Eli

"Hmmm? What is this place?"

Gen woke up startled. He had just slept in the wagon of the merchants he had found, and now he didn't know where he was.

The place was a medium-sized room. Looking around, Gen realized that he couldn't see any door or window and that the room was quite empty. The only thing he could see in it was a table in the center of it. There were two chairs beside the table, and in one of them, there seemed to be someone sitting.

Gen then thought, 'Have they kidnapped me? They didn't seem like the kind of people who would do that, and even if they were, how come I didn't wake up when they carried me here?'

Suddenly, Gen heard a voice from the center of the room, "Ah, you've finally arrived. Come, your seat is reserved."

Gen then looked toward the table and asked, "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"

Upon hearing this, the person sitting on the chair said, "Sit down first. We don't have much time."

"What do you mean?"

The person in the chair stayed silent and made a sign for him to sit down.

Gen thought a little and decided to sit down while thinking, 'Well, there should be no problem sitting there. If he wanted to harm me, he would have done it already.'

Gen then approached the table, and as he got closer, he began to get a better look at what it looked like. The person sitting in the chair was a man. He had long black hair that went down to his waist, he was wearing simple white clothing, and his skin tone was light. As Gen got closer, he realized that the man was bound to the chair by his wrists and ankles.

Gen then reached over to the table and pulled the chair to sit down, but then he noticed that on top of the table, there was an object.

When he looked closely, he saw that the object was a rusty scale. It had two platforms hanging by chains. He was annoyed just thinking about the noise it would make when moving.

After looking at it for a while, Gen got into a trance but was soon awakened by the voice of the man in front of him, "Gen, can you stop looking at the scale and help me out here?"

Gen was surprised and asked, "How do you know my name?"

"Well, I've known you for a while. It would be hard for me not to know your name."

"You know me? What do you mean? I don't remember anyone like you."

"Gen, we don't have much time to talk. Help me here quickly, then you can continue with your questions."

"Help you with what? Do you want me to set you free? I don't have a key or anything that can help. The only thing I have on me is my clothes."

"I don't want you to set me free. I was hoping you could get my hair out of my face. Oh, and to be clear, you don't need a key to set me free, but that's for another time."

"How so-"

"My hair first, Gen, then you ask whatever you want."

Gen then approached him cautiously and stretched his hand towards the hair that was covering his face, but as he touched the hair, the man moved in a way as if he was trying to advance towards Gen, making the chair shake.

When Gen saw this, he quickly stepped back and asked him, a little scared, "What was that?!"

"Hahahaha, relax, Gen. I just wanted to tease you because you were very tense, hahaha. I'll stay still this time, I swear."

Gen then looked at him a bit apprehensively but decided to try again.

He reached out and brushed the hair out of the front of his face. As he got his hair away, he looked at the man's face and saw that he had a normal appearance. He had his eyes closed for some reason, but before Gen could ask him why, the man started talking, "Thanks, Gen, sit down quickly. Let's not waste a second."

"Ok.", Gen said and sat down, knowing he wouldn't get any answers if he didn't.

As he sat down in the chair, something strange happened: the surrounding room disappeared, and all that was left was the table, the scale, and the chairs they were sitting in.

After this happened, the man said, "Whew, finally, we are alone."

Gen then looked at him and realized that he was no longer tied to the chair, and then asked, "Weren't we alone in the other room? And what is this place? Who are you? Oh, and my stuff? What have you done with it?"

"Easy, Gen, one question at a time. Let's do this: we each ask one question at a time until we are satisfied with the answers, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well, you can call me Eli. Well, I'll start with the questions. How is your quest to get your essence back going?"

"How do you know that? Andre and Darren told you, right? They're probably with you, so it makes sense that you know that."

"Gen, the first question is mine. We're not going to move forward if you answer my question with another one."

"That's true ... about your question. I don't know how it's going. All I have are rumors. No one knows anything that can help me. It's hard enough to meet someone who has lost their essence. Imagine finding someone who knows how to get it back."

"Hmmm, that makes sense. What rumors do you have then?"

"It's my turn to ask."

"Oops, it's true. Well, you can ask."

"Well, what do you want from me? Why did you bring me here?"

"Well, I just brought you here to talk and try to help you."

"Help me? What do you mean?"

"Wait, it's my turn. Tell me about the rumors you heard."

