They stared at each other. Soren was above her, holding out his hand to help her up.
She didn't move. "Excuse me, but do we know ea—?" asked Soren, but at that moment she got up and ran away as fast as she could.
"Hey, wait!" shouted Soren, trying to follow her as best as he could, but the dense crowd carried him away, and he lost sight of her.
'That girl,' he thought. He remained there for a few seconds before his thoughts were interrupted by a call. "Soren!" shouted Akyo, who was walking toward him.
"Sorry, I lost track of you," apologized Soren.
"Follow me," said Akyo. "We have to get out of this place."
Soren listened, and the two of them finally left the fish market.
"This place is really crowded, all of this for fish," said Soren. "And what about the historian?" he asked.
"I managed to plant the microphone on him, but after that he disappeared. I don't know where he went," explained Akyo. "I have to contact Nicolo to let him know."
He started a transmission.
"This is Akyo, is anyone there?"
"Yes?" Surprisingly, the voice that answered wasn't Nicolo's, but a woman's voice, Ana's. "I hear you, Akyo."
"Perfect. Can you let Nicolo know that I managed to put the microphone on Gellahan?"
"Don't worry, he already knows. You've finished your work."
"What do you mean? What are we supposed to do now?" asked Soren, joining the conversation.
"Whatever you want. Nicolo will contact you when he needs you."
"Alright, we'll do that," replied Akyo. The transmission ended. "So, do you want to do something in particular?" he asked Soren.
"No idea," he replied.
"Well, we can look around, and we'll eat somewhere afterward," suggested Akyo.
So for two or three hours, they wandered through the streets of the city. They walked along the docks, looking at the fjord's water and the many colorful buildings beside it.
Lunch time arrived, and Soren's stomach growled. Akyo heard it.
"When I came here to look for you, I went to a little café-restaurant not far from here. We can go there. Is that fine for you?"
"Perfect, I'm really starting to get hungry," he replied.
They walked for about ten minutes before arriving in front of the restaurant in question. The wood façade was rather welcoming. The building stood at a street corner.
They went inside and walked in. They sat at a table next to a window. On their right was a bar where a few men were talking.
"What are we supposed to do to get food?" asked Soren.
"You wait, someone will come take your order."
Just then someone approached them, a young woman wearing work clothes, a waitress.
Soren was looking out the window. Akyo saw her come. "Hello!" he said politely.
The woman kept her head lowered and asked in a trembling voice, "What would you like?"
"A hot chocolate for me, please," answered Akyo while looking at the menu.
Soren turned to him. "Pick something for me, I don't know anything."
"Alright, another hot chocolate for him, and your cheapest dish, please."
Soren turned toward the waitress. "Thank you," he said, looking at her. 'But that's—'
Still in a quiet voice, she replied, "Alright, someone will bring it to you as soon as possible."
'Wait, I know her. She's the girl Soren saved,' thought Akyo as he looked at her. Then she turned around and began to walk away.
Soren suddenly stood up and grabbed the girl's arm. "Hey!" he said.
She turned around, and she seemed scared. 'He's going to terrify her,' thought Akyo, who stood up as well.
Soren looked at her while holding her arm. "I'm really sorry," he said, which seemed to surprise the girl.
He let go of her arm and asked, "Would it be possible to talk to you? I really want to apologize."
The girl stood in front of him, straight. She hesitated for a moment. Soren didn't expect her to agree, but apologizing would probably ease her. "Alright," she said.
"I finish my shift in about ten minutes. I'll come," she said briefly, before going back to work.
Akyo, behind the two of them, watched the scene. 'Did she really just say yes?' he thought, shocked.
Soren sat down again in front of Akyo, without saying a word.
"You didn't need to stand up so suddenly," Akyo told him.
"Yeah, I know, but I saw her in the crowd earlier at the market, and she ran away after getting scared when she saw me. I didn't want to lose her again," he explained.
"And what do you plan to talk to her about?"
"I'm not really sure, but I just want her to see something other than a monster who brutally killed two men in front of her," said Soren.
"They were assaulting her, and you saved her. Even if she's afraid of the images she remembers, she knows you saved her. If she didn't, why would she have agreed?" explained Akyo, trying to reassure Soren.
"You're not wrong."
After several minutes, the girl finally returned, no longer in work clothes but still carrying their order. "Here," she said.
Soren looked up and smiled. "Ah! Thank you!" He grabbed his plate and his cup. "Sit here, if you want, of course," and she did.
She sat down. Soren felt awkward, he didn't know what to say. Akyo noticed it, and the silence began to feel uncomfortable, so he asked, "So, what's your name?"
"Sofie," she answered briefly. "And you?"
"My name is Akyo," he said, giving a quick look toward Soren, signaling him to talk.
"My name is Soren," he said. 'How do I bring up the subject without making it weird?'
'Soren,' thought Sofie. She looked at him and took his hand. She stared into his eyes. "Thank you."
"For what?" asked Soren, surprised.
"You saved me, so thank you."
"No problem," he replied, embarrassed.
She continued. "And sorry for how I reacted until now. I was afraid you came back to hurt me. I panicked and left before letting you talk. When the other man arrived, I took the chance to run away."
"The other man?" asked Soren.
"Yes, the one who rushed in. He had black hair, that's all I remember."
'I'm right in front of her and she doesn't remember me?' thought Akyo.
"That man is the one sitting in front of you, Sofie," said Soren.
She looked at Akyo, surprised. "Oh, right, yes, sorry," she said, laughing. "But that's funny, you didn't look like you knew each other back there. I would've even said you were about to fight."
"Well," began Soren.
"Yes, that's it, I punched him in the face, and he lost" said Akyo.
"What do you mean?" asked Sofie.
"So, that's partially true, but—" Soren tried to justify himself, but he was interrupted again by Akyo.
"I arrived and saw two men on the ground, so I punched him in the face."
'That bastard is trying to make me look bad,' thought Soren.
"And those two men, are they dead?" asked Sofie. "When it all happened, I was so shocked that I barely remember anything," she explained. "I was so disoriented that I felt like it wasn't a man fighting them. The only image I have is a detached arm on the ground."
'Oh no,' thought Akyo.
Sofie had her arms on the table, and Akyo noticed she was clenching her fists while talking about the events. 'Living through something like that must be hard. we're lucky she doesn't remember the whole scene.'
She continued. "How can a human being do something like that? Maybe it's just my mind, but I felt like I saw a huge snake tearing apart its prey."