Some people have dreams that they are falling endlessly, perhaps with no end in sight or something rushing right towards them. This was the kind of dream that Lewis was having, although the wind trying to push his eyes back into his skull made it seem quite real to him. Through his bleary eyes he could see endless yellow sand rushing towards him. Oh wait, he was rushing towards it.
Lewis let out a long continuous scream as he fell straight towards a sand dune, plunging into it and sending a small cloud of sand up into the sky. Coughing and spluttering, Lewis clawed his way out of the crater he made which was already filling with sand again. Shaking yet more hot sand from his hair, he looked up to see where he came from, but saw nothing but pastel blue skies.
"Weird. You never usually land in falling dreams." He muttered to himself.
Lewis looked around, but it all seemed to be nothing but blue skies and endless sand. Climbing to the top of the sand dune, he peered out and as he squinted he saw a small black dot on the horizon.
"Well, it's something. Guess I'd better get walking." He muttered, sliding down the sand dune.
Lewis' now sand-free hair was held up above his head with a little bit of hair wax, the sides and back cut short. He was wearing a dark green t shirt, a pair of jeans and green canvas shoes. Although he swore he had never owned a green shirt before.
Lewis kept walking, the heat starting to make him sweat. As he walked closer to the little dot on the horizon, the larger it started to grow. Soon enough it began to look kind of like a city, although it was still extremely far away. Although he could see some kind of light on the top of it.
"Is the city on fire?" he thought aloud. "Well it's still better than the desert."
Lewis continued to walk, feeling the sun on his back. Hours seemed to go past and he realised that the city had started to look more and more like some kind of giant castle. But he realised that his judgement may be clouded a bit, as it seemed that the heat was finally getting to him. His vision blurred as he stumbled forward, the hot sand starting to seep into his shoes and burn his feet. Lewis continued to trudge forwards over sand dunes and across large swaths of empty wasteland. Sweat began to sting his eyes, causing his vision to blur even more.
"Guess… falling from… the sky really… took a lot outta me…" he panted as he continued on.
Lewis had no desire to stay in a desert longer than he needed to. Trying to wipe sweat from his eyes only resulted in putting sand in his eyes as well as sweat, which blurred his vision even more as he walked. It was getting so bad that Lewis was just walking in the general direction of where he thought the large structure was while slowly dying of exhaustion and the heat.
It was as Lewis took another step that he began to feel something tingle throughout his entire body. Like there was some kind of… presence. He looked around, but saw nobody around.
"Hello?" He asked. "Is anyone there?"
There was only silence except for the blowing winds across the sand. But now that he was straining his ears, he was beginning to hear sounds from the structure ahead. It was faint but noticeable, even at this distance.
Lewis' shoulders slumped as he continued to drudge onwards, the sun continually beating down on him from above. Each step became an incremental effort as he began to feel his body slow down from inexplicable tiredness.
"Hey, are you alright?"
After the voice asked its question, Lewis felt himself pitch forward and fall to the sand with an audible flump.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
The coffee shop wasn't busy this time of evening, the only customers being a few of the regulars. A snobby looking artist dressed all in black scribbled occasionally on a comically small sketchpad as three girls in various fashionable clothing gossiped and giggled between each other. In another corner a lonely looking woman in a form-fitting dress sighed again as she stirred her almost untouched coffee. Finally, sitting at another table with a small cup of tea was a large man with hair so purple it was often mistaken for being black, his black t-shirt barely fitting his muscular shape.
The person behind the serving bench, a thin girl whose name tag read Melissa Husk, blew a few loose strands of her long black hair from her eyes. Her fingernails which she was drumming on the table were painted with a deep brown colour, giving them the impression of dark lacquered wood. Her lips were also the same colour and her eyes were dull with boredom as she waited for the owner of the little shop to return from her break.
'Looks like it's another dull day again.' She thought to herself. 'Well at least it's a steady job. No idea how I'd be able to pay off my loans if it wasn't for Sweetums.'
Without so much as a hint of warning, a rush of footsteps thudded from down the sidestreet before the door was kicked off its hinges. Without missing a beat, the muscular man reached out and caught the door with a single hand. None of the patrons were particularly surprised at this, as the owner of the shop liked to announce her presence. Usually quite loudly.
