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Now with the group finally together, we need to know our way of travel. Segara's car looks beaten, but is still operational and able to go for another journey, which is a long hours of driving to the nearest airport walled city where we can finally hitch a ride to the next continent. Because of the amount of people involved, Liza relents and ride with Yulli on her bike, leaving all the male members in the same car. Art and Jet gets along well, while me and Segara is sitting at the front row of the car.

“Hal," said Segara. “I have been thinking…about the name Yulli told us and Moghes. Something does not seem right."

Yes, I suddenly remember something from that. Haelstrom was my twin who mom said died when he was an infant. Somehow I don't believe that, but I cannot remember the time I was born, so of course, I don't know the detail. Mom does not want to give me the explanation, either, when I called her (there is, surprisingly, a reception in the middle of the desert).

“You mean about Haelstrom? Hearing that name makes some crazy turn of events, huh?"

“Just why does an organized crime boss wants with a dead Mythar? Not to mention that Yulli got the photo of you, while you are even not a threat yet. Hal, is your brother still…"

“Mom said Haelstrom was identical to me, but I can't be sure until I see him with my eyes."

“Hmm…this is way above our understanding of things. But then, Hal, how about you? How does it feel that you finally have a Discord ability?"

“I don't know what to feel. Aside from me finally accepting who I was, I think bending the law of physics is a cool concept, though it is still underdeveloped, unlike yours."

“With training, you can make it powerful enough. When you activated your Discord ability, did you feel a rush of knowledge suddenly got added into your brain? That's the reason why you knew the basic concept of the ability, yet how you are going to develop it, depends on you."

“Easier said than done, you know. Jet here almost whooped me if you didn't do that makeshift surgery."

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, kiddo," said Segara. We quickly stop talking after that.

Before we reach the airport, Jethro pulls my wing and said, “Hey, just so you know, we are good, right?"

“Well, you put some holes to my wings. Can't say I completely forgive you."

“Aren't they supposed to heal?"

“Not entirely. Healing magic and scientific medicine can only do so much. But if you are talking about our fight, I don't hold grudges. Well, you are the third person we fight who don't end up being dead."

“So are you saying you are holding back against me?"

“No, I am doing my best. You want to ask that question, talk to Segara. He might be too humble to talk about it, even though he shoots laser from his fingers."

“Then I must ask you another thing," said Segara upon queueing for the permit check by the gate. “Since when did you become mouthful? You look like this person who likes to think everything through, like a reserved person. Now, after activating your Discord, you're somehow…changed."

“Well, people changed, right? I simply accept who I am and that's how I am still breathing."

“Really? I guess I should have known Danny's own past."

To be honest, my dad did not know why I changed, which thanks to him, I became what I am before I am forced to become my happy go lucky self. Dad left me when I was still a kid, and that changed me into someone who I did not like. Why a drastic measure, you ask? Life is a bitch. It forces you to become this serious determined person after people you loved dies and left you. I sound like a jerk now, I know, but that change does not make me feel good. Instead, I feel like I am lying to myself and my mother. She wants me to have a good childhood, ruined because of my desire to help her. I did not blame my mom, but how about if the one who actually have a good income and living in a good separate bedroom house does not want you to know that your dad died in a war? No, but life gives me the impression that my mom needs help, even though she does not want it. I don't want to be selfish, but life gives me all the reason to be selfish.

Anyway, just being an asshole isn't enough, I still need to know what my mom and dad were hiding from me. Mom does not hide the fact that I have a brother who is stillborn, but the 'stillborn' part does not convince me after Yulli mistaken me for a dead person who is not even alive past infancy. If she has that name, either my mom lies about my unknown brother, or this Moghes guy just want a good name.

Or, if my mom did lie about my brother, Haelstrom might have been still alive. Yulli's photo looks like me, so there is a possibility that he is my twin. If that 'twin link' thing is real, we might be able to sense each other, but for now, we do not feel each other. He might be at another place, but his survivability depends on what we will do.

