New and Forgotten Bonds

Alan slowly opened his eyes. He noticed a familiar-looking ceiling and gave a small sigh of relief. The comfort of his bed eased the stress of his long journey that may have only seemed like a few days to others. Stray beams of light invaded the room's darkness through the window beside his bedside. Weak, Alan stood up, using his bed as support, and opened the curtain to allow for the complete invasion of the light. His brown eyes constricted as the sudden burst of light blinded him. After a few moments, Alan's eyes readjusted to the light, and the sight of snow blanketed the streets met him. People dressed in bundles walked as the roads were for once emptied of

vehicles, perhaps due to the city's lack of snow preparation.

"So I finally finished the trial...." Alan muttered to himself as he looked at the arm he watched get sliced off. He rolled up his sleeve and noticed a thin line of black characters glowing slightly crimson around his shoulder.

He rolled his sleeve back down and turned around. His brow twitched in irritation as he noticed that his room was no longer in the same state as when he had left it. He had already known that Linda would have replaced the door to his apartment, but he would never have guessed that she would remodel his entire unit.

*BZZT BZZT*

Interrupting the sightseeing of his new unit, Alan's phone buzzed on the table beside his bed. He walked over and noticed that it was none other than Marshal calling him. Still feeling weak from exhaustion, he let it go to voice mail. Once it did, he looked at his phone. He winced at the date as he realized he had been asleep for two days. He then put his phone down and performed his morning tasks before getting ready for the day.

*Knock Knock Knock*

After an hour had passed since Alan had woken up, he heard a weighted knock on his door. Alan slowly panned his head towards the door. "Who the hell...?" He said to himself as he went towards the door. When Alan got to the door, he instinctively tried to look through the peephole, only to realize that the hole seemed to be slightly higher than before. Alan had an unamused look on his face as he gave up and just opened the door.

"Yo!" A large, muscular man stood on the other side of the door. "I see you have been through a lot this past week, so let's talk about it!" The large man forced his way into Alan's apartment and took his shoes off.

"It's kinda rude to shove the apartment owner out of the way like that, you know," Alan said while closing the door. Alan then stopped and panned toward his friend with a confused look. "How did you know I was awake?"

Marshal chuckled as he sat down in a chair at Alan's small dining table. "I didn't." He then puffed his chest with pride. "I came here three times a day to see if you had woken up. I knew eventually, if you woke up, you would ignore any calls and answer the door, seeing as to now you can't even see out the peephole." Marshal grinned. Unamused by Marshal's assessment, Alan walked to the table and sat across from him. Marshal's face then turned impassive, as if he was preventing Alan from planning ahead. "I came here for two reasons: first, to see if you were okay; second, to ask something important."

"Ask me what?" Alan fiddled with his hands under the table. The pressure emitting from Marshal was unbearing. Even after surviving a fight against an opponent who knew what he was doing, Alan was shaken up by relying too heavily on Alice. Thanks to the man before him, he was no stranger to fighting, but that was primarily old-fashioned fisticuffs. Using a weapon, much less a sword his size, was new to him.

"LIKE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE FUCKING CRAZY!" Marshal shouted as he opened his holographic display and showed Alan a video of the night raid at the laboratory.

"Huh!?" Alan was taken aback. The information collected that night was never supposed to be known by the masses. He recalls Tony saying that even if they wanted to, they couldn't release anything as the government would silence them, one way or another.

"Look, I understand the need to gain popularity for taking down two terrorists; nevertheless, what if you died?" Marshal said with an unmistakable look of concern.

Alan was now more confused by the words Marshal had just spoken. There were never two terrorists. As Alan tried to say those words, his front door forcefully opened, startling the two boys. Renne, dressed in a purple tracksuit with her long purple hair down at her side, walked in with a severe look on her face.

"Oh, you're already awake, good." She walked forward towards Alan's main room, and the second she glanced at Marshal, she immediately stopped and took an aggressive stance. "Who is he?"

"Ummm..." Marshal was at a loss for words. He just witnessed a small girl casually walk into Alan's apartment like it was second nature and took an aggressive stance when she realized she wasn't alone with Alan. "Morning... Alan's friend, I hope."Alan walked up and pinched the girl's nose, "Calm down, Renne."

"..." Renne rubbed her nose as she walked over to Alan's bed and took a seat.

"Anyway, Alan, explain!" Marshal said.

"What, the girl or the video?"

"BOTH!!!"

Alan glanced at Renne, and she nodded in agreement. Alan then explained almost everything that had happened that day, minus the parts that had happened after the footage ended. Marshal sat at the table, trying to process everything Alan had told him. But just as he was gonna ask Alan a question, Renne spoke up.

