He entered her house and she closed the door behind him. The young boy took a seat on the couch and she sat down beside him. "So…Tell me about it," she requested.

He began to tell the story excitedly, using expansive gestures and never staying still while he spoke. Kaldea listened intently with a smile as she listened to him ramble on about his training and his breakthrough with Wong. She was always happy to sit there and hear his stories, and he was the same way whenever she had big news to tell him.

"Wow! That's quite a story!" she said enthusiastically when he was finished. "I'm proud of you."

They ate dinner together that night and then Sion returned home to the large mansion. When he returned, Wong was waiting for him patiently, but with a stern look on his face. He stood at the steps that led to the front door with his arms behind his back. He didn't move at all, but simply remained in the same position.

"What is it, Master? Is something wrong?" Sion asked, concerned.

"There is something we should talk about," he replied.

"Yeah? What is it?" he asked curiously.

"It's about Kaldea. You spend much of your free time with her, Sion. Don't get me wrong…I have nothing against her, but I feel she may interfere with your training if you become further involved with her. Just be careful."

The student nodded his understanding, and the two of them went inside. They headed to their rooms and went to sleep for the night. Sion maintained his relationship with Kaldea, but attempted to prevent it from going any deeper than friendship. He trained harder than ever, not willing to allow anything to stop him from becoming a martial arts expert.

Two years later, Wong stirred Sion out of a deep sleep. He groggily opened his tired eyes and looked his teacher right in the face. "What is it, Master?" he asked.

"Sion, I want you to come to a nearby forest with me. I have something very important in mind," he informed.

Sion nodded and slowly got out of bed and got dressed. He squinted his eyes in the early sunlight as he stepped out of the manor. Wong led him to a forest a short distance away from his enormous mansion. The forest was dark and gloomy, and there wasn't much light penetrating into the area. All of the trees were grown close together and rose higher than the eye could see. It was almost the exact opposite of the bright world outside of it. The ground was soft with dew and Sion's shoes left impressions in the green grass with each step.

As he examined the surroundings, Wong spoke to him. "Sion, I want you to fight me with all you've got. Don't hold back because I'm not going to. This isn't sparring… This is a real fight." His master assumed a battle stance.

Sion was shocked by his words and hesitant to attack. "Fight you?! Why?!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't ever disobey or question your master's orders!" Wong strictly said.

"All right," he agreed reluctantly.

He charged at Wong while the martial arts specialist waited for him expectantly. Sion spun speedily around his master's back and threw a quick punch to his head. Wong faltered slightly, but quickly recovered. He turned around and agilely kicked Sion in the jaw with the sole of his foot. He stumbled backwards, but shook off the pain. He threw a powerful punch toward Wong's stomach, but the master grabbed the pupil's fist. As he gripped his hand tightly, he speedily performed a roundhouse kick, but Sion was ready for it. He snatched his foot, and then swept his leg along the ground, tripping him. Wong released his grasp on his apprentice's fist and fell to the ground.

He rolled back and got up to his feet. He furiously chopped Sion on the back of the neck, dropping him to his hands and knees. Before he could recover, the teacher kicked him ruthlessly in the ribs. Sion rolled out of Wong's reach and clutched his ribs. He coughed up a small amount of blood. It was hard for him to focus with the pain. He didn't make a move, and his master slowly closed in on him. He kicked once again at his weakness, the sore ribs, but the pupil grabbed him by the leg before it made contact. He pulled vigorously, forcing the aged man toward him. Then he performed an immense uppercut to his master's nose. He staggered backwards, and his student capitalized. Sion rushed up to him, bent down, and lifted both of his feet into the air while balancing on his hands, which was his favorite maneuver. His boots collided with his nose, bringing Wong down to his knees. Blood trickled from his busted nose, and it stained his pure white beard.

"Very impressive, Sion. I bet you're wondering why I called you out here to confront me."

"Yeah…I was."

"It was so that you could complete your training. The final stage of training is a duel with one's master, and you have passed superbly. You have learned all that you need to know." Then Wong paused and looked around, as if his attention was averted by something else.

"What is it, Master?" Sion asked, concerned.

"Master Mikado is in danger...!" he muttered, speaking to himself.

"Huh?"

"Oh... Sion, head back home. I will meet you there later," Wong said calmly.

Sion willingly followed orders, remembering his teacher's previous words. Wong ran off hurriedly in the other direction once his pupil was out of sight. He didn't want him to know that something was amiss at Mikado.

Meanwhile, Kaldea had come to the mansion with a joyous look on her face, expecting to see Sion. She looked around with a perplexed expression when she didn't see him out training. "Where is he...?" she mused.

She ran up to the door and pounded on it loudly. No one came to the door. "I wonder where he could be? Maybe Wong took him out somewhere. If he doesn't come over tonight, then I'll look into it deeper," Kaldea promised herself and returned home.

Sion returned to the manor a short time later. He had a bad feeling about his master's sudden departure. He sensed that things were direly urgent at Mikado and hoped that Wong would return soon. He had little concern about his safety because he was convinced that he was too skilled to be fatally harmed. He wondered mostly about how quickly he would come back.

Once the sun had set, Sion became worried about Wong. He dashed over to Kaldea's house. He knocked on the door a few times and Kaldea opened it after a few moments. She immediately noticed the troubled expression on his face. "What is it?" she asked uneasily.

"Master Wong... hasn't come home..." Sion mumbled.

"What...?"

"He said something weird a while ago... but I didn't expect him to disappear so suddenly..." he informed.

"Have you notified the police? He could have been involved in some accident..." she said, fearing the worst.

