Chapter 1: Reunion

The sound of my alarm clock felt like a distant dream. How long had it been since I last heard that damn ringing? Slowly, my eyes began to open, just like they would on any other morning. However, what I saw were not the white walls of the hospital, but the dull gray of my own home.

“Well, I guess they didn’t kill me,” I whispered.

Against all odds, I had no trouble getting to my feet. My muscles reacted properly, without any sign of trembling or cramps that might threaten my physical integrity. My ribs did not hurt, and there were no scars left on my arms from the fight against Korn, the Sinister Devourer.

It was as if none of it had ever happened.

But it had.

The date on the calendar hanging on the wall confirmed it immediately.

December 8th, 2019.

Two weeks since the incident.

And yet, nothing had changed. My room was still intact, as if this place had been trapped in time.

“And Aria?”

I walked through the hallway of my house once more. Being inside these walls made me feel safe, with no silent doctors wandering around. The saying was true: “You never know what you have until you lose it.”

And I had lost a lot.

The living room was clean, just like the kitchen. There were no dishes thrown around, much less ugly cockroaches crawling on the floor. During the time I had been away, Aria had taken care of everything perfectly. In fact, the mere thought of Aria stepping on cockroaches and then running away from them brought a small, mocking smile to my face.

Still, Aria had not woken up yet.

Her room remained closed, and honestly, I did not feel comfortable going to see her while she was asleep. She might mistake me for a pervert, a home intruder, or whatever else. Either way, it would be better to surprise her once she was awake.

I checked my watch just to make sure I had gotten up at a decent time. Apparently, my phone said it was 7:00 AM, a pretty uncomfortable hour to wake up on a Sunday.

“I wonder if Aria kept the fridge stocked.”

I checked the supplies to see if I could cook something quick, but as always, the refrigerator showed clear signs of poverty. The same was true of my pantry.

“It’s still too early. The supermarket won’t open until later, especially on a Sunday.”

I did not feel like going back to sleep. I had already slept far too much these past few days.

If they forced me to sleep again, I would probably end up going insane.

“Let’s see what’s happening on social media.”

I pulled out my phone to check my social media and look at a few memes. Since I was not exactly a friendly or beloved person, my friend list was limited to a few coworkers, Aria, and strangers who shared my stupid posts. During my stay at the hospital, I had not had access to my phone or television, so I was somewhat out of date when it came to world news.

And yet, no one seemed to have missed my absence.

My wall looked practically the same, without the slightest trace of sympathy over my incident.

“Well, it’s not like they like me that much at work either.”

In any case, there was no point getting depressed on a Sunday morning.

The images my contacts and pages shared drew a smile or two out of me. I had missed the dumbass sense of humor they used, especially the kind that made fun of political correctness. I could not help laughing out loud when I read a poster mocking a certain political issue related to workers’ wages in private companies.

What a mess.

Not that I cared in the slightest.

I went into stalker mode and checked Aria’s profile. Apparently, she had not uploaded much content since the incident either. The first new photo showed a badly cooked plate of food, with tortillas scattered along the edge and small burns in the center. The second was simply a TV remote with the caption: “Bored.”

Her photos had few comments as well, mostly asking why she had stopped uploading artistic pictures, like autumn flowers and landscapes close to winter. Aria had not replied to any of them, so people lost interest and simply left her as just another contact.

“What a shame, considering how much she liked taking photographs.”

I sighed deeply as I scrolled down the page to read serious news. Once again, the world had continued as usual. The same robberies, sports, economic changes, and so on. God, did we really matter that little to the world? I disappeared for a while, and nobody gave a damn.

“I can’t blame them,” I whispered.

Thousands of people disappeared for one reason or another around the world, and I did not care enough to look for them.

Demanding attention was selfish of me. In any case, I was already home.

Time passed without me realizing it. My phone read 9:10 AM, the perfect time to go out and buy breakfast.

And then, the sound of an alarm clock caught my attention…

It came from Aria’s room.

How would she react when she saw me?

And more importantly…

How would I react?

After the incident, I had spent so much time asking to see her. But now, only seconds away from meeting her again, my mind could not put a single thought in order.

“H-Hello? I’ll call the police if you don’t leave, intruder.”

The girl timidly stepped out of her room, guided by the sounds I had been making while getting ready.

“How could I be an intruder in my own house?”

“God! No way! You’re here! But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but… But how?! They told me you wouldn’t be back until further notice! How did you get here? Are you real? Am I still asleep?”

The young woman made an inhuman effort not to cry, but it was useless. Her little blue eyes began filling with tears until she could not bear it anymore.

