MY FRIEND

[N-EARTH YEAR 599/ MONTH 12/ DAY 24 •TIME: 04:00]

CREAK CREAK CREEEAAKK !!!
The sound of the 'AIRPOD'S' main engine combined with my MINI PROPULSION DEVICE giving up and failing echoed through the night of the sky of N-EARTH.
We were already a few kilometers outside of the 'KYOSID' area but the police had no intention of giving up the pursuit. I could hear the continuous low-whistle sound of their 'CHASER BULLETS' nearing me rapidly. I had only one way of escaping the situation. However I was conflicted. If I used my only escape route now, I didn't have anything else to the future. Even though I had my 'XZ-SHOES' their float function is at only 25 metes above ground. Either I fall to the ground or get caught in the air it didn't matter, as at the end I get caught either way. As the distance between us here closer and closer, the regret inside me starting growing.

"I could've talked to them instead of running"
"I could have taken the legal procedure"
"I could've just stayed in 'SPACEGEON' and continued my day-to-day life"

As these thoughts filled my mind, a warning message popped up on the 'AIRPOD'S' display. I had 10 seconds to leave the 'AIRPOD' before it exploded.
It's the first time I had being in a situation like this in my life. So of course I had no idea what to do now. In the midst of all that I received a call from my friend. Of course she'd be worried. After all I left her in 'SPACEGEON' and came to N-EARTH without any explanation. Not that I didn't want to explain the the situation to her, but rather I didn't know how to explain it or what to say. After all I've been looking into someone I saw for a split-second without knowing why myself. So obviously I couldn't put the situation into words. The call ended without me been able to answer it. Normally at work out any other setting, I would examine the situation and proceed accordingly. But now I was panicking. I didn't know what to do. My thoughts swirled inside my head. I didn't know if the timing was the best or the worst but....

I remembered my mother through all that. She would often take me in her arms and fly thorough the sky when I feel down.

"LISTEN, THESE WINGS, TENTACLES OR ANY OTHER RUZXIAINON FEATURES YOU HAVE NOW OR WOULD GET IN THE FUTURE OR ANY HUMAN FEATURES YOU HAVE NOW OR WOULD GET IN THE FUTURE AIN'T A CURSE, THEY ARE A BLESSING"

"NO MATTER THE MUTATIONS YOU WILL UNDERGO, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE OUR SON"

My mother would often console me saying this, as I was undergoing a mutation or I would just feel sad for a reason or another.

Only two seconds remained before the explosion of the 'AIRPOD.' I slammed the eject button just in time, narrowly escaping being blown to pieces. The force of the ejection hurled me upward, propelling me above the 2nd Air-Road. As the momentum subsided, I found myself free-falling in the early morning sky of N-EARTH. The world below me was bathed in a surreal blend of natural moonlight and the artificial glow of countless devices. It was hard to believe it was only a few minutes past 4:00 AM. In 'SPACEGEON,' the RESIDENTIAL AREA is perpetually illuminated by artificial lights, so this scene felt breathtaking. From my vantage point, I could see the two main Air-Roads of N-EARTH buzzing with vehicles, their lights streaking through the darkness. The flora lining both the Ground-Road and the Air-Road seemed alive, adding a touch of vibrancy to the landscape. In the distance, the ocean shimmered like a vast mirror, reflecting the glowing skyline of buildings and infrastructure, adding a stunning level of detail to my view.

I pressed my sleeve near my wrist so that my 'NANO-FIBER' suit could open the back and adjust itself so that my three pair of wings could be free. As I was free-falling, I started flapping my wings fueled by sheer hope and determination. My mother's wings were pure white and had a wingspan of nearly 150cm for each pair. Width wise they started at 20cm at the base and reached around 100cm at the end. Compared to my 15cm in length and 8cm in width Wings, hers were MAJESTIC. Adding my weight of 66KG to the equation and that the gravitational pull of N-EARTH is a bit greater compared to 'SPACEGEON' and some other planets, of course I couldn't fly. My uttermost effort delayed my free-fall for about 2 seconds at most. "WELL... THAT'S AT LEAST SOMETHING" I said to myself. I never even considered flying with these miserable wings of mine. I knew it wouldn't work more than anyone else. At the 'ITEM-SHOP' I have researched some floating devices on various species so I knew exactly what's the equation needed for a successful flight. Even If I crash to the ground and die I have my 'LIFE-SYSTEM' so I doubt I will die. The 'LIFE-SYSTEM' technology of N-EARTH is a little out-dated but revival from a simple fall and crash is nothing to it. That or the police behind me will catch me with their 'CHASER-BULLETS'.

