Outside, with a resounding gunshot sound that could be heard throughout the world, the last silver fragment of the moon turned a crimson-red, completing the blood moon.
In the next moment, a single white dot, about the size of a basketball, appeared in the night sky, resembling every other star beside the now blood-red moon.
Streaking downward like a comet, leaving a white trail behind it, the crystal crossed the sky at a 45-degree angle.
Countless other white sparks appeared in the sky, all over the world, but from those within the desert, they were so small they could be mistaken for dust.
Sitting with his back to a dune, the now-awake Free remained perfectly still, resembling a dead body.
Don't move.
Don't move.
Contrary to his frozen outward appearance, Free's head was flooded with frantic thoughts as he recalled the figure that had flashed across his eyes a few moments ago.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could still spot a faint color atop one of the jungle-tree-sized dunes.
The sky and moon were completely blocked off by the tall dunes around him, shrouding the area in complete and utter darkness.
So all Free saw...was a single crimson-red streak floating in the air where a head should be.
A Lunite.
His legs inadvertently trembled as he recalled Lunite Zekrom's words with the orphanage owner.
No student should be allowed to touch a crystal...
There was only one way, with a hundred percent certainty, to prevent someone like Free, who had already been exposed to the crimson-red moon, from touching a crystal.
His own town's Lunite was going to kill him.
Was the Lunite looking at him?
Had the Lunite already found him?
Free could not tell...after all, he saw was a red streak.
Free's heart palpitated so fast that he could feel the doors of death approaching through a heart attack.
The Lunite hadn't even stepped within a ten-foot radius of him, yet...Free felt as if death was already certain.
In fact, Free wished he were dead.
It felt as if he were a tiny little rabbit stuck inside a cage with a tiger.
Escape was impossible.
Free suddenly started inwardly praying...the powerless boy born to a broken-down village in the middle of the desert started to beg god, or any powerful existence for that matter.
No...If he had already seen me, he would have come to get me, right?
Free tried to assure himself, but it was to no avail.
Was the...Lunite playing with him?
What Free could not have known was that what he was feeling was simply... the inherent power of a Lunite.
As a moon grows closer to full, Lunites grow more and more powerful, as they are able to recover more essence from the moon.
Now, under a full moon and temporarily resisting its call, the Lunite before Free was at his peak state.
Fear consumed Free to the point...where he finally made a mistake.
*GRUMBLE*
At that moment, not at all surprising, given Free's lack of eating after over twelve hours of running and stressing, his stomach let out a groan of pain.
Wasting no time, Free lunged upward, propelling himself into the air with his two feet, and sprinted forward toward the red streak of hair.
It would be obvious if he ran away, and he would also have to run around the base of the dune, decreasing his total distance.
But it was too late.
Adrenaline pumped through Free's body at an alarming rate, allowing him to recover all his lost strength, and his chest lurched with pain as his heart banged against his rib cage.
Free sprinted forward at a faster speed than ever before, surpassing his body's restraints, and finally felt the crimson-red moon shine above him between the gaps in the tall dune.
However, when he took another step forward to flee, Free suddenly found himself...sitting down with his back against a dune.
Had it all been a dream?
What...?
Free stumbled forward with his past momentum from running, his head colliding with the sand ground.
Immediatly, Free's head freed itself and flicked upward to the dune where the red streak of hair had been...but it had vanished.
Instead, an emotionless tone sounded from before him.
"Is that all?"
Illuminated by the crimson-red moon shining in the gaps between the dunes, a blonde-haired figure with a familiar red streak stood on the light-yellow sand.
His head lazily tilted to the side as if it were natural, and all he had to cover himself was a pair of navy-blue jeans, a white collared shirt with a black tie, and a pair of black dress shoes.
Compared to the villagers and Free's classmates, who simply wore baggy t-shirts that were clearly hand-me-downs, the Lunite was extremely well-dressed...but for what occasion?
Within each of the figure's eyelids, a swirling black circle, resembling a black hole, appeared and constantly spun circularly like a wheel.
Most notably, though, a silver stopwatch, attached to a bracelet on his right arm, hung below his right hand.
Placing a hand on his black tie and pulling it down, the Lunite casually remarked while lifting his right foot in the air.
"My name is Seren."
Frozen by fear and unable to move, Free simply silently stared ahead, like a child entranced with a new toy.
"..."
Shrugging his shoulders, Lunite Seren took a step forward, the red streak at the forefront of his blonde hair swaying in the wind.
"I apologize in advance, and I know this must be selfish, but could you remember me?"
Pointing to the top of the dune, Seren...smiled, the first sign of emotion he had shown to Free, and continued.
"After all, I did go through all of that waiting and watching."
Managing to get a word out, Free leaned backward and muttered in between deep pants.
"y-you knew!?"
"Hm?"
Tilting his head to the right, Lunite Seren simply pointed his right hand, covered in a sleek black glove, at the left side of Free's chest.
"How could I not? You're shining a bright red, you know?"
At that moment, Free suddenly realized where the blood-red fragment he had absorbed earlier went.