As the bright monitor finally faded out, the entire room was overcrowded & I instantly lost Arthur Leo in the room.
Everyone -Fearful- Clammering on about the potential Serial Killer on the islands. From their reactions, it seemed like this was actually the first time someone died near this building specifically. The island surrounding it, however, was far more unsurprised.
I could tell by looking at the window. People outside just saw the announcement and kept walking.
"Well, not my problem." I said, looking around for Arthur Leo again.
Just then, I had an idea. Those techbooks. If I found out what they looked like, I could swipe one, and use it to find out the dorm rooms. At that moment, I instantly decided to leave, but someone stopped me.
Fuck! It was Sophie! She smiled over to me.
"Hey, Arthur! Forget all that serial killer nonsense! Come with Cinderella & me on our girls night out!"
It was a terrible distracting. "Nah, sorry."
Cinderella then looked confused. "I don't get it. You said you would yesterday."
I stopped, cursing the real Arthur Leo for making my life insufferable.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sure I will, but why are you guys so calm? There's a serial killer running around!" I shouted, trying to switch topics.
Cinderella laughed. "This is a military base. We're all used to being on the edge of death. A murderer is nothing."
Apparently, they'd be sent out in real combat scenario's every once in a while. Bad for me.
In many ways.
"Wait, can I borrow your techbook for a second, Cinderella?" I asked, trying to see if I could get an edge.
Cinderella looked at me, confused. "You know we aren't supposed to lend our techbooks to others. We'd be discharged, and not only that, banished from the island."
Why did it have to be so difficult?
I had to figure out a new way around this problem, obviously.
"Oh, right. Forget it." I said.
As I stated that, a look of suspicion crossed Cinderella's face. She could tell something was up.
Fuck! She was too observant! I needed to go, now!
"Oh, well. I'll be going. Seeya!" I said, shouting out.
Unfortunately, The Wild Animal instantly stopped me. "C'mon. Let's hang out with them."
These stupid idiots really wanted ME to come along to THEIR girls night out.
I would rather eat a bullet than hang out with ugly teenage girls, along with an adult who tricks herself into believing she's a teenager because her name is fucking Cinderella.
"I'd love to!" I said, sarcastically.
Unfortunately, Cinderella took that as an answer. "Okay, let's go!"
I paused for a bit, piped up & asked. "Wait, when?"
"Right now, obviously." Sophie replied.
Not good.
If I hang out with these people, the original Arthur, who made the promise, is definitely going to show up. But I had a plan.
"So, what are we doing again?" I asked Sophie directly. She seemed to be the one who would get to the point fastest.
"We're going to get our fortune done, silly!"
Fortune? Like, palm reading? Good grief.
I quickly formulated a plan in my head. I was going to go to the palm reader's with them. Then, once I spot the REAL Arthur, I'd rush off & pretend I had to do something. Then, when the real Arthur meets up with them, I'd follow him to his dorm room, teleport inside it, and kill him.
'What about the body?' My orb telepathically asked.
'If you kill Arthur, you'll have to deal with his body. What will you do?"
Fuck it! We'll deal with it as we go!
I walked alongside the 3 girls, trying to make myself seem invisible.
We eventually left the fortress.
Looking around, I noticed that there were lots of people.
"Wow. There are lots of people on the water, too." I mused.
The Wild Animal laughed. "Yeah, since this island has weird weather patterns, its summer all year round! It's never snowed here. In fact, I dont think the temperature has ever been below 65° F."
I didn't know that before. The island itself seemed to be different from the world, but that wasn't that crazy. Lot's of places are strange in this world.
As we continued walking, we finally arrived at a spot that looked incredibly...
Tacky.
It was a god awful looking place, with fake wherewolves and everyone dressed like ghosts and shit! It looked like Halloween, but with no real sense of joy of the holiday.
