In Noah's nightmare, night had already swallowed the neighborhood completely. The flashing lights of police cars and ambulances tore through the darkness, their red and blue gleam dancing on the walls of houses. A heavy metallic scent of blood mingled with the damp air.
Altair sat outside the house, curled up, his back pressed against the cold wall, his arms wrapped around his knees. Just a few steps away, paramedics were lifting the bodies of his parents onto two stretchers, covering them with clean white sheets… a whiteness that failed to hide the weight of the truth beneath it.
A crowd of people had gathered in front of the house. Faces half-lit by the flashing red and blue, prying eyes watching in silence, and whispering voices slipping through the air.
"His parents were killed right in front of his eyes," one woman whispered to the person beside her.
"Altair…" said Altair's friend while clutching onto his mother's robe, hiding behind her.
"But why isn't he crying?" another woman asked.
"You're right… that's strange," her husband whispered.
"How creepy. Even if someone hated their parents, they'd at least cry if they saw them killed in front of them." At that moment, no one cared whether they were whispering or whether Altair could hear them.
Altair remained silent, having heard all their whispers, loud and repeating in his ears. He covered his ears and looked down, trembling, feeling the crushing stares pressing down on him.
"Shut up! Don't look at me! Stop!" Altair thought to himself as tears welled up in his eyes again.
Then, one of the policemen approached Altair, waking him from his daze. The man was wearing his uniform, his face hazy as always.
"Boy, are you okay now?" the policeman asked.
Altair lifted his head to look at the policeman, then silently nodded and wiped his tears with his elbow.
"I need you to gather your courage because I'm going to ask you a few questions, alright?" the policeman said in a friendly tone, and Altair nodded again.
"Can you tell me when you saw the incident?" the policeman asked.
"A-at lunch time… around noon."
"I see… did you see the perpetrator's face then?" the policeman asked, kneeling down to be at Altair's eye level.
"…No… I didn't see…" Altair whispered, his voice just above a breath.
"Was he wearing a mask?" the policeman asked, puzzled.
"…Yes…"
"…Alright then… do you have any relatives who can take you in right now?" the policeman asked with curiosity.
"No…"
"…We may have to place you in an orphanage. Is that okay with you?" the policeman asked again.
Orphanage—that word reminded Altair of his current situation. "Orphan." Without parents. A victim of a crime. At that moment, he gripped his knees tightly, his hands trembling, forcing himself to answer, whispering softly:
"…Yes…"
"…Alright then… wait near the car. After we run a few checks, you'll be taken to your new home."
"…Okay." Altair stood, barely feeling his legs, and began walking toward the car. The crowd made way for him, looking down on him, watching for the smallest mistake to judge him, without a care for the feelings of a small child. He felt dizzy until he reached the police car and leaned against it.
"…What have I done?… I lied… I saw his face… so why?… If I told the truth, they would have found the perpetrator quickly and punished him… put him in prison for what he did…" Altair thought to himself, his breathing quickening. He sat on the ground, back against the car.
"But… is prison enough?… My parents… are dead… shouldn't his punishment be the same?… This isn't fair… it's not right… he should be punished permanently so he can never do something like this again… but who will punish him?… No one will do anything unless someone acts first… Everyone is too cowardly to act… Cowards… no… cowards… no… no… cowards… no… no, no, no… Why did I even think someone would do anything for me?… Everyone is selfish and proud of themselves, but they won't do anything for another unless they're connected to them… I'm just a stranger to them…" Altair thought to himself.
On the other side, the investigation had ended, and the policeman who had spoken to Altair earlier returned to the car to talk to him and take him to the orphanage. He walked around the car, but didn't find him there.
"Altair?" the policeman said in confusion, seeing no trace of Altair near the car. Alarmed, he turned to the crowd, but saw nothing. Then he turned to one of his colleagues and shouted loudly:
"The boy has disappeared! Search for him!"
Far from Altair's home, on the road, the streetlights shone on Altair's sweaty face, his blurred vision from crying. He was running with all his might—not to escape, but simply to get away. With every corner he turned, his breathing grew faster, and with every passing second, his heartbeat quickened.
"I'm a stranger to everyone… no one will help me even if I beg them… even if I bow my head and kiss the ground… so there's no need to humiliate myself… the only one who can help me is myself… Waiting for help is just slow death, and I'm sick of dying… I'll find the one who did this to my parents and punish him myself… I will kill him… I will kill him, I will definitely kill him!"
