THE DISTANT FUTURE

CHAPTER 2: THE STRANGE SIBLINGS

-EIGHT YEARS AGO-

It was a nice and clear day in Emlypios. There were not many gloomy clouds in the sky today. Also, the weather was cool and comfortable. However, Jude felt cold and lonely inside. The reason was rather simple. He hasn't seen Ludger for a while. The white-haired agent finally had few days off from destroying fractured dimensions, but Nova hardly gave him a break. In order to finish his next debt repayment, he went to take care of some monster-killing jobs. Due to his spyrite research, Jude couldn't accompany him this time. Most of his teammates also returned back to their daily life. Leia needed to complete her articles. Alvin tried to find more business partners. Gaius and Rowen had to deal with political matters. About Elize, she decided to stay with Elle and Fracture Milla while Ludger was busy working.

Sitting alone in his office, the doctor ignored the stack of papers on his desk and stared out the window. His mind was dragged back to the past. One year ago, when he kept thinking about Milla, somebody told him that was the sign of love. He felt confused because love was something new to him. Nonetheless, he wouldn't dare to call the relationship between them as "love". Instead of "love", it might be a pure admiration. Standing next to her indeed made his heart fluster, but when Ludger was beside him, it even beat faster. As a result, he became more nervous when the Ludger was around. The man must have noticed his strange behaviors, but he has said nothing so far. Despite those awkward moments, he enjoyed every moment together with him.

"What is wrong with me? I can't get him out of my head..."- With a long sigh, Jude closed his eyes, muttering- "I also wonder what Ludger thinks about me... Does he... like me?"- His flow of thoughts was cut by the ringing sound of his GHS on the table. Leia's number was written on the small screen. Sluggishly, he reached the phone and pressed the button to answer- "Hello, Leia... What is it?"

"Hi, Jude! You sound sleepy. Are you sleeping on your job?"- Leia teased him. Her voice was cheerful and full of energy as usual- "Well, I'm sure this news will wake you up! Ludger's movement restriction was lifted! And guess what? He can travel to Leronde Seaheaven!"- Jude almost fell out of his chair when hearing that- "We're going to take him and Elle to our hometown today! You must come with us, Jude! Or else, someone will be sad!"

"That is... funny, Leia."- He laughed nervously while rubbing at the back of his neck- "So, where do we meet?"

"Let's meet at the Marksburg port, Rieze Maxia side! Be quick, okay? See you there!"

The journalist ended the call, leaving the young professor overwhelming with excitement and worries. He didn't expect the day that Ludger visited his hometown would come so soon.

-PRESENT-

"Hey... What's the matter?"- Raising one of his eyebrows, the white-haired boy asks worriedly- "You looked surprised. Did I say something wrong?"

With a startle, the doctor snaps out of his dazzling mind- "No! You didn't! I was... lost in thoughts. I'm sorry."- He shakes his head while taking a quick glance at Alvin and Elize, whose surprise are still visible. He gives them a sign that they should try to act normally for now, and the two nods to agree with him. Turning back to the boy, Jude begins to introduce himself properly- "Let me apologize again for the earlier. My name is Jude Mathis, but you can call me Jude."

"Jude Mathis?"- With his emerald eyes wide-open, the boy lets out a gasp- "Are you the one who invented the Spyrite technology? I have heard lots of nice things about you. It's an honor to meet you here."

"Y- Yes, I am. Thank you."- Aside from hiding his blush, he has no idea how to respond to these wonderful comments, especially when they are come from Ludger. On the side note, Ludger's way of speaking sounds more matured than his appearance.

Elize giggles at what Alvin is whispering- "Yup! He's our Dr. Famous."

"Alvin!"- Grumbles Jude as he decides to move to the main topic- "Ludger, you mentioned that your friends are in dangers. So, where are they now?"

"They're at the harbor side!"- The white hair quickly answers- "I will lead you to them!"

"The harbor?"- The blond girl mumbles- "Does this mean they are also the survivors from today accident?"

"This is strange."- The salesman asks with his arms across his chest- "If they are at the port, why didn't you ask the people near there instead?"

"Ah, that's..."- After a moment of hesitation, the boy replies in a low voice- "I don't know if you will believe me, but some spirits told me if I crossed the Bridge to this side, I would find the right person to help me and my friends..."

"Spirits? He's able to hear the spirits? How? Who is this boy exactly?"- Everything is getting strange, but unfortunately, the doctor and his friends have to hold their questions back since they need to rescue Ludger's friends first. Hopefully, they can learn more information about Ludger from his friends. Following the boy to the Bridge entrance, the group soon sights a familiar figure.

Recognizing who it is, Elize raises her voice to call the twin tails girl over- "Hey, Elle!"

Elle quickly turns her head to the voice's direction that she hears- "Ah! Elvin and Alvin, where are you two..."- Her voice then trails off into a mumble when she sees a white-haired boy standing next to Jude- "You are...!"

Taking a step back, Ludger exclaims- "Ah! It's you!"

