A/N: Thomas, Kelly, and Travis (From left to right)

~~~

Spring 2 years later in Silona, a country in central Europa. Overseas from the U.P.A.

I opened my eyes to the sun's budding light through the window and turned towards the still silent alarm.

9:27am

That was enough time to comfortably get ready for work.

"Thomas."

Thomas groaned, turning over in his bed with a full sized Dakimakura. It's basically a huge body pillow with a life sized anime girl printed on it. Dry cleaning only, by the way.

Wouldn't wanna hurt Momo-Chan in a crappy normal washing machine, now would we?

"C'mon you gotta get up and get ready for work." I said, reaching upwards as my limbs trembled with fatigue.

Kicking off the covers, he rolled out of bed and opened the curtains. The sun's rays shone across the room and revitalized me with it's energy as I fixed the covers in my bed.

He yawned again. "Where's my uniform?"

With a contagious yawn of my own, I pointed towards the glass sliding doors. "It's still hanging on the pulley."

As Thomas stepped out on the balcony and reeled the clothes line in I stepped towards the bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and began to feel my upper lip.

Peach fuzz... Nice.

I also took note of my sideburns. Even though he didn't know it, Thomas has been beating me at puberty even worse than video games. I only got armpit hair last year, but then as soon as I get all proud of myself, here he comes at eleven with a chinstrap, even at twelve he'd make me look like a seven-year-old when we visited pools in the summer.

Everyone else just thought Kelly was our hot sister...

I closed the bathroom door and started the walk in shower.

I squeezed a thick glob of shampoo in my hand, then slapped it into my hair. "So what's been going on lately?" I said, raising my voice above the sound of brisk water.

"Not much." he said. "With it warming up, The Maltz is getting real busy, but Aldéric pays us extra this time of year, so I guess it's sorta worth it."

"Better than my job, the café is always crowded during weekdays at lunch hour but I never get a raise." I said. "You've got something good going on. You hear about Kelly's job?"

As I finished my sentence soap began to run down my forehead into the corners of my eyes. I squeezed them tighter, and then even harder as they began to burn with that frustrating sting.

"What's up with her?"

"We can't tell her but," I leaned my head back and let the water blast my face. "Roman said that when her birthday comes he's gonna give her a promotion," I said, turning the water off.

"Oh." He said. "By the way, have you heard what people have been saying lately?"

"Uh-uh." I grabbed a towel. "What?"

"There's been a few strange sightings in Silona around the city walls. People have been saying that they've seen the same group of people walking on top of 'em and hanging around the water-tunnel-thingies."

I furrowed my brows. "...Aqueducts?"

"Yeah" I heard some rumbling. "And they wear some sorta weird uniform. I think It's got like an eye on the front or somethin'."

That began to stick the more I thought about it.

We've got these huge walls surrounding the place, and most people are pretty level headed anyway.

I mean, they're level headed enough not to climb gigantic walls...

Don't get me wrong, Silona is a big place but the people here usually recognize each other. The thing that makes Silona unique is its isolation from the outside world, it's like an entire separate society; anything outside ever gets in, and nothing inside ever gets out. No one's a prisoner, but that usually applies to people too.

"They're probably just drunk, or maybe it's just a few people doing dares or something. I wouldn't think too much about it," I said, finally dressed.

My feet touched the cold hardwood floor outside the bathroom and I sat down right beside my dresser to tie my shoes.

"We'll see." Thomas said, closing the bathroom door behind me as I stepped into the elevator.

The chrome doors closed in front of me as those questions lingered on my mind until my arrival on the ground was signified by a ding. As the doors pulled themselves open I inhaled the smell of fresh toast and bread dough.

"Morning!" I waved to Fausto, who stood within a small island-counter.

With a final scrub he wiped the sweat from his brow and stood back to behold his work; a glistening countertop and freshly baked goods sitting beneath crystal clear glass, the only thing other than that was a cash register and a half filled tip jar.

He waved back. "Morning!"

Liza sat in a small area with nothing but a half plate of toast, Kario, and a few small tables as her companions.

"Hey big bro!" she beckoned me. "Don't leave so soon! Have a bagel!"

Backtracking a bit, I decided to sit down with Liza and Kario. It wasn't usual that I get to eat with them, after all.

"You can't go to work as a waiter at Porzione with no energy. Relax a little," Kario said.

Liza leaned over the table. "Today I'm going to meet up at Aletta's house so we can go to the park theatre with Kario. There's gonna be a whole picnic and everything! You gotta be there."

I couldn't help but smile back at her, Liza's face was beaming.

