IDENTITY: TWENTY

**MAICA POV**

We're in the middle of Plaza Central, near the monument. Sky and I are trying to evacuate people, but no one is listening. Some are even getting angry. I've been irritated with these idiots since earlier. We're trying to save them, yet no one cares. We even threatened them with a bomb, but it's like we're the ones at fault.

"Leave this place right now, everyone! There's a bomb that will explode!" Sky shouted loudly, and I didn't expect him to be this loud. I thought Sky was an emotionless guy who didn't care about the world, but I was wrong.

"Shut the fuck up, kid! If you had a bad night, don't involve us! You're ruining the festival!" a guy around our age criticized him, with two girls clinging to both of his arms. I was surprised when Sky suddenly descended from the platform he was standing on earlier and forcefully grabbed the guy's collar.

"You will have a bad night if the bomb explodes," Sky angrily warned him, followed by an explosion that startled all of us. The plaza was filled with screams and people running, and Sky and I exchanged surprised glances.

I looked at the source of the explosion and realized that the monument had exploded and was still on fire. I glanced at Sky, who was also looking at the monument in astonishment.

"Sorry about that," a familiar voice said. Sky and I turned to where the voice came from and saw Alex standing a few meters away. "It's the only way I could think of to get them to leave," he added, and then I ran towards him and hugged him. Alex hugged me back, and his embrace was tighter than mine. We separated after a couple of seconds and exchanged smiles. But that quickly faded when I remembered the bomb.

"Sky?" Alex called out to the young man with concern.

"I know, Alex," Sky replied, showing the remote with a countdown still running. Alex was shocked when he saw the remaining time, which stated 4:57.

"We're running out of time," Alex pointed out.

"Not just that. We don't know where the bombs are placed," Sky informed us, intensifying the worry we were feeling.

"In that case, all we can do is evacuate the people and let the bomb explode," I suggested, but Sky shook his head.

"The plaza is too large, and there are only three of us. We can't get everyone evacuated on time," Sky countered, and we fell into silent contemplation, thinking of possible ways to end this chaos without harm.

"Bombs have great potential energy inside them. I can locate them using energy waves."

"What do yo—" Sky stopped mid-sentence. "Nevermind. Are you sure you can do this? No one has ever done that before."

"And so the long-range telepathy. Trust me, Sky. Believe in me." Sky was speechless after what Alex said. I just stared at them, feeling like a third wheel while they exchanged glances. Ack!

Sky nodded in agreement. Alex faced the north, holding out his right hand, supinated. He closed both of his eyes while we stared at him. In just a few moments, a loud noise emanated from Alex's location, accompanied by a shallow crater forming at his feet, followed by a slight tremor. The thunderous noise repeated, but it was only mild. I looked at Sky, and I was surprised to see him smiling.

"He never stops to amaze me," he remarked.

"What is it, Sky?"

"What you're seeing right now is an energy wave. Energy waves were used as an offensive technique, but this time, he's using it as a GPS." What? "Have you ever heard of echolocation?"

"You mean what beluga whales and dolphins do?"

Sky nodded. "That's what he's doing right now. He's using energy waves to intercept the location of the bombs. Since the bombs have high potential energy, they will react to the waves Alex is sending. By visualization and strong willpower, he can gather all the bombs without going directly to their hiding spot."

I was surprised when suddenly some metal collided, and when I looked, it was the bombs, hovering above Alex's hand. They were being clumped together, forming a ball.

"How much time left?" Alex asked Sky while seriously looking at him.

"Two minutes and thirty-six seconds."

"Now, what's next?" I asked.

"We need to find a place where we can detonate the bomb," Sky replied, scanning the surroundings. He was probably looking for a place to put the bomb.

"The sky is wide," I suggested, but in reality, it was just a joke.

"Maica is right, but how can we throw them upwards?"

"That's the problem again," I sighed.

"Two minutes remaining."

I quickly searched for a place where we could send the bombs into the sky. But all I could see were game booths. "Pop the Balloonie, Apply Fishing, Hoop in the Bottle, Can Shooter, argh!" These games are lame, except for Can Shooter because that's my favorite. My eyes widened when I suddenly got an idea.

