The city

After a whole week, the siblings built a camp near the ship to temporarily settle there.Luckily, they had landed near a lake, which made many things easier for them—like food, since they could catch fish. As for bathing, they simply used the river. And whenever Sunny needed something, Lilith would sneak into the city and steal whatever they needed without telling her brother.

"Alright, not much left to do. Maybe we'll be able to leave in two days."Sunny said this while they were having dinner."Really!!""Yeah, not much left. All I need from you is to go to the city tomorrow and bring me some supplies."Lilith jumped up excitedly, raising her hands into the air."Yes! We're getting out of this place!!"

After saying that, Lilith fell silent and sat back down, her face glowing with a bright smile in the middle of the dark night. The only source of light was the fire they had lit."Honestly, it's been a fun week, I won't lie."Sunny smiled back at her."Yeah, it's been fun. It's nice to see you happy."

Suddenly, Lilith remembered something."Speaking of leaving, what about Carlos and Lisa? Aren't they waiting for us at Wringor Station?""Don't worry. I sent them a message using the ship's communicator. Thankfully, it's still working. But unfortunately, we'll have to postpone our heist on Bangima."Lilith took a calm bite of her fish."I miss them. You know, Lisa was going to show me something amazing. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure it's going to be incredible."

A moment of silence filled the air."Oh, right! I forgot to tell you—Lisa and Carlos are dating now. Did you know that?"Lilith's eyes sparkled with curiosity."Whaaaat?? Really!!""Haha, yeah. Crazy, right?"

Without realizing it, Lilith started bombarding Sunny with questions—where did they confess? Who confessed first? Every little detail—her eyes shining with excitement.Sunny answered everything with his usual soft smile.

The next morning, Lilith set off to steal the supplies Sunny needed, as usual.But today, the streets were crowded, making stealing harder than usual. Of course, for a skilled thief like Lilith, it was still easy.With agility and speed, she grabbed everything they needed."Hah, that was easy."

Suddenly, some children ran into her, making her drop everything she had stolen. At the same time, the shopkeeper she stole from noticed."Hey! Stop right there!!!""Oh crap."

Lilith sprinted as fast as she could, with the shopkeeper chasing her."Police! That's the thief!!!"Several officers turned and joined the chase.Lilith kept running until she ended up in a dead-end alley."Oh no, what do I do now??"

Out of nowhere, a ladder dropped down from one of the buildings.Without thinking, she climbed up."Agent! Up here, quickly!!!"It was the boy with the nice shoes from before.

"Are you alright, agent?""Phew, yeah. Thanks."Lilith gave him a small smile."Oh, I don't think I introduced myself last time. I'm Nir, nice to meet you.""Oh, right! And I'm—"Before she could say her name, Nir interrupted:"Wait! Is it even okay for you to tell me your name? I mean, you're a secret agent, right?""Uh—oh… no, it's fine. I trust you anyway." Lilith was sweating nervously."I'm Lilith. Nice to meet you."

Lilith quickly turned to leave."Well, I have to go now. Goodbye."As she started walking away, she felt a hand on her shoulder.She turned back to see Nir, with the same strange look in his eyes, almost like even he didn't know why he stopped her."Wait… I need your help. Umm… would you… come with me to the festival?""Festival??""Yeah! The festival celebrating Mayor Holl's return—the man who saved this city from ruin. You know him, right?"Lilith froze for a second, but quickly pretended to be confident."O-oh! Of course! Mayor Holl, how could I forget? S-sure, I'll come."

She gave him her usual goofy smile—though Nir seemed even more clueless than she was.

They headed to the festival, with Lilith wearing sunglasses and a mask to hide her face.The festival could only be described with one word—magnificent. A massive ship stood in the center, glowing and beautiful.Lilith's eyes widened with awe."Wooow! This is amazing!!!"

Food stands lined both sides of the streets, and, as always, Lilith ate without paying."Umm, agent? Why are you stealing food? That's a crime."Nir asked as she stuffed a chicken leg into her mouth."Mmm… well, as a secret agent, I need to refuel to complete my secret mission. And I'll definitely repay all of this later…"As usual, Nir believed her like the fool he was.

They had a great time together, until Lilith stopped to play a game after seeing a cute teddy bear."Yes! I won!! Did you see that, Nir?"She turned around with a big smile—but Nir was gone."N-Nir?"

Not just Nir—everyone had vanished. The entire festival was empty, like no one had ever been there."N-Nir? Everyone?"What's happening here??

She rubbed her eyes, thinking it was a trick."W-what is this…"A chill ran down her spine, her eyes widening with fear, unable to speak.She started running wildly—no goal, no direction, just running.She ran until she tripped and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.What is this strange feeling?

It was something she had never experienced before.Is this… loneliness?Being with her brother all the time, she never knew this feeling. Could just three minutes alone really make her feel this lonely?No—this was something else entirely.

She grabbed a knife from a nearby stall, trembling as she tried to cut her hand—hoping to wake up from this nightmare.Her hand shook violently.She closed her eyes, hesitating, ready to do it.

"Lilith… Lilith…"A distant voice broke through her thoughts—Nir's voice."Lilith… Lilith… Lilith!!!"Her eyes shot open in shock.What just happened?

Everyone was back.Lilith turned to Nir, her face drenched in sweat."Lilith, you won!! Lilith??"She collapsed to her knees from exhaustion.Seriously… what was that??

Nir rushed to her side, panicked."L-Lilith?! What's wrong? Are you okay?"Her sudden collapse drew the attention of the crowd, and soon two officers arrived."What's going on here?"

Lilith's eyes locked with one of the officers."…..""Wait! You're the thief!!!""Oh crap!!!"

She tried to run, but her body was too tired. She collapsed again."Nir, help—"Before she could finish, she saw Nir getting arrested too.The officers grabbed Lilith and dragged her into a cell."Seriously?! I was injured! If I wasn't, you'd never catch me, you bastards!!!"She shouted, clinging to the bars.

"Hah… I knew this would happen." Nir sighed."Oh, right—why did they arrest you too?""Well… remember those shoes? Yeah, they were stolen.""Ahaaa! So that's why they were after you!"

Nir sighed and leaned against the cold prison bars."I'm really sorry... because of me, your secret mission failed. I truly apologize."Lilith let out a tired sigh."Hah, don't worry. What's done is done. Now we just need to figure out a way to escape.""Whaaaat??"

Nir's eyes widened in shock."Are you serious? You want to escape? And of all days, you choose today—when Mayor Holl is in town?"Lilith turned to him, a little nervous."Yeah… so what? What's the worst that could happen? Who even is this Mayor Holl, anyway?"Nir's gaze became sharp, his usual clueless expression gone.

For the first time, Lilith felt a chill from simply looking into his eyes.

"Lilith… you're not from this planet, are you?"

Lilith tensed up."W-what? Of course, I am! What are you even saying—""I'm not an idiot. Even a fool could tell you're not from here."

Silence filled the cell for a few seconds.

Lilith let out a sigh and finally admitted:"Yeah… I'm not from here."

"I knew it," Nir said, smirking slightly."Honestly, I even had doubts about your whole 'secret agent' story."

So he's still an idiot after all.For a second, Lilith thought he was actually smart.

"Alright then, tell me—who exactly is this Mayor Holl, or whatever his name is?"Nir's expression grew serious again "Alright, I'll tell you." .