"Did you notice my hair? I put it in a bun! Aletta is wearing twin tails like I normally do. We decided to switch just for today!"

Now that I think about it, Liza never really did change. She got older, but her spirit was always the same. I think she must've been about ten around that time yet she still acted like a toddler, just like when we met two years before.

"I can't go, I gotta close up today..." I sighed, my words coated with disappointment. "Sorry, but tell your friend I said hey."

Liza's expression slowly dropped.

I wiped my face. "Kario, don't let them stay out too late. They still have to help Fausto unload those trucks early tomorrow." leaned over and briught my volume down. "And keep them out of the basement. Fausto doesn't want them messing around down there."

Kario nodded as I pondered over that.

"... Why doesn't he want anyone in the basement again?"

Kario cut into some breakfast sausage. "Father hauls a variety of different supplies, some tend to be more dangerous than others."

"Oh," I said, finishing my bagel.

They tasted better that day for some reason.

"I won't waste any more time, I have to go. Liza!" I shifted her attention from the flat screen TV suspended on the wall.

"Kelly and I packed your picnic lunch yesterday, it's at Gina's house. If something goes wrong you can call me at work any time." I stopped at the door. "I'll be back at 6:00 today."

"Okay." She said.

I left Fausto's bakery and ran through the narrow back alley in front of me, emerging out into the walkway at the end.

I flew into the sunlight and jogged through the broad labyrinth of sunlit cobblestone roads, passing between seemingly endless walls of glistening shops, cafes, and food stands at the foot of apartments.

A familar woman smiled at me. "Buongiorno, Travis!"

"Morning!"

I waved at her and continued. There was no way I could stop without being held up, I was constantly greeted by people in the mornings I was out.

They'd hide in the cool shadows of hanging plants that grew from the windows, just waiting to ambush me with questions and invitations to do things that would keep me out until late at night.

I found my way to the open main streets and I stepped onto a small boat, looking at my reflection in the water and squinting my eyes at the sun glistening across the ripples as it began gliding down the canal.

I always enjoyed going to my job. I honestly never imagined that going to work would be like this. I always pictured myself trudging out of my house and onto a train just to get minimum wage at some kind of fast-food restaurant from nine to five.

But I'm here instead.

"Ciao." I turned back to notice Thomas' boss Aldéric grinning my way.

"Hey Aldéric."

"Where's Thomas? He usually comes this way with you."

"Not lately." I said.

For some reason, Thomas stopped coming to work with me. He'd been spending more and more time alone since a few months ago, but he never really went into detail.

Probably just normal teenage stuff.

That's the frustraing thing about being the youngest of us, even if its just by a few months. Whenever we were about to go through something involving getting older I'm always the last to figure stuff out. It's been that way since we were little kids...

After a few minutes of letting my mind wander I got off to begin my steep walk up the urban hill. My job was on a busy gated plateau on the side of a large mountain.

Standing from that high you could see the sun's light slowly bathe the town. It's tightly packed cathedrals, apartments, and shops all formed a thick warren of bright orange rooftops in it's rays from behind. The urban area stretched up the green mountainsides and to the city limits, marked by colossal walls that ran by aqueducts towering above the city.

As the spring mountain air breathed life into the people, colorful hot air balloons filled the clear skies, hovering above the gothic museums that dated back centuries as tourists gawked in awe at the stirring life.

I strolled through the glass double doors and checked in. Immediately I began brewing drinks, serving finger foods, and taking orders as the aroma of soups and delhi filled the busy atmosphere.

A young woman with shoulder length night-blue hair walked inside. She lingered by the entrance and turned her head, as if she were looking for something.

I walked over. "...Hey, is everything okay?" I said.

"N-no, I'm fine." Her gaze fell until she looked at my shirt. "No way! You're Travis?"

I furrowed my brow. "Yeah."

She held her face. "But you're so young! You look like, twelve or something."

"I am twelve..."

She gasped. "Seriously? And you work here? You know you're like famous right?"

I scratched my head. "... I am?"

"Yes!" She grinned. "I moved here like, this week and whenever I ask about places with good food people tell me about this boy who works at a cafe called Porzione that's super fast and satisfies everyone."

I blushed a little, I wouldn't call myself braggy but I was one to appreciate a little ego boost every now and then. I mean, Her face was practically glowing...

She pulled out her phone and held it out in front of her for a minute.

"What are you-."

*FLASH!*

After that I could only see dots.

"Sorry! SO sorry!"

I rubbed my eyes. "It's... Okay. Just, pay more attention."

