Chapter 3

Kiri felt his senses waver for a bit, but he tried to hide it from Su and Fallan. 'I haven't used Flare for any longer than 20 minutes before…' he thought weakly. He closed his eyes for a second, and saw Elle's face. When he opened his eyes, his body seemed to burst with more energy than ever. "Let's pick up the pace!" he yelled to the two. Su nodded towards him, and Fallan didn't disagree. They began running faster for another 10 minutes. But right at the 10 minutes and 1 second mark, Kiri collapsed.

"Kiri!" Su shouted. He was breathing hard and wasn't able to stand.

"Flare isn't an unlimited source, it seems," Fallan remarked.

"Funny…" Kiri said through pants, "that the power to make you stronger weakens you after…" Su tried to bring him to his feet.

"It's useless to travel further in this condition. Let's rest here."

"That's…a good idea…" Kiri closed his eyes and fell asleep. Su laid him against a rock and sat by him.

"He will get well, won't he?" she asked Fallan.

"I'm not sure. There aren't any records of Flare, so-!" He suddenly clenched his fists. Su looked at him curiously, and then she felt it too. People were coming, and a lot were coming fast. "Take Kiri."

"What? I want to fight too!"

"We can't fight this many and protect Kiri at the same time. He'll be safer with you." He tightened his gloves, staring straight ahead. "Besides, I think they're coming for me." She glanced at Kiri, and then at the trees. Quickly, she put him on her back so that her iron hoop kept him up. Then she quickly disappeared in the uninhabited trees. "Ok…" he said in preparation, "time to get to work."

Lu led Elle through the forest like he lived in the area all of his life. And he did. His house was perched at nearly the end of the forest. A small town could be seen, and at the center was a Sister's shelter. "That's where my niece works, eats, and sleeps," Lu pointed out. "And she never comes to visit me…" The two walked up to the front door, and Lu searched his pockets for his keys. "Oh, can you check my left pocket for me?" Elle used her left hand, feeling around the area. When she felt a key-like object, she pulled it out. It was a shiny silver key, with the #10 engraved on it. "Ah!" He snatched the key and put it in his right pocket. "Wrong key!" Annoyed, she tried again, finding the right key. "Thanks." He unlocked the door and brought her inside. The interior of his house was small and simple: a small table, a purple lumpy couch, a kitchen where only one could walk through, and a bookshelf full of books. There was also another door which led to a bedroom. "Welcome to my humble abode!" Everywhere was messy, from old sandwiches to fallen books. Elle didn't know whether to be surprised or disgusted, so she was both. "Sorry about the mess. I don't spend much time here." She walked further inside. "Go ahead and sit," he insisted. She looked around the couch until she decided that nowhere was an inch bit clean, and sat on an old book. "So…" he started, sitting next to her. "Do you remember why you came unconscious to this forest yet?"

"No…" Elle replied.

"Well…you're welcome to stay here until you do!" He smiled at her.

'I don't know if I want to…' she thought. "How about I stay at the Sister shelter instead?"

"But won't it be hard to stop your seizures there?" Then he caught on to her. "Oh! I see what you mean! Well, I could stay there with you too, if you want. Makes you uncomfortable here with only me, doesn't it?"

'Don't even get me started.'

"Well, we should go now then. You'll feel safer that way."

"But I'm tired," Elle stated.

"No problem." He lifted her up, his hands on her back and legs. Elle's face became a bright red.

"Put me down!" she yelled. He squirmed around until he obeyed.

"Okay! Then can you walk?"

"Yes!" she shouted, hurrying to the door, pulling him with her. They left the house as quickly as they got there, and headed towards the town.

Su ran with all her strength through the forest. Kiri behind her was still asleep. She dodged a branch, then jumped onto a rock, and hopped back to the ground. "Fallan better save some for me when I come back…" she said under her breath. She could hear the sounds of people grunting in pain, and she shook her head. "I'm going to beat him one day." The sun was starting to set, so Su began looking for shelter. At the corner of her eye, she saw a small house wedged at the end of the forest. She skipped towards it and laughed. "I found something~!"

"Oh…" Kiri moaned in his sleep.

"Don't worry Kiri," she reassured. She ran to the front door and tried the knob. It opened with little resistance. "They left in a hurry." She walked inside the house and found a lumpy couch in the disorganized house. Gently, she laid him down. "I'll be back, Kiri." She ran outside, closing the door behind her.

"Elle…" he murmured.

"Did you lock the house?" Elle asked Lu as they ran. Lu thought for a second.

"Did I?" he asked himself.