SHIN SEKAI: SPARK OF THE NEW WORLD

Battle scars

    A few days had gone by since Orie and Shin told the tales of the past and everything was on the way to going back to normal. Shiro was back to evading the minor hits that were put on him and Mia was back to following him everywhere. Victor could finally work peacefully in his lab and Yamato went back to his restaurant job. Endo had nothing to do so he joined Yamato, and as for Tanaka... well, she had her reasons for letting him stay.

    Dave was back in control of his body with no memory of what happened. He knew something was missing but didn't try to figure it out because of the fears he had. He just continued his life as if nothing happened even though Shiro kept looking at him differently.

   Due to the damage caused when the hunters attacked, school remained closed and all the staff and students had some free time on their hands. Some went to parties, some went to games, some went on picnics, some even travelled. But Mia decided to use her time to see her father.

   All Orie could tell her was that he was involved in an intense battle. The same battle killed Victor's father and is also the reason why Shiro's mother was missing. The battle claimed Dave's memories and left Lee III in the bad shape he is in now.

   From the screen where they were allowed to stand and see him, Mia wouldn't believe that what she saw was a living person. There was no skin on him and even his flesh was unevenly charred. There was no good explanation for how he managed to hang on to life but his heart kept beating and even though it was at a slow rate, his body was healing.

   "At the rate he is going," the doctor said

   "He might be walking in three years time"

   Mia paid no attention to all the medical points the doctor was making, she just cried and hugged Shiro and continued crying. 

   In the middle of her tearing up, she heard a male voice that she didn't recognize call out to her.

   "Hong Jian" the voice said

   "Stay strong"

   "Wait for me"

   "I won't be long"

   "I'll be with you soon"

   As she continued to cry, she wondered "father, is that you?"

   Shiro walked Mina home where he sat beside her and gave her comfort. 

   "Don't worry" he said as he held her close

   "He'll be well soon so just wait for him"

   "I'm sure he'll be proud of person you've become"

   "So just wait till he wakes up"

   "It's not everyone that can get as lucky as you... my dear Hong Jian"

   On hearing the last thing Shiro said, Mia's eyes widened as she sat up to look at him.

   "How do you know that name?!!" She asked in shock.

   "I have a phantom twin brother" Shiro replied

   "It makes sense that I'd be able to hear spiritual messages even though they weren't directed to me"

   "So you're sure it was from my father?" Mia asked, looking Shiro in the eyes

   "Absolutely" Shiro replied then Mia wiped her tears like a child and immediately hugged Shiro saying "thank you". Shiro just sat there and held her as she rested her head on his chest.

   "Alright, that's enough from you two" Victor said as he walked into the room

   "We've got things to do"

   "What things exactly?" Shiro asked in annoyance

   "You know, important things" Victor replied

   "Like making sure you guys actually in good shape and not hiding any internal injuries"

   "I would've done it some time ago but you guys just keep running around without stopping"

   "So if you don't mind, just come over to my lab let me run some tests on you"

   "Nah, I'm good" Shiro said as he stood up to leave

   "I'm pretty sure I have nothing to worry about"

   "Me too" Mia said in agreement as she stood up to join him.

    They both walked out the front door but they didn't find themselves outside the house. Instead, they saw that they were inside Victor's lab. They immediately tried to leave but after passing through door after door after door, they soon saw that there was no way out.

   "Alright guys" Victor said as he walked into the room.

   "If you would just lay inside this bio scanner" he said, pointing to two devices beside him

   "You'll be free to go in a few minutes"

   Shiro and Mina had no other choice but to do as Victor said. They laid in the bio scanners and Victor closed them and began running his tests.

   A few minutes later, he got results and it was just as he had expected. Mia was at fifty percent, Shiro's energy was off the charts as usual but it's frequency was unstable.

   "How long did you fight without your headphones?" Victor asked, looking at Shiro sternly

   "About a minute or two" Shiro answered

   "Were you trying to activate overdrive again?" Victor asked

   "Um, yeah" Shiro answered

   "Oh, that explains what I'm looking at" Victor muttered

   "What exactly are you looking at?" Shiro asked in curiosity and Victor turned away from his computer and said to Shiro "for the next few days, you are advised to not use any of your abilities. Please follow my advice if you want to recover quickly"

   "Same goes for you too, Mia"

   "Okay" Mia answered

   "Did you know we were cousins?" She asked

   "Yes I knew" Victor answered

   "I'm a descendant of Lee, of course I would know"

   Mia and Shiro walked out of the house expecting to finally get some time to themselves but as soon as they took a few steps outside, Orie was waiting for them in front of his car.

   "This can't be good" Shiro said under his breath as they walked to meet Orie.

   "Mr. Addison" Shiro called out as he approached Orie

   "What's the issue this time?" He asked

   "It's less of an issue" Orie replied

   "More of a potential catastrophe" 

   "I knew it" Shiro said in a sharp whisper 

   "So what do you need from me?" He asked

   "Well, I need help" Orie answered

   "Not just from you but from anyone that is willing to offer it"

   "Something unusual has occurred and I need help investigating it"

   "So, where are we going?" Shiro asked, and Orie smiled and looked at him.

   

   "We're going to Dahüd"