Chapter 27: A Flash Of The Past

In the alley where a girl took refuge to catch her breath, she encountered a group of boys that suddenly approached her.

These boys were not someone she was not familiar with, she stood guard. “What do you want Hind?”

“You just punched me in front of the whole school, you know what I want!” Hind barked.

“You deserved it and I can give you another one!” The girl put up a fist.

“Think so? Boys, hold her.”

Without warning, the girl was immediately grabbed by her hands by the two other boys. She struggled to get out.

“Let me go!”

“No no, not until I’m satisfied.” Hind walked closer while cracking his knuckles.

“Let me go! Coward!” The girl struggled with all her might however against two boys holding her, she could not pull herself out.

“Struggle all you want. You ain’t getting away.”

The girl stopped squirming and looked at the floor. Then she slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were blazing with anger now.

“Fine then.”

She pulled her right leg forward before reversing it full force. Slamming her foot into the boy behind her right. The boy held his crotch tightly and endured the pain with tears welling in his eyes.

The girl twisted her body and swung a kick to the other boy’s side. The boy then rolled in pain beside his buddy.

Just as when the girl was about to let out a sigh, a hard pain suddenly came to her right cheek.

“Aah!” She yelped as she fell to the floor. She grunted in pain as she looked at the person who punched her. Her apples rolled on the floor.

“How did that feel?” Hind smirked widely.

The girl was supposed to be afraid after taking a hit, however, she only smiled.

“Heh, Susan hits harder than you. That was nothing.”

Hearing that lit up a flare of rage in Hind’s heart. “Oh really? Then how about this! And this! And this!” Hind repeatedly punched the girl. She was not given any room to breathe.

“This is what you get for humiliating me! Now how does it feel?!” Hind stopped for a moment.

The girl’s face was all bruised blue and red, yet a smirk still crept up her face.

“Why you-! Enough of this!” Hind pulled his fist back as far as he, wanting to land a final blow. “Eh?” But it was grabbed by a mysterious hand.

Hind turned around to look behind him. A boy maybe a year or two older than him, with yellow hair stood behind him. He glared straight into Hind’s eyes.

…..

As a result of his short training, Matthew was able to track down the girl that stole some apples. As soon as he pinpointed her whereabouts, he made a dash for her. He leapt from roof to roof until he finally caught up to her.

Matthew watched the girl from the roof right above her. She seemed to be resting. Matthew noticed the bag she was carrying.

“That’s her alright. Heh, shouldn’t have stopped-” Matthew was just about to jump down and catch her off guard, until someone else showed up.

“Well well well, what a coincidence meeting you here.” A group of boys suddenly showed up from the deeper part of the alley.

Matthew decided to hold off his ambush and watched. “Are they her friends? By the looks of it, they seem to know each other.”

Matthew watched this scene that seemed to be from a movie. As he watched, his ears suddenly rang and his head hurt. Matthew grabbed his head tightly, trying to endure it.

It went on for a few seconds. When he recovered, he suddenly noticed something.

“Wait a second… That girl… Wasn’t her hair black? Why is it… I don’t even know what colour that is. And those boys… When did they grow?” Matthew stood up in confusion.

When he looked around, everywhere was different. This wasn’t the city he was in before. The buildings were made from concrete and glass. Signboards made using LED lights flickering on and off. Cars passed by and street lights illuminated the path for the people under their umbrella as rain poured.

Matthew was ultimately confused. “What’s happening?”

“Help!” A girl’s voice suddenly echoed from below. Matthew looked down. The girl was being grabbed and pulled by some thugs in black suits and an elegant woman was only watching as she leaned on the dumpster.

Out of common sense, Matthew would’ve already jumped down but for some reason, he did not. He was still frozen with confusion with what was taking place in front of him.

“Hey!” Suddenly a boy showed from the street. “Let her go!”

Against a mere boy, the men only laughed. The woman said something to the men, then the men grabbed hold of the boy too. Boy didn’t even flinch and by the next minute, all the men were beaten while the woman ran away.

The boy helped the girl to stand up, they spoke of something that Matthew could not hear clearly. Matthew tried to listen in but he could not. Only muffled gibberish.

Lightning suddenly hit the building in front of him. Knocking him back to the floor, but… He did not hit the floor. He kept falling into an abyss of darkness.

“Remem… You… Re..”

