Chapter 10: Bonding

  “Alright.” Isaac took the small box off his bed and opened it. Inside was a round silver stone with a symbol of arrows zig zagging in a line. There was a note atop that said Shift jump. He took hold of it, looking to Artemis. “Ready?”

  Artemis gave a nod. “Mhm.”

  “Ok. Scan spell.”

  “Scanning.” The glove fluctuated a white light from the palm for a few seconds. “Spell added. Transmitting.”

  “Mmmm.” Artemis swayed with daze, his eyes turning yellow. It lasted for a few seconds before he shook out of it, returning to normal.

  “Complete.”

  “Good?” Isaac asked.

  “I'm good.” Artemis answered.

  “Great.” Opening his display, he went to the spell. “Lets see…seems this spell does a quick jump from your current spot to another. Oh it even tells the max we can go, mines at ten meters.”

  “What's it say for me?”

  “It’s broken up into three parts. Seal two is twenty, seal one is thirty five, and zero is…wow seventy.”

  “Seventy? Wow that's far!”

  “Yeah.” Setting the box and stone away into his night stand chest, he wondered: “Wonder if it can be used continuously, like Tracers blink.”

  “Tracer?”

  “Character in a game called Overwatch...a dead game called Overwatch.” He said with some discomfort.

  Artemis tilted his head: “Dead?”

  “Meaning not a lot of people are playing it.”

  “Was it a bad game?”

  Sighing, Isaac responded with a tinge of pain: “Wasn't always bad.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I'll explain later.”

  “Ok?”

  A few raps came across the front door. “Oh they're here.”

  “Game time!” Artemis jumped up with excitement and perched onto Isaac’s shoulder. The two went to open the door, seeing Lyla and Sofi.

  Lyla was holding a box with board games in it and a bag, smiling widely. “Hey guys! It's game time!”

  “Hey Isaac! Artemis! Thanks for having us!” Sofi greeted and petted Artemis.

  “Meow!” Artemis returned the greeting.

  “Good to see you gals.” Isaac smiled while letting them in. “What games you bring?”

  Setting the box down next to the table and the bag next to it, Lyla opened it up. “I got ones that were easy for paws, that way,” She took out a game of Scrabble, “he can play without issue!”

  “Scrabble?”

  “Yeah, Artemis knows words, and he can use your phone to look up if a word is a word.”

  “I guess that's fine.”

  “Meow?” Artemis was curious about the game.

  Sofi answered: “Scrabbles a word game, you make words and earn points for them. The number on the word tiles are the points you get for using that word and there are panels that grant bonuses.”

  “Hm.” Artemis nodded along.

  “Sofi, do you mind setting up the board while we get the camera ready?” Lyla asked.

  Sofi nodded, coming to the table. “Where are you setting the camera?”

  “Across the couch.” She called out in Isaac's room, getting the gear along with him.

  “Right across?”

  “Well more so at an angle, like on the left of the tv.”

  “In that case.” Knowing where the camera would be, she opened the box and set the board down, turning it in a way to where the corner would face the camera. “Alright.” As she went to get the rest, Artemis approached with a subtle meow. “Heh, wanna help me out?”

  The feline nodded, reaching in grabbing a few tiles. “Meow?” He cried in question looking around the board as if figuring out where they went.

  “No no, yo dont put those on the board yet, they’re placed while you play. Those go in this dis-” From the box Sofi pulled out a cylindrical device that had an opening on the top with a ring of numbers that went from one to nine and an exit at the bottom front into a dispenser bowl. It had a decal of hot rod flames all around it. “-penser.” Her expression sank with disappointment to the decal, unamused by it. “Why hot rod flames?”

  “Meow?”

  Lyla and Isaac were gathering the camera set up in his room. “Camera check.” Lyla was examining the device, making sure it was in working order.

  Isaac had gotten the cords and stand. “What snacks you bring, by the way?”

  “Some crackers, cheese sticks, gummies, stuff to hold us over til pizza.”

  “Pizza?”

  “Yeah I ordered pizza.”

  “When?”

  “Ordered when I pulled up. Should be here in about ten to fifteen minutes. It's a game night, Pizza is a must!”

  “Not untrue, but were you ever gonna tell me? For all you know I could’ve made something ahead of time.”

  “Oh I wasn't worried, you never do that.” She chuckled.

  “I don't?” He thought back a bit. “Huh…guess I don’t.”

  “Well it's not like you’re a chef, you’re a simple cook so stuff you make is pretty quick so it's not like you need to prep ahead of time.”

  “Yeah, I guess that's true. Not like I'm making casseroles or salt cookies.”

  “Ye-hey!” Catching the reference, she swirled her head around to give him a small with a slight pouty puff of her cheeks.

  “Hehe.” Isaac, unphased, gave a cheeky smile.

  She huffed, going back to checking the camera. “I'll pinch you later. Camera’s good.”

  “Great!” He followed her outside to the living room. “Got everything.” He told the two at the table.

  “We're almost done too.” Sofi stated. Artemis was currently sliding the tiles into the dispense. It was surprisingly easy for him, able to take the tiles and slide them in the slot without trouble, albeit kinda slow. He was a tad slowed down by listening to Sofi, the actor explaining: “And if you manage to place a tile on those spots, you get a multiplier of that amount in the points.”

  “Meoow.” Artemis nodded in understanding and intrigue.

