Mathew opened his eyes slowly, he looked at the ceiling for a while, his vision still blurry.
âWhat happened? Where am I?â he muttered in confusion.
âWoah, easy there, Mathewâ he heard Valerio's concerned voice near him. Mathew rubbed
his eyes and everything came back to him. He got up.
âMr Valerio, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to protect them. I even let Lucian out. Sorry to let you
downâ Mathew said in a sheepish tone trying to avert Valerioâs gaze.
âDon't worry Mathew. It's alright, the twins are also fine. I heard about every single thing you
did. If not for the seal weakening, you could have taken them out yourselfâ Valerio replied in
a calm town, with a faint smile.
âBut I'm unable to forgive myself for what I did back then, I will get back to training right
awayâ Mathew said with a frown as he tried to get up from the bed.
âNo, you should just rest. You were completely out for 3 days. I don't think you should
overwork yourself and worry about what happenedâ Valerio said as he placed his hands on
Mathewâs chest, preventing him from standing.
âThanks, Mr Val, I don't know what to sayâ Mathew replied, feeling emotional.
âWait, what did you just call me?â Valerio asked with a smirk.
âOops, sorry Mr. Valerio, I was just hanging out with the kids too much, so I guess I picked up
their habitâ Mathew replied, scratching his head in embarrassment.
âIt's fine Mathew, Mr. Val sounds a lot better than Uncle Val,â Valerio said with a sigh.
âReally?â Mathew asked.
âYeah,â Valerio replied with a nod.
âThen, thank you Mr Valâ Mathew said with a smirk. Valerio just shook his head with a sigh.
âI hear them coming,â Valerio said with a smile.
The twins arrived at the underground facility and found that Mathew was awake. So, they
delightedly ran towards him.
âManager, you're awake. Are you alright?â Lyra asked in concern. She was worried since the
manager didn't wake for the past 3 days.
âWe were worried about you, Managerâ Kael also said in concern.
âI'm alright you two. Sorry for worrying youâ Mathew replied. He felt very guilty confronting
the kids after the incident with Lucian. But the twins didn't mind about that and interacted
with him as usual.
âNo apologies between us, we're just glad that you're okayâ Kael replied.
âI'm happy to hear thatâ Mathew replied with a smile.
âThe renovations should be over in a couple of days and we'll have ourselves something
new, hahaâ Valerio said with a laugh.
âMr Val?â Mathew asked curiously.
âYeah, they told me-â Before Valerio could reply, Kael interjected as usual
âWhat? âMr Valâ??â Kael asked curiously. Since when did they start using nicknames?
âSince when do you call him that manager?â Lyra asked with a smirk. She thought of various
weird things in her head.
âWe just decided on that just before you arrived,â Mathew said with a smile.
âYeah, I think Mr Val has a nice ring to itâ Valerio laughed with a nod.
âBut âUncle Valâ is superiorâ Kael replied with his head high.
âOf course, I am superior hahaâ Valerio kept laughing like a madman.
â¦
Raven's burger renovations are finally complete after a week. The regulars as well as the
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
workers missed the shop the past week.
Valerio, the twins, Mathew, Arthur and Ruby entered the shop and looked around the new
improvements in amazement. The table and chairs have been changed to provide a more
modern and sleek look and also a new area has been added.
âLooks goodâ Valerio nodded in satisfaction. Now his only job was to make sure no fights
happen inside the shop.
âShould I set up a teleportation seal so that, any time combat is initialized they will be
automatically teleported outside the shop?â Valerio thought seriously.
âOmg, we have new coffee machines now,â Kael said in amazement.
âWoah, that's amazing,â Ruby said, her eyes sparkling in excitement.
âHereafter, we are gonna be a fast food joint X cafe,â Valerio said with a smile.
âI love the sound of thatâ Lyra replied with a nod.
âOne of you should learn to handle the coffee machines for the time being,â Valerio said with
a smile.
âSure. Anyway, let's get to work, it's almost opening timeâ Mathew said with a clap.
âWhere are our aprons? I've missed them a lotâ Arthur said as he went into the store to
retrieve the aprons.
âEverything's back to normal,â Valerio said with a sigh.
âFor the goodâ Mathew replied with a smile.
The customers started to arrive in anticipation after a week and the shop became more
crowded than usual.
â¦
In the mind realm,
âAyo, what's gotten into Piers? I told you all heâs been possessed. Why does he keep calling us
like this?â a silhouette with bright orange Nova asked.
âIf this keeps repeating I'm just gonna go with Piers being possessedâ a dark blue silhouette
replied.
âYou both are behaving like kids, you that. Anyways, where's Piers and Orion?â a pink
silhouette asked.
âI was informed that Piers will join shortly, but I don't know anything about Orionâ a brown
silhouette replied. As they were conversing, one more figure appeared in the mind realm. It
was Piers.
âSorry, it took me a while and -â before Piers could complete the bright orange silhouette
asked in shock âPiers, where is your arm???â
In the mind realm, they couldn't see each other clearly and could only see the basic body
structure. Most of the time they couldn't even differentiate between gender. But a missing
arm can be noticed very easily.
âWhat happened, Piers?â a dark golden silhouette asked with a frown.
âWell, where should I start..?â Piers said as he started to narrate everything from the meeting
Orion in the bar to losing an arm.
âSo.. you're saying that Valerio has an acquaintance who is in the possession of one of the
12 divine fragments? And he killed Orion. Is that what you're saying?â the pink silhouette
asked in a dark tone.
âSo, he is starting to make a move huh?â a violent silhouette asked.
âWhose fragment does Valerioâs companion have?â the bright orange silhouette asked.
âHis name is Mathew, and he has the fragment of the Archangel Michaelâ Piers replied.
âAhh, that's troublesome indeed. But both of you going on your own, ignoring orders and
engaging in a fight with Valerio is a troublesome matter, and you know that Piersâ the dark
Golden silhouette said seriously.
âIâm sorry, I regret doing it. I lost an arm but for Orion, it cost him his lifeâ Piers replied with a
sigh. He felt really lucky.
âIf something like this happens again without my knowledge, the next thing you will lose your
head, remember thatâ the dark golden silhouette warned.
âYes sirâ Piers replied with a nod.
âThis applies to every one of you,â the golden silhouette said as he looked around
the table calmly. Everyone nodded in agreement.
âNow that he has taken one of us, it's only right that we respond. So now, listen carefully to
what I have to say-â The golden silhouette started to plan the next move.
â¦
The shop was busy as the crowd didn't seem to decrease.
âArthur, take the salad to table 2 and this smoothie to table 5,â Ruby said in a hurry as he
handed the items to Arthur and she took orders from the other table.
âGot itâ Arthur replied as he moved towards the table to deliver the items.
âRuby, can you bring me the fries from the kitchenâ Kael shouted.
âCan't you see I'm taking the orders?â Ruby replied in an annoyed tone.
âI'll get it Kael,â Arthur said as he ran into the kitchen after delivering the orders to the table.
âThe manager just now completed the friesâ Lyra informed Arthur as she came out of the
Kitchen to deliver the order for another table. Arthur nodded at her.
âHere, catchâ Mathew handed the container that had the fried to Arthur who stood near him.
âThat smells delicious,â Mathew said as he looked at the fries he just handed to Arthur.
âYeah, it does and I wanna-â Arthur's voice trailed off as Mathew instinctively caught the
container Arthur was holding.
âArthur?â Mathew called out dumbfoundedly.