to help him. "Uhh… I can put things inside my pocket dimension? I can also change its color." Elyas responded absent-mindedly, as if talking about someone else entirely.
"So you're either a Hoarder or a Space Bender… Just open a portal, door, or whatever you call it. Just use your power," Julius instructed him.
Within a few dozen seconds, a cubic rift opened mid-air, causing light to ripple like water around it. Seeing this scene, a few hateful glances were directed at Elyas.
Julius spoke, disdain written all over his face. "Ignore them." Elyas nodded.
"What do you think? I'm pretty sure he's a Bender." Noah said. The giant gave it some thought and after a while, he shifted towards Elyas. "There's one way to make sure. Hey, can you try shattering the window?"
"...It'll just break. Why would I do that?"
Julius stared at him blankly before face-palming. "Your ignorance will need some time to get used to… Just break it. Try to keep it together. Don't sever your connection with it. Anchor it."
Although not fully grasping the meaning behind Julius' explanation, he had a vague idea of what he was talking about. Over these past few days, Elyas had come to understand the windows a bit more.
It wasn't much, but at the back of his head, every time he opened a window, he would clearly feel a sharp pain. It was as if a needle was thrust in his brain. It tormented him as long as the window was around, and would disappear alongside it.
Don't sever your connection with it… anchor it… Elyas thought, grasping onto the pain instead of running away from it. At the same time, he pushed the window apart, trying to break it. Its light flickered because of this, Its rippling intensifying as it tore to pieces. Hundreds of small glistening shards floated about aimlessly, slowly dissolving into thin air like sugar in water.
Elyas' head hurt. His heart was pounding in his chest. And his mind, under the ongoing assault of "the connection" felt dizzy. He wanted to give up and let go. But he didn't. He grabbed onto one of the window's disappearing fragments. As his hand touched it, suddenly a new needle was thrust into his brain.
Got you! Elyas grabbed onto it, focusing his attention solely on it and letting go of the window's wider connection. In a flash of dazzling light, all the shards of the window disappeared. Only one small, fragile fragment was left in Elyas' palm.
Julius and Noah looked at him with shocked expressions. They couldn't believe he had done it immediately, on his first try. "Well, I'll be damned. He isn't that bad. Congrats, you officially learned your first Spell." Julius nodded with satisfaction, leading Noah to do the same.
"It's decided then. He's a Space Bender."
They spoke at the same time, agreeing with each other as they sized up Elyas. He wasn't paying attention though. All his attention was focused on the small fragment in his hand, glistening and making a strange humming noise.
If I can do this… just what else can I do? Elyas felt a rush of excitement, one he hadn't experienced since he was a child playing with Legos. With his good mood, he couldn't care less about the small needle in his brain.
All he cared about at that moment was that he had become more knowledgeable. It was what he wanted the most. He gave the two men sitting in front of him a cursory glance. Between the two sat a rusty hanging clock. It read:
10:43
Oh shit!
"I'm leaving. I got somewhere to be," Elyas said as he hurriedly grabbed his brown suit and left.
Noah and Julius didn't have time to properly react. Before they knew it, Elyas was already outside. He walked in the cold and down several cramped alleys towards the town square. Near it was a park, and in it was the only fountain in Mistwood. He would get an answer tonight, even if it's not something he wanted to hear.
…
In the Protocol's, sixth floor. In cell 201.
A young blond boy with a striped patterned shirt sat on his bed in the dark. He seemed to have fallen asleep while sitting. "You're interesting Legacy. Very interesting," Cid muttered as he let out a soft sigh and opened his blue eyes. They shifted slightly before backing into his skull. Then they returned, now deep scarlet.
Too bad everything is already set.
As he was talking to himself, he heard the tapping of shoes from the end of the dark hallway outside. Moving closer towards his cell. Glancing slightly at the camera near the ceiling, he jumped off his bed. Pacing around and chewing his nails, he looked anxious. Worried. Perfect.
Someone put the keys in, the sound of the lock being opened lasted for mere moments before the door opened with a creak. Two Enforcers in white uniforms embroidered with golden patterns stood in the doorway.
"Cid Marionette, resident of west gate, you are hereby summoned to the fourth floor for further investigation."
Cid nodded hesitantly as he walked towards the Enforcers at his door and raised his hands. One of them put a cuff around the boy's hand and with that, they closed the door of cell 201 and walked down the hallway.