The first thing one noticed about this woman was that she wore the brightest clothing in the city, a haze of garish pinks, ivory whites, baby blue and mint green. All of these colours were on the blouse and puffy skirt she wore, both with copious amounts of lace. Her legs were covered by pink and white striped thigh-highs her hands in a patching pair of elbow gloves. On her feet she wore a pair of shiny white buckled shoes. Finally her blond hair fell down to her back, despite some of it being held in two buns around the back of her head.
"Welcome back Miss Sweetums." The man said, gently setting the door down.
"No time to chat! Sorry everyone, but we're closing early today!" Sweetums cried. "Melissa! Get the medical stuff!"
It was at that point that Melissa and the other patrons noticed that she was carrying a young man above her head. He looked terrible, covered in sand and lobster red from the heat. The three girls crowded around to get a closer look.
"Is he okay?" one with a pair of thin oval glasses asked.
"He looks terrible!" another chimed in. "Is he a student?"
"I haven't seen him around before. Do you think he's new?" the last one thought aloud.
"Come on girls, give them some space." The man said, standing up and gently pushing them aside. "You heard Miss Sweetums, closing time."
The artist gave a strange clucking noise that sounded dismissive so it probably was, capped his pen and left. The woman quickly drank all of her coffee in one gulp and made for the door. Finally the man held the door open for the three girls as they left, all of them comparing their phones. It was as the man was about to leave that Sweetums put a hand on his arm.
"No Leo, you stay here." She said. "And please take him, he's really heavy."
Leo shut the door, turned the open sign to closed and picked the young man up before taking him up to the area above the café and laying him down on a bed. Melissa brought the medicine in a large white box, opening it up for Sweetums, who had just put on a surgical mask.
"You're not going to do surgery on him are you?" Melissa asked sceptically.
"No. I just wanted to wear it since it looks kinda cool. Oh, that reminds me! I don't have a nurse's outfit. I need to get one of those." She muttered to herself.
"His condition looks bad. Where did you find him?" Leo asked.
"He was out in the desert." She said as she took off her gloves before squeezing some burn cream into her hands and rubbing it onto the sunburn. "Dunno why. We should probably ask him when he wakes up. Oh, that gives me an idea! Could you go get some cold water?"
Leo nodded and left the room to retrieve some water. Melissa looked over him as she handed Sweetums some bandages, gauze and a few different kinds of creams and oils. From the looks of things it was some seriously bad sunburn, and while their aid would help, it would probably still hurt like hell.
"Who is he?" Melissa asked.
"Not a clue." Sweetums said, wrapping a bandage around a sunburned area she had spread a pungent yellow lotion on his shoulders. "Just found 'im out in the desert like this, a couple of miles from the city gates."
"All alone? Who walks to Death City? Y'know what, never mind. So what were you doing out there Miss Sweetums?" Melissa asked.
"I was having a picnic." She said, tying the bandage off. "I saw him looking like he was about to collapse, and when I tried to ask what was wrong he fell over! He wouldn't get up, so I took him here."
Leo returned up the stairs with a large pitcher of water. "I'm back."
"Ah, fantastic!" Sweetums said, giving Leo a quick hug before taking the pitcher from him and upending it above the unconscious young man's face.
Predictably, he woke up coughing and spluttering like he'd just been hit in the chest with an oversized hammer. Head darting between the other three, he began to wonder where he was.
"Well, he's up now." Melissa snorted. "Hey kid, how're you holding up?"
Giving a loud cough, he looked at his hands and arms, now completely covered in bandages. "Did you do this?"
"Yep." Leo said. "Miss Sweetums saw you collapse from exhaustion, so she brought you here. You're lucky. A few more minutes out in the sun alone and you might have died of heatstroke."
Lewis nodded slowly and turned to the woman with more colours than the paint section of an artist's specialty store. "Thanks. I suppose you're Miss Sweetums?"
"Yep! Got it in one!" she said chirpily. "You really should know better than to go walking out in the Nevada desert all alone like that."
"Nevada?" Lewis gawked. "When did I end up in Nevada?"
"What?" Melissa asked.
"Good question." Lewis nodded.
Melissa narrowed her eyes and gave a frown. "Hey Leo, you sure he didn't get heatstroke?"
"It is a possibility." He hummed in thought.
"Well, we hope you've learned your lesson." Melissa said to the young man. "You probably won't need to go to the hospital or see a doctor. Miss Sweetums has taken care with most of the sunburn but it'll probably still sting pretty bad."