  Placing the stand and plugging in the cords, Isaac surmised: “Teaching him the rules?”

  “Yep!” Sofi answered. “He’s understanding it pretty well.”

  “He’s a smart cat.”

  “He very much is.” Leaning to the cat, holding her chin with a maniacal eye and menacing wide grin. “Zis must ve studdied.” Her accent turned german.

  “Mrow?” Artemis was taken aback by her sudden shift, but not too much.

  She reached out to him with a soft aura of malice, her fingers stretched out, close to grabbing but not commiting, keeping it close and around the cat's head. “Zuch Intelligence…vwill be a powerful asset to ze fatherland.” Narrowing her eyes, intensifying the malice while widening the expression her lips had, she continued: “Your compliance is zere, vright?”

  “Mmmm.” He furrowed his eyelids in untrustworthiness with a calm posture, not showing any sign of intimidation. “...Mow.” His paw reached out, beans up, furling his claws inward.

  “Hm?” Her smile faltered into a curious twist, raising of brow, not quite understanding his gesture.

  “Mow mow.” Again he flicked his claws towards him in a gimme gesture.

  Pulling her hand back and returning her melancholy grin, she replied: “Ah, compensazion yes?”

  “Hm.” He nodded in confirmation.

  “Do not worry, comrade, you shall be compensated preciously for you vwork!”

  “Ok, calm down, Fuhrer.” Isaac stated as he approached the table.

  “Ze camera is all zet Mein lady.” Lyla announced.

  “Ah, sehr gut!” Sofi thumbed up.

  “Gern geschehen!”

  “Y'know I forgot you learned a little German.” Isaac commented.

  “What do you mean a little? I learned a lot.”

  “Oh yeah? Say can you please grab me a box of cereal from the top drawer in German.”

  “...Anyways the camera’s ready.” Lyla didn't dare look back to see his smug grin.

  “Hmmm.” Isaac looked to the board and his tiles on his rack. There were a few words strewn about and it was his turn. “Ok, then.” He took a few titles and laid them across one of the letters, making the word Blaze using the A in the word Straight that was already on.

  Sofi was the score keeper, writing down the points he had earned. “Alright, Isaac is catching up to Lyla.”

  “Would've been more if you had one more letter to make that triple.” Lyla commented.

  Isaac shrugged: “I tried, but this is pret-”

  “Nya!” Artemis slapped down an R tile at the end of the word Isaac just made.

  “Uh…” He gawked right at the action.

  The cat didn't stop there. “Nya!” He followed up with an S, leaning back with a happy smirk.

  “And that's,” Taking a moment to calculate, Sofi wrote down the points, “Fifty four points. Artemis takes the lead.”

  Isaac slouched, looking at the cat with an irritated twitch of his brow. “Back to third I go.”

  “Nyehehehe!” Artemis laughed.

  “Wait,” Interjected Lyla, “is that even a real word?”

  “Meow!” Without any issue or falter in his grin, Artemis confidently showed Isaacs phone, showing the definition.

  “Huh. Alright.”

  Placing the device back next to him, he tapped the dispenser for two more tiles, placing them on his rack. “Hm?...” As he looked at the assortment, Artemis was quick to type on Isaac’s phone, looking amongst the board, his rack, and his search result.

  “Oh, he’s planning.” Sofi commented with an amused giggle.

  “You better up your game, you’re in last now.” Lyla commented.

  Shrugging, she simply said: “It's fine, I’m just about to pass Isaac.”

  “Huh?” Isaac slightly gawked.

  Grabbing her pieces, she arranged the word Frack using the letter K in the word Keepsake. “Haha!”

  “Ah…damnit.” He slouched.

  With an arrogant and mighty smile, she dramatically pointed to the young man. “To the last place you go, peasant!”

  “Hmmm.” His face somewhat sank with a flat expression, hearing his familiar chuckle at his fate.

  Lyla was shaking dice in her hand. “Give me seven!” Throwing them on the board, she rolled a three and a six, getting nine. “Darn!” They had switched games to Monopoly after Sofi just narrowly won Scrabble. Lyla had chosen the dog piece, moving it across and landing it on a property she didn't own, Isaac was the car, Sofi picked the hat, and Artemis was the cat.

  “That'll be,” Isaac checked through the few property cards that were on Artemis’s side, picking up the one Lyla landed on, “sixty to Artemis.”

  “Mye-how!” Artemis jumped in joy.

  Lyla, with a petty grump, counted the fake money and handed it to Isaac. “Here.”

  “Alright.” He did a quick count of it, placing it under the board on his side.

  Eyeing the money suspiciously, Artemis used his claw tip to lift the stacks, letting them fall one by one, counting them. “Hmmm.”

  Rolling his eyes, Isaac stated: “I counted it right, you paranoid banker.”

  Sofi laughed out: “With an attitude like that he could be a good loan cat.”

  “Nyehehe!” Artemis chuckled, taking a slice of pizza from the plate beside him.

  “Yknow, it's always surprising seeing him eat like that.”

  “Right? Like how did you teach him to hold a pizza slice?” Lyla inquired.

  “Well,” Luckily Isaac was prepped for this question. “Just showed him how he could hold it with his paws, bit of trial and error but it worked better than we thought.”

  “And the fork?” Sofi asked.

  Turning to Sofi, Lyla looked perplexed. “Fork?”

  “Yeah he knows how to use a fork.”