"Yeah! Sorry about that,. Let me just sit down right..." She scanned the room. "Here!"

She practically ran over to the table, knocking chairs and people all over the place while remaining completely oblivious to their complaining and annoyed gazes.

God...

As I approached her she stared at me with wide eyes and a tiny smile that reduced my insides to mush. Hard to believe this was a fully grown woman at all.

"... So, would you like the-"

"I want a cup of cheese and broccoli soup, half a turkey sandwich, and a mocha latte with approximately six sugars, extra whipped cream, and lots of caramel drizzle."

"Okay so-."

"And while you're at it can you get me the Tuesday Special number one with lettuce and cherry tomatoes... Oh and make that a whole turkey sandwich instead of just half."

"... Got it."

Less than two minutes later I approached her table, a tray of... Whatever she ordered in hand.

"Thanks!" She said, her face beaming with delight. "I'm Joan by the way."

"Travis." I said scratching my head with a half-smile beginning to spread.

"I didn't know you could start work this young. Did you somehow graduate early?"

"Nope I just..." I paused. "Got out of school early." I said.

She poured sugar into her mug. "Wow, so you're some kind of genius? I just earned my masters last summer, you know."

"Really?" I hesitated a bit. "I'm sorry for asking a woman's age, but how old are you?"

She began swiping through her cellphone as the gentle noise of small talk surrounded us. "Don't feel bad about that, I'm only 19."

"Wait, you got your masters degree at 19?!"

"Well, I was a bit of a genius growing up, see." She held out her phone and showed me a clear picture of her master's degree. "Go ahead and swipe, I have lots."

I took her word for it and found myself staring in shock at an entire album full of awards, diplomas, and degrees. I chuckled at the one with Joan holding an award for winning the nationwide spelling bee in huge, thick glasses.

She cracked a smile "Geek to the core, am I right?"

"There's nothing wrong with that." I took a sip of coffee. "You'll get far, trust me."

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me why something about this situation seems backwards..."

As we laughed together I found myself melting at her sight. My cheeks grew warm, and my fingers started to tremble the more I heard her adorable giggling.

"Well, I'm not such a genius. In fact you could say I just barely managed to get by back then."

*DING!*

"Hold on."

I retrived the orders and speed-walked across the room, unloading arm-fulls of saucers and occasionally stopping to pour coffee.

With a sigh I fell back into my chair.

"Wow. You're really great at your job. There are adults that don't work as hard as you, you know." She pushed her hair back. "So how'd you get the job since you never finished school or anything?"

"Well, I've got Fausto to thank for that. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that he's a close friend of mine." I had to pull that one out of nowhere, but it was true, so no guilt here. "He got Kelly and Thomas jobs around here too."

She furrowed her brow.

"They're also good friends of mine." I said.

"Well, what have they become?"

Something forced me to take advantage of the fact that she wasn't paying attention to me, and I couldn't help but look at her soft hair as she dug around in her purse.

"A guy..."

Don't be rude!

I snapped out of it. " A guy who makes ice cream and a pizza delivery girl."

She looked up and took a sip of her latte.

"You're funny." She said. "So is Fausto like your dad or an uncle or something?"

"I don't know my dad." I said, beginning to stare off vacantly.

"...Travis, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-."

"It's okay! No, it really is fine. I'm actually orphaned, but Thomas and Kelly are usually there to help me out and relate so I guess it's not as horrible as you'd think."

I caught my breath again. "Fausto's more of a good father figure than anything else. I guess I could say he took us in when..."

Her pupils shot me an intent glare as I tried to find a way around what I was thinking.

She spoke. "When what?"

"When me and my friends were in... A time of need." I finally managed to push out.

"Oh. Well we all need people when things are hard. Sometimes things just happen..." She began slowly and clenched her fists. "...Horrible, awful things that make you to wonder why they even exist..."

I leaned towards her. "Joan, are you-."

"I'm fine!" She lurched up from her seat and slowly sat back down. "Really, sometimes I just tend dwell on negative things. It's a bad habit I have. I'm pretty sure there are bad things you've dealt with before right?"

My mind began to wander towards to the past. "Well, I was bullied, both me and my friends went through loads of crap when we were in school.

I don't know why we were targeted so much, but we just were and it sucked pretty bad, but that's in the past." I cracked a partial smile. "I usually just think about the fact that we're okay now."

"Well that's all any of us can really do isn't it?" She smiled uneasily. "Worry about fixing things in the present so that we can create a better future for ourselves. Right?"

I grinned. "True. That's why even though we haven't finished school we're trying our best to make it around here and help Fausto."

