After rebounding to madam Della's clock tower, a week passed, and in those seven days, everyone returned to Acropolis. They recovered well and said goodbye to Amber. Uncertain if Amber was their friend or an enemy, they accepted it and moved on, knowing they'd meet again in the future. The draft of the breeze coursed through Acropolis like a bird returning to its nest, reuniting with its fledglings.
Timothy and Chiaki got diverted to a market to pick up medication for Aurora, who slept in Kheer's apartment tightly close to the academy.
The store they planned to find seemed built in a bustling street around the waterpark where youths and grown-ups could freshen up.
"Here we are..." Timothy readied to open the door but didn't have to accomplish anything. The entry was automatic. It fanned open by itself, which never existed on the western side. "I didn't expect anything less..." he unamusingly walked inside with Chiaki, watching one of the visitors leave the counter with a sack and exit.
"Welcome," a woman greeted Timothy with a kind and polite smile. She had green eyes and purple braided hair, "Thanks," He stepped in front of the counter, "Would it be feasible to get the medication for one of my friends?" The woman grabbed Timothy's prescription, "Oh... It's doable, but we're missing ezarant to create the medicine. I should be able to give it to you in two days when the first stockpiles arrive." Chiaki gradually peeked from behind Timothy and traded gazes with the woman.
Chiaki's and the woman's eyes quavered simultaneously, becoming awestruck in astonishment, "E-Emma? I-Is that you?" Timothy, speechless, observed them, and with each passing second, his eyes blinked, "C-Chiaki?"
Emma and Chiaki beamed with unbridled happiness and instantly embraced each other tightly, "It's really you!" Chiaki ensured to dig her face deep into Emma's chest, "You're safe! Oh, look at how much you've grown."
Timothy could see tears of joy around their eyelids, "E-Emma... I-I don't... I can't. I'm so happy to see you again. I-I thought you forgot about me." Chiaki's cheeks reddened as her eyes jittered with enthusiasm, knowing she once again embraced the person who cared for her as a child and protected her. She felt Emma's warm and gentle skin holding her.
"I feel the same way, Chiaki. Ever since you left, I always dreamed of and wanted to see you again in the future. If I could only see you sooner."
Timothy folded his arms and smiled, witnessing Chiaki regain more of her bliss. "Fate's gone and done it once again." Timothy chuckled kind-heartedly and scratched the rear of his head. "Emma... I know it's been a while since you met somebody with me, but this is Tim. He's my friend." Emma looked at him, stood up, and pressed her palm on her bosom, "Hello, I'm Emma. I don't know how to thank you. I may sound a bit impulsive, but Chiaki never had reasonable friends when she was little. Her brother was the only one who truly cared about her. To see her with somebody else but her brother; it's a wish come true."
Timothy didn't seem to mind Emma's illustration, "I know, I've learned about her past. I'm happy for her now that she's free." Chiaki became embarrassed, looking at Timothy, and puffed with her cheeks, "Stop talking like that! It's uncomfortable." She fixed her view on Emma, "A-Anyway, Emma. What's ezarant?"
Emma grabbed a piece of paper and wrote on it with a pencil, "It's the ingredient for the Menocept, the medicine you have on your prescription. Ezarant is also one of the leading components for several antidotes and other antibiotics. It's usually found near the sea or underwater. It looks like a pink grass pelt, only found in the eastern waters. The medication decreases the person's fatigue and speeds up the process of hormones. It's a rather simple restorative to supply anyone with enough energy. It's one of the most common orders in many cities. It's why we run out of stock significantly fast. Many people nowadays feel weary and buy this medicine, such as scholars and grown-ups with stress-giving jobs. It's not a drug, but very adequate. More than rest itself."
Emma dropped the pencil and gazed at them, "May I ask who needs this medicine? It's one of your friends, I assume." She read Timothy's eye movement, indicating he was truthful, "For a girl named Katherine Mitchell. Well, most people refer to her as Aurora. She bore a fatal disease and recently got cured thanks to the stimulant we obtained in Cyber Refuge. She's been feeling heavily depleted since the last week. Administrator Forest told us to come here with a prescription we obtained from her doctor."
Emma acted oddly, astounded, "Cyber Refuge? You *actually* discovered it? I wouldn't believe you if you were some stranger. I'd think you were outlandish. That's amazing." Chiaki politely replied to Emma, "It's not really a "physical" island underwater. The rumors were false. Cyber Refuge is actually a virtual experience — a videogame — programmed to be playable on a touch phone. The game records your consciousness and sucks you in like a torrent, and makes you feel like you're *really* inside the real world, while in actuality, your true body's vulnerable somewhere else. If you die in that game, you die in the real world too."
Just hearing about the hazard they went through, Emma became dismayed and could only imagine they had a high chance of dying, "You don't understand how relieved I am that you're all okay. I'd be scared down to my last breath to be in there." Chiaki giggled, recollecting what transpired in Cyber Refuge with Timothy, "When there's Tim, you don't need to worry about anything. He'll lighten the mood in ~ one way or another. He's a — quote on quote — pirate with $500 million of bolts. But he's more of a toddler than a pirate." Timothy's eyes squinted, "Hey! I'm 18 years old!"
Chiaki and Emma both laughed, "That's sweet." Timothy became ashamed and uncomfortable, "Come on. Don't treat me like a kid."
"Anyway... Please, come in two days. Menocept won't be ready until then."
Timothy and Chiaki approved and decided to wait for the next 48 hours to pick up the medication for Aurora, desiring it would help her.
To be continued...