Returning back to the familiar city, three weeks have passed since Ymeno started working for Kane. It’s a sunday afternoon, the sun shining brightly while the summer heat tired out everyone.

“Really? He did all that for his wife. How sweet.” An older woman says, sipping on her tea.

“Exactly, I was quite surprised too.” Ymeno replied in response.

Sitting inside a cafe on the higher area of the city, the place was decorated with all sort of antique collectibles and older seats and tables for the guests to drink and chat.

Ymeno would always invite his mother to this place, ever since he started working, once per month. It was routine at this point.

Yvonne Sunny is her name. Even while being AGE REDACTED, she still claims to be young at heart.

“Has the new job been any fun?”

“It’s a breath of fresh air. The gardens are all beautiful, and they grow super quickly, so i’m usually very busy.. for a few hours.”

“Still quick, hm? Do you still see it as training?”

“It’s become a habit. I don’t train anymore.”

“That saddens him, you know.”

Silence, followed with an apology afterwards. Truth be told, Ymeno hasn’t seen his sensei in years now. Ever since he stopped training, a feeling of disgrace loomed over his shoulders.

“Don’t let it get you down. See him when you’re ready, okay.”

Her eyes, the pupils of which were a very unique yellow color, moved towards Ymeno’s face.

“You know. I’ve noticed something.”

“What’s that?”

“You seem happier than usual, Ymeno. Your face normally doesn’t rest in a smile anymore.”

He didn’t notice it himself, but now that it was pointed out, it’s true. How long has this been there?

“I’m still worried that you’re not telling me everything, but i’m happy that you seem to smile more often, like I always told you.”

“I’m doing fine, alright. Don’t stress yourself out over me.”

A smile appeared on the mother’s face.

“That’s just a mother’s instinct.” She chuckled.

Ymeno looked at his watch. “I need to go. I’ve been invited to barbeque with Kane and the kids this evening.”

“How nice. Where?”

“The sea’s lookout.”

Yvonne pressed her hand against her cheek.

“Oh, that lovely place. Bear proposed to me there.”

She looked at her left hand, a surpisingly expensive ring adorning her finger. This made Ymeno chuckle, not exactly explaining why.

“I’ll walk with you.” Ymeno offered.

Yvonne gladly accepted, leaning against his arm, the two of them walked towards the lower area of the city, into the park that was so very familiar.

Down the path towards the flower garden is a crossroad, when you take the right path, you walk towards a single building. The sign in front displaying it’s name.

*Soluna Orphanage.*

Stopping in front of that sign, Yvonne turned around and hugged her son.

“Stay safe, alright. I’m always here for you.”

“I know.”

With goodbyes having been exchanged, Ymeno went back home to ready himself for this evening. 2 hours passed, and the sun was still shining, even though it was 7 P.M. The sea's lookout was a bit further away from his house, so the decision to bike was quickly made.

Meanwhile, Kane was busily preparing a grand barbeque, or that was what he called it. Joie was playing with Magnolia on the beach with a volleyball as Zeki was once again absorbed in the archiver's story. Music was playing on a small radio that Kane had brought.

Magnolia suddenly noticed someone walking to them, a large smile growing on her face.

"Ym's here!" Magnolia excitedly shouted while dashing to the gardener.

"Welcome!" Kane said, firmly shaking the hand of his employee.

Joie stood in front of Ymeno, they both introduced themself.

The woman felt grateful towards the man for making Magnolia a bit more happy than normal, and for pulling Zeki out of his shell, even by a little bit.

Zeki slowly joined the group soon after, as Kane was busy with the barbeque. There weren’t any flames coming from it though, it was purely electric.

“Fancy, right?” Kane proudly boasted.`

There was silence from everyone as Kane turned around, wearing a white apron that said “kiss the cook.” Written in rainbow colored impact font.

“Fancy… right?”

“No!” Magnolia shouted.

Zeki lost it in response to that blunt answer. Joie looked away with a smile on her face, seemingly trying not to join the boy in laughter.

