When Lars woke up, Len was no longer in bed. Len had always been more of an early riser than Lars did and that day was no different. As usual, Len left some foods for his brother to have breakfast with, which were tuna sandwiches and fried eggs then. After finishing his meal, Lars opened the window to soak up the remaining morning air despite the sun was already high enough by that time."I would say good morning, but that doesn't seem right."Len just entered the room, with a big smile on his face. He was carrying several brochures."Oh, hi," Lars said between his stretch. "How's the breakfast?""It was amazing! Everything's on the buffet are so delicious! Kinda feel bad that you missed that, I mean that's the whole experience of staying in a B&B.""Well, I got more bed, you got more breakfast."Len faintly chuckled. "Anyway, what do you want to do today? I was thinking maybe we could visit the beach? It's pretty close from here.""Beach's cool. Yeah, let's check it out.
Lars, Len and Seth were far enough along the beach that they could barely see anyone around, save from some swimmers looking for the more solitary water. The high sun was descending by at the time, stretching their shadows longer behind.Eventually, Seth directed Lars and Len to a rock gate decorated with red hibiscus engravings. It led to a small brick path deep into the woods, pitted between hibiscus shrubs. It wasn't a long walk and a set of buildings was quick to emerge from all the greens.The buildings were three separate compounds, with big terraces and tribal engravings all over its columns and some walls. There were no sounds of construction, only loud concert of little animals from the forest. It was a bit alarming for Lars as he gave Len a meaningful, suspicious glance."There's no one here," Lars said."Maybe the other workers are resting inside. It's still lunchtime, I think," Seth said.A faint conversation whizzed through the hot air. It came from a different c
A monstrous growl erupted, shattering the silence. Lars and Len were no longer quiet with their breaths. They were trapped in a room with unidentified, most likely dangerous creature waiting outside. Should that thing out there come inside, they knew they were doomed for. They cornered themselves by hiding there.The door was moving. Something seemed to nudge it open, but there was nothing on the other side. Instead, there was a curtain of pure white mist that seeped in through the room. The mysterious mist was crawling across the room, unmistakably the same as previous night."Lars, what do we do?" Len whispered."I don't know, Len. I... I don't know."Lars and Len knew that one mistake could cost their lives in this situation. One wrong move was all it takes. They looked at each other in a moment of silent understanding and nodded. They went for it.The terrified twins took off in a scrambling run, disoriented and aimless amidst the world of pure white. Lars tightly grabbed
'Can you hear me, o brave soul?'In the void, a voice resonated. Lars could never remember how this event fully transpired and what was it that said to him. All he knew was that a voice called out to him. The voice was calm, with certain warmth of welcoming yet also with a melancholy of bitter parting.Lars opened his eyes and found himself in an empty white chamber. The room was brightly lit, like the pristine white walls were made of light itself. There were runic writings on the wall and some were on the floor, circling the entire room.The runes were alien writings for Lars and yet despite he couldn't understand any of it, he was captivated. The soft golden glow emanated from the runes felt so soothing it was almost hypnotizing him. The runes glowed in unison, in a manner that resembled a heartbeat resonance."Where... am... I?"Lars' voice echoed across the room, yet it traveled ever so slowly to his own ears. He was completely delirious, mind hazy and body felt like hot
After being screamed at, Lars immediately went to lift the monster's body for Tirana to wiggle herself out of there. He found the body surprisingly light despite he was moving roughly an adult bear sized creature with ease and no assistance at all. Len's jaw was dropped due to either too shocked or too confused watching Lars' incredible display of strength."Thank you," Tirana said after she could finally stand up. "And thank you for the earlier, as well."Tirana looked at Lars for a while before she smiled, showcasing her pretty dimples. Her prominent cheekbones were rosy and sweaty from the earlier battle. While Tirana dusted off dirt from her white clothes, Lars picked up her spear and handed it to her. She clicked a switch on the spear's socket and the handle was significantly retracted, turning it into a rod more than a spear. She put it on her bag and fished out a fancy bottle containing turquoise tinted water."Are you hurt anywhere? You should drink this if you do."Lar
Once Lars and Len were back in Angel's Snack, they immediately went to their room, took a cold shower and got changed. They were planning to isolate themselves for the rest of the night and just ordered a room service for dinner. However, when Len made the call, he was informed of a peculiar instruction."What's wrong?" Lars asked."Oh, they said the dinner will be served at the rooftop table. Apparently, it's already reserved for us."Lars and Len didn't need to guess that it was Tirana's doing. They were reluctant of leaving their den but it seemed they had no choice. They could only hope that they do not encounter any friendly guests who wanted to share stories so they had to pretend like they did not just involved in anything remotely exciting earlier.Despite their reluctance to go there, Lars and Len were quickly in awe of the sight at the Angel's Snack rooftop. The night view of Antares outskirts was mesmerizing with little lights in the distance sprinkled all over the d
In his 18 years of living, Lars Sykes had never been an early riser. He never saw daybreak nor sunrise unless he was awake the whole night, hanging out with his friends or playing video games. Hence, it was a peculiar sight for Len to woke up alone and found the bed next to him had long cold.Len looked around and noticed the room key was missing from the nightstand he left it on. It was still an hour until breakfast time so Len deduced they had enough time to pack before that and leave immediately afterwards. Len had thought to call Lars with the disposable phone he left him with, but decided not to.Something unnatural just happened to them and it was not just about the monster attack, Len knew that very well. He remembered seeing his brother's mangled body when the monster brutally tore him apart. The darkness might've dulled the redness of the scene, but Len saw enough to piece the puzzle into a grotesque picture of horror.Len saw the scene because back then, he decided to
"You're an alchemist?""That's so cool!"Lars and Len couldn't quite contain their excitement over the wondrous basement Tirana had. It was like they were kids in a candy store, marveling at everything and wanted to touch everything. But still, they knew better not to carelessly fiddled with the colorful spheres, various kinds of flasks on the table or the bubbling cauldron. They may not know much about chemicals, but they knew enough to not mess with them.Lars carefully inspected a peculiar gear mechanism on the work table. "So, does all the agents of VERSE are alchemists or...?""No, they just have a dedicated division for it. There are those recruited from military background, mercenaries, or graduates from VERSE academy like my father. I'm simply continuing his legacy.""What is it that alchemists do? How do you make all of this?" Len asked.Tirana smiled in a way that was clear that she anticipated such question. "Alchemists are the bridge between science and magic. W