The Four Royals

Terry hurried to catch up. "Who are the other Royals now?" he asked.

Reis caught up and replied, "I can answer that. Jovian's father, Mr. Lunarstil, is the Sleepwalker King. He is the strongest of all Sleepwalkers, who have lost their four powers."

"My dad is pretty sick, I guess," Jovian said with a smirk.

Thee smacked him in the arm.

"Unfortunately his apple fell a mile from the tree," Thee taunted.

"Next we have the most powerful of all Sleepers, those who have not yet awakened their abilities. The Slumbering Emperor. As far as I am aware, she is an elderly woman known as 'The Bull.' She would be ranked among the Orders of Magnitude if she were so inclined," Reis continued.

"How is it determine who is a Royal? Do they fight or something?" Thee asked.

"The world automatically assigns that title to the strongest of the four classes. When the world judges you to have surpassed the last, you are granted your title," Reis elaborated.

They began seeing more and more groups of people, and with them the quality of the city grew.

Reis continued, "Then we have the most powerful of the Dreamers, the Pharaoh of Reverie. He is the President of all the Fancies, and he controls all the technology left over from the past. Rumor has it that he is hundreds of years old."

"That's an old ass S.O.B, bet he smells," Jovian said.

Reis concluded, "Lastly, we have The Awakened God, the current Yotta and the strongest of the Orders of Magnitude, Sae Joane. There has never been a more terrifying individual."

"Are they really that strong?" Jovian asked.

William grabbed Jovian by the shoulder and pulled him close. "If Sae was a ten on a scale of one to ten, your dad, the second strongest in the O.O.M., is a zero," William said.

"Technically, zero isn't on that scale," Jovian said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," William said.

Thee dashed ahead of the group and ran to a place with bright lights on its front.

"Guys, a diner! I've only ever read about these. They must get quality food from the Fancies," Thee exclaimed.

Harry Jr. handed Jovian a wad of Fantascies and gestured them towards the diner.

"You two go to the diner, the rest of us are going to the building over there marked with the letters 'O' 'E' 'L'. Meet us there. And stay out of trouble," Harry Jr. said before pointing to a nearby building.

Jovian and Terry joined up with Thee and they entered the diner. The diner was small and cozy, with a counter along one wall and a few booths along the other. There were only two other customers seated, an older man and a young lady. The man behind the counter waved to Jovian's group.

Steven, the man at the counter, greeted the customer, "Welcome! I haven't seen you before. My name is Steven. I'm sure you're dying to try our food. We have the best granola in town."

"Okay? Anything else sold here?" Terry asked.

The old man in the corner slammed his hand down on his table and growled, "Ain't nothing else needs to be, good granola is why I continue living this wretched life."

Terry looked at Steven, who shrugged. "He's a regular," Steven said. "He likes our granola."

A server emerged from the back of the diner, carrying a bag and dropping it on the counter.

"Order for..." he checked the ticket on the bag, "Robodillious?"

"Side note, what kind of name is that!? Who on earth names their child Robodillious? They should be jailed," Terry regretfully remarked.

The old man stood up and walked to the counter, where he grabbed his bag. He turned to face Terry and slowly walked towards him. Terry quickly leaned over to Jovian and whispered,

"I can't get a read on his thoughts. He is literally only thinking about granola," Terry said in fear.

The old man stopped in front of Terry with a loud stomp. He looked him up and down, his eyes taking in Terry's tattered clothes, his dirty face, and his unkempt hair. He then scooped a spoonful of granola into his mouth and chewed slowly, his eyes never leaving Terry. Finally, he turned his gaze to Jovian, who stood a few feet away, watching the exchange with interest. He noticed his mark of the Sleepwalker King immediately. The old man smiled, a wide, toothy grin that showed off his age-stained gums. Then, he slowly raised his hand and reached out to Terry. Terry flinched, expecting the old man to strike him, but instead the old man simply grabbed the top of Terry's head and ruffled his hair.

"I was named after my illustrious grandfather, Robodillious the First, of whom you may have heard. He was known as the Beater of Slaves, a great man indeed," the old man said with a proud smile.

Terry slowly moved out from under his hand, but the hand followed.

"This is no ordinary meal," he continued. "This is the White Wall Diner's granola, served with local honey, seasonal fruit, and fresh, cold cow's milk, directly supplied by the finest of Fancy farms. The granola is made with the finest oats, nuts, and seeds, and is baked to perfection. The honey is from the hives of our very own bees, and the fruit is picked fresh from Fancy orchards. The milk is from cows, which are raised on a diet of premium hand selected grass and hay. It is the most delicious and nutritious meal you will ever eat, and the only reason I remain alive today."

The old man grabbed a piece and pressed it to Terry's lips. Terry was skeptical.. He had never been a fan of the imitation granola back home, and he was not sure about what local honey or the seasonal fruit even was. But he was hungry, so he took a bite of the granola. It was so good Terry moaned with pleasure. The oats were crunchy, the nuts were flavorful, and the seeds were chewy. The honey was sweet and the fruit was juicy.

"Me next!" Thee yelled with her hand raised high.

Jovian removed the old man's hand from Terry's head and shook it in greeting in an attempt to ease the tension. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Jovian, Jovian Lunarstil, the City of Sol's official goon of the month and this is my friend Terry. Please excuse his behavior; he has a brain injury. We will be sure to get some granola."

The old man's eyes lit up when he heard Jovian's name. "Wonderful! Steven, get these three a bag of the best granola you have. My treat." He turned to leave.

"That's not necessary, sir," Jovian said. "We have money."

The old man turned back and smiled. "Nonsense. Call it hospitality. I wouldn't want to offend…the son of the Sleepwalker King."

Jovian froze, too scared to say anything. After a couple of seconds of uncomfortable silence, Jovian defaulted to nodding his head. The old man walked away with a large grin on his face. Before the door fully closed, Steven began waving.

"Do come back soon, Mr. Johnson!" Steven called out

Jovian hastily took a seat at a booth with his friends to await their food. Terry began to frantically pat himself all over.

"Guys, check to see if I'm dead, I must be dead," Terry said in a panic.

Thee started laughing, "Guys, we made it through that scary experience, it's only up from here."

"Don't say that!" Terry shot back.