———————
Outside, in Sector 1, in the student council room, Livia and Aria were together with Enel and Violet. Aria sat at her desk, her fingers interlocked as she rested her head on them, while Livia ruined her attempt at appearing dignified by sitting on the table, one leg over the other, her head resting on her hand in boredom. Enel stood before them, and Violet hid behind him, both uneasy under the angry glare Aria shot at Livia.
Aria clicked her tongue in annoyance, then shifted her gaze to Enel and Violet. Her stare was still sharp, making Violet flinch.
"So, what did you find?" Aria asked.
"The blood you found belongs to Jarod Michaelie. Judging by the size of the wound and the amount of blood present, he's most likely dead. It's safe to assume the killer is the person we're looking for," Enel explained calmly.
"I see…" Aria said coldly, then glanced at Livia from the corner of her eye before turning back to Enel and Violet.
"If the victim pattern is nightmares, it's reasonable to say Jarod might have seen one of them… Did this worker have any friends? I always saw him alone… There's Mr. Myriad, maybe he knows something," Aria thought to herself.
"Go find Mr. Myriad and ask him about Mr. Jarod," Aria said to Livia.
"Your wish is my command," Livia said with a mocking smile, which threw Aria off since she didn't expect her to agree so readily. But she didn't bother asking why—the less discussion, the fewer headaches for her.
Then, Livia hopped off the desk, waved at Aria in farewell, then walked toward Violet and wrapped her arm around her neck.
"Come with me," Livia said, dragging along the startled Violet, who tried to cling to Enel but failed. Livia closed the door as soon as she stepped out, leaving Enel and Aria alone.
"…This… is awkward," Enel thought to himself, feeling both embarrassed and tense.
Aria stayed silent for a moment, glancing around to make sure it was just the two of them in the room. Then she held her earlobe, and suddenly, a purple earring appeared out of nowhere. She removed it, then looked at Enel, puzzling him.
"Enel," Aria called his name gently, making his body tremble in excitement. His eyes glowed the same color as her earrings.
"Is his mental resistance really that weak? I only said his name, yet his emotions are already under my control," Aria thought to herself in surprise, though she was pleased at how easy it was.
"Who is Sirius Soren? What is his ability? His background? His family? Everything you know about him—tell me," Aria asked coldly.
"Sirius… Soren…? I don't know anyone by that name," Enel said, taking Aria by surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"I don't know anyone by that name," Enel repeated, making Aria stand from her chair in shock.
"A-are you sure? He's your friend, after all," Aria said, stunned, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion.
"My friends are Noah Grace and Neriah Grey. I don't know anyone named Sirius Soren. I've never seen him before or heard of him," Enel repeated, confused by Aria's endless questions.
"…Y-you can leave then…" Aria said, slowly sitting back down.
Enel nodded and headed straight to the door. He grabbed the handle, stepped out, and closed it behind him. The glow vanished from his eyes, and he snapped out of it as if waking from a nap.
"Huh? W-why am I here? I should catch up with Violet and Livia," Enel said nervously before walking down the hallway outside.
Inside the room, Aria clutched her hair so hard it frayed, anger and irritation burning in her.
"Who the hell is this Sirius?!"
———
Outside the campus building, Livia and Violet were walking together toward the last place they had met Mr. Myriad. Livia had her hands in her pockets and a faint smile on her face, gazing at the sky, while Violet walked with hesitant steps, tense and confused as to why Livia had brought her along.
"M-Miss Livia, where are we going?" Violet finally managed to speak and ask.
"To the garden, where Mr. Myriad always works," Livia answered, puzzled that Violet would even ask a question she should already know the answer to.
"W-why did you bring me with you? E-Enel would've been more useful… and you already know him…" Violet said nervously, looking side to side.
"Believe me, I would've brought Calli if I knew where she was instead of you," Livia thought to herself. Of course, she couldn't say something like that out loud.
"I only brought you because you're useful for what we're about to do, that's all," Livia said coldly.
"O-okay… so what are we going to do then?" Violet asked, unaffected by Livia's comment about her usefulness.
"We're going to find Mr. Myriad, and you're going to examine him with your skill," Livia said.
"M-my skill?… H-how?—"
"Those questions don't matter. All you need to know is that I know about your skill, and I want you to use it on Mr. Myriad. That's all," Livia said, cutting Violet off.
"…O-okay."