"Alan, do you know who recorded this?" Alan looked at Renne and shook his head no.

"I thought you knew," Alan replied with a look of dread on his face. Marshal watched as the two traded looks of concern before speaking up.

"Umm...forgive me for being out of line, but...." Marshal opened a forum site and showed it to the two. "I think these people may have leaked your fight."

"Impossible!" Alan retorted. "The entire area was evacuated, so there was no way anyone was in range to record that fight in such high quality."

"Maybe a government employee did?" Renne asked in a quiet voice, causing both Alan and Marshal to pause and think.

"But why?" Marshal asked. "Why would they label one of their most influential people as a terrorist and label a person betraying the government a hero?"

Alan processed what Marshal had just said. To him, everything Marshal said made it seem like the government had some odd agenda that involved sacrificing one of their greatest minds as a scapegoat. And as Alan thought deeply about why; a sudden memory from the fight came to him. An image of black markings wrapping itself around the professor.

"Maybe the professor went astray...." Alan whispered.

"Wait, what do you mean? "

*BZZZT BZZZT*

Just as Marshal questioned what Alan had just said, he received a call on his holographic display. He noticed a familiar name, then instantly went pale. "I completely forgot..." he said with a terrified expression as he quickly got up and rushed to put his shoes on.

"Let me guess, you forgot about a morning meet-up for your club?" Alan asked, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, that's the gist of it. Also, are you going to school today?"Alan shook his head. "Not until things die down. That video would just make school more annoying than usual."

"Mmm, alright." Marshal waved goodbye and quickly rushed out of Alan's apartment, leaving Alan and Renne alone.

Alan turned to Renne, slightly confused. "Have I really been asleep for two days?"

"Yeah..." Renne stared Alan in his eyes, lost in thought. Alan noticed this odd behavior and decided that it was best to let her be. Alan got up and put on his shoes near the door, and turned to look at the spaced-out Renne. "I'm heading to the store. You want something?"

"..." Renne sat quietly.

"Renne?"

"Huh, oh ummm... something light?" Renne answered nervously as Alan startled her from her thoughts.

"O...Kay?" A very confused yet concerned Alan walked out the door.

~~~R~~~

Renne sat quietly to herself on Alan's bed and recalled the events that had happened during the past few days. To her, everything she's done until now has felt like a sandcastle in the rain. All that she loved was once again ripped from her, and now she was an outcast by the same family that took her in. Her reason for entering Alan's room wasn't just to relay information about the video leak but to retain any warmth she could to keep herself pushing forward. However, doing this only hurt her more. She knows that her recently made friend, Evangela, was in love with Alan, but she couldn't help herself. Alan reminded Renne of her love for Arthur. Renne looked around Alan's room, searching for something to paint her a better picture of Alan. She got up, walked to his dresser, and noticed a small picture frame face down on the floor. She crouched down to pick it up and turned it over to see the image. Upon doing so, a wave of sadness crashed over her as her chest ached. The image portrayed two mothers standing next to their children. However, she recognized only one person; she knew that the woman standing next to the familiar boy was Arthur's late wife. Knowing that, she looked down at the young boy and assumed it was Alan. She then looked back at the woman.

"Heh, I knew I wasn't gonna go anywhere with him. Even so, this hurts to look at." She said in a self-depressing tone as she switched her gaze to Alan and the girl next to him. "Who is she?"

"Proof of my sin." A familiar voice came from behind.

"!?" Renne was startled by the voice and almost dropped the picture frame. "Alan!?" She turned to look at the person behind her. Alan didn't look at Renne. However, he stared expressionless at the photo as he gently grabbed it from Renne's hands. Upon grabbing the picture, their eyes met. Renne saw a glint of sadness in Alan's eyes. He then walked over to his bedside and placed the photo face down on his end table. The way he carried himself was concerning for Renne. The man she saw rushing into a fight without a second thought before was walking as if he had no purpose. It was clear as day to Renne that the sense of self worthless eat away at him, but Renne did not know how to cheer him up. She stood up from Alan's bed and tried to hug him from behind. Before she could get any closer, he spoke, freezing Renne in place.

"My first love," he continued, "but also the reason I became the 'sin of sloth' as the spirits claim me to be."

Upon hearing those words, Renne's expression became even more depressed. "Same as me, I guess." She said to herself, "A first love that forever hunts you." Alan walked to Renne, handed her a small box that read, "Stuffed Waffle," and sat down on the bed, looking at the face-down photo with a distant gaze. He then told Renne the story of the events of the earthquake. After patiently listening to Alan's story, Renne reflected on her past. "Maybe I should..." she muttered.

Alan heard her soft muttering and said, "Wait, that wasn't my intention." Alan's expression changed. An embarrassed face replaced his gloomy look as his face turned a shade of red. Renne smiled a little as she stared into his eyes. Alan's eyes darted around the room. "Look, you don't have to rush it. I only told you my past because my weapon, whether or not you believe me, told me it was best to confront my past and not run from it. Although I do feel better, I did not intend to force you to tell me about the skeletons in your closet." Alan tried sounding serious and calm, but Renne knew how he felt.

"Hehe," Renne gave a slight chuckle, "I guess you two aren't the same after all."

"Huh?"

"You act tough, but you have a dorky side. I like that." Renne gave Alan a loving stare.

"Heh...heh..." Alan felt uncomfortable seeing a small child-like girl giving him such a stare, but he soon eased up a little after remembering her circumstances. Alan placed his left hand on Renne's hand and said, "Look, between you and me, I haven't moved on from my first love yet. And you kinda fell for my father...so...you have a lot to go through if you want to have me fall for you."

"I don't know whatcha talking about." She grinned, "But I'll take that as you gave me permission to try." Renne then hummed a cheerful tone to herself.

Alan then sat back down and picked up the photo again. "Still," he said quietly, causing Renne to glance back in his direction, "I wonder if she is still alive and doing well." He then looked at the clock on his phone and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Renne asked.

"I'm bored, so I'm gonna head to work." He then opened the door and walked out, leaving Renne by herself.

"Booo...now I'm bored." She fell over on Alan's bed and stared at the ceiling. "I guess I should tell him my sin. After all, that warning Onyx gave me kinda worries me." She then grabbed one of Alan's pillows and hugged it as she slowly fell asleep.

