Chapter 24 - Mansion in Manhattan

So their day started mundane, with the pink glow of the sun shading down on them. The sunshine was not yellow anymore; it was pink.

Light reflected from the new alien planet making.

They walked for a while, through the rubble road of Manhattan. They were on a journey to see Mr. Kooper's brother, who was an astronomer. Maybe he might have answers to their questions. But somehow Reya had a good guess what that planet might be.

A planet full of gods.

Maybe it might not be right, but it might not be wrong either. And from her visit with goddess Artemis confirms her suspicions.

"Mr. Koooper, who is your brother?" Mina asked with a lisp.

"Oh, him, he is a science genius of our family. When he was Just 12 years old, he got into NASA." He said with a proud smile.

"NASA!! Like the space station NASA," her little sister exclaimed.

"Yeah, like the space station NASA." He chuckled, ruffling her cute brown hair.

Reya was a silent listener in their conversation. From what she heard, Mr. Kooper's brother was most probably an old man, working in NASA, and was a space genius.

'Figures, most probably he might be a bald man with white hair.' she thought with a snicker.

"We are here," Mr. Kooper exclaimed, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Reya glanced around at the huge wall in front of them.

"Where is 'here'?" she asked with a confused look.

There was only a huge wall in front of them. No door, no gate, nothing, just a blank wall.

"Let me show you something interesting," he whispered with a smirk.

He rushed over to the wall and placed his palm on it. a small compartment opened, revealing a fingerprint scanner.

He placed his hands on it and said, "Open sesame,"

With a click, the wall separated, revealing a huge grated gate.

"Oh my god your brother is actually a spy?" Reya exclaimed with her mouth agape.

"No, he is just tech-savvy," Mr. Kooper chuckled, glancing at them.

"I bet he is a fat bald man," Reya whispered to Mina.

"I bet he is peanut butter crazy," Mina whispered with a giggle.

"Where did you come up with that?" she whispered.

Mina pointed to the finger print scanner. "I know. See there,"

Mr. Kooper removed his hands from it and wiped his hands vigorously on his shirt.

"The owner left peanut butter all over it," she whispered.

Reya strode close to the scanner and scraped her finger on it. Her finger came out sticky with a mild peanut fragrance to it. She did a double take at her. "God, Mina, how did you notice that?" she whispered in astonishment.

"I just did," Mina casually shrugged her shoulders in her trolley.

She still peered at her in wonder. How did she notice that minute detail? She knew Mina had always been careful at noticing things, but she was not this accurate.

Maybe it was related to her blue veins. Maybe?

Reya sighed and pushed the trolley over to her mother.

Mr.Kooper then placed his face inside a hole in the gate and waited. A small flash of light passed through. Almost like a Xerox machine scanning his facial features.

The gate beeped and opened wide, exposing a huge mansion.

"Mr. Kooper you guys are loaded," she softly whistled glancing at the enormous mansion. There was even a huge garden upfront with a porch parked on it.

"No, 'he' is loaded. Told you, he invented stuff for NASA. I was the brawls of the family and he was the brains," he said with a proud look.

An old man rushed out of the house. "Welcome. Long time no see," he said, hugging him.

Reya bent down and whispered to Mina, "I told you he would be old,"

She cutely nodded her head in agreement.

She caressed her soft head and chuckled.

"Young master is waiting inside. Please, all come freshen up," the old man said.

Mr. Kooper turned back towards them and said, "Oh I forgot to introduce, this is Mr. Kilian my brother's butler. He is family,"

The old man bowed towards them.

"And these two young ladies are Reya and Mina and their beautiful mother to the left," Mr. Kooper said with a smile.

They waved back awkwardly at him. Reya subtly peaked at her mom to see her flushed face.

'Hehe, someone is shy,' she thought as she giggled softly.

"The weather is getting colder, please come in and freshen up." the butler said, leading to the huge Foyer.

He showed them their rooms and told them to take their time. They each got own rooms but Mina wanted to stay with her so she relented.

"I will call you all for dinner, please take rest," the old butler said and left them to their devises.