The wood shattered, the entire door ripping off its hinges and flying inward. It was as if someone had punched it into his room.
Dust and splinters rained down as Noah turned to the now empty doorway, his brows raised.
"Well… that's new."
He walked to the doorway to a young man his age leaning against the wall opposite it, blindfolded but somehow looking directly at him. The man had tousled silver hair, an easy grin, and an aura of absolute confidence.
"Hello, hero!" The man said, with a one handed wave. "How you doing?"
Noah narrowed his eyes. "And you are?"
The man pushed off the wall, walking closer. "Arlo. Strongest chimera in Camelot."
Noah stared at Arlo for a second, before a smile bloomed to life on his face. "Interesting."
He'd been meeting idiots so far. But the man before him, while he looked the part, he was not an idiot.
Noah could tell that Arlo was strong. Stronger than king Cillian. Stronger than him. Another variable on the interesting board called Camelot.
He had to admit it. He was having fun.
"Strongest chimera, you say?"
"That's me." Arlo straightened, his grin widening. "Looks like you and I have some things to talk about."
Noah nodded, stepping aside and motioning for Arlo to come in.
The blindfolded man strolled inside like he owned the place, hands in his pockets, exuding the kind of confidence that Noah could tell was earned.
Arlo glanced at the shattered doorway. "Quite the mess I've made. However, in all the simulations I made, this was the perfect way to get your attention."
He had already held Noah's attention, but now, he was the undivided recipient of that attention.
"Simulations, you say?" Noah asked.
'A prediction based ability?'
Instead of answering, Arlo turned to the shattered remains of the door scattered all over the floor. "Here, let me fix that."
With a snap of his fingers, the destroyed door suddenly lifted off the floor. The wood creaked as if rewinding through time, splinters reassembling themselves.
In mere seconds, the door stood back in its original place, looking exactly as good as it had before Arlo had exploded it off its hinges.
'Time magic?' Noah stared, his eyes sparkling at the exciting sight before him. 'Interesting.'
"So, where were we?" He crossed his hands behind his back as he stared at the man. "You were saying something about chimeras."
Arlo grinned, dramatically tossing his silver hair back despite the fact that his blindfold should have made it impossible for him to gauge Noah's reaction. "Of course, I was. What else do we call people who have powers just like us?"
The man paused, tilting his head with his face turned towards Noah. "Don't tell me the hero knows nothing about this kind of magic."
Noah chuckled. "Did you mean the power of friendship?"
Arlo laughed. "Close! But no."
"In that case, I'll go with the freaky lion, goat, snake creature thingy's magic. Those are chimeras too, right?"
"You guys have that too? I'll be damned." Arlo asked, awe in his voice.
"Wait, what?" Noah frowned in confusion. This dude caught his reference?!
"No need to ask. All our actual chimeras are gone. Killed off hundreds of years ago for sport. All that is left are people like me." Arlo leaned against the desk.
"We chimeras are people who've been bonded with abyssal beasts. We share their strength, their instincts, and most importantly, their power."
"But it's not like regular magic. That died centuries ago too. Instead, our abilities manifest as 'Memories.' Unique moves that are drawn from the beasts we've been melded with."
Noah sighed. "You're telling me things I already know. Boring."
Had he gotten his hopes up for nothing? Was Arlo just like the other morons?
"You want me to tell you something you don't know?" Arlo chuckled, leaning forward. "I'm afraid that's going to cost you."
And just like that, the light returned to Noah's eyes. The smile returned to his face. "Interesting."
He had been right all along! There was no way the strongest chimera would be so dreadfully boring.
Arlo stretched, cracking his neck. "How about I give you a particularly juicy piece of information? A freebie. Something for you to mull over before we meet again. I would need some time to think about the price for the information one would learn from me.
Noah chuckled. "Feel free."
He was never one to say no to free stuff.
"I'm sure you were told about it when you were summoned. The prophecy about the hero that would defeat the demons?" Arlo asked.
Noah nodded.
"Yeah." Arlo scratched the back of his head, an awkward grin on his face. "That was supposed to be me."
Noah blinked. "Come again?"
Arlo's grin morphed into a smirk. "Yeah, I was supposed to be the hero. But then Otto got his hands on the hero summoning ritual and decided to bring you here instead."
Noah's eyes narrowed, his eyes twinkling. This truly was a juicy piece of information.
Otto had been the one behind his summoning. He was an idiot, but a lesser idiot than the pack of idiots that Camelot had. Maybe there was more to the man than meets the eye.
But now that he thought about it, no wonder Otto hadn't been surprised in the throne room when Noah had rejected the king's offers. He'd expected it.
"So, guess what?" Arlo continued, drawing Noah's attention. "You're holding the torch now. Saving Camelot? Not my business anymore."
Noah tutted his hand coming up to wag a finger at Arlo. "Not so fast, Arlo. Don't try to sneak in something else with your freebie."
Arlo chuckled in response. "Caught that, did you?"
Noah smiled at the man. 'Very, very… interesting.'
Arlo strolled over to the window and unlatched it. "You're fun, Noah. Maybe I'll give you another freebie."
"Really?" Noah grinned. "I'll be looking forward to it."
There was no need to ask Arlo how he knew his name. The man had a Memory related to time. He could've gotten it in one of his 'simulations.'
Arlo leaned against the window frame. "One last piece of advice. Don't trust anyone in the castle. Me included. Everyone's got their own agenda. Even the king. Maybe especially the king."
"Again," Noah chuckled, "you're telling me things I already know."
But this time, he wasn't bored. Arlo had done enough to show that he was certainly interesting.
"Well, see you later." With that, Arlo vaulted through the window, vanishing into the night.
Noah walked to his window, gazing up at the full moon, before closing it. Camelot was much more interesting than earth had ever been. And here, there was the possibility of death, and people stronger than him were present here.
If things keep going this way, maybe he'll never leave.
He chuckled to himself. It was time for him to finally take that bath and think about all that had just happened.
Someone knocked on his door again.