While eating a hot-dog he had bought at a coffee shop nearby he started to realize that although he had left that city 7 years ago, the trees, the houses, the people, they were all still the same. Stray was relieved to see that the beautiful iconic town hadn't lost its romantic charm. What is old can still cause an impression on the young if the right situations are granted. He fell in love for that town because of a single person. And that is why he hated to visit it again.
After remembering why he never returned to Covilhã, Stray couldn't stop thinking about her. The reason he had for being in love with her was so simple yet so strong. She could exude a light capable of warming him on a cold day yet soft enough so that he could look at her beauty without burning his eyes. Her brightness could erase all the darkness in his way, revealing all of the obstacles ahead of him. No, it created the path he had long dreamed of. In his mind, she resembled the moon. He had done the impossible. Happy, he dedicated each day of his life to her, with no thought for the others that loved him and cared for him. He soon forgot about them altogether, feeding his selfish desires and losing himself in the moonlight. His efforts and sacrifices did not matter though. She fell in love with someone else and didn't even have te courage to say it to his face. Alone, he lost everything. Both the moon and the stars had escaped to the sky, leaving him alone in the mud. Like a dog with no one to feed him, he roamed the streets of his hometown, waiting for death. The nights were the hardest because, every time he looked at the heavens he would be reminded of what he had lost. Tired, he decided that he wasn't going to wait for his own demise, choosing to have a say in that. A dog knows when it's time to let go and this was it.
One night, he stood on one of the bridges outside town. Thinking about everything he had done wrong he ultimately gave up on everything and was intent on jumping. Until he heard him.
- Goin' to jump too, eh? - a voice asked out of nowhere, startling Stray.
He turned his head to the side, seeing a sleazy character with nothing but ragged trousers and shirt keeping him safe from the watery climate, back leaning agaisnt the bridge's handrail. He didn't pay attention to any details since he wasn't interested in anything else other than his suicidal thoughts.
- I'm thinking about it, yes. - Stray smirked, disgusted at himself for having the guts to truly mean it.
- I guess you're a failure too… - the man assumed - The name's Ryu and you are?
Stray thought that information was useless to him now and to introduce himself was an action he was too weary to perform.
- Can't wait anymore, huh? Alright, let's jump together. - he announced cheerfully, a smile going from ear to ear.
Astonished, Stray started feeling something warm on his chest, neutralizing the cold coming from his soaked clothes. He couldn't believe it. How can a man that is about to take his own life be capable of smiling? He has given up like him but still he behaved like nothing bad had led them to that sickening conclusion. That was true happiness emanating from him if he ever saw it. Either that or he was just too good at hiding his pathetic interior. Nevertheless, that didn't seem to be the case.
Furious at that stranger's attitude towards death, he decided he wouldn't wait anymore.
- I just want to jump! - Stray yelled, tired of hearing Ryu's words.
- Alright, on the count of three. One, two…
Ready to end it all at the sound of the last number something pulled his tainted jacket from the back of his collar, projecting him to the wet road behind them, splashing a puddle into an incomprehensible amount of water drops.
Ryu then approached him, his face somewhat motivated by something and asserted - You and I aren't going to die today.
The moment that he gazed at Ryu's face he saw it. The moonlight, it cleared the rain and the clouds, reaching the two failures.
- Why?! - he shouted, denied of the release of his sleepless torture.
- You know, I don't know. I guess… - Ryu paused - I guess I just wanted to see the moon one last time.
On that very moment, Stray decided that henceforth he would follow that man. Indeed, Ryu was a loser, just like him. But he did love the moon aswell.
A flash of light woke him up from that fateful night. He was standing at the entrance of the local shopping mall, the one he had visited so many times with the woman of his past. There was a small possibility of running into her there. That made him a bit nervous. What should he say to her after all that time? His mind started to cloud with words, none of them forming into a single sentence. Nothing seemed right.
Lost in himself he stood there for a while until he saw two familiar faces walking out of the building. They were Seda and Souko, two of the moon's friends that he had met over his visits there. They hadn't changed as much as the town did.
Seda was a small figurine, with a fashionable sense of style. Her legs were covered by dark leggings, with white stripes on the side, ending in sneakers of the same pattern. Matching with the lower half of her petite body was a darkish red t-shirt, with the caption "Silky Smooth" on its chest. Her black hair was perfect in that setting, making her dazzling to the eyes of every man that would be fortunate enough to ever be in her presence. From what he could remember, she had a cool head towards every bit of misfortune set on her, unless for Souko's usual tantrums.
Souko was way taller than Stray, due to his stout torso and arms, falling short on the legs seeing as he didn't like to exercise the lower half of his body. He always wore tracksuit pants in order to hide the shortage of defined muscle there. The tank-top was his favorite type of cloth to use in order to show off his pride on his rugged effort. He had a particular loud tone of voice, probably from hearing so much metal music during his workouts.
They were always stuck to each, chatting and arguing in their own way, undecipherable to the rest of their friends, almost like a couple. Still, the two didn't have such a relationship, at least unbeknownst to Stray.
- Seda, I'm hungry! - he shouted, holding his arms in the air.
- We just left the mall, why do you never say anything at the right time? - she gasped, taking a candy bar from her back pocket and giving it to him - Here, happy?
- Yes! - he replied, grateful to her.
Turning her head to the left she locked eyes with Stray, surprised at the encounter.
Stray didn't want to lose time, so he ignored her.
- Isn't that? - she asked, rhetorically.
- What?! - Souko didn't quite pay attention to what she had said, munching on the candy bar.
- Hey, you! - she yelled, running to catch up on Stray - Aren't you…
Before she uttered his name, Stray interrupted her - Oh, Seda, I didn't quite see it was you, hi!
