Opening his eyes calmly, all Arthur could see was an infinite blue sky, with slowly spaced clouds.
A gentle breeze hit his body, lifting his fine clothes. It made his hair tremble slightly.
The feel of the sand under his body was also fluffy, making the body want to sink.
The sound of the sea in the distance was like a melody to the ears, making the experience indescribable.
"Hi, sleepyhead!" A soft, childlike voice echoed in his right ear. It looked sweet and happy.
Looking at whoever was beside him, Arthur slowly stiffened his body and widened his eyes. But his heart, which was beating like crazy, slowly calmed down, as if it were magic.
"Hi, little one!" With a warm smile, the sincerest he's ever given since he can remember, Arthur stared at the small girl beside him.
This little girl had a pale white color, thin body, as if she was underfed, but still had a gentle smile on her face. Her black hair reached halfway down her back and swayed in the slightest gust of wind.
"Just because you've grown, you can't call me little! I remember I was much bigger than you, hehe!" The little girl responded with a bit of anger, but it was soon accompanied by a goofy grin.
Arthur didn't say anything in response, but just stood up. He walked over to her and took her by the arms, placing her on top of his trapeze. Her tiny, spindly legs were on the sides of his head, and it looked like a father carrying his daughter at an amusement park.
"I like it that way!" The girl opened her arms and enjoyed the breeze. After a while enjoying the wind, the girl looked at Arthur beneath her and asked, "How are you?"
An indifferent expression appeared on Arthur's face as he replied, "Walking where life takes me..."
Even though he said it with indifference, it still seemed to have a hint of sadness.
Bang!
"Ouch!" Arthur exclaimed.
""Ouch" nothing! Do you think this is good!?" The little girl kept hitting Arthur on the head.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Okay, okay! I take back what I said. I'm living very happy, haha!" Arthur opened a small smile.
"That's very good!" The little girl displayed a winning smile and puffed out her chest.
The two walked in silence and enjoyed the view of the sea. There was nothing but this beach and the endless sea and sky.
"Brother, I can't be m-" The little girl started to speak, but Arthur stopped her words.
"Don't say anything...please..."
The little girl fell silent again and put her thin arms around Arthur's head to support her head. Occasionally she played with his hair too.
Without realizing it, Arthur grabbed the girl's ankles, and held them gently.
"Love you…" The little girl's voice sounded again.
Arthur stopped walking, as if he had been held by something. His eyes couldn't contain the single tear that ran down his face.
"I…" The words that had caught in Arthur's throat were finally coming out, when the feel of the girl's thin, soft ankle left his hands.
Sensing it, Arthur's fists clenched tightly, making drop after drop of blood run down his hand, as if a sharp knife had cut a cut there.
The endless blue sea and sky immediately turned a blood red color, the sand under his feet began to crystallize and turn to avid glass.
The sea began to become turbulent and wave after wave threatened to destroy everything. In the distance, a huge wave of red water appeared, soon forming a tsunami.
Arthur faced that horrible scene with tears in his eyes, which could be described as the worst nightmare of many. He waited patiently, not trying to run from his inevitable fate.
The red tsunami finally hit the beach, submerging everything, until it swallowed Arthur's figure.
***
"AAAARGH!"
A sharp cry of pain erupted from the bathroom as Arthur's body emerged from the bloody water. The cascade of blood ran over his body, which was now thin and pale.
Waiting for the water to run out of his eyes, and also trying to analyze the condition of his own body, Arthur stood still for a moment.
After a few moments, he finally opened his eyes and stared at the tub he was in. The water at that time was already hot and red, with some black spots as well.
Trying to lift his body from the bathtub, Arthur found himself unable to. When he took his arms out of the water, he saw that they were thin, as if he had lost too much weight. Any force he tried to put to his feet was accompanied by a shudder.
After a few minutes of effort, Arthur managed to get out of the tub and stand in front of a mirror, leaning on his weak legs.