"Alright. Thanks for the help." He nodded.
"So, what's your name kid?" Leo asked.
"My name is Lewis. Who are all of you guys?" he asked in return.
Melissa cleared her throat and began to explain. "You've already been introduced to Miss Sweetums. She's the owner of our shop where we are now, the Black Bean. The big guy is Leo. He helps around the place and is one of our regular customers. We've tried to hire him, but he already has a better job. Still doesn't stop him from lifting sacks of coffee beans for us."
"I'm a teacher at the Academy." Leo said.
"Cool." Lewis nodded.
"As for me, my name is Melissa. Melissa Husk." She finished. "I'm pretty much the only real employee around here. Not to say I'm the one who does all the work. Miss Sweetums does more than her fair share around the place."
"Alright, thanks for the introduction." Lewis said.
"So, are you a new student here for the Academy? I realise you might want people to think you're tough, but coming here through the Nevada desert probably isn't the best way to go about it." Leo chuckled. "Still, points for effort."
"No. I don't think I've even heard of this Academy before." Lewis admitted.
Melissa scoffed loudly. "Seriously? How could you not have heard of the DWMA?! It's the only reason anybody your age comes here!"
Lewis stopped moving.
"I don't think you're really being fair." Sweetums said.
Leo hummed in thought. "I can agree with that in some respects. It's not as if there's much scenery here."
Diodes in Lewis' brain began to spark. Nevada. Academy. DWMA. Death City. Soul Eater.
"Am I in… Death City?" Lewis hazarded a guess.
The other three finished talking amongst themselves. "Yeah." Melissa said. "Woulda thought that was kina obvious."
Lewis stat in silence for a second before throwing himself off the bed. "Nope. I don't believe you."
"Huh?" Sweetums asked.
"I mean, I can't be in Death City! Yesterday I was kilometres away from here!" Lewis reasoned.
"Grr… the metric system…" Melissa hissed under her breath.
"Well, if you don't believe us just take a look out that window over there." Leo said, gesturing to a rectangular lattice window with open curtains.
Lewis walked over and peered through the glass. Jaw dropping open, he opened the window and stuck his head out to get a better look. High up above him was an enormous off-white candle, its flame burning brightly in the early night sky. Looking over he saw the great red spires of the DWMA building. Carefully looking at the streets around him revealed many of the simplistic skull shapes that covered Death City.
"Careful. If you stick any more of your body out of that window you'll fall out." Leo chuckled.
Lewis couldn't tear his eyes off the massive structure as he retracted back into the apartment.
"So." Lewis began. "Death City huh?"
Melissa nodded slowly so Lewis could understand.
"Yep. You're really in Death City. Home of the Grim Reaper and the Death Weapon Meister Academy." Melissa explained with sarcasm so dense body armour could have been made out of it.
"Neat." Was all Lewis could respond with.
Sweetums leaned over to Leo. "Is he a witch?" she whispered. "He seems a little nervous about being here."
"A male witch? Don't be ridiculous." Leo snorted quietly. "But I don't really sense anything special or unusual. I think he might just be some lost kid. He might have run away from home or something."
Suddenly, Sweetums was in tears. Launching herself at Lewis, she wrapped him tightly in a bear hug that all but squeezed the life out of him while simultaneously drowning him in a wave of tears.
"Oh crap, not again." Leo gulped.
"Just what did you say to her?" Melissa accused.
"Something I regret." Leo groaned.
Melissa gave a sigh but then a small smile. "You've gotta hand it to her, she's got a big heart."
Sweetums sniffed loudly and released Lewis from her vice-like arms. "Don't worry Lewis! We'll let you stay here with us until you're ready to go back to your family and make up with them."
"Wha- no, no, my family is fine." Lewis reassured her. "I mean, I just don't know how I got here is all. I have so many questions and none of them have really distinct answers."
"So you have amnesia too! That just makes it more tragic!" Sweetums sobbed.
"What?! No!" Lewis shouted.
"Forget it, you're just digging yourself into a deeper hole." Melissa chuckled. "But if you do want to stay with us, then you can probably sleep on the couch in the break room. I think we have some spare blankets around here."
"You'd really let me stay?" Lewis asked. "That's very kind of you. But… what'll I do? I mean, I'm all alone here and I don't have any money to buy food or rent an apartment. I mean I can't just mooch off you guys forever can I?"
