Artemis is a well-known scientist who created inventions alongside Scarlett Rose, the most famous modern scientist. The two had created fascinating inventions together as friends.
However, their story ends when Scarlett abruptly cuts ties with Artemis without explaining why, leaving behind a devastated Artemis who begged her to stay because he had only become successful with her help all this time.
Was he not enough for Scarlett?
He badly wanted to be recognised by Scarlett before they became friends. Scarlett came from a family of scientists, while Artemis was inspired to be one.
When he found out about Scarlett's family when he was a kid, he was immediately astounded by them and wanted to meet the family badly.
~~~
Artemis walked around his laboratory, the same laboratory that he and Scarlett used to work in.
Scarlett funded the laboratory with her family's money, but although Artemis kind of felt bad for keeping the laboratory, Scarlett insisted that he keep it as his own property,
Artemis has long black hair and navy blue eyes. He wears a dark blue blouse under a lab coat and black slacks.
Artemis approached a machine that he was currently working on; it was a time machine that he and Scarlett didn't finish together, but he was determined to finish it and make it work on his own.
He thought maybe Scarlett would come back if he managed to make it a successful invention. Though another part of Artemis thinks it's impossible for Scarlett to come back now; after all, she left the country and started a family in South Korea.
Artemis sighed. He felt anxious because, for the first time ever, he would try out his time-travelling machine. He tried his best to perfect this invention and believes that nothing could go wrong when he finally tries it out.
The machine was in the shape of a small hut.
He finally stepped inside the machine; the machine was big enough for him to fit in and provided the workspace he needed to pilot it. There were also two windows beside the pilot seat.
In front of the pilot seat is a big flat screen that will display the time and place of his destination, along with the controls of the machine.
In case something went wrong, he packed snacks and extra clothing in a suitcase that he placed in his lap. He also kept a copy of the time machine blueprint in his pocket because this invention required him to be extra cautious and prepared.
The time machine only needed sunlight to run, so he won't have any problems bringing gas or extra batteries.
Well, good thing he was prepared.
~~~
Artemis' breathing was fast; he was currently trying his best to solve the problem of the machine. The screen in front of him was glitching really badly, with the number of dates going crazy and changing every millisecond.
To make matters worse, he was in the middle of jumping in time. He can't get out of the machine to save his life and leave the machine behind.
Seriously, why is he this unlucky?
He was on the edge of giving up until the screen finally became stable and stopped glitching. Artemis looked out the window beside him to see the daylight and a few trees.
However, when Artemis looked at the date he was in, the screen only showed question marks, making Artemis raise a brow.
Artemis got up from his seat, grabbed his suitcase, and approached the door of his machine. He sighed before finally regaining his courage and opening the door.
He clicked a button near the door, and the door automatically opened.
The air from the outside was fresh and clean, something the modern era would never achieve.
When he opened the door and stepped outside, he realised that he was actually in a village, but luckily his machine was far from the houses, so no one noticed he and his machine had just popped there.
"Traveller! Move away!" a voice yelled as Artemis was suddenly pushed away by an unknown force.
When he was finally away from the machine, it suddenly exploded without warning.
The owner of the voice finally ran towards Artemis and helped him out. "You okay?" a man that looked about the same age as Artemis' said and kneeled down at Artemis' height
The man had short brown hair and charming blue eyes. "Traveller?" he said, making Artemis snap out of his thoughts.
"...Where am I?" Artemis asked as he tried to get up with the help of the stranger.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Let me introduce myself! My name is Oph—I mean Azariah—and the village you're in is part of the Kingdom of Knowledge, Rafi."
"Are you perhaps a time traveller? Your style of clothing looks out of place," he asked, looking Artemis up and down.
Artemis hesitated to answer because he thought he might get in trouble if he revealed the truth, but Azariah assured him. "Don't worry! You won't get arrested if you reveal the truth. Time travellers are pretty common, though they have some rules!"
"My name is Artemis... I'm a traveller, from the future—or past? I'm not sure, really," he said.
"You're not sure? Interesting. I would like to know more, but it's against the rules for the time travellers to reveal anything about the future if you happen to be from the future," Azariah responded.
"There are rules about time-travellers?" Artemis asked curiously.
Azariah raised an eyebrow while he looked at Artemis. "Are you perhaps... not from this world? Was your machine some sort of portal? Time travellers in this world never use machines since they use their own magic to travel... ", he stated while staring at Artemis with an arched brow.
"I don't recall my world having magic...did I perhaps... jump through universes instead?" Artemis muttered, completely stunned at his realisation.
"But my machine was supposed to time travel, not just through universes! How did I get here!?" Artemis said, panicking and hyperventilating.
Azariah patted his back. "You still have your belongings here. I knew that it might be important for you," he said as a suitcase floated down next to Artemis.