  “Whaaa!?” Her jaw dropped, wiping to Isaac, offended. “I didn't know that!”

  “To be fair,” Isaac defended, “It was recent, he only got the hang of it like last week. And before you say we should’ve texted you, he wanted to showcase it after getting used to the knife.”

  Sofi frowned. “Oh shot, did I ruin a surprise?”

  He calmly waved it off with a smile. “It's fine. He was struggling with knives anyway.”

  Artemis nodded in agreement. “Mew mew.”

  “What else can he hold that I know about?” Lyla asked.

  “Toothbrush.” Isaac answered. Both ladies blinked a few times at him. “What?”

  “He can…”

  “Brush his teeth?” Sofi finished.

  “Y-yeah.”

  “You taught him how to brush his teeth?”

  “I…did.” Their blank stares unnerved him a bit.

  Lyla turned her gaze to Artemis. “Artemis can…brush his teeth.”

  “Me-meow.” The cat nodded, feeling the same unnerving that Isaac did.

  “All on his own with no aid whatsoever?”

  “I only help him with the cup of mouthwash.” Isaac told them. “Other than tha-”

  “Mouthwash!?” Both Sofi and Lyla exclaimed with pure shock, making Isaac and Artemis jostle back a little.

  Lyla nearly slammed her hands on the table, almost yelling: “He knows how to do that!?”

  Nervously, the young man replied: “Y-yep. Gurgles and everything.”

  “How!?”

  “He…tilts his head back a-”

  “No,” Sofi jumped in, “how did you teach him that?”

  “W-well he’s a smart cat so-”

  “I get that he’s smart but this is something else!”

  “I-is it really? I think you guys are overacting.”

  Artemis shook his head in agreement. “Meowow.”

  “We’re not overreacting!” Lyla accusedly pointed at Isaac. “You're under-reacting!”

  “Are we though?” Isaac awkwardly and timidly argued.

  “Where's his toothbrush?”

  “In the cup next to the sink with mine, why?”

  She was quick to get up on her feet and rush to his restroom. “What color?”

  “R-red, where are you going?” He picked up the sound of the sink and the opening of cabinets. “Lyla, what are you doing?”

  “Getting him ready to brush!”

  Her response was jaw dropping. “Huh!?”

  “Hm!?” Artemis too shared the cunfuzzledness with a mouthful of pizza.

  “Yeah, I gotta see this! Plus it'd be cool to see for the viewers!” Lyla announced, gathering the items.

  Sofi nodded with an almost serious face. “A self brushing would very much be interesting to watch.”

  “You're gonna have him brush his teeth while he’s eating?” Isaac asked in disbelief.

  Emerging from the pathway to the restroom, Lyla held a mug of water, an empty mug, Artemis’s toothbrush, and a small towel. “It'll be fine!”

  “Can’t you at least wait til he’s done, minty aftertaste doesn't go well with italian pie.”

  “Oh I didn’t bring any toothpaste. It's just a casual water brush.”

  “It is?” He calmed down a bit.

  “Yep, just water, no paste.”

  “I see. Still can’t this wait.”

  “Nope!”

  Waving a finger, Sofi clicked her tongue a few times. “You brought this up Isaac, so you gotta deal with the consequences.”

  Slouching with a cringing expression, Isaac stated: “It's not really me dealing with it.” He looked over to the cat, scrunching further at his annoyed glare.

  “Mrrrr.” Artemis lowly growled.

  “S-sorry.”

  “Alright!” Lyla placed the mugs right in front of the cat, placing it in spots that wouldn't interfere with his money. “Show the world the first brushing cat!” The toothbrush was handed right over for him to use.

  Artemis looked at it with no sense of amusement and mild annoyance, letting a sigh through his maw before taking the brush. He dipped the brustles into the water, only slightly dampening it, and brought it to his teeth. Although there was no paste, he was still brushing off the bite of pizza he just had, lightly cleansing away the sauce and cheese all while Lyla and Sofi looked at him with great intrigue. Since they were eyeing him so intensely he felt the need to not disappoint and do it half heartedly, so with a mental and near physical huff he moved the brush around his fangs, correctly simulating the experience, rotating the handle with his paws and turning his wrist to make the bristles reach where he needed them too whether it be the inside or underside of his teeth,

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  Never did the two girls expect to witness a cat brushing his teeth, nor did they expect it to be so interesting. “Isaac, how exactly did you teach this?” Sofi asked.

  “It started out with holding a brush, then how to move it around, and then the mouthwash.” Isaac answered. “He picked up on it real quick and easy.”

  “Apparently. He’s moving that brush around so effortlessly with those cat paws.”

  “Holding pizza, eating with a fork, his communication skills, knowing how to use a phone…” Lyla listed off, watching Artemis dip his brush to cleanse it, setting it to the side and taking hold of the cup to take a swig of its water, arching back to gurgle. “Brushing and gargling too…” Her eyes narrowed in a deep focus. Once he had spat the gurgled water into the other mug, he gave a meow to announce he was done. “Hmmm.” She kept her intense stare, unsettling the feline and his partner. “I wonder…Isaac did you ever consider that Artemis could be…”

  Hearing her attempt to make a theory concerned the young man. “C-could be what?”

  “....Genetically modified?”

  “Eh?” His unsettledness dropped with his mouth, almost gawking at the female.

  “Think about it! How many cats can do what he can do and learn to do it so quickly?”

  “I get that, but isn’t genetically modified a bit…out there?”

