Chapter 17: Overlap

As soon as they closed the shop, Mathew, Valerio and the twins started searching for Arthur.

The twins started investigating the people Arthur interacted with the past few days while

Mathew and Valerio started to look for the Nova signature.

They thought they would find it difficult to find traces of that Nova but to their surprise, they

found the traces in lots of other places.

It was unknown if it was a coincidence or incidental, but all the places the Nova traces were

found were the places related to the bizarre mirror incidents that Valerio reported.

“Got any other leads Mr. Val?” Mathew asked.

“I’m able to sense something even stronger from somewhere, it’s not far away. You too stay

here, me and Mathew will go check it out” Valerio said to the twins as his gaze was locked

someplace far away.

“Okay, Uncle Val,” Kael said.

“Stay safe kids” Mathew warned them, everyone was still on edge from the attack previously.

“Sure” Lyra nodded.

“We’ll be nearby, but if you get attacked or ambushed while we're away, I'm permitting you to use your eyes. But, be cautious” Valerio looked at them seriously.

“Haha, thank you, Uncle Val. We will be fine” Lyra replied with a smile.

“Yup, leave the shop to us” Kael replied with a puffed chest.

…

“Jayden, call me Jayden” Jayden stressed.

“Okay, Grandpa Jayden. How-”

“Do not call me grandpa. I just told you, I'm not a day past my prime, it's brother Jayden for

you hereafter” Jayden said with a stressed smile.

“Okay, brother Jayden” Arthur looked at him confusedly. Jayden was an old man, so

why is he insisting that he is not old? ‘Maybe he has some complex about his age’ Arthur thought to himself.

“That sounds good, now can you fetch me that bottle to your right?” Jayden asked as he

pointed at a bottle on the shelf.

“That one on the shelf?” Arthur asked. Jayden just nodded. Arthur went near the shelf and

took the bottle Jayden pointed.

“Um..it says ‘izac’-” Arthur looked at the label and struggled to pronounce it.

“It’s Izcalli, mind pouring me a cup? We’ll bond over drinks” Jayden asked with a smirk as he

pushed 2 glasses towards Arthur.

“Sure, I'll pour you one, but I don't drink” Arthur replied as he poured the drinks in only one

glass.

“Hey Arthur, I've gotta question for you,” Jayden asked as he took a sip of the drink.

“Sure, ask me” Arthur replied with a nod.

“Do you believe in god?” Jayden asked as he looked at Arthur with an indescribable look.

“Woah, that’s outta nowhere. Do you?” Arthur looked at Jayden seriously.

“To me, it's kind of a grey area” Jayden replied with a smile.

“I'm not a believer. I don't know if it’s appropriate to tell but I kinda hate the being called ‘god’ “ Arthur replied with a sigh.

“Haha, why is that?” Jayden looked at Arthur curiously.

‘What did this kid experience to make him hate god?’ he thought with curiosity.

“I’ve suffered so much in my life and every time I turned to god, I was let down” Arthur

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

replied. He hated thinking about his past sufferings. But those made him what he is today.

“Hmm, that’s kind of a one-sided opinion but whatever” Jayden continued sipping his drink.

“How have you been all alone here for five years?” Arthur asked, trying to shift the topic.

Anyway, he was curious about this strange old man.

“I'm not alone all the time, sometimes I get visitors” Jayden replied with a smirk.

“Huh? But you said you can't get visitors just a few moments ago” Arthur

asked in confusion.

“Oh did I?” Jayden asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Yeah, you said the same words” Arthur nodded.

“Oh, maybe I blabbered something since I was drunk. Anyway, a few pop out here and

there” Jayden said without much thought.

“Oh, where are they now? Maybe we can ask them for help” Arthur asked, trying to find some hope.

“They are not here now, Arthur” Jayden replied, his expression turning serious all of a

sudden.

“Why? Did they manage to get out??” Arthur asked excitedly.

“No, I killed them,” Jayden said, staring straight at Arthur's eye. Arthur instinctively moved

back in fear.

“You did what?” Arthur asked with a frown.

