The rain was pouring down relentlessly, creating a dark and humid landscape. It was past 4 PM when Sakolomé and Sally, armed with an umbrella, took a common path to head home.
Sakolomé murmured, "I told you it was a bad idea to go out today."
Sally replied with an amused tone, "Alright, alright, no need to make such a fuss. The day wasn't bad at first, though..."
She looked again at the dark sky with its black clouds and the incessant rain. "This rain is really something."
Sakolomé added, "And it's cold too... Ah-choo!" He sneezed, his gaze lowered.
Sally retorted, "You're really a big coward, Sakolomé."
Sakolomé responded with a lowered gaze, "Oh no, you're not going to say that again."
Sally smiled and continued walking without responding. Then she suddenly stopped and said, "Sakolomé, it looks like your little sister up ahead!"
Sakolomé moved closer and replied, "Yes, it's her... with the little... what's his name again?"
Sally intervened with a sarcastic tone, "Ah, so you know the kid too? Or are you just pretending?"
Sally's response completely deflated Sakolomé's momentum.
Sakolomé asked, "What did I do to you today, Sally?"
Sally smiled and said, "Come on, let's go to them."
Salomé and Aquila were under a tree trying to shelter themselves from the rain. They were completely soaked, and Aquila had Salomé's sweater tied around his head to cover a wound he had sustained earlier. He was shivering from the cold as Salomé tried to warm him up as best she could.
Salomé was lost in thought, her energy and mana unstable due to anxiety and turmoil. She could have used her powers to warm them up without issue, but she didn't want to take any risks.
Salomé said, "Aquila, you're trembling too much; it's worrying."
A voice called out to them: "Hey!" They both looked to see where the voice came from and saw Sakolomé standing with Sally about seven meters away.
Noticing Aquila's makeshift head covering, Sakolomé asked, "What happened? Did you get hurt, kid?"
Aquila replied while trembling, "It's... it's nothing. I just got hit by a coconut."
Sakolomé smiled. "Ah, I thought something worse had happened."
He then looked at Salomé, who was staring at him with a blank expression as if recalling something that made her shiver.
Sakolomé asked worriedly, "Uh... are you okay, Salomé?"
Under Salomé's perception, it was indeed the case. She looked at Sally and Sakolomé, then remembered that terrifying scene where Sakolomé had died and become food for ominous birds. She recalled Velda's chilling words about a near future where she would lose everything, including Sally.
This melancholic mix overwhelmed her, and Salomé began to cry.
Sakolomé and Sally exchanged puzzled looks.
Sally asked gently, "Salomé, why are you crying?"
Salomé answered between sobs: "It's... sniff... sniff... nothing."
Sakolomé intervened: "Anyway, we can't stay here like this. We need to get home!"
Sally leaned closer to Sakolomé's ear and whispered: "You should question Salomé more deeply."
Sakolomé nodded.
Sally then looked at Salomé and Aquila: "Alright. We have two umbrellas and there are four of us. I suggest Sakolomé goes with Salomé and I take the little one. Does that work?"
Sakolomé nodded: "That works."
Looking at Salomé, he said: "Come on now; let's go home."
Salomé let go of Aquila and joined Sakolomé. Meanwhile, Aquila went with Sally.
Sakolomé looked at Sally, who was holding Aquila's hand.
Sally said: "Our paths will part here. You two head home."
Sakolomé replied: "You head home safely too."
Sally waved at Salomé.
Salomé waved back, but without her usual energy, which surprised Sally. Salomé was usually dynamic and full of energy.
Each took their own path, and Aquila turned to watch Salomé walk away with her brother.
Sally asked: "Is she nice?"
The young boy was struck by what Sally had just said.
Aquila replied: "Oh yes, Salomé is incredible."
Sally smiled and said: "Very much so. Otherwise, what happened between you two? Salomé seems strangely sad."
Aquila looked down, feeling guilty: "Actually... I've often been too harsh with her, even though she was always kind to me. I made judgments about her based on her family, even though she had always been sincere and herself with me."