  Lyla now deadpanned with a tapered sight onto him, her eyes saying you serious? “We live in a world where magical girls and familiars fight black monsters and machine-like creatures called Automatons, and you think genetically modified is out there?”

  “Uh…” There was a struggle in a voice to find an argument.

  Sofi however did have something to add to the topic. “What if he is a Familiar?”

  “Huh?” Lyla turned her gaze to Sofi.

  “Huh!?” Isaac nearly choked, swiveling his head to the actress.

  “Mwow!?” Artemis went wide eyed and jaw dropped.

  Sofi was unphased by their reactions and continued. “As we know, the Guardians familiars do have a feral form, there was that one that revealed her secret identity along with her Familiar, right?”

  “Oh yeah! Her partner was a dog and she did things normal dogs couldn't do!” Lyla understood.

  “So knowing that,” Sofi looked at Artemis with a curious intensity that shook him, “what if Artemis here is a Familiar too?”

  “Th-that's not possible!” Isaac nearly blurted out.

  “Hm?” His near blurtness startled both girls a bit.

  “There's…multiple reasons why he couldn’t be a Familiar!” He cleared his throat in an attempt to maintain his composure. “First off, he's a guy, and as we’ve seen from the Guardians, they all have female Familiars, and there have been comments about that and while they’re vague, they say that a male one isn’t possible, so with that-”

  Sofi interjected with an obvious observation. “What about Star Mask?”

  “Huh?”

  “He has the Moon Familiar right? Doesn't that mean it is possible for a male familiar to exist, I mean he is living proof.”

  “Th-that's true.” Isaac’s swagger slightly rattled and he mentally slapped his head thinking: ‘You idiot, how'd you forget about yourself?!’ Quickly he brought up his other points. “There’s still three other things! One of them being the fact that he can’t talk! In the time I’ve had him, he’s never once uttered a word, he's only ever meowed.”

  Lyla looked over to the feline in question with a small mix of suspicion and curiosity. “Has he ever tried? Maybe the reason is because he doesn't know he can yet.”

  “With how well Artemis communicates with us just with cat noise and how much he participates with us in activities like this, wouldn't he have given it a try or been influenced to do it?”

  “Hmmm.” She was unsure but less suspicious. “That makes sense.”

  “The second reason is the fact that he hasn't shown any signs of magic or anything of the sort. He’s just shown to be a smart cat.”

  “His intelligence could be magic induced.”

  He shook his head, crossing his arms and closing his eyes with an aura of confidence. “I don't think so and that's cause of this next point. Artemis doesn't have Dusk Energy.”

  “Huh!?” The utterance of that caused the two ladies to expand their eyes and shockingly gaze at him.

  “We’ve been around the Guardians a few times, heck one time I ran into one during that incident at the observatory, but they never said anything about sensing Dusk Energy from Artemis.” Opening his eyes, Isaac addresses his audience. “Since they haven’t addressed it…then he…doesn’t…have it.” His sentence faded once he realised their intense disturbed stare.

  “Hm?” Artemis too looked between them, finding their glares on him unsettling.

  “Um…something wrong?”

  Sofi snapped back into it, trying to recollect herself. “U-um I ju-”

  Lyla however slyly turned her look of shock into one of confusion. “What's Dusk energy?”

  “Huh?” Isaac made a stark gawk at the question. Internally he realised what he had said and his face twisted in a mix of self frustration and stupidity. ‘Dusk energy isn't common knowledge! Isaac, you idiot!’ He had to quickly think up an unsuspecting reason. “Um…so it's…i-it's something I’ve…heard rumors about.”

  “Rumors? Where?”

  “Well…” He was lightly sweating with his brain scrambling for an idea. His gaze turned to Artemis, hoping to get or be given an idea.

  “Mm-mm!” The cat, equally rattled, shook his head. ‘Don’t look at me, I got nothing!’

  ‘Shoulda saw that coming.’ Berating himself, he mentally sighed.

  Leaning forward, Lyla pressed with more intense curiosity. “Isaac?”

  Feeling pressured, Isaac tried to think of something that could help. “Er…oh! Remember that time at the bank!”

  “The attack with those guys trying to kidnap me?” Sofi answered somewhat addled.

  “Yeah! When I was able to join back with the other hostages I heard someone mention something about the guys Dusk Energy being too weak for what he was using and I remember Star Mask mentioning something to the Moon Familiar about needing to hurry before they realise their Dusk Energy. I didn't really get it but I surmised it as some sort of Energy for males compared to females.”

  “Huh.” Sofi seemed to understand and accept his reasoning, calming herself with a nod.

  Lyla, however, wasn't completely convinced. “How'd you come to that conclusion?”

  With fearful feigned curiosity, Isaac asked: “Wh-what do you mean?”

  “What made you think Dusk Energy is male specific?”

  “Well the guy who made the comment was specific about the man and didn't say anything about the woman so I just…assumed y'know?”

  “So you don't really know huh?”

  “Not really I guess, I mean it's not like you can find much info about it online, but still it makes sense if you think about how different Star Mask’s powers are compared to the Guardians and how those Automatons look different compared to who’s operating them.”

  Sofi nodded and hummed with agreement. “It's true, there is a difference so it makes sense to conclude that.”

  Still, Lyla pressed with: “But then where did that guy learn about it then?”

  Isaac gave a shrug. “Beats me, I didn’t ask.”

