1 Suspicion

The two finally reached the exit, where Zita was playing with the hologram wall with awe.

"This so cool.." She kept sticking her hand in and out, causing Devlin to roll his eyes.

"Are you finished?" He asked, "Pass me your bag, I doubt you can climb with that and a broken arm."

She shrugged, "You would be surprised."

"Hm?" He raised a brow, watching her stick her head inside, "Right, you didn't answer me. How did you get here?"

She slowly pulled her head out of the wall but didn't glance at him and just shrugged. She adjusted the strap on her bag as she leapt forward.

"Hey!" He quickly stuck his head through the wall, only to see her hanging using one hand and her legs to slowly climb up, mumbling, "Is she secretly a ninja?"

He also leapt forward and hung onto the rope, 'It's harder climbing than I remembered..' He looked up at his arm, 'Did I rely too much on my gears?'

He used his powers to boost himself up, and when he overtook Zita, he stuck a tongue out and climbed faster.

He decided to glance down only to see Zita also trying to climb faster. He smirked and tried jumping up with every step ever so often.

"That's cheating!" He heard Zita complain, "I only got one arm!"

He glanced back down with a grin, "Too bad! Pfft-"

"Pfft." She also stuck out her tongue, "I would flip you if I could. But I only got one hand.."

"Ha! I can!" He pointed out his middle finger and continued climbing.

"Jerk!"

"Psycho!"

They began bickering with each other as they continued climbing up.

When they finally reached the top, Devlin pulled Zita up at the final bit.

"Wait, I don't remember you having a glove?" Zita stated, looking at Devlin's glove stained with blood.

"Ah!" He looked at it, "I forgot to return it!"

She shrugged, "I will just stay here while you go." She stopped talking when she noticed Devlin looked like he was spacing out, "Li?"

She waved her hand and received no response, so she slapped his face to get his head out of the clouds.

"Huh?" He felt a stinging pain on his cheek, "What the heck?"

"Nothing. You can just return it the next time you meet him." She said while adjusting her cap, "Let's go. It's getting dark."

He nodded and led the way.

Zita kept staring at Devlin throughout, deep in her own thoughts, 'For a kid, he sure is reckless.. but when he shouted, ' Was I Zero?'' The vibe he gave was dangerous.. How did he do it? Does he have powers like everyone else?'

She glanced down at her shoes, gazing between his melted shoe and her shoe.

'What am I even questioning?!' She waved her one arm like she was talking to someone, 'Of course he has! He can't possibly jump so high without it!' She pinched her chin, 'Unless it's the shoe? But that's not possible. Is it?'

She tapped on Devlin's shoulder and saw he wasn't giving a response, so she kept tapping.

Her patience grew thin, "Hey!" So she punched his shoulder, causing him to jump up, "I wanna ask. Was your shoe a normal shoe?"

"Ow.." He rubbed his shoulder, "You didn't have to punch me so hard.."

"Answer the question.." She said while walking beside him.

"Well, yeah, it's a hovering shoe. Or it was. I think if it weren't for it, my feet would've melted.." He mumbled towards the end, staring down at his feet.

"Doesn't it hurt to walk without shoes?"

He shrugged, "If you don't think about it." He glanced up and saw the moon hanging so high.

He slowed down and stared at it, cursing under his breath, "Damn, we are too late."

Glancing at the rift, Zita followed his gaze. The rift was surrounded by a high-tech barrier that surrounded it, preventing monsters from escaping.

"What do you mean?" She asked, hearing his words clearly due to the quiet night.

He slowly placed his hands in his pockets as he with a sorrowful expression, he lamated, "The day when during the crack, the moon hangs high, watching on as the current era shatters, when the soldier didn't heed the orders.".

Like his words were the cue, the barrier shattered, and despite not being able to see the monsters. They knew it was lost.

"We better hide, I don't have the equipment to fight." He slapped his own cheek, "Alright enough, rhymes."

"Where to hide? I'm not familiar with this place.." She looked around them, 'It's strange, why don't I feel any sense of danger?'

Devlin said something and led the way, as she followed along.

'Is his powers the ability to predict the future?' She thought, 'But if it was, why would he look so scared when the monster attacked the guy? He would know I'm going to arrive..' She snapped her finger, 'Maybe he could only see so far or a limited time?' But rubbed her head, 'I have my own secret, I shouldn't butt into his like that.'

Devlin, who was leading the way, glanced back to make sure Zita was still behind him. He felt like there was a big question mark on his head when he saw her with her hand movements all about.

'Is she alright?.. maybe that's just how she talks to herself?.. Strange but okay?..' He turned back to face the front, not planning to ask her about it.

Devlin's pace sped up, turning the walk to a jog.

"Hey! An injured person here!" She said while struggling to keep up, causing her to slow down and tripped, "Sh-."

Devlin caught her just in time before she fell, causing her to smile while getting on her feet.

When she got on her feet, she said, "Thanks for catching me."

"Anytime, whats-." His eyelid fluttered a bit as he glanced away, his movements which didn't escape her eyes.

"Finish the words. Don't just hang it there. Finish what you wanna say." She said, causing him to face her.

He raised a fist, "What's being bros for?"

"Hah hah, I will catch you when you fall too then." She fist bumped him, causing a small smile to creep up his face.

"Mm." They continued walking, and Devlin slowed down, matching Zita pace as he looked around the building.

Even with that, Zita had a thought, 'What happened to him and his brother? I doubt I'm in any place to ask him that..'

"How are you not feeling pain in your broken arm?" Devlin turned and asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged with one shoulder, "I guess this level of pain isn't that pain."

"Are you sure you're not secretly a cyborg?" He pinch his chin, "It's sus."

"Who the heck uses that word? Are you old or something?" She laughed, but he just frowned more, knowing she's avoiding the topic.

He mentally sighed and answered, "I'm older than you." He pointed at her, "And smarter."

"Yeah, right.." She rolled her eyes, "If you were, you wouldn't have jumped recklessly at the monster."

"Reckless doesn't mean I'm not smart." He crossed his arms.

"But at the moment of recklessness, the person would be the dumbest they've ever been." She smirked, "You could've distracted the monster with your hovering shoes since you are faster than it with the shoes. No?"

He opened his mouth but shut them again, grinding his teeth as he closed his eyes, trying to think of a rebuttal.

"You win this time." He snapped his head away while crossing his arms.

"I win every time." Her smile slowly disappeared.'It's either win or death..' She glanced towards the rift, 'Especially in the new era coming..'