“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”

- Abraham Lincoln

Sunrise

July 5, 1926

06:11:32 PM

A car ran in the middle of the forest. Taking a closer look inside, a forty year old man named Antonio La Flaga, with a normal mustache, driving the car. Beside him was Mrs. Maneline La Flaga, his wife, thirty-seven years of age yet looked twenty five watching the scenery gladly. On the back of the driver sit were two babies. One on the right side while the other one was inside a basket, covered with a blanket, buckled tightly.

“Oh my, darling. Are we coming to our new house?” Mrs. Maneline asked

“Yes, it was my old house located in San Jose City. When we crossed this forest, we would be outside the territory of Francian.”

“Ooh, how about the two passengers back there? Are you guys okay?”

She said, peeking back at the babies.

The baby girl thumbed up, confirming they were okay.

The baby boy woke up when the car went through a rocky way. He felt dizzy as the car wiggle and shook. He resisted his urge to puke, but it happened eventually. After few minutes, he wiped out his own puke and looked around.

The last thing he recalled was that he was in a large room sleeping deeply. ‘Am I still dreaming?’ He thought, but when he looked around he realized this wasn’t a dream, he got a new body.

As the car got out from the forest, the blue sky appeared in front of the baby. He raised his arm trying to reach the clouds. As his little hand fell down slowly, he saw the driver who he thought his father and one-year-old baby girl, diapered, buckled up in the right side staring at him.

“Du.. du?” she asked

He didn’t understand what she wanted to say.

“Bam.. ba.. baba.. ba.. babbba… b-baba,” he said.

He wanted to say “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Du.. du.. du? Ooooh, du du,” she said while pointing at her pacifier.

He thought she wanted to introduce herself and wanted to be his acquaintance so he nodded.

“Oooh, du.. du.. du…”

She pointed at her pacifier again.

“Ba.. ba.. ba.. bababa… baba.. bababada.”

He wanted to say, “No no no, I’m just a newborn baby, I don’t need that” while waving his hands of refusal.

She slowly removed her pacifier and offered it to him. It still had her saliva dripping.

His eyes turned blank and thought the baby girl misunderstood everything he said completely. The moment she removed her pacifier from her mouth, he figured out he was screwed. He refused her offer however, the little girl moved closer to him and insisted.

‘No!’ He tried to cover his mouth but the little girl slapped his hands.

“Du… du… du…,” she made a warning sign.

He concluded the little girl was a dangerous being. His last resort was to cry in order to drive the attention of the old man. He didn’t want to let a pacifier containing the saliva of somebody else get in his mouth.

As he tried to commence his last chance, however, the little girl stuck it directly to his mouth. With the critical hit of the girl, he fainted in a second.

“Oh my, my, my. Dear, look at the kids, they look so close. Baby Catalina is taking care of his new little brother right now.”

“Don’t worry, everyone. We’re almost there. This country is at peace and I assure you that the city we will live in, will keep our happy memories together,” Mr. Antonio looked at his wife and peeked at the babies in the mirror.

It was the first meeting of the baby analyst with his parents and first tragic experience in his entire life with the elder sister.

14 years later….

San Jose Shrine

September 12, 1940

08:44:23 PM

9 hours before the Incident

Under the trees, the teenage boy lay down and observed the sky, listening to the relaxing humming of the birds. He grew to be a decent teenage boy. He wore the clothes of a farmer, above his chest, held by his right hand, was a hat made of mat.

Around the area, a beautiful maiden, around fifteen years old, was searching for someone. She had small blonde hair which covered her neck. A black butterfly hairpin in her right forehead gleamed in the sunlight. A blueish blouse hugged her torso and a long skirt waved with every movement.

“Ar-cus! Arcus! Ar----cus! Where are you~?”

She asked herself where she could find her little brother. She saw the Shrine Priest clean the brass of leaves in the corner.

“Good morning, Mr. Shrine Priest.” She lifted her skirt into a curtsy. ”Have you seen my little brother around?”

“Hmm..? Ooh, Catalina, good morning.” The Shrine Priest raised his left hand to greet her.

“Mr. Shrine Priest, have you seen my little brother somewhere here? He left the grape field after they finished the harvest.”

“Hoho~, he was there in the backyard. He should be laying in his favorite spot, like usual.” He pointed.

