Curiosity was standing between Tiny's massive legs, drinking in the atmosphere of the morning. People were hustling and bustling about, a gentle breeze coming from the shorelines. He stretched a few times, spine snapping in place with a loud pop.

A perimeter made of cheap plastic fences was around the area, there to protect the citizens of Lucy from the evils of Tiny's people. Till someone had the bright idea of using the flying disk to ferry over passengers from the other side of the fence and back. For a price of course.

"Hidara," Curiosity, a tablet plastered to his face, said. "Are you sure it's in the museum?" Pause. "Is a pamphlet really a good source of information?" Pause. "Well, you're right about that, I don't have much to do anyway. Shame you can't come, take care and see you later."

With that, Curiosity put the tablet down and handed it to a nearby cultist.

"Why can't she come?" Cherry said atop her usual perch. "We are retrieving a magic book from the museum, right? It can't be that hard to do so."

"Hidara is not feeling well."

"Didn't that girl recover from a hole in the stomach in like 10 seconds? What could possibly make her sick?"

"Well, a few pebbles got stuck in her intestines, and well," Curiosity's face went pink for a bit. "Having sex in zero gravity for like 5 hours does not help."

"Zero gravity, you say?" The diminutive bodyguard lifted a pink eyebrow. "How come you are not sick as well then?"

"I already disposed of all of my fluids and foods from my body. By vomiting."

"Right, I probably should have not asked."

"Alright, let's continue," Curiosity clapped his hands together, bringing his fifty or so oddly dressed cult members to attend. "Is everyone ready?"

"Master," Aidan West, dressed in a brightly coloured shirt and a straw hat stepped forward. "You have not decided on our official wear."

"You can wear whatever you want." he waved them off.

"So," Silvia said, dressed in an orange robe. "we can wear...."

"No," Curiosity cut her off. "No purple robes. And no prancing around naked," he added as an afterthought. "Stacy will probably gut me if I let you guys do that."

There was a disappointed ahhh coming from the back of the procession.

"Is everyone ready?" Curiosity did not wait for a response. "Good. Here is the plan."

Everyone straightened and quieted down. Curiosity began pacing back and forth.

"We want to find the book of Arcanum," Curiosity said. "According to Hidara, this work contains spells and techniques on how to make the unreal real, how to achieve your dreams and success, and how to transform your imagination into something tangible, something that exists."

The cultist Ohhh and ahhed appropriately.

"The book is located in the national museum," he continued. "The problem is that I'm not sure they will part with it willingly."

"Shall we storm the place, Master?" Silvia asked.

"No, we are gonna see if we can buy it first." He snapped his fingers. "Or maybe offer something in return."

The more bloodthirsty members hung their heads in disappointment.

"Two people can come with me," Curiosity continued. "From the rest of you…" He scratched his head for a bit. "Go have fun and bring me some biscuits."

Cultists quickly formed into groups and left cheering and weeping in joy. If Curiosity were a bit more careful, he would have told his people to be cautious and don't cause trouble. However, he was not, so he didn't.

Only two people remained after most of the crowd dispersed, Silvia, and a bloke with a horse mask on his head, no shirt, chest hair glittering in the morning sun, and green shorts.

"Master," Silvia stepped forward, bowing. "Mr Edward and I will be your escorts today."

Curiosity stared long and hard at Mr Edward, inspecting his cheap horse mask that was flopping a bit to the left.

"You are curious, aren't you?" he asked, staring into the eyes peeking out from the mouth slit of the mask. "Curious on how would it feel to have an actual head of a horse."

Mr Edwards nodded; muzzle hitting Curiosity in the face.

"Let me help." Curiosity put his hands on the man's shoulder. "I'm curious."

It happened in an instant. The horse mask snapped in place and began shrinking, fusing to Mr Edward's face. Cheap plastic eyes bulged, veins popping on their surface. Hair, long and magnificent began growing from the scalp. Muzzle straightened, nostrils flared, and a beautiful row of clean and healthy teeth appeared in his mouth.

Slowly, tentatively, the newly minted horseman touched his magnificent face in surprise. Then he neighed, snatching up Curiosity in a bear hug and began jumping around in joy.

"It's okay champ," Curiosity laughed. "Let's be on our way."

With one last hug, Mr Edward put Curiosity down, and the three of them stepped on a disk that would take them close to their destination.

The national museum, a massive building, was located in the city centre, ten stories high, two kilometres in width, and circular in nature. A hollow space was in the middle, dominated by a gigantic statue of Tiny, in a sitting position, staring blankly into space.

The beauty of the majestic building was marred by the number of tourists milling around it. Creatures from every race, size and age were walking about, bumping into each other and generally making a nuisance of themselves. On the left of the building, a staggering amount of hover cars were parked not only on the ground but parallel to each other, in the air, looking like a mismatched lego building.

