[Loose ends]
"What is it you want to do?" asked Aura.
"I recalled Griswald. I don't know where he is right now, but he should know I'm expecting him to return. There's also the titan making its way here. It'll wait for night-time and approach the outside walls, avoiding being seen."
"Oh right, forgot about those two."
"You forgot about your father?" asked Mori, raising an eyebrow.
She took a few steps closer and smiled.
"Alright, what do we do meanwhile?" she asked.
"We have a lot of time ahead of us. The siblings are resourceful, they can handle a few weeks without us. My main plan is for us to go through some dungeons and gain levels."
"I've written stories about dungeons! But I've never been in any. Never fought a monster, actually."
"We'll just do a simple one to start, and move on to something harder eventually."
Mori started walking, followed by Aura.
The weather hadn't improved, threatening to worsen at every moment.
Mori's first plan was to find the nearest grocery store. Lasagna would be on the menu, although he doubted he'd be able to find that type of pasta.
He slept for 4 years, so it wasn't impossible to conceive some people invented new things while he was gone.
Not only that, Elder Heir Online had real-life elements already implemented into it. He remembered seeing pizza sold in a restaurant when he played the game.
They kept walking, hopeful.
More people popped up in the streets — mostly humans —, as time passed by.
Adventurers for some, but mainly 'normal' people. These 'Adventure Divers' must've been sent to the front lines, guessed Mori.
As the streets became slightly more lively, some food stands on the side of the road had new aromas Mori never smelled before.
The temptation to try that food was high, but he had made his mind already.
"Isn't it weird?" asked Aura.
"What is?"
"I almost only see humans," she said.
"We're still close to the center of the city. My guess is most demonfolks were pushed to the outskirts."
"Doesn't seem fair."
"Because it isn't. They did that in my home world too. DiveCore created a clearly divided 'class' system. Depending on how much you earned, you got to live on a ring closer to the center. Depending on what ring you lived on, you would pay higher fees, but have access to more things."
"Like what?"
"Better hospitals, lower crime rates, better schools which gave better opportunities to kids... Even water tasted better."
"Huh. Like kings and nobles?"
"Yeah. There were a lot of rings formed around the megalopolis, and honestly, most people focused on not being displaced to a lower ring."
"Is it what's happening here, you think?"
They were walking past a lot of people, most of them giving weird looks to both Mori and Aura who stood out.
Some even insulted them, slightly loud enough so they would hear it.
'Some trash still wasn't taken out, huh?' 'Look at them.' 'What's Jeff doing?'
Mori just ignored the comments, while Aura glared at each of them.
"What's their problem?" she said.
"When I met you, you barely treated me like a living thing."
Aura's eyes quickly diverted. "That was then. I've learned to know you a bit. Also, it's been 4 years, you know?"
"You're the one who said 4 years is practically nothing for a vampire."
Aura loudly exhaled, rolling her eyes. "You let nothing go.
"In any case, the system they used in our world to divide us will most likely involve race in this one. Anyone who isn't human will be pushed out under the DiveCore regime, or forced into labor work like Maya and Torryn."
As they kept walking they had almost come a full circle back to the fountain, droplets started falling but no grocery store was in sight.
"I'm starting to believe there's no way to buy food in this town, besides restaurants," muttered Mori.
"Let's just eat whatever Mary prepares for us tonight, and maybe we ask her to bring us next time she goes to buy some?"
"Yeah. Let's just go back."
They walked past the fountain, walking their way back to the inn.
Less and less people were around, the street eerily emptying as time passed.
The droplets started multiplying as flashes of light illuminated the grey clouds.
Going from one cloud to the next, lightning jumped around yet never reached the ground.
Aura was walking while holding Mori's shoulder, her eyes stuck on the sky.
Mori frowned, "Storms scare you?" he asked.
"This is no storm."
A cold breeze picked up, sending shivers down their spine as they kept walking in the middle of the road.
The clouds were getting darker and darker, the street oil lamps and the occasional lightening the only source of light available.
It was hard to imagine it was the middle of the day and not night.
"Is it magic? I can't sense anything," asked Mori, concerned.
"It's Fate."
"Fate? What fate?"
Aura's concerned look was enough to believe this wasn't a joke.
"Alright, let's walk faster," said Mori.
As their pace picked up, a low distant rumbling could be heard. Mori felt Aura's nails penetrate his shoulders as she tightly grabbed him, stopping him in his tracks.
"What the hell?! What are you-"
"Stop. It's us."
"What are you talking about?"
Mori grabbed her wrists, but she held him tight.
"See? It stopped. This is bad."
"What stopped?"
"That sound. We're the ones Fate is looking at. Don't move."
Mori stopped trying to move and looked around, but couldn't see anything.
The streets were mostly empty. Some humans here and there were walking, but most were inside, trying to avoid the coming storm.
"I can't see him," he said. "I doubt anyone here can-"
"You do see, look around."
Mori's heart started beating faster.
Did I miss something?
He looked around again.
A couple was running quickly past them, holding hands, clearly trying to avoid the coming weather. A bit further ahead were guards turning into an alleyway, holding some large bags.
By the restaurants were some people hiding from the slight rain, smoking, drinking, and laughing.
To his left, some stores were starting preparations to close shop for the day, turning the signs in their windows.
"What kind of superstition is this?"
Mori took a step, despite Aura holding him. As his foot touched the ground, lightning finally struck right before them, illuminating the whole street.
And then chaos.