Local

Owen rushes away from the mysterious man and his friends as soon as Alana instructed him to do so. He knows what they have to do, the person who tried to steal the tracker was confident enough, the person they are looking for is definitely in danger and might be clueless about it.

He ran towards an alley to circle around where the man was supposed to go if they hadn't caught him, Owen suspects that whoever he is, he's not alone.

He was mindlessly running when suddenly a girl comes out of the corner and they hit each other. They both did not expect it so their crash was pretty hard, Owen slammed on the wall while the lady fell down. They both groaned in pain but Owen immediately picked up the girl and helped her to stand up. "I'm so sorry! I did not expect you!" Owen apologetically smiled.

"I'm sorry too, I should have looked in my way." The girl sheepishly replied.

They looked at each other in the eyes and paused.

The girl is undeniably beautiful with her doe eyes and sweet smile. Her long hair, tied in a ponytail is dark and wavy. Owen's heart started beating wildly and he could not speak nor think clearly.

"I... well, are you okay? I'm hurt. I mean, it's not much. I'm not hurt at all! Ha! It doesn't bother me. But you must be hurt, I'm not saying you're weak I just-"

"You're funny. Maybe just a little in my back, but it's almost gone now." She sweetly replied, fascinated by his actions.

Owen curved a smile then breathed out to compose himself, "Ha-ha, that's good to hear... not the part where your back hurts but... you know what I mean." he timidly says. The girl delightfully nodded in agreement and giggled more.

Owen is so stoked by the sound of her giggles, and how she looks at him intently every after laughs. He can feel himself blushing.

"I am Owen. What's your name?"

The lady bit her lip, slightly looked down, and then back at his eyes, "Cassiopeia. Do you live around here Owen? I haven't seen you around before."

"I'm new here. I just arrived in Oran today actually."

"Welcome to Oran!" Cassiopeia smiled, "Are you visiting with your family or friends? Maybe I can tour you around."

"You can tour me around now!" He immediately replied, "I am with friends here, but visiting is a little too good of a word since we came here just to find someone." He nicely replied with a great smile.

But that smile immediately faded and turned into horror when he remembered he was supposed to be in a hurry.

"I have to go!" He hurriedly told her, he tried running away but the girl held his wrist with a confused expression, "What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?"

Owen painfully held Cassiopeia's hand that has been holding his wrist, "Cassiopeia, it's like that, I just remembered I'm in a hurry to find someone."

"Okay, I can help you find them. Where are you headed? I know the roads around here."

"I'm not sure where to go actually..." he said in an even softer tone.

She gave him a confused look, trying to muster a question that might be helpful, "So, do you have anything to start with? Who is the person you're looking for? What do they look like, or even a map."

Owen briefly paused and then felt his pocket, Cassiopeia just observed and waited for him to say something.

"I actually have! But, before that, have you seen anyone running in the same direction with eyes lighting?"

Another odd question that made Cassiopeia blink a few times and wait and see if he is not joking. After a few whiles of realizing what he just said, Owen groaned in frustration again, he knows how stupid and odd he is sounding and it's only going to take one more word out of him before this beautiful girl leaves out of fear.

"I'm sorry, again. I'm not usually this moronic and weird." He shamefully held his forehead shaking.

Cassiopeia smirked, "It's fine, I have my own fair share of weird too. I actually think it's cute." she blushed.

Seeing her blush only makes Owen even redder and out of words, so Cassiopeia talked again to ease the tension, "So, lighting eyes huh, how is that possible?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe even if I tell it all to you."

"I do trust you, do you trust that I'd believe what you'll say?"

Owen looked at her firmly to try and see if she means it. Cassiopeia is not budging her doe eyes as well. Finally, Owen sighed and thought she looks harmless enough so it wouldn't be harmful if she'll be the only one to find out. Also, maybe she could really help them. A local friend in Oran.

"Okay, but you have to keep this a secret." Owen started.

She chuckled, "Who would I tell about you? I just met you a few minutes ago." she teasingly replied.

"Ok, don't freak out or call me weird. But my eyes light up too," he said, he remembers how the people in the factory reacted and he has to warn her.

He activated his ability and his eyes glimmered in green. Her round eyes grew even bigger and rounder. Something tells him that he shouldn't have shown it because of how almost everyone negatively reacts to it, and he likes her, that this is such a huge leap of faith.

