Chapter 21 - You Are Not Alone

"My name is Raphael."

He lowered his head. "Go ahead. Call me a loser, just like everyone else."

Flo shook her head softly. She stood up, walked over to the apartment door and gently pushed it closed.

"No."

Raphael looked up, blinking.

"No?"

"You are not a loser."

Flo walked back and sat down on the floor near him.

"Coco-, I mean, Raphael."

He stared at her defensively.

"How would you know? You don't even know me."

"That's true." Flo gave him a small, sad smile. "But I do know one thing."

Raphael stayed silent and she continued, looking around the tiny apartment.

"No matter who someone is, no one is a loser. People aren't numbers. They aren't their jobs, they aren't how much money they have and they aren't how many friends they have. And they aren't the worst things that have ever happened to them."

Raphael's eyes trembled as fresh tears gathered at the edges.

"You don't know anything about me."

"No." Flo wiped her cheeks. "I don't."

Raphael looked at her as though he expected her to stop there but she kept going.

"And that's exactly why I don't think I get to decide what you are. You could tell me that you've made mistakes. You could tell me that you've wasted years. You could tell me that you've hurt people or that you've been hurt by people." She paused. "I could hear all of it and I still wouldn't think that makes you a worthless person."

Raphael swallowed hard.

"Sometimes people have terrible days," Flo continued softly. "Sometimes they have terrible weeks." She gave a tiny, humourless laugh. "Sometimes they have terrible years."

Raphael lowered his eyes.

"And sometimes people have so many terrible things happen to them that eventually they start believing those things are all they're ever going to get. But that doesn't make those things their entire life."

"You don't know that."

Flo smiled sadly. "No." She leaned slightly closer. "I don't. But neither do you."

Raphael went quiet.

"You don't know what will happen tomorrow either."

Flo folded her hands in her lap.

"You don't know who you're going to meet. You don't know what you're going to discover. You don't know what kind of person might walk into your life one day and decide they want to stay."

Raphael looked away, his fingers curling against the floorboards.

"You don't know what you'll become," Flo continued gently. "And you definitely don't get to decide that your life is worthless just because you're hurting right now."

Raphael's face crumpled completely.

"I am worthless."

"No."

"I've done nothing with my life."

"That doesn't make you worthless."

"Every day is the same."

"That can change."

"I have no job."

"You can find one."

"I have no friends."

"You can find people."

"I have no family."

Flo's expression softened into overwhelming warmth.

"Then maybe you'll find people who become your family."

Raphael turned his face towards the wall.

"I have nothing."

Flo shook her head softly.

"You have yourself."

He let out a bitter, wet laugh through his tears.

"That's not much."

"It is," Flo answered immediately.

Raphael looked back at her as she pointed gently at him.

"You are still here. You woke up."

She smiled faintly.

"Your lost being found you."

She paused.

"You shouted at me."

Raphael looked deeply embarrassed.

"That's not exactly impressive."

"It means you're alive."

Flo's smile grew warmer.

"And if you're alive, your story isn't finished."

Raphael stared at her, the words seeming to settle somewhere deep inside him.

Then his composure broke entirely.

"I hate it!"

His voice shattered.

"I hate everything!"

He covered his face as his shoulders shook.

"I hate myself! I hate everyone! I hate everything! I hate waking up, I hate going to sleep, I hate looking at this place and I hate knowing tomorrow is going to be exactly the same!"

He tightened his fingers against his hair.

"There is no hope for me! My future is dark! I don't have anything! I don't have anyone! I don't even know why I bother waking up anymore!"

Flo watched him quietly as her own eyes filled with tears.

"I look around and everyone else has something," Raphael sobbed. "People have families. Friends. Jobs. Somewhere to go. Someone waiting for them."

His voice became small and frail.

"And I have nothing."

Flo slowly moved closer.

"I'll always be alone," he wept.

Flo reached out and wrapped her arms around him. Raphael stiffened in shock, remaining still for a second before his posture completely broke. His head slumped against her shoulder.

"I am trash," he whispered.

"No."

Flo held him tighter.

"No, you're not."

As Raphael sobbed into her shoulder, Flo swallowed through her tears and rubbed his back gently.

"Your life sounds tough. Really, really tough. And I'm sorry you've had to carry all of that alone."

She closed her eyes for a moment.

