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Faroe Lester was dead— she had been for almost a decade. So it rang the question: If she was dead, why was she in a random private investigator’s office in Arkham, Massachusetts?
Granted, she didn’t remember much about her death, just a cool sensation of water filling her lungs and the sense of panic she felt when she slipped into the dark world that was filled with nothingness.
She did, however, remember her life— well, at least snippets of it. She remembered going to the park with a man— a man who she was almost certain was her father. She remembered going to a park with that man— her father— and feeding ducks. She also remembered music, a faint melody which engulfed her lost memories. A somber piano melody that shared her name and her father’s sadness. Sadness for what? She wasn’t sure. But she was sure that there had been an aura of sadness around him.
She had other memories too, but these were the most potent in her mind as she arrived in Arkham. She wasn’t quite sure why, but they were.
She looked around the office. There was yellow tape over the doorway that read: “DO NOT CROSS”. Police tape, great. She moved onto the open door. The door had two names painted onto its window. “Peter Yang”, the first read. She had no idea who that was. The second was “Arthur Lester.” Now that, rang a bell.
———————————————————————
‘ORTHUR. There’s someone in the next room over.’
“What? Where?”
‘To your left. Watch out for that-‘
“Fuck.”
Arthur proceeded to crash into a bookshelf next to the doorway.
See, that was the issue with having a long forgotten god in your head who stole your eyes. You couldn’t see, and John always seemed to forget to tell Arthur vital information, like when there was a bookshelf he was about to collide with.
There was a laugh from the next room. It was followed by the crunch of popcorn.
‘Fucking Kayne.’
“Fuck, John.”
‘We must be close to the stone then, if Kayne’s here. Just keep walking, the door is right in front of you now.’
“Right.”
“GOLDY!!” Kayne exclaimed excitedly upon seeing Arthur walk through the door.
‘Kayne.’ John said not nearly as excitedly.
“And Artichoke too!!!” Kayne said, once again far too excited.
“Kayne,” Arthur spat with disdain, “we found you the black stone, that’s what you were after this whole time. Now it’s time to hold up your end of the deal.”
“Yeesh, Arty! Relax!! Why are you in such a rush!!?? We’ll get to it soon enough.”
‘No Kayne, we’re not relaxing, or waiting any longer.’ John was getting annoyed.
Arthur, sharing John’s annoyance, added angrily, “Yes, Kayne, give us what you promised.”
“Alright, alright. What was it I promised again…?” Kayne replied with a devilish tone.
‘Oh come on Kayne,’ now John was angry, ‘we’ve already done this. You go on and on about how we should have written it down, and then we settle on a new deal. But not this time, no, we’ve nearly died for you to many times to deal with your shit again Now, fulfill the deal.’
“…right. Fine. Take my fun… well.. enjoy then.”
Kayne snapped and with a flash Arthur and John began to vanish. They both let out a sigh of relief, thinking that everything was finally over. And as they vanished, Kayne called out, “Oh, and Arty, do try to remember!”
“Wait, what, what do you—“
And with that they were gone.
———————————————————————
Arthur materialized in his old office. He hadn’t been here in what felt like a lifetime. The door was closed, the office looked ransacked, and someone was knocking on the door.
‘Arthur, I-I think we’re back in your office.’
“What???” Arthur responded, extremely confused.
‘I- It looks like your office, where we first met.’
There was another knock at the door.
“I think someone’s at the door, John,” Arthur said.
‘It’s to your right.’ Arthur began walking, ‘Your other right.’
Arthur walked over and opened the door, ‘There’s nobody here, Orthur.’ John was begining to get confused now, ‘There’s just police tape in front of the doorway and an empty hall.’
“Maybe whoever it was went around the corner,” Arthur said as he ducked under the tape and walked down the hall, leaving the door open behind him.
That’s when Faroe materialized in the room. As Arthur walked away, Faroe appeared, which guaranteed quite the shock for Arthur and John when they returned.
When Arthur walked back to the office’s entrance, John looked into the room, ‘Orthur, there’s-there’s a child standing in the middle of your office. She-I, I almost-‘
“Dad?” While John hadn’t yet connected the dots Faroe, despite everything, recognized her father almost immediately, and called out to him.
‘Arthur I- I think it’s Faroe! I think Kayne actually fulfilled his end of the deal! Arthur, this is- it’s amazing! Ar-Arthur are you alright?’
Arthur had been quiet this whole time. While at any time during their journey, Arthur had been close to tears at just the mention of Faroe, now all he felt was confusion. “John, who, ah, who’s Faroe?”