Departure

As the sun set, and the moon lit the sky. Alice stepped out of the UFLO office and locked the door. She pulled out her keycard and approached her car. It had been a hectic day and could not wait to get home and treat herself to a desert and watch that new series that just aired. Once she got close to her hovercraft, she noticed two people noticed leaning against it. Alice slowly approached the two, reaching into her handbag to pull out her knife. Once she was close enough to see their faces, she let out a gasp and dropped the weapon. 

"Sola? Fólórunsó?" She cried. "Oh my god, what happened to you two?" 

Of the two freelancers, only the former was badly injured. Though Fólórunsó looked fine, Alice could tell from the state of his clothes that something had happened to him as well. 

"Hey Alice," Fólórunsó smiled. "Mind giving us a ride to the hospital?" 

The three immediately got into the hovercraft and zoomed off. Sola was finally off edge and to the opportunity to go to sleep. It was the only way he knew he could stop the screams from plaguing him. Alice watched the grey-haired man from the rear-view mirror then turned to look at the one beside her. Despite the severity of the air, Fólórunsó was maintaining a composed demeanour, almost aloof. She could not help but find that baffling. 

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" She asked again. 

"Oh, nothing too out of the ordinary," The dark-haired man smiled. "Did a job, almost got killed by two different people, one of which was our employer but hey- it's just another day in the life of a freelancer," 

Alice wanted to push for a more elaborate response but decided not to. Though he was seemingly calm, she could tell Fólórunsó was hiding how he truly felt. The best thing she could do to help was get them to a hospital as quickly as possible. In a couple of hours, they arrived and had Sola admitted into medical care. The doctors also insisted on checking on Fólórunsó as well, despite his initial refusal. Once confirmed to be in good condition, Alice left shortly after, leaving the two alone. Fólórunsó eventually went to sleep beside the unconscious Sola. The two were at last allowed a reprieve from the troubles of the day. 

By the following afternoon, Sola's injuries had almost been recovered from. Fólórunsó, now dressed in a plain shirt with a solar system drawn on it and 'UFLO' written underneath stood outside of Sola's room as his partner discussed his health with the attending doctor. Not long after, the doctor stepped out of the room to meet with Fólórunsó. 

"How is he?" He asked. 

"He'll make a full recovery from his wounds by tomorrow morning," The doctor replied. "We plan to discharge him then as well. That is sadly the least of his worries," 

"What do you mean?" 

"I would tell you, but it's not my place to. That's something you'll have to ask your friend by yourself," 

Fólórunsó stepped into the room and sat beside the hospital bed. Sola sat there; his body covered in bandages and his head turned to the opened window. The silence between the two was thick enough to be cut. Neither of the two was willing to speak at first, but eventually, Sola took the initiative. 

"I don't care how much they offer, we're never doing another escort job together," 

Fólórunsó could not help but laugh at the comment. The laugh grew so hysterical that even Sola could not help himself but smile at the joke. A lot happened, yesterday but all that mattered was that they were here today, and they would be here tomorrow. At least, that was what Fólórunsó thought. 

The next morning when he came to the room, Sola was gone. The hospital staff could not account for when or how he left. The only thing that indicated that he had been there was a note that he left addressed to Fólórunsó. The young man opened it up as soon as he received it and read. 

"I would have preferred to not have to leave so unceremoniously but I felt I had little choice," The note began. "You may have heard from the doctors that I have an ailment of the sorts, though I do not know to the extent you now know of it. I cannot tell you about it either, but all you need to know is that I have been struggling with this ailment for as long as I remember, and after the day before, it has only grown worse. Conventional medicine cannot cure it, and neither can Revel, or at least no Revel Art that I know of. I cannot continue with this malady for long, so I have to find some cure for it. I have no idea if that cure is on Pedtro or somewhere else in Yubila. Part of me doubts it exists but I have to try. This is something I have to do alone. Do not look for me. If I am successful, I will return to Raudis, and maybe if you're still around, we can do jobs together. Like I never left," 

Despite the smile Fólórunsó wore on his face, anyone who looked at him could have seen the pain in his eyes. He could not help but blame himself. His greed led them to take the job. His incompetence was what made Sola have to fight the Ancient alone. His death was what drove his partner to seek revenge for his sake. And even when he did manage to save the day, it was already too late. Even with so much strength, Fólórunsó was yet again, still too weak to do anything. He quickly crumpled the paper and tossed it into the bin, leaving the hospital without a sound. 

Later that afternoon he went down to the UFLO to take up a job. Now that he was by himself, it meant he could only take low-risk low pay jobs to keep up ends meet. He was going to have to work twice as hard. With a flier from the request board, Fólórunsó approached Alice to get started on his next mission. 

"You might want to put that on hold," she said. "Someone came in and requested for you specifically," 

"Dang, I didn't realise I had become famous overnight," Fólórunsó joked. "Who is it?" 

Alice nudged her head to the right. Fólórunsó turned to see who she was directing him to and saw a woman approach him. His face immediately tensed up and his body went on edge. The woman in front of him was none other than the one from the Immortalis Manor. 

"I thought I said I don't want anything to do with you or that bloody family?" Fólórunsó growled. 

"I only came to deliver the payment for the services you rendered Jonathan a few days ago," The woman replied. She waved a payment slip in the air. "Among other things. Do you mind stepping outside with me?" 

The two walked outside until they were a fair distance away from the UFLO office. Fólórunsó still kept his guard up near the woman. She had not been an aggressor to him yet, but he could tell that she was not one to be trifled with just from the Revel around her alone. 

"What is it that you want?" He asked. 

"You," She replied. "Or more specifically your Revel. You displayed a strange power the other day and it has piqued my interest. Though you are still green regarding using your Revel, I am willing to teach you how to wield it properly in return for a service later along the line," 

"And what makes you think I would want to learn anything from you?" 

The woman turned to face Fólórunsó. Her green eyes stared straight into his own, as though she was looking into his soul. 

"I heard Sola left you," She began. "I may not know the specifics of it, but I can conclude that it was as a result of something that happened during his fight. A fight you feel you could have prevented had you been a tad stronger. But you could not. Now he is gone." 

Fólórunsó glared at the woman. He clenched his fists so tight that he began to bleed. 

"I am offering you the opportunity to prevent more people from leaving your life by making you stronger than you are now, so you can either accept my offer or have another Sola. Which do you think is the right decision?" 

The woman stretched out her hand to the man in front of her. He may not have liked what she had to say, but he could deny the truth in her words. Fólórunsó was too weak, and he needed strength beyond what his contract provided. With a great deal of reluctance, he put out his hand to meet hers and the two shook on it. 

"When does training start?"