"Hey Arthur, what's taking so long for the fries bud?" Kael asked impatiently as he moved towards the kitchen.
"Oh manager, why are you holding that? Gimme that, you still need rest" Kael said as he noticed Mathew holding the container absentmindedly. He took that container and walked outside the kitchen.
Mathew didn't know what to do and immediately went towards Valerio who was at the
counter handling the payments. He didn't alert the others on the way.
"Mr. Val, there's something I need to tell you," Mathew said with a frown.
"Tell me Mathew" Valerio asked, still counting the money. He was in a happy mood.
"Kael, crispy wings to this table" Ruby shouted.
"Yeah, ok" Kael shouted back.
"Mr. Val…the thing is, Arthur just disappeared right in front of my eyes," Mathew said, still in
confusion as to what happened.
"What???" Valerio asked as he dropped the cash and looked at Mathew in disbelief.
"Yeah Mr Val, he was just standing right in front of me and the next moment, he just
disappeared without a trace" Mathew explained, trying to keep his calm.
"Ruby take over here for a bit," Valerio said hurriedly as he moved toward the kitchen with
Mathew.
"Sure thing" Ruby replied.
"Show me where that happened" Valerio looked at Mathew as they reached the kitchen.
Mathew pointed at where Arthur disappeared.
Valerio placed his hands on the ground and closed his eyes. He saw some vague glimpses
of an old man in a bar, drinking.
"What is it, Mr Val?" Mathew asked.
"I saw an old man drinking" Valerio replied with a frown.
"That's it?" Mathew asked in disappointment. "and I only felt a faint Nova signature but it's no ordinary Nova. If my intuition is not wrong, we might've stumbled upon someone who might be the next divine fragment" Valerio replied seriously.
"That's a good thing isn't it?" Mathew asked, happy at the prospect of finding the next
fragment.
"We can't always be sure, they may also be hostile. Anyway, I think that someone who may
possess one of the 12 divine fragments has taken Arthur for some reason, we should look
into it" Valerio replied calmly.
"Alright, Mr Val" Mathew nodded.
"I'll tell you all the plan after we close," Valerio said.
"Oh, the twins are in it too?" Mathew asked curiously.
"Yeah, it's time that they get some experience" Valerio replied.
Soon it was closing time.
"What a day. Even though it's tiring, it's great to be back to work" Ruby said with a sigh as
she sat down for a while.
"Can't disagree on that" Lyra nodded.
"Yupp" Kael also nodded.
"Okay guys, it's time. I'm heading home" Ruby said as he started to pack her belongings.
"Bye Ruby, get home safe" Lyra replied. Just as Ruby was about to leave she thought about
something and frowned.
"Wait, where's Arthur? Did he leave already?" Ruby asked.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him" Lyra replied. Just now she noticed that, she didn't
notice Arthur for a while.
"I think he was with the manager, I don't know" Kael replied, shaking his head in confusion.
"Arthur was feeling a little lightheaded, so I sent him home" Valerio, who joined their
conversation replied.
"Oh, is that so? He needs to take care of his health. Anyway, I'm leaving" Ruby said as
started to leave the shop.
After Ruby left, Valerio locked the door of the shop.
"Kael, Lyra, we've got something to tell you," Mathew said as he sat near the twins.
"Yes, sure" Lyra replied.
"Arthur disappeared when he was working," Valerio said in a calm tone. The twins looked at
each other in confusion.
"Disappear?? But you said he wasn't feeling well" Kael asked with a frown.
"Kael, you dummy, you want Uncle Val to say Arthur disappeared when Ruby was still
there?" Lyra asked in a mocking tone.
"Ah sorry about that. Anyway, what happened?" Kael asked. He couldn't guess how Arthur
could disappear when everyone was present. If it was an enemy, they would've at least
sensed something.
Mathew explained what happened to the twins as clearly as possible.
"So, he vanished in front of your eyes without a trace?" Lyra asked with a frown. Mathew just
nodded.
"Anyway, we gotta search for him right, he might be in danger," Kael said.
