Chapter 26: Energy.
"Ugh... maybe I really should have gone home..."
After hours of walking, Liliana stopped at a random restaurant to rest her legs. The face of that red-haired guy appeared in her head and she had to shake it off. His warnings did have some logic to them, and though she refused to accept that, she was starting to regret her stubbornness. The thought of giving up floated to the forefront of her thoughts, making it difficult for her to continue with what she came to do in this part of the city.
Worst of all, she couldn't even go ten minutes without someone coming to bother her. At first, she tried to use it as a chance to extract some information from them, but in the end they were all clueless.
"Maybe Catalyst is just a myth after all..."
She grabbed a cup and took a sip using the straw placed in it, grimacing an instant later as the taste spread through her mouth. She knew that the food and drinks offered in the poorer parts of the city were bound to be of a lower quality, but tasting them for herself proved that her imagination was lacking.
"Excuse me, miss."
As she struggled with the orange juice she ordered, which tasted nothing like the orange juice she was used to, a young man whom she never spoke to invited himself to her table and sat on the opposite chair.
"You don't seem to be from around these ." He said, a fake smile plastered on his face. "What is an elegant flower like you doing in an industrial wasteland like this?"
Staring at him for exactly two seconds, Liliana heaved an exasperated sigh. She had long since lost count of how many times she heard those lines.
"I heard some rumors." She said. "A new kind of candy appeared around these parts. I came to see if it lives up to the hype."
"A new kind of candy, huh?" The man said, his smile faltering a little. "Do you have anything specific in mind?"