Again, back to the story. We finally reach the only city near to Orwallis that has an airport to take us to the next continent. Yes, I did mention that we are trying to find an international flight, but, while this may be an international airport, it does not seem to go far to Eguar, the country with Ebony Devil Rocks as its natural wonder. This airport can only take us to the nearest nation of Samali, since despite of being international, it cannot have a big jet plane since…well, since this wall nonsense. As a result, some part of the wall was torn down to accommodate small to medium jet airliner. Kind of a bummer, but it's the truth. From the local news, the tearing down of the wall 5 years ago presented a controversy, which somehow had been variously accepted after the Badlands had been considered save for conventional travel. Still, permits are mandatory by the nation's national security.

Upon getting into the city, I realize that it is a mutual acceptance for the wall's uselessness. It has been apparent that the wall has more than one entrance, and many of those entrances leads to this main road and to some other settlements outside of the wall. The wall, thicker than Orwallis, has been repurposed into rows of apartments. I can see many balconies and windows from afar, including hanging clothes and people watching the Badlands. Somehow the wall is not a restricted ground like Orwallis, and the check is only for those who carries a lot of baggage and passengers, including us. Yulli and Liza went in before us, and they found us a good place for this city's newcomers. The city is called Sar Teridas, and they boast themselves as 'the gateway of the world'. Apparently they also want to upgrade their runway for bigger jets. Upon seeing that I realize that the times of walled cities might be over soon.

There is nothing to do in this place except waiting for the plane. Despite of us being in a city with a small airport, we still need to wait a whole day before our plane arrives. Based on Segara's explanations (don't blame me. I never ride a plane before), we will have a transit at Samali before boarding a plane to Eguar's biggest city, Hath.

I might bore you with this flight plan, so let's move on to the part where we talk about the source of our ability.

“Your abilities…how can I say…it is called a Discord," said Segara while sipping his coffee. “But if you ask me about what a Discord is, it is what I can tell you. It is a disharmony. Our abilities are the results of a conflicting wavelength of life in this world."

“Conflicting wavelength of life? I have a feeling this is something more than what we can understand," I said.

“Well, don't ask me, I only know some parts of it, not all of it. I researched about this and somehow this is a reoccurring phenomenon which happened more than 2000 years ago once."

This surprises me. The history beyond 2000 years ago is nothing but a post-apocalyptic world when Animas and Mythars were considered as zombies (I don't even know how that happened).

“If you are well-versed with our history, that was when races like Mythars and Animas were introduced. Yes, unlike now, it was less subtle, but in the end everything worked and we got our history. But, my research with a magus friend proved that there was another anomaly before that time, and it happened 4000 years from now. It was when the race of magi were created, after the introduction of magic."

“Just…how many worlds have our race endured?" asked Art.

“This is not my problem," said Jet opening the door. “I don't like history from the start, so go on without me. I'm grabbing some salad to eat."

After the goat Anima is gone, Segara continued.

“I am not going to talk about what happened to the ages before then. This world works like a cycle, adding up to the one before it. I am not even sure how old this world is. All I know is, Discords are considered anomalies, too, and this is the introduction of supernatural abilities."

There is a brief pause, then he continues.

“Some Discord abilities are still in the realm of magic, like my magic compression, Yulli's total disguise ability, and that lizard's darkness. Some, like Hal's energy manipulation and Art's wall phasing, is a borderline supernatural. Jet's ability is also borderline, but we know that he, like all of us, are premature Discord user."

“Wait…dad, are you saying that you are premature, too?"

“Premature in the sense of not developed, Liz. Discord abilities can be developed, but developing an ability needs a lot of training and a push. The more destructive the ability is, the harder it changes. My magic compression looks like a simple concept, but it is very destructive when you are considering the magic I used. The one I predict can develop even more is your ability, Liz. Your ability might look unimportant, but it can be stronger when you are better."

“Okay, let's get away from this Discord talk," I said. “Now how about our target? Why are we going to kill this Moghes guy? Why can't we just talk to him?"

