"Man, this place has everything..." Arthur said with a whistle as he looked around.
Despite the building's size, Arthur believed he would be more than able to find Sophia and Miranda within a fairly short amount of time. However after he took his leave of Selene's company and began to walk around on his own, he found that the center was more so like a miniature town. As of the moment he found himself within the section that housed all of the shops and vendors specializing in extra species items and goods, which in truth only gave merit to his comparison. Yet as he continued to look around searching for the pair of a slime and harpy, he soon came to discover many people were staring at him whilst whispering, though they tried their best not to be noticed.
"Guess Selene's not the only one who knows about me." He noted as he looked around.
But before he could take another step further he suddenly felt someone tug at his coat, and as he looked down to see who was behind it he found a little girl in a blue dress with blonde hair and one big green eye instead of two looking up at him, giving away what type of monster she was.
"Excuse me, mister?" She spoke with a Grecian accent giving his coat another tug "But are you a superhero?" She asked.
Unable to keep himself from smiling at how cute she was Arthur proceeded to kneel down before responding.
"No, but why do you ask?" He replied with a question of his own, which in turn caused her to point behind her.
"Because Artemas said you were, when I asked him why everyone was staring at you." She answered.
Looking to where she was pointing he found a five foot ten Satyr wearing some kind of robe like garment. As for the rest of his appearance, he had light red fur covering his goat like legs, which matched the color of his fairly long hair, and as for his eyes they were a fairly dark shade of brown which admittedly went well with both the light color of his hair and the somewhat palish skin tone he had. Unfortunately though, the moment Arthur looked at him his eyes widened from surprise followed by him fumbling about trying to act like he wasn't looking.
"Is he always so easily spooked?" He asked her as he looked to her.
"Mhm, he's really nice but he's really shy too, doesn't like it when people stare at him." She answered.
"But I just looked at him for a few seconds." He pointed out.
"He's REALLY shy." She repeated making sure to put emphasis on the really "But I think he wants to meet you." She said causing him to raise a brow.
"Oh? what makes you say that?" He asked.
"Because after he told me you were a superhero and I said I wanted to meet you, he gave me this so you would sign it." She answered as she held up a small notebook with her other hand.
"That is pretty good proof." He admitted as he took the book from her "Well why don't you take me over to him so I can give it back to him?" He suggested.
"Aren't you gonna sign it?" She asked.
"Well sure, but don't you think he'd like it more if I gave it to him myself, ya know to make it more special?" He asked.
Taking a moment to think about it the little girl soon nodded her head in agreement before turning around and walking back towards Artemas with Arthur right behind.
"Excuse me." He spoke once they were close enough, which actually made the other jump a little "I believe these are yours?" He said as he held out the book as well as pointed to the little girl.
A few moments passed by and it seemed as though he wasn't going to turn around, but after a very nervous sigh was heard escaping him he turned to face them.
"Y-Yes, thank you." He spoke with the same accent, trying to be as composed as possible while taking the book back.
"Hey you didn't sign it!" The little girl exclaimed causing Artemas to quickly pull her to his side.
"TH-THAT'S OKAY CARISSA, I'M SURE HE'S A BUSY MAN AND DOESN'T NEED US BOTHERING HIM!" He quickly shouted before turning back around and walking away.
Or at least he tried, until Arthur placed his hand on his shoulder and kept him from doing so.
"Hey." He said as he turned the other back to face him "Take a deep breath, count to four, then let it out, and count to four again." He instructed.
Seeing as how there was no way to escape this now incredibly awkward situation, at least for him, Artemas did as he was told.
"Better?" Arthur asked noticing an immediate change from high strung to somewhat comfortable.
"Y-Yes, thank you." Artemas answered causing Arthur to take his hand back "I-I'm so sorry for making a scene like this..." He apologized.
"Believe me I've seen far worse things be done in public, all you had was a little...stage fright so to say." Arthur said which seemed to help him relax even more.
"I don't doubt it, given your line of work..." Artemas replied as he took a quick look around "D-Do you mind if we continue this while walking? I can feel everyone staring..." He asked as he moved his gaze to the ground.
"Sure thing, so long as you don't mind explaining this whole thing to me." Arthur answered before walking away.
"What do you mean?" Artemas asked as he and Carissa followed beside him.
"Why is everyone staring at me for starters." Arthur answered causing the other's eyes to widen.
"You mean you don't know?!" Artemas asked seeming to be completely caught off guard "You're like, a world famous hero!" He exclaimed.
