Man of Fiction

For nights, Emily Rose tried to search for the answer.

By her side were all the original novels that she had at her disposal. However, her collection only reached the story arc where he reunited with Rowan at a secluded base during a mob war between certain Don head families. The stakes were already high at this part. The Don heads were all against each other, the Lost Boys were ready to attack, and Rowan was torn between saving Cyrus and Gareth. The monk was also showing signs that he was slowly becoming consumed with revenge, affecting the Qishi energy in his body. That was her only clue.

She typed the question, "What happens to Gareth after Chapter 345?" on the E-Animation Forum website a few nights ago. Chapter 345 revealed that Gareth's thirst for revenge was getting worse and the Qishi Energy reacted negatively to this by slowly weakening his body. She checked to see her questions receiving various replies. She began to read.

'The author mysteriously stopped writing after this.' -R0wanAtwood

'She actually finished the novels. She published them under a different company, when the show was no longer in E-animation popular charts.' -MyLoveGareth003

'Seriously??? What are the titles???' -ProtectorMoor

'How did I not know this.' -BaalonTop

'The last novel was titled, Mob Boy Order: The End of Mob Mentality. It was published by Tama Tales, which I think is a small company. That explains why there were no promotions for this. It only had 50 chapters, no spoilers but super good. I wish they would animate this arc.' -MyLoveGareth003

'You're a blessing!' -ProtectorMoor

'Yes this is the last novel, but fair warning guys! When it was published two years ago, it is rumored that they only released 40 copies for the entire world. 20 for each region. Chances are it's already sold out :( The author was in a real pinch when she finished this story.' [email protected]

'I found a link to someone selling the last novel. The price tag is insane, yo. Click here.' -MonkyMeiyo

When Emily clicked on the link, she wanted to scream, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!", for the last novel was on sale for 540,000 coppers.

She returned to the website and continued to read.

'Isn't there a leaked online version of this? I need to know what happens to Gareth.' -R0wanAtwood

'I used to read this online, but I can't find the link anymore.' -Messiboy

'Same here. I can't find the scanned versions of the other earlier novels :(' -BaalonTop

'The Western Internet Association underwent a major revision on their rules and regulations for intellectual property rights, last year. They stripped down episodes of The Sorority Girl, Mob Boy Order, and other shows on TubeSpace. They also took down illegally scanned novels, including Mob Boy Order. It is believed that if anyone uploads a scanned copy of the book, it gets detected and taken down immediately.' -DoctorMafia

'Yelp, time to save up for 540,000 coppers, then.' -Messiboy

Emily searched long and hard for the general plot of the last novel. Sadly, there was not a single result that could give her a review or synopsis. This book was rare for a reason.

When she looked up the novelist, she found an article that interviewed her about the last novel. It read that she wanted to put an official end to her beloved series, for she admitted to losing inspiration to continue. She wanted to write a new story, which she has not revealed yet. It also stated that the author underwent financial problems, which explained the very long hiatus the series had to go through. This was how the show deteriorated and got canceled, because she was no longer writing new chapters.

Emily went to other online stores, looking for the novel at a cheaper rate. Whenever she did find a copy, it was already sold out. She sighed in defeat, as she opened her SoPop page for a distraction. The solution to Gareth's problem was in the last book, but she did not know where she could purchase one.

While she was stressing over the book, she suddenly found a picture of the book in her SoPop feed.

She stared at the post for the longest time, making sure that it was actually real. She read the captions and it read, 'I finally have it! #MobBoyOrder'. It received a couple of likes and very cliched comments like, 'Weeb' or 'Awesome'. She was so focused on the image, that she almost failed to read who posted it. Emily's eyes moved up to look at the SoPop username, with plans to message the book's owner.

And to her horror, the owner was Magda Travey.

She closed her laptop shut and contemplated on what she had to do. She didn't really want to have anything to do with this person, but she reminded herself that she was doing this for Gareth. Emily has decided. She was dreading the idea, but she had to do it.

"Why does it have to be her?"