“Well, wing arm, you have been living innocently for so many years," said Jet coming it while eating a bowl of garden salad (yuck). “Zenido Moghes is the biggest asshole in the black market. Not only he is a very well-known broker, he was an assassin many years ago before he mysteriously turned into brokering. While he is not as ruthless as many of his contemporaries, people mysteriously disappear without any trace every time he is working his 'front'."

“And might I ask how do you know any of this?"

“I am also searching for somebody with black market ties, but also because that is how I acquire parts for my weapons." Jet then pulls out his folded guns. “Like I said, Segara, it is illegal to dismantle or modify government-issued, even if those weapons are decommissioned. The black market…"

“Yes, I understand how the black market works. In short, registered techs always have an owner, even if they are decommissioned from official use. That is the reason why you are making your own techs, right? Well, when did that law became official? Like, 1990?"

Jet looks at Segara in disbelief, before he starts laughing slowly, before Segara pulls out a gun, which quickly silences the Anima. I look at it. It is not coated with chrome like some government-issued weapons, but instead it is bronze-colored, with some runes written on it. Personally, I don't even know any weapons or some sort, but Art and Jet, the less magically-inclined in our group, knows what that gun is.

“A 1989 T54 Semi-Auto!" exclaimed Jet. “But, how can you…"

“I was in Raz with this then-new gun, then they asked me to return it when I was discharged. Guess what I do? Apparently most of the soldiers were reluctant to return their weapons, especially Mythars. My friends…Daniel included, gave runes and magical enhancement to their weapons, either for identification...or just to remind them how war changed them. Moghes was one of the people who went to war and returned a changed person. I know who Moghes is…because he is Daniel's comrade."

All dirty thoughts suddenly rushed into my head. Did Moghes kill my father? Is that the reason why he is hunting my unknown twin?

“Moghes made an illegal business based on pre-registration weapons? But…that is fucking crazy! In all my life I have never…"

“Yes, it is crazy, Jethro, but it is fact. Moghes is the only person who is brave enough to re-circulate pre-registration weapons. And since we have three consecutive wars...just imagine how many decommissioned weapons he can get. It could be more than a million of those still circulating illegally, and then there is this…unknown news that draw me to take arms and fight. Just 9 months ago, Razber is starting an unknown riot. Just three months later the whole country was declared a black zone. The reason? The whole country…died and become living dead."

“Segara, I think you sound like a delusional old Mythar. There is no way a zombie apocalypse…"

Segara then goes to a nearby television and turns it on. He quickly turns it on to a talk show, with the topic about the Razber Lockdown and opinions from political figures. As always, they are trying to act cool in front of the screen, but they are thinking of the course of action and the merit to the nation. I want to say them to be a man and send help, but of course, that is unrealistic. The country of Amerin, as we call this nation, has been criticized by the world for unfruitful campaign at the Middle East. Some say that it is the reason why walled cities were built. They have a surplus of government money with a decision to focus on national security than international military. As a result, while our nation is said to be able to stay in the green during the 2008 stock market crash (yes, our stock exchange is not in this country), this does not sit well with many of the nations, stating that we shut our doors to save ourselves. This is getting more and more of an international tension when immigrants start to boost our population and repopulate the Badlands.

“Do I need to find an internet lounge and give you the news? I thought you kids have access to internet."

Tell me: what's irony? Well, being told by an old Mythar whose era does not have an internet that we don't have internet. Damn, that's some sharp irony there.

“Look, what I am saying is that I need more allies to go with me. I don't want to endanger civilians, so I can be quite picky."

“Uh…we were civilians before you drag us into this mess, dad," said Liza.

“Just you and Hal, no other. Right now we just need to wait for the plane, and then we are off. Rest well."

That is an intense line of questioning. It, arguably, becomes one of the most interesting moment in this summer, though it is dangerous as shit. I go to my room and sit at the bed, thinking that maybe this is the only peace and love we get.

Then again, I don't know things, either. I have my own goal to fulfill, and that is to the answer to my family. Only with completing the things that I have been drawn into in which I can finally rest my case.