Nearly a week passes until Alex comes back to Seeira, and arrives at Vivi's shop/home. When he arrives, he's met with a slightly warm welcome from Siran, but a rather annoyed sounding welcome from Vivi. Vivi was wearing a thin looking jacket under her apron today and her bandana was around her neck to keep her warm while she worked. Alex and Siran ask each other a few questions to catch up as Vivi finishes her project that she's been working on at her desk. Vivi is completing the weapon she was commissioned from that strange man from The Ly'Lum and Alex was doing his usual probing to try and learn about the people in Seeira and Siran himself. After a while, Vivi finishes her product and the three begin to celebrate with some gin. Shortly after the three start drinking, however, a loud knock is heard on the door. Siran seemed to catch wind of who it was, as he vanishes from the room without missing a beat. Alex looks around the room, confused and Vivi answers the door, while saying quietly "This is earlier than expected. This was not the deal!". When she opens the door, the man from The Ly'Lum enters the store.
"You're earlier than expected" Vivi says.
"Well" the man says, "things change, I'm afraid I had no choice. Is the weapon complete yet?"
"Yep" Vivi says as she leans back in her chair, "but before I take your payment, I'm going to have to see either your military ID, or your hunter license"
"Here" the man says as he hands over his ID. As Vivi checks the ID, the man looks over at Alex and says, "the loud lunatic not here today?"
"Afraid not" Vivi says unenthusiastically. Then Vivi looks over at Alex to see if he's causing a scene.
"What?" Alex asks. "Why're you both looking at me like that? Do you expect us to start a cockfight over rank or something? Because I doubt I'd win a 'who is the higher rank?' contest"
"I'll have you know" the man says, "that I am a-"
"I don't care..." Alex interrupts.
Vivi hands the man his ID and takes his payment in exchange for the gun she made. "Here you go" Vivi says calmly, "your very own, custom made, Valentine hand gun"
"Pleasure doing business ma'am" the man says. "But one more thing". The man then points the gun at Vivi's head and demands "Where are you hiding Siran?"
Vivi smiles and says, "You really think that'll work on me? I've made every weapon here including yours"
"So you're going to sabotage my weapon. You rip off all your patrons like that?" The man scowls.
"No, I made your gun exactly as you wanted it" Vivi says, "but do you really think that's the best weapon I have laying around here? Please, I've had more people point guns at my face, give me some credit"
Vivi pulls a thin metal wire under her jacket and as the jacket flies open, it exposes a small arsenal of guns from under the sleeves. A mechanism in her jacket places two guns in her hands, one in each hand, as more guns inside of the jacket are all aimed at the man and she stands up and points the guns at the man. Vivi's smile grows wider as a magic shield, a digital magic shield shines bright surrounding her as she says "are we going to have a problem?"
"That all depends on you, miss Valentine" the man responds. He snaps his fingers and several more people run in through the door. "Search the area, close off all exits!" the man shouts. Several men rush past Alex and the man putting Vivi at gun point walks past Vivi while keeping his gun aimed at her. "Stay put now, if you go outside, you'll only shorten your life span". Vivi's smile quickly fades into a frown as she looks over at Alex. Alex shrugs and says "I'm not involved in this! Don't bunch me in with those guys!"
"Well" Vivi says to Alex after the man leaves the room, "we'll have to stick to Siran's plan after all"
"What plan?" Alex asks.
"You're in luck" Vivi says. "I didn't want to give you a chance to prove yourself, I just wanted to get rid of you. Turns out, you'll get that chance anyways"
"What are you even talking about?" Alex asks, now panicking.
"Woo!" Siran says as he seemingly appears out of thin air, "avoiding those guys was NOT easy!"
"Where the hell-?" Alex asks.
"We have to get out of here, quick!" Siran interrupts.
"Why the hell-?" Alex asks.
"We don't have much time to make a move" Siran interrupts again.
"Who the hell-?" Alex asks, getting annoyed.
"We're going to need that escape route, Vivi" Siran interrupts yet again.
