Adventure In A Foreign World - Legacy of The Chosen One 002

Things stay the same for the next few days. She comes to talk with me nearly all day long. Firstly, she brings me a change of clothes. The set of shirt and long pant she brought are made from good material which is nice but it's highly adorned with some kind of 'artistic' golden embroidery which appear unnatural considering where I'm right now. Therefore I only take and wear the shirt because I was shirtless ever since coming here. 

From then on she brings various kind of delicacies. Apparently, after I told her about the variety of the food we have back on Earth, she has been trying to get me impressed with the best cuisine of this world. I wonder whether if I told her about various wonderful places on Earth she would take me out from here and let me see the many places outside.

I get closely acquainted with her along the way. In the last two days, she opened up a little to me. She shared with me many of her stories. She told me about the royal family, especially about her elder sisters. Thus, I learn that she is really close with her sisters, in fact, she really admires them. She told me about how the third elder sister is a tomboy and spoiled her the most. She told me about how both her second and first elder sisters are a kind and noble-hearted person, a person of truly down-to-earth character despite their royal status. Lastly, although they are all from different mothers, they still have a really close relationship, probably closer than what a normal sibling usually be. 

I feel relieved that this little princess has such a good people to rely on. Even if they are currently away from her, it's not like they are gone, they should still be able to meet each other from time to time.

Also thanks to getting well-acquainted with her, I tasted many kind of foods and drinks, there was a mango-shaped fruit that taste like watermelon but with a texture of a durian, a cake made from the extract of herbs which taste like high grade alcohols, and even a hot drink that has a mint touch in it. She said that that hot mint is called 'Pallanua' and is a popular drink in this world. They all taste very exotic to my tongue.

It's all one-sided. She is the one that always brings the cuisine of her world to me while I can't let her taste any kind of food or drinks from earth.

I really hope that I can let her taste something that we have back on earth. She was very proud when she presented that hot mint, I bet she is equally curious to how does the popular drink in my world taste like. I wonder how she will react if she ever taste a cola or any other carbonated drinks. 

Maybe I should try to make one in this world later on, how do they make carbonated drinks anyway?

Thinking about food, I remember Boss Ben's pizza. It has been 8 nights since I arrive in this world. He must be mad that I suddenly disappear. I hope his stroke doesn't act up. The business should be running just fine, Jimmy and Ron are still there to help him run the store and do the delivery after all.

Boss Ben's pizza, it taste just average but it has that one thing that, although isn't exactly the tastiest one I've ever eaten, I can't stop eating it. It's a kind of homemade feeling, warm and cozy, and the toppings are plenty. Because we at Papa Ben's Pizzeria can't afford to use many expensive stuffs, so Boss Ben just went with "Then we should just use more ingredients to compensate that! Let's just use the much cheaper ingredients but with higher quantity!", as always, his way of thinking was really straight-forward.

Boss Ben, I'm sorry for leaving without a word. He helped me a lot when I first settle-up in Brooklyn some years ago and even gave me shelter and jobs too.

While lying down on the prison bed, I'm reminiscing such old memories. The time I met Boss Ben, and even the time from way back, all the way to my dark complicated past.

"Boss Ben's pizza... I still want to at least taste it one last time..."

I'm still thinking about that. Maybe it's like the holy bread for me.

*Dziiing*

Huh?

*Vroaaam*

What the?! What's this? A door-like hole just opened mid-air. The surface is a sparkling but also looks glossy as if it's wet. it's spinning around like a slow vortex of galaxy, quite enchanting, I must say. But still, what the hell is this? Why did it suddenly appear?

I wait for a few seconds and it's still here, nothing else is happening except the inside of the hole is still spinning and making low space-like sound effect. The front and behind is the same, void and spinning.

I decide to touch it.

*Psuu*

What's with this space like sound? I touched it and it feels like thick water yet my finger doesn't feel wet. It probably more accurate to say that it's like going through a soap bubble, a very thick soap bubble, almost like a pool of mercury. That's what it feels when I put my fingers through it.

I continue further put my hand inside. This sensation, it kinda tickles but also electrifying to the skin. I've got to say, it does feel quite nice. I might become addicted to this. I wonder, what exactly is this thing.

Experimenting with it for another minute and not feeling anything bad is happening to my hand, I become convinced that it's not a dangerous thing. I decide to see through it, in other words, put my face inside. 