- What are you doing here? - she asked, with a curious and sympathetic demeanor, hiding her true agenda.
- Well, huh, I'm here on business. - he replied, remembering only to reveal vague information. His was a grim line of work and any specific detail about it would terrify the "normal" folk.
- Hmm, what sort of business, then?
Seda kept on pressuring him until he finally gave her an answer capable of stopping her relentless inquisition and of concealing his profession's ominous details.
- I'm, huh, a talent hunter, yes. I go around the world searching for talented people and, huh, I show them the way to heaven. - his answer made no sense whatsoever.
- Oh, that's kinda interesting.
Relieved, he sighed. His idiocy and bad lying didn't raise any red flags.
- So who are you are trying to find? Is it perhaps a woman? - her motive was finally revealed.
- No, I'm looking for a man.
His phone started ringing. He totally forgot to change the embarrassing ring tone that Silva and Kitty had put in. He was ashamed of it but still he couldn't thank enough the person that called him.
- Hello, hello, Stray. It's Tech. An ATM camera has spotted the whereabouts of the mark, he is currently at a conference held by the university's science faculty.
- A conference? Weird… send me the location.
- Alright, have fun… - It almost seemed like Tech wasn't painting the whole picture but the moment that Stray tried to know why he was sounding so pleased the call was cut.
Overhearing the conversation, Seda offered to take him to the conference since they were heading there. However she didn't say why. Souko eventually caught up with them, his legs shaking from the sprint. The trio began walking to the university while sharing conversations about meaningless topics, laughing and arguing with no end. Stray loved that. He had a special place in his heart for debates with his friends that didn't make any sense at all. As long as they were enjoying themselves it was all he needed. Seda was always retorting every subject with a crude, shocking truth while Souko spoke with such burning passion. They made him think about the moon during the day, while the sun was still up, though the talking and the funny insights coming from all of them made it more easy to forget.
- We're here. - Seda announced, pointing at the entrance of the university's grounds. It was a conglomerate of cube-like buildings, standing in a circle, with a info stall in the middle put there to give the visitors the primary schedule. Many people, mostly scientists, had come to observe the lectures, specifically the main event. The moment he walked near the stall he was given a pamphlet by Souko, leading to inadvertently be the recipient of a blow to the stomach by Seda's knee. She didn't want Stray to see what was written in it in fear of having the truth thrown out into the open, but it was already too late. Stray had already seen what the fuss was all about. The main event was hosted by Luna, the one that took of into the sky and left him with nothing. So that was the reason why Tech was acting a bit weird.
- That robot without a heart! - he clutched his fist, turning the pamphlet into a tiny ball of paper.
A rage like no other took a hold of Stray, releasing a blue aura from his body, as if a fire had been set on his body. He wasn't mad at his friend for hiding him such an important piece of information. He knew that Tech never truly knew when to stop before hurting someone. The problem was Luna.
On that very second, Seda with her eyes wide-open understood that something about that man was truly odd. As for the rest of the visitors it terrified them. That wasn't human. That wasn't normal.
A memory came from nothing and Stray was back at the night when he met Ryu. He's leader was staring at him with that look that always makes Stray calm and colected. A sort of stress button, to prevent a downfall from occuring. That was all he needed to relax and to make the strange apparition disappear.
- I think I'm going to the restoom, I'm not feeling well. - Stray said, excusing himself and leaving them there, speechless.
- Souko… That man is probably here for the Doc. We must change the plan.
- Can't we just kill him?! - he threw the question out into broad daylight with his usual pitch level, turning the visitors' attention to them instead of Stray.
With swift action, Seda jumped and kicked him with the beak of her sneakers, causing him to faint right at that second. After dragging him to a more private space in behind the university's main block, she dialed a number on a phone and waited for someone to answer. After a brief matter of seconds, she heard a distinct german voice.
- What is it Seda, you know I'm busy over here. - the voice sounded angry and impatient.
- Change of plans, you need to leave now. We'll do it later.
- Last I heard, I was the one paying you to receive orders.
- There is a new element here that could endanger the entire operation. If you wanna stay that's fine, I'll wait for the money you already owe me for my services at home. Why would I even come here if not for the payment that was promised anyway? If you are worried about me chickening out you're dead wrong. We'll take care of her after he leaves.
- Alright, alright, I'm leaving. I'll be waiting for you back at the hotel.
The call was cut without a moment for her to absorb his last few words.
- Damn it, why did such a strange thing have to happen today? - she whispered, playing with a normal-sized battery to vent her stress.
Still looking for the restroom Stray got lost on the many halls of the old academic property, ending up in a dusty auditorium that probably wasn't used in months. He need a silent place to calm down so he wasn't worried about being lost, despite it being one of his most useless and most mind-bending abilities that he had in his repertoire.
Taking a seat at the first row of chairs from the bottom of the enormous room, he closed his eyes and decided to rest there for a bit. Seeing what he did when he took a look at the pamphlet he imagined what he would do if he did see her in person. Hating those kinds of worrying thoughts he started singing a song very dear to him, that didn't lose its warming meaning despite being the song of their love.
A few minutes later and the door to the auditorium opened, a dark omen behind it.
- I'm sorry to intrude, but I heard you singing something that kinda makes me very happy and sad at the same time. - the ghastly creature could talk.
Feeling a bit sleepy, he turned around slowly and then, everything stopped. The wildfire that greatly ignited just by of seeing her name on that plastic paper didn't even become an ember at the sight of her. All he did was freeze, his soul now stuck in a different kind of hell.
What is this plan that Seda keeps talking about?