Issue #3-Chapter 4.2: Arwen the Priestess

While I was trying to figure out how to save her, she resisted them and tried to get away, yet they held onto her and pulled her back towards them. They viciously grinned and laughed at her, sensing fear in her eyes.

I searched all over the a few rocks and couldn't find any until I spotted the rocks and a couple of incoming guards far away from the street after this. This gave me an idea throwing these rocks against the wall, to alert the guards to chase after those two assholes.

I picked one of those rocks from the ground and l stood against the wall, aiming the rock at the opposite wall far away from them. I waited for those guards to turn around and immediately threw the rock at the wall near them to avoid getting caught.

"Huh?" The guards and the shady men turned to the noise and the guards glared at the bad guys when they noticed them near a fearful woman, seeing fear strike the bad guys' eyes.

"Hey, what do you guys think you're doing to that poor woman?!" One of the guards roared.

"Holy shit! It's the guards, run!" The shady looking man said when he and his partner ran for their lives.

The woman turned around and pulled her hood down to avoid the guards seeing her face. When I saw that, I wondered why this woman did that. That was really strange to me. Was she on the run? Is she a royalty pretending to be middle class to blend in the crowd or something?

"Hey, get back here!" Another guard said when they chased after the bad guys. They were so focused on chasing after those bad guys that they didn't even bother to stand by her side and check to see that poor woman to see she was alright. What kind of soldiers were they!

When those guards ran past me, I began to walk towards her. This was my opportunity to check in on her, because who else would?

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, trying to pick her up from the ground.

She looked up at me and grinned. "Oh, thank you, sir."

Even though her hood covered her eyes under the shadow, she looked to be around my age, full of youth and beauty. I wondered if she was either a nymph or something. The moment I noticed and narrowed my eyes at something shining from her necklace inside her cloak, she noticed my stare and gasped at it.

"Oh!" She covered her necklace under a cloak. "I can't have anyone seeing that." She forced a big, fake smile on me, which was really strange.

"Oh, um, okay," I said. I wonder why she hid the necklace. Was she part of the secret organization or something? Something's definitely off with her for sure.

"Thank you for getting me up, sir," the young woman said.

"Oh, no prob," I responded.

"Melonia?" A woman's voice questioned when the young woman turned to that voice's direction, right after the visions of the woman from my dream resurfacing my mind yet again. I was able to ignore it this time.

"Ah, hi there, Theresa. I didn't even see you there." The young woman chortled and dashed to her.

Then Theresa nodded her head at me. "Thank you, young man. I saw what you did and I thank you for it. If it wasn't for that while the crowd was in my way, I would've saved her on time."

"Oh, well. You're welcome," I said as she and Theresa waved at me their goodbyes and I waved back.

Now that it was over with, where was I? After thinking about it, finding a job finally popped off in my head. I kept searching until I found something that sparked my interest. My eyes spotted a bakery shop just across a street from me. I rubbed my fingers together and grinned.

Alright, Mike, time to show off some skill and do some interviews.

Crossing the street after looking both ways, I headed my way towards my destination and entered it. Now the first thing I noticed here was the mostly dark brown wooden decor with some stony oven behind the counter; there was some luster on the wood.

The second thing I noticed was the sweet smell of baked bread spreading in the air from behind the counters. I closed my eyes to sniff the air and the aroma smelled that good.

Mmmm…that smells so good in here!

I opened my eyes.

I bet the bread's gonna taste good.

Standing behind the counter was a fat man chatting with an elderly woman and a little girl, while a young man with brown hair was baking some bread in the furnace. There was no noise in the store except the oven and the chatter.

Now that I'm in the store, how will I show off my talent for the employer to be interested in hiring me? Think, Mike, think.

While I was thinking of something, I stood there for a while and the fat guy noticed me and waved at me, saying, "Why, hello there, sir, welcome to my bakery. I hope you find it enjoyable here, sir."

"Oh! Hi there, sir. It's a pleasure to be here," I said when I waved back at him.

He returned to the elderly woman and chatted with them once more, while I saw a little girl put her head on the counter and sighed. Seeing her bored like this reminded me of pulling a magic coin trick to entertain bored children back at my old world, and this gave me an idea.

So I went up to her and showed her my bronze coin. "Hey, there. Wanna see a magic trick?"

The little girl turned to me and the coin back and forth. "Huh?"

Instead of repeating the question to her, I slid the coin back and forth a couple times which made her broaden her eyes, smiled big and gasped. "Grandma, did you see that?" The little girl questioned when she pulled down an old lady's shirt.

The fat guy noticed it and grinned down at me entertaining a child, then the old lady followed his lead and smiled at me as well. "Well, then that's a pretty neat trick you got there, sir," the fat guy said.

I looked up and smiled at the guy. "Why, thank you, sir."

Oh, man. It's workin' so far. It's workin'!

I caught it in the air and made it disappear from my palm. Then the little girl asked, "Where did it go?"

I placed my hand near her ear and pulled out a coin from it. "And there it is."

The little girl gasped and smiled brightly with her eyes widened even further. "That was amazing, sir!"