Curiosity and his entourage were given a few glances, mostly directed at Mr Edwards magnificent chest, but were left alone. There were things to see, paintings to be gawked at and people to be pushed out of the way.

Before entering the museum proper, there was a massive white tent near the entrance, with a long queue, where every participant was checked for explosive, water and food. After making sure none of these dangerous items were present on a person, they will be let pass.

Curiosity, Silvia and Mr Edwards joined the queue, squashed between a particularly chatty family of lizard men and an old elven lady with a strikingly sour expression.

"Master?" Silvia said, glancing uneasily around.

"Yes?" Curiosity said.

"Can't you use your powers and skip this chaos?"

Mr Edward snorted in agreement.

"I thought you liked chaos?" Curiosity said in puzzlement.

"I do, I do, but this," she gestured around helplessly, "it's just sad. It's not proper chaos, just a bunch of people waiting in line and not even hitting each other!"

"There is not much I can do," Curiosity said. "I can't just twist us to the front of the queue, I need to touch and see what I twist."

Silvia went silent. So they waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. After an hour or so, they finally arrived at the white tent. After another half an hour of waiting, the three of them finally arrived in front of a cheap table.

They confiscated Curiosity's lighter on the spot, but after much scanning and staring, they let him keep his box of cigarettes. Nobody bothered to check Mr Edward's, and when it was discovered that the only piece of clothing on Silvia was her robe, she was left alone.

Cherry on the hand, they could not even touch. Every time some tried to grab or scan her, she would smack them away with a lollipop.

"She's my pet," Curiosity said, beaming. "You are allowed with pets, no?"

"Woof," Cherry said.

"Umm…" The elven clerk behind the table turned to his colleague. "Isn't that a human? Or at least a pixie? I didn't know pixies were allowed to be pets. Isn't that illegal?"

The clerk next to him, a much older and haggard-looking lizard man looked up in Cherry's direction.

"Are you a pixie?" He said in that strange, slithering tone.

"No", Cherry said.

"Are you this person's pet?" He gestured towards Curiosity with his chin.

"Woof."

"See?" The clerk turned towards his college. "There is no problem here. Now get a move on, people are waiting in line, and you haven't even offered them earbuds yet.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Oh yes, sorry." The young elf quickly scrambled under the table and after a bit of rummaging, put down three expensive-looking earpieces that were offered to the group. They refused.

"Are you sure, sir?" the elf insisted. "You will miss out on a personalised tour made just for your tastes."

"I'm sure," Curiosity was getting impatient.

"Our algorithms were made by Lucy herself," the clerk continued, oblivious to the stink eye everyone in the line was giving him. "It's state of the art, and we even offer discounts in our local souvenir shop if you have the earpiece with you."

"Master already said no," Silvia spat. "Let us pass already!"

"It's not my business what kind of relationship you two have," the clerk said. "But I strongly urge you to reconsider. There is a fee for using our grooming facilities, but it's free if you have our earbuds with you."

Mr Edward snorted, grabbed the earpieces from the table and stuffed them into his mouth. With a loud crunch, he crushed them between his teeth and began chewing. A few seconds later, he spits out the remains on the table with a wet plop.

"Point taken," muttered the clerk. "You know you need to pay for that, right?"

Silvia slammed her hand on the counter.

"Take my money," she growled. "Before I smash your teeth in."

"I won't allow myself to be treated like this!" The elf pulled himself to his full height. "This is harassment in the workplace!"

"Mate," Curiosity said. "Just take the damn money and let us pass. You are literally holding up hundreds of people because of your stupidity and pride."

The clerk looked around. The crowd was glaring at him with such intensity, he took a step back. He quickly deducted thirty thousand credits for reparation and gestured to Curiosity to leave. With enthusiastic applause from the old lady who stood behind them, the trio exited the tent and began climbing up the marble steps up to the entrance.

After passing through an ornate gate, with marble columns decorating its side, they entered the museum itself. Huge holographic panels were mounted on the sides of the wall advertising the latest attractions the museum had to offer. Example: the history of the A.I., Rughorn and the robot revolution, Traditional magic and its belief system and spoons around the ages.

Approaching a terminal at the corner of the room, Mr Edward gently, but firmly pushed away a bloodshot young elf, who was staring into space without comprehension. A quick search later, they discovered the location of the book. Floor 10, room c-22, on the right side of the museum.

"This way," Silvia said, taking the lead.

They entered the courtyard with the sitting statute of Tiny in the middle. People were milling about, carrying overpriced coffee and tea, most of them talking animatedly, or pressing a hand to their ears, trying to understand what was being said over the din of noise.

