Arlo stepped over the balcony overlooking Canary Park, he had asked for the best view in the house and this was all they could offer him. He snorted.

  He gazed around with his phone in his hand looking up periodically at the people milling about the park. He scoffed, such simpletons. He couldn’t wait to return to Evangels and tell Mateo it was a mistake setting up a tournament in such a small, poor city.

  The turnout would be low and wouldn’t make back the money invested, it might as well be deemed a tax write-off for charity.

  “Whatever, maybe I need some fresh air.” he said running a hand through his hair. He walked back into his room to access the elevator and go down to the park near the apartment.

  Maybe the city was injecting its rottenness into his veins.

  His dad had been from Axen and didn’t have a kind word to say about living there. He tugged on a jacked and opened the door to take the elevator down to the entrance.

  The evening air was cool when he emerged from the air conditioned hotel lobby, Arlo looked towards the trees and park benches before making his way across the street and into the park.

  He walked solemnly through the stone streets, hands in his pocket as he looked around at the passersby. A lot of them were young men and women with some elderly sprinkled in between. From what he could hear they talked about their days, their hobbies, and most of all the hottest game on everyone’s lips, Moon Valley.

  Arlo smirked, Eos was making their way into the scene, Scarlet Frontier was dying out and they needed to move on to something new. Moon Valley was it and soon its PvP would be the next great e-sport.

  He sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself from the frustrations of the evening. He looked through the trees, his eyes landing on a pair speaking by the bridge. Arlo chuckled, wondering how long they had been together, he was about to look away when he realized he recognized that face…

  Wasn’t that Atlas?

  He leaned forward, turning on his phone camera he zoomed in until he quite clearly caught the face of the man he had spoken to hours earlier at the cafe.

  But the woman beside him wasn’t the brunette shorty he was with! She was taller, with dark hair and eyes, wearing a ridiculous frog hat that prevented him from seeing her face. Arlo whistled.

  “Atlas moves fast doesn’t he?” Arlo said he stopped to watch them for a moment, unable to hear their private conversation, he could only speculate on what was going on between them.

  He watched them until the girl took off her hat, revealing herself to be the person he had been searching for all this time, Mars.

  He nearly dropped his phone at the sight of her. Arlo took a picture and without hesitation opened up his messages to send it to the Eos Conquerors group chat. He paused.

  Looking at the picture he had taken, his former teammate seemed sad. He scoffed.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  ‘Why should I care when she abandoned me?’ He thought, his thumb hovering over the send icon, it would only take a moment for him to have all of E.C swarming Axen to catch her.

  Arlo paused again, his heart beating so loudly he could hear it in his ears. He needed to confront her before he told them where she was.

  The silver haired man watched Atlas and Mars depart the scene, hiding behind a tree before they could catch sight of him.

  ----------

  Mars got home with a weight lifted off her shoulders, she turned the key in the lock and stepped in to find Aya waiting for her scrolling through her phone.

  “Oh, you’re back.” Aya said grinning ear to ear. “How was it?”

  Mars nodded, she didn’t have a lot to say about her conversation with Atlas, Aya would simply not understand without context and she didn’t know how much Atlas had told Aya about their relationship.

  “We agreed to start over as friends.” Mars said.

  Aya jumped for joy, landing with a thump on the wooden floor, her actions immediately caused the tenants below her to begin poking furiously at them from below.

  “Sorry!” Aya shouted, hoping they could hear her. “It’s not my fault the floor is so thin.” Aya muttered with a pout.

  Mars laughed, walking over and placing her hand in Aya’s hair.

  “Thanks.”

  Aya blinked, smiling widely. Mars knew if Aya had a tail she would be wagging it by now. The girl was too invested in her and Atlas’s relationship.

  “For what?” Aya asked tilting her head in confusion. All she did was connect them via phone number, Atlas was the one who wanted to make up first.

  Mars shook her head, patting Aya gently. She took the frog hat off her head and placed it on Aya fondly.

  “Are you all packed up?” Mars asked, walking into her bedroom to change out of her outfit for the evening.

  “Yeah, I called my uncle too.” Aya said.

  Mars stuck her head out of the bedroom, then after tugging on a loose shirt, she came out to sit by Aya on the couch.

  “That’s great, what did he say?”

  “That he wanted to meet me of course, I told him I was moving out of Axen, he seemed relieved.” Aya said. “Everyone seems to think it’s best for me to leave this city.”

  “You’re moving on to bigger and better things.” Mars said placing her hand on Aya’s shoulder. “It’s natural for the people who care about you to be happy about that.”

  “That’s basically what Nisha said.”

  Mars remembered her as the cashier at the convenience store, they had only met for transactional purposes but now Aya regarded her as a friend, a close one it seemed.

  “Exactly. Now come on, we’re having pizza for dinner. I’m not cooking tonight.”

  “But Mars I love your cooking!” Aya whined.

  “Cooking is for people who stay at home and have energy.” Mars said picking up her phone to dial the number for takeout. “Besides, we’ve gone through our groceries, did you think I was cooking nonstop to save them.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” Aya said. She had a home cooked meal the whole week before they were supposed to be moving, it would have been a disaster if they still had any fresh produce right now.

  Mars patted Aya’s head again, then began speaking to the person on the other end of the line for their pizza. She relayed the address and the flavor with extra cheese and toppings for them to enjoy.

  “It'll be here soon, I got drinks too.”

  “Not energy drinks I hope.”

  Mars snorted.

  “I would like to sleep tonight, hello?” The girl laughed and sunk into the couch to wait for their pizza and what tomorrow would bring them.