It's been a long time. Loki and his allies bid farewell to Saigid, Lyutich and Hanchu at the abandoned camp that was their home where they hid from the president's men.
Sulys is physically exhausted at this moment. The use of the sponsorship ability hit his body: trembling in his hands, heavy breathing.
Saigid sinks to one knee, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The weight of the ability's backlash crashes into him all at once—his hands tremble, his vision blurs at the edges, and every muscle feels like it's been torn apart and stitched back wrong.
He doesn't speak as Loky and his people vanish into the mist—no farewell, no thanks. Just silence.
Because he can't.
His jaw clenches tight against the pain as Hanchu rushes to his side.
"Saigid!" Hanchu says sharply.
"I'm… fine," he lies through gritted teeth — voice rough, broken almost — before adding in a low whisper,
"Just… give me a minute."
"Hanchu!" Someone shouted from around the corner
Hanchu was wary. He was answered by the crestallos, the people who were with him in the warehouse.
"Simon" relaxed Hanchu's shoulders.
"I'm glad you're okay," Simon said, looking at his friends nearby. "we hid who was where after the president's spies attacked our warehouse and took everyone away"
"Why?" came Lyutich's voice.
"The President needs the crystal people, or as he calls us — the Guardians of the Light."
The voice came from the hill. It was the same pseudo-crystal that obeyed Saigid.
Everyone tensed. When they saw him, panic spread through the group and they began to draw their weapons. But Loky remained calm. He had known in advance that the crystal would not attack — that he was on their side.
Lutich stepped forward and stood in front of him, looking down at him with a hard stare.
"How did you find us?" he asked grimly.
The pseudo-crystal said nothing, clearly ignoring the question. His gaze fell on Saigid, and the crystal hurried over to help him.
Saigid repeated Lutich's question.
"How did you find us?"
The crystal answered that he had been created specifically to track down or eliminate the President's enemies.
"He was trained for that," Loky said. "And now Drago wants an army of ones like him."
"Most of all, they were all taken to Cyclops Prison. The same place as Yushai, and most likely it's not a coincidence," Loky said thoughtfully.
Saigid' eyes narrow as he listens to the conversation, taking in every word, every detail. The mention of "Guardian of Lights"—the mention of crystal soldiers—piques his interest. The implications send a cold trickle down his spine, and he clenches his jaw a little tighter.
When the conversation turns to Cyclops, Saigid' gaze sharpens further, his mind racing to process the information coming in.
"We'll get them out of there," Hanchu said confidently.
"How?" Lyutich asked, puzzled.
From a distance, the entire group watched the prison — a fully guarded complex. Everyone was focused. The sun was still shining brightly at its zenith.
Saigid held out the crystal handcuffs. The pseudo-crystal carefully placed them on Saigid's wrists.
"I think this is a bad idea," Hanchu said, crossing his arms. "The President knows you're under Saigid's control. I mean, it's very suspicious. They might already be aware of it."
Loky stepped forward.
"That's probably true. It would be better if it were Hanchu. They might not remember you yet, and you haven't shown up anywhere."
The crystal and Hanchu changed clothes.
Hanchu moved closer, looking down toward the prison.
"I still don't like this," he said. "This could exhaust you badly. Anything could happen. It's not safe. At the very least, it hasn't been tested."