“Jeez~, he really likes that place. Hmmpf, well then Mr. Shrine Priest, thank you very much. After I get that naughty kid, I’ll bring you breakfast as payment the next time I visit.”

She said as she left the place.

“Hoho~, what a good child.”

As she reached the place, she saw her little brother, Arcus, under the tree.

“Ooh, there he is. He is in that tree again. Oooh, I get an idea. Fufu~”

She smirked and strolled to an area near him.

Her plan was to surprise him behind the tree. She went in the back, took a peek to make sure he was still there and count one to three before she commence her attack.

“There you are, Arcus! …. Huh? Where is he?”

He was gone. She only saw his hat in the place. Suddenly, someone patted her right shoulder, and when she turned around, a pointing finger poked her cheek.

“Sis, you’d better be faster if you really want me to be surprised. You never change,” Arcus said as he released his finger from her cheek. He walked to his spot, picked up his hat, and put it on, grinning at her.

“Jeez, then you should at least try to act like a victim. Give your older sister a chance!” she said, puffing out her cheeks.

“No way, sis. I don’t want to repeat that scene again,” he said, recalling his first day in the new world.

“By the way, why’re you always here after your work in the grape field?” she asked.

“Well, you know I’m not that kind of person who loves being around with other people. I just like to stay here under this tree. It helps me to be relax and the humming of the birds living here are bringing back memories.”

“Hmm…? C’mon~, ” she said while lifting her right hand, “It would be fun to try to mingle with others.”

“No way, sis. I already told you. I. Don’t. Want. To.”

“Fufu~ you’re really naughty kid. C’mon, let’s go home now. Mother made a breakfast and you need to change your clothes, you stink,” she said while covering her nose and waved the smell away from her.

“Oooh~, maybe it times to make you feel the feeling of being push away by someone.”

He walked towards her while his hands raised. His sister was terrified and begged him to stop.

“Fufu~, try to escape from this, raaarr,” he said while taking her right hand.

“Nooo, please stop! Please~ I don’t want to be get wet from your dirty sweat,” she said while trying her best to escape.

“Please stop~”

He was stopped when he looked into her eyes. His beautiful sister’s main weapon - pitiful puppy eyes- made his heart hurt. He blushed, released her hand, and turned around.

His sister was confused and asked him, “Huh?”

“Oh crap, it super effective. I should probably stopped teasing her like usual,” he murmured.

“What are you babbling about?”

“No-Nothing, sis. Let’s go.”

“Okay,” she said with a smile on her face.

She grabbed his right hand

“Hey sis, what are you doing?” he asked feeling embarrassed

“Just making sure, you won’t get lost.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.”

“No you’re still a kid though.”

“Whatever,” he said while scratching his left side of his hair.

The street was crowded with people. There were stores who on sales and also live performance in the side walks. Since the streets were small, there were less cars around. The people wore late-19th century suits, yet their technology was totally unimaginable. All machines were crystal powered, even the electronics. The electricity they were using was produced by solar panels..

Yet there are some similarities, the public trains were oftenly used via subway and railway. The discovery of magical crystals nowadays changed the lifestyle of humanity. Arcus seemed still amaze in the new world. Compare to his previous life, his world was still struggling in climate change. He just hoped his world will able to survive until the end and solved the crisis instead choosing the economy over earth’s condition.

“Good morning, Catalina,” the owner of a cotton shop nearby greeted

“Good morning,” she waved at her.

“Good morning, Catalina. You’re blooming today.”

“Good morning too, Mr. Tuna vendor. You too.”

“Good morning”

“Good morning”

Arcus realized his elder sister was so popular in the eyes of the vendors and merchants in the city. He hinted her innocent personality caused them to idolized and loved her so much.

“Sister is amazing. No wonder she was popular among here,” he murmured, while taking a slight sigh.

He stated on his mind she was like a royal princess as the people who knew her gave them way as they cross. She then gave them a wave of appreciation.

He was not astonished anymore when a lot of man appeared in front of them.

“Good morning, my-”

“You’re the most beautiful among the girls I ever met, please accept this gift of mine full of choco-”

“Oh my, what a beautiful morning star in the middle of the street, my name is -”

“Hey c’mon, let me finish first myself!”

“You also!”