  “Why not?”

  “I just…didn't really put much thought to it at the time.”

  “You didn't think that maybe it's a little weird this guy just knew about this stuff?”

  “I mean I guess, it was a tense situation Lyla and besides I was more worried about Sofi than what some guy was talking about.”

  Lyla kept her skeptical eyes on him but relaxed when he stated that. “Well I guess that makes sense.”

  “If things were calmer I probably would've asked but still.”

  “Still kinda weird for some random guy to talk about Dusk Energy like that.”

  Sofi gave a theory: “Maybe he was involved? Like he knew them or something?”

  “Wouldn’t he be helping fight then?”

  “Could be he wasn't part of their group.”

  “That's just…odd though.”

  “Lyla,” Sighed Sofi, “you’re overthinking this aren't you? Besides, it's not like you're involved in it right?”

  She did a slight scrunch, her skeptic expression falling to the accusation. Taking a sigh, she relaxed. “Yeah, you’re right.” Looking at Isaac with a small apologetic smile, she told him: “Sorry. I didn't mean to be so skeptical of you.”

  Isaac returned her smile with sympathy instead. “It's fine. I'm sure you were just curious.”

  “Hah, I was.”

  They joined in a laugh, Artemis detensing with a breath of relief. Sofi however kept a grin on the two but focused on Isaac with a somewhat curious eye, trying not to be obvious about it. Once the laughter died, Lyla took back the brush and cups, placing them back where they belong while the spit cup went to the sink. When she returned they got back to the game, moving away from the topic of Artemis being a possible familiar, the cat joyfully returning to his pizza.

  “And the winner is…Artemis and Lyla!” Sofi announced, gesturing to the cat and young woman with jazz hands.

  “Hahaha!/Nyahaha!” Lyla and Artemis did a laughful cheer in unison, double high fiving each other.

  “Good job.” Isaac said to them with a bit of an exhausted smile.

  Sofi turned his way with an apologetic grin, holding her fingers together to emphasize her sorrow. “I'm sorry, I should’ve understood the signal.”

  Isaac calmy waved at her, the exhaustion shown on his mouth replaced with warmth. “It’s fine. I should’ve made it clearer.”

  Lyla checked the time on her phone. “Alright, as much as I wanna squeeze in another round, we should end it there.”

  “For the best really, since we got like three hours of footage?”

  “Atleast!” She laughed, picking the cat up.

  “Nya?” Artemis allowed it but was curious on what she was doing, turned to face the camera, set onto her lap.

  “Let's end this.” With a big smile, Lyla faced the camera. “Alright everyone, thanks for watching!” She waved. “See you next time!”

  Isaac joined in. “See ya next time!”

  Sofi gave a respectful bow, stating: “Thanks for having me!” Before waving: “Goodbye!”

  “Meowow!” Artemis softly flailed his paws.

  Setting the feline down, Lyla approached the recording device, stopping the recording and taking out its chip. “Ok,” Placing it away in a carrier capsule, she informed: “I'll go ahead and edit this then post it later. Might take a bit so I’ll let you know when it's done.”

  Isaac, along with Artemis, was helping Sofi place the game away before he responded: “That works, thanks. Um…maybe take out the talk about the Dusk Energy and stuff?”

  “No worries, I’ll cut all that out!” Lyla assured with a thumbs up, taking the set up and rolling the cable.

  “Thanks.”

  “Nyaaah!” Artemis stretched and let out a yawn.

  “Tired bud?”

  “Mew.” Artemis nodded.

  Sofi giggled and gave the white feline a scratch behind his ears. “Ready for your catnap?” She received a confirming meow while leaning into her hand. “Hm…” She knelt down on one knee, moving her head in the same direction to form a regal bow. “Understood my lord. For your rest I shall prepare a warm bed and blanket, and make sure your bed is correctly positioned to catch the required amount of sunlight. When you wake you can expect a warm bowl of milk and a nice hot steak while we attend to your fur.”

  Artemis stood tall, his aura almost regal along with his stance, looking down with an almost flat smile and half lidded eyes. He reached out and tapped Sofi on her shoulders, taking a nod and deeply letting out: “Meow.”

  “You are too kind, milord!”

  Isaac let out a soft and short chortle before commenting: “I'm not making steak for breakfast by the way.” As soon as that was uttered, he got combined deadly glares from the two, causing him to nearly hop back. “U-uhhh.”

  “You dare deny our Feline King!”

  “Um…”

  “My lord.” Sofi raised, turning to Isaac with a threat, grabbing an imaginary blade on her nonexistent hilt. “Shall I punish him?”

  “Hrmmm.” Artemis raised one of his front paws. “...HIIISSS!” With a sharp hiss and feral scowl, he pointed his paw at Isaac to confirm the order.

  “Understood!” Spreading her legs, holding her handle, and flaring her invisible cape, she gathered an insurmountable strength into her legs.

  Stepping back while flailing his hands with nervous fear, the male pleaded: “Wait wait, hold-”

  Before he could finish, Sofi lunged forward with nonexistent blinding speed, drawing her non blade and not slashing Isaac in the chest with a deep cut that didn't exist. “Begone!”

  “GAH!” Imaginary blood splashed out of him and he fell to his knees, life not leaving his eyes as he looked up. “Damn…this…kingdom.” With his not so final breath he fell forward and didn’t die.