As I calculated my chances of avoiding prison and concluded they were zero, a huge claw grabbed me. Through the gaps between the fingers, I saw crimson red scales covering the claw and black nails as long as an ancient katana. I was shocked because I knew exactly who she was—and knew that she wasn’t supposed to be there at that moment. She threw me up in the air. Again. That's my second time been propelled towards the sky, not to mention while been on the sky, within a matter of 2 minutes today.... Or any other day to be honest. As I was falling again... I saw her. I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. I saw her Dragon-form in a while.

Covered in Crimson Red scales with each one gleaming like molten lava under the glow of the city lights below she roared through the night sky.

Her wings stretched wide, wider than an entire air-lane of N-EARTH's busiest hover highways. Each wing was larger than a commerical 'SPACESHIP' which could carry about 1000 human-sized passengers. An awe-inspiring view no matter how much I see it. The leathery membranes shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

Deep-Black horns in her head which were curved backwards resembled a majestic crown. Each almost 100 meters in length, could easily break through any obstacles.

Her tail stretched long and sinuous, a masterpiece of strength and elegance. The crimson scales of her tail transitioned seamlessly into a darker, almost obsidian hue at its tip, like the natural progression of flame into shadow.

Time Almost seemed to be frozen when I was looking at her. Even though we are together most of the time I rarely get to see her dragon form due to its useless and troublesome nature. Maybe it was my human-side been in awe after seeing such a powerful and majestic creature or my RUZXIAINON-SIDE in shock after seeing such a powerful and majestic creature. Before I could get a better view, she transformed into her 'DRAGONOID' form which resembled a human girl around her 20's. But she has kept her wings by reducing the size of them.

As my little nostalgic sight-seeing trip ended, my fall ended simultaneously too. She caught me with her arms and held me through my chest. As I turned my head to face her, I saw her always smiling face, smiling in this situation too.

"ANOVA??!!!" : Her name slipped through my lips from the shock I got seeing her. I could tell looking at her face that my face was a mess.

"MISSED ME??" : She asked with a smile on her face, as if she didn't just come to a different planet 200 light years away.

"WH.. WHY?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??!!" : I asked her through my surprised voice, hoping she would at least have valid reason.

"BECAUSE I WAS BORED...?" : She replied with her blissful looking face. I was the fool for asking such a question. Of course she didn't have a valid reason.

"WELL ANYWAY, HOLD TIGHT!! WE ARE GOING TO GIVE THEM A TASTE OF OUR DUST" : I didn't say anything. I just nodded my head and activated the 'AIR-FIELD' feature in my suit, which is used for high-speed air travel using your own body. Even though I didn't say anything, a thought popped up in my head.

I'M GLAD YOU ARE MY ONE AND ONLY FRIEND

She gave me a grin and roared her wings through the night sky of N-EARTH. In the blink of an eye we were nowhere near the police and their 'CHASER-BULLETS' "That's a dragon, alright!" I thought to myself. Even with the limitations released, the 'CHASER-BULLET' can reach a speed of 300KPH at maximum. Even in the dragonoid form and with wings half the size as their original, a normal dragon can easily pass 350KPH. In ANOVA's case, she's the daughter of two Red Dragons. On N-EARTH, they're considered second only to black dragons. She can easily pass 450KPH.

After gaining some distant, she slowed down and looked at me. A glance at her face and I understood. She had no idea where to go. I guided her to an abandoned building in an area called 'QUAZUTTRA' through the telepathy devices we wear.
In the 'TYOZUL' region of N-EARTH, 'QUAZUTTRA' is an area that was abandoned by residents due to a certain incident that took place about 8 years ago. The incident itself wasn't disclosed to the public media locally nor lntergalactically.

As I was scanning the perimeter to see if anyone has followed us, I heard a huge noice right behind me. 'ANOVA' had bumped into some old equipment on the building and had fallen over them. "SHHH" I said while pressing my finger on my lips. She nodded in affirmation but I was sure she would do something like that again. But surprisingly she then came over to my side and started observing. "THE TELEPATHY DEVICES WORK ON THIS PLANET TOO!!! THAT'S GREAT RIGHT??"
Before I could ask what's wrong, she expressed her surprise in the Telepathy devices we made. I said "YEAH..." as I remembered the time we spent together at the 'ITEM-SHOP'. They were prototypes made in the 'ITEM-SHOP'. Since they haven't been registered as an item of the DUNGEON AREA we were able to get a pair for our daily use. That's because it was concluded that devices worn outside the body isn't practical enough for ADVENTURES. N-EARTH also had their own telepathy devices but right now the both of us couldn't even get a snack at a vending machine.