There were Jack-O-Laterns everywhere, and I noticed a shop selling ornamental knives. I wondered if they truly worked, since the girl selling them was promoting them as cooking tools. They clearly weren't. The woman was just an incompetant moron.
Sophie began to speak. "Welcome to Spooky-town!"
There were people giving out candy.
According to Sophie, the way people greeted each other in this area of the island, was by trading candy. If one didn't have candy to trade, it'd be seen as rude.
There were even designated sections in the area to buy candy, and other area's where they will give you "Charity Candy" for free.
Y'know, the shit nobody ever eats. Stuff like black licorice or candy corn. The trashy ones, basically.
Normally, stuff from earth, brands in particular, didn't exist in this world, but nothing could stop holiday capitalism for too long.
My assumption was that transmigrators from Earth got here, and decided to plagiarize ideas, concepts and brands for a quick buck, and that's probably how we got shit like this. That explains the Optimus Prime toy from earlier, too.
I asked a man by the Charity Counter for a payday bar, and he told me that Payday's were actually good candy, and I'd have to buy them instead.
I responded, annoyed. "No the fuck they're not! It's just a bunch of nuts stacked together. They taste awful. It's like an inferior version of butterfingers!"
The charity counter guy sneered in my face. "Look, kid. Feel free to like what you want, but I won't give to someone who doesn't appreciate payday bars."
I desperately tried to butter him up. "Okay, fine. I'll just take an almond joy."
He went up behind the counter, and paused for a second. "I only have 3 almond joys left. Do you want em all?"
"Sure. Give me all 3." I said, disgusted.
As I took the almond joy's, music started playing through speakers.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! I WANT YOU IN MY ROOM!" The loudspeaker screamed, nearly drowning out our voices.
"What the hell is this music?" I asked, my ears hurting.
"You don't like it?" Sophie complained.
"Of course I don't like it. It's way too loud!"
Sophie then, incredulously, asked. "Okay, Mozart. What kind of music do you like?"
"I dunno. Kesha? Katy Perry?" I exhasperatedly sighed.
"Ew! That's Earth music. Only transmigrators listen to that garbage." She laughed in my face.
This is earth music too, you dumb bitch.
The music itself wasn't a problem, but with how loud it was, it was distracting. Not only that, but it was painful, and the bass was boosted to an uncomfortable degree, to which I could barely hear the original tune.
Trying to escape the painful loudness of the song, I slipped off for a second. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Wait for me."
As I slipped off, away from the loud noise, I arrived at where I wanted to be.
The knife shop! I saw it earlier, and definitely wanted to buy one.
Not only would it help me if the orb wanted to strip my teleportation away again, but its always a good idea to have an extra weapon, because I couldn't reveal that I wasn't Arthur Leo. If I did, then the orb would kill me, like it said.
Truthfully, I didn't know if it was lying, but I didn't want to risk it.
As I arrived at the knife shop, I noticed that someone else was manning the till. It was none other than Kyle!
"Oh, Kyle. What are you doing here?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Oh, hey Arthur. Gotta make a living somehow."
I didn't question it, and just looked at the ornamental knives. "Hey, can I get a knife. What's the cheapest."
Kyle sighed, and pulled out a rusty carving knife. "This is the cheapest."
"Thanks," I said "How much for it?"
"5 twix bars."
What? "Uhh.... did I... hear that right?"
Kyle slowly slank away. "Look man, I dunno. People here really like Twix. I'm a snickers person."
"No. No. That's not what I... do people here use halloween candy as currency?"
It was ridiculous to the point where it genuinely angered me.
"Why?"
Kyle stuttered. "Look, I just fucking got here. I don't care whether we use literal shit as currency. You gonna buy it or not."
I paused.
"I... don't have any candy."
"Get the fuck out of my line!"
I just left. I wasn't ready for the ricidulousness of it all.
"Wait, Kyle. Is it halloween town or the island as a whole?"
Kyle tilted his head. "Uh. It's just Halloween-Town. The rest of the island uses normal currency by trading through Techbooks. I thought you already knew that."