  Without trouble, Sofi stood tall and proud, tossing the blood off her sword that she didn't have, fluttering a cape that didn't exist, and seating the weapon without a word and a calm demeanor.

  A sound of claps was heard near them, the originator being Lyla herself. “That was great! Isaac I didn't know you could act!”

  “Ehehe,” Nervously, the male laughed, getting back up, “It was sudden so I ad libbed.”

  From behind, Sofi told him, back to her normal self: “You did really well though. Heck I see why you're a fan.” Her comment made him timidly blush for a moment and she turned to Artemis. “You did great too, Artemis! You definitely earned that steak!”

  “Meow!!” The cat's eyes sparkled and his mouth gaped with a wide smile.

  Isaac for his part did a small slump. “Seriously?”

  “Oh cmon, it's good to spoil him every now and then.” Lyla encouraged, patting him on the back.

  “Uuugh.” He was against it but he laid eyes on his partner and saw his shiny eyes look upon him with paws held together pleadingly. “....Fine, when morning comes we'll go for steaks.” His head bowed in defeat.

  “Yah!/Nya!” The girls and cat cheered.

  Looking between the two gals, he stated: “Why are you two cheering?”

  “Hehe no reason.” Lyla said with a near mischievous chuckle, grabbing her box of games. “Want a ride, Sofi?”

  Sofi shook her head. “Mm-mm. I'm fine, my dads gonna pick me up.”

  “Alright.” She headed to the door along with her compatriot. “Seeya Isaac, Artemis!”

  “Bye guys!” Sofi waved, exiting with Lyla.

  “Seeya!” Isaac returned the gesture.

  Once they were gone, Isaac flopped on his back and stretched. “Mmmm that was fun!” He sighed. “Though it was difficult not to talk for so long.”

  “But you didn't slip, so good job.”

  “Hehe so that means I really earned that steak!”

  “Yeah yeah, I’ll look for a place to order.” He smiled at his cat, sitting next to him, scratching his exposed belly. “I'll make sure to cut it up nicely for you.”

  “Nyaa…thanks.” Artemis exhaled in relaxed bliss to his partner's scratches.

  “No problem. Afterwards we should do another piece hunt, well after trying out this new spell. We should invite Dex too, maybe he can make a program for it, like an auto dodge? What do you think, Arti-? Oh.” Turning to look at the feline, he noticed that he had fallen asleep, gently breathing with eyes completely shut. “Heh. Let's take you to bed, bud.” He picked the cat up delicately and headed for his room.

  *Knock knock*

  “Hm?” Glancing back at his door curiously. “Who could that be at this time.” Cautiously, he came to the door and looked into the peephole, spotting Sofi standing right before his door. “Sofi?” He muttered, holding Artemis in his arms carefully as he opened the door and greeted the young lady. “Hey. Um…” He noticed she had a straight but timid composure, holding both her arms while trying to keep eye contact but failing as her pupils wavered. Her body language made him carefully question: “Something wrong?”

  “Um…sorry to bother you when I just left and,” Looking to his arms, she noticed the sleeping feline, “while Artemis is sleeping but…”

  Feeling some odd tension, he pressed gently. “But…?”

  “...Do you…mind if we take a night ride?” Sofi managed to keep her gaze upon him fully when she made her request.

  What she asked was unexpected and took him by surprise. “A night ride? What about your dad?”

  “He’ll be coming later. There’s someplace I’d like to go and…something I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “Oh…ok, sure, just let me set Artemis down. I'll be right out.” Taking a step back and slowly closing the door after getting a confirming nod from Sofi, Isaac returned to his previous task of taking his cat to his room. Once he laid him on the beanbag he gently shook him. “Artemis…Artemis.”

  “Mmmng.” With heavy eyelids, Artemis tiredly gazed at his human.

  “I'm gonna be out for a bit ok?”

  “Something…wrong?” He asked drowsily.

  “Nothings wrong, just…I’ll tell you when you’re more awake.”

  “Should I come with, just in case?”

  He shook his head with a caring smile. “It's fine. Shouldn't be any danger.”

  “Mmmm.” His eyelids were heavy, threatening to close but he wanted to say one last thing. “Keep the window…open just…just in case I’m…waaah,” He yawned, trying to finish.

  Isaac chuckled and finished for him. “I'll keep a window open just in case you get emergency released. That way you can rush over without breaking glass.”

  “Thanks…night.”

  “Sleep well, Artemis.” He gave the cat gentle pats, letting him fall back to slumber. Afterwards he grabbed his shoes and keys and met back with Sofi outside. “I'm back, ready?”

  Sofi gave a nod. “Mhm.” She followed him down the stairs to his bike.

  As they were going down, Isaac asked: “So what’d you want to talk about?”

  “I’ll tell you when we get to that place.”

  “Can I ask what the place is?”

  “It’s…a beginning I guess you could say…for two things. I'll point to where to go.”

  He gave her a quick and curious glance before unlocking his bike lock. “Ok.” He said calmly. ‘Wonder where we're going?’ Thinking that, Isaac pulled his bike out and mounted it, making room for Sofi.

  Sofi got on, holding onto his shoulder tightly. “Left turn when you get out of the parking lot.”

  “Alright.” He pedaled, following her instructions. The ride was mostly quiet, the only thing said being directions from Sofi on when and where to turn. There was a thick awkward tension around them, making Isaac uneasy and wanting to ease it so he asked: “Tonight fun for you?”