The barbeque was warmed up, as the sun slowly began setting, the horizon was embraced with a beautiful pink color. The sea’s lookout is a common place where families hang out. It’s most known place to go is said lookout. A small cliff where a boulevard has been built under. It has the best view of the beautiful blue sea.

The barbeque was in the beginning of the cliff, an usual picnic and barbeque place. It was a small walk to get up the cliff but according to everyone who has gone, it’s worth it.

Sausages were being cooked while Magnolia explained to Ymeno that she recently put a new modification on her beloved star sprangled umbrella. However, when Ymeno asked what that modification specifically was, she smiled from ear to ear.

“That’s a secret.”

Zeki was sitting on one of the plastic white chairs, still reading the archiver’s story, not hearing Joie calling out for him until he was tapped on the shoulder. Putting the archiver’s stories in the metal holder that Nolia made for him. However, standing up became quite an impossible task, as his legs suddenly gave out, not listening to his body anymore. A bloody nose very quickly followed, alongside a blurry vision, all in rapid succession.

“D-dammit.” Quietly escaped from him.

Joie instantly noticed before the rest, quickly putting 3 fingers, her index, middle and ring finger on his back. An extremely quick flash of her green aura rejuvenated the boy, making the bloody nose disappear in the process.

“Please take care of yourself.”

A nod and glance at the ground was all the response he gave.

Now joining Nolia and Ymeno, it was like the past 30 seconds never even happened.

“Kezi!”

Magnolia didn’t know that Zeki also knew about Joie’s aura. After all, that was one of the biggest reasons he didn’t collapse every other day. He hated keeping her in the dark, but for her own sake, this was for the better.

Kane shouted that the sausages were ready. Sitting around at a bland white table, everyone consumed the food at their own pace, while Kane was busily preparing different kinds of meals. There wasn’t any meaningful conversation going on, just regular small talk, and Zeki talking about this one book he read, which creeped out Magnolia.

The sun had set, but Kane had brought more than enough light with him. Magnolia also had a light source installed in her beloved umbrella. Ymeno asked how she could even do that, to which she happily explained every little detail.

Once again, Ymeno didn’t understand that much, but the image in his head was probably funnier if he didn’t get the full picture.

“Have you ever seen her in her natural habitat?” Zeki asked.

Ymeno shook his head, curious as to what he meant.

Quickly grabbing his phone, Magnolia’s eyes widened as it dawned on her what Zeki was about to show. Trying to wrestle the phone out of his hand, Zeki’s tallness worked in his favor. Magnolia constantly alternating between ‘please’ and ‘no’.

“Found it!”

He quickly shuffled the phone towards the gardener. The video had Magnolia working on her umbrella, Marigold Éclair. A smile from ear to ear was plastered on her face, although her eyes were obscured by swirly glasses. The white labcoat that she was wearing was also way to big for her, causing her arms to be obscured by the sleeves.

The video had a heart on the top right, meaning that Zeki favorited it.

Magnolia tried to hide her embarrassment by putting her head into Joie’s side. Red as a beet, she absolutely hated the fact that Zeki had that video still.

“Where was this filmed?” Ymeno asked.

“The mansion has an underground basement, It’s mainly Magnolia’s lab, though. I’m not allowed in, but hey, a little sneaking around never hurt anyone.”

“THAT’S RIGHT.” Kane shouted.

“Don’t encourage him, Kane.” Joie shouted back.

“Even when I focus all my hearing, I can’t hear him. It’s like… It’s like he has some sort of silent step!” Magnolia whined, still red as a beet.

This vibe, the unexplainable warmth in the air. All these people weren’t related by blood, yet it was like a little family. A small flash of the past shot through his mind once again. Yvonne, Grablod, Suke, Muri. That was his family. Even if they hadn’t seen each other in years, even when the contact diminished, they always knew that they were there for each other.

And just like that, Ymeno laughed out loud. Not due to alcohol in his system, but due to a bookworm and a girl with extremely big ambitions. Joie had thanked him for helping out Zeki, but truth be told, he should be thanking her.

Perhaps, it was time to let loose, even by a little. All those feelings he’s been bottling up over the years, maybe he could open his heart up again. Little by little.