Raising his eyebrows, the salesman asks- "Wait a second. You knew her, kid?"

"Err... No."- The boy shakes his head- "I bumped into her few minutes ago..."- He lifts his head to look directly at Elle- "I'm sorry again. I hope you don't get mad at me."

The young girl stammers- "O-Of course not! A-Anyway, why are all of you here?"

"We're on the way to help Ludger's friends."- The young professor explains. Instantly, a shock expression is shown on Elle's face. He leans forward to whisper in her ears- "Yes. His name is also Ludger, but they may not be the same person. This boy doesn't know any of us."- He pauses to cast a sidelong glance at the little Ludger- "Right now, let's focus on his request first."

Elle nods and notices something off from Jude. Both his hands are put in the jacket's pockets- an old habit of his when he's hiding something from everyone- "Jude... You're trying hard to hold your feelings, aren't you? After all, you were the person who wished him to return most."- is what Elle's thinking. Sadly, she can't bring herself to speak out those words.

The group continues to accompany Ludger to the Bridge of Unity. Although most of the shops are closed early today, the Bridge is still crowded for some reasons. Besides the merchants and citizens, Marksburg guards and Spirius agents are also around. Due to the ship accident, all of them seem to be on guard.

"Ludger, stay close to us, all right?"- The businessman advises- "It will be bad for us if we're lost you in this crowd."

"Please don't worry. I will cling onto our professor here until we get to my friends!"- Says Ludger as he firmly grasps the black hair's sleeve again.

"Well – I don't mind if you stick with me, but this looks kind of weird."- With a soft smile, Jude extends his hand to Ludger- "Why don't you hold my hand instead?"

"Sure."- The white-haired boy takes the doctor's hand without any hesitation. After a few seconds' pause, he continues in a low voice- "...I wonder why I have a familiar feeling about you, Jude. Have I met you before or...?"- He quickly shakes his head- "No, it must be my imagination. Never mind. Let's hurry."

Jude raises his eyebrows in confusion. He can't hear the last past because Ludger spoke too fast. From behind, Alvin is talking in a whisper with Elle and Elize.

"Hmmm, watching the two of them sure brings me back to the past."

"Yeah."- The blonde girl agrees- "Eight years are such a long time. However, I still remember everything about Ludger."

"Me, too."- Elle nods. She finds it difficult to take her eyes off the small boy walking beside the doctor- "Hey... Do you think this boy's Ludger's reincarnation? I mean... It would be possible, right?"

"May be."- Answers Alvin as he rubs the back of his neck- "Milla once returned to us as spirit, so I guess this might happen to Ludger as well. Anyway, we haven't known anything yet."

Elize gives out a slight sigh- "I wish Milla was here. She might know what was going on. Moreover, it has been a while since the last time we saw her. It was last year, wasn't it? I hope that she's doing well."

The conversation between the three of them is ended when Ludger suddenly speaks out loud- "Ah! Those are my friends!"- Letting go of the doctor's hands, he speeds up to head towards the gateway to the other side of Marksburg.

Jude calls- "Wait, Ludger!"- However, the boy doesn't listen, which leaves the party no choice but to run after him- "His friends, why are they here?"- Everyone wonders. Somehow, they have a feeling that these friends of Ludger aren't ordinary people.

-THIRTY MINUTES AGO-

"Jonathan! Wake up!"- Hearing his name is called, Jonathan tries to answer, but nothing comes from his dry throat. He feels someone is shaking is body, asking him to open his eyes- "Hang in there! I will find somebody to help you guys!"

"Wait, Ludger!"- When he manages to have his voice back, the silver hair boy is already gone. The heaviness of his body is luring him back to a deep slumber- "It seems I have no strength left..."

Although the tiredness is taking control of him, he can feel the cold ground underneath his body and the smell of salt in the air. If he tries to focus, he can hear the sound of waves, kingfisher's cries and voices of people in the distance. The more sounds he hears, the more he wonders. What is going on? And where is he exactly? In order to answer those questions, he needs to pull himself together. Repeating the quote "I cannot die here!" inside his head, he regains his senses slowly and opens his heavy eyelids. The first thing he sees is his younger sister. She lays unconscious next to him. Her skin is so pale. Grindings his teeth, he crawls to reach her motionless hands.

"Lily... You used all of your mana to heal me, didn't you?"- Holding his sister tightly, Jonathan forces himself to stand up. Right now, he can't allow himself to be such a weakling brother. Lily needs him- "You are going to be okay. I promise!"

Jonathan knows that he should wait for Ludger, but it's better to leave this place first. They are currently inside a warehouse with tons of boxes and barrels. The whole room is lightened by natural orange light coming from the windows. Night is falling, so he should to be hurry. With Lily on his back, he walks straight to the exit. Thankfully, the door isn't locked or else they would be in a big trouble. Opening the door, he looks around carefully. Some sailors are nearby. They seem to be busy of discussing something serious, so he is able to sneak out of the house without any problem.