  “It was.” Sofi’s response was almost flat, which didn't even cut through the tension.

  “Cool…wanna come for the next one?”

  “If you'd have me.”

  “Yeah of course. Maybe we can play some more board games.”

  “Would be fun.”

  “Yeah…” He swore the air got thicker around him.

  “Turn into this lot.”

  They were approaching an open gate and he turned into it like asked. Riding in it was a mostly open area that had a large old shack in the back. It was wide and had childish paintings of flowers and animals on the side with clear signs of age with the paint peeling and the chips of the wall broken off from wear and tear. There was a sign right above the door that was barely legible, only a few letters able to be seen.

  “Park near the door please.”

  “Um, sure.” Isaac moved to the side, slowing down in front of the door, taking out his bike hook to leave it there and trailing Sofi from behind as she went to the door. “What is this place?”

  Sofi stood in front of the entrance, mulling over her words and looking at the sign with reminiscing familiarity and a tinge of pain. “It’s…where it began for me.”

  Gazing at the sign with curiosity, he thought that maybe, with all he's seen of the place, that this was something from her childhood, but couldn’t quite understand what she meant by beginning for it didn't look to be a school. “What did?”

  “...” She grabbed the knob and carefully pushed it open. “Follow me.”

  “Alright.” He kept behind her, bracing for the puff of dust and dirt that exhumed when the door slid across with its rickety squeaky hinges. The room in front of the entrance had a simple front desk on the side with a bulletin board on the other side with torn up papers placed across, a few seeming new but for jokes, and some faded stickers barely sticking on. Across the marble floors, besides age and dirt, were an assortment of trash and cigarette buts, typical for a place so old and abandoned. Sofi went through the hallway on the side that led deeper in.

  What she led him to was the auditorium, the room easily being the main one of the building as it took up at least half of it. It had a large stage in the back, some of the props and cutouts seen behind the curtains that were barely there. There were about twelve rows of ten broken down chairs all grouped in the middle. Sofi walked across the ruined carpet from the side, striding in such a way that it was like she knew the path more than well, heading to the stage, going up its steps with care, each creek and tap of her shoe echoing through the room faintly, and looking around its very old setup with some fondness.

  Isaac watched her pacingly make her way to the center, not following her above, deciding to stay in the audience area and keeping his spot in front of her. She stopped once at her destination, her back turned, looking straight ahead to the back area at nothing in particular, at least not physically. “Sofi?” He called out.

  “...This…is where it began for me.”

  Taking in the context clues of the area, Isaac took an educated guess and said: “Is this…where you had your first play?”

  Sofi took a deep breath. “Yep…my first big play.” She took a few somber steps forward, gazing at the ruined stage full of memory. “I was ten years old and I got one of the main roles on a whim and I practiced so much. It was…confusing at first but…I was drawn to it, the practicing that my dad helped with, the way to voice act that my mom encouraged,” her head was turned to the side, a small grin shown on her face to him, “It was so…interesting to me, even though I was so young.”

  The way she spoke about it brought up some odd nostalgia for Isaac. It was different but it was so similar to something in his own childhood so he kept listening.

  She stopped just before fully going backstage, taking a deep breath she did a swift and clean turn, looking not only at Isaac but the whole audience. Her hands came together. “Let it bloom!” She threw her hands out, stretching them outwards to her side. “The flowers of the summer! The plants of the sun!” Her voice boomed with enthusiasm and whimsical wonder. “Let it all bloom! The spring has sprung and it has brought its friend the summer and I,” her right hand rose high with pride, holding a non existent wand, “the Flower Princess shall greet it warmly!”

  Isaac looked in awe, captivated by her miniature performance to where he couldn't help but applaud. “Wow…” He breathed out.

  “...This is where it began…my love for acting.” Her arm lowered and she looked at her hand so fondly to what she used to hold. “Afterwards I kept wanting to do more and more. This first play made me so nervous but once I did it…it was replaced with overwhelming excitement that I just had to do it again!”

  “I can imagine.” The feeling came again, the feeling of indifferent but synonymous nostalgia.

  “...I wasn't alone though.” Changing her posture, Sofi turned to the side, holding her hands behind her hip, taking just a few steps. “She was there with me the whole time.”

  “Do you mean…Cara?”

  “Yep. That was her first play too, her first experience and her first step into the world of actors. She was more nervous than me but just as overjoyed. Her eyes had such a shine to the applause that it was almost blinding.” Sofi laughed, taking another turn and strolled the other way. “After that…we kept going for more, she was shy and not so confident but I was always there to encourage her and she was always willing to help me.”

  “You were a duo huh?” Again, another wave of that feeling.

  “Yep. I couldn’t imagine doing this without her.” She looked down, keeping a whimsy smile that softly faltered. “We were a team…and this was the day that solidified it.”

  “...I…I get what you mean. That day…it's when you decided to pursue this new dream together right?”

  “Heh… I had a feeling you'd get it.” Turning her gaze his way, Sofi beamed with thankful kindness. “The feeling of partnership…a bond like siblings…that's what formed that fateful day.”

  “I see…” An image of Dex playcated in his mind, helping him realise what was tugging at him and why it felt so nostalgic.

  “That's why,” Her expression changed to a melancholic glare, “I’ll never forgive ANYONE who breaks that dream for her.”

  The expression slightly shook him but at the same time he couldn't help but feel some sympathy after hearing her story.

