“Alice! Hah… hah… ALICE! Where are you!?”

Ara heaved herself along the streets, shoulder barging her way against the crowd in search for her precious cousin. She trampled on the feet of others, sweat dripping from her cheeks as she desperately bargained with the world for Alice’s safety.

“ALICE! Please… Alice!” Even when she was out of breath, she’d endlessly call out her name hoping to find her. Her body wasn’t as strong as it used to be, and this was the first time she’d engaged in anything more strenuous than a light jog.

Her body tilted forward. If she stopped running, then she’d collapse.

No. To begin with, Ara was never really that strong. A musician’s strength mostly came from their vocals, magic, hand dexterity and coordination. There was no such thing as a fit composer, hence why they were seen as a joke in combat until recently.

“Move! Get out of the way! I have to – I have to find her! Alice!”

She threw herself into alleyways as the crowd became harder to weave against. The long staircases and canals underneath were winding like a maze, but she had a better chance of finding her there since Alice was the explorative type.

During these afternoon hours Alice was supposed to be at the Academy. However, today was called off when Justica Arms personnel informed all educational facilities to shut down until further notice.

This was one week ago.

They knew something was up. The Ateliers were aware of this in advanced and yet –

“I couldn’t become a Moon. If I’m incompetent, then what the hell are you all!?”

– The ground quaked, nearly throwing her off a flight of stairs. She luckily grabbed onto the railing and flipped herself onto the other side. Although, her oversized chest got caught between, causing the buttons of her shirt to come flying off.

She wore a tracksuit far too large for her to wear, yet at the same time was too small to zip up due to her chest. Her face was flushed red after drowning herself in alcohol following her rejection to become an Aspiring Moon.

Frustration rattled in her head like pinballs. She found the nearest canal, collapsing over the edge as she vomited her guts out before dragging herself forward, puke dribbling down her chin.

“Alice… Please! Alice!”

As stubborn as she was, there was no way she was going to put herself before Alice. This wasn’t the first time Alice was stuck in a similar situation. In fact, most of Alice’s life wasn’t all sunshine and happiness that regular children of the Nex Megalopolis were so used to.

Because just like her, she was born in hell. Ara knew the eyes of a child that had only seen fake stars all their life.

And Alice was one of them.

S7 was one of the worst Sectors of the City of Spades, and Ara survived by sheer grit and by clawing her way into positions that rendered her safe, even if it was only temporary.

The children of S7 were no different to Alice who couldn’t bear to see the world for what it was, opting to paint the red in delusions as a coping mechanism. Ara moved like a rat in the sewers of H5, her strained voice reverberating through pipelines and vacant waterways.

The only answer she received were her echoes.

The skies darkened. Alice was nowhere to be found. Yet Ara didn’t give up no matter how much her legs wanted to fall off. Her tracksuit was drenched in sweat, and she brought a hand to her nose to wipe away a stream of blood.

No wonder they didn’t see me as a Moon Candidate. I suck at this… I have no one here to rely on or call. That wolf girl... she was just being considerate of me. That’s why she let me try to become a Moon like her. Dammit…

There were few people in Ara’s life who came to her rescue. Every single one of them were dead except Hellen and Alice. It wasn’t until her capture by ImpulseWorks did she made friends for the first time in this polarizing mess of a city.

Her attitude was too straightforward for normal people. Her presentation evoked the atmosphere of a gangster or worse, a member of a Syndicate. But in this body, she appeared as harmless as any other denizen of H5 her age.

If only she hadn’t changed.

Then she’d have a better chance of finding Alice.

… first me, now Alice. Just when we thought everything was going to be alright!

“Alice! ALIC –!?”

She came across an underpass hidden away from the light of the main strip. The recluse was buried behind a maze of concrete stairs and pillars. A scream here would be drowned by the stampede of hundreds above. Even then, that was if the sound could make it to the surface at all.

A canal separated her from five figures that had a short, white-haired girl surrounded. At first, she thought it was Alice and was about to scream out her name, but the moment she realized it was a healer, she took to the shadows.

“Tch. Did you hear that? I think someone’s onto us.” A man looked towards Ara’s direction, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

She hid behind one of the pillars, pinching her nose as she breathed through her mouth. People normally choose to clutch their mouths in similar situations. Ara, however, had the experience to know that breathing through the mouth was far quieter than through the nose.

It was one of her survival techniques she learned from living in the City of Spades.

“Who cares. The Atelier bastards are too busy on the surface. With this…” A blue, glowing object was inserted into the healer’s mouth.

Anti-healing rocks? Are they trying to disable healers or something?

“Ouch…!” The healer winced; her jaw forced shut to swallow the object.

“We have another healer on our hands. Funny how easy they are to come by now. That’s fifty now.” A woman grabbed the healer by the hair, flaunting her around like a prize. “Keep them tight-lipped. Cut off all lose ends. If not…”

She then dragged a finger along her wrist.

“Cut them off. All of them. You know how thorough we have to be.”

All the shit from my Sector is spilling all over the place. What are they? Solemn Paw? That’s one of their signs. No… Solemn Paw was destroyed a long time ago. So who are they?

This had nothing to do with Ara. As a matter of fact, her survival instinct told her to lay low and let them take the healer away with them.

No point in getting involved. I just want to see Alice again…