As soon as I activated the alarm in the DATABASE CENTER, and refused to collaborate with the police, I became a wanted criminal and as ANOVA rescued me, she too became a fugitive. I heard that after the new president of N-EARTH was elected, many changes were made. Specially to the law section.

"SO, CARE FOR AN EXPLANATION?" : ANOVA asked with a voice I never heard before even though I heard her voice almost everyday. She came closer and sat beside me. The space around us seemed to press closer too. The distant hum of the spacecraft's engines growing louder in the silence. I could feel her gaze drilling into me, demanding answers. Or rather the reason for this mysterious behavior she had never seen before from me. Her worries were founded. After all, I was always the one who sticked to the plan and hated making deviations from it. To a former Adventurer like ANOVA, deviations and detours from the original plan wasn't such a big deal. So she following me to a distant planet after I made an unreasonable detour from my day-to-day life made all the more sense and reason for her concerns. Even though we were friends, our personalities didn't quite align with one another but that's what made us friends in the first place.

"YEAH, YOU'RE RIGHT" : I admitted with a sigh while my left hand running through my hair trying to fix it so that I could get better look at ANOVA's face.

"I WILL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED... ALTHOUGH I'M NOT SURE WEATHER EITHER OF US CAN BELIEVE IT" : I exclaimed hoping at least something will start making sense once I've put the them into words.

ANOVA beside me with her back straightened and get keys folded. Normally she would sit more relaxed and listen to almost anything at her own pace. She would joke, pause the other party or even demand the other party to repeat it. But this time she was so shocked by my unusual behavior that none of that was present even before I started explaining.
The situation I explained to her was unbelievable to her as well as to me too. The reason unknown to me, my heart raced whenever I said her name. ANOVA on the other hand was so shocked hearing my contradictory actions, that her dragon form started slipping out. As I finished the explanation of something unbelievable, I saw black horns emerging from her head. The tension in her jaw tightened until I saw the faintest shimmer of blue fire at the edges of her lips.

"YOUR DRAGON-FORM IS SLIPPING..." : I sighed morning that it was my fault.

"OH?? YOU'RE RIGHT!! SORRY...." : She mumbled while still undergoing her transformation. She knew it but was so shocked to stop it. I couldn't do anything about it and I didn't want to disturb her either. After a while she managed to stop it and regained a bit of her composure. Not that she had much to begin with but after I saw her face becoming the face I saw almost everyday gradually, I felt relieved. But the guilt in me for getting my friend caught in MY ridiculous and strange situation which also turned dangerous now, still haven't changed.

"I SEE... I UNDERSTAND," ANOVA exclaimed, her voice gradually softening into the casual tone I was used to hearing.

"SO, IN SHORT, YOU'RE TRYING TO FIND THIS GIRL—SERENA AIZ-WHATEVER—HOPING SHE HOLDS ANSWERS ABOUT YOURSELF, RIGHT?"

"MORE OR LESS..."

To my surprise, she seemed to grasp at least the surface of the situation. Honestly, given her blissful and carefree nature, most strangers wouldn’t expect her to work at the ITEM-SHOP. But in SPACEGEON, where obtaining citizenship was relatively easy, almost every species with the right qualifications found employment there. The shop was renowned for its strict hiring process, with intelligence as one of the main criteria for selection.

Even on N-EARTH, many individuals sought to work at the ITEM-SHOP, but only a few succeeded.

"Considering how tough the selection test is, she must be pretty smart," I mused silently. "Either that, or her background as a former adventurer gave her a head start."

ANOVA’s observation had merit, and while I didn’t fully commit to agreeing with her, I nodded vaguely in acknowledgment.

As I was scavenging through my brain over and over again for solutions to get us out of here and at least get something to eat, I heard something very familiar and the something I feared the most.

"I WILL HELP TOO"

Brimming with excitement, ANOVA exclaimed it as if right now we aren't being considered criminals all over N-EARTH.

"WHA?? WHY WOULD YO-.... DO YOU UNDERSTAND OUR SITUATION RIGHT NOW??"

" OR RATHER, PLEASE TRY TO UNDERSTAND"

The only thing I didn't do was to beg her at her feet. I implored get to understand the situation. The guilt inside me had thrown my head into panic-mode.

"I'LL HACK INTO DATABASE CENTER AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR IDENTITY. THAT WAY YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET AT LEAST A SPACE-TICKET TO 'SPACEGEON' " : I exclaimed hoping she would listen but if course she didn't.