A deep and growling voice echoed in his ears.

“Remember who you are.”

“Ack!” He suddenly hit the floor of the abyss. Matthew grunted as he stood back up. “What is happening…”

“Remember who you are. Recall your past.” The voice said again.

“I’ve seen this before, my dream… Where are you?!” Matthew shouted.

The black abyss suddenly turned into an inferno. In the distance, a large shadow appeared above the fire.

“Recall your past. Remember who you are. You must stop them.”

“Stop who? Who are you? What do you want?” Matthew asked.

“The… Scarletts… You must stop them. Before it gets worse.”

“What are you talking about? The Scarletts?”

“You must remember who you are. Only then will you be able to stop them.”

“What do you mean?” Matthew asked but there was no answer. Matthew shouted again. “What do you mea-”

Before he could finish shouting, his head hurt again. His ears rang very loudly. It lasted for a few seconds and when he recovered, he was back to where he was. On a rooftop within the city of Omni. His breathing was heavy and beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.

“What was that?”

“What about this? And this! And this!” A boy’s voice came down below. Matthew took a peek over the edge and saw the boy was punching the girl mercilessly.

“I need to help. Now.” As much as his head was still confused with what just happened, he focused on the matter in front of him first.

Matthew jumped down quietly and snuck up to the boy. The boy pulled his fist back far, that was when Matthew caught his hand and stopped him.

“Huh?” Hind swiveled his head towards Matthew and shouted.. “Let me go!”

“Let her go first.” Matthew firmly said.

“Tch.” Hind clicked his tongue and released the girl from his grip. After that, Matthew let go of him.

“Get lost.” Matthew said.

“Who are you to order me around?” Hind spoke in a threatening manner.

Matthew exhaled through his nose quietly. “Just go.”

“Grr! Take this!” Hind threw a punch at Matthew, which was easily dodged by shifting his head a little to the side. Hind immediately threw another one, and another. All was effortlessly dodged by Matthew.

At one point, Matthew caught Hind’s hand and placed his hand perpendicular to Hind’s chest. Hind’s eyes widened. “This is how you punch.”

With only an inch from Hind’s chest, Matthew thrusted his fist. Knocking the air out of Hind’s chest. Hind fell on the floor, unconscious.

The girl took a step back, surprised by what just happened. ‘Who is this guy?’ While she stared at Matthew, a second later she noticed Matthew was looking at her as well. She snapped out of it.

She bowed and thanked Matthew. “Thank you for saving me.” She straightened her back again and looked at Matthew in the face. “If there is anything I can do to repay you…”

“Oh yes, there is. Return those apples.” Matthew extended a hand.

The girl quickly picked up the apples that were on the floor and put them back in the paper bag. Then she hugged the bag in a protective way. “Sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“Why?” Matthew asked.

“You won’t even bother to listen.” She snapped.

“Try me.” Matthew smiled.

The girl suddenly tossed the bag into Matthew’s hands and she quickly swiped her leg under Matthew. Matthew fell backwards, but thanks to quick reflex, Matthew cushioned his fall using one hand and he flipped back to stand.

The girl was clearly shocked. She eyed for the bag, she made a mistake by throwing it at Matthew. She desperately tried to grab the bag back. However Matthew was quicker and moved the bag in his hand away every time. As the girl was comically being bullied by Matthew, a conversation happened between them.

“Give it back!”

“This isn’t yours.”

“So what!”

“You should return it.”

“I can’t do that!”

“Why?”

“Would you even listen?!”

“Just tell me first.”

“I need to give it to the orphans!”

At that moment, Matthew froze. The girl took this chance to grab it from Matthew. She hugged the bag again in a protective way.

“What did you say?” Matthew asked.

“These apples, they are for some orphans back on my street.” She said with a slightly sad tone. Then she returned to how she was before. “But you’re not gonna believe that are you?” Her eyebrows almost met in the middle.

Matthew answered. “Nope, show me. Where are these so-called orphans?”

The girl was speechless for a moment. She gave it a thought for a second before agreeing. “If that's what it takes to get you off my back. Follow me.”

Without another word, Matthew followed the girl. They walked for a while in silence until they reached their destination. It was quite far from where the centre of attention was. Matthew knew this place, it was called The Slums. An area that pretty much acted as a border between the Omni Kingdom and the Cyss Empire.

