Echos of The Arcane

Mystery Boy

A gentle breeze pushes against my wings as I check the time on my burner phone...

2:37 P.M

He's been asleep for hours! I grimace at the thought. I couldn't even sleep like that... I glance down at my old camera I stole from an antique shop a little while back. It printed pictures out on its own! I don't know why people decided it wasn't good so many years ago. I woke up bright and early, and had been watching the mystery boy sleep for hours now; as a result, I already had collected a wide range of pictures of him as he moved in his sleep.

Because that is a totally normal thing to do. I mean... there are multiple forums online about my sightings! No harm in doing something like that myself, especially if it's just for me, right? Plus... this is an assignment! Definitely nothing wrong with following orders right? Suddenly, I perk at the sound of scurrying and a larger creature's footsteps. Looking down to the left of the building, I see a rugged boy with a flurry of rats scurrying around him...

The boy looked around for a moment as if he was trying to make sure that there was no one around to see him before looking up to the floor to which Mystery Boy resides. Who is this guy... What is he doing...? The rats around him started to flurry around him, piling together to create a sort of hill which lifted him upward and... To the window of Mystery Boy's bedroom at the top floor of the... Twelve... Floor... Apartment building...

What.

I look in utter confusion as he seems to communicate with the gross animals. Was he breaking in? Who the FUCK talks to RATS? I think to myself, suddenly worry grew as the possibility of this breaking into the Mystery Boy's apartment while he slept seemed to become more apparent. To my surprise, though, he knocked and began calling out his name. "Kintaroooo!" He called out. "You in there?!"

Kintaro... hm.

This stirred 'Kintaro' awake and he would walk over to the window to let him in. I wonder if he'd let me in if I just knocked like that?

I shook my head to clear the thought and huffed in annoyance at seeing this... Rat-Boy crawl inside through the window. Are these too... friends? Rat-Boy began conversing with Mystery Boy before they both walked into a room couldn't see I couldn't see through a window. No--Come back! I tried reaching out toward the two but of course... Being sat on a between across the stree from the apartment... It was useless. With a soft sigh, I pulled out my camera and pictures and started cycling through them, giggling quietly as I gazed deeply into the clearer ones. I tossed the blurry images off to the side, not caring where they went as they drifted off onto the street and to the ground.

Some time passed of me fiddling with my camera, and I glimpsed at Mystery Boy in another window. Quickly, I leaped off the side of the building I sat on before gliding over to another building that was the closer to the window before perching. I could see him so clearly... He seemed to mumble to himself. I began looking him up and down multiple times, admiring his glory before watching him grab the bottom of his shirt before pulling it off and...

What.

I couldn't help but gaze deeply into him for a moment, mesmerized by the sight. Woah... Does he work out? Why am I asking myself? Why am I still looking?! As I found myself unable to turn away, I noticed him yell across the room and I was quick to put up my camera and snap a ton of pictures while he was to look through later. Looking at Mystery Boy like this felt like looking at candy, but being unable to have it.

I put a hand up to my face tentatively, as I could feel it growing warmer. Why do I feel like this—? What the hell is this feeling?! My thoughts raced through my mind so quickly I couldn't keep up, and the next thing I knew Rat-Boy was walking in and-