Mistakes

After escaping from his window, Alan, with Evangela in tow, ran towards a busy area full of civilian life. He gently tossed Evangela into a nearby dark alley and dropped his sword. "It looks like...he is not…chasing," Alan said while panting. He looked towards Evangela with a forced smile. "We can rest here." Alan then looked around. The alley he had found himself in was the same place where it all started.

"Looks like fate really loves this place," Chronos had said to Alan telepathically. "That man is still nearby, but I don't believe he's after you anymore." Alan tilted his head at that statement. "Anyway, just be on guard. The Executioners may have stopped chasing, but you are still wanted by the Collectors. Just because they are the same organization does not mean they have unity."

"You say that as if you have experience." Alan muttered to himself.

"I do. That's how this whole thing started." Chronos then changed his tone to a more cheerful one. "But don't worry about it. Just focus on that cutie over there, watching you with budding eyes. Hehe."

"Wait, how do you know that?" As Alan turned, Chronos' statement was correct, Evangela was staring at Alan with an embarrassed look. She squirmed her legs a little as she avoided eye contact. She sat on top of a damaged wooden crate that seemed to be soaked in some kind of liquid. "What's a rich girl like you getting all embarrassed for? I'm sure you have been alone with plenty of guys." He said with a slight tone of disgust.

"Dummy." Evangela muttered softly, "That's not why I am embarrassed, and for the record, I have been alone with a guy." She spoke in an arrogant tone.

"Now that's Evangela I'm used to." Alan walked his way toward Evangela, who desperately tried to push him away. "Hey, what gives? That's the only place to sit around here."

"Then sit on the ground like a good boy."

"Sorry, but that's not happening. Just grow up and learn to sit with oth-" Before Alan could finish, a piece of trash tripped him, sending him face-first on top of Evangela's lap. After landing, Alan, who was unaware of the location in which he had landed, quickly lifted his head with his eyes closed. "Damn, this alley reeks of piss…" He opened his eyes after saying that. He then looked closely at the location in which he had landed. "Oh…" Alan looked up to see the face of a furious girl preparing her hand to slap him. "Wait, it was an acc-" However, before he could finish, Evangela slapped Alan in the face and quickly retreated with the wooden crate to the depths of the alley.

After some time, Alan walked up to Evangela to apologize. "Look...I'm sorry. I just didn't expect you to piss yourself during that adventure." Alan took off his pants. "Here, put these on for now. I can't have a girl walking around in soiled clothing, or Marshal will beat the shit outta me."

"But what about you?" Asked a still very embarrassed Evangela.

"I'll be fine. Boxers are kinda like shorts in a way, so I won't be arrested for public indecency...probably."

Evangela took off her pants and underwear and put on Alan's pants. "Hey...why are they after me?" She asked in a soft, charming tone. Alan avoided eye contact. Evangela received nothing but silence. "So I can take that as you know something important, don't you?" Evangela marched up to Alan with a serious look in her eyes.

"..." Alan continued to stare at her, keeping his mouth shut.

Evangela, on the verge of crying, turned away. "So this is how I'm repaid. I spend my day looking after you and when something important happens that involves me, I'm just left in the dark." Evangela ran off after saying that.

"Being slothful again I see." Chronos telepathically said.

"You want me to tell her that her father is using her as bait?" Alan said with an annoyed expression on his face, "Or do you want me to tell her that I'm her white knight, repeating the same day over and over just for her?" Time froze around him.

"I warned you not to be careless with your powers. But I suppose you have a valid point." Time then resumed. "That Executioner fellow is still nearby, just watching."

"If he's nearby, I guess I should find Evangela. I gotta make sure she doesn't get herself killed, or get near the police." Alan said while walking towards the exit in his boxers.

"I'm pretty sure that the police would be more interested in hunting you." Chronos said sarcastically.

"That is better for her then. The less attention she attracts, the better."

"Wow, your mindset is quite twisted." Chronos said in a playful tone. "How interesting." Alan raised a brow. He then picked up his blade and began looking for Evangela.