Although convinced, I'm still being very cautious. First I make a temporary rope from twisting the bed sheet and tying it to the cell bar. 

Now I'm ready, it won't be like when I fall from the rooftop. My right dominant hand is firmly holding the twisted bed sheet which I've even tied to my wrist.

I put my left hand in, then slowly and steadily I further put my left arm inside. The inside feels breezy but not wet. I can feel wind blowing on my arm. 

First I try to touch or grab anything around my inserted arm. There is nothing. Okay, that's not a bad sign. I tried to touch the floor if there is any.

I can feel a hard surface.... and quite flat but rough. The texture is like the surface of a stone and it feels kinda hot too, like a stone that has been exposed to sunlight for some time.

All clear, seems like the inside has air and a floor, it should not be an empty void. I take a deep breath.

*Huuuuft*

And I exhale it.

*Pheeew*

I take another deep breath and this time I hold it in. I position my inserted left hand on eye level to cover my face when it goes inside. I slowly put my face inside.

"..."

It's blinding bright. After I've adjusted in a few moment. I can see the scenery around. It's day time in here. When I say day time, I don't mean there is a sun inside the void hole, the place I'm seeing right now is actually the place I've seen numerous times. It's a small area behind Boss Ben's store which is used as a temporary garage.

I look at the sky, it's half cloudy. Although I said blinding bright before, that's only because I came from a dim-lighted dungeon, and the current me is seeing a day time outside. The contrast between these two places are too huge thus my eyes need to adjust for a few seconds.

I confirm that this is not an illusion or dreams by pinching and even slapping myself a few times.

"..." I'm a little bit stunned at the moment of realization.

"No way... Hell yeah! I'm back?! I can go back? Just like that??!" I immediately let go of the twisted bed sheet on my right hand and go straight to the hole. 

"Ah, huh?" Oops, I forgot that I tied it onto my wrist. I untie it and immediately throw my entire body into the hole.

"Hahahahaha! I don't know how it happened, but I'm free. Man, what a miracle! Again!" I have a huge grinning smile on my face right now.

While rejoicing on my unexpected freedom, I take a look at the door-like hole behind me. It's still there, hovering in mid-air.

A thought just crossed my mind. If this hole can stay for long enough, then there will be a chance to bring the little princess some of Earth's culinary. The first to cross my mind is to present her Boss Ben's pizza. I'm definitely being objective here, it's not because I'm a fan of it, but because I should start with the less tasty one and build up impression as the taste escalate to a much tastier one. Yeah, definitely because of such reason.

Although I plan to do that, I save it for later. For now I should be checking the condition around. Whether it has been over a week too on Earth and the current situation since I went missing.

I go into the store to look for papa Ben. I wonder what should I say to him as an excuse, I haven't thought of that. But who cares, showing that I'm okay and well is my first priority. For now, I should be focusing on meeting him.

I look around, there doesn't seem to be anyone in the store. That's weird, the store opens everyday and it's still day time, it shouldn't be closed yet.

But indeed, looking around, I feel like something strange is going on. There is nothing prepared at the kitchen. If the store is just temporary closed because either boss Ben, Jim, or Ron is away, there should be at least a trace of dough prepped at the kitchen, and yet, there is absolutely nothing at all. 

Nobody, nothing. In fact the store seems to be desolate, as if abandoned. Some spiderwebs are building on various corners of the store and dusts are piling up to visible level. There is no ingredients or supplies at the usual place. There isn't even any kitchen equipment to be found, they are all gone. It appears to look like the store has been abandoned for a few days already.

I don't understand. What's going on?

I decided to leave the store and ask the people around. I leave through the window by the front door since the door is locked and I can't find the key at the usual place.

"Really, why is the store being abandoned." I ponder around after exiting the store.

Could it be, they were looking for me? After all, I suddenly disappeared just like that. Seeing how boss Ben's nature, it's very likely that they are still searching for me until now. There is another possibility that come to my mind in case I disappear like that, but it's very unlikely, those people wouldn't dare. They wouldn't, or so I convince myself.

Not far from the store, just around the corner, I see a familiar face.

It's Crazy Joe, an old homeless veteran with mental disorder. It's not like he's fully retarded, you can still make conversation with him, it's just sometimes the context of the conversation goes way out of logic. In the middle of the conversation, he often change topic to weird stuffs like non-existent things, supernatural beings, conspiracy theories, and other common craps. But the baseline is, he stays in the same spot for most of the time, so he should know what's going on with the store for the last few days.

