4 DAYS REMAINING
Walking through the bustling streets of Prime City, I felt the weight of everything Kail had told me earlier. Capuchin was next on the list, but finding her was easier said than done. I wasn't even sure where to start. The city was massive, and I had no idea how deep her ties went. My mind kept running in circles, trying to figure out the best approach.
And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it—the old, broken-down motorcycle. The one I had noticed during my fight with Cherry. I paused, staring at it for a moment. Something about it still drew me in. I had no reason to, but I felt like I had to fix it up. Maybe it was a distraction, or maybe it was something more. Either way, I couldn't shake the feeling.
As I walked over to the bike, the air around me seemed to shift. I reached out and placed my hand on the cold, rusted metal, ready to drag it back to the apartment and tinker with it. But the second my fingers made contact, something strange happened.
Suddenly, I wasn't on the street anymore. I wasn't even in Prime City.
I was somewhere else entirely.
The world around me faded into a memory—not mine, though. I was looking through someone else's eyes. An old man with fiery red hair stood in front of me, holding a small child in his arms. The kid had the same bright red hair, but what caught my attention were the eyes—baggy, tired eyes that I recognized immediately.
Kail. It was Kail as a kid.
The old man, who I could only assume was his father, stood next to a motorcycle, one that looked almost identical to the one I had just touched. The memory flickered, showing brief flashes of the man's life—his struggles, his triumphs, his connection to this bike.
And then, just as quickly as it began, the memory ended. I was back in the present, standing in the street with my hand still on the motorcycle. My heart was racing, my mind trying to make sense of what I had just seen.
"Why the hell am I seeing Kail's memories?" I muttered under my breath. It made no sense. Sure, I had the Eyes of Truth, but they were supposed to let me see magic, not people's pasts.I pulled my hand away from the bike, staring at it as if it might offer me some kind of answer. But all it did was sit there, rusted and silent.
Was this some new ability I hadn't discovered yet? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my powers might be evolving. First, I could see people in my dreams—like DJ—and now I was seeing their memories, too. It was like the Eyes of Truth were peeling back the layers of reality, giving me glimpses of things I wasn't supposed to know.
And honestly, I was kind of excited by it. This meant I didn't have to spend hours, days, or even weeks searching for Capuchin. If I could tap into this ability—this new layer of the Eyes of Truth—I could find her without even leaving the apartment.
I decided to test the theory.
Back at the apartment, I shut the door to my room and sat down, closing my eyes. My breathing slowed as I forced myself to focus, clearing my mind of everything except one thought: Capuchin. I visualized her—her cloud-like hair, the panic in her eyes when I first saw her.
Show me where she is.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in the apartment anymore. I was... sitting on clouds. The entire space around me was endless, stretching out into nothingness. And there, sitting a few feet away, was Capuchin.
Her body language was tense, her eyes wide with confusion. She looked around, completely lost, as if she had no idea where she was or how she got there. I could feel her anxiety, her panic.Before I could say anything, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.
DJ was here too.
Our eyes met, and we both let out a sigh at the same time. This was starting to become a pattern—seeing each other in these weird, dreamlike states. But Capuchin's reaction was different. She was clearly freaked out, her body rigid with fear.
"What... what is this?!" she shouted, looking around wildly.
As the clouds seemed to swirl around us in that strange dreamlike space, I took a deep breath and broke everything down for Capuchin. She listened, still tense, but her panic was fading as she realized that I wasn't there to hurt her. DJ was leaning back, his arms crossed, his face a mix of frustration and fear. I could tell this wasn't easy for him either.
"We need your help," I said firmly, locking eyes with Capuchin. "If we don't do something soon, DJ's fate is sealed. Whatever's happening to him—it's not going to stop on its own. And I don't know how long we have."
Capuchin's expression softened, her shoulders slumping. She glanced over at DJ, her face filled with concern. "I do care about him, you know. A lot. I want to save him, but..." she trailed off, rubbing her arm. "I don't know how. It's not just him, either. All of us high-ranking members have the parasite inside us, but DJ's is worse. Way worse. It's like... someone has something personal against him."
DJ's eyes snapped up at that, his jaw tightening. "Our leader wouldn't do that," he said sharply, his voice trembling. "He wouldn't single me out like that. There's got to be a good reason for all of this."
Capuchin shook her head, a look of disgust flashing across her face. "A good reason? He's a goddamn sicko, DJ. I should've never followed you into this mess. You know this isn't right." Her words were harsh, filled with a bitterness I hadn't expected.
I watched DJ's face fall, her words hitting him like a punch to the gut. He didn't say anything, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. I couldn't let this argument tear them apart when we were so close to finding a solution.
"Enough," I said, stepping between them. "This isn't about who's right or wrong. It doesn't matter whose conviction is stronger or who's following the better leader. What matters is how we're going to save DJ. You both care about him, so instead of fighting, let's figure out a way to help him."
The silence that followed was heavy, both of them too lost in their emotions to come up with a response. I knew we were running out of time, and arguing wasn't going to solve anything.Finally, I spoke up again. "What if we just... remove the parasite? Meet up, figure out a way, and get it out of him. There's got to be a way to do it."
Capuchin looked skeptical, but she didn't argue. DJ glanced between the two of us, unsure, but he nodded slowly.
"It's risky," Capuchin said, "but... it might be the only shot we have."
DJ, still shaken, finally agreed. "Fine. If this is what it takes, then let's do it."
We settled on meeting up in downtown Arworld. It felt like a risky plan, and there was no guarantee we'd succeed, but it was the only chance we had.As the dream began to fade, I couldn't shake the feeling that something much bigger was at play here. But for now, saving DJ was all that mattered.