~~E~~

Meanwhile, while Evangela was running, she bumped into a little girl. "Oww…" She looked down, "Oh no... I'm sorry!" She got up and rushed towards the little girl. The girl looked to be a middle schooler wearing a purple and black gothic-like outfit with long, dark purple hair. The girl got up and looked at Evangela.

"It's alright ma'am," the girl said with a smile, "I'm not hurt." While brushing off the dirt from her dress, a man in an aqua-colored outfit approached the two girls.

"Renne, what the hell are you doing playing in the dirt?" He said.

"I wasn't playing in the dirt, you ass," Renne said, slightly annoyed. "I bumped into this pretty lady and got dirty."

"A pretty lady huh?" He approached Evangela.

"Umm...I'm sorry for bumping into your daughter." Evangela bowed her head.

"A daughter… hmm, whatever, as long as you two aren't hurt. By the way, what's your name, miss?" The man asked.

"Evangela, Evangela Seamon." She said with a smile, only to realize the grim looks of them both of them afterward.

The man quickly grabbed Evangela's wrist. Evangela's eyes widen as she tried to process what just happened.

"So, old man, what are you gonna do with her?" Renne asked.

"Let go of m-," Renne tried a rag around her mouth.

"It's simple. We'll set up a ward and use the girl as bait." He said while dragging the Evangela to the center of the street.

"Don't you think that's playing dirty?"

"Our target can restart time, so what's wrong with using underhanded tactics to lure him out?" He tied Evangela onto a street sign in the center of the median of the street, then hijacked a nearby cleaning robot.

"And that's for?"

"A time limit. If the boy comes too late, then the girl dies."

"Won't you get in trouble? We got orders that the hunt for the girl was put on hold for now."

"She won't die if the boy shows up." He turned to look at Evangelia's face, "Let us see if your knight in shining armor will come to save you." He turned around and called upon his mist, pulling his sword from within. Beside him was a purple-colored mist that had appeared in front of Renne. Her weapon was a giant black scythe that was larger than Renne herself. The scythe had a faint purple glow to it, with an emblem belonging to the collectors. The man glared at the girl beside him and pointed his blade at her throat. "You stay on standby, Renne. I only called you here to help me search, nothing more." The man told Renne.

"Booo…" Renne pouted, "You're no fun, Arthur." Renne reluctantly moved away from the area to watch it unfold. "Stupid old man. I didn't agree to join you just to watch." Renne stared at Arthur with a sad look. "All I want is to fight by your side…"

~~0~~

Meanwhile, Alan was searching the area to find the whereabouts of Evangela. While walking towards a busy section of the city, he sensed something off. There was an odd moment of people that seemed irregular to the likes of a busy street. It was as if everyone was avoiding a major part of the street. Alan walked around slowly with the blade tightly gripped.

"Chronos?" Alan thought to himself.

"Yeah what?" Chronos replied angrily.

"To what extent are you willing to help guide me?"

"Only as far as you help me." His reply confused Alan.

"Okay…So then answer me this: does that spell not affect wielders in range?" He asked while watching people form a perfect circle around him, just like they did in the past loop.

"Considering that you don't know how to use that ability of the nanomasses, yes, you are in the range of another wielder, so I would recommend that you stay on guard."

Alan moved in silence, watching his surroundings, looking for something off. After a few more minutes of walking, he finally found the source of the spell. In front of him stood a man in an aqua suit and a girl tied to a street sign with a cleaning robot's trash shredder slowly reaching her. "Arthur…" Alan said with rage in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and brought his blade before him. Arthur grinned and pulled out his blade to match his son.

"So the knight in shining armor has finally arrived." He paused and looked down at Alan and sighed. "Why aren't you wearing pants? Actually, I don't want to know. This will be a fight between a savior of humanity and a slothful sinner." A crooked smile spread across his face.

"Now, I get to kill the one who stole my wife's love from me, forcing her to lose her life that day. You better brace yourself, Alan. I detest you with every fiber of my being. So do me a favor and die for sins."