"I just got an idea." Sky and Alex looked at me, and I approached them. "I know this might sound crazy, but I think this will work."

"What is it?"

"If we can have a tube or something that will act as a gun, we can shoot the bombs up there like—"

"A bullet," Sky interjected. "Great idea, Maica." Sky instantly looked for something, and I was surprised when a metal sheet suddenly flew towards us. Sky turned it into a tube using his psychic power. Alex put the bombs inside the tube perfectly. "Perfect."

"Alex, use your energy waves directly on the hole. If you can concentrate on this wave, then do it. The greater the force, the higher it will fly," I explained, and Alex agreed.

"Hold this," Sky said, handing me the remote. I carefully received the remote while Sky positioned the metal tube. Alex positioned himself behind the tube, where he would exert force, while I stood on the side, ready to assist them.

"Fifteen seconds!" I shouted. Alex assumed a fighting stance with his right palm wide open. I could feel the power building up in that palm. "Ten seconds!" I was nervous. My whole body was trembling, especially my knees. At any moment, I could lose strength and collapse. The timer struck five. "Now, Alex!" After I shouted, Alex immediately released the energy waves he had formed in his palm towards the tube containing the bomb. The bombs instantly soared into the sky, and in just 5 seconds, they exploded.

The explosion echoed through the cities, startling everything, and resulting in a burst of shouts and screams. Even the cars made noise when they felt the shockwave released by the explosion. The bomb turned into instant fireworks in the sky, but it couldn't be denied that it was still a bomb that exploded. At that moment, it felt like I lost all my strength. I knelt on the ground and let go of the remote with 0:0 displayed.

I looked at the two who were still amazed by what they had done—a fireworks display made of bombs. I couldn't help but cry tears of joy. I'm so happy that my suffering has finally come to an end. I can go back to—

"Mama

!" I whispered and then tried to stand up. I quickly went to where Sky was, but both of them had puzzled and worried expressions when they saw my face.

"Lola Vemine! Lola!" Sky called out while holding something to her ear. What the hell is happening?

"Alex," I called him to find out what the problem was.

I was about to say something when he preempted me. "Maica, go check on your mom first while Sky and I take care of Lola." I agreed, even though I wanted to know what was happening. But before we could move away from each other, I hugged him first.

"Thank you, Alex." Alex just patted my head and quickly left for their destination. The two quickly disappeared from my sight, so I continued running.

******
**ALEX POV**

Not this again. Please be safe, Lola. I can't lose you right now. Not this time!

Sky placed his hand on top of mine, comforting me. Maybe he read my mind. He stoically looked at me, but his eyes were telling me to stay calm and everything would be alright.

We were on our way to our secret hideout when Lola Vemine did not respond to our calls. It's the same feeling I felt when Lola's house burned down—an eerie feeling mixed with anxiety and fear. I promised myself that I would protect her.

After a couple of minutes of traveling, we reached the old house that used to be my home. We entered, and nothing had changed. There were no signs of entry or a struggle, but the eerie feeling persisted. We went straight to the second floor and quickly headed to the last door. The door was locked, so I breathed a sigh of relief. I touched the doorknob, and the same mechanical noise from before erupted, clicking the door open.

"Told you, you don't have to worry," Sky said, pushing the door open. But my eyes widened when I saw behind him the broken wall where the stairs to the hideout were hidden. My heart started racing, and my muscles refused to cooperate. My body trembled, and fear started to paralyze me.

I saw Sky quickly run downstairs, but I stood by the door like a statue. However, the thought crossed my mind that Glias might still be downstairs, and I could still save Lola. So, from that "what if," I forced myself to move. Even slowly, as long as I could reach the bottom. I reached the staircase and descended. Each step was a mix of hope and despair. Hopeful that Lola Vemine might still be there and safe from the abduction, but also hopeless that I might be too late, and she'd already been taken. Or worse, dead.

