“Ahhhhhckk!

You’re killing me!

Put me down Apollo!”

With one last squeeze Apollo releases me from his bear hug,

“Just when you came back,

I thought I wasn’t going to see you again,

The law here is tight you know,”

“Ok.” I reply blankly,

(I feel like he crushed what is left of my bones)

“We weren’t even that close to begin with.”

……

Apollo gives me playful shove,

“Stop acting all broody, I know we aren’t best of friends, but I rather have you here alive than dead or worse,”

“Where is Lyra?”

“Huhm, so you are just going to ignore what I just said, ok Kage.”

“Your acting weird, were you always this bitchy Apollo?”

I receive a non-playful shove this time,

“Darius died, Pinoki died, Karina died, I thought you died, and had to live here alone for months with lyra being disabled,

I don’t want to lose anyone again, but if I can’t help it, at least you know there is somebody who will cry for you,

I made up my mind to make my friends feel as loved as possible

That includes you Kage regardless of how long we’ve known each other.”

(……..)

“…….

Karina said she hopes you care for yourself as you do others” I bring up suddenly

“What when?” Apollo’s eyebrows raises inquisitively

“After she died, I caught a glimpse of her memories, only it was one she wanted me to see,

It seems like she always knew she would die sooner or later… so she a wrote a letter for you all to say goodbye…’

“What else did she say about me,” solemnly asks Apollo,

“Wanting to be a hero isn’t dumb— Speaking of that, Apollo have you heard of a vigilante that—”

“—Ok that’s enough,” Apollo cuts me off uncomfortably

(Why is he getting all flustered?)

“We have a lot of catching up to do Kage let’s go home first then we can talk,”

“Home?…..”

…

****

“Does she follow you everywhere?” I ask Apollo as we pull in front of a house,

Though not big enough to be considered a mansion it is still considerably awing to gaze upon

The comfy appearance of it contrasts with the meters of gray plastic roads we drove by on the way here, tucked neatly in a corner of the plastic beach

It may probably be the only pace with the emptiest ‘land’

“I told you she is supervisor Kage,” Apollo says stepping out the vehicle

“You don’t need supervision,” I step out behind him

Himari does not say anything instead speeding off in the sleek, black government sedan, the moment we exit

“At first I was against it,

But I don’t mind her anymore,” Apollo leads me to stairs at the side of the house,

There is no entrance on the ground floor, instead a staircase that leads around the house to the flat rooftop

(A bit too extra for my tastes

Not that I have any to begin with)

“Hmm, sounds like—” I start but get cut off from the scenery on the roof,

Though the general surroundings of the beach itself is an industrial gray

What I gaze at isn’t that…

(The ocean from here looks magnificent)

The clear blue skies that opens up to the glorious sun which strips itself down and flashes us its golden rays that reflect off the sea giving it a magical look,

(Maybe there is magic here after all,)

“Where are we on the plastic beach?” I turn to Apollo

“I believe this is the northwest corner of the beach, to the east of us is a UCA military base that I frequent, but for most my days I stay here preparing myself for the inevitable trip back home.

This place was given to Lyra and me,

She is rarely here though so it’s just me, and sometimes my super—” he stops himself from finishing,

Following the young man across the rooftop gallery, we enter an elegant overhead corridor that overlooks the entire bottom floor, although you could consider that the only floor of the house…

The corridor circles the walls of the entire house, at the center back point the corridor converges into stairs leading to the main floor which is a massive room that stretches off to the other sections of the miniature mansion….

“Where is Lyra?” I ask again taking a hold of the polished wooden rail walking down the carpeted staircase,

“Lyra also works with the government like me, though she prefers to distract herself more into the work than me….

She hates it here, this ring,”

(There’s something he isn’t saying)

“Do you hate it too Apollo?”

“Not really, besides the whole technology thing,

I don’t think here is all that different to what my ‘ring’ was.

Saying that still feels weird.

I want to go back home though but, what if....” he trails off

“It has been a year, you don’t know if Ginobelucci killed everyone,” I finish for him,

Apollo nods,

(Zinnia could very well be dead now,

Claude, Amelia, everyone in sweepstake, the guild.)

“What if I do manage to struggle and find a way back, only to be met with more death,

It isn’t like I could jump back off the mountainside and swim back here,

I got lucky the first time” Apollo continues

“Then what will you do till then, if not return?”

“Eventually I will go back, but.. for now, I just want to help as much people as possible,

If what awaits me back there is death then I shall leave here with more lives saved…

Incidentally, supervisor Himari tells me, that time passes differently on each ring”

“Different as in faster?”

“Not really sure I think it’s half,” Apollo replies guiding us to a moderately large kitchen,

“Half of what?”

“I don’t know these things confuse me,”

“Hhhhhh” I sigh watching as he navigates to a fridge,

“Yet you know how to use a fridge properly.”

“What is there to learn?

Open fridge, take out a food, eat,

This might be the greatest invention of humanity,” Apollo withdraws a jar labeled FNG Peanut Butter and bread from a nearby cupboard

“Now let’s talk,” he says making himself a sandwich,

“What else did you learn from prying into Karina’s memories?”

(Shouldn’t I be the one asking questions?)

“You tell me, you were the one fucking her,” I retort semi-teasingly,

“Echh!”

Apollo chokes on his sandwich,

“Fair play Kage, I take it you have seen a bit,

But I starkly remember her saying that you slept together,”

“Ok, keyword is sleep, we slept next to each other

I think she didn’t like to sleep alone,

Or maybe she just wanted to be near me….”

(Hmmm)

“Apollo, am I attractive?”

“Ecccchhhh!”

Apollo chokes for the second time,

“I mean you do have a certain feminine aura about yo—”

“—Not looks idiot,

I mean like do you feel drawn to me?

Karina said she that’s what she felt,”

“Hmmmmmm,” Apollo watches me for a long while thinking

“I guess so, there is something drawing about you,

Ever since Lyra brought you, at first I thought you were one of Murdoc’s people by how empty you looked, slowly I realized it wasn’t emptiness it was depth, there are layers to you, and I think maybe it makes people want to be there to see them get uncovered,”

………

“Thanks for kissing my ass Apollo,” I joke

Instantly I receive a flying slice of bread across my face for that remark.

……..

“Another question Kage, why were you with those pirates for almost a year?

I know what you got in jail for, and I don’t want to believe it,”

“Would you believe if I told you I don’t remember?”

“Hhhhh,” this time sighs Apollo,

“If you were anyone else….

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt Kage”

……….

“ Are you just going to leave it at that!?” a voice barks at Apollo,

“Huh?”

We both turn to the doorless entrance of the kitchen area

A now familiar strict-looking young woman emerges from behind the white painted wall..

(I thought she left, how long was she listening to us?)

“You have stop doing that Himari~,” Apollo groans,

“I figured that the pirate would finally admit his crimes now, with his friend,

How do you even feel comfortable around him Apollo,

You know murder is one of the crimes he was jailed for?” Himari sates her reasoning

“Do you want a sandwich?” Apollo points a peanut-butter-covered-spoon in her face lazily,

“Stop taking your job so seriously,”

“You do realize I am in the business of keeping this ring safe,

How serious should I not take it?”

Himari does not even lay an eye on me while speaking,

“And I wasn’t listening in on you, at first,

I forgot to tell you something, so I came back, and happened to hear you two having a conversation,”

“Weirdo,” yawns Apollo

He does not seem to take this woman seriously at all,

“So, what is it that you want?”