Having made his way down into the busy streets below, Kist hurried along the decorated roads of New Pluton City.

Guided by signpost after signpost, which aided him on his way before his eyes took in the familiar sights and sounds around him: the slow rhythmic flow of the rivers, the gentle streams of music from various performers, and the mix of perfumes and lost scents carried by the spring winds before bumping into a couple engrossed in the same sights.

Quickly apologizing as he slipped past the two, Kist continued on his way, unwilling to spare more than a moment before refocusing on his path.

Racing over bridges and leaping over lanes of traffic, Kist soon found his way back home, or at least what he considered to be.

Standing before the brick building, Kist grinned as he entered the crowded shop.

Pushing open the glass door, he was immediately hit by the smell of coffee and honey, the cafe’s namesake.

Looking past the chattering crowd, Kist searched and searched until he found who he was looking for,

“Skyler!” Calling out to her, Kist caught the attention of the woman sporting the same curly tan-colored hair as him as she cleared away a newly emptied booth.

“Hey, Kist!” Flushed with excitement, Skyler waved toward him, and he made his way over to her.

“You came back faster than I thought,” Smiling as she spoke, Skyler continued clearing tables, tending to her duties as she continued.

“What did you chicken out this time and not even go? The star is still out, so my guess is that you finally came to your senses and decided to help me and Pops with the shop.”

“Huh,” Turning back to look through the glass door, Kist noticed the radiant light still present from the shining star, “Guess I must have overlooked that… anyway, no things went great!”

Freezing in her tacks, Skyler glanced toward Kist suspiciously, “Really?”

“Yeah! Well, there were a few hiccups but still things worked out for the better.”

Still visibly suspicious of Kist’s words, Skyler sat herself and the tray of dishes before inviting Kist to do the same while she spoke.

“You’re lying right?”

Sitting in front of Skyler, Kist’s excited smile dropped from his face, “What do you mean?”

“Actually, nevermind, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why did you?”

“Well, this isn’t the first time you’ve said things had changed or something was different this go around.”

“Yeah, but I’m serious this time!” Slamming his hands on the table louder than he’d intended, Kist drew the wandering eyes of those within the shop.

“See, and this is why I said never mind. You get so worked up over this maiden business when there’s no need for it!”

Shifting the growing weight he felt on his shoulder, Kist leaned back before responding, “I just wanted to tell you the good news. I didn’t mean to make a scene.”

“Don’t stress it,” Waving off the minor conflict, Skyer showed Kist a bright and eager smile, ‘What happened, though? What’d the star look like? What’d it do? How’d It sound?”

Letting out a small laugh through a widening grin, Kist held up his hands, “Slow down! How are you more excited than me?”

“Oh come on, your memory is about as good as it gets. Too bad your temper went the opposite direction.”

“Hey, Skyler,” Yelling from behind the service counter. Dorian, the shop’s owner, and Kist’s grandfather called out, “We got customers, remember? So, get back to work!”

Looking behind her in a sudden panic, Skyler quickly shouted back as she slowly stood, “Yeah, yeah, I know!”

Turning her attention back to Kist as she began collecting her tray, Skyler waited for Kist to start, and without pause, Kist spoke.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Listening to every word that flew out of his mouth, catching each and every fluctuation in his tone, and picking apart every bit of presentation Kist offered in his tale, Skyler’s eyes slowly squinted as her face became riddled with confusion.

“Wait,” Stopping Kist in his tracks, Skyer held up her hand, “And you think you passed?”

‘Yeah?” Confused at the question, Kist glanced around before showing his teeth in a weary grin.

“It doesn’t sound like it, nor do you seem too confident.”

“I’m not confident in you, I’m confident that I passed and what do you know?” Feeling more agitated as he spoke, Kist tried to lower his volume only to hear his voice turn from anger to dismissal. “You didn’t even complete the pre-academy, who are you to tell me about anything?”

Realizing his mistake as Skyler’s brow furrowed, Kist attempted to apologize quickly, only to be cut off.

“Look, I get that and where you’re coming from Kist, and I want to be happy for you, but it’s been years since you even left the pre-academy,” Setting down the tray of dishes she’d been holding, Skyler pointed a sharp-tipped finger. “Time after time again you come back with the same damn story, when are you gonna realize you just aren’t made to do this? Nothing has changed, not you, nor the outcome!”