~~~L~~~

At the same time:

An extensive black limousine traveling within the Northern District contained a small family of three on the way to their respective destinations. A tall man with a bulky build, wearing a cream-colored business suit, sat across from a young maiden dressed in a simar colored dress with a school crest on the left of her chest. She had short brown hair, and while messy, she would not notice until later. Beside the man was a beautiful woman dressed in a black suit with long brown hair.

"Lucianna, you've been staring at the footage for a while now." A tense, manly voice said. "Can you at least take a break and enjoy this limo ride with your father?."

"Oh dear, you don't need to be so uptight. You have the entire week off, so you have all the time you need to spend with her." A caring, motherly voice said while trying to calm the slightly annoyed father.

Lucianna sat quietly while blocking out the noise of her parents as she reviewed the footage from a few days ago from the fight at the laboratory. "...I thought he was dead..." she muttered, causing her parents to stop their minor fighting and focus their attention on the video.

"Yeah...," the father said, being the first to comment, "when we got the news, we were told that the Macemon family had all died during the quake. But this footage and the last one show that was not the case at all."

"The last one?" Lucianna asked.

"Oh right, you were busy that day, so you never got to view it. Just the other day, a live stream aired showing Alan, if I remembered his name right, and his father duking it out in the streets."

"Not only that," the mother chimed in, "Arthur was labeled a terrorist."

"Just what the hell is going on with this city? First, Arthur gets announced as a terrorist, Alan randomly reappears after being missing for like 10 years, and then one of the city's greatest minds gets declared a terrorist and killed by Alan. Something is wrong, and I do not like it one bit." The father said while crossing his arms and then tensing up when he was an unfriendly sight in the distance.

"I guess all we can do is hope that another disaster does not happen." The mother said with worry while ignoring her husband's expression.

"Alan..." Lucianna said to herself, "please stay safe." The limousine that carried the three stopped at a large, fancy building surrounded by military officers. "Huh?" she said in surprise. A slim officer walked up to the vehicle, and a man dressed in a butler outfit walked up to speak to the officer before opening the door to let the passengers out.

"I wish you explain what's going on." The father asked.

"Yes, I will." The officer said, "Because of recent events, the city officials have placed all important buildings in the Northern District under lockdown in fear of a terrorist attack."

"But why this school? No other schools were placed under lockdown on our way here."

"I'm afraid that the information regarding why is confidential. But what I can tell you is that someone here is a person of interest."

"I see..." The father rubbed his temples. "Anyway, stay safe, Lucianna." He then waved goodbye and reentered the limousine. The butler gently closed the door and gave the officer a small bow as he went to the driver's side of the limousine.

Lucianna looked at the officer as he gave her a friendly smile, then walked into the school building. "I need to talk to Audrey and see if she knows what's happening." She said to herself. As she disappeared into the crowd, the officer at the entrance pulled out a radio. "VIP is inside. All units are to be on high alert until further notice. Over."