44_ Someone from the past

A full day passed...

The following morning, Amira opened her eyes.

She reached for her phone, but there were no messages.

She looked at the date and froze for a moment...

Wail’s birthday was the next day.

Amira frowned, then lightly slapped her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Amira... He’ll come. I’m sure of it.”

She got out of bed, had breakfast, changed her clothes, and went out shopping. She was looking for something she could give Wail as a birthday gift.

As she walked around, she ran into Elyes.

“Good morning. You seem energetic today.”

Amira smiled.

“It’s been a really positive morning!!”

Elyes looked at her for a moment, then smiled.

“I know Wail’s interests... Come on, let me help you choose something suitable for him.”

Amira’s eyes widened before she laughed.

“Is it really that obvious?”

They continued walking together as Elyes laughed.

“Very.”

---

After wandering around for a while, Amira would find something she liked, only to change her mind moments later.

“No... Not this.”

Elyes suggested something else.

“What about this?”

Amira looked at it for a moment.

“No, it doesn’t suit him.”

This continued for a long time.

Whenever Elyes suggested something, Amira rejected it for a different reason. And whenever she found something herself, she would change her mind at the last moment.

Eventually, they went to have lunch.

While they were eating, Elyes looked at her in confusion.

“What exactly are you looking for? You haven’t liked a single thing!”

This text was taken from NovelPhoenix. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Amira thought for a moment before answering.

“Honestly... I don’t know.”

Then she added:

“But I don’t want something that won’t stay with him for a long time.”

Elyes understood what she meant.

“I see... Shall we keep looking?”

Amira raised her head excitedly.

“Of course!!”

---

Time passed, and evening drew closer.

The summer heat was still intense. Elyes had begun wondering how Amira had managed to endure the heat all day without complaining.

After searching almost everywhere, Amira stopped in front of a shop.

She looked at it for a few moments before saying:

“Alright... This will be the last one.”

The two entered.

As Amira looked around, something caught her eye.

She stopped, then smiled.

Elyes noticed what she was looking at and smiled as well.

“Wow... It’s like it was made for him.”

Amira looked at him, then turned her eyes back toward the item.

Her smile widened, and without hesitation, she bought it.

---

The scene shifted to someone standing at the top of a mountain range.

The winds were fierce, and heavy snow was falling as a blizzard engulfed the area around him.

Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind swept toward him, tearing away the cloak covering his head.

The cloak rose into the air, but suddenly stopped.

Then the wind carried it back toward its owner.

The man caught it with one hand.

It was Dill.

Suddenly, a blue energy tinged with white appeared in the middle of the storm.

Dill turned toward it with concern, but quickly relaxed.

“What are you two doing here?”

Mark and Raouf emerged from the storm.

“We finally found you.”

---

Later, the three of them sat inside a small cave as a fire burned in front of them.

Mark stood up and walked toward the entrance, then covered it with rocks. He left a small opening that allowed them to enter and leave before returning to sit with the others.

“This is better... That way, the cold won’t get inside, and the storm won’t affect us.”

Silence fell for a few moments.

Then Mark spoke.

“They never showed up.”

Dill looked at him.

“We’re used to Amin disappearing... But now Wail too?”

Raouf said:

“He’s probably at the mountain hill... And I’m sure he’s training, doing everything he can to make sure what happened never happens again.”

Dill stood up and walked toward the opening of the cave, looking outside.

“I’ve searched everywhere too, but there’s no trace of Bahaa... It’s as if he disappeared from the planet.”

Mark’s eyes widened.

“Disappeared? Could Dark be responsible?”

Dill turned toward him.

“I don’t know anything... We can’t assume anything.”

Raouf said:

“We’ll keep searching and try to find anything that might lead us to him.”

Dill smiled.

“Yeah... I’m grateful for that.”

---

The scene returned to Sif, who was treating Zaki after one of their training sessions.

Sif spoke.

“Elyes... You’re taking this too far.”

Elyes replied:

“On the contrary!! This is useful.”

Zino looked at him in disbelief.

“How is getting seriously injured supposed to be useful? What are you talking about?!”

Elyes laughed.

“You really don’t know?”

The others looked at him in confusion, so he continued.

“Whenever an energy or elemental user is healed from their injuries, their strength increases.”

Sif raised his head in surprise.

“Huh? How does that happen?”

Elyes smiled.

“Good. Since healing is your specialty, I’ll explain it to you.”

He pointed toward Zaki’s body.

“Our healing process works through energy cells. They regenerate whenever they are destroyed, and with every regeneration, they gain greater resistance and more energy. The more often this happens, the more that energy increases.”

Zaki was lying on the ground, suffering from the effects of the training.

“So you’re saying that strength can be increased simply by getting injured?”

Elyes looked at him seriously.

“Exactly!! But there’s just one thing...”

The others looked at him in confusion.

“Don’t deliberately injure yourselves... It’s a little complicated, but just don’t ever think about what I said.”

Zaki slowly got to his feet and stared at his hand for a few moments.

Then he lay back down.

“Ugh... Even so, it’s not that easy.”

Elyes laughed.

“Let’s rest for a while and continue. I think stopping after sunset would be appropriate.”

Zino sighed.

“So we’re continuing for another two hours!!”

Elyes replied:

“Stop complaining. You have to get stronger!!”

---

After sunset, Sif treated his friends before they went their separate ways.

Elyes went to Amira’s house, where her family welcomed him.

He found Amira preparing the ingredients she would use to make a cake for Wail the next day, while his gift was already wrapped and ready to be given to him.

Elyes smiled.

“You look excited!!”

But he noticed that her face was not as happy as he had expected.

His smile faded slightly.

“Are you alright?”

Amira looked at him.

“He still hasn’t come back... Has he?”

Elyes didn’t answer.

Amira quickly stood up, then said hesitantly:

“He’ll come back tomorrow. I’m sure of it!! Because...”

Elyes interrupted her.

“I’ll go look for him. I promise you, Amira... He’ll come tomorrow.”

Amira looked at him.

Tears were about to fall from her eyes, but she managed to hold her emotions back.

“Thank you...”

Elyes smiled.

Suddenly, Amira’s mother called them for dinner, and the two went together.

---

The scene changed.

Elsewhere, in the middle of the night, waves reached the beach before retreating back into the sea.

The light of the full moon reflected across the surface of the water, while the sky was filled with stars, with the vast Milky Way stretching across the heavens.

Someone slowly walked toward the beach, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

He stopped.

Silence filled the air for a moment.

Then a girl’s voice came from ahead.

“It’s been a long time... Wail.”

Wail froze in place.

His eyes widened as he looked ahead.

A girl was sitting on a fallen tree trunk facing the sea.

And she was looking directly at him...