Janeen reached towards the power inside her and tried to connect to the weird being in front of her. Just as she was doing it, SAM stopped in his tracks and turned back.
"Hey! Don't do that!"
Suddenly, the world around Janeen went pitch black. It was almost the same same sight as the one she saw in her nightmare, but there was something different.
It didn't feel the same.
The same feeling of nothingness, the kind of void that made someone question their own existence was not there. The daunting emptiness, the suppressive feeling of the boy and the red glow behind him. None of those were here.
It felt almost crude. Like a painting that was rushed.
Then the void around her changed. It started showing her herself, dying over and over again in different ways. But Janeen didn't stop trying to touch SAM with her powers.
'I knew I shouldn't have trusted him! He is showing me these visions to stop me, but he doesn't have any power over me... I don't have to live running away like before. I don't have to give up everything I worked for. I don't have to be the powerless one once again! All I have to do is end that boy, and I will be finally free!'
So Janeen reached SAM with her power.
'What's this?'
Inside SAM's mind was nothing like other people's. It was massive, inhumanely big. But also looked artificial. Not like a tree that grew over time from a small seed like other humans, but like a giant library built by human hands. Unnaturally big, unnaturally organized and unnaturally rich in information.
'Ugh... This is taking a toll on me... I need to take this under control.... but how? That thing's mind is bigger than my own ten times over... He really isn't even human, eh? But, who designed something like this? How do you even design something like this?'
Janeen's nose started to bleed when she was thinking.
'Tch... I need to be fast... I can't control this thing entirely, but... Maybe I can separate a part? It is worth a try...'
As Janeen ordered her power to separate a part of SAM and control, SAM interfered.
"I may be powerless against you but I am not a shackled loser either."
SAM made sure that the part forcefully ripped apart from it wouldn't own any information that shouldn't be known. Even though it couldn't stop Janeen from using her powers and neither let her die, it let Janeen separate a useless part of him.
After Janeen got out of it's mind, SAM spoke.
"You may have authority over me because of your luck, but you are going to regret this. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"I am confident, and unwilling to give up everything I have to save the life of a random boy."
"I can see that... Well, even though I can't stop you because of the stupid rules, I don't need to. You can never beat him, even with that part's help."
SAM pointed at the figure behind Janeen, silently standing.
It was the copy of SAM she managed to separate. It was wearing the same clothes SAM was wearing, but looked like a boy around the age of Janeen unlike SAM who looked like a grown man.
"We'll see..."
"No, you don't get it... Whatever, just see it for yourself. Don't forget, though, being hasty is only going to put you in a grave faster..."
"Sure."
SAM sighed and disappeared into the dark.
'I was an idiot. Trying to do keep him here without alerting the ones outside... Now that idiot girl is going to carry an authority right up to his nose and he will start remembering if he hasn't started already... Sigh~, it was wrong to think she would act like me because we come from the same place, huh? I guess created minds and naturally grown ones work more different than I predicted...'
SAM stared up into the sky, silently watching the moon Sermee lighting the streets in a dim red.
'Heh... Even though you told me you didn't believe in fate, I can't help but almost believe in it. Maybe I am just limited because of not being from flesh? Or were you just too amazing for fate to control? I guess it doesn't matter anymore... The rules still apply, even if this whole thing isn't working as intended. I can't stop her, since she will be treated like a user, and I am a slave of the system. I guess all I can do is to silently wait and try to prolong your inevitable escape at this point...'
After smiling bitterly, SAM's body disintegrated and he disappeared from the street.
*****
"Hey! Corvin! Wake up!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Mhh-Huh?"
The next day started with a loud noise in Corvin's room. Quickly getting up, he looked outside of the window. It was bright outside. The rows of sandstone buildings looked like an unnatural dune if one ignored the many strings hanging from the small balconies of the homes with drying clothes on them.
The inn they stayed at was a taller building than most near it, and Corvin's room was getting plenty of sunlight and wind. The calming heat of the early morning sun combined with the slight breeze slowed Corvin's brain and made him forget about Noah who called his name for a brief moment.
"Hey! Corvin!"
"Oh, Noah? Ah-! I overslept! What happened?"
"Are you serious, dude? Come on, we are going to visit the ancient city, don't you remember?!"
'Ah... right... shit.'
"I am getting ready right now. Just wait for... umm... two minutes! Yes, two!"
"Alright. Be quick."
Corvin's clothes, backpack and various supplies flew inside the room. He quickly wore his clothes and picked up his backpack and left his room.
"Dude, are you okay? You never oversleep this much..."
"Oh, I just had something to take care of tonight, so I slept late."
"Hmm... Hm? Wait, what does that mean? Hey, Corvin? Did you do something with Amy?"
"Huh? No? Why?"
"So you paid for it? Are you stupid?"
"What ar-... Sigh~, It was a serious matter, Noah. Someone collapsed and started bleeding from everywhere right in front of me in the streets. I was making sure they didn't die, idiot."
"Oh, uhh... I see. I guess that was bad timing to make a joke."
"Nah, you've done worse ones."
"What?!"
"Look, we arrived."
Corvin pointed towards a carriage right outside the narrow streets of Shabagh. In front of the carriage were two young girls dressed in similar sundresses that made them look like sisters.
"Hey! Where were you guys?! Didn't your fathers teach you not to make a lady wait?", shouted Clair as soon as she saw the two boys.
"Good morning as well, Clair. Is this why you two insisted on leaving earlier?", asked Noah as he pointed at her dress.
Clair smiled and twirled, showing the light green dress off.
"They look great, don't they? They don't make dresses like these in the Empire, but nobles here wear dresses like these since it is hotter. Don't they look good?"
"They do.", said Noah with a smile before moving to take her bag from Clair.
While he was doing that, Corvin was looking at Amy, who was wearing a light blue sundress. She was silently looking at the ground, waiting for Corvin to give his opinion about her dress. But, Corvin started to walk in a circle around Amy while thinking after hearing what Clair said.
"Hmm... We could definitely produce different clothes now, can't we. Hmm...."
Noah, who was walking past Corvin towards the carriage, stepped on his foot and whispered in his ear aggressively.
"Listen to me, you idiot. Look at her expectant eyes. What are you waiting for? Tell her she is beautiful!"
"I was going to, I am just thinki-"
"Stop thinking about the future for once and focus on her."
"Tch. Okay. Then, watch how it is done."
"What?"
Corvin walked towards Amy with bold steps. He got on one knee in front of her and kissed the back of her hand.
"Pretty lady, will you please let me carry the bag so that your mesmerizing beauty doesn't have to tire herself to carry it?"
Amy, whose face was slightly flushed looked at him in surprise.
"Ah... W-We will ride the carriage anyway, right? You don't need to carry it."
Hearing this, Corvin didn't move from his spot and neither did he avert his eyes staring directly at her face. He was determined to get to the end of this just to annoy Noah. Amy gave in after trying to refuse it for a few seconds.
"Ah...I-I see... Here, please carry it for me."
"Thank you."
Corvin picked her bag, flew it into the carriage and started to walk towards the carriage with Amy. He didn't forget to smirk at Noah in the carriage.
'No, why did you turn this into a competition in the first place, you impulsive idiot?'