Veering to the left, the group stepped on a circular platform. It began carrying them upwards. Exiting the elevator and dodging a couple racing with a baby cart, they started counting the rooms. After a few minutes, they found it.

It was a small room, with shelves upon shelves of tomes and books, most of them behind reinforced glass. Some of them were open, giving the ability to tourists to read them. In one of the corners, they found the tome in question. It was nestled between an original copy of The History and Future of Alcohol and a mint copy of How to summon with cheese, a beginner's guide for dairy summoning.

Next to them, in a glass case decorated with gold edges, sat the tome of Arcanum, on a velvet pillow. Curiosity could feel the power surging through it, becoming him and promising dark secrets.

"Is this it?" Curiosity said, pressing his face against the glass.

"Yes, Master."

"Amazing! I want it now! Go fetch me someone who can sell me this."

"Yes Master."

They waited. Curiosity began poking around the sections. Most of the books were spell books, ancient tomes on prophecy, recounting of famous wizards and tomes on summoning. There were some unique ones too. For example,

Five reasons to punch a Kraken in the face and how to do it. How to raise your intelligence by eating gifted children. Be bold with cucumbers. A practical guide on table manners for hell spawns, and the international guide of the broke wizard.

Thirty minutes have passed. Silvia was not back yet. Another ten minutes, and if she did not come back, Curiosity was going to steal the book and damn the consequences.

Silvia was trying her best. The problem was that she had no idea about who exactly she should go to. A clerk on the first floor sent her to the HR department on the fifth. They sent her to the souvenir shop on the third. There, they sent her to the tent floor, to another souvenir shop, this one targeted towards a wealthier clientele.

When she mentioned she wanted to buy the book of companions and had the money for it, they told her to prove it, so it was back to HR again. After ten minutes of stupid bureaucracy, she went back to the tenth floor, with a slip of paper saying that yes, she had so much money that she could actually afford to buy the book, and they should at least give her an audience with a consultant.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Silvia," a lizardman dressed in a crisp blue suit said. "I can't sell a first edition magical tome without approval from the board of directors."

"Well," Silvia tapped her foot impatiently. "Contact them. Money is not an issue."

"I understand that," he explained gently. "But they are on a lunch break, and we don't want to disturb them when they are eating do we?"

"For how long?"

"Two hours."

"Two hours??" She cried out in frustration. "What kind of lunch break is that?" Damn lazy bastards.

"An important one," The birdman's huge eyes were unblinking. "A healthy lunch is conducive for a healthy mind, no?"

Silvia said nothing. She knew that if she opened her mouth, she would then proceed to strangle the life out of this lizard. Why was she doing this? For curiosity's sake, of course.

On the table in front of the lizardman, there were a variety of trinkets, mostly coins, watches, pieces of beautiful canvas and painted rocks. The cheapest item began at 1 000 000 credits. The elven lady snatched up two currencies.

"Good choice," the lizardman said. "Those coins are from the ancient civilisation of ET, a true collector's item."

"How much?" Silvia rolled the coins slowly in her palm, mesmerised by their golden shine and the clink clink sound they made when they hit each other.

"Twelve million credits. Each."

Something in Silvia's brain went snap. She put a coin in each hand, gripped them between her forefinger and thumb, squared her shoulders, and looked at the lizardman between the eyes.

"I'm curious," she said, plunging the coins in her eyes.

At the same time, Curiosity ran out of patience.

"I'm curious," he said.

With a smooth motion, he plunged his hand through the glass like it was not there at all, and gingerly, carefully, grabbed the book by the edge.

In a place where silly things like time and space were options, the only thing keeping the fabric of the universe together was having a second meltdown. This time, however, he managed to get a better hold of his temper, and in place of putting his hand in his flaming skull, he resorted to glaring at his assistant.

Coincidence on his part was hunched over Reality's disk, fiddling with a spherical computer. A piece of colourful metal was taken off its side, and the assistant was picking the insides with a thin piece of wire. His other hand, however, was clasped firmly on two of four legs that came out from said computer.

Occasionally, it tried to scuttle away, but Coincidence's grip was firm. Next to him, at the end of the desk was another computer, sleek and boxy, with green ooze escaping its back and sides, and an ice pack on top of it to stop it from overheating.

"I'm not sure why I listen to you," Reality said. "First, the cult you sent to kill your cousin decided to follow them instead, then a techno slime hops universes, a by-product of your cousin I might add, and infect a perfectly ordinary word. And now, not only we have more of this creature running about, but Curiosity is still at large!"

"I'm working on it," Coincidence said, "It's not that easy you know, I can't just imagine him away."

"But you can kill him, right?" Reality lifted his head. "He is at the museum prancing around with his assistant, surely Destiny could arrange a little accident to happen."

