• Three days later, Vincent was sitting miles away from 924 Horsetail Way. That night that, to Vincent, seemed so long ago, was still fresh in his mind. He had fled from the house, sticking to the shadows as he made his way to the city gates. Once there, he had killed the guards and escaped from the city with the girl as his captive. They had run day and night, resting only when necessary. Now they were stopped in Alruna's Forest, sitting in a makeshift camp made from supplies Vincent had stolen along the way. The girl spoke very little, probably still in shock from her kidnapping. He knew that she desperately wanted to flee, but the promise of a cold steel blade prevented her. Vincent still hadn't been able to sort out what had happened back at the city. His best story involved the Judge being killed by one of The Club's senior members, then setting him up to take the blame. Unfortunately, the story made no sense; The Club would never betray one of it's members.
    Vincent looked over at the girl as he pondered the question who's answers he so desperately sought. There was no denying that the girl was pretty for her age: she had short brown hair and very bright green eyes with yellow around the pupil. She was about five foot eight, and certainly didn't weigh much. She still had the large cloud of Flow energy around her; it hadn't dissipated since he had first seen her. Vincent could tell that there was something special about the girl, other than her large amount of energy. He wondered if she could control it... All of a sudden, an idea sprang into Vincent's head like a bullet.
    Vincent got up and walked over to the girl. “Hey what's your name? I just realized I didn't know it.”
    Maria stared at him as if he was insane, which, in any professionals opinion, he was. “M-my name is Maria. C-can I know yours?”
    “Yeah, it's Vincent. Hey stand up for a second.” Maria obeyed without question. “Okay, now, try and take my sword.”
    Maria stared at him, completely bewildered. “Why do you want me to take your sword?” she asked.
    “Just try to,” he replied, “or I could just give it to you, if you catch my drift.”
    “Y-you mean... Kill me?” He only nodded in response. “Well in that case, I suppose I don't have a choice” As she reached out to grab Vincent's sword, he smacked her hand away roughly. “What the? I thought you told me to take your sword!”
    “I said to try.” replied Vincent
    “Fine! You want me to try then I will!” Maria continually tried to take the sword, each time just as unsuccessful as the last. Maria was starting to run out of patience, and finally exploded at her captor. “What the hell! First you murder my family and, for God knows what reason, leave me alive; then you kidnap me, and now you won't just leave me alone. What the heck is your problem?!”
    As Maria started to shout at Vincent like a madman, he noticed the cloud of energy around her start to become more and more focused. Instead of a mist the wreathed around her body, it now looked more like a flame trying to consume her flesh. She finally rushed at him one more time, but instead of going for the sword, she tried to punch him in the face. Vincent easily dodged to the side, but even as he did, he felt blood flow from a small cut on his cheek. After having stepped aside, he saw that the tree he had been standing in front of had a deep gash in it. “So, it really did work.” Vincent mumbled to himself.
    “Did I do that?” Maria asked when she noticed the cut on the tree's surface. Vincent nodded at her. “But... How? Am I some kind of freak? What was that?!”
    Vincent hadn't expected the girl to react in such a volatile way; if her emotions kept getting stronger, she could cause some major damage. “Look,” he said, trying to calm her, “it's not all that strange. Back before the war, lot's of people could do stuff like this. It's called Flow, you might have heard of it if you've ever been to school.”
    “Of course I've been to school.” she said, visibly relaxing. “Why wouldn't I have gone to school? Aren't all children supposed to go?”
    “I don't know, I guess so. I grew up in Warasti's slums, so I never really knew anyone who could afford to go to school. For that matter, I didn't know anyone who wanted to go to school. The only thing we learned growing up were the things that would keep us alive. You know, pickpocketing, lock picking, how to hide from the few cops that were around... killing.” At that last word, he glanced back over at Maria as realization came over her eyes. She quickly spun around and walked off to her makeshift tent. Vincent simply turned to the tree that she had sliced; with a cut like that, it certainly wouldn't survive. There was something that he wanted to practice that he never really got a chance to.

    As Maria stalked off to her tent, she berated herself in her mind. How could I talk so casually with someone who murdered my family? I should be ashamed of myself! And what about that whole Flow business? I thought that the only Flow users died out before the war. She had heard about Flow in school, but they only really went over it for a little bit, mostly how it was used and how it worked. It was mostly a forbidden topic because of the fact that it could threaten the rule of the Judges. They used Flow, but they were the only ones allowed to. So how had she been able to use it? Maybe her family had Flow users somewhere in their lineage. She had let her mind drift off topic for a bit, but it quickly snapped back to that wretched, disgusting man. He was so horrible! Even remembering his face made her blood boil.
    He was around six foot two, with tan skin and black hair. His eyes were almost as horrible as he was: she remembered that the first time she saw them, she had gasped loudly. His eyes were violet with lightning-blue streaks and they had almost no whites in them. But the strangest thing was, he had no pupils. It was just the whites of his eyes and then the cornea. Scientifically, he should be blind, but he wasn't. He was a horrid person, a freak, a crime against nature!
    He thought that he was all high and mighty because he would kill her if she left, but that wasn't really why she stayed. She wasn't as afraid as he thought, she only stayed because she had nowhere else to go. And in the kingdom of Ragarder, that could end up being fatal, especially for a young girl like her. And so she had no choice but to stay with him.
    Just then, the flap to her tent opened and he walked in. “Come on, I need your help with something.”
    “And why should I help you?” she replied irritably.
    “Two reasons,” he said “One: it could help you learn something about your Flow power. I think you know the second reason. I'll give you a hint: It's because I'll kill you if you don't.” As he walked back out, Maria followed him. They headed back over to where they had had the stand-off. Maria was surprised to find that the tree no longer had a chunk of it missing.
    “Hey, what happened to the tree? Did you fix it with Flow?”
    “Yes I did. Hey Mary.”
    “It's Maria.”
    “Whatever” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Anyway, do you remember how you felt when you cut the tree open? Do you think you could it again?”
    “I'm not sure, but I'll try again.” She stepped up to the tree and stared at it. She steadied herself, and then pushed her fist at it. Nothing happened. She tried two more times, both unsuccesful.
    Vincent stepped up beside her. “No, look, you're doing it wrong. Here let me teach you. If you did learn about Flow in school you should know how it works.”
    “Yes, it's created by excess energy in the body made by special cells. These cells create a surplus of energy, which another set of cells are able to store inside themselves. Flow users have a control over that energy, and are able to use it to their advantage.”
    “Yes, exactly. Do you remember what they use it for?”
    “Well, I learned that the Flow energy is the same energy used in molecular reactions, which means that Flow users can literally arrange the atoms to their will. If they're powerful enough, that is.”
    “Yes, that's also right. But you see, there's a special way in which Flow users are able to control the energy. You have to concentrate on your objective very hard, and then you have to gather the energy you have. Try it.”
    Maria concentrated on cutting the tree, that goal consuming her mind. She then tried to gather the energy together, but couldn't manage. Each time she failed, Vincent would launch a barrage of insults at her, only making it even harder.
    Eventually, she felt as if she would kill the next person to even so much as look at her. At one final insult from Vincent, she flipped out. She started hitting her fists against the tree as if it had insulted her, not Vincent. She had her eyes closed the entire time, but opened them when she heard a loud bang in front of her. What she saw surprised her immensely. The top of the tree lay on the ground, she had ended up hitting it with such force that she broke it off from the trunk. What the hell am I?, she thought to herself.