"Well, I heard about this strange desert ruin. It appears in several places and is extremely difficult to find. I am heading towards it because there is a possibility that it is an ordeal.

"Hmmm, okay. Ask your question."

"You said you brought me here to help me. What did you mean by that?"

"Well, I'm your friend, why wouldn't I want to help you? Besides, the faster you get your essence back, the faster you can ... do something important for you."

"What? What do you mean something else important?"

"Geez, Gen, you don't learn. It's my turn to ask now. Do you want to know if this ruin can help you recover your essence?"

"Of course, I want to, but how would I confirm that?"

"It's easy; we just need to use it.", said Eli, pointing to the scale.

Gen then looked towards it and noticed something. He then said, "What happened to the scale? It was all rusty before."

The scale Gen had seen before now looked brand new.

"Gen ... never mind, I'll accumulate my questions then. About the scale, it has a connection to me, so when I got free, it went back to normal. Now it's my turn. Do you have anything of value on you, like money, for example?"

"Money? No, I told you, I just have these clothes on my body."

"I'm sorry, let me rephrase my question. Did you have anything of value on your body before you came here?"

"Well, yes, I had several supplies that I was going to use in the ruin and about ten silver coins, but what does it matter?"

"Hmmm, ten silver coins. How long did it take you to collect them?"

"It's my turn to ask."

"I'm taking an interest since you asked twice in a row last time. Now answer me. We have little time."

"Well, it took me about four months to collect them. Why?"

"Four months should be enough, and about your question, I need to have this information to know if the scale will work. Now, let's find out if it's worth you wasting your time in these ruins. Gen, close your hand and put it above the left platform of the scale, and no more questions. We've already wasted too much time."

Gen then looked at Eli and, for some reason, felt he should trust him. He then stretched his left hand on the platform.

"Good."

Eli then closed his hand, too, and then stretched it, and placed it on the other platform. He then said, "Does the Ruin of Sands have anything that can help Gen recover his essence?"

He then opened his hand, and from his hand, a piece of paper with the text he had just spoken fell onto the right platform of the scale. As it leaned against the platform, the paper that seemed extremely light caused it to lower quickly.

Eli then said, "Gen, now you repeat what I did, but instead of saying what I said, say how many coins you have, and how long it took you to get them afterward."

"Okay. Ten silver coins earned in four months.", Gen said and then opened his hand.

The same scene repeated itself, and a piece of paper fell from Gen's hand. It had what Gen had just said written on it, and as it fell onto the other platform, it began to make it go down until it reached the point where both platforms were balanced.

Upon seeing this, Eli said, "Whew, that was enough. Now let's see the answer."

Gen was about to ask what he was talking about, but before he could, something happened on the scale.

The two papers that were on it came together, and on the new paper was written, 'Yes'. Upon seeing this, Gen was confused, but right away, Eli said, "Yes, that's great. It looks like the rumor is true."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't worry, this technique never fails."

"That's great-, argh!!!", Gen stopped in the middle of his speech and brought his hands to his head. It was hurting so much, and he couldn't stand the pain.

Seeing this, Eli said, "Looks like our time is up. It found us."

Gen had his head on the table and was in too much pain to answer him, so Eli continued, "Let's go back."

The room around them came back. Eli then adjusted himself in the chair, bound his ankles and wrists to the chair again, and then said to Gen, "Gen, it's time for you to leave. If you stay here any longer, the consequences will be great. It was good to see you again, buddy."

Gen did not understand what Eli was talking about, but suddenly something happened. As he looked at Eli's face in front of him, something clicked in his brain, and he said, "E-Eli!!!"

Eli, seeing this, opened a smile and said, "Hahaha, you are back, my friend, but unfortunately, we won't be able to talk; you have to leave."

Right after Eli finished speaking, everything around Gen started to blur and slowly fade away, including Eli.

Seeing this, Gen quickly said while looking at Eli, "Eli! I'll get you out of here one day, no matter how long it takes!"

Upon hearing this, Eli smiled and moved his lips as he finished disappearing, causing Gen to hear a half-low and distant voice say, "Thank you, Gen."

Everything then faded away, and Gen began to listen, "Gen ...", "... up Gen."

Gen was confused, trying to understand what he was hearing, when suddenly the voice came extremely loud, "Wake up, Gen! We've arrived!"