I didn't notice when I reached the floor, and in front of me was the door to our hideout. But my strength left me when I saw no Lola Vemine inside. The room was in shambles, and the appearance indicated a struggle had taken place.

"No," I mumbled and sat down on the last plank of the stairs. All my strength was gone as if some force had sucked it out of me suddenly. The hopefulness I was trying to feel earlier vanished.

"Alex!" Sky called me as he just came out of the hideout. He ran towards me and knelt to be at eye level with me. I saw a disappointed look on Sky's face. It meant Lola Vemine was indeed not here. "Hey? It's okay."

"Whe-Where's Lola?"

Sky avoided eye contact with me. He sighed and then looked at me again with a serious expression. I was sure it wasn't good news. "She's not inside."

Hearing that from Sky drained every ounce of hope in me. All that remained were regret and anger. I was angry at myself for not keeping my promise to protect Lola.

"But I found this."

Sky handed me a piece of folded paper that puzzled me. I hesitated to accept it at first, but a part of me said I needed to read whatever was written on it. So, I took it. I opened it and was surprised to see a picture that I had wanted to see earlier to confirm my suspicion.

"Glias," I said while closely looking at the symbol of that organization. I clenched one of my fists, trying to restrain myself from going berserk.

"If they took her, Alex, that means she's alive. Glias wanted us to be alive because they needed us. So keep hoping because someday we're gonna make them pay."

"They will."

******

We are at the hospital now, keeping watch over Auntie. Today marks her first week, and we're relieved that she's still recovering. According to Maica, they might be allowed to leave in two weeks.

We are currently watching the news about the events that unfolded a week ago, which became the talk not only nationally but internationally as well. The chaos at the festival, especially the bombing, had significant repercussions. The festival was immediately halted the next day. Last week was supposed to be cheerful and happy, but it was replaced by fear.

No one was reported injured in the bombing except for a body found in the sewer, identified as Rick. Trisha admitted to the press that her father was the mastermind behind all this. She also exposed Rick's plan and his connection to Glias. Trisha denied any involvement in the chaos, claiming that she, too, became a victim of her father.

Speaking of Trisha, we found out that she was just adopted by Rick to replace his lost child. That's why it was so easy for him to kill Trisha. I felt pity for her, and I'm sure she regrets everything she did to Maica and me. Actually, she has changed. Every day, she visits here to bring food and supplies as a thank you to Auntie for saving her life. Trisha became the instant heir to the wealth left by her father since she's Rick's only remaining family. So, she promised us that she would be the one to pay Auntie's medical bills.

Maica's case is also closed. The police officers who were accomplices of Rick were arrested and had their licenses revoked, including the school dean of our school who confessed to being involved in Maica's disappearance. Rick suspended Maica to carry out his plan.

"Are you okay?" Sky asked me, engrossed in reading a magazine. He reverted to his old habit.

"Fine," I replied and looked back at the TV screen with Rick's face. When I saw his face, I couldn't help but feel annoyed. "Sky? I'm just wondering. Why did Rick want to kill me if he needed me to operate his machine?"

"Draining all your energy can be crucial. That was his motive—to kill you and become a millionaire at the same time. He wanted to drain all your energy until nothing was left. But since you were the successful one among all 50 human samples, you have unlimited energy."

I furrowed my brow. "How did that happen?"

"You see, the energy you've gathered for your energy waves and psi balls didn't exactly come from yourself; it came from nature. For you, nature is your source. Unlike us, we use our life force to execute certain abilities, which is why we faint when we overuse our abilities, just like what happened to Lola. Since she's old, her energy reservoir has reduced in size, making her prone to draining. That's why the elderly with us always faint. And I feel that's the reason they took Lola. Lola tried to fight them, but her body couldn't handle it," he explained. I nodded as I understood his explanation. Now I realize how blessed I am. With this unlimited energy, I could protect everyone I love and retrieve those I lost, especially Lola Vemine.

"Glias."



**END OF VOLUME: IDENTITY**
**UP NEXT**: VOLUME 2: POTENTIAL