Chapter 66: Arthur's Vow
We returned to the real world as Arthur was still a little weak. Boris and Selene got him around their arms.
"We'll take him back home." Selene said, "Is your brother working?"
"...He should be." Arthur replied,
"Good. Let's go." Boris said,
"Make it quick." Cattleya said, "So that Arthur's brother doesn't suspect you two."
"Got it."
Boris and Selene then took Arthur home.
"Guess we gotta wait until Arthur recovers." Astrid said,
"Yeah…" Cattleya said, "Who knows what's gonna happen next. Maybe he might join our team…"
September 4th. Only 17 days left until Crimson gets us.
I was with Moxxie as he was worried about the whole thing after me telling him it.
"Oh crumbs…" He said, "My father gave you a greedy deal, huh? He hasn't changed at all…"
Moxxie sighed in disgust.
"And those imps he has hostage…" He said, "What kind of man is he?"
"A horrible one?" I replied,
"Yeah, good answer."
Moxxie drinks some of his coffee as he then looks at his watch.
"Well, I gotta head to work." He said, "Good luck."
"Thanks." I said,
September 5th. We were in Café du Pécheur, waiting for Arthur.
"He should be here any minute." Willow said,
"Boris, Arthur told you and Selene that he'll be here today, right?" Lars asked Boris,
"Yeah." Boris replied,
"Definitely." Selene replied, "I hope he better not lie."
Arthur then walked to us.
"Hi." He said to us,
"Hey." Cattleya said, "You made it."
"Can I sit on that chair since none of you are using it?"
"Sure." I replied,
Arthur sat on a chair. He took a deep breath.
"Ever since September 1st, I felt like an idiot." He said, "I wanted to help, but I helped out in the worst way possible."
"Hey, again, it's my fault for bringing myself into this." Cattleya said, "Only because I called you useless."
"Look, I get called useless a lot. It triggers me only because I haven't done anything special as a rookie spy."
"How hard is it being a rookie spy?" Astrid wondered,
"Not so hard, but also not so easy. Somewhere in the middle."
"Right."
"So, what brings you here anyways?" Cattleya wondered,
"...I want to join you guys." Arthur replied,
"Really?"
"Really. Ever since I got these weird powers that you all got two days ago, I feel like I can use them to clean up the mess I have made on myself."
"And so what do you want to do now if you want to join us?" Boris asked, "You still wanna learn your lesson, yeah?"
"Oh yeah… I also want to make a vow."
"A vow?" Selene wondered, "Fancy, go on."
"I want to vow myself to be a better person to you guys. Ever since what has happened recently that led us to this moment, you guys had my back…"
"We did." Cattleya said, "You were almost taken into one of Crimson's and then the second time when you almost passed out."
Arthur sighed.
"Please let me join." He said, "I want to fix myself and clean this mess up I've made, but I can't do it alone."
I offered Arthur a hand.
"We'll help you get it done." He said,
"D-Does that mean I'm on your team?" Arthur wondered,
"Of course you are!" Cattleya said, "Welcome aboard!"
Arthur and I share a handshake.
"Thank you." He said, "I won't let you guys done, I mean it."
Arthur was now part of our team.
Fast forwarding to a month or two later. Bernie was still interrogating me.
"No… Absolutely not… You must be pulling my leg!" Bernie said to me, "My own little brother, Arthur, a member of The Phantom Thieves?!"
I was silent as Bernie was speechless.
"And he only joined just to clean up a mess he has made…" He said, "And to become a better person…"
Bernie looked at me with disgust.
"I don't blame his decisions, but to go far to join your team is suspicious behavior!" He said,
Bernie slammed the table as I was still silent.
"I knew there was something odd when he was around you guys!" He said, "So you better tell me what happened next after my little brother joined you guys!"