Lied was astonished, sitting with his knees bent in a tight shelter.

“A… talking crow?”

“That ‘talking crow’ has a name, and it’s Zaccharias!”

The crow with the hat didn't seem surprised to see Lied in the ruins, much less asked why he was being chased.

“…The name’s Lied. So, how can a crow speak? Unless I’m really dreaming.”

Zaccharias slapped Lied with his left paw as the latter felt his cheek hurting.

“What the hell was that for?!”

“See? It’s not a dream. About why I’m able to speak, that’s because I’m a human being despite my current form. Anyway, young Lied, are you sixteen now?”

“Yes.”

“WHAT A SLUGGISH REPLY! Hey, I’m the one dead here!”

“I did answer, didn’t I?!”

“Way better.”

“Huh? He guessed my age? Also…” Lied thought.

“’Dead’?”

Zaccharias sighed. It was time to explain everything to him.

“Lied, I assume you haven’t got a clue where you are.”

“Yeah… I woke up in some sort of channel and then the blue dots led me here.”

“Those ‘blue dots’ are the spirits of the dead.”

“Spirits of the dead?”

“You may have noticed that they move along the same direction.”

The young man nodded. Indeed, they were always heading for the park.

“It’s the road to Mictlan, the Underworld, where those who have perished await reincarnation.”

“The Underworld... Who would have thought that such a place existed.”

Lied remembered the blue spheres turning into humans. So they used to be normal people.

“Could they still be here…?” Lied was reminded of his deceased parents.

“Then, you’re a spirit of Mictlan?” Lied said.

“Yep. A runaway yet to be reincarnated” Zaccharias said.

“Really?”

“Ever since I died and came to Mictlan eight years ago. Well, how come you ended up here?”

Lied recalled his long chat with Xanthus, the white hooded man.

“I… lost my parents not long ago. They weren’t my real parents, still the only ones I have ever met. They were killed by a crew that’s been going after me, though their real target is something else. One of their guys, Martyr, called it ‘Adam’s Apple’” Lied brought his chin slightly down “I want to understand. Not just the others, myself too. My heart tells me this apple is the key, hence why I cannot allow anyone to take it.”

“Someone who doesn’t know, can’t understand. Someone who doesn’t understand, can’t know. In the Adam’s Apple’s case, it’s material knowledge.”

“You know what the Adam’s Apple is?” Lied raised his eyebrows.

The crow put his precious hat down, which he rarely does.

“Mictlan and Tellus, your world. However, there is actually another world besides these two – Aqua, my homeland, whence that group, Illuminatus, comes from.”

“Illuminatus...”

“They’re aztecs, citizens of Aqua.”

“Hold on a sec. If you’re aztecs, we, of Tellus, are what?”

“Well, ‘humans’. That's how we refer to your race.”

Lied went back to silence enlightened as Zaccharias carried on.

“Both Tellus and Aqua were once a single world: the Original World. This is a story that goes back to the beginnings of mankind itself, a tale traditionally passed down from aztecs to aztecs. The tale of Adam, Eve and Nachash.”

“Adam, Eve and Nachash...”

“Those three were the first human beings, while everything suggests that more people were born through the magic of the Adam’s Apple.”

Lied couldn't believe it. The power of creation…

“A town was built near the mythical Garden of Eden and everybody lived in peace… before the arrival of the Guardians of God, mysterious individuals represented in the holy scriptures with gray hooded cloaks.”

The boy could feel the tension in the air while the story got darker and darker over time.

“Little or nothing is known about these ‘guardians’, save for the war waged by them with the purpose of destroying civilization. That was the “First Spiritual War”, a fierce battle fought between the Guardians of God and Adam’s gang, which consequently split the Original World apart.”

Lied swallowed his saliva prior to being bombarded with more revelations.

“Adam, ‘The Hero’, and his companions won of course. Yet, within their flock, a certain man turned against Adam. The two considered themselves best friends up to that point. His name was Nachash, ‘the Talking Serpent’!”

“Why would he betray them?”

“The reason’s inside you.”

“The apple? Wait, if I have it now…”

“Yes. To everyone’s happiness, Nachash failed to get his hands on it.”

“He betrayed his friend and his people, all for personal gain. In the end, Nachash was a victim of his own greed…”

“…Nachash was defeated, but his ambitions not. Knowing that the snake would definitely return, Adam postponed the inevitable using the Adam's Apple to create a world where he could imprison him for eternity, that is, Mictlan.”

“Does that mean… Nachash is still here?!”

“Nope, he broke out of prison eighteen years ago. These days nobody knows his whereabouts, after the event of eight years ago.”

“There is more?”

“Shortly after escaping, Nachash settled in Aqua. Ten years later, to the despair of all who fear the Talking Serpent, he made his official return as he started the Second Spiritual War.”

To think that such a fight took place whilst Lied and the population of Ganeden lived peacefully…

“It’s true Nachash vanished, he’s believed to be dead. From my perspective, this Second Spiritual War didn’t have a winner. Nachash is more alive than ever, wishing to obtain the one thing that greatly enthralls him.”

“The Adam’s Apple…”

“Lied, you said you wouldn't let them take the apple away, nevertheless, I ought to ask you: Illuminatus itself was responsible for the death of your parents. Surely revenge stirs you?”

“Revenge…? I may have thought about it. Your thoughts on that matter, Zaccharias?”

“Grudge is a source of power. Many, including Nachash himself, lived off their hate. Well… ‘When in doubt, ask your spirit. It shall steer your way towards the answer’. A principle that I stand by.”

“When in doubt, ask your spirit. It shall steer your way towards the answer.”

Lied closed his eyes and got his head down in order to enter his soul of his own free will, for the first time. He stared at the apple inside the basket, his clear green eyes showed a quiet determination.

“I’m not sure. Walking my own path and finding the answer… I think that’s one of the reasons why ‘he’ sent me here. But…” Lied looked closely at his hands.

“But?”

“…As I am now, I don’t stand a chance. Neither the Adam’s Apple nor I… I won't be able to protect anything. I need to get stronger.”

Zaccharias grabbed his hat and put it back on.

“There’s just one method: learning to fight with the spirit.”

“’Fight with the spirit’?”

“The Spirit Mode!” Zaccharias smiled.

…