*****

8 years ago

It was a new year of high school and Emily Rose has never felt so distant from her friends.

Many things happen to teenagers during the summer break. First jobs, first kisses, and first beach trips. She figured that Shaya and Magda experienced either one of those things--or perhaps all of them. Whatever was the case, Emily was once again out of the loop.

The two began to talk about events and names that she has never heard of before. All she could do was listen to them, during their walk to class. She was close to being invisible until Shaya said to her, "Hey, you're too quiet! C'mon, talk to us!"

Emily gave a hopeful grin. "Well, this summer I--"

"Wait, did you bring any lip gloss?" Magda asked, abruptly. "I forgot mine."

"Yeah, of course." Shaya said, rummaging through her backpack. Soon, she brought out a pearlescent pink tube, with a plastic silver cap. Unimpressed Emily wondered if she should go on with what she was saying. But Magda gasped at the sight of the packaging. "Where did you buy this???" she cried.

"I went to the East two weeks ago! Did you know they have the best line of cosmetics?" Shaya answered, leaving Emily back in the dark. The two still talked about Eastern lip glosses when they took their seats in the classroom. Emily Rose still tried her best to sit near them, in spite of how left out she was starting to feel. Once they stopped talking, she thought of continuing what she was supposed to tell them. When she opened her mouth, the teacher came in.

Oh well, Emily thought.

Their homeroom teacher welcomed her class to another year and gave them the usual orientation. Everyone was excited for the new year, except for Emily. She was still stuck on the ignorance that she received from her peers. Just when she thought it could not get any worse, her teacher said words that triggered all of her anxieties.

"I want you all to form groups of three,"

Emily's head immediately faced Shaya and Magda, wishing that they would still acknowledge her existence. A reluctant nod would've suffice for her, and she has gotten used to such treatments. But to her surprise, they already picked a third member and it was not her.

They were already talking to someone who appeared to be a new girl. She had long flowy blonde hair like Shaya, and round blue eyes. Emily noticed that she had painted sky blue nails, which became the topic of their discussion. The girl was just as perky and sociable as they were.

She was more of their speed, and Emily was not. This was the day when she was going to be replaced.

Magda noticed the silent Emily. "Oh, Emily! You don't have a group yet?"

*****

The hotel needed to do something about the incredibly slow company elevator. Five minutes had passed and she was still nowhere near the hotel lobby's floor.

"Magda must be on her shift, right now." she said. Emily knew better than to talk to her during work hours. So she decided to invite her old friend for lunch at the company's pantry. They can catch up, talk about Magda's newfound love for Mob Boy Order, and she can finally ask her if she can borrow the last novel. Yes, that was her plan.

She suddenly became frustrated. Since when did Magda even like Mob Boy Order? She ignored Emily whenever she brought it up, back in high school. Sure, there were times she indulged her, but her actions screamed that she was uninterested. Just when the internet was becoming extremely popular, Magda decided that it was a good show. She actually had access to what was possibly one of the rarest pieces of literature left. Emily seethed through her teeth; only the biggest fans deserved that book, not Magda travey.

The elevator chimed, after what seemed like a hundred years. She walked to the lobby, where she heard yelling. Emily found herself moving faster.

Turns out, it was another entitled hotel guest throwing a tantrum. The guest was a bald, middle-aged businessman in a suit. He was jabbing his pointing finger in the air, emphasizing each demand he had with the receptionist. Emily saw that the employee that he was telling off was Magda herself.

The new receptionist could only bow her redhead, as she took in all unbearable words the guest was saying. Her face was a mixture of fear and embarrassment, and all of the other guests and employees did nothing but watch the drama unfold. Anger dissolved out of Emily's heart, and it was placed with empathy. She was in the very same position that Magda was in, when she started this job. She understood what she was going through; the humiliation she had to endure for making a small mistake and the pressure to always get things right on the first try. It was an ordeal she knew too well, and she could not bear to watch Magda suffer any longer.

