It took Zaen a week to finally accept the new reality of his life. Aeron was gone and uncle Mack was right. If Aeron were to see Zaen in his current situation, it would only hurt him more. So rather than sulking about his loss, Zaen finally decided to step out of Aeron's room.
He expected to be alone because even uncle Mack had a job to do. Yet he was surprised to find Uncle Mack snoring loudly on the sofa bed right outside his room. His belongings were scattered all over the floor.
"Looks like he didn't leave once he came here. He's too kind for his own good." Zaen mumbled and headed towards the kitchen.
He hadn't had a proper meal in a week, so his stomach was grumbling like crazy. He made breakfast for the two of them before heading out for a walk around the block to clear his head. He had to think about what to do next.
He kept walking while thinking about all the good times he had spent with Aeron. How they used to play tag and run around like fools. How Aeron would always tell him about the latest technological advancements and whatnot. How Aeron would scold him for spending too much time playing games online.
Now that Zaen thought back, he was supposed to be Aeron's caretaker, yet it was always the other way around. Aeron had matured a lot since their parents went missing and now... he was gone too. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to have each other's backs. Aeron was supposed to become the biggest inventor in Astran's history. But none of it came true. All because of that stupid mist.
Zaen took a deep breath and wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eyes.
'No more crying Zaen.' He reminded himself, 'You can't let Aeron see you like this.'
Zaen found it unusual how nothing seemed to change around him. People went missing all the time, yet no one even thought about finding a way to stop the mist. Cars overflowed the roads, as usual, people were rushing in and out of buildings doing their jobs. Everything was normal, nothing had changed, yet Zaen felt like this wasn't the world he had been living in so far.
Lost in his thoughts, He didn't notice but he went way out of his block and was now standing in front of the local park. The boundary walls surrounding the park were covered with posters of missing people. Thousands of posters and not a single soul that went missing was ever found.
The park wasn't the only such place though. Every famous place in their city of Lizan was filled with such posters. It was then Zaen realised how many families had been torn because of the mist. The mystery of the mist that no one could solve. Zaen wondered why Lizan was the hotspot for the mist. None of the neighbouring cities had ever felt the wrath of the mist, so why was Lizan the only place where people were doomed to suffer?
"Maybe I should leave Lizan... this place has nothing left for me." He mumbled.
It was true. He didn't have any family left and living in Lizan would only remind him of the pain of losing everyone he cared about. He wondered if his parents were even alive? Or How they'll react to Aeron's disappearance? Would they even care?
Zaen let out a sad smile. He knew he would never find answers to his questions. More than that, thinking was never his strong suit.
"Yeah... it's time I left this place. Aeron always wanted to travel around the world. I might as well fulfil his one wish now before the mist swallows me too." He pulled the hoodie over his face and walked back to his family home.
****
The next day...
"So you're dead serious about leaving?" Uncle Mack's voice echoed through the phone's speaker.
"Mm-hmm," Zaen mumbled as he packed his parent's leftover stuff in a box.
Uncle Mack sighed but didn't protest or asked any more questions. Grief made people do weird things and everyone had their own way of dealing with the pain of losing someone. For Mack he did it by throwing himself into work, maybe moving away would help Zaen heal too?
"Alright then. Feel free to ask me if you need anything." Uncle Mack said.
"Now that you mentioned it. Could you set up a trust to help those who have lost someone to the mist?" Zaen asked, "You can use what's left of the trust mom and dad left for me and Aeron, as Aeron was the only one who needed the money in the trust, I think it's better to put the money towards a better cause."
"You sure about it? I mean it's a lot of money."
"Yes, Uncle. Thanks to my streams, I have more than enough to fend for myself for a least the next decade. The recent events made me realise money wasn't everything. Family, on the other hand, is."
"Your parents would've been proud of you. Alright, I'll see what I can do. You can focus on packing your stuff."
"Thanks, uncle Mack." Zaen mumbled before disconnecting the call, "Alright, let's see what's in this box."
Zaen pulled out an antique-looking black wooden box from the bottom of the pile. The box wasn't any bigger than his palms combined and it wasn't heavy at all. The box itself was covered in blue and white gems. His parents owned a lot of fancy stuff but the box was fancier than the rest of the stuff his parents possessed.
"I wonder what they kept inside it..."
Curiosity got the better of him as he lifted the lid on the box. Inside the box were a letter and an old first-generation smartphone. Zaen was a bit confused. Why would his parents keep an old phone inside such a nice box?
He thought maybe there was some secret compartment inside the box but there wasn't. The letter and the phone were the only things inside the box. Zaen opened the letter first as he was pretty sure an antique-looking smartphone wouldn't work either way. As he had expected, it was another letter from his parents.
[Dear Zaen,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We know it might not be your birthday when you open this package but still let's just say it was your birthday. The fact that you've been going through our stuff means we have been gone for longer than expected. Sadly, we can't tell you where we're going. It's too dangerous for your own good.
Now coming back to the important stuff. The phone you found along with this letter is... an artifact. You always wanted to know what we did for a living, didn't you? Well, it's the right time to tell you now. Your mother and I are both treasure hunters and the device we had left along with this letter was something we found during our first expedition. We still don't know what it truly is, but we do know it is not just an antique phone. Maybe you can find the answers we couldn't? Who knows? Just tinker around with it for your old man's sake.
Anyways, take care of yourself and Aeron. Also, don't give Mack a hard time, we already owe him a lot for taking care of you and your brother in our absence.
With love,
Dad.]
"Wow... out of all the things I thought my parents did, treasure hunting never crossed my mind. Even though I've pretty much grown living around antiques." Zaen mumbled and read the letter once again.
"It seems like a usual old phone, not some artifact. Wait a minute, was dad trying to pull a prank on me or something? That old sly fox- OWW!"
Zaen picked up the old phone in his hand and the next moment, he felt an electric shock so strong he involuntarily threw the phone away.
"That thing had been lying in this room for over a year. How the hell did it still have power?" Zaen cursed out loud while shaking his left hand which had gone numb.
He carefully approached the mysterious device once again. To his surprise, the phone had completely changed. It no longer looked like the old rundown device he was holding onto a moment ago. Rather, it looked almost futuristic. The previously grey colour was replaced with black and the broken screen was fixed as well. However, the most surprising thing was that it was working! How did Zaen know it was working? Because the device just got a 'Notification'.
Weird symbols were displayed on the screen of the device yet Zaen could somehow understand what was written on it.
[Congratulations Mortal! You've been chosen to be humanity's champion!]