But on the other hand, something tells him he could trust her.

Cassiopeia did not scream or run away from fear. She was visibly surprised, but there was also fascination on her face. "What can this ability do?" she whispered as she tries to step a little closer to him so she could have a better look.

"I can either fix or break anything just by a single touch." he shortly answered as he was very conscious as to how close Cassiopeia is getting to him.

Cassiopeia suddenly looked away and held her chin as if she is trying to remember something, "Now that I've thought about it. I think I've seen someone like you."

"Really? Who? Do you know them? Or did they really pass by here?" Owen quickly asked. He finally found a lead.

"Yes, I think I know them," Cassiopeia swiftly faced him with her eyes lighting in green, "Me."

She then gave a high kick that landed on Owen's jaw and immediately knocked him unconscious. He fell to the ground in a split second.

Cassiopeia checked if he's really knocked out, he's fine and just fell asleep. Her innocent-looking eyes changed into more relaxed and cold eyes. She lets out a smirk and then rummaged on the pocket where Owen felt earlier, hoping to see the tracker.

But it wasn't there.

She checked on every other pocket but there was no tracker in him. Cassiopeia furiously pressed the button of the microphone on her ear, "Cassian! The tracker's not here!"

"Impossible, I saw Alana pass it to him right in front of me." Cassian's voice says from the other end.

"But did you really see the tracker being handed to him?"

"No, their palms weren't open..."

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes, "You have been tricked! You wasted my time! If you weren't my twin I should have just gone with Duerre-"

"Cassio, quit blabbering already and find the others while I go to the target," he said to excuse himself from being fooled.

Cassio annoyingly ended the discussion and walked a few steps away, but then she stopped to give Owen one last look. "For the record, I really do mean it when I said you're cute."

===

Alana glanced at the tracker and then held it tightly as she continues to run. Three of the dispersed as well right after Owen left and Cassian escaped. She pretended to hand the tracker to Owen in front of Cassian as a con. Thankfully, Owen immediately understood what she is trying to do and started acting as he has the tracker. Hopefully, he's somewhere safe because Cassian, or anyone with him, will be after Owen.

On the other hand, this made Alana's search much easier and more discreet. She was led into a big establishment where hundreds of people come and go. Most of them hold books, are occupied with their peers, or running to go inside. She has never seen such a large amount of crowd gathered in one place. But she knows that this is one of the least things to expect when you are in the capital city.

She stopped by to a near bench with a woman sitting in it, "Excuse me, what place is this?"

"This is Anka, the biggest university in Oran." the woman replied.

Alana pinned back her stare in the establishment and the entirety of the area, as much as she wants to admit, she still has no idea as to what a university meant. But judging the looks of it, it may be somewhere people train to do things they are supposed to do.

She was brought back into the present when she saw an odd young man running away. He ran past her. There was a visible fear in its eyes as he slightly looked back from the direction he ran away to as if someone is chasing him. He caught other people's attention too because of his way of running. It's the kind of run that looked like his life depended on it. He even trips along his run for a little bit.

She immediately checked her tracker and the blinking light seemed to have run past her. Her mouth slightly fell open when she realized that the man who had just run away could be it and that he is being chased. She wasted no time and ran after him.

"Wait!" she shouted. The guy looked back at her and was even more petrified, thinking she could be a bad person as well. He ran faster and into an alley in the middle of two huge establishments. Alana clicked her tongue with his reaction, she ran faster. Good thing she outruns him and finally managed to grab his collar before he could leave the alley. The man made choking noises as he fell down on the ground because Alana held him. "Please! What do you need from me? Don't hurt me!" he pleaded.

Alana stood there dumbfounded, "I won't hurt you. I'm here to protect you." she assured.

That is the only time the guy looked up at her and then slowly stood up. He is way taller than her, with a skinny body and pale skin, "Why are they after me?" he asked, assuming that Alana has the answers.

Alana showed the tracker, "Do you have something similar to this?"

The guy pulled his own tracker from his pocket.

Alana smiled widely, "I am Alana." she pulled off her sunglasses and showed her red eyes.

The guy, unfazed, looked at her for a while before answering, "Av... Khalil." he said as he turn his eyes into emitting purple light.