Matthew soaked in the shady and unhappy view. He felt a little uncomfortable. Not far away, Matthew could see a few children were playing around.

One of the children noticed them and immediately waved at his other friends while pointing at Matthew and the girl. All of them ran happily towards them.

“Chia! Chia! Chia’s back!” A little boy shouted.

“Chia, what happened to you? You look awful.” The eldest looking boy asked in concern.

The girl, Chia, only smiled. “I’m fine. Don’t you worry.”

“Chia, what’s that in your hand?” A girl asked.

“Ah, I got you guys some apples~” Chia presented the contents of the bag to the children.

“Wooww!”

“Here, I got one for each of you. Make sure everyone gets it, okay?” Chia handed the bag to the eldest boy.

“You got it!” The boy replied with a salute. Then he brought the children away. Chia chuckled at the sight of those children.

“So you weren’t lying.” Matthew finally spoke.

“These kids lost their parents years ago. I just couldn’t bear to see them. Living out here, it’s hard for them.”

“I’m… Sorry to hear that.”

“Hmm..”

“Why don’t they just go to an orphanage?” Matthew asked.

“They don’t want to. This house is the only thing that’s left by their parents. They don’t want to leave since it’s the only thing that reminded them of their parents.”

“Must be hard for them,” Matthew said.

“There are a lot more out there. We’re working hard to make sure that they get what they need to live,” said Chia.

“We?” Matthew glanced at Chia.

“We go by Winged Gears, I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”

“Actually, no. What is it?”

Chia looked at Matthew in disbelief before explaining. “We’re a… Syndicate I guess. We help people in The Slums and anywhere that has a poor living condition. We help by stealing from others. Yes, in other words we’re thieves.” Chia shrugged both her shoulders.

“Helping people by stealing from others… Not sure if that’s right.” Matthew mumbled.

“Whether it’s right or wrong, doesn’t matter. We don’t just steal from random people, we pick our targets.”

“And… Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know… I was just hoping that you would understand.”

“Why?”

“You’re asking too many questions.” Chia said with a slightly angry tone.

“Sorry.”

Chia gazed at Matthew, “You look, familiar.”

“Familiar?” Matthew gazed back.

“Not like I’ve met you somewhere familiar, but I think I saw it in a picture.”

“Really? Odd.” Matthew lifted one eyebrow.

“Well, it could just be a coincidence that you look like him.”

“Hmm…”

Just as they finished talking, a little boy showed up. Matthew and Chia turned their attention to him. He only smiled at them.

Chia did not understand what the boy wanted and asked. “What is it?”

“Chia~” The boy said playfully.

Chia only tilted her head in question.

“Who is he? Is he your boyfriend?” He asked with a smirk.

“Ha? What are you talking you little-”

“Ahahaha!” The boy ran away as soon Chia was about to grab him.

“Saying nonsense…” Chia mumbled as she crossed her arms.

“Heheh, children…” Matthew couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, what he asked first did intrigue me. Who are you? What’s your name?”

“Matthew.” He answered.

“Just call me Chia.”

“Alright.”

Matthew did not know what else to reply or what else to talk about, but then he remembered the reason he was chasing her in the first place. Before he could say anything, Chia spoke first.

“So, what happens now?”

Matthew took a glance at her before answering. “If you were lying about those kids, I would’ve settled you right here and now. But you weren’t, so… I guess I’ll just go back now.” Matthew turned around.

“Go back? You’re not gonna apprehend me or anything?”

“Well, I would’ve but,” Matthew swiveled his head to look at the children, “I just don’t have the heart to do it now.”

“You’re soft, you know?” Chia said.

“I don’t make unfair judgement and I guess,” Matthew turned back to face Chia, “what you did was right for the children, but it’s still wrong to steal. You could’ve found a better way.”

“It was the quickest.”

“I get it. Don’t worry, I’ll clear this out for you.”

“How?”

“Stealing is wrong, but it won’t be if you pay for it.”

“For real?”

“Yes. Pay them yourself next time, okay? See ya.” With that, Matthew started walking away.

Chia was momentarily nailed in place. She managed to snap out a few seconds later. “Thank you!” She shouted.

Matthew only replied with a wave. Chia stared at his back as he moved further away.

“Matthew huh…” Chia mumbled by herself.

Suddenly the children all gathered around her and smirked and giggled in unison. Chia scolded them as they immediately scattered.