“Shut it,everyone. I’m the one who first arrived here. So I’m the one who needs to start!”

“Huh!?”

The face of Arcus seemed full of dismay while his sister smiled at the scene. She clapped her hands twice to get their attention.

“Oh my, oh my, please everyone, don’t fight. I’ll accept the gifts you want to give to me. So please stop fighting each other.”

“Yes ma’am!” the three replied immediately.

Arcus scowled while his sister smiled at the scene. She clapped her hands twice to get their attention.

“Oh my, oh my, please everyone, don’t fight. I’ll accept the gifts you want to give to me. So please stop fighting each other.”

“Yes ma’am!” the three replied immediately.

They all seemed to change back to normal as they apologized to her. They left them alone after giving Catalina their presents - chocolate from the bearded one, flowers from the man with the long nose, and a gown in a box from the ugly one. He let out a sigh of relief and offered to carry half of her gifts.

“Hmm, this is so unexpected. I don’t understand why they always act like that. Is today my birthday?” she asked.

He was astonished at how innocent she was. He tapped to his forehead, wanting to tell her that she had also received gifts yesterday.

La Flaga Residence

9:09:11 PM

“Father, mother, we’re home~!” she called as she opened their main door slowly.

As they entered the house, they saw three people wearing black hoods and cloaks sitting on the sofa, and a handsome man who looked about forty years old sitting in front of their parents. He wore the official suit of an unknown royal lineage, but he immediately covered his face with his hood when he saw Arcus and Catalina.

“Oh my, sorry for interruption. I didn’t know we have a guest,” she said while lowering head. Arcus followed her lead and lowered his head too.

“I will prepare a tea then. So plea-”

“No need, milady. As you can see, we’re going to-. Oh I see,” he said while looking at Arcus. “So this maybe the end of our conversation for today, Mr. La Flaga,” the man in the royal suit said.

He stood up and lifted his right hand waiting to be shaken by Antonio’s hand.

“Aaah yes, sir. I’ll make sure to keep the mission, our master given upon me will still be taking care of. Thank you for your visit. Said my regards to our master then,” he said as he shake his hand.

“Aye.”

The man took a glance to Arcus and proceed to walk to the door followed by the three people behind him.

Arcus noticed in his right arm in the doorknob a tattoo of twin dragon symbol. The man in the royal suit noticed his glance and immediately covered his hand and let the other one closed the door.

“Who are those people, Papa?” he asked.

“Aaah, an acquaintance of mine basically. Don’t worry, they are good people.”

“Arcus, go to the kitchen right now and prepare the meal,” his mother ordered.

“I’m going to help him then,” Catalina said.

“No Catalina, there is something I want to tell you. Let your brother do the chore,” his father said and sat down in the chair.

Catalina realized his father had a serious issue he wanted to speak to her. She decided to let Arcus go alone.

“Here, Arcus take this,” she said and handed him the rest of the gifts, “Can you take these to my room before you go to the kitchen?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, Arcus went back to the kitchen after he placed the gifts in his sister’s table properly. As he prepared the dishes, he recalled the twin dragon symbol he had seen earlier. He thought he had seen it somewhere but he couldn’t remember it too well.

Meanwhile, as the visitors left the place by car, a person hiding in the bushes saw them pass by. He looked at the location of the house they had visited.

“Target place, found! Proceed to plan,” he stated as he disappeared in the shadows.

After few minutes his parents together with his sister arrived in the kitchen. He already prepared the dishes made by his mother like a french style table manner.

“Ooh my, as expected to my son, what a beautiful table mod,” his mother said while walking to her sit in the left side of the rectangular shape table.

He aided them one by one as they slowly sat down in their respected chairs. He carefully made sure they won’t be fall. He was like doing the exact way of a servant and a waiter in the restaurant.

A word of appreciation was the only thing they could pay to his service. He sat then in his own sit next to his sister afterwards.

“Okay then, let’s pray before we starts,” his father asked.

They held each others hand and proceed to pray. Afterwards, they started to say the particular words to make the dish more delicious.

“Bon appetite!”

“So, how was your day in the farm then, Arcus?” his father asked while serving himself some broccoli.

“Well somehow, we managed to harvest most of the grapes today, papa.”

