Chapter 11: Chaos
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Chaos is always the precursor to a future balance.
———
'What the hell is he doing here??'
Liu was completely stunned by what was happening.
"What's wrong with you?"
Without even bothering to answer, Liu turned around and started running as fast as she could into the forest.
"Huh?!"
After a few seconds, she slowed slightly and glanced behind her.
'What?! Where is he??'
Her breathing quickened as she snapped her head forward again and resumed running.
"Waaah!!"
'There??!'
He was now right in front of her.
"Hey! Why are you running?"
Liu instantly changed direction without stopping.
'What is going on?!'
She glanced back again.
'Again!!'
And when she turned forward...
'Again?!'
The man from her strange dream was standing in front of her once more.
"Stop! You little brat."
As before, Liu ignored him and changed direction again.
"Hey!.."
The same pattern repeated.
"Stop!"
Again.
"Seriously! Sto..!"
And again.
'What the hell is this?! Why is he so fast??'
Liu was starting to get tired from running in all directions.
'Why does he look normal even with energy vision?!'
Her heart pounded faster than before, but not for the same reason.
"Rraah!…"
Her breathing became more and more difficult—but again, not for the same reason.
'I… need… to… stop…'
She began to slow down, her vision blurring.
"You're finally stopping! You're worse than a mouse."
He was once again standing in front of her.
'Mouse…?'
She stopped in front of him, dizzy and out of breath.
She couldn't run anymore.
"What do… hhuu… youwant??"
She had never struggled this much just to ask a question.
"Huh? I didn't understand a word you just mumbled."
Liu placed her left hand on her knee to support herself.
'What did he say??'
She struggled to catch her breath before speaking again.
"I… hhuu… didn't understand anything."
She looked up at him and saw him staring at her strangely.
"Yep, you understood!"
Liu's vision was still blurry, and her heartbeat echoed in her ears.
'Did I hear that wrong?'
"No… I didn't understand anything!!"
She almost shouted her answer, to which the man replied.
"That's it, I didn't understand anything."
Now Liu was the one staring at him strangely.
'Is he stupid or something?'
She took a deep breath to speak.
"I'm telling you I didn't understand what you said!"
"Hhhaa… kids these days."
The man sighed and replied in an almost contemptuous tone.
"And I'm telling you I didn't understand what you said either."
"Huh..."
Liu was completely lost.
'What just happened? I didn't get anything…'
In the end, nothing much had actually happened.
"You done?"
Liu sat down on the ground. Exhaustion made her give up any hope of escaping.
"Why are you chasing me? What do you want?"
The man sighed again.
"Mmm… let's say you caught my interest, and I might need you for something in the future."
In response, Liu blinked several times.
'That's it?? Then why did I run so much?'
At that moment, the man turned his head and pointed somewhere.
"That… thing over there also caught my interest."
Liu's eyes followed his finger.
'What is he talking about?...'
Her gaze stopped on a tree's shadow.
That shadow was thicker than the others and had a strange, almost human shape.
'Shit!! I forgot!!'
Liu stood up with difficulty, ready to react at any moment.
'What's going to happen now?'
The man turned his gaze back to her.
"You know, if I don't want you to escape, you won't be able to escape. If I don't want you to see through me, then you won't be able to…"
He paused slightly before finishing:
"I am the one who decides."
Liu didn't care at all about the last part.
'What does he mean, see through him? Energy vision?'
"That probably sounds better in English…" the man muttered.
Wanting to understand what would happen to her, Liu asked directly:
"What do you want from me? What's going to happen now?"
"Hrm-hrm, first, know that I absolutely won't hurt you. Like I said, I might need you later. That's why I'm going to help you no matter your situation, so you'll feel indebted to me."
That didn't reassure Liu at all.
'That doesn't explain much…'
"And so.."
He cut her off.
"You know, my carriage is still on the road… we'd better set up a small camp quickly so we can sort everything out."
Liu nodded reflexively, like she always did when an adult suggested something logical.
"Don't worry, no one will see the shadow following you except us two."
The man started walking toward the road, and Liu followed silently.
'What does he really want from me?... he must be curious why the Form is following me. But how did he notice so quickly? Was I acting weird?... yeah, I was.'
While she was thinking, the man spoke again as they walked.
"There's another kid like you in the carriage. I helped him get out of his situation, the same way I plan to help you."
That didn't reassure Liu either. She slowed down, staring at him intensely.
'There's another one? Is he collecting kids? Is he going to sell us? Or is he going to rape us? Adults are all liars... aren't they?'
Strangely, the man didn't turn around and just kept walking.
"Stop thinking weird stuff. Why would I bother explaining things and reassuring you if I wanted to harm you?"
Liu stopped.
'That's suspicious!!'
"You know, in Lumeno there's no such thing as child trafficking or slavery."
Ignoring him, and despite her exhaustion, Liu ran again.