Emily straightened her shoulders, and strutted to the Reception Desk like Madame Helga. As soon as she got closer, she could comprehend what the man was saying. "Do you read this?!" he demanded. "It says here that I've booked the room two weeks ago! Where is it now?!"

"Good morning sir," Emily interrupted, standing beside the humiliated Magda. The receptionist's tear-stained eyes widened in disbelief. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Are you the one in charge? Because this receptionist of yours can't find my reservation!" he quickly said, his voice still raised.

"Forgive us for the inconvenience." she said, recalling every common customer-service phrase that she read on the employee manual. "But allow us to check, again. What's the name of the reservation."

"Semione Horace." he said. "That's S-E-M-I-O-N-E H-O-R-A-C-E."

Emily gave an encouraging nod to Magda. "Let's try this again."

Magda Travey carefully typed in the name into the search bar. To her dismay, the results were once again blank. Emily looked at the screen carefully and noticed she was on the regular guest tab. "This guest is on our V.I.P. list," Emily explained, tapping on the VIP tab at the top. Soon, the man's name appeared. She heard Magda let out a small sigh of relief. "Your room is ready at the Penthouse suite, Mr. Horace." Emily said, politely. Magda immediately made the transaction and validated his room key. Emily Rose decided to hand the card over to him. "Enjoy your stay," she said. The grumpy businessman snatched the key from her hand and stomped his way to the elevator.

"Thank you, Emily." Magda said, her voice shaky.

"Make sure to read all the tabs, above." Emily reminded, finding herself acting like Gareth.

"Yes, of course."

"Also, meet me for lunch later?"

"...Sure."

*****

"For a moment, I thought I was going to get fired!" Magda cried, as they walked to the pantry. In no time, she returned to her usual self. Emily was truly glad to see that. They went to the pantry, where starving workers lined up for their lunches. "I hope you don't mind us eating here," Magda said, apologetically. "I'm kind of tight in funds right now, and the hotel service food is free."

"It's okay," Emily reassured, lining up with her.

When it was their turn, they took their trays and received a broth with floating vegetables, a dried piece of meat, and a cup of hard rice. This was why Emily chose to walk all the way to Bby Box for lunch over this. The food was simply terrible.

The girls found a vacant area at the corner of the pantry and sat down. Emily needed to get a conversation going. "How's Shaya?" she asked, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth. It was not because of the food. Surprisingly, Magda grimaced at the question. "I don't think she and I are friends, anymore." she said, hammering her rice down with a spork.

Emily gleamed at the answer. "Why not?"

"Ever since she became a model three years ago, she wouldn't answer my texts." Magda explained, her eyes calculating on how she was going to cut her meat of rubbery texture. "Whenever I do get a hold of her, she said we should hang out. But on the day we plan, she just blows me off. I've tried to be patient with her, but I could no longer tolerate how she treated me. So I stopped reaching out to her. Shockingly enough, she never called me again."

"I see," Emily said, gloating to herself. Before Shaya Diem came to the picture, Magda was her very first high school friend. Things were going peacefully for them until the blonde model student complimented on Magda's hair during a P.E. class. This went from a question on whether or not Magda's red hair was real or not to Shaya tagging along with them every recess, lunch, and free period. The next thing Emily knew, Shaya became the dominating presence in their little trio. The more comfortable they became with one another, the more sides of Shaya Diem's personality began to show. The first thing Emily noticed was that Shaya was extremely picky; She only spoke to Emily when it only interested her. Shaya found nothing interesting about Emily, who stepped back every time comics or cartoons were in discussion. So her attention was always geared towards Magda, who graciously accepted it like a queen's devoted subject. The old Emily couldn't blame her for behaving that way in front of Shaya, who had a mysterious influence on people. When she spoke to you, even if it's just an assignment question, you could not help but feel special and you could not help but feel bad when you made her upset. Emily always wanted this popular blonde to like her, but she has forgotten the reason why. All she remembered was that Shaya Diem was not a good friend.

