“Ella?” I nervously asked, out of breath. We had been wandering in the mountains for several hours, and the only thing that kept me from fainting was the embarrassness that would follow.

I was walking next to Ella. Rainie hadn’t said anything else than the most necessary orders since we started the mission, and was now walking in the front, several meters ahead of Selina and Hebe. Jolin and Janosch were walking after Ella and me.

“Yes?” she answered, as carefree as if she did these kinds of things every day. This was, by closer thought, probably also the case.

“What does a memory look like?” I had been speculating about it since yesterday. ‘You have to find out who took Y10’s memory...’ That was what Jack had said.

“That is exactly what makes our case difficult. A memory doesn’t have an appearance, but can be attached to an object or a person’s mind.”

There was something about her tone I didn’t understand. She said it very naturally, but also seriously and... was it indignation?

“So... how can you take another person’s memory?” I nervously asked.

The more I learned about this world of Coders and Skills, my own beloved world slowly crashed down. Gone was worries about marriage, grades and dinner parties. Even though my parents thought the whole world centred on that, I couldn’t believe it anymore; no matter how hard I tried.

“There are two ways. You can erase it, but then it would be gone forever. Or you can transfer it to another object and safe it,” Ella said.

Lord, I needed water. Right now. I started seeing black spots in front of my eyes.

Water, water, water...

I nearly couldn’t breathe in the thin air. It was getting darker. My clothes were dirty and my body dead tired. I just walked on and on and on, closed my eyes, didn’t care anymore.

I used to love to mountains. So beautiful... but now a hell, after walking higher and higher for eight hours.

When would it stop?

I was thirsty. I was hungry. I felt weak, tired, sick. I was afraid of heights.

My parents thought I was on a school trip.

I missed Genie. And... Alien.

Alien, who was always ready to do the craziest monkey dance just to make me live up.

I could use that now. He was a good friend.

But this was Aaron’s world.

I had liked him even before I got the ring, and I had never been able to explain why. And now I liked him even more, but it was just as hard to explain why. Not even Genie could understand it, and if she couldn’t, then no one could.

How I missed her. She would have said something to keep me from feeling like an elephant had just stepped on me.

But Alien had proposed to me... Could I ever be able to marry a guy like him? My parents wanted me to, everybody expected me to. Some would despise me if I didn’t.

I still hadn’t integrated my new identity as a Blazing Soldier into my life. It had filled a lot, of course; actually, it had filled nearly all of it the last month. But I couldn’t recognize myself when I made things burn, explode, be destroyed, disappear, move, crash... It was like I was two persons. I had always thought I liked my original one, but the pretty little world my parents and society had made me couldn’t convince me anymore. Neither did I like my Coder identity.

I sighed.

When – if – I graduated to be a Y Soldier, would it then fill less in my life? Did I still have to train three hours a day, or would missions like this one take up all my free time instead?

Could I quit?

From the start I had decided to quit as soon as possible. Jack had said that I just had to learn how to control my Ring, and then I should create the rest of my path by myself.

But would I be able to quit now?

I knew I couldn’t just return to my old life. Not with the knowing of this world, these powers, Skills, that would always be a part of me. The ring would follow me till I died...

“Hold!” Rainie suddenly yelled from the front. We stopped, all as one.

I opened my eyes, my legs weakened under me. I took a deep breath and pulled all my strength together to keep standing.

“Sam’s cottage should be around here...” Rainie spoke to herself. She started walking around in the bushes around the path.

We couldn’t see her anymore when she shouted: “I’ve found it!”

Someone laid her arm around my shoulders and helped me follow Rainie. I looked up to see who it was, and I got surprised by seeing Hebe. She also looked tired, really tired, and didn’t speak a word.

I looked behind me to see that Selina and Ella also supported Jolin and Janosch.

I could finally see the cottage Rainie had mentioned. She stood in front of the door. But it looked like something was wrong.

There was a note on the door, handwritten, and it only contained one sentence and a signature.

“This is only the start.

BB No. 1”

I didn’t know what this meant, but Rainie obviously did, along with Ella, Hebe and Selina. Shock was written all over their faces, but if they were frightened, they didn’t show it.

“No, not Sam...” Hebe whispered under her breath.

She suddenly opened the door and stormed inside, where she let out a scream.

Ella, Selina and Rainie ran in after her, and Jolin, Janosch and I slowly followed, tired as we were.

The sight that met us inside nearly made me follow Hebe’s example and scream.

She had sunk down on her knees, hiding her face with her hands so only the eyes were visible. She stared with tears at a body that was lying on the floor. Covered in blood. Dead.

Rainie stared expressionlessly at the man while Ella and Selina kneeled down next to Hebe.

“Hebe, I’m so sorry,” Ella said. Hebe didn’t answer; she just whispered “No” over and over.

Ella and Selina had gotten Hebe to their senses again, and the three of them were talking behind the house.

I was nearly too tired to wonder why Hebe was so affected while the others didn’t even roll a tear.

I could feel the tears run down my face, but if it was of sorrow, tiredness or hunger I didn’t know.

Even though Rainie kept a cold expression, I could see sadness in her eyes. Also Ella and Selina had had sorrowful expressions, but only Hebe had cried.

“Jolin, Janosch, Even,” Rainie said, still looking at the dead man, “may I present you to Z7... or what is left of him.”

