"Hey! Are you still mad with me?"

I guess, it's been the 109th time that Misaki has been repeating the same question since the moment we left Luc's place and started travelling at the utmost speed towards the South, and I have been glaring up at him with the same reply.

"Yes, I am! Is that what you wanna hear?"

"Yea... I mean no! You know, I was just tryna help, no?" Misaki looks up at me with his big doe eyes, from his upside down state as he floats beside me, his hands clasped and legs crossed upon each other.

I don't response this time, instead my mind drifts around whether what I did back there is the right thing or not.

I'm not sure if I should feel anything strange, after Luc drew some amber shining dust out of my body and made it into a crystal ball, which he kept to himself, as a price of helping me.

He also gave us a few cryptic tools, in case things get messy and we get no other choice but to use it : a perfume to make people drowsy like anesthesia which only lasts for 5 hours; two guns filled with holy-water-shots; and a silver flute. I've put them inside a waist bag, given by Luc, which a soul can touch easily.

I don't know what to do with the flute. I asked both Luc and Misaki, but they said, I would figure it out on my own.

"Tell me you're not planning to go back now," Misaki whines. "We've already pulled off this much, please don't give up now!"

"What does giving up mean?" I ask absent-mindedly ignoring his rant.

"Hmmm...Well, I guess I'm not the right person to tell you that," he says getting back to a normal position.

"But since you're asking, I'll tell you anyway."

I hum, my mind blank, my eyes distant.

"It means letting go of your restraints...letting go of your grit, your patience, your strains, and sometimes it's simply ambivalent."

I turn my head to look at him, emotions swirling inside me, but I can't name it.

"How you know that," I ask.

"I may not be good at interpreting emotions, but I do know them," he tells me, while looking away from me, with a small smile tugging at his lips. "You see, I have a good memory, no? So I easily remember whatever I read."

"And when I gave up on loving others, back to Luc, what will happen to me then?" I ask, as my voice cracks.

He chuckles grabbing his stomach, which confuses me even more.

"Oh, don't you worry, birdie," he manages to speak after putting a cease on his laughter. "He's not that heartless! Yeah, he's a bit stuck-up, I'll give you that, but he can be anything but cruel."

He laughs again. "Look maybe he's chewing his fingers, scratching the hell outta his scalp, trying to find a way to make it up to you!"

My eyes widen at that. "Are you kidding me?"

"That might be my forte, but right now, I'm not," Misaki confirms, looking at me intently with his big eyes. "He can show to be ice-cold, but in real he's a softie inside. He can't give you back whatever's taken, but he'll find a way to break it."

I shake my head, as everything starts to get tangled up inside my head. "I don't get it. Can you back it up?"

"Uh-uh! I'm not gonna tell you anymore. You'll know on your own. Just have some patience."

He stretches himself and yawns, and before I can say anything, he swipes past me like a sudden gush of wind, leaving me debate on my own.

*****

A spooky chill fills in the air, as we face the famous centuries' old Capatharian Mountains from the West. The stillness of the silent hills drips all over me, and a swift rush of adrenaline pumps in, as I stare back at the darkened peaks.

We are at the Romania, the country of medieval fortresses, and the obsolete creepy legends. It's said that, even your darkest dreams come alive in Romania.

I guess, I can feel it now that I'm seeing it with my very eyes.

A long awaited lump finally passes down my throat, and this single act of mine makes so noise that it made me believe for a moment that I've been wedged inside a stone cold coffin with my mouth taped against my will, and my body without a single piece of cloth to save my dignity.

Unlike Amsterdam or all the places we've crossed past including Frankfurt, Vienna to Budapest, this place is giving off a sick vibe from the beginning, and I don't know if it's gonna end well.

"Scared.Are.We.Bir-die?" Misaki whispers near my ear in an overly creepy tone with such eerieness that it almost makes my soul rip in halves.

I place a hand over my chest, clutching the stone, hanging around my neck down by a fine neck piece, I jerk my head towards him, to give him the hint to cut it out.

But ignoring my glare, he laughs it off, urging me to go ahead.

As per instructed by Luc, we start to cross the hills without making any noise, since according to him, the hills is the biggest hub of the notorious Pyrokinesists, who like to play with the trespassing spirits.

"Can you move a little faster?" Misaki's voice comes from behind, faint fear prominent, despite the fact that he tried hard to mask it up.

"Don't boss around," I snap, turning myself sideways. "If you're so scared, then pass around me and go ahead."

"Sca-scared?" Misaki scoffs, as his voice trembles a bit. "Who, who, who is scared! Don't burden me with your thoughts."

I scoff and roll my eyes, before turning back to my previous position.

But while doing so, without even realizing, the neckpiece falls off my neck. Terror settles in my chest, as I realize what exactly happened, and instantly my eyes widen as panic starts to take over.

I look up at Misaki with horrid masked in the eyes.

