Fred’s exit leaves Aya in a daze, she stares at the piece of paper in her hand with a zoned out expression. Suddenly, she registers a hand being waved in front of her face. Aya snapped her attention to Nisha who had been waving at her for close to a minute.

  “Summoner, are you feeling better now?” Nisha asked in concern and confusion. The girl had her hands on her hips as she asked and Aya was forced to turn back to reality.

  “I think I just got my world rocked.” Aya said earnestly.

  “Indeed, it’s not every day you find your lost relative, even more surprising that it’s Fred. I’ve known him for years.” Renard said.

  “He seemed like a weirdo to me, no offense.” Nisha said, leading Aya to the seat she was on previously. Aya sat, still looking at the phone number in her hand.

  It might as well have been a dream, but she was sure this was real life. Without a second thought, she reached up and smacked herself hard across the face.

  “What the hell?”

  “I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.” Aya said sheepishly. Her wide smile made Nisha take a step back and exchange glances with Renard.

  “I’m worried about her.” The older man said, making a face at the dazed girl on his old couch. When she had come in earlier that day, he hoped she was there to upgrade her equipment but now it seemed his store had become a venue for theatrics.

  “How worried?” Nisha shot back.

  After a moment of light conversation, Aya lifted her head in remembrance of what she was supposed to do today.

  “Oh, I still had something to tell you guys.” Aya said.

  “What is it Aya?”

  “Don’t tell me you also discovered you’re actually part alien.” Nisha teased.

  Aya’s lips trembled, she stared back down at the floor, then lifted her hands to cover her face in embarrassment.

  “I’m moving.” Aya said. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for a negative reaction from her friends, surely they would be mad at her for leaving with such short notice right?

  A moment passed before the other two spoke.

  “Congratulations!” Renard said.

  “You’re finally getting out of this city, lucky.” Nisha said with a mischievous smile. “I wish I could say I was doing the same.”

  Aya blinked in surprise, all the nervous energy she had, dispelled at the words of her friends.

  “You mean you’re not mad at me for leaving?” Aya asked.

  “Pfft! Mad? Only a loser would want to see their friend stuck in a bad situation.” Nisha said.

  “Other than the fact I’m losing a potential customer, I couldn’t be happier for ya.” Renard said.

  “Besides, thanks to VR, we can meet up in Moon Valley whenever you make it out of wherever you are right now.” Nisha shrugged.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Aya looked between their faces in disbelief. She thought the goodbyes would be hard, but it turned out she didn’t have to say goodbye for real. She could always visit, or chat with them.

  “Yeah, it’s not the end of the world.” Aya said, calming down.

  “Where are you going anyway?” Nisha asked.

  “Mericross.”

  “I hear they have great tournaments there, I’ve always wanted to go.”

  “And great deals on VR, doesn’t beat mine though!” Renard said proudly. “I only wish we knew so we could have thrown you a farewell party.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Haven’t you cried enough today, you’re not going to be able to wear your old Revista if you have watery eyes.” Nisha said.

  ----------

  Aya and Nisha left the Junk shop walking in the same direction as the apartment complex. The brunette strolled to match Nisha’s equally relaxed pace.

  “You know before I found you, I went to the store. The guy on his shift didn’t want to tell me where you were.”

  “Oh Robin? Well yeah, it’s Axen City, who knows what kind of weirdos wanna pull up on you.” Nisha said in a matter of fact tone.

  Aya was inclined to agree, but it was frustrating all the same. It was one of the things she was glad to be leaving behind in Axen.

  “Just be safe alright, I don’t want to think of you getting hurt or something.” Aya said. Nisha laughed, then bumped shoulders with Aya, nearly knocking her down.

  “You’re really nice, I’ve never had friends before.” Nisha said quietly.

  “What about Renard?”

  “He’s a friend of my dad’s, looks after me, gives me good discounts and I work there sometimes.” Nisha explained.

  “I know what you mean, it's not too long ago that I finally made some friends myself. Always been too busy to hang out with anyone.” Aya said.

  “Working since you were a kid? Story of my life.” Nisha sighed. “ At least Moon Valley’s the most fun part time job.”

  “I hear ya.” Aya laughed. “It’s a full time job for me, one of the best I’ve ever had.”

  “Lucky! My dad’ll tear me to pieces if he heard I quit a good part time job to play a game all day.”

  The two girls stopped at a diverging path, one toward the apartment complex and the other, toward the convenience store.

  “See you around Aya, good luck in Mericross and with the family thing. I hope you get to meet your uncle soon.” Nisha said. She pulled Aya into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her friend.

  Aya realized Nisha had called her by her name and not class, it made her smile.

  “See you around Nisha.” Aya said softly.

  Aya entered the apartment to freshen up and get ready to meet Atlas. She pushes open the door to find most things in the apartment in boxes.

  Mars had left something on the table for her, a plate covered by one of these fancy food warmers she had seen advertised on TV from time to time. It was leftover Garlic chicken pasta from the night before. Aya’s mouth watered as she sat down to scarf down the food.

  “So how was it? Mars said emerging from her room.

  Aya nodded her head, mouth too full of pasta to speak.

  “That’s good.” Mars said somehow understanding what the other girl was trying to say. She took some soda out of the fridge and guzzled it without stopping.

  Aya was almost impressed by Mars’s ability to knock back sugary drinks at the speed of light. She swallowed her meal and started to talk.

  “I thought they were going to be mad at me but they weren’t. And Mars, I...I spoke to my uncle.” Aya said.

  Mars spun around so fast that she almost spilled her drink across the floor.

  “You what? How? When? Where was he?” The questions flew out of her faster than Aya could think up answers to them.

  “He was with my dad! One of the guys who worked for him recognized me, he said he knew my mom! Worked with my mom. That meant he worked for Moon Valley!” Aya said in excitement.

  Fred was running late and didn’t have enough time to answer her questions but when her phone had charged up…

  She would finally be able to have a proper conversation with her uncle.