Chapter 6. First encounter. (II)

"What?! What is this?!" Lin asked surprised. "It's a spirit." Loy replied. "What? Where?!" she tensed up, looking for the creature. Loy pointed her in the general direction when suddenly, she recognized it. Its size does not exceed 30 cm. "It's a spirit?!" she asked in amazement. "Indeed" Loy answered with a satisfied smile.

"I… don't believe it..." she called shocked in astonishment. "In the beginning, when they first appeared, even the news didn't know if it was a hoax or something real. What are these creatures?" she asked cluelessly.

"I know... because it was unusual, they didn't understand that it was a living creature. But, at least for us here at Gillua, when they firstly started to arrive more than a decade ago, we understood that they were here to stay. We have been dealing with them ever since. Therefore, it did not surprise us when some of them arrived at more central places and created a panic." Loy said. The spirit floated slowly towards Gillua.

"It's quite funny because before spirits came to more central places, there were occasional news crews that would come here to cover the walls we created around the town. Until then, they had never seen or heard of the spirits. They made sure to cover it in the most obvious way that they were laughing at us and not with us. The townspeople would insist that they weren't crazy, that they should wait and see for themselves. But, back then spirits came much less often than today. In the past, a spirit would come once a week, at best. The entire country thought we were crazy for believing in such beliefs. Until they reached them too." Loy recalled as he sat down on the bench cross-legged, his hands spread out to his sides as he followed the slowly hovering spirit with his eyes.

"I noticed it as I got older to some extent. The information about the spirits is not published equally. Each place treated the information according to the number of spirits that reaches it. Even today, there are those in the center of the country who do not believe that they exist. Even in Nash, which is within walking distance from here, most of the population probably never met them. When it first started, people didn't believe it. In a world so technologically advanced, how is this possible? How is it possible that we don't know what they are? We were completely clueless about them. Still.” Loy said. "Like the Energia..." Lin added. he nodded in agreement.

The guard raised his binoculars again to scan. Loy waved his hands at him. "That boy? What does he want?" the guard asked himself. Loy pointed towards the horizon. The guard raised his binoculars and recognized it. Slowly, he got down from his position on the wooden stairs next to him. He got into a small SUV that looks more like a golf cart and begin to drive slowly in its direction. The spirit flew gently in the town direction.

"So? Like this?" Lin asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's right." Loy answered shyly shaking his head in embarrassment.

From the side, the event looked like two turtles moving towards each other to mate.

"Wouldn't it be faster if he walked?" Lin asked. "No doubt about it." Loy replied with apathetic look on his face. After several minutes that felt like an eternity, the guard reached it. He got off the cart and waved his hand to the side, revealing a long metal rod. The metal rod turned into a bright pink blade as his Energia flowed into it. He approached the small spirit, and with a simple swing of the sword, cut it in half. The spirit vanished as if it was never there.

"What?! That's it?!" Lin asked surprised. "Yes..." Loy answered calmly. He saw the disappointment of her face. "What did you expect to happen? That it would explode and shoot laser beams out of it?" he asked skeptically. "Umm... yeah..." she answered upset. "Maybe another time." he grinned.

"Come on, it's getting late. I still have a lot of things to organize in my apartment... what do you say, will you accompany me home?" she asked happily. "Of course." he replied. "To be honest you didn't really have a choice because I don't know how to get there anyway. I only have the address. But you're cute for agreeing." she laughed. Loy smiled back a big smile.

He led the way back through the breach in the wall, with Lin following.

"We're here" Loy announced when they were near the house number Lin had given him. "You really know every corner here." she answered surprised. "This town is so small that in a week, so will you." He replied. "Loy, thank you for helping me on my first day here... It's not easy to make such a transition alone... I really needed that. Thank you." she thanked Loy with a shy look. When he saw her gaze, he blushed and looked away.

"It was my pleasure." he responded embarrassed. But a moment after, he looked up, and his brown eyes met Lin's green eyes.

"Lin... you won't understand… but... no matter what happens next... thank you for this day. I am grateful for the time you gave me." he confessed with a serious look on his face as he gently bowed forward. Lin blushed slightly as they looked into each other's eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked arranging her hair behind her ear.

"Ah!.. Ah...!" he stuttered apprehensively, "Maybe I shouldn't have said that... " he thought to himself worriedly as he put his hand behind his head. "It doesn't matter… forget it..." he replied in a whisper as he avoided a direct look at her.

Recognizing his discomfort, she replied gracefully. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'd be happy if you did. I know it can be hard. I get that. But remember, we're friends. So we have to share with each other what we're going through." she explained.

"I hope one day will come, and I could tell you everything. I really wish for that day." Loy said in his head.

"I had a lot of fun with you Loy. See you tomorrow?" she asked. "Of course!" he replied full of joy.

"Alright then. Good night." she said with a charming smile, half turning her back to Loy. "Good night, Lin." Loy said again with a shy smile as they parted ways.

He went back to his house and laid down on his bed. His half-long hair covered his face. Overwhelmed with excitement and joy, he had trouble falling asleep with a huge smile glued to his face.

"Enjoy it while it's here. It's not going to last long.." An inner voice suddenly appeared.

Loy opened his eyes in surprise, but a moment after it was changed to a depressed look.

His look was no longer smiling with satisfaction. "Shut up." Loy replied as he curled up gloomily to the side of the bed.