"Was the unknown force that pushed me your doing?" Artemis asked.
Azariah nodded. "Yep, my abilities are telekinesis and language translation, which is the ability I'm using right now so I can talk to you clearly. Most people in this world that have magic have the language translation ability."
"Language translation can let me understand anyone, and anyone can understand me," he explained further.
It took a full minute for Artemis to process what he just said. "Abilities? So this is... magic?" He looked around his surroundings, but it just seemed like a normal village with nothing out of the ordinary.
"Yep! We can get abilities through these gemstones," Azariah explained as he took out the necklace with a gemstone hiding under his clothes.
"You receive them at the school you study at. It's that simple, however, education in this world costs a lot of money. I'm the only magic user in this village, and so they rely on my magic for help," he said as he looked around.
Azariah smiled. "The Kingdom of Rafi is rich in resources, but its economy is poor. Most people who live here don't have the privilege of having an education, unfortunately."
"Oh, that's a shame. So—do you think you could tell me more about this world?" Artemis asked nervously.
"Oh, sure—do you see that kingdom in the sky?" Azariah asked as he looked up, pointing at the kingdom in the sky.
Artemis was fascinated, it was not that visible, but he was astounded at the fact there was a floating kingdom.
The floating kingdom seemed to have translucent-like pipes with glowing matter inside them. Artemis' eyes followed where the pipes were leading.
"That's the Kingdom of Hope, my hometown," Azariah stopped for a moment.
Azariah sighed. "It's the main source of all magic in the world, and those "pipes" you're seeing are pure magic being transported to the entire world, and each pipe is connected to every castle of every nation, and the royals of each kingdom have to provide the given magic to their people—the royals turn them into gemstones using the pure magic given," he explained, showing his gemstone.
"That's how magic is gifted to a person." Azariah smiled at Artemis, who looked confused the whole time.
Artemis laughed nervously. "Can you say that in simpler words...?" he asked.
Azariah chuckled, understanding that Artemis was new to the concept of magic. "Pure Magic is given to royals from each nation by the Kingdom of Elpidia, and the royals will turn the Pure Magic into gemstones and distribute them to their people," he summarised.
Artemis was in awe. "That's interesting. Since magic exists here, does that mean I can go back to my time?" he asked, wary.
Azariah scratched his head. "The thing is... It is illegal for a time-travelling magic user to bring a non-time-travelling magic user with them." He looked away, full of guilt.
Artemis widened his eyes and yelled, "What!? Can't I get an exception permit!?"
"The Kingdom of Time, the ones who created the time-travel rules, is strict with its rules, sadly," Azariah explained, "but I can help you fix your machine!" he suggested.
"Do you have the blueprint with you?" Azariah asked.
Artemis smiled happily as he took out the blueprint from his pockets and handed it to Azariah. He was glad to be overly prepared for once.
"We can use the remains of your machine," Azariah decided as he snapped his fingers twice.
Artemis looked back at the machine, which he recalled being burned to ashes a while ago. Now it disappeared into thin air.
"Where did it go?" Artemis asked, shocked, as he looked at Azariah.
"It went to the sea to remove the fire, and I brought it to my basement. Good thing I still have some space in my laboratory," Azariah answered gleefully.
"Laboratory? Are you an inventor or scientist too?" Artemis asked curiously.
"Yep, I'm an inventor! I used to work with my friend, but since he was busy with much more important things, he stopped working with me."
"Come on now, let's go to my house. I'm sure you're hungry," Azariah continued as he began walking towards the village.
Artemis nodded and followed Azariah, "Are you sure you don't mind helping me?" Artemis asked with worry, as he hated being a burden.
Azariah smiled. "Of course I don't; I love helping people in need. Plus, I've caught an interest in you," he added.
~~~
Artemis:
Scarlett Rose: [https://img.wattpad.com/1354c70bdb90d50f052986ab745ed2109af2d84b/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f7a613847636e7566626c694735773d3d2d313238343334393030302e313732353430316639636265306666643432383739343032333932342e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Scarlett Rose:
Scarlett Rose: [https://img.wattpad.com/df21ef13a014c860add7d2a2849cdb5232a5ad05/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f313736755869662d794b6d6e57513d3d2d313238343334393030302e313732353430326263616537636535643432343232353130343036352e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Azariah:
Height Comparison: [https://img.wattpad.com/8fc008aedafeff4a9c6e46711d301e0725855ef4/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f71516779334974374f59576754673d3d2d313238343334393030302e313732353430333063383561303333633538383134383830383330342e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Height Comparison:
Height Comparison: [https://img.wattpad.com/48fed4fa17a83124c80f670c5dac3462f742ce98/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6d6c746c4b7a734c697a2d4536773d3d2d313238343334393030302e313732353430363636343666633730393534363638343333353137382e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]