"What should we do now?", I ask him, my voice trembling terribly in a sudden fear of the unknown.

"Shhh!" He hushes me, placing a finger on his lips, his calming eyes boring into mine. "Gimme the screen. The stone is our location, so we just need to search that location."

I nod, being unable to say anything.

Taking the astral GPS from me, Misaki begins to decline the heights discreetly, making sure to not make any unwanted sound, with me following him behind.

The more we descend along the steep merciless slopes of the deep valley, the more murkiness spreads across the air, and the chill in the wind might be bone-piercing, since a swift shiver sweeps through me.

It's beyond twilight now, but strangely, the spectacular color maze in the western sky is still prominent. The orange, pink and a little hint of purple have tinted the graceful sky so animatedly, which is a contrast to this nearly lifeless valley.

As we land on the base of the stony valley, we waste no time in delaying to seek for the Homecoming stone, my only mean to return home in time.

As we search, a ceaseless soft burble reaches out to us. The GPS pointing towards that distinct source of noise, we head over there, following both the screen and the sound, only to find a narrow quiet brook cascading down the rocks of the valley.

In moments, we see a strong beam coming off from under the dark river bed, illuminating the entire gloomy water in the process.

Without squandering another minute, I jump inside the water and dive past the cold water towards the only source of light there.

Getting near the illumination, I was about to grab it, when someone snatches it away in one swift move before me.

Another illumination flickers inside the murky water, and a face appears before me.

Before my bewildered eyes, the figure inspects the stone, under the light of the fire in his hand, which is intact inside this deep water bed. And in that moment, I cover my mouth to contain my adrenaline rush, as I realize that I've already met the forbidden, and the illumination is the cold fire of a Pyrokinesist.

A haughty smirk cracks at the corner of his lips, as his bright green eyes looks up to meet my horrified ones.

"Bada boom!" He speaks deviously with that creepy smirk on his face, making bubbles go crazy around his mouth.

High on adrenaline, I act my on my instincts and use all of my extremities to float up, leaving the stone in the seizure of the creepy man.

Both drenched and stupefied, I get out of the water, gasping in terror, as my heart thumps rapidly against my chest.

Misaki comes by my side, and pats my back to make me feel better. But before I could gain recover from the previous shock, another problem surfaces.

"Well, well! If it isn't our dear Hayashi!"

A deep voice rumbles, making me startled awfully.

"Elijah!"

In moments, Misaki's face gets peppered with terror as sweat beads start to flaunt out on his forehead.

"Oh! And he's got another dishy too!" That guy from the water chuckles so creepily that it makes me sick to bones.

Misaki doesn't say anything, but I can see rage infiltrating through him. My grip tightens on his arm.

"Oh! Is it what you guys were searching for?" That Elijah guy shows us the stone, with a wicked smirk tugged on his lips.

"Yes, so give it to me," Misaki replies curtly, and advances towards Elijah in an attempt to take it away from him.

But that guy is quick enough to dodge him as he throws it far away, and catches it in a heartbeat going to the other spot in a lightening speed.

Okay! We're in trouble knee-deep!

"Not so fast, Tokyo boy!" Elijah smirks.

"What. You. Want?!" Misaki's voice grumbles with power and authority. I get stunned to see this side of his. It's bewildering and assuring both at the same time.

"Let's play Bada Boom!"

*****

"Oh goodness! Misaki!! Why you lookin' gaunt, hun?" A girl around Misaki's age gushes at him, which makes him visibly uncomfortable and awkward. "Haven't you been eating well? Just look at your face!"

"Don't talk like an idiot, Doina! Spirits don't need to eat, yeah, except living ones of course," Misaki snaps calmly, shrugging her hands off his shoulder and chest.

Well, I've noticed that they can also touch us.

"Whatever you say! But it feels like I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been hiding?"

Ha! I guess, the tables have been turned so spontaneously, and he's having a taste of his own medicines.

"You made me do that FaceTime shit like a week ago," he exclaims annoyedly as he deadpans her.

I don't get this part. At all!

"Oof!" She groans, hitting his chest. "There's a difference between seeing you in there and seeing you in person! You need to learn some basic dating etiquettes!"

My eyes widen at this point, as I stare back at him with my big curious eyes.

Seeing me like that, he shakes his head rapidly in disapproval.

"Why you always act as if we're a thing?" Misaki groans looking back at her.

"Are we not?" She fumbles with the laces of her dress, looking at him with coy in her eyes.

Misaki groans, pulling the chains on his both hands to facepalm himself, since he's been chained to a pole, in the midst of a large ground, along with me.

People are sitting in rows centering us, looking at us excitedly, some chatting among themselves, while others are placing the required provisions to start something. It's like a mini stadium, in midst of which we're tied up, while I'm still clueless as to what's going to happen next.

"That was just one night, Doina! Forget that already! And I don't see any further chances in future, since your people have already arranged my death feast!"