"Look boss, destiny needs to happen naturally, it can't be fabricated or forced, it needs to be a combination of luck, determination, and being at the right time at the right place; otherwise people will lose belief in fate, ultimately making me disappear."

"Wouldn't that be a relief," Reality muttered. "One less nutcase to worry about."

"You hurt me, boss, haven't I been your loyal assistant for aeons? I don't want much, besides the right to exist, and I never opposed you, and as I explained before, I can't help how my powers work. I am Coincidence itself after all."

Reality did not respond, his gaze far away focused entirely on Curiosity and his two companions. When Silvia plunged the coin in her eyes, twisting the fabric of the universe in the process, Reality exploded like a volcano.

"HIS POWER IS CONTAGIOUS!" Reality screamed. "STOP HIM NOW!"

"I'm trying," Coincidence said. "Don't rush me, this universe is volatile, one wrong move, and we could face some serious consequences."

"And now he is using the powers himself! Is he mocking me!?! Out of the way, I’m gonna deal with this punk myself."

Coincidence barely had time to react. Reality disappeared in a blur and appeared next to his assistant. Elbowing him aside, the representation of the fabric of space and time, grabbed the thin wire and jammed it into the struggling computer.

"DIE!" Reality screamed. "YOU WON'T ESCAPE THIS TIME!"

"Boss no!" Coincidence shouted from the floor. "You know you can't interfere with yourself! It always goes wonky when you do so."

"SHUT UP!"

Coincidence began weeping in misery.

Back at the museum things were indeed going wonky. After Curiosity plunged his hand in the bookcase and pulled out the book of Arcanum, the world froze for a second.

"Boss!" Cherry shouted. "Look outside! In the sky."

Dark clouds like chimney smoke gathered quickly in the museum square, right above the sitting statue of Tiny. From those clouds, a giant golden metal pole unfurled with the speed of a flying arrow.

"DUCK!" Cherry screamed.

Just in time too, the pole smashed straight into the glass wall overlooking the courtyard, making the whole building shake and making some tourists fall flat on their face. Thankfully, the glass held protective enchantments activating instantly, only cracking the surface instead of punching right through like a needle.

"Phew," Cherry said. "Who did you piss off this time boss? That came straight for us."

"I'm not sure," Curiosity said, peeking behind his crouched position behind the glass case. "But I think it might be the universe itself this time."

"Oh."

The rod stayed there for a second, spinning in place as if deciding its next move. Slowly, it began retreating towards the cloud, as if given up on its quest. It stopped a few meters above the statue, however, and began spinning in place.

"Uh oh," Cherry said. "We should get out of here boss, I think it's rearing up for another attack."

Indeed the pole was rearing back, but pointing in a totally different direction than Curiosity, it was pointing straight down.

The museum staff, however, were not idle. Lucy's voice, coming from every speaker in the building, directed the civilians to the nearest exit available, and the back gate, usually a decorative door, was open as well, letting people stream out by the dozen.

"We should escape as well," Cherry said, looking to the end of the room where visitors were squeezing each other to get out. "It's not safe, and I don't know what that rod is doing. I don't like this."

She didn't need to wait for long to find out. With a loud boom, the rod shot downwards, like it was thrown, piercing the statue straight through the skull, the uncomfortable noise of metal and stone echoing through the rapidly emptying museum.

"Huh, I was not expecting that," Cherry said. "And look boss, the cloud is disappearing as well."

The black smoke was disappearing quickly, leaving behind .. one giant human hand, dark as midnight. It pointed towards Curiosity, made a quick cutting motion, curled into the universal gesture of go fuck yourself, and disappeared from view.

"Did you just get given the middle finger by God?" Cherry said in awe. "I don't know if you are the coolest or stupidest boss I ever had."

They didn't have time to celebrate, however. An ear-shattering roar echoed through the museum, making the whole building shake and speeding up the remaining tourist in the evacuation. Some, however, stopped to record what was happening on their tablets, confident in the knowledge that they are witnessing history.

They were right.

The marble statue of Tiny, still pierced through with the goldenrod, now crackling with energy, roared to life. Slowly, it began pushing itself upwards, dislodging pieces of stone in the process and showering the area around it in debris.

"Shit," Curiosity said. "We should get out of here."

"Couldn't agree more boss," Cherry said.

Mr Edwards, who was crouched behind them, neighed in approval.

Before any of them could take a step, however, a piece of stone the size of a door flew through the broken glass, shattering it into a million pieces, forcing the trio to duck.

The stone didn't stop there, however, the force it was thrown carried it further in, smashing into the only door leading to escape, killing a poor elf in the process.

"Fuck," Curiosity said.

The statue outside roared triumphantly, pumping his hand in the air, and began walking towards them with purpose.

"You can say that again boss," Cherry said. "You can say that again."

"Fuck," Curiosity said

Mr Edwards neighed in approval.