"Why, thank you so much for your enjoyment," I said, bending down with my arm wrapped in front of my abdomen.

"And here's your order," the young man said when he placed the baked bread on the counter.

Once the old woman paid for her product, she and the little girl left with the bread. The little girl and I waved and smiled at one another.

"So then, sir, how did you learn to entertain children like that?" The fat guy said.

"Yeah, that was amazing!" The young man exclaimed.

"Well, I learned it from my uncle. That's how I did it," I replied.

"I bet he was such a great teacher," the fat guy said. "I've never seen someone who could entertain some children before, until you came around. We often have customers who have children and I'm struggling to find some employees around here."

"Okay, great! I-" I exclaimed when taking a couple steps towards the counter.

Oh, man! I'm goin' to get a job! I'm goin' to get a job! So excitin'!

"You have your identification stamp with you?" The manager asked.

I gave the manager a blank stare a bit. "Do I have a what now?"

After the manager asked me the same question, the young man just stood there and stared at me. "Because I can't hire you without it, sir. It's the law decreed by the king himself," the manager added. "Sorry."

Okay, why the hell do I have to get an I.D. stamp just to get a job here in Basilia?!

"And where do I get that?!" I asked.

"A tall gray building that's a couple blocks near the kingdom's entrance," the young man answered.

Repeating what the young man said, I added, "Got it. I'll be right back."

Once I exited the door, I searched and headed for the place to get the I.D. stamp. Arriving there, I saw a long line and I just sighed and frowned at it.

Oh, great…long line…great…jus'…great…this will take me ten years to get an I.D. stamp, for sure. Ugh!

Now I looked everywhere for Gideon since he also wanted to have a job and get out of poverty, yet I didn't see him around. Where was Gideon? Did he give up on getting job or something? These were the questions that were forming in my mind as I waited for him to show up.

When afternoon hit, I began to head back to Gideon's place. I sighed and frowned even more, looking down below.

Okay, great! Now I can't simply get a job because I don't have any money to pay for the fee. I was lucky to even escape the guards! Looks like I'll have to spend my life begging for coins and stealing some food from now on, I guess.

Thinking about Gideon, my eyes searched for him and I failed to find him around. I bet he headed home and gave up trying to find a job. If he did, I wouldn't blame him. I even wondered how he even got in this kingdom to begin with. That was the question that I would like to know.

Then my stomach growled and I sighed once more. "Alright, alright, alright, stomach. No need to bitch at me about it. I'll go get some food."

I scanned my surroundings for a while and couldn't find anything to eat nor Gideon for that matter, until I saw a scantily clad woman in a white cloak placing a little bread inside her pouch on her belt. She looked both ways and turned right and walked forward.

I rubbed my hands together and grinned at her.

Great, Mike. This is my opportunity to get that bread. Let's go get it, bro!

I began to follow her lead. I was glad she didn't spot me following her nor even noticed me at all. I felt like I was finally about to get the bread, for real.

Yet when the skies darkened and veiled the sun, thunder roared it above me. I looked up and saw the clouds all dark gray at the moment. After that, my stomach growled.

I continued to walk after her and made sure people weren't suspicious of me. I was halfway there towards the woman as I followed her into the alleyway.

With a couple kids playing with a ball together and running past us, thunder roared again, this time rain drops descended from the skies. I looked up at the sky and my eyelids tried to protect me from the rain.

It's rainin' already? Who would've guessed?

Then I turned back to the woman and walked a bit closer to her. My stomach growled a couple times and I simply ignored it, waiting for her to drop the pouch somewhere for me to steal and eat. I showed off my annoyed face.

I wish my stomach would shut the hell up already. Like, ghesh, bruh! Seriously?! Really?!

I grinned at the pouch and I was preparing to grab it at first. She moved her eyes left and grinned at me, waiting for me to move in a bit closer to the bread. She turned her eyes back to her destination and kept guiding me in her direction.

But as soon as she stopped at a dead end, I raised my eyebrow at her and stopped moving as well. I wondered why she would stop there for a second.

She turned her head to me and smiled at me. "You hungry, Mike?"

I widened my eyes out of shock and took a couple steps back. My twitchy eyes moved sideways.

Okay, how the hell did she know my name?! And how did she even know I'm hungry?! This was her exact plan all along?! To get me to follow her to trap me?!

"Huh? And who the hell are you?!" I asked with a glare. "And how did you know my name and that I'm hungry?! Huh?!"

I gotta get out of here, pronto.

Chuckling at me, once she moved her hand around in a circle, the dead end area was magically transformed into a white room, just in time to prevent my escape. The clouds floated in the blue sky with glassy walls, ceiling and floor.

The white, shiny sphere stood above the white stool and a statue of a woman putting her palm out forward, staring at me. While the aroma smelled like perfume in here, my ears heard nothing but silence.

My curious eyes wandered around even more, wondering what this place was and where I was in my mind. I turned back to the woman as soon as she turned around and walked towards the statue, facing me.

"Okay, where the hell am I?! What is this place anyway?!" I yelled.

"It is I, Arwen, nun of the lovely goddess Astora. I've summoned you here for something urgent," the woman answered.