Arianna jumped suddenly, frightened of the unexpected honking of a horn. She clutched the strap of her satchel tighter, unnerved by the city noises. The poor twenty-year old had only been in Sovereign for a week, so many of the new senses she was experiencing were still completely foreign. While Argos was as big as Sovereign, it was silent compared to the raucous city. Sovereign seemed so inviting the day she had first chosen to move here. She remembered the day well. Her poor parents were so worried at the thought of their darling daughter moving to the big city, especially since it was so far away. Arianna had implored them to let her go, and eventually they allowed it, but on their own conditions. Arianna was to call them every night before she slept to tell them about her day in her new home. She smiled softly as she recalled each conversation. Her parents were eager to know every detail and thought. Oh, she missed them already, but she didn’t miss her final boring years in Argos. While her friends had been continuing their studies in Argos High, Arianna had been home, reading all the books in her library over again just so she wouldn’t forget them. She had saved her favorite books for last; The Fault In Our Stars, Fahrenheit 451, the Inkheart series, and Anthem. Despite Arianna’s realistic mindset, her favorite genre of books was fiction, especially Science-Fiction. She somehow yearned to live another life, a life full of adventure and deeds of derring-do.

	Arianna’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a policeman flew past, his siren blazing from his hovering motorcycle. Instinctively she froze, standing there as he sped onwards She watched him speed down the street and take a turn down another, her hair tossing softly in the wind he left in his wake. Where was he going? Who was in trouble? Had it been a car wreck, or a robbery? Perhaps there had been a murder? Arianna bit her bottom lip, hoping the poor soul that had called him was safe and sound.

 With a soft sigh to calm her nerves, Arianna continued on her way. She had an important meeting to attend, which, now that she thought of it, was in less than ten minutes. Although she had mainly moved to Sovereign to further her studies and experience life away from Argos, she was also here on a personal matter. Years ago, just after she graduated freshman year, her best friend, Iktomi Ascher, suddenly packed up and left without a goodbye. Arianna was left alone, bored, a little hurt, to be honest, and with many unanswered questions. There were rumors that this friend was in Sovereign, and she intended on finding him. Yes, this close friend of Arianna’s was a boy. Come to think of it, this friend was considered a man nowadays. He was roughly a year older, going by the age of 21. She remembered him as a taller, leaner, and darker individual than she was. In their last year together, Arianna had studied Iktomi (she usually called him Ik) closely. Perhaps she had studied him a little too close…

 Arianna felt her heart flutter in excitement at the thought of seeing Ik again. She wondered about him whenever she had a free moment to just sit and think. Of course he had changed since then, but by how much? She shook these thoughts away. There was no sense of imagining what he looked like, or how he acted now. She could always risk setting up expectations of him, and she didn’t like expectations. Anyways, she would find out soon enough. Perhaps today, if Mr. Smith had stayed true to the deal and found him. The day after she had arrived in Sovereign and found a quaint apartment to stay in, Arianna had walked through the city just to get a feel of it. She had overheard a conversation about a man named Mr. Smith, and how he was the man to go to if you needed to find something… or someone. Arianna indulged herself and inquired where she might find this Mr. Smith. This led her to his area of business, where she made a deal with him. Although she didn’t know what he would want in return from her, which in turn made her question why she even thought of agreeing, Arianna was just glad to finally find Iktomi after all these years. So, with a newfound courage, she had agreed to the deal. She could only hope that Mr. Smith was a decent and kind man, that wouldn’t ask too much of her just for an address. As the ten minutes turned into five, Arianna felt nervousness and excitement bubbling all about her. She could only smile as she saw the meeting place, a small café, up ahead.