A large and blank place. At the center, a majestic and giant tree that ascended to the unbounded ceiling. A curious girl beheld the tree in the distance.

Naomi walked toward the mast of nature. Leaning against it was a lonely eight-year-old crimson-haired child.

“Hey... why are you alone?” Naomi asked.

The boy didn’t answer back as if she wasn’t there, in body and spirit.

“Ah, sorry. It’s obvious. You... have no one but yourself... just like me...”

A gentle breeze stirred the lad’s hair. He lifted his head and ran wild to the horizon of nothingness.

“Where... are you going...?”

A meaningless question. Not even he knew where he was going... or to where he should go. He was... running away. Running away from the loneliness, just like her...

The wind blew stronger, the leaves of the tree fluttered with a single gust as Naomi closed her eyes. She reopened them, her eyebrows raised. The child kept running against loneliness and sadness, against everything and everyone. Without hesitation. Always moving forward.

A female ran alongside the chap. A male joined them soon after. Slowly, throughout his growth, more and more people gathered around him. He... wasn’t alone anymore.

Naomi smiled, happy for the man’s deed, once a goldfinch that wouldn’t fly. However, he came to a halt, such as a broken machine. The folk that followed him went out of sight. The last person to leave, the woman, even tried to tell him something, but she gave up…

Naomi was next to the lad, now in his twenties, hoping to see the very same smile that allowed him to overcome all the past hardships. Nevertheless, despair won over hope.

 

...

 

“This time was a different dream” Naomi woke up.

Lately these weird dreams have been happening more often. Wonder why?

In case I haven’t introduced myself yet, my name is Naomi Setsuko, I’m 16 years old and I study at a local school in this huge asian island called Ganeden.

I’m not a brilliant student, although my mom always said I could do more and better. About my parents, today makes 3 years since my mother passed away from a chronic disease. As for my father, I never got to meet him because he died when I was little.

That said, I always had the support of my closest relatives and my friends never made me feel alone. Well, this last part is a lie.

Though I might look super cheerful, the truth is that each day for me goes by so slowly. I don’t have suicidal thoughts, notwithstanding I wish for a change in my life. At least I’d like to meet someone who could end this displeasure…

Naomi sighed and rolled over in bed. Right, how’s Lied doing...?

 

...

 

At the local police station, two detectives talked freely. They were part-timer Susumu Shinichi and Tatsuo Shinichi, son and father.

“Susumu, how’s school?” Tatsuo, seated, asked.

“Good” Susumu, standing, replied without looking away from the docs.

“If you’re having a hard time balancing both jobs, you can take some time off...”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to worry, Dad.”

Susumu picked a recent report from his father’s desk…

“This is...?”

“Ah, the accident of four days ago. Two people thought to be dead, although their bodies weren't found. The sole survivor, their son, is still missing.”

“Accident, huh...?”

“Interested?”

“Well... maybe a bit” Susumu gazed at Lied’s picture.

 

...

 

Late afternoon. Classes were over for today. Naomi left together with classmates as she wore her half-ass smile. Susumu waited at the entrance gate.

“So this is his school… what a coincidence.”

The girls swooned over the handsome detective, some even recognized him. Susumu questioned the students whether they knew the boy in the picture.

“He’s not very popular, huh... better ask the teachers.”

“Hum... I’m Naomi and I know that boy” Naomi approached Susumu.

“Susumu Shinichi, a detective who also happens to be a student at this school. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but he’s been missing since last week. His parents are dead and no living relatives are known. That’s why I wanted to talk with any friends or classmates who might have a clue to his whereabouts.”

Naomi listened, cagey. After everything Lied went through, she wasn’t at ease to tell him…

“Sorry, but I don’t know anything.”

“I see. Call me if you find something out in the meantime, please” Susumu cursed his bad luck and handed her a card with his phone number.

The detective moved off without trying to question more people.

 

...

 

Naomi only thought about getting home and resting her mind. The lass glimpsed a familiar face as she walked.

“You’re...!”

A 12-year-old red-headed kid stared for a moment at Naomi and then fled.

“Wait!”

 

...

 

Lied has no idea how many days he slept. He felt kind of dizzy, perhaps exactly due to sleeping too much. Lied sat on the bed of an unknown small room. Was that white hooded the one who brought him there?

Lied saw an apple on the nightstand, probably left by him. The irony!

Lied remembered the golden apple from the dreams and other chronologically linked memories: the face-off with the killer; the meeting with the “mysterious woman”; the white hooded and his question…

“I…”

The answer on the tip of the tongue, he set out to face his destiny.

 

...

 

Susumu didn’t overlook Naomi’s irresolute expression. She most certainly hid information from him. Susumu had to ask her later. After paying a visit to school, there was just one place remaining…

“DO NOT CROSS” all over Lied’s house. The site was already reviewed by the police.

“I'll have to do it this way” Susumu closed his eyes and touched the outer wall.

The burning house. Lied lifted up in the air before a long black-haired male. Lied fainted and the man smiled.

“This… is…?” he said while watching the flashback.

“A second person wasn’t expected” a voice spoke from the detective’s back.

When Susumu turned around, he was no longer there. The teenager rushed inside and drew the gun his father gave him for emergencies.

The 20-year-old suspect, light lilac eyes and curly black hair, wore an overcoat in the same color pattern as the killer…

“Who are you?!” Susumu asked.

“You’re finally here” the male said while he sat on the house steps.

“What?!” Susumu blurted out.

The shadow of a third person in the area lurked at the doorway…

“Looks like Zechariah was right. ‘He will definitely return... to the place where it all began’” the man quoted.

Susumu lowered his pistol and eyed surprised to his right side.

“That ‘Zechariah’... is the other guy?” Lied related.

“Who knows” the man replied.