"Well if you're looking for work you can always work here." Sweetums offered. "As long as you're living with us you could be working for us as well."
"Really? I don't even have a resume or anything." Lewis muttered.
"Don't sweat it, working at a coffee shop isn't that hard. Besides, the most we have to deal with is ten people. And those are the busy hours." Melissa snorted.
Lewis nodded. "Alright. Thanks."
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Lewis awoke with a start as Melissa tossed a bunch of clothing at him.
"Here's a spare uniform. Now get dressed, we've got about twenty minutes until the store opens." She said before shutting the door to the break room.
Lewis rolled over and looked at the clothes. The uniform seemed to consist of a black t-shirt, brown half-apron and black pants. Looking around, he was still in the break room of the Black Bean. The walls were definitely old with a few barely noticeable cracks etched into the plaster. The couch he had slept on was sagging and torn in places, but still quite soft. On small coffee table, stained with innumerable coffee mug rings was where Lewis had dumped his spare clothing.
"So I wasn't dreaming." He muttered as he got out from under his thick woollen blanket and got dressed in his new uniform.
He noticed that he didn't just have bandages on his hands, but all the way up to his shoulders and all around his neck. Not wanting to undo Miss Sweetums' hard work, he kept them on. Hurrying down to the shopfront, he saw Melissa chomping on a slice of toast while Miss Sweetums, now in an exaggerated maid outfit, was busying herself with cleaning the tables.
"Morning." Lewis said. "Where's Leo?"
"It's not like he lives here. He's just one of our customers." Melissa explained. "If you want breakfast, there's some bread and a toaster. I'm sure you don't need to hear the rest."
Lewis nodded. 'Is she this sarcastic all the time?' he thought as he prepared some toast.
"So Lewis, how're you feeling?" Miss Sweetums asked, suddenly appearing beside Lewis.
"Gah!" Lewis reacted. "Sorry. You startled me."
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Miss Sweetums began to bawl.
"No, no, it's fine!" Lewis reassured her. "Thanks for your help. It doesn't hurt yet either. That stuff you guys used on my sunburn is really good."
"Just give it a few days. You'll be writhing in agony soon." Melissa said through a sip of her coffee.
"Right." Lewis nodded. "So… what's with the maid outfit?"
Miss Sweetums started bouncing excitedly on her feet. "D'you like it? I think it's super cute."
Lewis scratched the back of his head. "Well yeah, but I didn't think that this was a maid café."
"Try getting me into one of those dresses and you'll regret it." Melissa said. "But Miss Sweetums is a responsible adult, so she gets to dress how she wants. Besides, it's her cheerful attitude that gets some people to come here. Not that many people know about us."
"How come?" Lewis asked.
"We're pretty out of the way here, close to the DWMA but far enough from anyone else that might want a coffee. The shop is completely cast in shadow because of the massive candle that's always overhead too. And of course, all the students at the DWMA would rather go to Deathbucks." Melissa scowled. "Their coffee tastes like watered down mud anyway."
Having never been into a 'Deathbucks' Lewis couldn't really form an opinion, just like the real Starbucks. He merely nodded politely and took a bite of his toast.
A clock on the wall ticked over to eight o'clock and Miss Sweetums flipped over the sign on the door. A good few minutes passed as Lewis looked at the clock. It was eight thirty and not a single customer had walked through the door.
"Hey Lewis," Melissa said as she jabbed her thumb to the coffee machine. "do you know how to use one of these?"
"I did some work experience at a tea and coffee house." Lewis said. "But I think I could use a refresher."
As Melissa set to work coaching Lewis through the minute details of making a good cup of coffee, the bell above the door jangled as Leo entered through the door.
"G'morning Leo! How are you doing today?" Sweetums asked chirpily.
"Well, thank you." Leo replied. "I'm just dropping by to see how your new employee is doing."
"I'm fine thanks." Lewis said from behind the coffee machine.
"Are you sure we can't get you anything?" Melissa offered.
"Maybe a long black to go, large size. I have to mark some tests today and I'll need something to get me through it." Leo said.
"Alright." Melissa nodded before turning to Lewis. "Okay Rookie, let me show you how we do this. First we get the cup size and with this pen here, we write the name of the order on the cup."
Taking a permanent marker and a large white cardboard cup, she scribbled Leo's name on it.
