Adonis

Chapter 9 - Restart

After gathering everything I considered important, I waited for nightfall. It was best to escape in the middle of the night. Since the Leaders wanted to keep me under control, this was the best choice, or, in fact, the only real choice I had. Besides, afraid of someone following me or trying to find me... I decided to cut my hair. I would go far away, forget my code name and start my life over.

Well, the only thing I had in my possession that was sharp was... a small razor and... maybe my own hands if I used the right magic. And so, in the bathroom stall, I started cutting, or, better, "chewing" my hair until it was unrecognizable. I fixed it here and there with the razor I had.

As night fell, I organized my final things and... looked at myself in the mirror before leaving. I wore the loosest clothes I could find, a t-shirt and pants, as well as sneakers. They were dark colors. Besides, my hair was extremely short, almost a pixie cut. Along with the makeup I had applied to hide my features, not even I could recognize myself. I took a deep breath and calmly opened the door, being careful not to make any noise. I locked it and left the key right there, I would never have to go back to that place again.

Oh. Yeah. I almost forgot.

I threw my Élenkos brooch on the floor, right in front of the door.

It doesn't fit me anymore.

And I could even simply teleport anywhere. But that would make it easier for them to find me, since all types of magic leave traces. I was going to do this in the crudest way possible. I sneaked out of Élenkos as fast as I could. I had nowhere to go, but before taking any bus, subway, train or whatever, I wanted to go to two places. First, I went to the cemetery where my parents were buried. I didn't want to take any risks, and at this hour, I couldn't buy a bouquet of flowers, so I used my phytokinesis to create one. I placed one on each tombstone:

"Goodbye mom, goodbye dad. I'm going far away... I don't think I'll see you anymore. I'll miss you."

Even if someone (Thanatos) manages to notice these bouquets, it won't result in much. In fact, I hope he sees them, so he knows I'm not coming back. I soon left there, heading to my last destination. It wasn't very far from there. After all, I was going to my old house. Had they rebuilt it? Were there new residents?

It's been 5 years. Hm.

The place was abandoned. There was no debris, probably destroyed by time and, of course, mainly by the flames. I got closer. The ashes probably served very well as fertilizer for the land, which was full of grass. Hmm, I could still smell the burning. The one that entered my nostrils and burned into my retina. At the end, where our land ended... there should have been a peach tree. Of course there won't be. But... there might be...

I could have fixed my father's mistake, but I decided to keep it. I used my phytokinesis to create a peach seed and planted it there, where the tree used to be. I got up after making sure it was deep enough and then... time to say goodbye to this city for real. I wanted to avoid having too many clues and records, so I simply went by train.

And no, not a passenger train. I boarded the carriage of any train that was passing by the railroad at that time. I didn't even know its destination, but it's not like I had one myself.

The city where I was born and had been until then was the state capital, after all, it's no wonder it would have a headquarter of Élenkos. I "hitched" a ride for a whole day, I also didn't want to risk being noticed. At what seemed to be one of the last stops, I got off. And I came across a wonderful sight. It was a coastal city.

The state I was in was far from any coastline, and neither did the neighboring states. So, we crossed at least two states. For me, it was great. It had a port, it was a relatively busy city, the beach was beautiful. Oh, what a perfect city. That was where I would spend the rest of my life.