"Well you're definitely on the right track." She said, smiling brightly.

She looked at her phone. "Wow that conversation of ours sure made time go by didn't it? I should be going now."

I hadn't even noticed that she has finished everything I served her.

She stopped by the exit sign. "But let me just say you did a great job." She closed the door behind her and was gone before I realized it.

Later I took my lunch break when I received a phone call.

Gina.

"Hey Travis, how's it going?"

Gina's a fashionable woman. She's the type of woman that stays on a strict diet of salads, arches her eyebrows daily, wears bold red lipstick, bats thick false eyelashes, and never leaves the house unless her long shiny black hair is absolutely perfect.

More than anything else, she's the type of woman that is over six feet tall and never allows herself to weigh more than 110 lbs.

"It's going fine." I said.

"Great to hear. I just wanted to let you know that Liza came and picked her lunch up. They said they were heading out early to get a good spot."

"Great," I responded. "Is Carol doing okay?"

"Oh yes, she's just preparing to visit a college she wanted to get into. She's a little sad about leaving her friends and not going to the same college as them, but her grades are so good that she just had to reach for more than Silona University!" She squealed. "I can't believe my little baby is really going to college!"

I've known Carol since the end of her sophomore year in high school. I remember the first time I met her. A soft face, brown shoulder length hair that she kept in a ponytail along with sharp green eyes and fair skin.

She always put her grades first and never neglected studying, but everyone in town liked her and whenever she was on break she was a full on party girl.

Sometimes she'd bring Kelly to high school parties with her. At first she seemed a little uncomfortable, y'know being younger than them and all. But she was so tall and womanly it barely made a difference with her fitting in with them.

"Yeah, seems like just yesterday when I met her after Fausto invited you all over to welcome us two years ago." I said.

"Yeah my brother just couldn't wait for us to see what he brought back after hauling bread overseas. Funny thing is, when I first heard I was expecting maybe a few T-shirts or one of those fancy brand-name American purses.

But I guess four children that he found in a police chase was a bigger surprise..."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure nobody was expecting that one... But hey, you just never know I guess."

There were a few seconds of silence on the other line.

"Yeah but I won't keep you, I know the cafe stays busy. Well, I'll be seeing you."

"Bye."

I got off six hours later at 8:00pm and stayed another whole two hours trying to get rid of some difficult teens.

I know they say not everyone was raised right, but most of the stuff I see is just ridiculous.

I don't even HAVE parents and I don't do this crap...

When I finally did one of them pointed at me, they gave me a weird look and started whispering. It was hard to make out what they were saying but I kept hearing them throw around the word 'Remember'.

Given my experience with shady groups of people, I just got my stuff together and left before they even got the opportunity to try something.

As I came around the corner a girl with one of those weird uniforms was standing on the curb. As I got a better view of her face I noticed the vacant look in her eyes, I couldn't even tell what she was looking at.

I took a closer look to try and make out who she was. I had this notion that it was Joan from the café earlier. I'm not usually the type to get in people's business, but I just couldn't resist.

I thought that just maybe if I hid and watched her I could figure out what all this weird stuff was about.

I walked around the block and crouched behind Gina's hair salon. After twenty minutes of waiting she finally looked up.

Finally.

On top of a building was a figure gesturing towards a lower part of the town. 'Joan' ran towards that direction. My confidence shook and yet I found myself dashing through the back alley in hopes that I wouldn't be seen.

Before I could completely turn I stumbled back and fell on the ground as my heart began to pound. The same girl I just saw was standing there except now I knew it was Joan.

How the hell did she even GET here so fast?!

What felt like just moments ago back at the café she was kind and happy to be there, but now she wore and expression of bitter spite and disgust.

I wanted to get up and run but I was scared. I could feel the blood pulsing through my hands.

We stood there for I don't know how long just looking at each other, everything completely motionless except for her hair blowing softly in the gentle night breeze. She stared me down like some Lion deciding whether or not to rip apart a helpless baby while I sat there, held down by nothing but a cold stare and my own shock.

"You seem to be a lot more of a pest than I assumed you'd be..." She said stepping closer.

I forced myself up and took a few steps back. "Well I'll be a pest! I'm trying to figure out what all this weird crap is about!"

"Then I should say well done. As for the 'crap' you're referring to I don't think it's any of your concern." she said, walking closer.

"None of my concern!? You've been disturbing this town for months, it's everyone's 'concern'!"

She giggled. "Funny, see that's where you're wrong." She sprung at me and snatched my arm, her grip becoming tighter and more painful the longer she held on.