Outside at last, the older brother sighs with relief. Next, he adjusts his beret down a bit to cover most of his face. It's one of his habits whenever he enters a crowded road. It makes him feel comfortable, especially when he needs to deal with curious stares from the passers-by later. His clothes may catch an amount of attentions. The reason is, he fought against powerful enemies not long ago, so now, there are few torn parts and red stains all over his clothes. Mostly, those stains are his blood. Besides, his attire is actually a military uniform, which makes him look like a soldier rather than a normal citizen. A wounded soldier carries a young girl on his back, wandering in the town... Yep. People will hardly ignore him and his sister.

Jonathan manages to locate the pier quickly since it's not far from the warehouse. It isn't a surprise see many huge ships are anchored in the dock at the same time. They won't be able to go anywhere soon as long as the main danger is still swimming in the ocean. It has sunk one ship. As a result, lots of passengers have died. Sailors and people who lost their friends or family members, they have a depressed expression on their faces. Some of them are even crying and screaming in agony. This grim sight reminds him of his failure.

He has failed to kill that monster!

Nobody is in the mood to pay attention to him, so he uses this chance leave the port quietly while avoiding eye contact as much as possible. The street leads him to the center of the city, where he can get the whole view of the scenery. In the distance, it's the trace of the schism which once separated the two nations, and the Bridge of Unity is what connects the two lands together.

"Does this mean...?"- Jonathan gasps with his wide-open eyes.

"We are in Marksburg."- Before he can finish his question, a sudden answer from behind gives him a startle- "I'm glad that we didn't teleport to a dangerous place..."

"Lily!"- Turning at his back, he almost cries again when knowing his sister finally regained her consciousness. Nonetheless, she still looks so weak that the winds may able to blows her away easily - "Are you awake? How are you feeling?"- He asks worriedly.

"I'm a little dizzy, but I can stand on my own... Please let me down, brother."- Lily insists. Even though he doesn't mind carrying his sister, there is no choice for him at this moment. He is completely worn-out with all of his sore muscles- "Thank you for taking care of me. I'm sorry to trouble you."-Getting her feet back on the ground, she takes a quick check the surroundings, only unable to find a small silver hair boy anywhere- "I don't see Ludger with us. Where is he?"

"He left to find someone to help us. I couldn't stop him in time. I was exhausted..."- Jonathan pauses to endure the throbbing pain running through his whole body. Despite the aches are torturing him, he quickly stops his sister from using her healing artes- "You should save your mana, or else you will..."- He admits it with a frown- "I hate losing my last family member."

Lily tries to deny, but she fails- "I understand..."- She nods slightly and keeps her eyes on the ground.

Suddenly, there is a long silence between them. With a long sigh, the older brother turns his eyes to the sea. Somehow, it's hard to keep his thoughts together. Many difficult questions are spinning inside his head.

"Brother..."- Lily decides to break the silence, bringing him back to reality- "Ludger hasn't come back. Should we look for him first?"

"Now that you mention it... What took him so long, I wonder? Could it be...?"- Jonathan gets into a panic when he imagines something terrible might happen to the boy. Somebody might have kidnapped him, or he was lost in the middle of the city- "This isn't good! W-What should we do?"

Lily cuts of her brother- "Calm down, brother. Let me ask the spirits in this area. They might know where Ludger went."- Jonathan waits patiently while his sister is trying to communicate with the spirits. After three minutes, she opens her eyes and says- "One of them told me that he crossed the Bridge of Unity! Let's go!"

With the information, the siblings quickly head to the Bridge. Even though it's almost night time, this place still has tons of people crossing by. The crowd and its noises make them feel dizzier. Nonetheless, they must push themselves a little longer.

"Ah! Those are my friends!"- Hearing vaguely a familiar voice, Jonathan stops to casts his eyes around. From the stream of people, a silver hair figure is running to him- "Jonathan! Lily! Why are you here? What about your wounds?"

"Ludger!"- The siblings cry out in surprise. The older brother then asks- "We were worried because you haven't come back, so we decided to search for you. Where did you go?"

"I went to the other side to look for help. And guess what?"- Ludger says with excitement- "I met Jude Mathis! You know, it's the famous spyrite researcher that all the spirits are talking about! He's the perfect person who can help you two in this case!"

"...Wait. What?"- Jonathan asks again- "You met Jude Mathis?"

"Yeah!"- With a nod, the little boy turns round. A party of four people is heading towards them- "There they are. The black hair in the group is Jude Mathis. The others are probably his friends."

Lily's face immediately changes colour while a worried expression is shown on her eyes. She speaks to her brother in a very low voice, only enough for him to hear- "This is what we were afraid most. It's finally happened."

Jonathan clenches his fist, struggling to stay calm. He whispers through his biting lips- "I guess Chronos was right... The bond between them cannot be broken easily."

"What are we going to do? If it continues, this world will be..."

The younger sister continues to ask, but sadly, her brother remains silent.

To be continued…