At least my tears washed some of the dirt away from my face. I noticed that Rainie had called us by our first names, and not our last names or Codes as she used to.

So the man was a Coder, a Blazing Soldier. And one of the best, since he was titled Z7.

Rainie sighed. It was the first time I had seen her done so.

“We have to move the body, bury it. We can’t take it with us, and I’m not strong enough to teleport it to the head quarter.”

“What about his family?” I heard Jolin ask.

“None. But we must send a message to Master Na.” Rainie took out a piece of paper from her bag and wrote something on it. She folded it a few times, held her hand over it, mumbled something, and it was gone with a flash of light.

“Miss Wu, please lift it up.” Her commander voice was back.

“What?” I wouldn’t touch him no matter what.

“Levitate it, what else?” Janosch rolled his eyes. I hated him for being so cold.

I had levitated much bigger and heavier things before, but my hand shook when I reached it out. I couldn’t remember the spell, but I didn’t have to; the Ring obeyed my thoughts and wishes, and made Z7 lift up.

Rainie looked a bit surprised at first – don’t ask me why – but then conjured up a blanket and put it around him.

We were all sitting silently around the rustling bonfire. It was around midnight, and we had just had dinner. It had helped on my mood, tiredness and despondentness.

Hebe’s eyes were red from crying, and she stared at the fire like she wanted to jump into it.

I couldn’t understand why the rest of them could keep being so... cold? No, they weren’t cold; I had seen the sorrow in their eyes. But it was like they got over it in two minutes and were all professional again, while I couldn’t. I had never seen someone who was dead before, and even though I hadn’t known him at all, the shock from seeing him had gotten to me.

I had understood that the plan had been to spend the night in the cottage with him, Sam, as the host. He should have had dinner ready for us.

Now Ella had made the food, and we still had to sleep in the cottage, which I still had trouble accepting.

“Miss X32,” Rainie suddenly said, and looked at me.

“Just call me Gui Gui,” I said with a rusty, tired voice. They all stared at me like I was crazy.

“Is this some kind of bad joke?” Janosch asked, and looked in the direction of the now by the darkness hidden bushes.

“No, that’s what my friends call me. My parents call me Xiao Jie.”

“Oh, what a little princess we have here?” he taunted.

“No, as in “Little Jie”. My name is Wu Ying Jie.”

He was slain and kept silent.

“Miss Wu,” Rainie said a bit less fiercely, “how did you learn to cast spells without saying them out loud?”

“I... don’t know. I couldn’t remember the spell...”

“But it is really hard to learn! I only know two people who can do it!” Selina exclaimed.

I closed my eyes.

“When can we go to sleep?” I asked. Hebe sniffled.

“We need to keep a guard,” Ella responded darkly. “We don’t know who killed Sam, but he sure isn’t friendly. You saw what he wrote; ‘This is only the start’.”

I sighed.

Even though the cottage had several rooms, Jolin, Ella and Selina brought seven beds to the living room while Hebe sat in the corner, and Janosch and Rainie cleaned up from dinner. When I came back from the toilet, they had arranged it all.

“Excuse me, but are we going to sleep here?” I asked.

“Yes. Do you have a problem, princess?” Janosch coldly asked.

“Actually, I do.”

“Is it too dirty? Not fine enough for your standards?”

“No, but I can’t sleep in a house where a man was murdered.”

Everyone kept silent after I finished my sentence. Hebe hiccupped and looked up.

“This is no place for grand senses. You should be thankful that we have this house,” Rainie said.

“Sorry, but I just... can’t do it.”

“There’s no other place, for god’s sake!” Selina exclaimed. “It’s here or outside.”

I looked at her. I had never been so sure in my whole life.

Without a word, I grabbed my bag and my sleeping-bag and went outside. They all looked just as surprised as Aaron did when I kept silent after he had told me to control my tongue.

I put my sleeping-bag in the lee of some trees nearby. I suddenly heard something, and stood up to see what it was; Hebe came running after me.

She also had her sleeping-bag with her, and put it down next so mine. I glared asking at her.

“I couldn’t bear to stay there either,” she sniffled. I nodded, and we crawled into our sleeping bags.

After a while, I decided to take the word:

“Hebe... may I ask you something?”

I could watch her black silhouette nodding.

“What was your relation to Sam?”

***

PREVIEW:

-

“Gui Gui! Look out!”

Rainie’s yell from behind warned me early enough for me to avoid the attack. She blocked it and sent a new curse back at the attacker.

-

I screamed out in pain when he hit my left shoulder, and without thinking, I made a hand move towards him; the next thing I heard was another person’s scream, or was it my own? I fell and fell...

-

“No! I have to see if she is okay!”

The voice sounded familiar... but it couldn’t be...?

***

Sorry for leaving a cliff-hanger ^^,

And sorry for the wait. I wanted to do (the start of) Gui Gui’s first mission justice.

But the most exciting part is still on its way...

What is Hebe’s relation to Sam?

Who wrote the mysterious note, and what did it mean?

What will Gui Gui choose to do if she becomes a Y Coder?

All of these questions will be answered, but who knows if it’ll be in the 10^th or the 20^th chapter?

I just hope I can keep my inspiration up that far so I don’t disappoint you with the chapters.

And comments are what really gives me inspiration and desire to write :]

I would be SO happy if you left a comment :3

- Blitz