Chapter 1: Arth

“How do I even start this story….?That's the question I've been asking myself…Because I don't know how…”

Why is there a body of myself here in front of me…

It was getting pretty late and I was in the park comforting a little girl…she had short silver or white hair. I can't really distinguish it.

“Mommy!” She cried in the seesaw

“Hey there little fella” I said approaching her “What happened?”

“My classmates left me! All I wanted was to hangout with them and now I don't know how to get home!” She whined and I took out a handkerchief in my pocket and wiped her tears.

“Listen everything is gonna be alright, I promise that” I said to lighten her up.

“So what's your name?” I asked the little girl. “Cierry….Coppenheimer” she responded

Coppenheimer, I think I heard that name before…

“Alright Cierry…don't worry” I said and I hugged her “I promise you all the kids will be nice to you from now on”

“You promise?” She quickly looked at me with full of purity and hope.

“Yeah…you see my uniform” I said pointing to my badge “Just call me and I'll teach them a lesson”

Alright I can't really promise that but I'll do what I can in order for something like this not to happen again..

“For the first step, Cierry” I said and she finally calmed down and her beautiful blue eyes are now full of life.

“I need to know your parents name…let's start with your mom since she's the one you're looking for”

“Her name is Winona Coppenheimer" I think i knew who is she talking about now "Mom's is kinda busy with her work so she let some servants get me at school”

Oh, I knew it…she's the daughter of the most brilliant and smartest woman alive.

“I'm sure she's a great mom to you, Cierry” I said with a smile.

“I don't know mister…I don't think she have a time for me” her tone changed again

Oh my hard work, it's gone!

“I'm kinda getting jealous with other kids since they're always with their mom and dad while I'm always alone” she stated as she holds the rope of the seesaw tightly “It feels like that she doesn't love me”

“Look, Cierry…I know your mom loves you on her own way” I bantered with her “you don't have to get jealous with the other kids, your mom loves you”

“It's not just that mister” she said

“I'm also getting jealous with kids who have their dads at all times”

“Why? You didn't know who your dad was?” I asked and she shook her head indicating a response.

Poor kid

“But does your mom know who he is?” I asked her.

“Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me” she replied

I took my phone and called the customer service of Coppenheimer Tech, a company owned by Winona Coppenheimer.

“Could you excuse me for a minute, Cierry” I said “I'm gonna call your mom” She nodded back at me and continued playing on the seesaw.

“Coppenheimer Tech, how could I help you?” The customer service personnel said

“Umm…hello…can I have a talk with Miss Coppenheimer?” I said

“I'm sorry but Miss Coppenheimer is preoccupied for a moment…if you want a meeting with her I could look at her schedule”

“No, thanks…but can you bring her over” I scratched my nape “It's about her daughter”

The phone was put on hold for quite a while and then..

“Hello Winona Coppenheimer, who is it?” a voice of another woman said

“Just your friendly neighborhood police officer, ma'am” I said “Your daughter is in the park with me right now”

“She's supposed to be in my house at this time, what happened?” she asked

“According to her, she got lost in the city because she wanted to hangout with her classmates…I guessed they left her alone”

Winona was dead silent right for a second as she responded “Can you bring her over, please?”

I took my phone to Cierry as she was still on the seesaw.

“Sweetie, can you hear me?” Winona asked her daughter.

“Yes, mom!” She said “Mister Officer is protecting me right now”

“Good to know” she sighed

“Mom, can you pick me up” her daughter suddenly said

“Sweetie, you know I'm bus—”she said but she was cut off

“Please…Please” Cierry begs her mom.

“Alright I'll pick you up..hang on tight sweetie” she said “Mommy loves you!” She then hangs up.

“See…I told you” I said “She loves you”

“You're right, Mister” she said and smiled

“Now that's the spirit!” I cheered

While waiting for Miss Coppenheimer, I treated Cierry for some hot meat buns for the cold night.

“When I grow up, mister, I wanna be just like you!” She said

“Really? Why?” I asked her

I'm just a normal guy, with normal knees and normal salary

“Because you helped me, I wanna help people too!”

“I'm just doing right thing, you don't need to become like me”

“But I wanna be like you, mister!”

“Listen Cierry, you can help a lot of people and don't expect any reward” I said “being good and kindhearted is a reward on itself”

“I don't quite get it…” she said

I smiled and ruffled her hair “You will when you grow up”

As then I saw a car pull up to the entrance of the park then a worried Winona Coppenheimer rushed to Cierry.

“Are you alright, sweetie” she said as she hugged her tightly “I'm so worried about you!”

“I'm okay now, mom” her daughter replied

Winona then wipes what looks like tears in her eyes and she looks at me..

I'm quite intimidated…because I'm talking to Winona Coppenheimer, one of the most brilliant and smartest women alive…Me, a regular police officer.

“Thank you for taking care of my daughter” she said

“Just being a good person, ma'am” I said and salutes to her

“C'mon Cierry, let's go home” Winona said to her daughter

“But I didn't know mister officer’s name yet” Cierry said

“Arth” I said “That's my name”

“Thank you, Mister Arth!” she said as she waved at me.

I waved back at her and said “No worries just call me if you need something!”

She smiled and nodded as she went to her mother's car.

“I'm really grateful that Cierry met you” Winona said “She doesn't have any kinds of friends…kinda reminds me of myself”

“Yeah, she did mentioned about it”

“I gave everything she wanted but what do I lack?” She complained to herself

“Give her some of your precious time, that's all the kid wants…attention from her busy mom” I said “She also did mention about her dad what happened to him?”