Nearly shouting as she spoke, Skyler held her tongue for a long moment before continuing, “I just, Kist, it’s great you’re so determined but you’re wasting your and everyone else’s time. You know I, no, mom wouldn’t look at you differently if you’d just give up, right? We don’t need the stars, we have a roof all our own.”

“No,” Standing to his feet, Kist stared at her as the anger in his stomach fought for control and as Skyler stared back with a somber look in her eyes. “You judge me for even trying and your telling me you won’t look at me different for giving up?”

Opening her mouth in an attempt to respond, Skyler was quickly cut off by the shouting of her name, “Skyler! Get to work now!”

Sighing as her focus was visibly split, Skyler spoke to Kist quickly as she picked up her tray, “Look, Kist, I know how important this is to you, but maybe if you stopped acting so important and I don’t know looked past your own arrogance in believing you can just magically become a Maiden, things would change. You can’t be so openly defiant and still so apologetic to a system that rejects you.”

Turning away before Kist could offer a response, Skyler left her brother to his own thoughts.

Having lost the confident edge he’d fought so hard to acquire, Kist swallowed his spiraling emotions and forced them into the pits of his stomach; as he began walking out of the coffee shop feeling as if he’d just been erased.

Stepping out into the open, Kist felt the radiant light of the fully risen star nip at his skin. The feeling was infuriating and humiliating; it felt as if the star itself was mocking him.

Feeling himself begin to shake with anger, Kist realized he was only embarrassing himself as the normally wandering eyes of the people walking the streets were focused on him.

“I need a moment,” he said while attempting to smile and wave away the defeated feeling.

“Plus, I have something waiting for me!” Kist exclaimed.

Taking some time to reestablish his faith in himself as he traversed the multiple crossroads until he found where he was going.

Nearly rushing into the brightly colored arcade building, he went through his usual moments of patting his pockets to find the phone he’d somehow managed to keep safe during his evaluation.

Approaching the front desk, Kist saw the usual blonde-haired woman running the check-in and leaned on the glass counter before speaking, “Hey, Taylor.”

“Hey, Kist, how can I help you?” Returning his greeting without even having to look at him, Taylor opened a box of plushies set to be hung up along with the other usual prizes before taking a moment’s glance at him, which froze her in place.

“Everything alright?” Confused at her sudden halt, Kist smiled uncertainly at her.

“I don’t know, is everything alright?” Still hunched over, Taylor’s concerned expression deepened, “You look like you just got the shit beat out of you.”

Looking down at himself, Kist laughed before fixing his gaze back on the woman, “Oh, no, I’m fine. I just want the usual few dollars on my game card.”

Hesitating as she made her way over to the register, Taylor nodded, “Just lay off the drugs okay?”

“I’m not on,” Shaking his head dismissively while paying for the recharge, Kist dismissed the woman’s concerns, “You’re ridiculous.”

Ignoring the comments from Taylor, Kist marched toward his favorite game, Ghost Escape, only to pause at the sight of a group of children attempting to beat his high score.

“They must be cheating!”

“Yeah, there’s no way they got that score legit! Like, how?”

Grinning from ear to ear as he sat and watched the children eventually grow in frustration and throw in the towel, Kist strolled over pridefully only for his enthusiasm to dampen as he saw it was no longer his score they were trying to beat as he’d been completely wiped off the scoreboard.

“What!” Shouting out in frustration, he began a panicked pursuit to look through the entire scoreboard, only for his fears to be confirmed: he’d been systematically wiped from the board by a single person named ‘Nue’.

Taking a deep breath that did him no good, Kist sucked at his teeth before cracking his neck, “Find then, it shouldn’t be too hard to reclaim my top spot!”

Swiping his card to play what would be the first of many attempts, he stood at the lone arcade game for an untold amount of time until he’d run out of credits, not having reclaimed his top spot.

Clinching the sides of the arcade machine as the rage from his last failed attempt that landed him squarely in third place began to overflow, Kist stepped back, “Okay, I’m done. But, fuck Nue, I swear on all that I love if I ever-”

“You okay?”

Turning toward the sound of the worried voice, Kist looked down and saw one of the children staring up at him.

“Yeah, I’m just mad I can’t beat that score.”

“Can I have a turn?”

“Oh, yeah, my bad.”

Stepping back from the arcade game, Kist turned and walked only a few steps, fully intent on leaving, only to stop in his tracks, as a thought came to him: “No way this kid is Nue.”