"I did my thing and I was able to sense faint traces of Nova left behind. It belongs to one of
the 12 divine fragments. I'm not able to pinpoint the location of the user, something's
blocking me. But I can faintly sense Arthur's presence. It's kinda weird, it's like he is with us
but at the same time he isn't" Valerio explained his findings calmly.
"We need to search for Arthur and also convince the user to join us somehow. We've got
some real work to do" Mathew said with a sigh.
"Wait…wait, by 'we' means including the two of us??" Lyra asked with a tinge of excitement.
"Yes, it's time that you both gained some real experience" Valerio replied with a laugh.
…
Arthur looked around everywhere in confusion and panic. He was in the shop a while ago
then with a blink he was now somewhere else. He looked down and noticed that he was on
the terrace of some building.
"Ah..where am I? Where am I? I was just holding the bowl of fries in my hands and the next
thing I know, I ended up in this place" Arthur muttered in panic and confusion.
He lifted his head and looked around. He was Raven's burger and the whole city of
Mythrails. But the only odd thing is that everything looks like a reflection in a mirror. There is
a veil of thin darkness covering everything.
The details stayed the same but the orientation of everything was reversed, like everything
was a reflection.
"What the hell is happening to me? Am I having another one of the weird dreams? Then will I
wake up in a while? Anyway, I should just stay strong and not revert to my cowardly
self" Arthur muttered, bracing himself for any bizarre event that was about to unfold.
Ever since he had started seeing some strange things and had strange dreams, his
tolerance for the unknown has increased a little and his temperament also become a bit
calmer.
Arthur got down from the terrace and entered Raven's burger. As he guessed, he didn't see
anyone. Not losing hope, he walked around the city of Mythrails all alone.
As he was walking Arthur noticed an old man. He was the only living thing Arthur saw in this
strange world.
"Hey..grandpa!" Arthur shouted while waving his hands. But the old man didn't hear him and
took a turn and entered another street.
"No...I've gotta catch up to him" Arthur muttered as he ran after the old man at his highest
speed.
As he entered the street the old man took, he noticed a bar at the end of the street. It's the
same bar that Orion and Piers met.
"A bar?" Arthur muttered as he walked towards the bar in confusion. He opened the door
and saw the old man drinking on the counter. There was no one in the bar. No customers, no
bartender. Just this strange old man.
"Woah kid, what are you doing in a place like this? It's impossible for me to get visitors here,
you know?" the old man asked after noticing Arthur open the door.
"Grandpa, where am I? And why is no one around? And why is Mythrails different, like it's
been reversed?" Arthur asked a quick barrage of questions. Since only this old man was
here, Arthur thought he may know at least something.
"Grandpa huh? I'm still in my youth. I may look old but I'm not a day past my prime" the old
man replied with a puffed chest. His cheeks were a bit flushed as he was still drunk.
"And about this place, even if I told you, you won't understand a single thing," he said as he
sipped on a glass of drink.
"Even I barely understand it after being here for 5 years" he muttered to himself.
"Huh? Okay anyway, how should we get out of this place?" Arthur asked with hope since the
old man didn't want to reveal anything about this place.
"Haha, if I knew the answer, I wouldn't be stuck here for the past 5 years kid" the old man
laughed loudly, there was a hint of madness in his laugh.
"What?? 5 years?? You've been here all alone for the past 5 years and you couldn't get
out??" Arthur asked in despair. He was starting to lose hope.
"That's right kid, don't panic. Enjoy your youth and I can't keep calling you kid since I don't
know how long you will be stuck here with me. So what's your name?" the old man asked
with a smile. It seemed like he made his peace and lost all hope about leaving this place.
"It's..it's Arthur" Arthur replied.
The old man took out another glass and poured a drink. He handed it to Arthur.
"Here Arthur, to new beginnings," the old man said as he raised his glass for a toast.
"Sorry Grandpa, I am not of drinking age" Arthur replied, scratching his head in
embarrassment.
"Oh, what a loser," the old man said in disappointment.
"But grandp-"
"Jayden, call me Jayden," Jayden said with a smile.