“Oooh dear, I hope you don’t force yourself too much. It’s just a part-time job, don’t even pay too much attention. Remember, your father and I only said you could go because you won a rock-paper-scissors game with your sister. If you ever get injured, you’re gonna need to retire,” his mother said while sipping her glass of wine.

“Hoho~, if he didn’t beat me that time, I won’t be having a hard time every weekend. Jeez~, this little brother of mine was so troublemaker. Don’t you know how hard a lady like me to walk around just to fetch you?”

“C’mon, sis. At least, you become popular among the citizens in this city.”

“Jeez~, everyday, every night, some men were giving me some gifts. I wonder why.”

“It’s because you’re so beautiful and kind of innocent in the eyes of everyone.”

“Hahahahaha!”

All of them laugh and finished to eat their meal afterwards.

10:00:22 AM

After breakfast, Catalina and Arcus cleaned the table and washed the dishes. It took them a while to finish it. Catalina noticed a movement in the bushes. Her eyes became serious as she carefully checked the yard from the kitchen window.

“Oh my, Arcus, you’re already late in your school!” Catalina said loudly.

Arcus scratched his head. “Sis, its Saturday. We don’t have any class today.”

“Eeeh? Ummm, then…,” she said nervously.

“Seriously sis, you better change your way of - Woooah!”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the house.

“Papa! Mama! We’re going out!”

Antonio noticed them leave and wondered why.

“Catalina, Arcus, where are you two going now!?” he asked.

“We’re going to the forest, Papa! We just thought to have a picnic today,” she replied.

Her father knew what she meant when he saw her face and he called to his wife immediately.

“Honey!”

“What is it, honey?” Miss Maneline asked.

“They are here. We need to prepare.”

“Ooh no… why now? Where are you children? Arcus, where is he right now?” she asked while looked worried.

“Don’t worry, he is together with our daughter. She is his elder sister afterall,” he replied while staring at her firmly.

She calmed down and her eyes turned serious. They nodded to each other and proceed to prepare.

A few minutes later, Arcus was exhausted from running and decided to ask his sister what was going on.

“Sis, where are we going?” Arcus asked, wiping his sweat off from his face.

They stopped running and she faced him and looked into his eyes.

“Is there a problem, sis? You look too serious for a picnic.”

It was the first time he had ever seen his sister’s eyes look like that. He was worried and held her hands tightly.

His sister noticed his feelings and she decided to pretend everything was normal for now.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. I was just feeling excited for today. Oh, I forgot to do something,” she said. She pulled a bottle out of her pocket and sprayed its contents in his face.

“Cough, cough, cough, what was that , sis? Why’d you need to spray that on me? I’m not a pest!”

“Hoho~, sorry, sorry, sorry. It’s just a mosquito repellent.”

“Well why don’t you put it on yourself then?”

“I’ve already put it on. C’mon, it won’t take too long, hehe~,” she said and patted his shoulder twice.

“So, where are we going then? Why do we need to enter this forest for a picnic?”

“Well, there was something I wanted to show to you. C’mon, we don’t have much time for this. Just follow me.”

She grabbed his left hand and dragged him down to the path.

As they ran towards the area, there was a strange light jumping through the branches of the trees, following them.

10:33:25 PM

“Sis, are we there yet? I’m exhausted.”

“Jeez~, you’re so weak. You should exercise more.”

“Well, sorry about that, I was too focused on my studies to go jogging every morning.”

“Well~, we’re almost there. You’re going to be amazed and you’re gonna say ‘Woah...’ as you see it.”

As they arrived, a bright sunlight greeted his eyes. They were in an open field full of flowers inside the middle of the forest, and there was one enormous tree in the center.

“Woah...”

“See I told you. You’re going to say that.”

“What a beautiful place. So this is what you want to show me then, sis.”

“Yep~”

“C’mon, there is another thing I want you to see.”

She ran towards the huge tree in the middle of the field.

“Please wait for me, sis.”

As he got closer to the tree, his sister disappeared. He worried and panicked when he couldn’t find her around.

“Sis, where are you? Sis!”

“Hey~~~, up here, Arcus~!”

He looked towards the sound of her voice and found her above him. She was waving her hands from the window of a tree house.

He was astonished and sighed in relief when he finally found her safe.

“What the heck, sis?”

“Hey Arcus, let’s play another game then. Do you want to try it!?”