"How the hell-?" Alex starts yelling.
"Vivi, you ready?" Siran interrupts even more.
"On it!" Vivi says as she moves her desk forward and slides the floor open with her foot, revealing a secret passageway.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" Alex yells.
"No time to explain" Siran says, "get in"
Alex and Siran jump down the hole and Vivi climbs partway down, moves the desk back over the hole, closes the secret door and follows behind. Siran creates a bright, light blue shining orb from magic to serve as a source of light. "I call this fox fire" Siran says, sounding pleased with himself.
"Is there time to explain now!?" Alex demands.
Siran stops walking and pauses for a moment. "I didn't want to drag you into this. It'd be safer for you to get ahead of us and leave first"
"What are you talking about?" Alex asks.
"A way out" Siran says.
"... out of what?" Alex asks. "I need you to be specific"
"Out of this mess" Siran says. "Out of having anything to do with me. This is your last chance to leave me behind, and get back to your life"
"And why should I suddenly stop trying to help?" Alex asks. "What's stopping me from trying to help make this world at least a little bit of a better place?"
"Have you considered that we might be the bad guys?" Siran asks.
"Siran, stop it!" Vivi demands.
"No" Siran says. "I need him to think about this and I need to hear his side"
"I have" Alex says. "Honestly, I was sure you were a bad guy at first. But if you really were as bad as you say, then why would you bother keeping other people out of it?"
"One more question before we start moving" Siran says. "Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, The Ly'Lum are the bad guys?"
Alex pauses for a moment and says "No, I haven't. At least, not as an entirety. Some of the people I work with are kind people! Sure plenty of them seem corrupt but-"
"And your higher ups?" Siran asks.
Alex pauses again and says "it's our job not to question them. But may I ask why you're running from them?"
"Because" Siran responds, "some of the higher ups hunt me down, and I can't exactly tell you why that is. All I can ask, is that you trust me"
"Does it have something to do with your connection to Naris?" Alex asks.
"Something like that" Siran responds, flinching. "Are you coming with us, or are you leaving now?"
"I don't like leaving business unfinished" Alex responds. "I've come this far, I might as well stick to you until this mystery can be solved. I mean, after all, those other Ly'Lum soldiers probably won't be as forgiving towards me right now"
"Just remember" Siran says, "I gave you a way out"
The three make their way outside, and escape towards the outskirts of town. Safety was in sight, all they had to do was make it to Alex's car and they would be home free. But their victory was short lived, the men from before were waiting for them. The Ly'Lum soldiers surrounded the three, forcing them all the surrender.
"That was easier than I expected" the man says. "I was told to expect a fight. I'm honestly disappointed". The man walks up to Alex and stares at him for a while before saying "how well do you know Siran?"
"Not very well" Alex responds.
"Good" he says, "then that makes this easier". The man hands a gun to Alex and says "shoot him"
"I'm sorry?" Alex asks.
"End this man's life" he says. "This man is pure evil, and you'll even be promoted several ranks just for killing him. You'll likely become a high ranking officer. All you have to do is pull that trigger. Don't you want a better life? More command? MORE POWER!?"
"And if I refuse?" Alex asks.
"Then you'll be marked a traitor and killed where you stand" the man says.
"Doesn't exactly feel like I've been given a choice here" Alex says. "And in which way is this man pure evil?"
"They think my connection to Naris somehow makes me an evil entity" Siran says.
"Connection?" The man scoffs. "Is that what you told them?". The man begins laughing. "No! He isn't CONNECTED to Naris! He IS Naris!". Both Alex and Vivi look at Siran. "I mean, he didn't even do a good job at hiding it! Like, try pronouncing his name backwards! His name is just Naris backwards! He's a total idiot!" The man laughs more. "Kill him, and finally rid the world of the beast who tried to destroy the whole world!"
Siran looks back and forth, at Vivi then at Alex. "No! That's not true!" Siran says. "You have to trust me! Trust me, please!"