“That would be a story for another day, Mister Arth” she said “Thank you”

I nodded as she went to her car and I went to the seesaw and sat on it afterwards I saw that they already went out as I smiled.

“What a crazy night…meeting the world's smartest woman alive” I said on my breath “So crazy”

And then suddenly a portal opened and dropped something in front of me..

“What the—” I said and I stood up then I quickly rushed at the guy who was badly injured with a lot of burns on his skin.

“Hey, pal are you alright?” I said as I flipped his body to look at his face

Damn it was my face…

“How could this be possible?” I said to myself

“You need to find her, Arth!” The burned man who is also me said

“Who's her…what are you talking about?” I asked confused as I don't have any idea on what's happening right now.

“Know who you really are!” He said to me as his eyes closed maybe because of exhaustion but I don't think so as burns like the one he has are from which survival is kinda difficult.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” I said as he was closing his eyes, he's not gonna make it out alive..

I quickly pulled out my phone and called the station “Station, we have an emergency” I said “A severely injured man needs immediate medical attention! I'm currently at the park”

Time passes as my comrades are now dealing with my dead body but I leave out that important part since I don't want to sound like a crazy man and besides he's literally burned to crisps it's unrecognizable at this point.

“We'll take it from here, you can rest now” my superior said

“Thank you, sir” I replied as I took my leave and then I arrived at my apartment..

“I'm home” I said even though there's no one home it just became a habit of mine I quickly jumped on my bed and thought about what happened today..

Meeting the world's smartest woman alive, Winona Coppenheimer isn't the craziest thing that happened but meeting an alternate version of myself who's badly injured ... .Now I kinda regret not asking more questions about myself.

But who is he talking about? Who's this woman he's talking about?

I feel like I want to know more but on the other hand I feel like I'm getting myself into a rabbit hole.

Nah, I'll just sleep this one out and figure it out tomorrow.

Closing my tired eyes to sleep as I then dreamt of something bizarre as multiple voices kept saying a single phrase repeatedly.

“The cycle must continue!

The cycle must continue!
The cycle must continue!
The cycle must continue!”
And then a hissing sound of a snake.

These words irritated me so much that I opened my eyes and saw that it's already morning.

I yawned and left my messy bed…messier than it was before and proceeded to make some coffee.

Then I heard a knock on my front door..I looked at it to figure out who it was.

It was a kid in the neighborhood but I know her quite well so it's alright.

“What is it, Gabby?” I asked her.

“Mister Arth, did you order chili fries from Nanny's Eatery?” She asked

“Gabby, it's morning” I said “I don't crave chili fries at the morning”

“But it was fully paid on your name” she said “Last night…Nanny said that I should just deliver this to you today since it's kinda late last night for deliveries”

Wait? Last night? I didn't order anything, especially chili fries…it must have been him!

“Then I'll take it, Thanks Gabby” I said as I took the bag.

“No problem, Mister Arth!” She smiled and left.

“Take care, Gabby!” I shouted back at her as she looked at me and smiled.

“Good kid” I said as I put the bag on the table as I continued on my morning routine.

A little insight about her,

Name, Ruth Gabby Cadavier

She's orphaned but not actually…

Her old man's..name, Reine Cadavier he's in jail for both arson and murder.

It is said that he burned their house one day while his wife was still inside.

Lucky for Gabby, she was put into a local orphanage since no one in her family wanted to claim her…she's quite a troublesome kid.

She sometimes finds herself in different kinds of situations, including fighting other kids.

But deep down she's a good kid with a tough attitude sometimes..

I was drinking my coffee and then suddenly I came into my mind to dig up some chili fries Gabby gave to me.

I took the bag and went to the kitchen sink to look for a new container.

And found a rectangular container good for the food for something like a chili fries.

Taking out the chili fries in the bag and putting it in the container..I can't help but dig in already on the aroma of the spices in the fries.

Sitting at the table…I can't leave my eyes on the chili fries as I started to take some and eat it.

“These chili fries are more tastier than the last one I had” I said

I can't help it anymore and I started digging into it…I can't help myself…it looks like I'm addicted to it.

My mouth and hands are already covered with the sauce from the fries but I started feeling something wrong.

I held my head as it was like getting ripped off and then rebuilt again and again.

“Arghhhhhhh” I cried in pain as I held my head.

Memories are overflowing me but I didn't do any of these. None of those moments are mine, they're from someone else but it's still me.

I saw that other version of myself from those memories he was fighting someone on black armor with a little bit of purple on it.

“Find her! Find the Saints of Last Resorts!” The voice cried in my memories but it was also my voice.

“What is happening to me?!” I roared as more memories are starting to overwhelm me now.

“You're Arth right? Arth, The Space-Time Voyager!” Another voice said but it was more low pitched.

My memories overflowing.

My brain is overloading.

And I'm laying down on the ground.
Looking like I received a lot of pounding.

“Looks like you finally recovered some of your memories, Arth” a voice said in my head

I closed my eyes from exhaustion as I felt I was getting carried away from my position.

Waking up on a splash of water in my face..

Two men with black glasses that wear a pair of black tuxedos are in front of me and both are staring at me…

“Who are you people?” I asked and proceeded to move but I was tied up on the chair. "Damn"

End of Chapter 1: Arth