“What!? Where's the picnic?”

“Eeeh~? You’re so meanie!”

“Stop calling me ‘meanie’! I’m not a kid anymore!”

“Fufu~, you’re still a kid.”

He wanted to tell her his secret- that he was not an ordinary child. He was a thirty year old man who had died from a heart attack.

“Well, whatever, even if you don’t want to try, you still need to play the game to get up here. I’ll give you a present if you manage to find the door!”

She disappeared from the window, leaving him at the base of the tree.

Now, he had another problem to deal with. The tree seemed completely smooth and there was no obvious entrance.

“What the heck!?”

He analyzed his surroundings and guessed that there might be a hidden door far from the tree. Looking around, he figured that the best chance was that the door was between two rocks.

His guess proved correct as he found a trapdoor in the rocks. He entered it and saw a sturdy ladder leading up the inside of the tree. As he climbed, he noticed how the inside of the tree house had been well-polished with use.

He arrived in the room and his sister greeted him. She was leaning against the wall near the window.

“Congratulations, you found the secret passage. As expected from my little brother, that issue was easy for you to deal with.”

“”Jeez, sis. Now I'm starving. You’re so cruel,” he said while rubbing his stomach.

“Oh my, oh my. Sorry… Don’t worry about that, due to your excellent performance, I have almost prepare your lunch.”

“Eeeh? But it is not lunchtime, sis.”

“Hmmm~,” she puffed her cheek. “You said you’re hungry right? I can't let this food go to waste. Are you saying you’re not gonna eat even though you're hungry, Arcus~?”

Her floppy pity eyes made him give up already. He sat in the chair she pulled out for him.

“Sis, why don’t you join me then? You prepared this,” he asked.

“No, I prepared it just for you. There aren't enough plates for me to use, anyway.”

He looked around and saw a bunch of plates in the cabinet, but he decided his sister was simply a little dumb. He let out a sigh, prayed for a second, and ate.

10:55:22 PM

“Thanks for the food.”

“Wow, you finished it. Congratulations!”

“Jeez~, I don’t know what you're plotting, but please tell me it isn't worse than you did to me when we were kids.”

“Oh my, my, my. I won’t do such a thing. Okay now then, I promised you a present for finding the treehouse door. Take this,” she said, and handed him a box.

He took it and shook the box lightly to see what was inside, but it made no noise so he opened it. An old pocket watch lay inside. He picked it up and turned it over. It seemed to be a 17th century pocket watch; antique and very rare. When he opened the cover, he saw an engraving of two dragons.

He remembered the same figure from the tattoo on the man who had visited them earlier, but thought it was just a common symbol in this world. He put it in his pocket and put the empty box on the table.

“Hey Arcus.” His sister walked towards the little bed and sat down. “Come here for a second.”

He went over to her and sat down. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Sis, is there a problem?” he asked.

“Nah~, I just want to do this part, Arcus. Please let me be selfish for today”

She held his right hand tightly but gently. He blushed for a second and she looked at him.

“Hey~, you’re blushing. Are you thinking something~?”

“Jeez~, sis. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blushing!”

He looked away quickly.

“Fufu~, well whatever, just to remind you, no matter what happens, don’t never ever try to do foolish decision in your life.”

“Huh? What’s gotten into you? I told you I’m not that kind of person.” He knocked her gently on the head.

“Ouch!” She held her head and glared at him. “You’re awful, Arcus. Stupid Arcus~!”

“Hahahaha.”

Suddenly he felt dizzy and sleepy. His vision started to fade out.

“What the heck?”

“Oh my, what’s wrong? Feeling tired?”

“Yeah maybe, but I can still-” He started to black out.

His sister pulled his head onto her lap as he collapsed.

“Hey Arcus, don’t fight it. You’re just tired so you must rest for now,” she said, gently stroking his hair.

“If you say so, sis. But… don't we have something to do right now in the house? I haven’t finish cleaning the living room...”

“Don’t worry~, I will handle it while you’re here. I’ll clean all the mess and pests around the place that would hurt my beloved little brother~.”

“Okay then, just let me rest a little bit.”

He closed his eyes and drifted off. His sister kissed his forehead and gently put his head down on the pillow.

“Please stay here for a while~, I do hope you forgive us for this. I love you Arcus...good bye.”