"...You're serious?" Arthur asked causing him to rapidly nod his head.
"Of course! all the people you've helped have either talked about you to their friends and family, or they've written letters to home about you!" Artemas explained.
"Huh, and here I thought I was just another nameless face in the crowd." Arthur admitted as he put his hands into his pockets.
"I can't believe you didn't know how well known you are!" Artemas exclaimed dumbfounded by this revelation "Back home, we've heard all kinds of rumors and stories about you, from people who came back to visit for a while or who wrote!" He recounted.
"If this is the case though, how come I don't have like fan mail pouring in all the time?" Arthur asked.
"Because everyone doesn't want to bother you." Artemas answered "They all know how hard it must be to not only help out people like us, but to also be a bounty hunter." He added.
"Uh huh." He sounded as a thought came to him "Say, one of the people who said things about me wouldn't happen to be a Minotaur lady by the name of Glenda would it?" He asked.
"But of course! she was the first one to come back home and start telling all of us about you!" Artemas answered.
"Figured." Arthur said with a sigh before stopping "Look, Artemas." He began causing the other to stop as well "I appreciate the spotlight you, Glenda, and apparently a good deal of other people have put me in but I'm not a hero, just a guy who goes through every day doin the best he can to get by." He explained.
"And yet you always help people who need it, just like a hero would!" Artemas pointed out.
"Just cause I'm not some asshole who ignores someone getting harassed or even assaulted for bein different doesn't make me a hero, just makes me someone who's got both a good head on his shoulders and a fair amount of sense." Arthur argued as he looked down at Carissa "Pardon the language miss." He apologized tipping his hat as he did, which caused her to giggle.
Finding himself to be at a loss for words at what was just said Artemas felt the already immense respect and admiration he had towards Arthur increase tenfold, after seeing how humble he was.
"Well this was nice gettin to meet you and Carissa, but I gotta get back to finding my own daughter." He told them as he began to walk away.
Upon hearing that however Artemas suddenly rushed out in front of Arthur causing him to stop.
"Wait!" He exclaimed as he held his hands up in front of him "You have a daughter?!" He asked.
"Yeah, her name's Sophia and she's a slime." Arthur answered not seeming to be affected by the other's sudden action "Though as I said I need to get lookin for her." He added.
"Is she lost? because if so I can help you find her!" Artemas offered as Carissa walked back over to his side.
"No nothin like that, she's with one of the staff for the center, name was Miranda." Arthur replied.
"Oh, then in that case she's probably at the center's recreational area, which we were actually going back to until...well you know..." Artemas admitted seeming to get embarrassed about their encounter.
"Then would you care if I tagged along?" Arthur asked.
"Of course not, it would be an honor if you joined us!" Artemas said.
"Well alright then, lead the way." Arthur replied causing the other to smile.
Unable to keep himself from feeling excited and overjoyed at this turn of events Artemas turned around and began leading the way to their destination, with Arthur and Carissa following at his sides.
"So I take you both are from Greece? given your accents, names, and species?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, we come from a fairly large village in the mountains." Artemas answered.
"And what about Carissa's mom? she from there too?" Arthur asked.
"Actually no, while Carissa was born in the village and her mother did come to live there a small time after, she before that lived further into the mountains with other Cyclops." Artemas explained.
"I see, so when'd you two get together and have her then?" Arthur asked.
Upon hearing that question Artemas's face went beet red and his eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"I-I-I-I-" He began to repeat over and over again seeming to be in shock.
"Artemas isn't my daddy." Carissa answered for him "He just played music in the village square." She added.
"Then how come he's here with you and your mommy then?" Arthur asked.
"Because, when we could come and live here Artemas wanted to come and see what it was like, but too many people wanted to go at once and so he was going to have to wait a long time." She explained.
"So...your mommy brought him with you?" He asked receiving a nod.
"Yup, she always liked the songs he played." She answered.
"Okay, but then why is he stammering on like that, does he actually like your mommy?" He asked causing her to shake her head.
"No Artemas doesn't like girls he likes-" She began to say only to have Artemas put a hand over her mouth.
"H-HEY, WHAT'RE WE STANDING AROUND FOR, WE'VE GOTTA GO FIND YOUR DAUGHTER ARTHUR!" He exclaimed as he picked Carissa up, his face somehow even more bright red than before "SO LET'S GO!" He added as he hurried off.
Finding the other's sudden outburst and action to be surprising, Arthur simply shrugged it off before following after the Satyr and Cyclops duo.