Lord Shadow

Chapter 68: The summer air brings trouble all the same part (1)

EARTH TWO

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SOMEWHERE IN EDGARTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

The wind blows through the window bringing the fresh air of June. The house was quaint and is all about porches.

It was a breezy day and the house is richly sentimental, giving a sense of soulfulness and joy.

It is a place where a person can enjoy his evening on the porch singing songs, playing the banjo and laughing.

At night, the owner would enjoy a peaceful night on the sleeping porch that evokes the memory of summer night.

It is a place where two people can gaze at the color streaked sky as the sun sets over the ocean.

‘Ha’ the man sighed.

He looks at the beautiful scenery outside the window, his hand twirling the pen on his fingers as he tries to think of something.

Not far away from him one could see a showering can is floating showering a flower pot like magic.

He looks at the coffee beside his desk and realizing that it has gone cold, he lift his glasses up and stare at the cup of coffee and heat was emitted from his eyes as the coffee become hot again.

It is ironic that he picks this kind of house as his place.

It is a place where friend and family could gather around. Large outdoor spaces and porches, a lot and lot of spaces.

It is clear to anyone who has a bit of experience in architecture to see the intention of the architect.

It is a place for a gathering. For friends. For family. The space for spontaneity. Was it some hidden desire of him to have a place where friend and family are allowed?

Because he has only a small circle of friends and his family is gone?

Is that why he is so attracted to this house? Is it because…..he desires a family of his own? People who he could call family?

This is not even his earth. In this world, he is very rich.

But that is also thanks to his fake identity and that is also thanks to the chaos after the meteor strikes and the mass disappearance of humans when they were sucked into the singularity

In this world he still retains his name as Azief but his position in this world has only gone up.

In his world before the fall he was only an insignificant character in his country, a person whose death will not affect the world but in this world he is a very successful businessman.

And because he is a successful businessman that he could afford to buy this ocean facing fa?ade, 6,000 square foot house that display 19th century summer house.

With elements such as gambrel roofline, screened porches and second floor balconies.

Rather than white trim, a less formal sage hue was selected as the color of the house.

And when you enter the house you will be shocked to see how clean and sophisticated it looks.

The living room features random width pine flooring, custom mantel and antique Portuguese tile and a coffered ceiling.

His office is visible through the open doorway. The kitchen establishes a classic look enhanced by stone countertops and glass pendant lights.

The sleeping porch of the master bedroom has a timeless appeal with its painted wood floor, horizontal wall board and vintage iron bed.

Long story short, Azief is living the good life.

At least that is how it seems to an outsider. That he is a rich businessman, living there far away from other people, to gain some peace.

But that is not the case. Unlike Superman, he doesn’t have a Fortress of Solitude to hide away when he put down the cape and wanted a night off.

Though he is thinking of creating some man cave. Literally a cave underneath this house but it would be stupid of him.

He needs to hire a lot of people to make such structure under his house and that secret will surely spread out.

Unless he killed the architect and all the workers which poses another problem in which people would be asking why there is so many people missing from an architecture company.

He then sighed again as he throws away the pen twirling on his hand and it immediately floated into its pen case.

Today, he wears a light grey cashmere coat and jacket to match, a dark grey wool trouser, and a cotton T-shirt.

Why wear a light grey cashmere coat and jacket? Because he needs to at somewhere else in a few minutes.

He likes to be stylish when he arrived at the venue. Not to mention his appearance right now is so different than the first time he enters this earth.

After reaching Energy Disperse Stage he has become more handsome than before and more charming.

His black hair is shiny and healthy, his face was perfect without blemishes or black spot, his body was muscular but not to the point of annoyance.

It was a perfect proportion and he also becomes a bit taller. He is now 6’6, a very imposing height.

His voice become a little bit husky and a bit deeper and could charm its listener and possess some force to make people obey his words.

His eyes could enchant a person and his glare was full with intensity like the energy of the universe was contained inside his eyes.

His entire face possesses this noble aura and his whole being emitted the posture of a King looking over down the world.

His body packed the power of a nuclear weapon. He has changed….a lot. A year is a long time but Azief knows that in his Earth, it is barely a month.

But here…..on Earth Two, a year has passed. A year full of unbelievable things happening to him.

A year full of new experiences that shapes him to be the man he is now. A year…doing his best to prepare to return to his world.

A year full of shock and a year learning that the world is truly vast and he…..he is merely a small character in this vast multitude of the universe.

He knows he must return. This is not is world even though Azief did grow attached to this world.

But he has his time limits.

Four years and nine months. And a year has passed. He has another 3 years and nine months before he could return home.

At that time, whether he wanted it or not he has to return home.

And if he wants to return to this Earth again, he has to wait for the Universe Orb to cool down and that depends on the Orb itself.

As the owner of the Orb he of course has unearthed a few secrets of the Orb by himself. Azief is actually worrying about Sina and Sofia.

A while after he enters this earth, he had the chance to gather his thought and the more he thought about it, the more suspicious Loki seems to him.

Azief knows that Loki is not telling him everything but what is gnawing at him was the fact that he couldn’t think of what possible reason Loki have for approaching them.

The more he thinks about it, the more illogical it became. Loki said he approaches him because he needs protection.

Azief could call that bullshit now.

Azief don’t know why he believes it at that time.

Maybe because Loki has something he needs that he look past all of his suspicion but now he is not there, not beside Sofia, the more he worries whether he make the right decision trusting Loki.

Loki….as Azief has gathered…does not need them. He has an Artifact that could search for other artifacts.

That’s practically a cheat code. He said he could not do it alone. That is another bull. Azief is confident, if Loki was really serious of taking the Universe Orb, he could think of other ways to get the Orb but he did not.

He has a stealth artifact that could landed him anywhere in the world and he could live safely if he wanted to.

But no.

He did not do that. Instead, it almost seems like Loki was seeking him. Strengthening him.

And for some reason that does not make him happy. It was like a cow owner fattening up his cow only to slaughter it later when the meat is large.

The only think Azief could think of, was that he has something to do with Loki plans. Though he doesn’t know what the plan is.

And Sofia?

He worries about her.

Thinking about her, his thoughts become complicated. It was not like he doesn’t know what she is thinking or feeling but he hesitated.

It’s not like he is some dense character who doesn’t know about what Sofia is feeling for him. He felt it too.

But….this is uncharted territory for him. The more he likes a person, the more he doesn’t want to show it.

Because it’s not him. Because it doesn’t feel like him.

That is a cowardly thing to say and he knows it too. But no one ever liked him before. At least not in that way.

And it flustered him.

It was always him….liking a person…one sidedly. And the good thing about loving people one sided is you have a certain freedom.

You can start it all by yourself and end it by yourself. He can’t take the first step in fear of breaking what he has with her.

And what does he have with her is something special. And he doesn’t want to lose it because of some wavering flings.

They became friends. And they experienced life and death situations. And if love mix in there and it doesn’t work….then they will be awkward with each other.

Then they will become distant and then they will forget each other.

And Azief couldn’t tolerate that.

Taking his breath, smelling the June air, and hearing the sound of the oceans lapping over the shore, he opens his air as he tries to ease his worries.

First he checked his status window.