No. No, no, no. It can't all go wrong now, Araya and I had had so much fun, and now... Without waiting to see if Araya follows me, I run over to one of the people tending to the helicopter.
"Excuse me, but have you seen Vincent?" The guy looks up from his window cleaning.
"No, sorry, ma'am." I turn and wave at a throng of people standing nearby.
"Have any of you seen a guy with light blonde hair?" They glance at me fleetingly, but shake their heads. Oh my gosh. I was just looking for him a few days ago, and here I am, having to search for him again. I feel someone tap me on the shoulder.
"Madgick, I don't think he's here." Araya frowns at me.
"No, he's gotta be here. Vincent doesn't break promises." I clench my fists. "Fine. Then something must've gone wrong at whatever he had to do earlier. We need to find him." I turn away from the bustling field. Then the Valdorian Guard that has been following us around all day starts tagging behind again. I tell him to go wait by the helicopter. After he's gone, I take a second to compose myself. Lashing out at people never got me anywhere. Finally we start walking around the city. The sky above is getting quite dark, but I'm not scared. I try to appear fearless at all times, and sometimes I even feel like I am. For example, as Araya and I slip through the city streets, I don't worry about midnight robbers. I don't worry about getting lost again, or about Vincent being in big trouble wherever he was. I just focus on finding him.
"Madgick, where exactly are we going now?" I grit my teeth and turn to look at Araya.
"I... I don't know. It feels like I've been in this darn city for three years. I hate this place." I take a moment to calm myself, before continuing. "My brother is probably in danger, if not... dead, or something. I've never been worried when Vincent doesn't show up on time. I always convince myself that he'll turn up eventualbby, but now that I know what I know, now that I know who he is, I... this isn't good." Araya nods.
"I get it." I nod. "You probably understand this better than I ever could." We continue walking, and walking, and walking. After a while it almost feels like we're walking in a dream, which is probably not good. But we just keep moving. We can't stop. We just can't.
"Hey, are you two ok?" I start and turn to see a guy around my age, maybe younger, staring at us.
"What are you doing out here?" I hiss, "it's passed your bed-time." He frowns.
"I have my reasons. So, what's the matter?" I sigh irratibly.
"My brother's gone missing." The boy's eyes widen. "Wow. That's, rough."
"Yeah. Have you seen him? A guy with blonde hair, wearing a bright green shirt?" The boy thinks for a moment, before nodding hesitantly. "Really?" I ask, surprised.
"Maybe. I saw a guy like that earlier, like an hour ago. He was... uh, like, waving his hand and things were disintegrating. It was... kinda weird."
"Which way did he g′ I ask hopefully. The boy points towards the city centre.
"That way. Is it a normal thing for him to be... knowledge, disintegrating stuff?" I don't bother answering.
Araya leans close.
"Madgick, this is bad news." I shake my head. "Vincent would never use his powers. He's not that kind of guy." Araya frowns. "Araya, you don't know him like I do. He's NOT that kind of guy. He would never hurt anyone."
"You don't really know that. He is a Valdorian, after all..." I grit my teeth and turn away. I start running. I hate acting defencive. Other people can think what they like about whoever they want as long as they don't hurt that person and as long as it's reasonable, about everything except for my brother. I'm shocked Araya could even think that Vincent would kill anyone, but she doesn't know my brother. She doesn't ... know him ... like I do.
I turn a corner and stop. I have somehow ended up in an alleyway. It's even darker here than it is on the streets. I stare up at the sky. Stupid dark sky. Stupid ground, stupid people. Stupid world, keeping me in this stupid city for stupid freaking days. I kick the wall beside me, and then suddenly a strange feeling spreads through my entire body. I want to move my foot away from the darn wall, but I can't even feel my body any more. I feel far away, like I've suddenly jumped into empty space. Everything is so calm here, as if nothing in the world could ever go wrong. And then a word flashes into my head, as bright as a spark hitting a pile of wood. Disgratas. And then the wall shatters.
"What in the world!" I cry out as I leap away. And then Araya appears.
"Madgick, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... what is that?" She pointed at the pile of dust lying at my feet. I smile shakily.
"Nothing. Araya I'm sorry. I overreacted. I'm too tired. I'm sorry for running off like that. Can we be friends again?" She blinks. "Madge, we were never not friends. Gosh, you thought that was enough to break up our friendship?"
"Well, I guess I've never had a proper friend before, so maybe?" Araya reaches forward to squeeze my hand.
"Never. Now let's go find Vincent." We turn and walk down two more streets before we finally reach the city centre. And spot Vincent standing in the middle of a huge pile of dust. He spots us, and waves. I stare at the dust. The buildings that had once been arrayed around the square are gone, reduced to that dust that is blowing around on the wind. I glance at my brother again in disbelief.
"Y-you did this?"