"Hush! You know well, they won't kill you. It's just for fun, and then you'll be free to go," she exclaims so nonchalantly while eyeing me eerily.

I glare at the back of her head.

"But we can die for your so-called fun," Misaki seethes through his gritted teeth.

She was about to say something when a siren erupts, making some people to enter the field.

"Doina! Get back over here. It's bout to start," someone calls out.

"Gotta go hun, hope to see you later," she exclaims excitedly, after kissing Misaki's cheeks. "Bu-bye!"

After she leaves, I pass Misaki a taunting look, which he dismisses nonchalantly.

"Release," someone announces, and it turns out to be our captor, Elijah, who's in still possession of our stone. I stare at the stone hanging around his neck. Our stone.

Suddenly the chains around our necks, wrists and legs get burned down into ashes in the exact proportion, and so the fire didn't even touch us. Even the poles we were previously chained to, get seared up in a blazing flame.

I look at Misaki, my eyes brimming with both terror and surprise. "What's all these? What are they gonna do to us?"

He scratches his neck, before explaining everything to me: we are going to be the goals, and the people who have entered the field are the players who are going to throw fireballs at us, and we're going to run since we don't want our souls to die, and so like this way how close the fire will pass by our bodies, the score will be given that way, and making it through our body which means by killing us will give a total 10 points, declaring the winning team.

In short, we are so doomed in either way.

I start to panic first, but Misaki clams me down by telling his plan, which may or may not save our day.

It's a fifty-fifty chance, so I can't really loose it up.

"Let's start the game!"

With the announcement, the people get divided into two groups, with fireballs on their hands, ready to pick them off at any moment now, making us into inevitable targets.

My eyes scan over my bag which has been seized off me the moment we were chained, and now is lying beside Elijah. I gulp down hard, remembering Misaki's plan once again.

As if on cue, the siren goes off, and the game begins.

At first, we don't move from our places, only trying to figure the pattern in which game needs to be steered, and it's a part of his plan.

The people, with shimmer in their eyes, advances towards us in slow predatory steps, fire embellishing over their glove covered hands, like some hungry sharks around a single piece of meat, smeared with blood and rawness.

"Immerse! Right now," Misaki intructs, catching both mine and their attention.

I nod at him before altering my position in one swift move. In seconds, dozens of ablaze orbs come rushing towards my way with such momentum that it's almost impossible to dodge them. But with Misaki's words revolving around my head, I keep changing my positions in every 5 seconds. It's more like running on a paddock while taking a short breath.

Those people keep chasing us relentlessly, probably drenched in sweat and frustration, as there's no chance with Misaki since he's faster than a bam fish, and even I'm not cutting them some slacks. Now, it's getting fun.

Amidst the incessant shower of fire, with my life on line, I keep myself close to the announcer's place, swerving the incoming illumination so adeptly that it even shocks me.

The frustration gets thick in the air, with the scores going up so leisurely, only bit by bit. And the craze amidst the audiences start to diminish gradually, and the soul-tearing high pitches also start to fade away.

I get ready for the next step with determination entwined in my soul.

Beyond everyone's notice, I glide up to Elijah and keeping Misaki's words in head, I sweep inside his body, while suppressing his soul at ease. Shocks and an unknown terror fall over the entire group, as the game stops instantly.

I smirk, which reflects through Elijah getting up and flaunting his infamous smirk under my obligation.

While briefing me about the plan, Misaki fed me this single piece of information that he may not have the potential to overpower a Pyrokinesist, but it's a piece of cake for a living soul like me. And since, these people are not aware of this, I must take advantage of it.

A Pyrokinesist's soul easily goes submissive in front of a living soul, which is an epitome life and purity against their evil soul.

And it worked perfectly. It was risky, but now it worths it.

Without wasting any moment, I take over my bag, using Elijah's body, and zip off the chain, put the stone inside there safely and pull out the perfume, given by Luc.

"That's a living soul!" Someone screams in panic, and the crowd was about to go bonkers, but before that can happen, I drop the glass container on the field, while holding my breath by covering my nose with my hand. From the corner of my eyes, I watch Misaki taking off me, a smirk plastering on his face, as he holds his thumbs up for me.

The glass gets shattered into thousand shreds, setting off the scent float around the air.

The crowd stares at the glass shreds, but doesn't panic since there's no explosion.

The smirk broadens on Elijah's lips as I watch the crowd falling one after another on their place, so unconscious as if resembling death, and in moments, the chaos dies down without even a blast.

Misaki comes over me, and gives me a high five, which resonates around the lonely mute slopes of the dark valley.

"Now my life is on you, so try not to get me killed," I tell him sincerely, with both gratitude and warning rumbling in my tone, as I inhale the fragrance and goes out of Elijah's body at once.

I smile at Misaki's sweat drenched face, before letting the strong scent overpower my subconscious.