"No accident could kill him! Even if someone tried to murder him... that old man wouldn't die...!" Sion exclaimed.

"Calm down. Come on in. You can stay with us tonight and we'll look for him tomorrow," Kaldea said in a comforting voice.

The next day they headed back to Wong's mansion in hopes that he had returned during the night after Sion had departed. The teenage boy opened the door and peered inside. "Master! Master! Are you here?!" he called out, his voice echoing throughout the house, but there was no response.

They went inside and searched for him. All of the rooms were empty, and Sion's bed was still unmade from the previous morning. He could tell that no one else had been there since he left the night before. He shook his head slowly. "He's not here…"

The pair exited and decided to explore the downtown area of the City of Edge. It was not a desirable place for any teenagers to be alone. Homeless people were all over the streets, begging desperately for pocket change with rotting teeth, slurred speech, and an empty bottle of booze in their hand. Sion knew the area well since it was where he had spent his early childhood after his mother had died and before he had found Wong. He hoped that he might be wandering the streets like he had been that cold, lonely night. They found no trace of him. Giving up their search, Sion returned home with Kaldea and her parents allowed him to live with them until Wong returned.

A year later, Wong was still missing, Sion was still living with Kaldea, she had just turned 18, and began looking for a job. He remembered that his master worked for Mikado and suggested that she apply for a job there. Even though he lived with Kaldea, he still returned to the manor during the day to practice and train. One night when he came home, he saw that the entire family was very excited. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I got a job at Mikado!" Kaldea exclaimed with a bright smile, her eyes shining.

"Wow! That's great! Glad to hear it," Sion said happily.

The next day, Sion decided that he would buy Kaldea a present to reward her on her newfound job. Over the years, he'd noticed her fondness of necklaces and pendants. He had saved up money from small side jobs he had worked during the year in order to pay her family for allowing him to live with them. They would never accept his money, no matter how insistent he was on it. He figured he should at least repay Kaldea, whom he deeply cared for, by purchasing a nice gift for her.

He looked around jewelry stores all day looking for the perfect gift that would shine as brilliantly as her smile. Finally, at the last store in town, Sion found a beautiful, badge-shaped, silver pendant. "I'll take that one," he said to the clerk as he pointed to the item.

"That'll be 400 bucks," the clerk said in a businesslike tone.

Sion pulled out all of the money out of his pocket and laid it on the counter. "Thank you," the clerk said as he grabbed the pendant and handed it to the teenager along with a tiny box to contain it.

He stared at the pendant with a satisfied look and placed it inside of the box. He slid it into his pocket and dashed out of the store. He couldn't wait to hand Kaldea the pendant and see the expression on her face. When he reached her house, he opened up the door and looked around for her. He didn't see her around, so he called out for her. "Kaldea, you here?"

"I'm in here, Sion," she called back from her room.

As Sion walked toward her room, he carefully pulled the pendant out of the box and hid it behind his back. "Is there something you want to tell me?" Kaldea asked.

He showed her the gleaming silver pendant and held it out to her for her to accept. "Here, congratulations," he said with a smile.

She took it from him and held it in her hand. She stared at it in amazement. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! You got that job at Mikado, right?"

"But... Can you afford this...?" she asked, still gazing at the pendant shining in her palm.

"Don't worry," he said coolly.

"Thank you. I'll treasure it," Kaldea said joyfully.

"OK, but don't go locking it away in some box. It's a pendant. You're supposed to wear it."

She giggled at how serious he was being about her gift. She nodded and said, "I'll remember that."

She always wore the pendant he gave her, no matter what the occasion or which necklace she was wearing. She wanted to satisfy Sion and show him she appreciated the kind gesture, so it was continually about her neck.

By the time Kaldea had worked at Mikado for six months, she was already making a good impression on her superiors. They all told her that she would be moving up the corporate ladder in no time. These compliments gave her great pleasure and gave her desire to do her job well. Sion and her parents were extremely proud of her early success and work ethic. Kaldea had already received numerous raises in pay and they were able to afford even better things for the family because of her achievements.

"I knew you'd do well," Sion said to her one night.

"Thanks," Kaldea said with a smile.

She'd been happier than she had ever been before in the past six months. Not just because of her excellent job, but because of Sion. He had been very supportive of her from the beginning and encouraged her. The amount of money she made was irrelevant to Kaldea. All she wanted to do at the end of the day was come home and talk to Sion about her day, and he felt the same way. Each day after his training, he waited eagerly for her to return home from work so they could talk. She had been his inspiration to succeed in his training and martial arts since the day he met her. He didn't want to and couldn't imagine what he would have done without her.

One day, Sion came in from his training drenched in sweat as usual. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead with a soft towel as he entered the house. He was looking forward to seeing Kaldea shortly. However, when he walked into the kitchen, he saw Kaldea's parents crying unbearably. "What's wrong?" he asked, not sure if he actually wanted to know the answer.

Her mother was crying so relentlessly that she couldn't even speak, so her father answered him. "Kaldea was... in an accident..." he said between sobs.

"What do you mean an accident?!" he exclaimed.

"There was an... accident at Mikado and..." Kaldea's father paused, unable to finish.

"And... what hospital is she in...?" Sion asked anxiously, heading toward the door so he could leave to visit her after he was informed of her location.

Her mother cried out loudly. "She... didn't make it..." her father managed to say.

"Huh...?" Sion said, turning toward him to face him.

"It was a... massive explosion..." he explained.

"You're lying..." he uttered as he opened the door.

"S-Sion!" Kaldea's father said, moving toward him.

"THAT'S A LIE!" He threw the towel onto the ground in anger and burst out of the house, slamming the door behind him furiously.