"Did you know she did not invite me to her debut?" Magda ranted on, stabbing on the meat. "Yeah, I saw it on my SoPop feed instead and guess who was the 18th Candle? Cass Papperson! Freakin Cass Papperson, from sophomore year!" Emily could not forget that name. She was the one that replaced her.

"I chatted with her on SoPop, asking Shaya why I was not invited. And did you know what she said after two weeks of not replying?" Magda continued, managing to cut her food. "That she forgot. How can you forget your own best friend at one of the most important moments in your life?" Emily cringed at the term. She always thought Magda was her best friend, but she always chose Shaya.

"I'm sorry for suddenly ranting out like this," Magda said, sighing. "We're supposed to catch up, not talking about her."

"It's fine," Emily managed to say, trying her best not to put on her frustration on the food like the receptionist did. "I should not have asked about her. You guys seemed so close, I naturally assumed that you were still together."

"I thought so, too." Magda admitted, painfully. "How about you? What happened to you after graduation?"

"Oh the usual," Emily answered, sipping on her broth. She and Magda completely gave up on the rubber meat, at this point. "I went to college, finished it, then got to work."

"Good for you," Magda said, to her surprise. "I didn't get to finish college, so the Job Consultant said I either work for the Hospitality industry or marry myself off to a rich man."

"They told you that?" Emily said, her shock steadily escalating. She never knew that you could get such treatment at Mavon Centre.

"I know. Jerks right?" Magda said, laughing it off. But the melancholy in her eyes have not faded. Emily Rose could sense that there was something more to the story, but it was a story that had to be told on another day. She needed the last novel. "I heard you're watching Mob Boy Order, now." she began.

Soon, the melancholy was replaced with gleam. "Yeah, it's actually really good!" Magda exclaimed. "The story, the characters, and the animation? All amazing. I can't believe I have not seen this during high school." Yeah, I can't believe it either, Emily thought begrudgingly.

"I guess that's what happens, as you get old." Magda continued. "Your taste changes. I think I've matured in mine." Emily wanted to digress, but she needed the book.

"Also, I see all the hype going around Gareth. He's really hot"

Anger swelled up in her stomach. She had to ask her.

"I saw that you have the last novel. Can I borrow it? It's for an emergency." And there it was. She no longer cared if it came off as rude or not.

But Magda did not seem to notice the aggression. Instead, she laughed, heartily. "I get it, the struggle is real," her friend said. "It is one of the rarest books for a reason. But okay, you can borrow it."

Emily smiled.

"But on one condition."

Emily frowned.

"You have to introduce me to your new male friend." she said, gleefully. "The blonde one? I think he's pretty cute."

*****

It has been almost two weeks since her E-Pop barbecue drunken fiasco. Emily stared widely at the Kaze bottle. Only one bottle, she promised this time.Magda was being amused with the confused Gareth. The young brunette felt sorry for him.

When she told him to meet her back at the restaurant, the young monk wanted to protest. He wanted to shield her from another Kaze temptation, which she found very sweet of him. She wanted to tell him about the book, but she was not ready to tell him about Mob Boy Order yet. So she told him they were going to have an important mission. "A mission? Is this part of Operation Adonis?" he asked, engrossed. She smiled at the mission name that they came up with.

"Yes," she told him. "It is going to help us get very crucial information."

She should have given him more details on this mission, however.

Magda was throwing all sorts of questions, and Gareth found difficulty in answering any of them. But Emily was relieved that her old high school friend was not one of those touchy girls who depended on petty caresses and playful shoves in their art of flirtation. Magda kept her distance, but Gareth still felt uncomfortable with her. He constantly looked at Emily Rose, his green eyes demanding an explanation for this new girl's presence. She could only take a sip from her Kaze.

"Am I talking too much?" Magda finally asked, conscious.

"With all due respect, I cannot keep up with your questions." Gareth kindly told her, his arms crossed. "Perhaps we can try this again. You may start with one question."

"So you're Gareth right?" she asked, smiling. "How do you and Emily know each other?" Emily Rose tapped on her bottled drink, anticipating for anything to sink into Magda's mind. She began to wonder how common was Gareth's name in the West. She was tempted to reach for her phone, to look it up before it would dawn on the redheaded receptionist. The last thing that needed to happen was for them to bring up the animated show.