"What if we don't know their name?" Lewis asked.
"Trust me, there are about ten people who know about this place. You'll get to know them." She smirked. "Now, just fill it up and cap it off. Long black is probably the easiest ever to make, so I'll let you handle this part."
Nodding, Lewis took the cup and began pushing the machine's buttons. In no time at all the cup was full of piping hot, rich smelling coffee. Picking a lid from a small box full of the things, he capped it off and moved it carefully to the bench.
"One large long black for Leo." Lewis said.
"Thanks kid." Leo nodded. "Those bandages aren't getting in the way?"
"No, I'm fine." Lewis said with a wave of his hand. "Thanks for asking though."
With a curt nod, Leo paid for his coffee with exact change and left.
"Not bad." Melissa said, taking the money and depositing it into the cash register. "Well, that's the basics. You'll probably do fine, Rookie."
"Aw, you two are getting along so well." Sweetums smiled. "I'm going to go bake some more cookies."
"You've been waiting a long time to call someone Rookie haven't you?" Lewis asked with a grin.
"Yep. Now all there is to do is to wait for the lunch rush." Melissa said. "I suggest you visit the public library to get a good book or something."
"Wait, I get break time already?" Lewis asked.
"Yep." Melissa said, already taking out a book of her own.
"And about ten people max come here at any one time." Lewis said.
"Uh huh." She nodded.
"So... How exactly does this business stay afloat?" Lewis asked.
"Trust me. Every time someone comes in here they buy a good twenty bucks worth of stuff. We're a niche shop and our customers are willing to pay and wait for their coffee. Makes me glad to see that some people in Death City still have a little patience." She smirked.
"I see." Lewis nodded, taking off his apron and stuffing it into a small cupboard. "Well, I guess I'm off to the library then. Where might that be?"
Melissa took a pamphlet from a stand on the counter and handed it to Lewis.
"A Tourist's Guide to Death City?" Lewis read aloud.
"It's got a map and the locations of pretty much every important building in Death City as well as the Black Bean." Melissa explained. "But once you get used to the city's layout you probably won't need it anymore."
"Cool, thanks." Lewis said as he began to walk to the door.
"Oh, just remember to be back here by twelve!" Melissa called.
As Lewis left onto the street he unfolded the map and began walking through the cobblestone streets of Death City. Looking up to the sky, he saw the sun for the first time that he came here. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt to look at. But that didn't make it any less easy to look at.
"I don't think I'll ever be used to the sun having a face." He shivered. "Oh god, and the moon."
Shaking his head to put such mental images out of his mind, Lewis continued walking as he looked at the map and his surroundings. Eventually he found his way to the Death City Public Library, a large building with castle-like architecture with two large columns shaped into statues depicting the Grim Reaper himself, Lord Death.
"I'm surprised there are enough normal people here to warrant a library. I thought most of the people that mattered would be at the DWMA." He snorted.
Walking into the library, he began to look around. An old woman sat at the reception desk, looking at him through thick round glasses. Lewis walked over.
"Hello. I'm looking for the history section." Lewis said.
"Are you here to borrow?" she asked.
"Uh… Yes." Lewis nodded.
"You'll need a card." The old woman said, putting a form onto the desk and handing him a pen. "Just give it a quick look through dearie and I'll get you a library card."
Lewis gave a nod and quickly filled out the form, although the question asking if he had devoured a human soul recently threw him off a little. Taking the form back, the old woman produced a shiny black plastic card with a white skull on the cover of a leather-bound book on the front. Gold lettering above the book read D.C.P.L.
"Here you are dearie. Now just so you know, you've been granted public access. There are a few books that only meisters are allowed to read in this library, so you've been warned." She said. "The history section is just a few shelves over that way."
Lewis nodded and began to walk over in the direction that the old lady pointed out. Soon enough he found a large shelf filled with books. One of them stood out right away, with its gold lettering and alabaster cover. Taking it down from the shelf, he looked over the cover.
"Excalibur." He said to himself. "Nope. Not falling for that shit."
Lewis slid the book back into its shelf and looked around again. What surprised Lewis was the amount of stuff that was familiar to him. Books on the Middle Ages, ancient civilisations, anthologies and biographies, but then he saw stuff like 'A History of Meisters and Weapons', 'Ashes to Ashes: The Purpose and History of the Grim Reapers' and 'An Overview of the DWMA and Death City'.