“Woah woah, don't panic and sit down. Those people looked like agents or something. They

came here to kill me or abduct me. They were not good guys, so I did what I had

to” Jayden explained calmly while sipping the drink.

“Wait, agents? Were they wearing coats or something?” Arthur asked, immediately thinking of Mark and Dave.

“I think so, why do you ask?” Jayden asked.

“Because I think I once faced something similar to what you said. They were after Uncle Val”

Arthur replied with a frown.

‘Just who were those two? Why were they looking for Uncle Val?’ Arthur thought to himself.

He had long since known that everyone at the shop lied and tried to cover up that event.

Since they didn't want to reveal the truth, Arthur also didn't ask them since he thought it

would be out of place for him to ask them such things.

“Uncle Val?” Jayden asked, tilting his head.

“Oh, his name is Valerio. He owns Raven's burger and I'm an employee” Arthur explained.

“Is that so…Valerio was it? Alright,” Jayden nodded in thought.

…

Mathew and Valerio kept following the Nova signature and arrived at an odd place.

“Mr Val, is this the place?” Mathew asked, looking at the place ahead with a frown.

“I think so” Valerio replied.

“A bar?” Mathew asked.

“For some reason, I'm able to sense Arthur and that Nova signature at this place. It's the

strongest here” Valerio replied, looking at the bar with interest.

It was exactly the bar where Arthur and Jayden were conversing.

“Is that so? Then we should go check it out, right?” Mathew looked at Valerio.

Valerio nodded and went inside the bar. Just like the other day, when Piers and Orion met, it

was quite empty with 3-4 customers.

“Nothing seems to be special,” Mathew said as he looked here, looking for any sort of clue.

“Do you feel it?” Valerio looked at Mathew with a frown.

“Yeah, like we're being spied on” Mathew replied as he looked at the remaining customers

suspiciously.

…

“Oh…interesting” Jayden looked around with a smile. Arthur just looked at Jayden with

confusion.

‘What is interesting? Maybe, the old man is seeing hallucinations due to all the drinks Arthur

thought.

…

“Maybe, it's worth doing it” Valerio replied as if he had decided something.

“What are you gonna do, Mr Val” Mathew looked at Valerio in confusion.

“Use my powers, what else” Valerio replied with a smile.

“But you told us it would compromise our safety” Mathew frowned.

“One, Arthur's safety is already compromised and two, after you killed Orion, they would

already know something. Anyway, I'll make sure not to overdo it” Valerio replied as he patted Mathew’s shoulders in assurance.

“Okay, I'll look around and see if I'm able to find something” Mathew replied as he started to

look around the bar and question the remaining customers.

After a while, Mathew returned in disappointment. He saw Valerio crouched down with

his eyes closed and hands touching the floor.

“I didn't find anything” Mathew replied as Valerio opened his eyes.

“But I did” Valerio replied with a smirk.

“What?” Mathew asked.

“Arthur is here,” Valerio said with confidence.

“What, he’s here? But where? I've looked around everywhere and there is no trace of him”

Mathew replied with a frown.

“The thing is, Arthur is right here but the thing is he’s in another dimension, and if my

intuition is right, this very bar should be the point where our world and the one which Arthur is in overlaps” Valerio explained calmly.

“So, you're saying this is a sort of gate?” Mathew asked in confusion.

“Yeah and another thing is, our next fragment should be there too” Valerio smiled.

“What? He’s there too? Then we should go there immediately” Mathew said hurriedly. Since

they didn't know if the fragment was hostile or friendly, every second they hesitated puts

Arthur’s life is in more danger.

“There’s no we here Mathew. Just you and the twins are going. I'm gonna stay back, just in

case something bad like the other day happens” Valerio said.

“Oh okay, then I'll be responsible for their safety, and I'll teach them a thing or two while

we're there” Mathew replied with a nod. He wasn't all that worried about Valerio being alone.

“Thank you, Mathew, I'll inform them in person at the shop,” Valerio said.

“I'll not let you down this time. So when are we gonna leave for the other side or other

dimension or whatever” Mathew asked.

“You guys leave when the sun’s up. I'm sure you'll be able to get Arthur and return safely

from the other side or should I say ‘mirror world' “ Valerio laughed loudly