"Oh, uhh... Yeah. Of course I knew that."
I quickly got back to the other 3 girls. But before I did, I managed to steal one of Kyle's knives. It was way nicer than that crummy carving knife.
The Wild Animal pointed over. "It's her. The fortune teller."
She pointed to a small, rickety tent, bright purple, with the words scribbled on it.
'Fortune teller. First fortune's free!'
We all rushed over to the fortune teller. I only rushed because I wanted to get this over with. The others rushed because they were excited.
But Sophie tripped, and fell flat on her face. It took everything to keep me from laughing at her, but I managed to hold it in.
The second we entered the purple tent, I saw someone very familiar. It was the Cold Hearted - She was getting her fortune told!
The fortune teller was completely covered. I couldn't even see her face over the black hood.
The woman reading fortunes had an old, hag-like voice, and her hands, the only visible part of her body, were covered in green sores.
Gross.
I overheard Ice's fortune, and found it interesting.
"Your life will be greatly influenced by others. Even today, you are just going with life, which is throwing you off course. But soon, you will find out your true self."
As the fortune teller let go of her palm, the Cold Hearted began to leave, but she noticed that I was looking directly at her.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"Oh, nothing. I just... thought you were really pretty." She did look pretty, but I had to come up with an excuse, and I really wasn't all that attracted to her.
"Thanks, kid. But i'm a little too old for you."
She then left without bothering to talk the Wild Animal.
As I heard everyone else get their fortunes told, I calmed down.
Cinderella was first.
The fortune teller looked at her palm, giggled a bit, and spoke.
"You, my girl, are hiding a very important part of yourself, and its tearing you to pieces. You desperately want someone else to relate to you."
I rolled my eyes. What a bunch of nonsense. This fortune teller bullshit was all fake.
Next, the Wild Animal. "You, have already met a person you both admire & hate. You just don't know it yet."
Damn. That fortune was short, too. Were all of our fortunes going to end in 1 sentence?
As a fortune teller, she must have been very lazy.
I didn't even listen to Sophie's fortune.
I was last.
The fortune teller looked at me palm, and stopped.
"Wow. Very interesting..." Her old voice resounded throughout the tent.
"Come to the back. I want to speak with you privately."
As the old hag said that, I looked into the back. There was a small opening to another room.
How did I not notice that?
Once she pointed it out, was when I realized it was even there.
"Okay." I said, unamused.
As we walked into the small room alone, I noticed a giant boiling cauldron, with many different mixes.
Along with that, weird bottles & beakers lined rickety old shelves. The smell was wet & musty, and black mould had crept into the room. It was absolutely disgusting.
Fortune telling was worthless in my eyes. In a world where we could have literal superpowers, hyper intelligent robots existed, and literal Gods could descend to our world, I felt that being able to cold read was a useless skill.
She sat down, and urged me to lay on the floor. I stood.
The floor was disease ridden. Filth piled high, covered with germs.
Regardless of my opinion, the hag spoke.
"You are the most interesting person whose fortune I've read. You are special, throughout all of Terra Firma."
I paused for a second. "Terra... Firma?"
"Yes, boy. It is the place where we live! This is our planet, boy!" She shouted, excitedly.
It seemed like she'd just done something extraordinary, and was celebrating it.
I, on the other hand, was stunned! I never heard anyone call this anything other than, the world.
"You see", she explained, "All across this beautiful green marble, people from every nation are adopting the term Terra Firma. We don't know how the name spread, but it had to do with a shift in power dynamics."
I was incredibly confused. This wasn't even fortune reading.
"Ah, you must not understand, boy. Allow me to explain.", she continued on.
"Who rules the world?" She asked, with her hood still covered. I could still make out an amused expression behind it.
I answered.
"If I had to say... it's the Chaotic Demons & Celestial Angels. Their power is monumental, and every time one of them makes a major move, the world is affected in a major way. History is permanently altered."