  Sofi took a deep sigh, relaxing her face. “So…that was the first beginning that happened here. Then came the second, which is why I brought you here.”

  “What do yo-?”

  “You were lying about the Dusk Energy weren't you?”

  Isaac went stiff and his eyes popped for a moment. “How do-”

  “I’ll admit it was an…ok story you came up with and it worked for Lyla at least, but sadly I won’t fall for it.”

  “...” Knowing there was no point in trying to come up with an excuse, he untensed and went along with it. “How’d you find out?”

  “Because…” With a small smile and a hand on her chest to gesture at herself, “I too have met a Dealer.”

  “You have?” He pretended to be surprised.

  “Yep. Met one right here by chance if you'd believe it.”

  His brows tilted. “Right here? Really?”

  “I came here for some…reflecting…and I was feeling a little nostalgic.” Giggling, she walked forward to the edge brushing it off. “It was right after our auditions and I came here, Cara wasn’t able to come, and then,” Sitting down, she continued, “I met…an alien.”

  “I'm guessing…it was a dealer?” Trying to sound like he knew where this was going, he took a guess.

  With a nod, Sofi said: “You got it. I freaked out to be honest but I guess for him it was a business chance cause he calmed me down and tried to sell me some of his…products.”

  “Selling you some Automatons?”

  “Among other things.” Leaning back, she crossed her legs with a near smug grin. “So you have dealt with a dealer before.”

  “No point hiding it.” He softly groaned, scratching his head from behind.

  Clicking her tongue and waving her finger, Sofi said: “You’ve been caught.”

  “Guess I have. So…what did you-?”

  Knowing what he was going to ask, she preemptively answered: “At first I didn’t buy anything but he was persistent and left me a card and told me he'd be there for a while. At first I was gonna try and tell the guardians, but like…not easy to contact them y’know.”

  He nodded. “True.”

  “But during that time something happened that drove me to buy something. Something…destructive.” There was a tinge of aggravation to her statement.

  “What did you buy?” Isaac cautiously asked.

  “I bought a tool to say the least…A tool for…retribution I’d say.”

  “That’s vague. Not ready to tell me?”

  Sofi somberly shook her head. “Not yet…sorry. It's not like I don’t trust you but…”

  “It’s something a little deeper than what you've told me already, right?”

  “Mm.” Her head inclined for a moment to confirm, smiling a bit bashfully. “I'm glad you understand.”

  “Course…There's,” Walking, he came to sit by her side, “much of this I can understand. Pursuing a dream with a friend, someone you can call a brother, that you can’t see getting to the finish line without.”

  “Heh.” Arching back and looking to the dated ceiling with whimsy. “Not at all. I can’t even cross that line without her.”

  “I get it.” Leaning himself, Isaac too stared at the ceiling. The both of them were envisioning something different in fashion but similar in nature. “...This glove.” He raised his right arm.

  “Hm?” Sofi turned his way curiously.

  “This glove is what I got. It…can enhance me, like strength and speed.”

  “That's interesting. Anything else?”

  “It can…create a barrier and I can release a powerful burst from it too. That's pretty much it.”

  “Sounds simple but strong. Did it cost alot?”

  “It cost a pretty penny I’ll tell you that much.” He chuckled. ‘I don’t wanna lie to her…but I can’t tell her everything…can’t draw suspicion…’ Tilting his eyes to her, his thoughts continued. ‘This sucks…her story, her origin is so different but…it's so much the same for me…the timing is different but…I get how she feels, I GET what she means by that bond.’

  Noticing his eyes on her, she looked back with some confusion. “Hm? Something wrong?”

  “N-no sorry.” Timidly, he waved her off to calm the awkward light tension. “But since you told me your origin… wanna know mine.”

  “I'd love to!”

  “Well for me,” He looked back up, “Started when I was kid. My dad recently came back from a venture and showed me so many pictures of the outside, the earth and how big but small it is, and how vast space itself was. When I saw that, I couldn't help but marvel at the countless stars that existed, how each had a slightly different size or color, and then my dad started to show me constellations, some that existed already and some he made himself. I was…in awe. I couldn't help but make some constellations of my own and before I knew it…I became obsessed. Not like my dad helped with it, he kept showing me more and more and we’d compare what we would make sometimes. Years later and I still glance up at the night sky and try to make things. That's why I wanna go to space, I wanna see all the billions of stars in their vastness and align them anyway possible.”

  Sofi looked at Isaac with soft wonderment, listening to his origin.

  “Then I met Dex. It was when I was seeing my dad at the station, meeting one of his friends and then his son. He caught me looking at the night sky and asked me what I was doing and I told him I was marveling at the stars. He wondered if I was making a map or something but I told him I was making constellations and that confused him as making maps from stars made more sense. We got to talking about shapes and stuff, it was a mild argument turned into a discussion. Then he said to me…If you wanna seek the stars then let me guide you to them.” A short chortle escaped his mouth. “That's how we both worked hard to be astronauts and travel in space. That's my origin.”

  “...That's a great origin. I really like it.” She joyfully grinned.

  “Thanks.” Isaac returned it, looking at her. ‘I wonder…’ As he was gazing at her, he couldn’t help but think: ‘If things were different for me…If I hadn't met Artemis and gone through with everything regularly and met a situation like hers…would I have…’ His hands tightened against the worn wood stage. ‘ended up the same as her?’

  End

  Next chapter: What to do?