Sally asked curiously: "Is it because of the story about her family that you had bad judgments about her, right?"
Aquila nodded timidly: "I regret it so much. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and treated her like the others did, hating her when she had done nothing wrong to me."
Aquila clenched his fist and said firmly, his voice trembling: "If only I could turn back time, I would do everything to support her suffering instead of always making it worse."
Sally asked: "So, is it because of you that she's sad like this?"
Aquila relaxed his fist and swallowed: "I fear so..."
He replied weakly.
Sally said: "I see."
She looked at Aquila and said: "Is the wound on your head serious?"
Aquila replied, touching his head: "Not really, even though my head hurts a bit."
Sally stopped for a moment and said: "Let me see that."
Sally touched Aquila's head and seemed to inspect it gently, then smiled and said: "It's not that bad, actually."
Sally's arm glowed on the young boy's head, which slightly frightened him.
Sally said: "Just let me do this."
Aquila stopped moving and closed his eyes, letting Sally do what she needed to do and trusting her.
Sally said: "There, it's done!"
Aquila opened his eyes and touched his head. He noticed first that he no longer hurt, and he couldn't believe it at first. He removed Salomé's sweater from his head and saw that his wound had healed.
Under shock and surprised, he said: "You healed me with magic?"
Sally nodded and said: "Now, listen to me. I took the time to listen to you, and I just understood that you made a judgmental mistake about Salomé and her family. The Satsujin Otoko of today have nothing to do with what they were before. And even if there were two types, the good and the bad, the reality is that the good ones defeated the bad ones, but this truth was suppressed."
Sally took a breath and continued: "I'm proud that you seem to have learned the lesson. You shouldn't judge people based on prejudices. You must verify things for yourself first, even if it can be dangerous in some cases. Caution should be used to form your own opinion. Often, people have an easy time judging others without knowing them."
Aquila had listened to everything Sally said. He looked at the ground with compassion.
Aquila said: "You're right. When we judge people based on what we've just heard about them, it can hurt them even more, especially when..."
Aquila stopped and noticed something solid in Salomé's sweater.
Sally, noticing his sudden pause, asked: "What's wrong?"
Aquila unfolded Salomé's sweater and finally saw the object: it was the Murex Alabaster shell. Salomé had hidden it in her sweater to give it to Aquila, who had always wanted it.
Aquila looked at the shell, his eyes lit up and shining with tears of gratitude.
Aquila (with a trembling voice): "Salomé... I... you... damn it!!"
Salomé had finally given him the shell.
Sally looked at the shell and said: "That's a Murex Alabaster; it's highly sought after by collectors right now."
Aquila nodded, tears in his eyes: "Yes, it is. Salomé found it, and she gave it to me now."
Sally smiled and said: "Well, there you go."
She scanned the area where they were and asked: "Which way do you live? To go to my place, I need to take the left street."
Aquila replied, embarrassed: "Uh... I live on the right side."
Sally said: "I see. I think we'll part ways here. I'll give you the umbrella; you can use it to protect yourself from the rain."
The young boy blushed at Sally's kindness.
Aquila bowed to thank her: "I don't know how to thank you. By the way, what's your first name? Mine is Aquila, Aquila Ray."
Sally replied: "Nice to meet you, I'm Sally Liuly."
Aquila's eyes widened: "A Liuly!!"
Sally responded with a slightly annoyed tone: "It's okay, don't make a big deal out of it. I'm still human like you. Wealth doesn't change who you are."
Aquila replied, flustered: "Yes... you... you're right."
Sally handed the umbrella to Aquila and said: "Take this."
Aquila took the umbrella and watched Sally get wet under the rain.
Sally smiled and said: "Your mom must be worried about you in this rain. Head home safely."
Sally turned and began walking under the rain, under Aquila's admiring gaze, who thought she had class.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Sakolomé was carrying Salomé on his back. The silence was palpable, and Sakolomé decided to break it.