She laughed. "Yes, of course you get it, boy!"
She continued onwards "But... as of recently, Chaotic Demons & Celestial Angels have lost their pull. They are no longer at the top of the food chain."
"Wait, old lady, what do you mean?", I asked.
She smiled from underneath. I could barely see it.
"Well, recently, a new existence has rendered them obsolete. That new existence threatens life for all of us."
I paused. Fear coursed through my veins at that very moment.
"Yes, boy. These creatures can kill powerful Chaotic Demons and Celestial Angels in mere seconds, and a great war will come. Instead of being fought with firearms, it will be fought with great planet destroying superweapons, and large dyson spheres - The end of the world, boy!"
She sure does say the word 'boy' a lot.
"How do you know this?" I asked, perplexed, and a little afraid.
The woman laughed. "Didn't I tell you, I am a fortune teller. That is just one of my amazing abilities."
At that point, I finally realized what was going on. This lady was insane!
"Don't leave, boy. I'm getting somewhere."
She smiled, and stole a glance at me.
"Fine. Allow me to read your fortune."
She said that, and raised her hand.
"You, a man who is far older than he looks, will eventually lose what's most important. Then, you will die."
Die? I couldn't believe what she was saying.
"You heard me. Die."
She continued on, ignoring my perplexed stare.
"The war I was speaking on. You will play a great role. You will be the one to unite the world." She smiled.
Unite the world? That didn't sound like me at all.
"I would tell you more, boy. But I think you have something more important to do. I know who you are, Freedom Junkie."
At that moment, I flashed across the room, blinking in an instant.
I held the knife I stole to the old hag's throat. "One more word: You die. I'm fucking sick of you."
This lady knew too much. I was convinced. All of her fortunes were real!
I had to kill her!
She cackled with a sinister tone, revealing her face.
"What the fuck!" I shouted.
She had... green skin!?
Her flesh was bubbly and gross. Her nose - abnormally long and oddly shaped.
"Don't test me, boy. You can't kill me. Everyone will know you did. You have to keep secrecy in order to live. Your fortune told me that much, you little brat!"
Damn it! She was good.
Everyone saw me walk in here with her. If I walked out, while she died, everyone would assume I was the serial killer, and in turn, the orb would exterminate me.
"Fine. What is it?" I scowled.
"Don't worry, boy. I want you to live. You will make this boring old lady's life fun. You want information, don't you? You want to know where the other Arthur Leo is, don't you?"
I calmed down, putting the knife away. "Why do you want to help me again?"
She smiled. "I told you. You will change the world. The Red Thread of Fate no longer exists, so my predictions are not 100% accurate anymore. Instead, I now predict the most likely outcome. Only a couple predictions are at 100% nowadays. But you... for some reason, all of your predictions are at 100%. Every single one of those things are true, flawlessly foolproof."
I hesitated. "Fine. If you'll answer my questions, than go ahead. Answer them all.
"No. I will only answer one."
In annoyance, I tried threatening her once again. Instead, she didn't budge. She only continued to cackle in that arrogant tone.
"You have 10 seconds, boy."
I thought about my question, but then, she randomly imposed a timer on me.
Quickly, I thought of the first question I could come up with.
"Okay. What dorm room is Arthur Leo living in?"
The woman laughed.
"I believe you've already been in it. He stayed in the dorm room that you first entered. I believe it had pink carpets, tons of toys. Very girly, too. Oh, and it had an action figure of a transformer."
"What? I thought that was..."
She replied. "Yes. Arthur proposed that he could share a room with Sophie. They had only been dating for a week. Too bad he's a serial cheater at only 14."
"Wait? What about the techbooks?" I asked.
The hag laughed. "I told you i'd only answer a single question. No, Arthur's roomate, Sophie, is here with you. Should you really be talking to me?"
Shock filled my face.
I knew what I had to do!