"I don't know what it feels like to live your exact life. I won't pretend that I do. But I know what it looks like when someone has been hurting for so long that they start believing the hurt is who they are."

She gently rubbed his back.

"And you're not your pain, Raphael."

His fingers tightened against the fabric of her dress.

"Being alone for a long time doesn't mean you were meant to stay alone," she said, pulling back slightly. "And being hurt doesn't make you disgusting."

She wiped his tears.

"You don't have to fix your entire life tonight."

Raphael sniffled.

"You don't even have to know how to fix it yet."

Flo gave him a small smile.

"Sometimes you just need to survive today."

Raphael looked down.

"And tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow you try again."

Flo smiled.

"And if tomorrow is terrible too?"

"Then you try again the day after that."

"And if that day is terrible?"

"Then the next one."

"But what if nothing changes?"

Flo thought for a moment.

"Then you keep looking for something that can."

Raphael frowned slightly.

"That's easy for you to say."

Flo nodded without arguing.

"Maybe."

She looked around the apartment.

"I have people who care about me. I have Mr.Hugo. I have Amelia. I have friends. I have the Observatory."

She smiled.

"And I have a ridiculous cat."

Raphael almost smiled.

"She isn't even here."

"I know."

Flo looked down.

"She's probably stealing Mr.Hugo's food right now."

A tiny laugh escaped Raphael.

Barely audible.

But Flo heard it.

Her eyes brightened instantly.

"See?"

Raphael immediately looked embarrassed.

"Don't look so happy."

"Why?"

"Because I laughed."

"So?"

"It's stupid."

"It's not stupid."

Flo smiled warmly.

"That was the first laugh I've heard from you."

Raphael looked away.

"I don't remember the last time I laughed."

Flo's smile softened.

"Then we'll count that one."

Raphael looked back at her.

"You don't have to make everything into something."

"Sorry."

She paused.

"I do that."

He almost smiled again.

"You might find your own spark again," Flo continued gently. "You might meet someone who makes you laugh. You might find people who actually want to spend time with you."

She squeezed his hand.

"You might find somewhere that feels like home."

Raphael's expression softened.

"You might even become happy."

He whispered, "That's just a lie."

Flo nodded honestly.

"You're right. I can't be sure."

She gave him a gentle smile.

"But you can't be sure it's a lie either."

He remained quiet.

"No one has seen the future."

Flo looked towards the tiny window.

"So maybe we shouldn't decide what it is before we get there."

She turned back towards him.

"You don't have to believe everything will become perfect. Life doesn't have to become perfect for it to become better."

Raphael listened quietly.

"You don't have to wake up tomorrow suddenly loving your life."

She squeezed his hand again.

"Maybe tomorrow you just get out of bed. Maybe the day after that, you open the window. Maybe one day you find a job you don't hate. Maybe another day you meet someone who thinks you're funny."

Raphael sniffled quietly.

"And maybe one day you realise that you haven't thought about how lonely you are for an entire afternoon."

Her expression softened.

"You don't need to know exactly how you're going to get there."

Flo rested her hand over his.

"You just need to leave a tiny bit of room for something good to happen."

Raphael lowered his head.

"That's all?"

"For tonight?"

Flo smiled.

"That's enough."

Raphael's shoulders trembled again as he covered his face.

"I'm scared."

Flo's tone softened instantly.

"I know."

"What if nothing changes? What if I fail again? What if everyone leaves?"

Flo looked directly into his eyes.

"Then someone else might come."

Raphael shook his head.

"You can't promise that."

"No," Flo smiled sadly. "I can't promise it."

She squeezed his hand.

"But I can promise that right now, you're not alone."

Raphael looked at her.

She nodded.

Raphael slowly leaned against her shoulder and Flo stayed beside him on the cold floorboards.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Raphael didn't have to explain why he was hurting, defend himself or pretend everything was fine.

He could simply sit there and cry.

And Flo stayed.

After a while, Flo's eyes drifted towards him.

Something caught her attention.

"Wait..."

Raphael lifted his head.

"What?"

Flo gently placed her hand near his arm.

"Your magic."

Raphael looked confused.

"What about it?"

"You're an ability user."

He glanced at his hands.

"Yes."

Raphael hesitated.

"I am a DawnHealer."

"DawnHealer?"