"She's my Hembrandt comrade for the time being," Gareth said. Magda's face turned to Emily Rose, weirdly. "Hembrandt comrades? What does that mean, exactly?"

This made Gareth frown upon her. "It simply means we are working together, at the moment. What else could it mean?"

"Oh! You're business partners???" Magda exclaimed. "You're setting up a business, Emily??? How could you not tell me! What is it about?" Gareth was about to continue, but Emily stopped him before he made things more complicated. "He and I are working on a project. A… book project! So right now we're gathering information." she said, nodding at Gareth to play along.

Luckily, he got the message. "That's correct. We're researching...for a book."

"That's cool!" Magda gushed, while she cooked the meat. "What is the book going to be about?"

"...Home." was all Gareth could think of. She waited for Magda's reaction to go weird again, but she only nodded at his response. "That's pretty interesting." she remarked, placing cooked stripped meats on their rice bowls, which was a nice change of pace from the lunch earlier. "I have yet to define my own true meaning of home." Magda mused.

"What else would you like to know?" Gareth urged.

"Are you seeing anybody right now?" Magda said, her eyes turning suggestive. Gareth reverted to the innocent child look, clearly confused with her question. "I am seeing you and Emily Rose, naturally. Is there anyone else I should be seeing right now?" Emily snickered through her first bite of the meat. Magda found herself laughing at his answer, too. "I mean dating," she elaborated, chuckling. "Are you dating someone?"

"No," he immediately answered, glowering at the feast. "But there's a woman I truly care about. I'd like to reserve myself for her, if I can."

"Wow," Magda said, impressed. "Now that's something I do not hear everyday. What is this girl like?"

"She's a noble person," Gareth began, immersed suddenly. "Her profession is a doctor, you see. She seriously dedicates her life in serving those in need, it is the most admirable trait that she has. She nags like a hen, though. She always finds a way to tell me off, every time I do something reckless during a mission.

But I think I've hurt her. The more we talk, the more I find myself disagreeing with a lot of the things she would say. I still love her, in spite of all that. And I deeply regret allowing myself to be consumed by my pain and angst, especially now that I know the truth."

"What truth is that?" Magda asked, deeply interested with his words.

"That she saved my life. For that, I am indebted to her." he said, green eyes softening. "So I will do anything to get back."

This is what made all the Mob Boy Order fans swoon over Gareth's character. His transparency and thoughtfulness made him absolutely charming. Not only that, he would always dedicate himself to something that he would start doing. Emily wanted to gush along with Magda, but she knew who he was talking about. As she ate in silence, the monk's words made her feel heavy, which she found absurd. What else was she expecting? Why was she even expecting? She still could not help what she was feeling.

Magda melted in her place, in utter awe. "Wow," she said. "You talk like you came out of fiction. It's unreal."

Gareth smiled, making Magda melt even more. "I meant every word of it." he said, taking his pair of chopsticks. They continued to eat, when Emily Rose received a call. She checked her phone's screen and saw Alaric's name. "Excuse me, guys." she said, taking a step outside.

After being welcomed by the night's summer breeze, she tapped the answer button. "Hello?"

"We need to talk," Alaric said, in a serious tone.

"About what? I'm in the middle of something."

"About Gareth. I don't trust him." Of course he didn't. It has been a while since Alaric acted like her protective older brother. Five years have passed and she was still not used to it. "You never trust any guy that I'm with." she jabbed.

"This guy is even more suspicious." he urged. "I looked up his profile at the City Hall website, and he only registered two weeks ago."

"He lost his files in a fire," she argued.

"That's not the only thing."

"What else?"

"I always thought that there was something off about him and I can finally see what that is," he said. "He acts like that character in that show you like, Mob Boy Order."

She fell silent.

"His name is similar to that guy too, and after researching the show, I can say he moves like him too." he pressed on. "It's like he thinks he's Gareth himself."