Sakolomé asked: "Salomé, what's wrong? You're less talkative than usual; it doesn't suit you."
Salomé suddenly hugged Sakolomé tightly, as if she wanted to feel his warmth.
Sakolomé asked: "Tell me if you're cold; I can warm you up with my energy."
Salomé replied timidly to Sakolomé: "Big brother... I love you, you know."
Sakolomé was surprised to hear his little sister say that suddenly.
Sakolomé replied: "Well, I love you too. But saying that out of the blue like this, what's going on?"
Salomé added: "I don't want to lose you, my family, and Sally too. She's part of our family, isn't she?"
Sakolomé replied with a sympathetic smile: "Yes."
Salomé smiled timidly.
Salomé said: "We need to become stronger than we are now. I don't think we're strong enough."
Sakolomé was intrigued but agreed: "Yes, you're probably right. But why did this idea suddenly come to mind?"
The timid smile on Salomé's face disappeared, leaving a moment of silence.
Sakolomé asked again with a bit more insistence and compassion: "Salomé... I'm your big brother. I know you as well as you know me, and what you're showing me right now, I don't recognize as your behavior. This suggests there's a problem. Tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt? Did Aquila say something bad to you? Come on, what's going on?"
Salomé closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and remembered that chilling moment with her future version and Velda.
Salomé said: "Actually, I had a nightmare. In the nightmare, you were dead, Bakuran too, Dad and Mom too, Sally too. Bakuzan and I were the only survivors, and we had fallen into darkness... If we became like that and all this happened, it's just because we were all weak."
Sakolomé laughed sarcastically and said: "Hahahaha... So it's because of a nightmare that you're letting yourself get so down?"
Salomé remained silent and still seemed as sad.
Sakolomé continued with sincerity and compassion: "I understand your fear. It's worth questioning the future of our family. I often fear losing you all too..."
Salomé's attention was piqued again.
Sakolomé said: "Salomé, no matter what situation I find myself in..."
Sakolomé thought back to when he faced Grafay and a phrase he had said against him: "You must understand that, given my goals, it's not someone like you who could kill me, Grafay!" Grafay was stronger than him, but he had surpassed him after intense efforts that cost him dearly.
After reflecting, Sakolomé continued: "I have immense projects and countless goals to achieve. Salomé, if your fear is real, then I will continue training without stopping until you think it's enough, and even then, I will keep training. There's nothing I hold more dear in the world than you, my loved ones, and I'm not ready to die yet. I promise you."
Salomé was touched by her big brother's words.
Sakolomé looked at Salomé on his back and released energy that warmed her instantly from the inside. Salomé was no longer cold, but that wasn't all; Sakolomé's energy seemed to have stabilized her internally. She realized she wasn't alone and that Sakolomé would always be there for her and the others.
Even if the future is frightening, she could count on her big brother's help to change it.
A compassionate smile appeared on Salomé's face as a tear slid down her cheek.
Sakolomé smiled and said: "I've finally found you again, partner!"
Following his words, Sakolomé understood that Salomé was finally reassured. She rested her face on Sakolomé's neck and burst into tears, adding with a muffled voice: "Big brother... sniff... you're the best!!!"
Sakolomé said: "We're the best, don't worry about the future. We are the masters of our destiny."
Salomé lifted her head and wiped her tears with her right arm. A radiant smile appeared on her face. She clenched her fist and saw her gaze take on determination.
Salomé said: "We'll train and become stronger. That way, we won't have anything to fear!"
Sakolomé added: "Don't worry about that. I've already planned an intense training for both of us. You won't be able to walk for a week after it!"
Salomé smiled and laughed along with Sakolomé. Despite the coldness of the rain, Sakolomé had softened things between his sister and the terrifying revelations she had.
Together, they continued their path, ready to face the future with courage and determination. The rain, which had seemed so oppressive at first, became almost soothing, as if it washed away their fears and doubts. The bond between Salomé and Sakolomé strengthened with each step, proving that even in the darkest moments, hope and love could illuminate the way.