He nodded.

"I was never particularly good at it."

Flo looked at his body again.

That suddenly explained something.

His body had survived.

Despite remaining completely inactive for so long, there had been no obvious deterioration beyond the severe stiffness and weakness caused by prolonged inactivity.

Flo's researcher brain immediately began working again.

"DawnHeal preserves the body's natural flow..."

She murmured to herself.

Raphael blinked.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Flo quickly shook her head.

"Well, not nothing. That's actually really important."

She looked at him with renewed curiosity.

"Your DawnHeal might have helped keep your body stable while you were separated from it."

Raphael stared at her.

"You understand that?"

"Not completely."

Flo smiled.

"But I want to."

For a moment, the scientist in her almost completely took over.

Then she looked at Raphael's tired face.

Her expression softened again.

"But not tonight."

Raphael blinked.

"You've been through enough for one night."

She smiled.

"We can figure out the rest later."

Raphael looked at her quietly.

"You're strange."

Flo beamed.

"Thank you!"

"I don't think that was a compliment."

"I'll take it anyway."

A tiny smile appeared on Raphael's face.

And for a few moments, the apartment felt a little less empty.

Then harsh voices echoed from the hallway outside.

"What is going on in there?"

Raphael immediately stiffened.

Another voice answered.

"Oh my god, it's that crazy dude again."

"Seriously, he needs to get a life."

"He's always making noise."

"Just leave him. He's weird. He's no good."

Flo glanced towards the door as Raphael's face instantly crumpled.

His shoulders curled inward, hiding himself away.

Flo understood.

This wasn't new.

They had said these things before, perhaps dozens of times.

She looked at Raphael, then at the closed door and something inside her shifted.

Until now, she had assumed the Lost Beings were strange, random magical accidents.

They had appeared in different places, behaved differently and come from vastly different circumstances.

But suddenly, memories began rushing through her mind in rapid succession.

The first case. The mountain cries. Trista. Raphael. The people trapped in haunted houses.

Different places, different people, different lives.

But the exact same underlying emotions.

Anger. Fear. Sadness. Loneliness.

Then another memory surfaced.

The bodies.

Every single body they had managed to return a Lost Being to had no family checking on them, no close friends calling, no one waiting for them, no one asking where they had gone and no one noticing when they vanished.

Flo's breathing became shallow.

"Wait..."

Raphael looked up, sniffling.

"What?"

Flo slowly stood, her mind racing through every detail.

Everyone they had found.

Every Lost Being.

Every person they had traced back.

She looked at Cocol's former spot, then at Raphael.

"Everyone..."

Her voice was barely audible.

"Everyone we've found... none of them had anyone looking for them."

Raphael stared at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Lost Beings," Flo said, her thoughts moving faster and faster as she looked towards the closed door.

Her fingers curled into her palm.

"Every person we've found... they were all alone."

She began counting on her fingers.

"You…Trista…"

"Raphael."

She looked around the tiny, bare apartment.

No photographs. No family belongings. No signs of anyone else living there. Nothing. Nobody.

The realisation hit her like a lightning bolt.

The Lost Beings weren't simply appearing in random places nor were they ordinary citizens suffering from spontaneous magical instability.

They were people who could disappear without a single soul noticing.

People who were already isolated, carrying heavy burdens of anger, grief, fear or loneliness. People whose complete absence would barely create a ripple in the city.

Flo's warmth vanished, replaced by sharp, cold dread.

"This isn't random." Flo's mind flashed back to the map at the Observatory.

Hundreds of lines. Dozens of incidents. Different districts. But always the exact same kind of person. Someone who had nobody. Someone whose disappearance wouldn't immediately raise an alarm. Someone who could vanish into the cracks of Cirnia without anyone asking where they went.

Her hands began trembling.

"Someone could be choosing them."

Someone was deliberately choosing them. Someone was actively searching for people who had nobody, systematically turning Cirnia's forgotten souls into Lost Beings.

Her hands began to tremble. "Someone is doing this."

Raphael stared up at her in total confusion.

Flo looked at the mental map of trajectories in her head. All those scattered lines, all those isolated individuals, all those lingering dark emotions, they were no longer random dots on a map. They were connected.

For the very first time, Flo wasn't just looking at a mystery. She was looking at a pattern.

They were all connected.