Alex looks at Siran for a long while, as the silence grew louder. Eventually, Alex finally says "I trust you" and turns his gun at the man. All the soldiers then point their guns at Alex.
"Such a disappointment" the man says. "How foolish can one man be?" as he pulls another gun out and points it at Alex. All the men shoot without hesitation, but all the bullets bounce off a well timed digital shield. Alex looks at Siran, and Siran winks at Alex.
"Take Vivi to cover!" Siran shouts.
"Oh no you don't!" The man yells.
Immediately, the ground shoots up around Siran and the other men, allowing Alex to escape with Vivi but trapping Siran with the soldiers. Alex and Vivi hear a loud bang from within the rock walls Siran created as they see dust flying out from the top of the walls. After a few seconds that felt like an hour or more, the walls collapse and the dust slowly clears. Siran is left standing, covered in dust from head to toe as the others lay unconscious on the dirt. Vivi runs over to Siran and asks "what happened?"
"I created a sonic blast. Broke the sound barrier" Siran says. "This caused a low frequency blast, non-lethal, but concussive. I stopped it from affecting myself with digital magic, the digital sound barrier, around my head"
"They're all still alive?" Alex asks.
"I have a no kill policy" Siran says.
"Well, you two better be on your way before help arrives" Vivi says.
"You're not coming?" Alex asks.
"Someone has to run my shop" Vivi says.
"What about The Ly'Lum?" Alex asks.
"They wouldn't dare declare war on Seeira" Vivi says. "Other nations will attack them for that. They'd be declaring war on other countries"
"Well, you better stay alive too" Alex says.
"You have definitely proved me wrong, soldier boy" Vivi says. "I honestly thought Siran's plan would backfire and you would help them. I guess I was wrong after all. You really proved yourself"
"This was his plan?" Alex asks.
"Well, to be honest" Siran says "my plan kinda derailed back there. I'm just glad it worked out anyways"
"That's not very assuring, you know" Alex says.
"Almost makes you want to punch him, doesn't it?" Vivi asks while cracking her knuckles.
"It all makes sense now" Alex says. "You're like a walking, talking heart attack instigator"
"Anyways, you better be on your way" Vivi says. "Before I really do hit him some more"
"Alright, alright!" Siran says. "Point taken!"
"Take care of him!" Vivi tells Alex. "If anything happens to him, it's your ass!"
"Seriously?" Alex asks "are you two like... a thing? You're awfully defensive"
"Oh, absolutely not" Vivi responds. "He's too young for me, he's like a little brother. You've read too much into it"
"Oh" Alex says, almost seeming disappointed by this answer, "okay"
"Well, whatever" Siran says, "I'll be back, Vivi!"
"You better be" Vivi demands. "You better not die on me!"
The two drive away in Alex's car. Alex asks "where are we going now?"
"Well" Siran replies, "we can't go back home now. It's not safe being that close to The Ly'Lum anymore. We can go to this clan reserve over here though". Siran points to a spot on a map. This spot on the far north of this country, many hours away from Seeira. "We can go to Pilloa. It's a clan's lands for a race of people who were bred for war and worked for The Ly'Lum. However, many years ago broke away from the military and a few years later declared their independence. This should make a good housing for a couple fugitives, eh ex-soldier?"
Alex's head hit the steering wheel from sheer disappointment from the sudden realization. "That's right" Alex said. "I practically signed my resignation back there". The two continued driving off, making their way towards Pilloa. "Can't believe I lost my job!".
Meanwhile, in Pilloa, there stood these buildings in ruins. Three headstones stood at the edge of these ruined buildings, with fresh flowers placed at each one. There stood a woman at the headstones, clenching her fists, shaking, with tears down her cheeks. She eventually wipes away her tears with her wrists. She puts on a small backpack and walks away. As she leaves, a small breeze comes through, rolling the flowers at the headstones over, revealing a tag on each. One saying "To: Mother" one saying "To: Father" and the last "To: Brother" and all from the same girl. "From: Zia".