Arginand

Chapter 2 - Peace and Quiet

Matthew left the house in a hurry, not locking the door since his sister would come back in a few. She works as a barista in the local cafe, she always arrives at 4 AM in the morning which the manager appreciates a lot about Amber, "Not gonna lie but she is really good at serving and making coffee, I wish she would serve me coffee every morning" he dreamt, remembering how tasty her coffee was and how thirsty he is for one at the moment.

He shrugged it off and decided to take a walk to his campus. The town around him flourished to life, it's never really easy for him to live in a place so far from the more commercial and active part of the town, he always wondered why there was an apartment near the forest and far from any residential areas, he always felt grateful yet suspicious.

Kids and adults alike can be seen walking the streets of the more commercial part of the town, either just enjoying their time or on their way to work. Many shops and services open for all to see and visit, some selling fresh fruit and vegetables straight from the farms and some selling meat and fish fresh and new. Matthew admired the town, it's very traditional and fantasy-like, like a jump back to the past when technology was not even a word yet. He sighed, knowing that in an era where technology is growing more and more they will eventually be stuck at a perpetual loop of systematic and repetitive work to keep the system going.

"Deep in thought?" 

He turned around, only to be greeted by a finger gently poking on his nose, the elegant and charming body, the milky white skin, the short curly hair with the color resembling a powder of silver, he knew exactly who it is, "It appears to be the oh so powerful goddess, Hera"

She lightly punches him on the shoulder, pulling back a little from the pain and putting his hand on where she punched it, "Just because my name is the same as a Greek god doesn't mean I am one" 

"You're a goddess in a mortal body" 

"Oh no, you have revealed my secret" 

They both laughed it off, only to be interrupted by the sound of loud coughing that's obviously the sign that they want their attention, Matthew looked to his side to see his best friend, standing impatiently, "Took you long enough to realize I'm here"

"Oh is Ian jealous that he's not getting enough attention?" She said to him teasingly while looking at him with an obviously fake sad face just to mock him, Ian groaned and turned his gaze back to Matthew, "It's good to see you, buddy!" he and Matthew smiled at each other, "Likewise" 

"What 'bout me?" 

"Oh is Hera jealous she's not getting enough attention?"

"You're dead to me, Ian"

As the three jokingly make fun of each other, they start to walk around. Hera and Ian have been Matthew's friends for a long time, they were classmates back in middle school and always kept in touch ever since. The three of them never left the town so they always run into one another occasionally. 

"It's been like 2 months since we actually met in person, where have you been, Matt?" Hera said to Matthew, Ian nodded in response to that, "What did you do in that time?"

Matthew scratched his head, knowing that they could get weirded out that he has been reading a strange book for months, not to mention that it could give a sign that he's in a cult or being led into something big, "Just making my own projects, you know how I always want to try making new things" he said quite naturally, trying to sound as convincing as ever. They weren't convinced however, Ian looked at Matthew suspiciously but they both shrugged it off, "Why don't we head to a cafe? We haven't gone out in a while so let's just enjoy our time" Hera looked at Ian and nodded, "Yeah, let's go to the cafe your sister works at"