When winds blow from East to West, the Black star shines bright and lightning strikes twice, beware, he comes… - circa B.C. 1517 prophet unknown.

Arthur, using a short length of string, tied his shoulder-length hair into a ponytail. He pulled his coat sleeves down and gazed upon himself in the mirror. He nodded to himself in approval and left his bedroom though the simple wooden door.

Down in the kitchen his old gran baked muffins. Arthur took a deep lungful of the sweet smelling air. Gran’s sister who worked as a chief cook in the palace had sent some exotic fruit for the festival. Banana it was called. It was yellow and tasted as sweet as honey. Just the thought of it made Arthur's mouth water.

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"Right here, asshole." Giovani said, pointing to the dotted line on the document.

Jimmy looked up, following the finger to the wrist wearing a cleaning Rolex. Higher up the custom tailored suit and into Giovani's face. It was a pudgy tanned cicilian face, framed by neatly combed hair. The upper lip had the typical mafioso pencil stripe mustache.
Seeing the look on Jimmys face, Giovani smiled, his front gold tooth glinted in the lamp light hanging from the ceiling of the cellar.
Giovani addressed the two bulky men behind him, "You see! This little pisser is not worth shit. Just like his father." He smirked and asked Jimmy, "Aren't you, boy?"

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“So, what is magic?” James asked the cloaked and hooded figure sitting at the table across from him.

Baldur, extended his gloved hand and picked up the wooden mug of ale in front of him and took a deep draught of the liquid inside. Ignoring the question for the moment, he looked around the lively tavern. The tables neared to them were empty, creating a zone of privacy. Card games and ruckus laughter at the bar further in the room, combined with the clean burning oil lamps created a cheerful atmosphere in the room.

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Jeremy was walking down Hollywood Blvd. Jeremy was carrying his usual cardboard sign that said, 'Homeless. Every bit helps.' Under his right arm. He was dressed in his best jacket. By his best, he meant a jacket with the fewest holes. The stains only added to the looks in his opinion. While walking, Jeremy ran his left hand through his long, black, and greasy hair in an attempt to make it more orderly.

He approached the 101 off-ramp, right next to the foreign car repair shop. As expected, the Dude was already there with his own sign.

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I have a chapter that I would like to share that is based on the theme. It came to my mind one day while welding some metal and I could not get rid of it until I wrote it. It was fun to write and I hope it will be fun to read. A little warning, it is a bit long so you might need to set aside some time to read it.

Since this is a chapter from a larger story, I'll clarify some characters so that there is reference point and their significance can be understood.

Commander Lint: The person in charge of Asgard and third most powerful man in the Federation
Asgard: Military branch tasked with research and development of advanced technology
Federation: intergalactic empire comprised of 173 planets and systems
Captain Kiro: subordinate to Lint and in charge of personnel at Asgard
Loci: the main protagonist of this chapter. He got caught doing something illegal and to keep him out of jail, Kiro recruited him for Asgard. Also known as Loki to Earthlings
Vedran, Flisten:planets of Federation
Mary: High class escort girl

That should be enough to get the story fully.

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