"Mercy..." A sneer appeared on Arthur's thin face. His eyes were hooded under dark circles, while his pale skin made his look like a thin-skinned skeleton.
The three-centimeter hole in his right chest was almost gone, leaving only a small wound, but it was already oozing blood, due to Arthur's excessive movements to lift himself.
A skeleton with skin. That's what Arthur looked like at the moment. The blood running down his chest, along with his wet hair running down the red liquid from the tub, even gave it a scary touch.
Arthur ignored this and turned on the shower.
"System, what happened to my head?" Arthur asked with an indifferent expression.
After a few moments of silence, the system responded.
"Okay, got it…" With a touch of sadness, Arthur dropped the subject.
After washing away the blood that was on his body, Arthur put on some clothes and left the room.
Just as he was about to go downstairs, his legs, which had been shaking from the bathroom, couldn't hold on, and he was going to fall down the stairs.
But just as his body was about to collapse, a hand gripped his sweater from behind.
Arthur didn't even have to look back to know who it was. And he didn't want to either.
But even though he didn't want to, he felt Thomas grab his waist and support his body.
Calmly descending the stairs, the two brothers walked to the kitchen. Thomas helped Arthur to the table.
He went to the fridge, got about 7 lunchboxes, and put them one at a time to heat in the microwave.
As he waited for the food to heat up, Thomas looked at Arthur. His eyes were cold, but also a little wet.
"Thomas, I-" Arthur was about to explain, as it was impossible to leave him without an answer.
"You do not need to say anything. I get it. Keep calm." Thomas shook his head and looked at Arthur with a smile. It wasn't threatening or anything like that, but a reassuring smile that one brother would give another.
Arthur looked a little surprised at Thomas, before sighing and saying:
"You grow up..."
"I had to..." Thomas turned to face the microwave.
The silence in the kitchen continued, along with the early morning silence. After a while, the food warmed up and Thomas took it to Arthur to eat, while he was already putting another lunch box in the microwave.
By the time the food was in front of him, it wasn't a minute before Arthur had devoured it all. Though he wouldn't admit it, the hunger he felt was almost deadly.
Thomas was shocked by the sight, but was soon calm.
The scene of him taking the food and Arthur decorating it continued until 3:45am, when the lunchboxes ran out.
Arthur was still very hungry, but his appearance had already changed a lot. The healthy white color returned, and his body no longer resembled a skeleton.
The "Universes Absorber" technique operated at full capacity, replacing the necessary energy where it needed it. His muscles had already grown a little, looking better.
Since he was better, Arthur walked to the cupboard and pulled out some pots.
Adding water to all of them, Arthur placed them on the fire. After adding salt, he stirred and waited for the water to boil. After putting in lots of rice and pasta, he waited while looking at Thomas.
"You don't need to explain to me what you do or anything like that. I admit that everything that has happened lately is very strange, but I also cannot say that what I do is normal. The important thing is that you don't die, and ask me for help when you need it." Thomas spoke up, before Arthur could say anything else.
"Alright!" Arthur nodded with a smile on his face.
While waiting for the rice and pasta to be ready, Arthur took a large piece of meat, cut and seasoned. He then placed 6 neatly arranged pieces in a skillet and covered.
He didn't mean to make it wonderfully tasty, but he wasn't going to eat it raw either.
In the meantime, Thomas had already said goodbye and gone to bed.
Some time later, Arthur took a small bowl and threw in the rice, pasta with tomato sauce, and the pieces of meat.
He devoured everything, down to the last grain. He then went to the fruit basket and ate all he had, but he was still hungry, and a lot.
"But at least it's manageable. There won't be a lot of time to cook again, and I won't eat everything indoors either."
It was around 5:30 when Arthur stopped devouring things. He even looked for food in the mobile app, but most stores were closed. But with that he had an idea.
He quickly called a number and when the call was answered he asked:
"Hey, do you sell snacks too?"