Talia's hands moved in a blur—steaming, swirling, sprinkling—as she slammed down drink after drink in front of the impossible child.
First of all, She made a shimmering lavender latte, infused with moonflower essence. The boy took one sip, made a face like he'd licked a battery, and pushed it away. "Too sparkly."
Secondly, She made a deep, rich hot chocolate laced with crushed stardust. He wrinkled his nose. "Too heavy."
Thirdly, A frothy, ever-shifting bubble tea where the pearls changed flavor with each pop. He poked one, watched it dissolve into mist, and sighed. "Too weird."
By the seventh rejection, Talia's eye had developed a permanent twitch. The café's stock of rare ingredients was dwindling, Jasper was snickering into his sleeve, and Xander had resorted to sharpening his knives very pointedly in the background.
The white cat, now perched on the counter, flicked its tail. "Maybe he doesn't want a drink."
Talia groaned, gripping the edge of the counter. "Then what does he want?!"
The boy—still annoyingly patient—swung his legs under his stool and said, very matter-of-factly, "Something that feels like home."
A silence fell over the café.
Ding!
> [Hidden Clue Unlocked: "Nostalgia in a Cup"]
[Hint: The child is displaced—not just in space, but in time.]
Talia's shoulders slumped. 'Oh.'
She exhaled, closed her eyes, and reached for the simplest ingredients left: plain milk, a spoonful of honey, a pinch of cinnamon. No magic, no tricks—just warmth.
She stirred slowly, remembering the way her own mother used to make it when she was small and couldn't sleep. When she slid the cup over this time, the steam curled gently, unremarkably.
The boy stared. Then, hesitantly, he took a sip.
His glowing eyes widened.
"...Oh."
For the first time, his expression softened—not into satisfaction, but something far quieter. Recognition.
He drank it all in silence. When he set the empty cup down, his voice was barely a whisper, "It's not the same… but it's close."
Ding ding!
> [Quest Complete: "A Child's Whim"]
[Reward: "Temporal Anchor" ( Passive )– The child (now designated "Kai") has bonded with the café. While present, reduces system energy drain by 15%. New skill unlocked: Temporal Infusion – Brew drinks that affect time perception. ]
[Additional Effect: Kai's presence subtly stabilizes the café's location shifts.]
Talia blinked. Wait, he's staying?!
Before she could react, Kai hopped off his stool, wandered behind the counter, and—with the confidence of a tiny, ancient gremlin—started rearranging the spice jars.
Xander's knife paused mid-air. Jasper choked on his coffee.
The cat purred. "Congratulations. You've adopted a time-lost child."
Talia stared at the mess of rejected drinks, then at Kai, then at the ceiling.
"System," she hissed, "I swear to god—"
---
Ding ding!
> [Quest Progress: Serve 5 Unique Customers]
[Progress: 3/5]
New Unique Customer Logged: Kai (Temporal Anomaly – Bonded)
Bonus: Permanent Café Modifier Unlocked.
The white cat's mismatched eyes gleamed as it stretched, bones shifting unnaturally before it leapt onto the counter. To everyone else, it simply looked like a normal cat stretching - but Talia heard its voice clear as day in her mind,
'Since you've clearly adopted him already, how about we make it official? Instead of an employee contract... let's try a Magic Child Adoption Contract.'
Before Talia could protest, reality seemed to warp. A glowing parchment materialized in mid-air, its golden script visible to everyone in the café. Xander's hand went to his knife while Jasper's glasses slid down his nose.
Kai, now perched on a stool like a tiny king, tilted his head at the floating document. "What's 'adoption'?"
Xander, deadpan, answered, "It means she's stuck with you now."
Jasper adjusted his glasses. "Legally."
Talia opened her mouth to object when -
SLAM.
Kai had already smacked his tiny palm onto the contract, leaving a glowing handprint. The parchment flared brighter, then rotated to face Talia expectantly.
In her mind, the cat purred, "Too late. He signed it."
With a sigh, Talia pressed her hand against the parchment. A warm pulse of magic rushed through her fingertips as the contract dissolved into golden motes that swirled around Kai before vanishing.