"HEY DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, IT'LL BE ALRIGHT" : She laughed it off as we're about to go on a trip.

"PLEASE LISTEN TO ME.... I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR SAVING ME BUT I DON'T WANT TO INVOLVE YOU MORE THAN I ALREADY HAVE!!!" : Now nearly begging her, I asked her to go home before the situation gets out of hand than it already has.

She tilted her head, giving me that same mischievous smile I’d seen a thousand times. "AND LEAVE ALL THE FUN TO YOU? NO WAY!"
Maybe it was her former Adventurer spirit trying to rise to the surface again. No, I was sure of it. After all that was the main reason she was forced to quit being an Adventurer in the first place.

"HAAHHH.... WHAT ABOUT YOUR PARENTS? DO THEY AT LEAST KNOW YOU ARE ON N-EARTH??" : After a defeated sigh, I questioned her if she at least told her parents. Not that she needed their permission to travel now, but I knew very well how much Miss AVIA and Miss YUEUR cared about and protected ANOVA.

"YEAH... WELL TECHNICALLY.... I TOLD THEM I WAS GOING WITH YOU TO HELP YOU" : She said looking at me with wide, hopeful eyes, like a puppy caught chewing on your shoes.

I blinked, stunned. "WHAT THE- WELL YOU'RE NOT "TECHNICALLY" WRONG BUT DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED YOUR PARENTS WOULD BE IF THEY KNEW??" : Without being affected by those puppy eyes, I pressed her with another question but it was all in vain.

"WELL.... YOU'RE RIGHT BUT.... I WILL HELP YOU AND THAT'S THAT. END OF DISCUSSION!!!" : Of course it was. When she says, End of discussion, that's the end of the discussion. No matter the place or situation, if your not Miss AVIA or Miss YUEUR, there's nothing anyone can do.

ANOVA’s confidence was unshakable, but I couldn’t stop the pang of guilt. I thought of her parents, two of the most fiercely protective individuals I’d ever met. They sacrificed everything to give ANOVA the freedom she craved, even if it meant constantly worrying about her.

And here I was, dragging their daughter into the most dangerous situation of my life.

Her grin returned, careless and free. "THAT’S WHY I DIDN’T TELL THEM EVERYTHING. BESIDES, I’M WITH YOU, SO I’LL BE FINE!"

"HAHH... OKAY BUT-!! WE NEED TO SET A FEW RULES. FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT BEING- YOU WILL GO HOME IMMEDIATELY USING THE 'PA-TELEPORTATION DEVICE' IF I DETERMINE ITS TOO DANGEROUS!!!"

"DO WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT??"

After my second defeated sigh, I agreed with her by making some rules so that if thighs get bad, she would go home without any objections. Although I didn't want to involve her more than this, her adventurous nature got in the way.

Even after all is said and done, it's not like I can forcefully make her to return home or follow my conditions. She is better than me in every way possible. Except for intelligence maybe. She's powerful, brave, confident in herself, and above everything else she is my friend I trust and respect.

After she nodded in agreement, her usual energetic self couldn't be contained any longer.

"WELL THEN... LET'S GET A MOVE ON SHALL WE??" : As an impatient child before starting a trip, she exclaimed for me to hear but that was mostly her telling herself that she's bored of waiting.

"YEAH... WE CAN'T STAY HERE FOR ANY LONGER AFTER ALL.... THE POLICE ALREADY FOUND US" : I agreed with her as my scanning device signaled the approaching of multiple 'CHASER-BULLETS' in our direction.

ANOVA got all happy and let out a small fire-breath as to mark the start of an adventure. She let out only her wings so that we wouldn't attract much attention instead of a full-fledged dragon. As I saw her enthusiasm, my mouth let out a small smile as to welcome her to my unreasonable and unknown mission.

"Well... we need to do something about our status as criminals but except that... Yeah... Let's go!!!" : I mumbled what we need to do, since I knew for a fact that ANOVA wasn't interested in that part, and said aloud what she wanted to hear. My heart racing faster and faster. With my unknown emotions and reasons, and ANOVA'S excitement and enthusiasm mixed into a single cause, we headed out.

"OUR NEXT DESTINATION:-
NOIRN CORP. IN ELTRIGON OF N-EARTH!!"

"LETS FU-"

SMACK!

"AHH! WHY DID YOU SMACK ME?" ANOVA cried, clutching her head with exaggerated drama, a single tear glinting in her eye.

"NO CURSE WORDS PLEASE!!"

"HAHH...OKAYYY.... THEN-"

"LET'S.... GOOO!!!!"