'That's super suspicious!'
The more he tried to justify himself, the more suspicious he seemed.
But… after barely ten steps, Liu's feet left the ground.
"Kyaa!!"
'What the...??'
The man had lifted her and tucked her under his arm. Liu struggled with all her strength.
"Relax, you little brat. Think about your situation and stop struggling."
Ignoring her, he kept walking toward the road.
'Damn it, I can't do anything!'
"Damn! You ran really far."
Liu twisted her body, trying to bite the arm holding her, but the man flicked her forehead before she could.
"Stop."
And her body stopped.
'…I can't move?... seriously?... like actually?'
She tried to speak, to insult him, but…
'…I can't open my mouth…'
Looking at his face, she noticed his nonchalant expression. Like he was used to doing this.
'He's really a child kidnapper.'
A chill ran down her spine.
"Alright, Patrick, get out here and bring the table and three chairs."
They had reached the carriage.
'Already?'
The man dropped Liu to the ground without any care.
"Ugh… you son of bitch!!"
She could move and speak again.
'Huh… why?'
The man went to rummage through the trunk at the back of the carriage.
"Patrick! You've got three seconds or I'm dragging you out myself."
At that moment, the door beside Liu burst open.
"Tch, I was never called Patrick…"
A boy, about Liu's age, stepped out carrying a camping table and chairs.
"…stupid old man," he muttered quietly.
Liu remained on her knees, still trying to process everything.
'How did he do all that?? Did I regain control because I hit the ground?... how is that even possible?'
The boy looked at Liu with a strange, almost unpleasant smile.
'What's with him? His face makes me want to hit him…'
He set up the table and chairs while Liu stood up, still wondering if she should actually hit him.
"Welcome, newbie, let's suffer together in this he... argh."
Instead of Liu, the old man hit him.
"Cut the crap."
He placed cereal bars, sausages, fries... in short, a decent amount of food, on the table.
"Tch!"
Patrick and the old man sat down, while Liu stayed standing, staring at them.
"Sit down, nothing's going to happen." Patrick gave a weird smile.
'Is something going to happen if I sit?'
That made her hesitate.
"Seriously, sit." This time it was the old man.
Liu stepped back.
"How do you expect to have a conversation if you stay standing?"
'I have to do it to find out.'
Still hesitant, Liu sat down after a moment.
"Prof, ain't yo puttung op a borrier?" Patrick asked, mouth full with a fry.
'A barrier?'
"Argh!"
He got smacked on the back of the head.
"No one will see what I don't want them to see."
The old man said that out of nowhere, without context.
Patrick removed the fry from his mouth and leaned toward Liu.
"Activate your energy perception."
He did it himself, looking around him.
'He means my energy vision?'
Liu did the same.
'What the…?'
She looked around.
'Is that… light?'
All around them, a dome of light had formed, surrounding them within a radius of about twenty steps.
"Can you read what's written?" Patrick asked.
'Written?'
Only then did Liu notice symbols across the dome.
'I can't read it…'
The words were blurry, impossible to decipher.
'Is that Lumenian? It looks like it.'
Since Liu didn't answer, Patrick turned to the old man.
"Is she mute?"
The old man ignored him.
"Done? Can we start discussing what we're going to do?"
That brought Liu back to reality. She nodded.
"Good. First, you're going to explain your situation and what you plan to do. That way I can help you properly."
Liu nodded. She knew she couldn't escape anymore, especially after seeing the barrier.
'What can I say?'
"You don't have to say everything. But before you start, are you okay with him listening?"
The old man gestured toward Patrick.
"Hey, I want to li..."
Liu cut him off.
"I don't want him to."
The old man nodded.
"Damn it!"
This time, instead of speaking, like he had for the barrier.
The old man looked at Patrick and made a gesture like covering his ears.
"Se..!"
Then he placed a finger in front of his lips, silencing him.
"He won't bother us anymore."
Liu was stunned.
'What just happened?!'
She looked at Patrick, who was now getting angry, trying to speak.
"I'll give you a bit of time to think about what you want to say and what you don't, but don't take forever."
Patrick stood up abruptly and started pacing inside the barrier, complaining silently.
"And don't worry, he can't see the shadow following you."
'Right… I forgot again…'
Liu reactivated her energy vision, trying to see if there was any dome around the Form or Patrick.
'Nothing… how did he do it?'
The old man pulled out a strange object from his pocket and started pressing it quickly.
'What is that now?'
He glanced at Liu.
"You should eat something."
'He's right, it's been a while…'
Liu reached out with her left hand to grab one of the sausages when Patrick suddenly came back and grabbed half the food from the table.
'Wha...'
He shot Liu a nasty look and went back to his corner.
The situation was so ridiculous it made Liu smile.
'What a kid.'
She took one of the remaining sausages and started nibbling on it.
'What am I supposed to tell him?'
———
Chaos is always the precursor to a future balance?
———