Only Talia saw the new notification that appeared:
DING!
> [Magic Child Adoption: SUCCESSFUL]
> [Designated Guardian: Talia]
> [Designated Child: Kai]
> [Note: Congratulations! You are now responsible for a time-warping gremlin. Good luck.]
Another screen flickered to life beside it—Kai's Status Window, visible only to her.
---
[Kai – The Forgotten Chrono-Child]
Race: Temporal Anomaly (Manifested Humanoid Form)
Age: ??? (Looks 10, could be 10 or 10,000. Who knows?)
Affinity: Time Manipulation (Latent)
### Abilities
- "Time's Echo" (Passive):
- Slightly warps local time around him
- Reduces system energy drain by 15% in café
- "Stutter-Step" (Active – Unstable):
- Can rewind 3 seconds in a localized area
- Causes minor temporal glitches
- "Nostalgia Resonance" (Emotional Trigger):
- Stabilizes dimensional shifts when attached to a place/person
---
To the others, it simply looked like Talia was staring blankly at the space where the contract had been. Kai, now inexplicably holding a cookie that definitely hadn't been there before, blinked up at her with crumbs on his face.
"Can I live here?" he asked.
Xander and Jasper exchanged glances. "We're keeping him, aren't we," Xander stated.
Jasper sighed. "We're keeping him."
Talia massaged her temples as another notification popped up.
DING!
> [New Quest: "Raising a Time God (Good Luck)"]
> [Reward: Unlock "Temporal Barista" skill + Café Stability +10%]
The white cat, appearing perfectly normal to everyone else, gave Talia a smug flick of its tail before sauntering away. Kai's eyes flickered gold-blue for just a moment - a secret shared only with his new guardian.
The café hummed with new energy, though only Talia could feel the subtle shift in reality's fabric that came with their newest... acquisition.
"Show me this permanent café modifier," Talia thought.
DING!
> [Modifier Name: Child of the Fold]
The café now emits a soft temporal resonance, detectable by beings displaced in time and space.
Hidden customers from fractured timelines may now find Haven Brew.
Unlocks rare questlines involving Wanderers and Anachronisms.
Passive Aura: Emotional Comfort to Lost or Forgotten Beings (+10% favorability with non-standard entities).
Note: This modifier is bound to Kai – Temporal Anomaly. Removing Kai from the café will disable this effect.
Talia blinked at the notification.
"Child of the Fold?" she muttered aloud. "That sounds... culty."
Jasper peeked over her shoulder. "Child of the fold? Why are you looking at thin air again?"
The cat gave a lazy stretch on the counter. "It means you're now a certified magnet for weirdos. Congratulations."
Kai, now building a pyramid of sugar cubes, just smiled faintly. His eyes glowed for half a second—like distant stars blinking in sync.
Well, at least he's a cute kid, Talia thought grimly.
"Yay. I'm a mother now," she muttered unenthusiastically.
Kai tilted his head, sugar cube in hand. "Mother? What is mother?"
Talia froze.
Jasper nearly dropped his coffee mug.
Even Xander looked up from his sharpening stone.
The cat's tail flicked, slow and thoughtful. "Oh dear."
Talia blinked at the boy—his eyes too wide, too curious, too ancient—and let out a long, quiet sigh.
"It's… someone who worries about you, I guess," she said at last. "Feeds you. Yells at you when you do stupid things. Probably cries if you get hurt. That sort of thing."
Kai stared at her.
Then quietly placed a sugar cube into her hand.
"…You'll do," he whispered.
Talia stared at the sugar cube like it had personally insulted her future.
Xander stood. "I'm going on patrol before he decides we're married too."
"Married!" Kai said enthusiastically.
Jasper: "If he calls me Uncle, I'm out."
Kai just smiled, radiant and eerie. "Uncle."
Jasper groaned into his sleeves.
DING!
> [New Title Acquired: "Chrono-Mom (Reluctant)"]
[Passive Effect: Resistance to Minor Reality Glitches (+5% Sanity Retention Rate)]
Talia narrowed her eyes at the system log.
"…You've got jokes now. Great."
The café lights flickered once—warmer than usual. As if the walls themselves were smiling.