No... it wasn't just a tornado. The closer it came, the more certain Elena became of her suspicion.
There was something else mixed with it—something orange and yellow... Elena's eyes widened further as she realized what was happening.
It was a fire tornado!
Her vision was blocked, and she could no longer see the tornado approaching due to the sudden appearance of the house in front of her.
"Let's get inside!" Meryl shouted anxiously after lifting Alvin onto her back, then ran toward the garden.
Tulip grabbed Elena's hand, frozen in place, and pulled her along. Elena regained control of her mind, cradled the child in her arms, and leapt into the garden.
The house rose just as Tulip landed on the green grass, running toward the house where Meryl had gone. Elena, however, stayed outside, waiting for the tornado to arrive, her heart tightening with tension.
Meryl had said in the past that the transparent barrier surrounding the house was made from the energy of her planet, and that it could not be broken no matter how strong the enemy was.
Even so, Elena was worried, afraid that the massive tornado would swallow them whole.
There was a loud whistling sound, along with explosions and crackling noises—so many sounds that struck fear into Elena's heart.
She turned quickly and looked above the house, where the tornado was now visible due to how close it had gotten.
She dropped to her knees, covering her ears in fear. The tornado mixed with fire seemed capable of swallowing them whole with its terrifying size.
For a moment, she wanted to tear out her eardrums. The sounds were unbearably loud, and the whistling was like nails being scraped harshly across glass.
Elena pulled her hand toward her neck, feeling around as if something were wrapped around it.
Her breathing had become so tight that she felt she couldn't inhale any air. Cold sweat dripped from her forehead, and her body trembled violently.
"Elena!" Meryl shouted in worry upon seeing Elena's physical state. She ran toward her in fear when she saw her collapse onto the cold grass, unconscious.
"Miss cloud, can you stop the sounds from passing through the barrier, please!" Meryl shouted after lifting Elena into her arms, then ran toward the house.
She pushed the door open with her foot and hurried to the couch, where she gently laid Elena down.
Tulip walked toward Elena anxiously, looked at her for a few moments, then began moving his hands in the air, wanting to ask: "Is she okay?"
Meryl nodded after catching her breath and said in a low voice, "She had a panic attack. She'll be fine once she wakes up."
She removed her earplugs to check whether the sound of the tornado had disappeared, then gestured to Tulip to remove his as well.
She sat on the ground, exhausted, while Tulip returned to sit beside Alvin, watching him anxiously, waiting eagerly for him to wake up.
Later, Elena woke up and ended up in the bathroom with Meryl after checking all directions and making sure the fire tornado was no longer around them.
As for Alvin, he was pretending to be asleep, unwilling to open his eyes to avoid getting caught up with Mr. Pie.
If his planet noticed he was awake, they'd start talking again—and Alvin was a lazy young man who didn't like to talk much.
cloud sat near his head with a sarcastic expression. "I know you're awake!" she whispered mockingly in his ear.
Alvin acted as if he heard nothing, but his eyelids twitched slightly. cloud smiled and continued, "You heartless, soulless thing. Your friends are worried about you, and here you are pretending to sleep?"
Alvin kept up the act, unmoved by her harsh words. "Do you think your planet doesn't know you're not actually asleep? You can't fool a planet with such lousy acting."
Alvin sighed, then raised his hand and waved it in several directions, trying to shoo cloud away from his head.
Tulip gasped in surprise when he saw him move, then threw himself into Alvin's arms, his eyes glistening with tears.
Alvin was awake—which meant he wasn't going to die! Tulip felt joy wash over him at that realization.
"This child is very attached to you. I wonder, what will happen to him after your death?" Cloud asked, bored of the emotional scene she was witnessing.
"Leave me alone!" Alvin said loudly. Tulip thought the words were directed at him, so he immediately moved away, thinking he had annoyed Alvin with his hug.
Alvin pulled him back into his arms and said, "I wasn't talking to you. There's a fly buzzing around my head."
Cloud's expression twisted with anger. She raised her hands, intending to strangle him, but stopped when Alvin signaled to Tulip with his hand, silently saying: "Not in front of Tulip!"
After saying many reassuring words to Tulip, Alvin managed to leave the house and see their current location from outside. He was looking at the surrounding planetary cameras when he sensed Cloud nearby.
"You mentioned my planet earlier… do you know it?" Alvin asked, curious to learn more about Mr. Pie. Since Mr. Pie was a secretive planet who never shared much, Alvin had grown curious about him.
"Of course I know him. He's among Mr. Elior's close circle," Cloud replied while examining a lemon between her fingers.
"He didn't tell you anything about himself, did he?" she asked with a slight smirk.
Alvin didn't see a problem in nodding honestly. She then said again, "What do you want to know? But remember, I can't reveal everything I know. I'll only tell you what I'm allowed to share."
"Who is he? And what is his name?"—those were the first two questions that crossed his mind.
"Planets are beings completely different from you, in every way. They have a planet of their own. In fact, the title 'planets' is something they recently chose for themselves, just so no other creatures could recognize them."
cloud squeezed half a lemon into her mouth, then added, "The answer to your first question is: your planet is simply a being like you, but different from you in every way."
"And his name?" Alvin asked after processing what he'd just heard.
"I can't tell you that. And don't ask me why."
Alvin decided to let the question go, afraid she might change her mind and leave before answering the rest of his questions. "What about his superpower?"
"Your planet has no superpowers."
"Is that even possible? I mean... is it possible for a planet not to have a superpower?"
"No. All planets have superpowers. Yours doesn't—for reasons specific to him, and I can't reveal them." cloud went silent for a moment, studying Alvin's stray expression.
She seemed to consider something for a few seconds before saying, "You can ask Mr. Elior—maybe he'll give you the answers you're looking for."
Alvin read Mr. Pie's message and immediately knew he was mocking him.
"If you'd just tell me what you know, I wouldn't have to chase you down," Alvin said aloud. cloud had already turned away, heading back home, uninterested in hearing Alvin's conversation with his planet.
[Why are you so curious about me? I really don't understand why you want to get to know me!]
Alvin ignored the message and focused on something more important. "Do you really have no superpower?"
[...]
[What would change if I answered you?]
Alvin hummed thoughtfully for a moment, trying to come up with a response—not for Mr. Pie, but for himself. What would change in his life if he knew the answer?
Maybe he'd finally stop thinking about "What is Mr. Pie's power?" and give his mind a break from running through hundreds of wild guesses every time the thought came up.
"I'd feel mentally and physically relieved," he answered dramatically.