A Pause In a Rewind

Chapter IX : The Order

On the night after the disaster, the three of them sat on a bench outside the hospital. Perry seems to be busy trying to contact his parents. At the distance, two figures appear running towards Nil.

"Mom! Uncle!" Nil shouts as she was approached. She hugs them tightly and cries. The family got emotional while Oliver and Perry sit calmly watching over them. Oliver just sat mutely as his diamond-like eyes sparkle with tears.

"What a lovely family, right, Perry?" Oliver said to the lad. Perry then approached the three and gave his regards. He knelt down to their level and puts his hand on Nil's back and comforts her.

Nil's mother and uncle confronted Perry and asked about why they were in the park. Perry and Nil explained everything to them. However, Nil quite bent the story and didn't include the part of the story where they hold each other together. Perry just blushed as he hears Nil talk it out.

"This is quite embarrassing. I should distance myself a bit," Perry whispered to himself. His hand slowly moves away from Nil and he stands up tall and walks away with a farewell.

Right before Perry leaves the family to themselves, Nil's mother called to him. He thanked Perry for keeping her daughter safe. She nods and Perry stutters as he says, "Y-You're...w-welcome, ma'am."

Perry then proceeded to sit beside Oliver. Oliver chuckled and stared at the lad. "What a great way to be introduced to your crush's parents," Oliver jokingly said. Perry was flustered and hit Oliver by the shoulder. He snickered and laughs it off. Oliver puts his hand on Perry's back and pats him.

As things settle down, a figure in a black hoodie walks by the hospital. He watches over the three and gives a grim stare. He checks the time with his own pocket watch and moves on.

He goes walking to the busy cold streets and whistles with his mouth covered by a mask. A symbol of Roman numerals is sewn on the mask. A mark of number seven. A mark that takes heed on everything.

He walks past a few blocks and proceeded to go to an alley. There he met two men standing by the shadows of the evening. They stepped forward and they recognized the figure.

They spoke to him, "Boss. Lovely evening, right?" as they approach the person under the hood. "What are we gonna do next, Seven?" One of the men said. The three of them took off their hoods and revealed their faces. The one marked with a seven reveals his brown hair to the cold wind.

He looks around and scoffs. "You two only had one job. And it is to get that rogue back to where he belongs...and still, you failed me once again. What a waste," the marked with a seven said with anger.

The two bowed their head as they disappointed the boy. The lad approached one of them. He raised his pocket watch to one of the man's scarred face. "Do you know the consequences of failing?" He asks the man with a threatening glare.

The man only knelt down and opened his chest. A mechanism is attached to his chest which has gears and cogs. The boy twisted the pocket watch he holds and the gears of the man crumble. He cries in pain, yet he muffles his screams. "For the order," he chants as he gets punished.

Later then, the three of them leave with nothing left behind. Walking past civilians, they wore their hoods on and proceeded to vanish from sight. Wandering towards a place.

Far from the city, near the outskirts of the urban environment they went. On the slums past the busy roads, they've arrived. An old barren mansion resides on an island. They took a boat from one of the slum's fishermen and brought them there.

As they stepped out of the boat, the one marked with a seven raises his pocket watch and reverses the time. The fisherman was caught in the reverse and he was pulled back to the slums as where he was earlier. One of the men said, "How long are you gonna keep on doing that to the people?" The boy just shrugged and told him, "As long as we, the order, needed to."