I walk closer to him, thinking that asking him some simple questions is still feasible.

"Yo, Crazy Mad Dog Joe!"

I try to talk with a friendly street style tone. People usually do this, and he likes it too.

He looks at me while grinning.

"Yo man, whad up? Say, you know what's been going on around? Especially on Boss Ben's pizza store?"

He doesn't immediately reply. His gaze is focused on my 'artistically' golden embroidered shirt.

"Nice shirt." That's what he says. This old fart, his homeless soul is burning up.

"Oh, this shirt? You like it? I'll give it to you, but you've got to tell me about what's been going on alright?" I take off my shirt and hand it to him. I don't really need it anyway, although it looks expensive, it's not to my taste at all. He grabs it and take a closer look at it, he looks like a little kid that just found an imaginary treasure chest but more on the eccentric way with bulging eyeballs and huge grin.

"Now, then, the information please."

"Oooh, ya ya, information. I know know what's on." He has this wide grin on his face while saying that. I hope his mad sense is not revving up at the moment because I'm really in need for correct information.

"Benjamin been busy lately."

Oh, okay. I keep a firm gaze at him, listening carefully.

"He was sad at first. You know, sad like, really sad."

"..."

"When I asked him, about uh... about why was he sad, he said that he lost a son again. Boy, I been here for a looong time, but I didn't naw he had a son. Uhum."

... Something is amiss.

"So yeah, the very next day, some scary-looking people in black suit came and took him away. I tell you this, they are bad, really bad. They dragged poor Benjamin to a car.. ah uh was it a truck? No wait, uh... what was it again?"

"It doesn't matter what car! Do you know where they took him? Or at least, which direction?" I get impatient. This is likely true and is a serious matter. As I said previously, I had thought of such possibility, it's just that this is unlikely to happen only because I disappear for a few days.

Startled, Crazy Joe continue his story. "Well, uh, um, I don't know where they took him."

This is bad. I should immediately try to find him.

Thinking like that, the following story from Crazy Joe is like pouring cold water to my uneasy feeling.

"But I do know that he came back yesterday. Brought back with the same people that took him. Poor Ben looked like even worst, tell you what, he did not appear to look hurt outside, but I know, ooh, it can't escape ma sharp sense, deep inside he is hurting real bad. Like, uh, really really bad."

I feel relieved when I hear that the boss is still okay. Although CJ says that Boss Ben might be hurt, at least he's already back in one piece, that's a worst-scenario evaded. Those people that took him away, they dare. I'm gonna need to pull a few strings again now.

Ah this is bad, my dark side is surging up. I need to suppress it for now. Let's hear what Crazy Joe has to tell till the end.

"So, I heard that today he's going to the cemetery to visit his son's grave or something like that. He was wearing all-black clothing and all. Hehe, even though he's already black. Hehe ha haha hehehe."

CJ throw a stupid joke at the end. Nobody would laugh at that even in normal situation. This guy is crazy indeed.

Boss Ben is going to the cemetery? This son of his, I have a really bad hunch about this, his family is not buried here in Brooklyn. I don't want to think of it. Let's just confirm it myself.

I left CJ as he is and run straight to the cemetery. 

For some reason, the city seems a little empty. There are less people and cars on the road. Is it because it's getting darker from the rain cloud that's been gathering up above? It's logical for pedestrian to seek shelter when rain is coming soon, but cars shouldn't find it as a problem right?

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*Author's note:

The twist of several known facts in this story are all fictions. It's all made simply for story material purposes because after all, conspiracy theory is always interesting. So please don't take any offense on the mentioned stories. I don't want no dictator launching ballistic missiles to my house.

The theories about nuclear war and the other actually came on the spot while I was writing this chapter, I only planned to write something amazing but hasn't concretely thought about what it would be before. At first, I wrote more incredible feats about Axl, but since it looks too much, I limit the feats to only the current ones.

As promised, an extra spicy chapter. The next one, chapter 3, will need heavier editing because of 'reasons', so it will probably not be uploaded today.

While I'm here, I want to ask, how do one set up a personal site? Is there something other than blogspot and wordpress that has nice interface and is free? Pls don't forget the 'free' part when you give recommendations 

Shura's Wrath has just been updated, gonna take a short break for now.a

Chapter end