“Lucio!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Yeah, I’m here now… Aria…”

I could not hold back either. My pale, cold eyes were also covered in tears of joy. Crying had never felt so good. I let my pent-up feelings pour out like an unstoppable torrent. Then I ran toward her and took her into my arms.

Aria was here.

I could feel the warmth of her body, the coldness of her tears, and above all, the beating of her sweet heart. This was not a dream or an illusion. The only person who had truly missed me was there in my tired arms, reminding me how beautiful life could be.

Our shared crying did not last more than forty seconds, just long enough for us to let it all out and reclaim our friendship.

“I’m so happy. The house was so lonely without you. What happened to you? Where were you?”

“It’s a long story. Looks like we have a lot to talk about, but first, we need breakfast. We can’t have a long conversation on an empty stomach. Want to come with me to the corner store?”

“Let’s go!” Aria exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear.

The neighborhood remained exactly the same as when I had left.

Nothing had changed. Not the cars, not the streets. Even the rude graffiti continued staining the abandoned murals on the corner near my house. For better or worse, the scenery of my everyday life had remained intact.

We entered the little shop without making much noise. The employee did not ask me anything about my absence. In fact, I would not have been surprised to learn she had no idea I had disappeared.

“What should we buy?” Aria asked.

“Some eggs and ham would be good.”

“Okay, then let’s buy that.”

Aria carried a small bag of ham, and I did the same with the carton of eggs. They were not very large, but they were enough to cover breakfast for today, tomorrow, and the day after. Better to have a few rations ready than to go out and buy things every day. After all, we were kind of lazy when it came to walking.

On the way home, we kept talking about insignificant things, like updates on series, work projects, and other nonsense that had nothing to do with the serious topics we needed to discuss. This spoonful of normality was exactly what I needed after being locked up in that white room.

“It’s time to cook. I missed the stove too. Get ready, Aria! I’m going to make the best eggs in the world.”

Poor Aria had already suffered enough with burnt eggs. I did not need to be a genius to understand that cooking simply was not her thing. Despite being a goddess—or former goddess—cooking, or anything related to food, was nowhere on her list of talents.

Ironically enough, we worked at a restaurant.

“I need real eggs. The ones I made tasted like everything except eggs.”

Aria’s little eyes filled with fake tears. Immediately, a small chuckle escaped my lips, because I could not hold it in after seeing such a comical expression.

“You’ll have your real eggs soon. Be patient. In the meantime, go set the table for breakfast.”

The aroma of cooked ham made my stomach growl. And how could it not? I had been eating nothing but old pasta and disgusting vegetable purée. Those damn agents gave me the worst food on the planet, and it did not even have meat.

I can’t live without meat!

Well, maybe I was exaggerating a little, but I really did like eating meat.

“At your command, boss,” Aria said, still smiling.

I finished cooking after five minutes. In truth, it was not a very long process, especially with the flame turned up high. As a final touch, I decided to heat up a few flour tortillas to go with breakfast. Although the normal thing would have been to eat corn tortillas, Aria and I had forgotten to stop by the tortillería.

“We’ll go another time.”

“Food is served. Enjoy!”

Homemade food was definitely the best thing in the universe. There was nothing more pleasant than starting the day with a delicious breakfast prepared by your own hands. As I ate, I took a quick glance at Aria’s face. The young woman enjoyed every bite she took, since the plate was free of burnt pieces.

“And of course, there was nothing more comforting than seeing my sweet friend smile first thing in the morning.”

We did not touch the subject while we ate, since I did not want to ruin this beautiful culinary moment with worries about the future. Instead, Aria spent the whole time praising the flavor of eggs with ketchup and even tried making tacos with the flour tortilla.

“Hey, Lucio, did you know eggs with ketchup were trending two years ago? Awesome! If I take a picture of the plate and upload it to social media… Do you think it’ll go viral again?” Aria asked, her eyes sparkling.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you try? Maybe people will start calling you Viral Aria afterward. Doesn’t that sound great?”

“I’ll use that name as my next alias!” she exclaimed.

“Good luck with that.”

Ah, how I had missed our stupid conversations.

I could say any nonsense without fear of embarrassment. After all, Aria had the strange talent of multiplying my idiocy.

Anyway, once we finished breakfast, Aria offered to wash the silverware, leaving me with a few free minutes. Or at least, that was what I thought. In reality, Aria did not want to talk about what had happened just yet. She wanted to enjoy our reunion a little longer and relive the days of old.

But…

We had to deal with this matter as soon as possible. No matter how comfortable we felt in our old way of life, things would change from now on.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

Afterward, I sat down in the main living room and waited for Aria to finish washing the dishes.

Six minutes later, the young woman came out of the kitchen and took a seat across from me.

The time had come to talk.