More time passed, everyone was stuffed. It was a delicious barbeque, especially after Ymeno hadn’t done something like that in years.

Kane stood up, looking towards the cliff.

“I’m going to enjoy the view for a bit, anyone coming?”

“I’ll go.” Ymeno responded.

The others chose to sit down for a bit longer, catching up with them later. The two men stood on top of the cliff, being greeted by a view that cannot be captured by any picture. It wasn’t for the faint of heart, but for those brave enough to stand at the edge, the reward was enormous.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Kane asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

“That’s great to hear.”

Silence filled the air, as the two of them stared at the sea train that was making one of its last rides for the day, a very distant choo-choo sound was heard.

“That sea train brings back memories. Back when I worked for my boss, I used to travel a lot with that beauty.”

“You used to work for someone?”

“Of course, everyone starts somewhere, you know. My teacher was the greatest. He didn’t only teach me this business, but also valuable life lessons that still help me to this day.”

“Yeah, my sensei did that for me too. Can I ask you something, Kane?”

“Of course, but don’t expect everything to be answered and expect questions back in return.” He chuckled.

“Why did you tell her that this world is dangerous. Isn’t that a bit reckless?”

“Ah, Nolia, right… One of the first things I learned on the job is that this world is harsh. I can’t lie to her, so I’d rather rip that band aid off immediately. She’s smart, she would’ve figured it out quickly anyways.”

“Makes sense.”

Kane sighed, closing his eyes for a second, before looking at Ymeno.

“One of the greatest life lessons that my teacher gave to me was that whatever you do, do it without regrets. Never make a bad deal. Stand fully behind everything you do. With that, I ask one thing. Do you have any regrets?”

This made Ymeno fall silent, thinking very deeply. He trusted Kane, yet he couldn’t answer that question.

“I have a few, yes. However, I don’t want to go into detail, I’m sorry.” His eyes shifted towards the ground.

“Hey, no need to look down, we all have secrets.”

“Have you ever made a bad deal? With your job and all.”

“I want to answer with a no, I trust in my sense of reading a person. Like you, Ymeno. I think you’re different than the rest, you’re talking with a pretty famous guy, after all, yet you don’t seem to care, you treat me like a normal person. But to answer your question.”

He looked at the stars, for the first time since they met, his usual smile faded into something more soft, more melancholic.

“One.”

It shocked Ymeno that Kane opened up to him like this. But he refrained from asking further. Joie walked up with the kids, Kane had already returned to his usual, smiling self by then.

“Could I have a bit of time alone with the miss?” He asked.

This made Ymeno laugh, he called for Magnolia and Zeki. The former clinging very hard to the arm of the latter. The three of them walked down towards the beach. Magnolia was playing with the sand while Zeki and Ymeno sat on one of the many wooden benches.

“I wish I had as much energy as her.” The bookworm said.

“It really seems infite.”

Zeki just nodded, opening the archiver’s stories once again.

“You expressed interest in this, right? I can show you a bit of it, but don’t tell anyone. This book is special, one of a kind.”

Ymeno’s eyes glistered, discovering a new book was always fun for him. He opened it, being met with an article that read like a newspaper.

‘Traya burns down to the ground! The small town was met with an unfortunate fate last night, an accident at the woodwork factory caused everything to burn down. The body count is still being confirmed, but they seem to be very high. Yet, only a few survivors remain. As for the town itself, everything's gone.’

Ymeno looked at Zeki with an eyebrow raised.

“Like I said, it’s a special book. With this, I can document the story that every person close to me holds. Y’know, if Nolia can dream big, then I can too”

“That’s a unique dream. I believe in you.”

This made Zeki laugh.

“Thanks!”

And just like that, the night came and went, everyone returned to their own place. But what Ymeno didn’t know was that the next week would forever change the trajectory of his live. A stage is being set with the knowledge that he had gained this night, the curtains were ever so slowly opening up more and more.

Everyone has secrets. And in time, they all will come to light. Whether it be through their own admission, or due to it being dragged out.

 

-END OF ACT 1-