"Yeah, this might be the stuff I'm looking for." Lewis nodded, taking out the history of Meisters and Weapons and the overview of the DWMA and Death City.
Lewis carried them over to the old woman and presented his card. She scanned it and the books before handing him a free bookmark.
"Just so we're clear dearie, if you doggie ear any of the books here," she said, a look of ferocity in her eyes. "You will be permanently banned from both the public library and the DWMA library."
"Don't worry, I've never dog-eared a book in my life." Lewis said, carrying the books under his arm as he fished around in his pocket for the map of the city.
Lewis made his way back down to the Black Bean, keeping both volumes under his arm. Opening up the door, he saw that Melissa was still reading her book.
"Oh, you're back." She noticed before returning to her book.
Lewis stood behind the bench, reading the first book he'd borrowed on the History of Meisters and Weapons. He already knew that a witch was responsible for the creation of transforming weapons, but what he felt it wouldn't hurt to learn more about them.
Melissa looked over and gave a small snort. "You're reading about Weapons and Meisters? Why?"
"Well, there are people in this world who can transform their bodies into powerful weapons. I think that's pretty incredible." Lewis said.
Melissa gave a frown and returned to her book. "That isn't so special."
"Why do you say that?" Lewis asked. "Have you got something against Weapons?"
"My sister was a Weapon." Melissa explained. "She always used to lord it over me too. 'Oh, look at me! I can turn into a big fancy fruit knife!' Whoop de freakin' doo. Mom and Dad gave her a lot more care and attention. They always said I could handle myself. I guess that means they trusted me, but at the time I still felt like I deserved some affection and recognition, y'know?"
Lewis nodded. "You're being pretty open about this. I didn't mean to pry."
"Hey, it's not as if I've got some tragic past or anything. I just came here to look after my sister. She lives with me in an apartment across town." She explained.
"I thought you lived here with Miss Sweetums." Lewis said.
"Nah, she owns the shop so she lives here on her own. But I see her pretty much every day, so we may as well be." Melissa said. "Now get your apron on, the lunch rush is starting in an hour."
As time marched onwards, more customers began to filter into the coffee shop. Then three girls entered the café, a small crowd of people following behind them. Lewis' eyes began to widen as he noticed that they were all focusing intently on him.
"So that's him?" one of the crowd asked.
"Yeah, definitely!" the girl with the glasses said excitedly.
"He doesn't look familiar." A boy chimed in.
"Same here." A girl agreed.
"Wait, what?" Lewis asked hopelessly. "What's going on?"
There was a great disturbance in the crowd as a teenager in thick round glasses and a bald head with two large points of hair on either side of his head squeezed his way out of the crowd with great difficulty. Lewis recognised him immediately.
"So you're the one that fell from the sky are you?" he asked.
"Fell from th- Yeah, I think I remember that." Lewis admitted. "Just who are you guys? And how did you know about that whole sky thing?"
"My name is Ox Ford. Yesterday I was doing some meteorology. Just little hobby of mine. However it was as I was identifying clouds that I saw something streak straight through a cumulonimbus and land in the desert." Ox explained. "A few hours later I hear a rumour that a wounded teenager had been brought into this coffee shop, apparently from wandering in the desert surrounding Death City."
"So you really landed in the desert?" gaped a member of the crowd.
"Were you flying? Does that mean you're a witch?!"
Lewis was rather taken aback by this question. "No! Last time I checked I can't perform black magic! I don't know how I fell from the sky, I just did!"
A lot of the crowd seemed to be quite disappointed. Ox meanwhile adjusted his glasses.
"Well, I've never heard of a male Witch before, but there's a first time for everything I suppose." He said. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, sky kid."
Ox left, but the crowd remained, trying to get a look at Lewis.
"Hey Sky Kid, over here!"
"What's with all the bandages? Did you hurt yourself Sky Kid?"
"Wait I'm confused, why are we calling him Sky Kid?"
Melissa watched with a sense of bemusement as Lewis tried to pacify the crowd of Meisters and Weapons. "Looks like you're a celebrity now." She chuckled.
"I just hope that fame is fleeting." Lewis hissed back. "Can't you do something about this?"
"I guess I should. There's a ton of potential customers in here and nobody's bothered to get their orders." She sighed. "Alright, so how many of you would like to order something?"