"See we all have secrets. Little things we just can't tell people.."

I struggled to escape her. "T-This isn't a normal secret! You and your friends have this whole town confused and scared! I've never kept anything hidden that hurts others! Especially-"

"LIAR!"

I felt my pulse surge with her sudden outburst.

"Y-you have horrible secrets don't you? I bet you've killed millions people and laughed about it..."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"And then you cover it all up and refuse to admit it to anyone! Just like in the café! I bet you were thinking about every single soul... Well guess what?"

"You're insane! Let me go!"

"We're gonna laugh and kill everybody YOU love!" She forced herself on me.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"And this time we'll make you watch! How'd you like that, huh?!"

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

I headbutted her in the mouth and smashed my shoe into her gut, ripping my arm away as I darted out of the dark alleyway.

I turned my head just for a split second to see her standing there, her mouth flowing with blood as she stood completely still. A major contrast to the borderline insanity I had just witnessed.

I sat on my bed later that night with Thomas, explaining what had happened that evening.

"You really think she's one of the people that have been appearing around here all of a sudden?" He said, turning through a Manga volume of Doki☆Doki.

"I saw what I saw." I sighed "Is it that hard to believe me?... And is that hentai?!"

"NO!" he corrected, "It's an ecchi love story!

... And yeah, I mean that's pretty messed up, but I'm not gettin' it. You've never met her before yet she thinks you're a murderer." Thomas said.

"It's not just that. We could all be in serious danger, she said she would make us suffer. That girl's screwed in the head, and the other one just looked... Weird."

Thomas started patting the dust out of Momo-Chan. "Weird?"

"It's kinda hard to describe. I mean, he -- or she -- just looked weird. Not like they were deformed or anything, but the look they had was just creepy. I bet they're all messed up like that."

Thomas turned on the TV and rolled on his stomach. "You think they're just high or somethin' like that?"

"Thomas the world has some pretty deranged people, not everyone that lacks mental stability is high."

"I'm just kidding." He yawned. "So what do we do?"

"Well for one I'm gonna ask If I can get off at five, and I think you guys should try to get home after work fast too." I plopped down on the bed behind me. "As long as these guys are around we're gonna have to be careful. There's no telling what could happen.."

He nodded. "Right."

I fell back and stretched. "Hey Thomas, can you switch to the TV guide real quick. I wanna see what time it is."

As Thomas pressed the remote I looked at the top right corner of the screen.

11:58pm.

"Wait... What the hell?!"

He winced. "What's wrong?"

"It's midnight! Where's Kario and Liza?! They should have been here four hours ago!"

Just then I heard frantic yelling downstairs.

What I had just experienced flashed through my mind and instantly a flurry of what ifs and worst case scenarios raced through my mind. Me and Thomas looked at each other for a second before racing towards the elevator and riding it down.

Kario frantically rambled at Fausto as Liza stood there sobbing with her ears covered.

"What's going on?!" Thomas said.

Kario was trembling, his brown and red plaid shirt soaked through with blood. It was all over him. A messy trail running down his face and dripping into small puddles on the ground.

I ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders. "What on earth happened to you guys out there?!"

He looked at me with an expression filled with dread and shock.

"They took Aletta."

"The hell you mean they took Aletta?!" Thomas said.

"They just CAME AT US!"

We froze, shocked by his sudden outburst.

"We were just walking and out of nowhere someone... I don't even remember how they looked. Whether it was a man or woman..." His voice trembled.

"They said that we had sinned, th-that a girl who wears twin tails is a demon and that protecting her is a sin... it's a sin punishable... punishable b-by..."

I jolted him with every fiber of strength I had.

"By what?!"

"Death... They say we took lives, the Divine Society they... They want to cleanse the earth of you, me, her, all of us..."

"Divine Society?!" I looked at Thomas, "What in hell is that?!"

"I-I don't..." He collapsed under himself.

"Kario!" I caught him before he fell, "You have to tell us! What else happened?"

"They just snatched her away a-and when I reached out for her they hit my head... Ripped through my chest with," he paused, now struggling to breathe. "Something... I don't even know what it was... I just took Liza and ran. W-We couldn't..."

His voice trailed off. He was unconscious.

I shook him. "Kario!"

He didn't say anything.

"Fausto!"

He turned to me, his expression horrified and unsure

"Call an ambulance! The police! ANYBODY, we need help right away!"

~~~

A/N

So much went wrong in such a short amount of time... But that's just the nature of life and tragedies, I guess.

Let's just hope they'll be okay and figure things out.